All right. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to City Hall here in
the City of Hollywood. Today is Wednesday, May 20th, 2026. We
are here for a regular City Commission meeting. But as I
always mentioned, meetings are never regular. It's always
important and interesting substance on the agenda and
today is no different. Let's please rise for a moment of
silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and think about
loved ones who we may have lost, or people that are notable in
our lives. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which it stands
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you. Another important moment we
take at each meeting is to recognize our veterans, active
service personnel and their families. So if you are a US
veteran or a family member thereof, or a service member,
please rise. We'd love to recognize you. We do have some
coasties here today. Some Guardsmen welcome. Roll call.
Please let me activate the mic real quick. I gotta click six
times. Go ahead Commissioner, show him here. Commissioner
Hernandez here. Vice mayor Kolody here. Commissioner
Gruber here. Commissioner Biederman here. Commissioner
Quintana here. Mayor Levy here. Thank you. Today's consent
agenda includes items five through 15. If these are items
that don't usually require individual discussion. However,
if there is a speaker card or a request from the dais to remove
one for individual discussion, we're happy to do so. City
clerk Are there any speaker cards on five through 15? Item
ten. Item ten. Anything else from the body motion to approve.
We have a motion from Vice Mayor and a second from
Commissioner Quintana to approve the balance of the
consent agenda. Items five through 15 minus number ten.
All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none.
Those items will carry unanimously. We'll get to item
ten as quick as we can on the agenda. I know James Quinlan is
here with the Rhythm Foundation. So we'll hear from James.
Onward to our 1 p.m. presentations, proclamations
and awards. I'm going to I see a lot of folks here from
Hollywood Fire Rescue and Beach Safety. Welcome, everyone. I'll
take it out of order because you all are here. And let's go
ahead and invite Chief Levy and Company to present the. And
recognize the recipients of the Crew Commendation Award. Chief.
Good afternoon. Mayor, vice mayor. Commissioners. City
manager. I'd like to ask Chief Devlin. Police chief, come join
me, please. Today's recognition is not only for the fire
department but also for the Hollywood Police Department.
This particular incident Chief Moses is going to read the
narrative on was a catastrophic accident. That happened a few,
probably a few months ago now, where a pedestrian was involved
in a serious incident, as you'll hear in a few minutes.
Hollywood police arrived on scene, started life saving
actions, which eventually caused this individual to have
somewhat of a full recovery and was able to be discharged from
the hospital. But they are alive today, which is the most
important thing. This this patient you'll hear shortly,
received over 100 units of blood while in the operating
room. That's that's a lot. They received one unit of blood on
scene by fire rescue, but it's also due to the heroic actions
of our Hollywood Police Department that this patient is
alive. And we want to recognize these police officers and these
firefighters. Very nice. Good afternoon, Commission and city
staff. I'm Mike Moser, deputy fire chief with Hollywood Fire
Rescue. I'd like to begin by calling up the recipients of
this award. As I read the accommodation, Officer Palacios,
Officer Pearce, Lieutenant Fernandez, Firefighter Robinson
and firefighter Lopez Couto to the podium, please. On February
20th, 2026, rescue five responded to a report of a
pedestrian versus a vehicle collision at 901 North Federal
Highway. Upon arrival, crews encountered an adult male who
had been struck while seated at a bus stop bench, resulting in
catastrophic lower extremity injuries. Hollywood Police
Department officers arrived and made initial patient contact
and immediately applied tourniquets to both lower
extremities. Prior to EMS arrival, the tourniquets were
documented as very effective and remained in place upon
transfer of care. Early bleeding control was crucial
intervention in this case, EMS assessment revealed a complete
traumatic amputation below the right knee and a partial
traumatic amputation below the left knee. The patient was
awake but in significant distress with hypotension and
signs of respiratory distress. A level one trauma alert, the
most serious patient category, was activated. Cruz initiated
spinal immobilization, established IVs, began fluid
replacement, and provided advanced airway support.
Diminished breath sounds on the right prompted a decompression
effort, which was performed without complication. During
transport. One unit of blood was administered while
continuous monitoring and supportive care was maintained.
The patient was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital and
transferred directly to the trauma team. Upon arrival, the
patient remained hypotensive, however responsive, with
tourniquets intact and active transfusion ongoing hospital
staff continued their resuscitation efforts in the
trauma bay. The patient was stabilized and admitted to the
Trauma intensive care unit. This incident reflects
effective interagency coordination and decisive life
saving actions under extreme circumstances. Early bleeding
control by law enforcement, rapid trauma system activation,
and comprehensive pre-hospital care contributed to the
patients surviving the initial injuries and reaching that
definitive care at the hospital. This nomination recognizes the
responding personnel for their skill, perseverance, and life
saving performance during a highly complex and time
critical emergency. Congratulations. Thank you very
much.
One. Two. Three. One more please.
I'll tell you what. The Memorial Regional Hospital had
their survivor's day recognition, recognizing the
different EMS units that operate in South Broward County.
Also, of course, recognizing the trauma doctors, the nurses
that attend to the patients coming in and really
celebrating and highlighting the successes when it's a
fortunate situation to be able to have someone survive a
trauma, it's always a very heartwarming thing to see the
survivors come in and speak after they've, you know, gone
through the most difficult, life threatening injury. So
pretty amazing. We're fortunate to have Memorial Regional
Hospital and the trauma team here in Hollywood. And thanks,
of course, to EMS in Hollywood and our firefighting crew and
Hollywood police as well for, you know, providing people with
that opportunity. In the end, that's the biggest sense of
pride that I think we can have as a community that entrusts
and invests in the city of Hollywood, and through that,
the public safety services that we provide, really it really
goes the longest way to, you know, give that sense of how
important the professionalism and, and the funding that we
invest into Hollywood Fire rescue and Hollywood police
goes, it goes such a long way. And the most important times
for all of us. So thank you so much. All right. Well, I don't
think there's anything else keeping all of these public
safety professionals here, chief. So if you are interested,
you can stay until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. but otherwise free to go
if you like. All right. Let's go ahead and start with our
proclamations. Then we'll take them in order. National Public
Works Week is this upcoming week or this week? And
presenting the proclamation will be Commissioner Biderman
accepting it will be Joseph Krol and Public Works and the
Public Works Staff. Commissioner Biderman, public
Works Week. Go ahead. Thank you mayor. First, I'll start by
saying how lucky we are to have such a qualified and exemplary
public works team that make us all look good on a daily basis,
lifting all the heavy lifting for us and repairing all that
above ground infrastructure. When our residents are
concerned about it. So it's meaningful to proclaim in
recognition of National Public Works Week, May 17th through
the 23rd 2026. Whereas, in 1960, the American Public Works
Association launched a national initiative to raise public
awareness of the vital role public Works plays in community
life by establishing National Public Works Week. And Whereas,
special highlights of National Public Works Week include the
United States Senate affirming a resolution. Letters of
acknowledgment from President Dwight D Eisenhower and Lyndon
B Johnson, and proclamation presented by President John F
Kennedy in 1962. And Whereas public works professionals
focus on cities, infrastructure, facilities and services that
are vital to building a sustainable and resilient
communities, they work diligently each day to maintain
safe streets, reliable water and sewer systems, effective
stormwater management, sanitary services, traffic operations,
public facilities, parks and green spaces. These essential
efforts are fundamental to public health and safety. And
whereas public services are made possible through public
works, professionals including engineers, managers and
essential first responders who work to build, improve and
protect our community. And whereas, this year's theme,
rooted in service powered by community, reflects the deep
commitment of public works employees and serving residents
with integrity, reliability, and pride, it emphasizes that
the strength of public works lies not only in infrastructure
and operations, but in a relationships built with the
community they serve. And Whereas support, patients and
understanding of our community indicate a shared appreciation
for essential services provided by public works personnel who
make a meaningful impact on daily lives of our residents.
Now, therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the City of Hollywood,
Florida, and the Hollywood City Commission, hereby recognize
May 17th through the 23rd 2026 as National Public Works Weeks
in the City of Hollywood. Thank you. Mayor, Vice mayor,
commissioners, I'm honored to stand here before you today as
a representative recipient of this proclamation recognizing
National Public Works Week. This acknowledgment highlights
the essential role that public works professionals play in
maintaining and improving our community's infrastructure and
services. Our work ensures manicured landscaping, safe
roads, clean beaches, vibrant public spaces which enhance the
quality of life for all of our residents. On behalf of myself
and all the public works staff behind me and out there still
working, we'd like to express our gratitude to you, Mayor and
Commissioners, for this recognition. If not, it not
only celebrates the dedication and hard work of our team, but
also underscores the importance of continued investment in
public works for a stronger, safer, and more resilient
community. Thank you for your support and partnership as we
strive to serve the public with excellence. Thank you Joseph.
Well, same same words of gratitude on behalf of the City
Commission to everybody in Public Works, your work is
critical. It goes far reaching, and it's so meaningful to keep
a city that's clean and vibrant and functioning and resilient.
So really, from all of us, thank you so much. In the same
form, the investment in public works is a top priority, the
same as others. And just as long as you guys tell Joseph
what you need and he tells the city manager and she tells us,
we got you, let's come up for a photo, everybody. Yeah. And
Jeavons not a bad guy to talk to either. Come on. Everybody,
I think you guys are going to have to scrunch. Right here.
Thank you so much everybody. You're welcome. All right. Next
on our agenda as a proclamation recognizing Safe Boating Week,
which is this week, May 16th through the 22nd. I'll take the
liberty and pleasure of presenting the proclamation.
With us today is Neil Koretsky. He's the flotilla flotilla
commander with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary from flotilla.
It says Dania Beach, but we all know it's in Hollywood. So
let's go ahead then. Proclamation recognizing
National Safe Boating Week, May 16th through the 22nd 2026.
Whereas Florida has 1300 miles of coastline, 50,000 miles of
rivers, streams and canals, and 7800 lakes for Florida
residents and visitors to enjoy and for wildlife to inhabit.
These areas are rated as best boating and the fishing capital
of the world. And whereas millions of Americans take to
the waterways enjoying time together boating, sailing,
paddleboarding, kayaking and fishing, the city of Hollywood,
Florida, is fortunate to have the resources to accommodate
these varieties of boating. The US Coast Guard, the US Coast
Guard Auxiliary and its federal, state and local partners
encourage all boaters to explore and enjoy our beautiful
waterways. And whereas, Americans should take
precautionary actions to ensure that everyone makes it home
unharmed after a fun day on the water, inspecting your boat
thoroughly and participating in a free vessel safety check
offered through the US Coast Guard can help ensure both you
and your boat are ready for the water. And whereas, boaters
should also wear life jackets at all times and make sure
there is always someone on board who is unimpaired and
capable of operating the boat. The United States Coast Guard
and its federal, state and local partners estimate that
avoiding alcohol and wearing a life jacket can prevent more
than 75% of boating fatalities. And whereas, through basic
safety procedures such as carrying emergency distress and
communication equipment, wearing life jackets, taking a
safe boating class, getting a free boating safety check,
getting an engine cut off switch or lanyard which is
required for vessels under 26ft and staying sober while
operating a vessel. We can ensure that boaters on our
crowded inland and offshore waterways stay safe throughout
the year. And whereas knowledge and skills are important in
reducing human error and improving judgment, that is why
we must continue to pass the word about boating safety, not
only during National Safe Boating Week, but throughout
the entire year now. Therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the City of
Hollywood, Florida, and the Hollywood City Commission, do
hereby proclaim May 16th through the 22nd 2026 as
National Safe Boating Week in the City of Hollywood, Florida.
Thank you. Thank you, commander. Thank you, Mayor and
commissioners. As we all know, this year alone, we've had a
number of accidents and many more people injured for the
same time last year. There's a common misconception that boat
owners and people who live near the water are the ones most
affected, and that is not correct. If we look at the
statistics, it can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time. The
city of Hollywood has a special relationship with the Coast
Guard, because we've had an office here in the city for
many years for recruiting, and we hope to continue our
relationship. Thank you mayor. Thank you sir. Please come on
up for a photo. We'd love to spread the word.
Do you want to give a shout out to our
Hollywood Police marine unit chief Devlin? Marine unit? I
know it's going to be busy. I saw some of the public
messaging that went out on social media about safe boating,
especially during the Memorial Day weekend. Coming up a long
weekend, hopefully it'll be nice weather and people will
enjoy the waterways and be safe in Hollywood and beyond. All
right, let's go ahead now to a proclamation recognizing
Building Safety Month, ladies and gentlemen, which is also
May of 2026. Presenting the proclamation will be
Commissioner Hernandez. And I'll invite the Department of
Development Services, the building division. Andrea
Wingard, the director, is here, along with Russell Long, our
chief building official. I see Dan Quintana and Company Jim
and all the folks here from Development Services. Please
join the crew up here. It's been a more popular topic in
the past few years. Building safety, of course, with the
county inspection program and what have you. Yes, I know the
team has kept busy. Commissioner Hernandez, go
ahead. Thank you, mayor. And I got to tell you, this group
never stops working because at any given time, I actually get
Ahold of him. We have a great deal of questions, and I thank
you all for the help and for the service that you provide to
our residents, and particularly the pain in the butt in the
commissioner that I am or can be. Anyway, thank you all. He
wasn't kidding about 24 over seven either. No, no I'm not I
they know it. I thought it was the other one. I'll go. Boy.
Proclamation. City of Hollywood Florida in recognition of
Building Safety Month, May 2026. Whereas, the City of Hollywood
recognizes that strong, safe and resilient buildings are
vital to the well-being of our community, both in everyday
life and during times of disaster. And whereas,
confidence in the resiliency of these buildings depends on the
work of dedicated professional building, safety and fire
prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders,
tradespeople and others who ensure that structures are safe,
sustainable and code compliant. And Whereas, the Through the
International Code Council, local, state and federal
officials work together to develop, implement and uphold
modern building codes and standards that safeguard the
public from natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires,
floods and earthquakes. And Whereas, Building Safety Month
is sponsored by the International Code Council to
highlight the essential role of unsung protectors of public
safety, our code officials who help ensure safe, resilient and
sustainable buildings and recognize the many City of
Hollywood employees, including police officers and first
responders who put up their safety and their lives on the
line in service to our residents. And whereas, each
year in observance of Building Safety Month, people all over
the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve
building safety, resiliency and economic investment at home and
in the community, and to acknowledge the essential
service provided in protecting lives and property of the City
of Hollywood. Now. Therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the City of
Hollywood, Florida, and the City of Hollywood Commission,
do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Building Safety
Month in the City of Hollywood, Florida. Good afternoon mayor,
Vice mayor, city Commissioners, Commissioner Andrea Winget, the
Director of Development Services. And I'm honored to be
standing here today. And I'm only standing here today before
you because of the team that's standing behind me. You've read
several really important proclamations today,
recognizing a lot of important topics and initiatives. But
this group behind me really is, is the silent group that that
is working 24 over seven day in and day out as well. Silently.
They may not have the the fancy lights or the big trucks, but
as you read in the proclamation. You might have to have a word
with her. If they do play an important role in work, hand in
hand with our other emergency personnel in keeping structure
safe, to limit fires within the community, to ensure that our
community, our residents, our business structures can
withstand the elements of nature as we move forward. And
it's their hard work and dedication that helps to keep
the community safe. And we've had a few additions to our team
over the year. So if you can just entertain me for one
minute, I would like. As we all know, our building official,
Russell Long, is here and we do have three assistant building
officials, Jim McGuinness, who is over our large development
construction projects. So the projects that really catch your
eye when you're out in our community and seeing them, he
oversees and manages those projects and the safe
construction of those buildings include, including the staging
of equipment and the resources that are brought in. We have
Sheila Oliver, who has rejoined the city. She was here
previously. Unfortunately, she is not able to be here with us
today, but she is overseeing our day to day permitting to
help our mostly our residents and some of our smaller
businesses within the city to get their permits through the
process and help educate them on the best way to do that. And
then we have Dan Quintana, and Dan is our building assistant
building official who is over building safety for the city.
And with that, he has a few words he would like to say for
us. Sure. Sorry. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor,
commissioners and city manager. I'm Daniel Quintana, proud
assistant building official at the City of Hollywood. Today, I
want to speak briefly about a simple but powerful idea.
Stronger codes create real impact, and that impact is what
creates safer buildings. Codes are more than rules written on
paper. There are standards that shape how we build, work and
live. Whether we talk about building codes, safety codes,
ethical codes, or digital security codes. Strong
standards protect people, improve quality, and create
trust. When codes are weak or ignored, the consequences can
be serious. Unsafe buildings, data breaches, accidents and
loss of confidence. But when codes are strong and properly
followed, they save lives, strengthen communities and
support innovation. Real impact happens when responsibility
meets action. Engineers design safer structures. Business
businesses protect customer information organizations.
Organizations create ethical workplaces. Governments
establish standards that serve the public good. Every strong
code becomes a foundation for progress, but stronger codes
are not only about compliance, they are about commitment. A
commitment to excellence, accountability, and the
well-being of others. In the end, stronger codes do more
than prevent problems. They build confidence, create
resilience, and make a lasting difference in people's lives.
At this time, I introduce the driving force behind
development services, and that is the group of professionals
standing with me and before you today. Our structural chief is
Tim Jones. Who oversees, obviously, our structural plan
reviewers and inspectors. He's had loads of experience. He's
he's he's done a fantastic job for us. He steps up whenever we
ask him to do anything out of the norm, which is pretty
pretty often he never says no. Our next chief is John Basu.
Mechanical. Mechanical. He oversees a group of gentlemen
that help keep us cool when it's really, really hot outside.
They do a fantastic job. And shout out to Norm McKinnon. By
the way, our chief electrical inspector, James Stewart.
Together with his staff of inspectors and plan reviewers,
they oversee our electrical department. They make sure that
electrical installations are to code and safe. Next is Mr.
James West, our chief plumbing inspector. Along with his staff.
He ensures that our sanitation systems in our buildings and
homes are up to code and keep us healthy and safe and help us
have hot, really hot showers. So. Our manager, Christina
Gordon. Along with assistant City Manager is Marlon Batista
and our SA three, Jessica Miss edu with this staff they are
the front line to our department. We can't simply
cannot function without the role that they play for us. And
they are just completely essential every day. Every day.
Some tips and takeaways. You know, building safety is
everyone's responsibility. Oh, sorry. Continuous education and
awareness. That is one thing that the we are proud of and
we're happy that the city does provide opportunities for us to,
to further our, our careers and our education. Embrace building
codes for safer future. And thank you for your commitment
to safety. And last but not least, this is since Building
Safety month, we were at Home Depot not too long ago. And
this is just a little blurb that we put together. You look
real happy there, Dan. I can be a little animated. The candy
store there, right? Yeah. Can you play it? Hey good morning
y'all. I'm Daniel, assistant building official here at the
City of Hollywood. We're here at the Home Depot at Oakwood
Plaza. We're promoting Building Safety Month for the Board of
Rules and Fields. And we have hard hats. We have pens,
pencils. We have some rubber ducks and cars. We have some
pamphlets, and we have our staff here. We have our
computer. We can help you with permits if you have any
questions at all. So please come down and see us. We'll be
here till 2:00 today. Go, Hollywood. All right. And along
with approximately 85 staff, we do this every day, all day long
and even on weekends sometimes. And we're proud to serve the
residents and business owners of the city of Hollywood. How
many permits do you guys do every year? Because I don't
think the average resident has a clue of how much work you
guys do yet so far. We on high end 18,000, but we average out
pretty much around 16,000 to 17,000 a year. Thank you. Well,
I'll tell you what, everyone, it's been really a pleasure for
all of us to support the our investments in the building
division and development services, beginning with the
new workspace that I hope you all love and enjoy compared to
what was there before. The second floor is beautiful and
really offers the most modern space at any department has
right now in the city of Hollywood. So I hope you're
proud of the investment in the workspace. I hope you're proud
of the investment in technology and the solar system. I know
it's hard to switch gears, but ultimately, I hope we hit that
high gear in August when we hopefully convert all the
different building permit types to a solar and give you all a
more, you know, a more consistent system to, to work
together and to crank out those permits as quickly as possible.
Of course, upholding all the safety rules that you're
entrusted to uphold. But at the same time, as we've said for
years, to help facilitate that quick issuance and inspection
of the building permits, because all the dreams that we
have for the city of Hollywood in terms of its growth or the
investment that the average resident wants to make in their
house, or a small business in their business, to an investor
and developer that wants to build a new multifamily
building in the city, it all, and even our public facilities,
they all need to flow through your desks. And so thank you
for being that critical and that indispensable conduit that
everything that we hope for in the city has to flow through.
So your efficiency and your productivity is something that
we rely on, and we hope we've given you the tools that you
need to be as productive as you can be with using technology
and facilities and additional personnel. And like I suggested,
the public works. If you need something more, tell Russell
Tel Dan, tell Jim, tell your your fellow, you know, team
members, they'll tell the city manager and she'll tell us and
we'll make it happen. So thank you all so much. Appreciate all
that you do. Thank you, thank you. Come on up for a photo.
Don't forget the laundry. Hold it. I don't know, we had so
many.
All right. Thank you all so much. Let's go ahead now and
shift gears to recognize National Historic Preservation
Month, which is May of 2026. Of course, I'd like to invite
Commissioner Shuhan to present the proclamation. Andy Ruffner,
please come on up. He's the executive director of the
Hollywood Historical Society. I think you have some other folks
here from the Historical Society that'll join you and
accepting the proclamation. And I'd like to recognize
Commissioner Shuhan to present. Go ahead. Commissioner. Thank
you. Mayor. National Historic Preservation Month, May 2026.
Whereas, historic preservation is an effective tool for
managing growth and sustainable development, revitalizing
neighborhoods, fostering local pride, maintaining community
character, and enhancing livability. And Whereas the
city of Hollywood's historic districts seek to preserve and
maintain historically significant resources located
within the city of Hollywood, keeping the city a unique and
special place. Whereas, historic preservation is
relevant for communities across the nation, both urban and
rural, and for Americans of all ages, all walks of life and all
ethnic backgrounds. And whereas it's important to celebrate the
role of history in our lives and the contributions made by
dedicated individuals in helping to preserve the
tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped us as
a people. And whereas the 2026 National Historic Preservation
Month theme is all people are Created Equal, focusing on the
250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,
organized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the
month emphasizes preserving diverse sites that tell the
full American story, reflecting on founding ideals and
promoting community revitalization. Now, therefore,
Josh Levy, mayor of the City of Hollywood, Florida, and the
Hollywood City Commission, hereby proclaim May 2026 as
National Historic Preservation Month. Congratulations! You may
need to click the bottom of the mic. Activate the mic. Thank
you so much, Mayor and Commissioners, for the
proclamation. This is Dana Gallup. He is our board
president now. Just took over this January from Clive. And we
just hope for an ongoing partnership with the city in
preserving our historic heritage. We have a lot of
great things here, and I think it's one of the top three
assets that we have here in the city as our historic stock of
buildings, and that if we preserve them, we're going to
remain a really unique and special city in everybody's
hearts. So thank you so much here. Andy. Andy, you want to
do the picture together with everyone that will be following?
Let's let's hold then let's invite Terry Cantrell. He's
chair of the Historic Preservation Board, and we'd
like to recognize May 2026 as historic, of course,
preservation month. But also he's going to he's going to
introduce let's do it together. Let's do it together once. Once
Terry finishes the award, recipients will join us
together for the photo. I think it'll be nice that way. Okay.
All right. Yeah, yeah, we'll do it. Thank you very much. So,
should I go? AM I good? Yes, please. All right. Thank you
everybody. Terry Cantrell, chair of your Historic
Preservation Board. And our favorite time of year May for
Historic Preservation Month. We have a bevy of awards. We have
more awards this year we've ever had. So hang on to your
hats. Here we go. It's going to be interesting here. We're
going to have a slideshow in just a second. I don't come up.
This is there's a couple of words here that we're are, I
think, very special. As soon as we get the slideshow up here,
we'll be ready to go here. The first one is for, of all things,
the block 40 Great Southern Hotel Food Hall. Now you all
may remember the the saga of the Great Southern Hotel. I was
very much involved in that way back in 2022, three and four.
And I think only Commissioner Hernandez was around back then
on the board when we approved the block 50, block eight, the
1818 project, which is block 40, and it was the goal was to save
and preserve the the Great Southern Hotel. Unfortunately,
as we all know, it wasn't possible. There was long delays
in the construction of the project. So as a result, the
the building itself had deteriorated. But happily, we
had a very cooperative developer who was willing to
replicate the old hotel. And that's what we have now. So
realizing that it's been open for a couple of years now, we
never really recognized this work of replicating and semi
restoring the Great Southern Hotel, which is probably the
oldest, one of the oldest structures in Hollywood. So we
thought it was very appropriate to do that today with this
month, with this awards for this, this year. So I'm not
sure if anybody's here from block 40, but what we're going
to do, rather than have everybody come up individually,
I'm going to ask all the awardees to line up behind me.
We'll give them their plaque and we'll take a photograph
when we're done with that. So okay, so block 40. So the next
one in line, this is, is the Art and Culture Center at 1650
Harrison Street. What a project of course, general obligation
bond project as chair of the of the job advisory group, we were
monitoring this project a lot. I know it took a little bit
more extra money, but look what we got for it. We got one of
the most beautiful projects of all the GOB, and I'm not sure
most all of us have been in the building. We've already held
events there for the local civic association. And it's
just it just came out spectacular. The architect went
above and beyond, and thanks to DCM Jose Cortez and, and his
group, this, this, this project came to fruition. And look what
we have now. So this is an award to. So whoever is going
to accept that award, hopefully somebody from DCM can line up
behind me too, and we'll give them their plaque. The next
award is a very special award. Recognizes we thought it was
very important to recognize the 100 year anniversary party that
we had last year, and what a great job that seemed. Did
organizing that, culminating in the incredible weekend event
party that we all had in November. So we thought it was
more than appropriate. You know, again, we don't necessarily
concentrate on projects per se. It's anything involved with
historic preservation and the history of Hollywood. And this
one is absolutely in that category too. So if anybody
from Sema is going to line up here behind me or stand get get
close to me, we'll give you your plaque. Exactly. So so.
And now, of course, headed up by Joanne Hussey, doing a
wonderful job. And part of that 100 year celebration was an
effort by the Historical Society. And Steve Sarsfield,
longtime member and videographer here in Hollywood
that's done some really, really great projects, too. And he put
together, again something that was shown at the November
weekend party, and it was a 100 year celebration, a centennial
celebration of Hollywood 100 years. And Steve is also here
to accept his award as well. And that's the type of of film
or project that will live forever. And we'll be looking
at that ten, 20, 30 years from now. And there's only going to
be one 100 year anniversary, folks. And that was last year.
So we're going to be able to watch that film that Steve
Sarsfield made to. All right. So thank you again, Steve, for
that. Next project that we're going to award is an actual
building project, the actual construction project here in
Hollywood. And it was very special to me because this is
not far from where I live in the lakes. And, and we spent, I
spent a lot of time walking around in. Every morning, Lynn
and I take our our two mile hike. And we've always watched
this always like this house. 1949 house on Van Buren Street.
And it had a canvas on it. And you can see the, the photo in
the above shows a before photograph. And it was this
ordinary looking green on a canvas awning that was in need
of replacement, I guess. And so the applicant is here now and
Diane did a wonderful job. She it came before the preservation
board, and I thought it was particularly special because it
shows that you can take a small scale project. It doesn't have
to be a major infill housing project or anything, and do
something so special to the house and bring it back. And
this kind of thing that we encourage those type of
projects in the historic neighborhood. So Diane is also
here for that award, and she'll be up here in just a second too.
That's 1133 Van Van Buren Street. Diane Plunkett. So. We
have another word that the board thought was important to
recognize, and that is there's a series of small scale Tudor
apartment buildings that have been along Hollywood Beach,
along Ocean Drive for quite a while. And we thought it was
important to recognize those because as we look towards more
development on the beach and we we think it's important to
recognize this. Most of them were designed by the same
architect. They've been there for quite a while, but they've
been maintained beautifully. So and I have I think Diana
Pitrelli is here, is a beach resident and a preservation
board member along with me. And she's going to accept this
award too. So we thought that was a very significant award to
recognize too, as we look forward to potentially
developing more along the beach. This is the type of thing that
kind of works. Low scale eight, nine, ten, ten storey apartment
buildings with a, with a, in this case, a two door type
style. So I think it's Eugene Bold who's here on behalf of
the Hollywood Beach Civic Association. So Eugene, come on
up. Yeah, right. Line up. Yeah. Line up here. Please follow me
if you would. So. And we also have an award. Finally, an
award that the Historical Society asks us to present and
which is a very worthy award. It's to Robert McCarthy, a
lakes resident and longtime lakes resident here. Yes. Thank
you. Who did a lot to preserve downtown some of the older
downtown structures. We all remember club M it's been
plaque by the historical Society, and we agree 100% with
the historical society. This was a very worthy award to give
to the late Robert McCarthy. So we thank everybody for that.
All right. That is basically the awards this year, seven of
them. We did that in record time. Congratulations,
everybody. And thank you so much for. All your respective
contributions to preserving, celebrating and investing in
the historical properties and occasions in the city of
Hollywood. Thank you so much. The work goes a long way. We
know the historical properties, tell the story of the city, and
we're really fortunate to have people like yourselves who help
tell the story and celebrate it and invest in it. Thank you so
much. Thank you very much. We'll come up for a photo.
Thank you. I'm taking a picture with Eugene. Do you want to get
in it? And I can take the picture. It's okay. Okay. Okay.
Ready? Right here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Randy. All right, moving right along, everyone. We are not
done yet. Yes, because Terry is here to present the annual
report for the Historic Preservation Board, followed by
the Sustainability Advisory Committee, the artwork
selection committee. And then we'll talk community
development and talk about the task force for Ending
Homelessness. So a lot of good substance. And we'll turn it
over to Terry now for the Historic Preservation Board
annual report. Thank you very much, mayor. Again, Terry
Cantrell, chair of the Historic Preservation Board. And this is
again, our favorite time of year. We appreciate the fact
that the city and and you folks recognize our work and our
effort to preserve historic properties in, in the three
districts, you know, we have three districts and we are a
CLG, a certified local government created in 1995.
There's only about 45 or 50 of those in the state of Florida
that allows us to have a historic district and a
historic ordinance, and we take it very, very seriously. Our
mission statement is well known, and we are we are obligated to
review and consider projects of any size within a certain
financial parameter. Of course, in the in the three historic
districts we have the, of course, the Lakes Historic
District downtown, and then the Beach Historic District. This
is this is an eye chart, but it will give you an idea of some
of the areas, the three historic districts, the overlay
districts. And also we do have what we call historic property
overlay sites. There's about 23 or 24 of these sites all over
the city, not just on the east side of town, that are
specially designated by the city over over the course of
the years, so that we've had the preservation ordinance,
those are are listed there. And all this is available on the
website. By the way, it's a lot easier to read there, that's
for sure. So. Some of the projects, here's a project that
we approved last year, a 1929 Hollywood Boulevard. Again, we
approved projects that involve changes in facades in downtown,
which is very, very important. We this particular project I
happen to like because I happen to like Art Deco and
mid-century modern type designs. And this is a good example of
that as well. Here, of course, is the project that you folks
were intimately involved with at 1317 Harrison Street. Coming
along very nicely. If you go down Harrison Street, you see
how much work they're doing right now. That'll be the end
product. And I guarantee you next year that'll be an award
for sure. So, and right across the street is another project
that I believe Commissioner Gruber's brother is doing. It's
restoring another very old, just as old as this house too,
which would really be nice too. So interesting project here
that we approved last fall. It was a lot that was bifurcating
a big nicely and two modern that faced the Marina. So it's
just all about older historic Mediterranean revival. We also
encourage and support this type of design because as we know,
50 years from now, that'll be historic. That's how you look
at it now. So 50 years is the National Park Service's
guideline for historic property. So again, on the beach, 501
South Surf Road. Very interesting project, actually,
a four story project built by right no variances. Very
interesting project. Just a little south of Hollywood
Boulevard on Surf Road. That was one of our approvals.
Here's just a sample of some of the other projects. Of course,
the restaurant is going to find that's Florio's, by the way. I
think they came before you folks for something too. So
that's going to be a very interesting project. And that
could very well get into war too. And they were able to do
that without having to raise the building, which is even
more so amazing. So, you know, again, a lot of people think a
lot of people are afraid to come before the preservation
board or apply for a, you know, preservation application
because they think it's going to fail. It's going to be take
too much time. We don't we actually do not deny any. We
rarely, if ever done. If we issue a denial, it's usually
because staff recommends it. What we tend to do is we tend
to spend time if, if needed to work with the applicant to get
them to change their design, to tweak the design. And we have a
couple of very good architects that are very knowledgeable in
historic preservation. And it's, it's much more is much better
to try to work with the applicant to get them to maybe
alter something and make it a little more acceptable to the
board. We, we do that. Rarely do we ask an applicant to come
back before us. It's a radical change we're asking for. Then
we might want to see it again, but for the most part, we will
approve projects conditionally, with the applicant going back,
working with staff to make the changes that we had recommended.
So that's I think that's a very important part. We're we're
very interested in getting these projects through and not
delaying the applicant any way we can too. So I think that's
all I have. Oh, yes. This is just a review of some of our of
our board members. So again, I thank you very much. Thank you,
Vice Mayor. Great job, Terry, on the presentation. And, you
know, capturing all of that. I know we've talked about it many
other times before. There are, you know, I just watching these
pictures and listening to the discussion, I know that there
is a historical board overlay and area, but just on my
travels in district three, for example, on Park Road, right at
the Y, the old Butler house, they have a vintage signage now
that says the old Butler House. You go down Fillmore Street,
the coral Rock houses. I mean, there's just all these niches
everywhere. And I don't know, I know I brought it up in the
past. I don't know if we've gotten any legwork, but trying
to preserve some of those homes throughout the entire city of
Hollywood and almost like a tour of history, you know, that
is available, I think would be so beneficial, especially with
the growth that we have. You know, we are developing areas
and it kind of puts that change. But then to also bring back
that old school feeling and history notability throughout
the entire city, I don't know if you guys have made any
progress or any direction that is available, but there are
some really quaint areas and homes throughout the entire
city that have so much history that it would be beneficial.
Well, there's nothing that we would like better. I know a
person would like better than to see the historic districts
expanded, or at least overlay areas. And I'm so glad that you
mentioned that too, because in district three, Commissioner,
you have some of the most original mid-century modern
homes, Charles Reed homes, Klaus homes. And those are just
they're they're gems. They're spectacular. Matter of fact,
Claire is here tonight, can tell you that she lives in one
of those houses right in Park East. So, yes, there are areas.
Park Parkside south of downtown, is full of older Bayard Lukens
design homes, you know, homes that that should be saved. I
know Lynn Smith will be here later, but she lives in a very
old 1925 home that and again, there's no historic district.
There's really no no protection for them. It's just up to the
applicant for the ownership if they want to make improvements.
There's nothing that the preservation board, because
it's not part of our district, but perhaps you can provide
some type of direction. And then also just thinking ahead
of the future, like even the home, was it 1912? Right. I
think it was at the district four. Yes. Yeah. No, it was
1920 something. So there's just so much history here. Yeah. And,
and I, and I think because you are the historical board
preservation and we've talked about this, I know we have
about preserving those homes. There are some people who have
already done that, some of the names that you've mentioned.
But also providing, you know, we're a tourist area, providing
that historical tour type of map or travel that people can
actually see the history of Hollywood, where it was, where
it is and where it's, you know, going to be. So just, I don't
know if you can take that and run with it and create
something, but I think it would be so valuable. I think I see
Commissioner Shue has chimed in here, and she's probably going
to talk about the historical survey that we commissioned
some time ago, but go ahead. Well, that but I wasn't. But
yes, so we identified a lot of those houses and I couldn't
agree with you more. Vice mayor Kolody, but I see Dana gallop
here and Dana, I know it's premature and I don't want to
put you on the spot, but the historical society is trying to
encourage historic home owners to have their homes declared
historic. And Dana's been working with staff to try to
come up with like, a program so people know there is a way for
them to protect their own house from a future demolition. So I
don't know, like, I don't want to put you on the spot, but if
you want to update us on your ideas and the incentives and
where you guys are hoping to go with this. Thank you. Thank you
Commissioner. Yeah, I'm trying to work with the city because
as you may know, there are state laws now that in some
instances tie the city's hands in terms of what they can do to
preserve historic structures. And one of them is a a flood
law that basically says that if you are a property in a flood
zone, that the city is essentially powerless to stop
the demolition of that property. And we've faced that with a
number of homes last year. And structures. If you look at the
law, the flood law, there's an exception. There's three
exceptions, one of which is if a property already is on the
national, state or local designation prior to the
passage of the law 2022, that really only applies to very few
properties here. The one that I'm focused on is that post
2022. Even to today, this city can designate a property as
historic. The catch is that unlike in the past, for that
exception to apply, the property owner must consent or
apply for the, you know, for the historic designation. So
what we're trying to do with the Hollywood Historical
Society in cooperation with the city, the city already has a
historic designation program. It's already there. However,
it's to my knowledge, it's not really publicized. It's not on
the website conspicuously, and it's just not publicized. We
want to get the word out with the city. Obviously, the
historic society wants to do our part to let owners of
historic properties know that they have an opportunity to
protect their home from demolition in perpetuity in the
future, right? There are their property tax exemptions that
they could be eligible for if their designated historic. Are
you aware? I'm not aware, but that's something that should be
talked about to incentivize because in law. Yeah, yeah yeah.
Because one of the things of some sort an initiative to help
there should be. And, you know, there may be some hesitancy by
certain owners. There's a perception. I don't really
agree with the perception that if you designate your home as
historic and therefore, you know, exempt from demolition,
that somehow that might reduce the property value of, you know,
so it would be good to incentivize the current owners
of those properties, give them something to, to that runs with
the home to pass on to future owners of that property. So I
look forward to working with the city to try to publicize
that program and get as many homes, you know, designated as
possible within the historic district. Because without that,
as we've seen last year, properties have come before the
Historic Preservation Board, in some instances in front of the
commission. And that's been the the rub that that there's
really no ability to stop demolition. The only thing
really the Historic Preservation Board can do. And
they've done a great job doing this, as Terry mentioned, is
once the home is demolished, seeing that the structure that
replaces it is consistent with the neighborhood and so forth.
But, you know, we would prefer to preserve the property in the
first instance, especially when it, you know, is hopefully in
relatively good shape and can be preserved. I think we've
been good stewards on making sure that that happens in
history as we know, so important. So whatever we can
do to help. Yeah. And I'll just say that I think we had sent
Andrea and I know Danny, you've researched it. I've researched
it like what other cities are doing as far as tax incentives
or other incentives. So it's something we'll continue to
work with planning and development on to see what we
can come up with. Thank you. All right. Thank you all so
much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, everybody.
And again, from your lips to staff's ears, that's what it's
going to take at this point. So thank you again. All right.
Sustainability Advisory Committee ladies and gentlemen,
let's have Julia Politis come on up. We're not taking a
picture with them. No. These are board reports. Julia,
welcome. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, city mayor and
commission. My name is Julia Davis. I've served as chair for
the last five years for the Sustainability Advisory
Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today
for your continued commitment to advancing sustainability
within our city. I would also like to recognize our staff
liaisons, Elaine Franklin and Chris Roszak, along with our
newest team member, Melissa Fosdick, whose leadership and
collaboration have been instrumental in moving our
initiatives forward. Today, I will be reviewing our
accomplishments from the past year, as well as sharing the
priorities and initiatives we will continue advancing moving
forward. One of the key areas we focused on was micro transit
connectivity. If you can go to the next slide or is this do I
use this thing? Yes. Okay. Wonderful. Oh, here's us at the
appreciation evening that was supposed to be. There we go.
These are some of the goals that we were working on for
2025. And this is what I'm going to be reviewing today. So
moving on. One of the key areas we focused on was the micro
transit connectivity. Referenced in the slide is the
updated service area that has been implemented. We had
invited engineering staff to discuss gaps in east to west
transportation access throughout the city. As a
result, improvements were implemented to enhance
connectivity for residents who need it most. Next, we invited
public utility staff and representatives from CDM Smith
to present the city Stormwater management plan. The
presentation was extremely comprehensive, I don't think.
AM I missing oh, that's that one. My apologies. The
presentation was extremely comprehensive and we were quite
pleased to see the extensive planning and long term
strategies being developed to address flooding and resiliency
throughout the city. We have also been working with public
works on the City Community Composting pilot program to
increase participation and ensure long term success. After
evaluating community feedback, we were able to update the
program to ensure accessibility. The staff is working on
finalizing the adjustments, and we are optimistic that these
changes, combined with expanded outreach efforts, will lead to
measurable increases in participation in waste
diversion over the coming year. Moving on, our coalition has
significantly expanded to include municipalities across
both Broward and Miami-Dade counties. We are proud to share.
We have now evolved to the Sustainability Advisory
Committee Coalition of South Florida, bringing together the
cities of Coral Springs, Davie Plantation, Fort Lauderdale,
Key Biscayne, Miami Beach and Miami Shores. This expansion
strengthens our ability to align policies, share resources,
and implement cohesive sustainability strategies
across jurisdictions. One of our coalition members even
suggested creating an official logo for the coalition, which
I've been working on and is displayed on the screen today.
Key topics we are actively collaborating on with our
coalition partners include several regional sustainability
initiatives that many of our cities are currently facing
together. One of our major topics is fertilizer ordinance
alignment to help protect water quality. Earlier this year, we
submitted this recommendation to the City of Hollywood
Commission. Similar ordinances have been adopted in cities
such as Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and by aligning with
neighboring municipalities, we can help reduce nutrient
pollution entering our waterways during the rainy
season, reduce unnecessary fertilizer waste, and support
long term environmental and public health goals across our
waterways. Another major focus has been organic waste
diversion and composting programs. Many cities are
actively exploring sustainable alternatives to landfill
disposal. As South Florida is facing a waste crisis, we are
happy that the city of Hollywood is already in motion
with our current pilot program. We have also continued
discussions surrounding plastics and polystyrene
reduction policies, where Hollywood has taken a
leadership role by providing tools, resources And guidance
to neighboring municipalities. Elaine recently met with Fort
Lauderdale Sustainability Advisory Committee, which is
now pursuing similar recommendations for their own
commission. And lastly, we have noticed we all would like to
strengthen our communication and collaboration between city
and staff and sustainability advisory committees to ensure
environmental are included earlier in the planning and
decision making processes, instead of unplanned are in
their final stages. Through this coalition, we are building
a connection that was missing and sharing resources that
support support sustainability efforts across South Florida.
One of our discussions that has also expanded regionally is the
issue of artificial turf. Fort Lauderdale Sustainability
Advisory Committee recently invited experts to their
meeting, who provided a detailed presentation on the
environmental and public health impacts associated with plastic
grass. If you recall, this is an issue I raised last year in
last year's presentation and after further research, expert
discussions and reviewing lifestyle impacts, it became
clear that many of the common claims supporting artificial
turf are not the best decision for our community. This is a
multi-layered issue impacting public health, environmental
sustainability, stormwater management and long term
financial planning. When evaluated over the full life
cycle of the product, natural grass in many cases can be more
cost effective while also providing significantly greater
environmental and public health benefits. Artificial grass does
not align with our broader sustainability goals to reduce
plastics throughout our community. While we
simultaneously replace natural landscapes with synthetic
plastic materials on athletic fields and public spaces. This
creates a disconnect within our own ordinances. While
artificial turf can be used in certain circumstances at a
small scale, it should not be viewed as a long term
replacement for natural grass, which plays an important role
in cooling urban environments. Absorbing stormwater,
supporting biodiversity and helping mitigate flood impacts.
Our role is not simply to oppose solutions, but to
support informed and balanced decision making that aligns
with the city's environmental, financial and public health
priorities. We are continuing to work on this with city staff
to present a complete package. In the meantime, we recommend
prioritizing natural and sustainable solutions whenever
feasible and continuing to lead by example as a city. The
decisions made at the municipal level influence community
behavior, and it is important that our actions reflect the
sustainability values we promote. As we move forward,
our committee will continue to focus on relaunching the
composting program, developing a protocol to address water
quality issues, reviewing procurement practices and
vendor contracts to encourage stronger sustainability
commitments from the companies serving our city, and
continuing to advance recommendations related to
fertilizer ordinances and artificial turf policies
aligned with neighboring municipalities. As you can see,
our committee is actively working across multiple fronts
of to implement practical, forward thinking solutions that
benefit both our residents and our environment. This decision,
the decisions we make today, will shape the future
resilience, health, and sustainability of our city for
generations to come. We appreciate your continued
support and collaboration as we work together to build a
stronger, more sustainable Hollywood for the future. Thank
you for your time. Thank you so much to everybody who's
volunteering on the board. You guys helped take us further and
we thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all your commitments
and the staff that we continue to grow. Appreciate it. Thank
you so much. Commissioner. Real quick go ahead. Yeah, of course,
I want to say thank you, Julia, but I really just don't want it
to be lost. This idea of creating a regional group of
cities is really fantastic. It always helps to collaborate,
share ideas, and it's just another way. I know our staff
does it with their relationships with their peers
and other cities, but for you to have that volunteer
connection is great and just ask you to share with us any
good stuff that you hear. Yes, it's been very instrumental and
very resourceful for everybody. I have such great feedback from
the logo. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All right. Let's go
ahead now to the artwork selection committee. Is John
McMillan here. There he is. McMillan. Welcome. Welcome,
John. Thank you, honorable mayor, vice mayor and
commissioners. John McMillan. I'm the chair for the Art
selection committee for the City of Hollywood. Our focus is
on bringing art to the community. One of the things
that we did this year that were proud of is bringing back an
official Hollywood art festival, which was held at the Young
Circle Arts Park. It was our first year. We learned a lot.
We hope to grow and expand and ask for consideration for
increased budget. One of the other things we're looking to
do is, is bring art back to the young circle. The Arts Park
building, June 11th, we're going to be having a showcase
of local artists, and we invite you all, please to attend 6 to
9. The city's been kind enough to sponsor the event. And you
know, one thing about Hollywood that I really love is I feel
there's a great opportunity here. I've often gone to Fort
Lauderdale and other cities for art festivals, so I'm glad it's
back, I guess after an extended period of time. And hopefully,
you know, one of the things I learned is, is to create a
coalition with other interested minded people and organizations,
so it can be something premier to challenge that, perhaps Fort
Lauderdale and other cities, because I believe there's a lot
of talent here, and that's really all I have to say. Thank
you, John. Well, we love how art enriches our city and the
downtown and even the halls here at City Hall. And so thank
you for all your work of your committee. Looking forward to
more Commissioner Shuhan. Yes, sorry, John, I just want to say
I was at this the the art fest and it didn't it didn't get a
ton of publicity, but it was really beautiful. And the
artwork there was great. And for the event that you're
talking about on June 11th, I don't know about the rest of
the commission, but I don't see that on our calendar. So can
you make sure that the details get sent to maybe Joanne Hussey
or somebody that they can make sure we get it? Yes, ma'am. And
thank you. Thanks. Thank you. All right, ladies and gentlemen,
let's invite Ryan Coots, director of Housing and
Community Development, to talk to us about the fiscal year
2025 office overview. Your staff has been sitting here, I
think, pretty patiently. Or is that financial services staff?
That's finance. Good afternoon. Mayor, vice mayor,
commissioners. City manager, deputy city manager. City
attorney Ryan Coots. Community development, housing and
community development director. And I'm here to provide the
commission with an overview of how we're leveraging not only
the Ila, but our other dollars to make an impact in the city
of Hollywood. So bear with me as I go through a few slides.
I'll be brief. I know we got a long day today, but I want to
make sure you have understanding of how your
dollars are making an impact in this community. So. Our Cdbg is
the first one I want to talk about and how we're leveraging
those dollars to make improvements to city facilities,
and also helping our nonprofit partners to be more impactful.
One of the one of the things that we did this year was
provide the Boys and Girls Club at the Boulevard Heights Center
with $250,000 in Cdbg dollars to help them with their current
expansion of the Teen Center. We're proud of this initiative
because it provides teenagers with an access point where they
can go learn, they can tutor and have different activities
to help keep them engaged. We're also entertaining right
now with them another offer, because they've encountered
some cost overruns that were unexpected in the construction,
and we do have additional Cdbg dollars that we can help them
to move this project forward so they can complete their project
in time. So we'll be bringing that to the Commission for
consideration as well too. We also supported an initiative at
Bob Butterworth Park where we improved that park with Cdbg
dollars and also adequate with Memorial as well too. This is
going to bring another level to the park, make it more a
walking path, benches, a memorial, make the park more
conducive for people to use that park every day. We also
work closely with Parks and Recreation, and we provide them
with over $400,000 to purchase much needed equipment,
furniture and other resources for a lot of our parks and
community centers throughout the city of Hollywood. And
we're currently working with our our partners over at Public
Works to do about 600,000 Cdbg to purchase much needed street
lights to replace broken street lights damaged. I'm sorry,
damaged streetlights and install new street lights and a
lot of our LMI areas. So you can see our Cdbg Cdbg dollars
at work in this slide. Now I'm not going to take too much time
with this one, because you're going to be hearing from Mitch
Anton in the next meeting, who is the chair of our CDB board,
to really focus on our public services. But at a high level,
we gave about $237,000 in public service dollars, a
combination of Cdbg and CV dollars to various nonprofits
in Hollywood that provide everything from food assistance
to essential services to people in need. But you'll hear more
from that when Mitch comes up next meeting to discuss how
they move those dollars forward and how we're impacting the
city with those now, our rehab program, it's a pretty robust
program. I'm proud to say that with our neighborhood pride and
our federally funded and state funded rehab program, we
accomplished 92 rehabs last year, 70% of which were Ila.
That's 64 of them. 82 were from the ship funded programs. This
year we're on right now. We're already at 49 this year. I
don't think we're going to quite get to 92 because we're
way ahead by this. We're about 56 by this time last year, but
we'll come very close to that number this year, which is a
good, good thing for us because it shows that the program works
and people are getting their houses repaired, and we're
doing what it's intended to do. We did about nine owner I'm
sorry, nine first time home buyer purchases last year. This
year alone we're already at eight. So we definitely want to
make sure we beat that goal because that program is picking
up steam. Once again, a lot of condos. We're going to figure
out some ways to get some more of these single family homes
sold. We got to look at that a little bit deeper, but we are
moving to beat that goal of nine last year, and we will
because we already have three right now that are in the
hopper. And as they go through the process, hopefully those
can be added to this list. And we want to do a lot more with
that program. Of course, our Ila not only pays for
affordable housing and rehab, but also provides
infrastructure funding. So we work closely with engineering
and public works to provide the dollars that they need to do
sidewalk improvements. Ada add Ada accessible ramps and
sidewalks, and also other things that are needed within
our LMI communities to make sure people can traverse the
community safely. In addition to that, what you don't see
here is we also partner closely with Cmet on the work skills
portion. Proud to say that last last cycle they partnered with
OIC through the fiber optic program. In all 11, all 11
residents that participated graduated with a certificate
and they're on pace this year. They've partnered with the Boys
and Girls Club. This year, they've partnered with OIC
again, and they've also partnered with Junior
Achievement to administer programs for people who want
apprenticeships and job skill development. So that program is
moving forward as well, nicely as well. Of course, our
affordable housing initiatives this year to date, we have
approximately about 862 affordable units that have come,
that are coming, that are online or coming online for the
city of Hollywood. And we've expended about over $9 million
in gap financing to help bring much needed affordable housing
to the city of Hollywood. And of course, other things that
you wouldn't know that we are doing in the city right now
with our home funding. We're actually partnered with
planning right now, and we're actually providing the
resources for the Housing Needs Assessment study. So we're
using home dollars to actually pay for that study. That will
play a role in developing the comprehensive plan. We also use
our home dollars to provide tenant based rental assistance.
And that program is actually very important because it's
preventing people from becoming homeless or entering into
homelessness. So we provide them with a subsidy for a
couple of months to get them situated. The nonprofit
provides much more than just that, but wraparound services
to make sure they're financially stable. They have
the skills and resources to become independent once they're
weaned off the program. In addition to that, we also have
home AARP money, where we're partnering with the task force
and homelessness, who are here right now, and they'll be
presenting to you guys later on today about an initiative that
we had a couple of weeks back where we're on the street with
Commissioner Hernandez, Gruber, and Biederman, where you engage
the population in in Hollywood. You'll hear more from Jacob on
that in a few. But what they do for us in a multi-year contract
is they provide active street outreach. So they're engaging
people who are experiencing unsheltered population. They're
engaging them on the street to give them the resources and try
to move them out of try to effectively move them from
homelessness to some kind of stable placement. So we use
home ARP money for that. We have a multiyear agreement with
them to provide these services. We also partner with the
Broward Outreach Center or the Caring Place, and they're here
to as well. I think Keith, back there right now, and they
provide we use home ARP dollars on a multi-year contract to as
well for that. And we provide emergency shelter, case
management, workforce development, and housing
placements. It's a full gamut of wraparound services on
average. Well, every quarter they're providing about 30
households at that program with services. So it's a lot going
on with that program. And that program, believe it or not, has
both. Those programs have really organically worked to
improve our community core initiative. You know, we
received Department of Justice funding for our Community Core
initiative. We're in the third year of a five year program,
and this program has really taken off. And a lot of it has
to do with the staff and Blaine, who works in the program. As
you can see, these numbers are very impressive. You know, 21
people have graduated, have attained some kind of housing.
That's a big deal when it comes to somebody who's chronically
homeless. You have over 762 clients that are served in the
program. So why I say that is because the program is held in
the in the Broad outreach center right now. We have a
natural relationship with them where somebody can go from
community court into placement, but the task force is there as
well to, to connect them to all other services that are in the
area. If you've never been to the program, I urge you to come
and take a look at the program. It's pretty dynamic how it
works and you see where it's making an impact in the city.
And of course, everything we do here is these four pillars that
we try to preserve and expand affordable housing. We want to
improve neighborhood infrastructure. We want to
support vulnerable populations. We want to enhance the overall
community stability, community development. And with that, I
know I was quick, but you got a long day today, and these are
just some highlights of what we've done last year. And if
there's any questions, I'm here to answer them. So Ryan, thank
you so much. We love the reach and the number of programs that
community development has been able to usher into the
community, just as a concerns us with regards to the
neighborhood pride program and the Ila with the county. If
there are categories of work or you think percentage thresholds
that the agreement might have not have contemplated, you know,
when we first adopted it, I'd like to hear what the feedback
of staff, if there are those areas where, you know,
percentages again, ought to be tweaked for the sake of
maximizing the deployment of dollars, you know, without
delay, let us know. We'd love to engage the county with that
if necessary, and help to keep things fluid if you find reason.
Absolutely. Well, the city manager already asked us to
look into these things, and we are actively working that with
deputy deputy city manager and city manager story. We're
looking at these things right now. Looking forward to hearing
about that at the next meeting. Yes, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Let's go
ahead. Thank you for your patience. Mr. Jacob Turner,
vice president of programs for the Task Force for Ending
Homelessness and Finance. You guys are up next. I was going
to say I'm not I'm not here to represent finance. No mayor,
vice mayor, members of the commission. Thank you. Jacob
Turner, vice president of programs at the Task Force for
Ending Homelessness. Before I get into the data that we're
going to share with you, I just want to take a moment to
congratulate this body and all of your charter officers. As
someone who grew up here and spends lots of time in
Hollywood, downtown and on the beach, it's no surprise to
anyone that each year, each day, Hollywood becomes more
beautiful and more invested in the residents and the community.
And we heard that from all the presentations this morning. So
I just want to thank you all. Today I'm going to inform you
about the voices of the street activity which took place here
in Hollywood on March 10th. It was done as a collaborative
effort. Voices of the Street is performed on years where the
county board votes to not conduct a federal point in time
count, and the purpose of the voices of the Street survey is
to serve. In lieu of that point in time, count and offer
municipalities an opportunity to have data on the people on
the streets, but more importantly, to be able to
leverage that data to drive solutions and strategies that
clean up our streets and get people the help they need. As
you see on your screen, just a couple of pictures from those
who were involved in voices of the Street, Hollywood Police
Department and Hollywood Fire Rescue, brave men and women who
protect our communities every day made it a point to very
much participate in this activity. Officer Chung, who
I'm sure is no stranger to this city, works tirelessly every
day and has I think he's the longest standing homeless
outreach officer in the entire county because he is so
committed to this work and made this event a success. Similarly,
you see your Department of Housing and Community
Development, Ryan, Angela, and Sabrina, who also were
instrumental in this. And of course, can't forget the
commissioner who's on our screen today. Commissioner
Gruber, thank you for being there. Similarly, thank you,
Commissioner Hernandez and Commissioner Biderman. As Ryan
said, these commissioners were not just at the event. They
were on the ground. If they were wearing shoes with white
soles that day, those shoes left dirty because they really
got into the trenches and we appreciate them for that. So a
couple of things before we get into the data we mentioned on
the ground support from this commission, we had over 72
volunteers from this county come into Hollywood and support
this initiative. In addition to our public safety partners, we
had corporations like City National Bank send their staff.
We had educational institutions like Nova Southeastern
University, both their medical school and their public health
school. All volunteers receive training, which was conducted
with our friends at the County Commission chambers. We
partnered with, very importantly, The Caring Place,
who provided us with a headquarter location perfectly
situated right there on Scott Street. And as you know, The
Caring Place does so much for this community and its
residents. So I just want to extend an appreciation to you
and your team. Laundry spot, which actually provides laundry
services to those who are experiencing homelessness on a
recurring schedule and many, many others. More than 100
hygiene kits were prepared. Yes, ma'am. That's correct. Thank
you, Vice Mayor. It is Miss Einhorn's laundry. Over 100
hygiene kits were prepared by our NSU students and passed out,
and we had some unintended or unexpected successes where we
were actually able to get people off the streets. Same
day during the activity. So getting into the data, why you
all are here. We collected 231 surveys on March 10th. The
number I want you all to focus on is 198, which were collected
here in the city limits within the jurisdiction of Hollywood.
We conducted 95 interviews, which are long form interviews
and 136 short term or short form interviews, also known as
observations. 33 responses were collected outside of Hollywood.
However, that is significant and should be to this
commission because we examined where those individuals were
identified and they were directly on your border with
your neighboring jurisdictions. Getting into demographics, we
saw that demographics in Hollywood similarly reflect the
county wide demographics for those who experience
homelessness in age, we notice a significant population of
individuals who are over the age of 55. And so what I like
to say when I see that is that we have a graying and aging
crisis of homelessness. I'm sure you all see as you travel,
the communities, people who are out there on the streets are
using walkers. They're being pushed by someone in a
wheelchair. Some of those people are actually younger,
but many of them are aging and they're aging on the streets.
We also had six honorable veterans who served our
community, our country, and our community who are still living
out there on the streets. That's unacceptable.
Fortunately, with our close partners at the Department of
Veterans Affairs who are on the ground with us that day, we
were able to connect veterans to support services. It was
also notable that over 32% of the respondents reported that
they're struggling with mental health issues. Over 21
respondents reported an alcohol and substance use disorder.
Fifth with a physical health condition, and a quarter of the
respondents with other chronic health conditions all very
significant. When you think about the strategies that we
need to use to address homelessness, and we're going
to talk about a summary of our findings and recommendations.
At the end, where people were sleeping was also significant
because, as you all know, section one, 25.0231 Florida
statutes created Florida's public camping law, which
resulted from a previous state legislative session. And this
municipality, along with every other one in this state, has an
obligation to not allow regular overnight public camping. And
so when we looked at where people were sleeping on the
night that we surveyed, we found a large portion of
respondents are sleeping in public spaces, people sleeping
on streets and sidewalks, in parks, forming outdoor
encampments at our bus benches and train stations, under
bridges, and even some who are in their vehicles or on a boat.
We also looked at whether or not this was the first time
that person had experienced homelessness. And what we saw,
shockingly, was that 40% of the respondents had become
homelessness for the first had become homeless for the first
time during that occurrence. Similarly, how long people have
been experiencing homelessness was very interesting to collect
in this community. What we found was that while there is a
large number of people who have been experiencing homelessness
for greater than 36 months, there is consistent with that
observation in the previous question, a good amount of
folks who have just become homeless, and that represents
what we call a front end crisis. We also looked at how long the
people that we were surveying stayed on this in a shelter or
somewhere other than on the streets over the last three
years. And we found that some of them, 32% in particular,
stayed off the streets for 0 to 3 months. Employment was only
at 11%. And we know that for people to be successful, they
need to have income. There needs to be economic prosperity
and opportunities for the people that we serve. And so
this directs our energy and our resources to ensuring that
people do become employed, not just housed people in Hollywood
and whether or not they've been in Hollywood for a significant
period of time was also something we assessed. More
than 45 of the respondents had been in Hollywood for greater
than three years. Common misconception, I hear, and I
deal with probably more than a dozen municipalities each and
every week, is that people come to my city to be homeless, or
someone sends the homeless to our community because we have
great resources or we have lax policing. But the reality is,
Mr. Mayor, commissioners, a large portion of the people on
your streets are actually Hollywood residents. And as you
saw in the previous slide, a large amount of them have just
become homeless. We also looked at whether or not folks are
receiving disability benefits, and nearly 70% of the people in
Hollywood experiencing homelessness are not receiving
mainstream benefits. So to wrap things up, what we're seeing,
Mr. Mayor, Commissioner, is 46% of people are visible in our
community at a minimum, meaning that they're living on streets
and sidewalks and public spaces, which impacts community safety
and quality of life. As I mentioned, there is a front end
crisis. And I'll be fair, this is not limited to Hollywood nor
Broward County. And I know you all know that 40% of people
were first time homeless, 18% within 0 to 3 months. And that
tells us that economic instability and the rising
costs of housing is driving this crisis. We also know that
needs are very complex. We're not talking about a single need
when we're talking about helping someone get off the
streets. We're talking about health. We're talking about job
training, we're talking about family support. We're talking
about transportation barriers. The list goes on. But what we
know for sure, based on the data that we've collected, is
that a housing only approach is not effective. The approach
that is proven to be most successful is an approach that
involves wraparound support, addressing the complex layer of
needs that folks have. And so what must happen next? What can
this commission do? And how can you direct staff to continue
making the great impact that you all have done? We need to
act early to prevent homelessness. Some of those
programs you heard Mr. Coote talking about, you all could
consider, or that advisory board could consider looking at
preventing homelessness for residents of Hollywood,
ensuring that if someone's receiving an eviction notice in
the city of Hollywood, that their support, that there's
interventions to determine how they got there in the first
place, address those issues that led them there, and keep
them in their house so that Hollywood doesn't have more
people hitting the streets. Similarly, on the unsheltered
side, we need to keep outreach strong and visible. As Mr. Cook
mentioned, our task force teams work on the streets seven days
a week, engaging with people, responding to calls from
business owners, calls from the city that receive complaints.
And that is critical because these are the folks who are
engaging them on the front lines, and they're the ones
building the trust and rapport necessary to motivate them to
take the help that's there for them. We also are recommending
to you formally that you consider a Co-response model.
Earlier this year, the town of Davie Town Council Co-response
model. Yes. Vice mayor. Earlier this year, the Town of Davie
Town Council unanimously approved and implemented a new
program that we launched in collaboration with them, which
places a trained recovery and housing specialist from the
task force in a marked police car 40 hours a week. They're
responding to calls for service, they're intervening in crisis
situations. And very importantly and significantly,
they've gotten more than a dozen people off the streets in
just their first few months. And that's Town of Davie, which
is pretty small with respect to this large city we're in today.
So we do see that as a model to replicate. We also need to
swiftly resolve encampments. I want to appreciate Mr. Coupe,
Miss Blaine from the the community development team. The
moment that a resident or a business owner reports an
encampment or concerns at a public park, they immediately
notify us of that. And our response time has been
maintained at an average of 42 minutes to resolve those,
ensuring that we're responding in person, addressing the
complaint, whether that's helping that individual get
into treatment or shelter, or just empowering them to find
somewhere that's a little bit better than staying in one of
our public parks while they make that decision themselves.
A third, balancing immediate responses with long term
stability. This is the challenge. We know that, you
know, the science to ending homelessness is pretty simple.
We need to have a greater outflow rate than we do inflow
rate to lower our population and get to a place where it's a
little bit more manageable. And you do that by long term
strategies, getting people out of the system. But at the same
time, we need to keep our streets and public spaces safe
and clear. So that's where you balance the great investments
you make, like at the Caring Place to ensure that there's
shelter beds available for someone that day when they need
them. And fourth is scaling clinical services. Back to our
previous slide on findings. These are complex needs. We
can't just address them with housing or with case management.
So what we've done since this on March 10th is we've directed
our behavioral health department, which is comprised
of several licensed mental health professionals, to surge
in the city of Hollywood. And so they're now also working on
the streets more frequently in this community, consistent with
what they're doing county wide. So with that, happy to take any
questions. And I appreciate you all for your leadership to this
community. Thank you. Madam Vice Mayor. So thank you for
the presentation. It's very eye opening, obviously, for those
who aren't aware of the homelessness issue that's going
on. We did have, though, a officer a while back that was
geared only towards homelessness. Thank you,
Officer Chung, for everything you do. You're amazing. But I
know that the burnout rate is particularly high in that
position. And in addition to that, I remember and I don't
know if things have changed, but the resource officer would
go and try to provide how, you know, get them out of their
cars or get them in shelter. And there were a lot of
obstacles, a availability be if they were, you know, a lot of
homeless have a pet with them. And these facilities don't
accept that the willing, you know, the with children, some
weren't accepted. So there were so many challenges. Have we
made any progress with those challenges? And if so, what
could those be if you could enlighten us? Thank you for the
question, Vice Mayor. Quite a large question. But I would say,
generally speaking, there's still a number of challenges
with if we wanted to say, how do we end homelessness today in
the city of Hollywood? Primarily we have a higher
number of people than we do capacity for emergency
interventions like shelters and transitional housing and
treatment beds. So it starts there. It starts with ensuring
that there's an adequate supply of stock, housing, stock,
emergency housing stock for people to get off the streets.
I do think we've made progress. Just in 2025, we released our
annual report last week. Over 4000 people have been assisted
countywide in getting into shelter. A large percentage of
that's right here in the city. It's also thanks to this
commission for funding the Caring Place directly. For many
years that I worked in this community, they did not receive
support. I believe in this capacity from the city. And
that's critical because our teams work side by side with
them to ensure that if we find someone on the streets, we can
get them into shelter. If the beds are full, Keith and his
team do a great job of letting us know as soon as that beds
available, so we can make that connection. We've also expanded
partnerships on the treatment side, so that's another way I
think, that we've made improvements in that area. Vice
mayor, I'm ensuring that with relationships at the Broward
Addiction Recovery Center and other short term and long term
residential programs, we're able to get people off the
streets same day. And then last, I'll just say to your point,
the officers are definitely challenged. They work so hard.
Their primary responsibility is to protect the community, and
they do that so well. And that's one of the reasons why
we're recommending this particular model, is because
they no longer have to call for someone to come out, wait 30
minutes, wait an hour, wait a day. They have to go to another
call for service in that time. This allows the intervention to
occur right away, and it allows that knowledge to be there for
not just that individual officer, but for the department
and public safety as a whole. Awesome. Thank you, thank you.
Well, thank you and thank you, Commissioner Gruber, for your
work on the COC and working hand in hand with everyone
regarding homelessness. It was kind of a surprising but not
surprising to see what I thought I saw, which was a
statistic that 79% of the homeless folks who you've
encountered have a mental health or a substance abuse
issue. So that, you know, goes a long way to discussing what,
you know, what we, we as a, as a society and as a country need
to help to overcome and, and help help with in the years
ahead, because that seems to be beyond the financial aspect
that can cause homelessness. Part of the reason why there is
an inability to get out of it for, for those who, you know,
don't have the mental capacity or perhaps have the dependency
issues and addictions that are a problem. But thanks to you,
the task force, thanks to the police department for doing
their part, we want to make sure the streets are safe and
the laws are enforced here in the city, and that people get
the help they need at the same time. So thank you so much.
Thank you. All right. And shout out to The Caring Place. Of
course, Kevin and Team, thank you so much. You guys are an
indispensable partner. Thank you so much. All right, finance
team and Mr. Quinlan, you'll be next, James. But let's go ahead
first to a presentation by Moises Ariza. He's the partner
with Hermes, also with Hermes Garzon who's our director of
Cbiz Inc. and they'll present the fiscal year 2025 Annual
Comprehensive Financial report and the fiscal year audit
results. And we, of course, have Miss Stephanie Tinsley,
our financial director, right here in the city at the podium.
Thank you Stephanie. Okay. Thank you mayor. Good afternoon,
mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city manager and
staff. My name is Stephanie Tinsley. I'm the city. City
manager. Sorry, I promote myself. Director of finance.
She's not ready to retire yet, but thanks for letting us know
you're interested. There you go. I don't know, I was thinking
director of financial services for the City of Hollywood. I am
pleased to present the FY 2025 act for. I just wanted to make
a few comments before I turn it over to her. Hermes Garzon for
his official presentation of the act for. Again this year we
received an unmodified or clean opinion with no repeat findings
or no findings at all. So that was a big one. All of our major
governmental and enterprise funds are in really good shape,
either meeting or exceeding our fund balance policy minimums.
So so really a positive thing as well. The city expended
approximately $50 million in grant finance and grant
financing, and that also requires additional audit
procedures. And with that, there were no compliance issues
and no internal deficiencies or anything as well. So we did
very well with our expenditures there. We met all of our debt
and investment policy requirements, and the OCC for
this year was issued on May 5th, which was three weeks earlier
than last year. And it's ten it's been ten years since the
city of Hollywood had issued the act for this early. And so
I just like to recognize the Department of Financial
Services staff because without their commitment, their work
ethic and their strong dedication, with all the
competing initiatives and priorities that they had this
year, that would definitely not have been possible. And I'd
like to acknowledge the team. I asked them to come up to be up
here so that they can be acknowledged and recognized for
all the hard work that they did. So come on up, come on up,
finance team. You've been sitting for two hours. Come on
up. Such a patient group. They're shy group, just like we
all are. Come on up. Stretch your legs. Coffee outside.
Compliments of city manager Stephanie Tinsley. Yeah. And so
this. Where's the coffee, HR? Tammy. Where's that? Where's
that Cuban coffee? Tammy. Yeah. And so this is this is your
finance team here. Thank you for keeping us in check,
everybody. And according to our auditors, you guys are doing a
great job. And please, if you recognize opportunities for the
city to any department to be smarter or see opportunity in
dollars that might be, quote unquote, sitting there, please
let Miss Tinsley know. She'll tell the city manager and the
city manager will tell us. And it's a theme here because we
want to take advantage of all the opportunities to help every
department and every aspect of the city move forward. And you
all kind of probably see the bigger picture when looking at
numbers than people that are necessarily working in the
department sometimes. So please report up. Stephanie, of course,
as your director, you know, communicates that and we hope
to again, put all the dollars to good work and keep, of
course, the city functioning and appropriate, you know,
accounting principles and what have you. So I think that's a
great lay up to our auditor who found nothing. Go ahead. Come
on up, auditor. We try to give you an interesting job and it's
okay if it's boring, you know, because no news is good news
when it comes to you, right? Stephanie made my job very,
very easy this time around. So I think she gave a great
summary. Just a very quick introduction. My name is Hermes
Garrison. I'm a director for Cbiz CPAs and which is external
auditor of the city. So the only thing I would actually add
to that, she's absolutely correct. As far as the
financial statement opinion, we received an unmodified, clean
opinion. There were no you can stay standing if you like. I
mean, you probably want to stretch your legs, but if you
want to sit, go ahead. There were there were no significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses. The only thing I
would highlight is there was a single audit that was performed,
and the single audit is just triggered when the city expends
more than $1 million on from federal awards or federal
assistance and 750,000 on the state side. So we picked four
programs in total. Those programs were the staffing for
adequate fire and emergency response or safer grant, the
Arpa funds. So the coronavirus state and local recovery funds.
So those were the two federal. And then for the state side, we
selected the drinking water facility construction program
and the Resilient Florida program. So nothing to nothing
to report there as well, but just wanted to at least
identify the actual programs that were tested. Okay. And
that concludes my thank you so much. I know the aquifer is a
full on book. And , you know, this weekend during Memorial
Day, and we know we're going to have nothing better to do but
to read the financial report and ask Stephanie any questions
we might have. Thank you all so much. All right. Appreciate it.
All right. Thank you, finance team. Thank you. Let's get to
item ten. Where's James Quinlan another fellow who's been
patiently waiting two hours. I see Adam here, folks from the
Rhythm Foundation. Let's talk jazz. Item ten. I believe there
was a speaker card the clerk had told me. And so that's
what's kept us waiting. This, of course, is the resolution of
the city Commission authorizing the city to execute a concert
agreement with Rhythm Foundation Inc to provide
producer services for the jazz festival concerts at the Arts
Park in an amount up to $250,000, according to the
Procurement Court Code. As a best interest, this will
require a 5/7 vote, of course, and I know we've had a chance
probably to talk about this item during our one on ones.
Claire, come on up. Terry as well. They submitted the cards,
but let's go ahead and have James present. But Claire and
Terry and their desire to speak on this is what's kept you here
for two hours. But that's okay because hopefully, hopefully
you've enjoyed, you know, sitting here and listening to
the wheels of, of the City Hall, you know, at play here at the
City Commission meeting. All right, James, Adam, take it
away. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mayor and commission and
esteemed administration here today. We are really, really
proud to be in front of you today. This is the revival, if
you would, of the historic jazz festival in Hollywood. A lot of
people do remember that. That was the prior bandshell to the
amphitheater, and it ran for about 20 years, closed when the
amphitheater was being built. And there's a groundswell that
we've been feeling for bringing it back. And we've we've taken
on the challenge. We have a new idea, though. It's going to be
a bit of a twist. It's going to be something that we think will
really stand out in the marketplace and become not just
a local and regional event, but something that is nationally
recognized and celebrated. We're talking about the
Hollywood Real Jazz Picnic, and that's the working title of the
project that would have a culinary component. That's the
picnic component. We will be working with the local
businesses to provide an opportunity to preorder a
picnic that you will be able to pick up in the Arts Park on the
day of the event, November 21st of this year, there will be a
picnic provider, if you will as well. Helping with the setups
and creating kind of a very interesting opportunity for
people to be in the park in the afternoon and into the evening
of Saturday. It's not going to be a late night show. It's not
going to be your typical concert. It's going to be a six
hour presentation of six different groups, three from
national and international recognition and three local
groups running continuously during that period, from 2 p.m.
to 8 p.m. on the 21st. And one of the things we're really
excited about that's going to make it a national project is
the partnership affiliation that we have now verbally
agreed with the Sirius XM satellite broadcaster, which is,
as you know, not just the US, but it is all around the world
continuous signal that they provide. And through their real
jazz channel, we'll have their personalities on site, as well
as a live transmission from Hollywood during the event and
use of the materials afterwards that they'll be recording. So
that profile, we think, will really give us a great head
start in establishing something that's new and special. It's
going to be distinct, I think we think, from any other jazz
offerings in the market, and we think it's going to have a
really strong appeal to families and also be supporting
the downtown businesses. With the 8 p.m. cut off time, we're
going to encourage people to go into the downtown district,
district, historic district and check out the fine dining
opportunities. So we'll be interacting in a couple of ways
with those businesses to try to also connect to this event.
What else am I going to say? We really are very excited about
the brand. We are bringing in people to support us. Specific.
If once we get commitments here, we can go forward and really
make it happen. We think in a very established way and
something that we can all celebrate and be proud of. My
colleague Adam, the CEO of Rhythm Foundation, by the way,
I'm James Quinlan. I don't think I introduced myself, for
those of you that don't know me, I am the founder and now senior
advisor of the Rhythm Foundation. We've been
producing events in Florida since 1988. And thank you,
James. And again, thank you to our esteemed dais here. Two
other things I'd like to add to to James statements. The jazz
festival is actually a two day affair. It begins with the tree
lighting ceremony on the Friday, on the Friday night. So let's
say call it a day and a half. So we also have programing that
is associated with the the tree lighting and the holiday market.
And then Saturday is the is the 2 to 6 kind of full day
experience. And by way of a proof of concept to gauge the
local actual demand for a jazz programing, we had a show on
Saturday night at the Arts Park featuring kind of straight
ahead real jazz talent. The vice mayor. We were happy to
privilege to have her attendance to be able to. Oh,
sorry, Commissioner. Oh. Excuse me. Pardon, sorry. With the.
The Commissioner was able to address the crowd. We had
something like between 900 and 1000 people there throughout
the course of the night. The entire lawn was filled with
lovely. It was a it was a very family friendly and a bit of an
older, more mature crowd. So it was a lot of, you know, picnics
and bottles of wine and little pieces of cheese. So it was a
really lovely experience. I do want to give a chance for our
other speakers to come up. And then, and then I've got some
other little notes to. All right, let's go ahead and take
public comment. Claire, come on up. Claire Garrett. Thank you,
mayor and commissioners. I'm here to speak in support of
approval of the Jazz Festival agreement with the Rhythm
Foundation. It was just a little over a year ago, on
March 6th, 2025, that the PRCA Advisory board sent you a
letter recommending that the city bring back the beloved
Hollywood Jazz Festival, using new county grant funding
available for cultural festivals. I'm also here to
thank the mayor and thank the commissioners for giving
serious consideration to the advisory board's recommendation,
and then for actually supporting it. This
recommendation to bring back the Hollywood Jazz Festival met
with strong support when it appeared for discussion two
short weeks later, on March 19th, 2025, on the City
Commission agenda, which resulted in the city manager
being given the direction to explore options and then to
bring it back in a month to you for further discussion. Parks
Director Rickey Engle and his city staff, they worked
expeditiously to do that research in record time, gather
the necessary information, and here we are, just one short
year later, looking forward to the return of the Hollywood
Jazz Festival. It is with great enthusiasm that I encourage
approval today of the agreement with Rhythm Foundation, which
is recognized as the foremost presenter of world music and
cultural events in South Florida, with a long history of
producing successful jazz concerts and festivals. Based
on their extensive track record, I am confident that the Rhythm
Foundation will produce a successful event that will not
only be enjoyed by our local residents, but that will put
Hollywood on the national map for jazz enthusiasts to come to
visit Hollywood specifically for the jazz festival. This
type of marketing and economic benefit to the city is
priceless. In closing, I just want to also say how gratifying
it is to me as an advisory board member, to see that my
service on an advisory board can result in something so
positive for the city of Hollywood, such as the return
of a festival like this. So thank you for the opportunity
to serve on the PRCA Advisory Board. Terry Cantrell, thank
you very much. Mayor Terry Cantrell I avid, avid jazz fan.
I'm here to tell you, I have proud to say that I attended
every single Hollywood jazz festival in the 80s and the 90s,
and even when they moved off site to a different location,
it was a partnership with the city, Parks and Rec. And Doctor
Ron Weber formed a group called the South Florida Jazz Group,
and he moved over to different areas when he left Hollywood.
But I just returned from New York City over the weekend,
went to two jazz shows, one at Disney's Jazz Club in Columbus
Circle, and then Birdland, famous Birdland in Broadway
area. And they were jam packed both nights with acts. So I
encourage that. I'd also like to compliment Ricky Engle and
his staff for including a couple of US residents in the
early stages of the planning. I was happy to sit in and talk
about the experiences that we had back in the 80s and 90s. I
still have some brochures that I. I shared with them some of
the programs from back then too. So this is an absolute home run
for us, and it's nothing but positive that will come out of
this show. I can't wait, thank you. Thank you Adam. You're
welcome to close out. Thank you very much. And so, you know, we
have a really exciting opportunity here to to help
pick up the torch and, and, and revive a longtime festival. We
have the pieces in place to already to position this as, as,
as a, as a nationally recognized festival as it for
it to become a destination for folks, you know, this part of
this program is about, you know, supporting the local businesses
and the broader brand of Hollywood as a center of arts
and culture and a place with a really high level of quality of
quality of life. I also look forward to sitting down with
each of you independently over the course of the next few
weeks to lay out the broader vision for the the management
of the of the Arts Park and what that that, that future
looks like by way of a preview. It will. It's we are working on
a mix of various types of, of programs ranging from
performances of showcases of locally based talent to larger
cultural festivals. Like, for instance, in late August, early
September, we want to do a optimal autumnal Asian festival
called the Mooncake Festival, which we're very excited about,
as well as things like Record Fair, so on and so forth, mixed
in with larger, larger kind of big ticket marquee names. That
would be those would be ticketed concerts. While many,
many of the of the other programs will remain free and
open to the community as a way to attract more, more traffic
to, to downtown and encourage downtown as a place where
people can really can live, work and play. So I'll be
reaching out to you all over the coming days to set up these
times and look forward to that opportunity to sit down with
you all. Thank you. Adam, do you expect the same older
demographic that you saw this weekend at the Jazz festival? I
anticipate that it will be very similar per. But since it's a
daytime, we're hoping to create programs that will encourage
more families to to come as well. Yeah. All right. Well, if
we know there's going to be an older demographic, maybe as we
contemplate, you know, kind of corresponding opportunities,
advertisements of downtown, we take into consideration what
the demographic is and tailor the, you know, the ancillary
kind of opportunities to sharing with that demographic
the opportunities that exist downtown and what they might
enjoy. If it's wine, then we've got the vintage on Harrison as
an example and different things like that. So different things.
So let's go to Commissioner Quintana. Thank you. Mayor. I
just wanted to share my experience when I was there on
Saturday. First of all, I haven't seen my husband that
excited about seeing live music since we moved to Florida 25
years ago. He's he's a musician himself, and he was so very
impressed with the quality of the performance. I mean, every
time we've been down there since Rhythm Foundation has
been bringing acts, we've been very impressed. All really
great programs. And maybe because I'm an older
demographic, but I didn't think it was really like that old.
And one of the things my husband commented on was how
wonderful it was that people brought children, because
otherwise children might never be exposed to that kind of
music. And to just see live music that's actually being
played by people who have mastered their instrument is a
special thing these days. And then to have I saw people of
all ages there, but it was just such a great vibe. And then the,
the Dillard Center for the Arts Jazz Group, I mean, those kids,
sophomores and juniors totally blew everybody out. I mean, we
were all so impressed. Amazing performances by local young
people. I just, I and it was such a great feeling among the
crowd. People were very friendly. And it's just like,
I'm very excited about the jazz festival coming. I'm sorry you
called it the the Jazz Picnic, was it? That's correct. Yes,
yes. So looking forward to all the creative ideas that you
guys have to really make sure that we involve the surrounding
business community in this event. So just wanted to share
that. And thank you so much for joining us on Friday. Dillard
is also slated to perform at the tree lighting ceremony as
well. So that should be really fun. All right. Great segue to
Vice Mayor Collier. She's all about the tree lighting. Yeah.
Just out of curiosity, you said that that you would the time
frame would be closing early. Like what exactly time frame is
that for? For Saturday. It's so it'll run. The show is slated
to run from 2 to 8 p.m. So we talk about performances and how
it benefits the downtown as well. Brings the foot traffic
in. So just out of thought and you said you have Dillard's
bands, and I know that probably the performers that are at the
jazz festival are in high demand and costs, but perhaps
coordinating with the Downtown Business Association, you could
do jazz in the street that follows after the concert, and
there could be performers in the street. And that way it
encourages that foot traffic to bleed into the downtown, you
know, after dinner drinks and listen to some jazz so that,
you know, many want to continue the excitement. So jazz in the
street, I think, would be something really exciting for
the Downtown Business Association. So I don't know
how we would coordinate that with the Rhythm Foundation,
just to kind of like give them names or work together with
them to promote that so that it just is a, you know, a win win
for everyone. I think it would be great. That's a, that's a
fantastic idea. And I would love to be connected with them.
And we have an associate producer that we've brought on
to really help us with this. And they're the one that's out
there pounding the pavement with those downtown Hollywood.
Perfect. Fantastic. That's a great idea. All right, let's go
to Commissioner Gruber. And at some point, let's make a motion
to approve. Thank you. And I reached out to James yesterday.
I appreciate you talking to me. And I also I reached out to
Mark Rowe yesterday as well, because I knew that we had done
the Jazz on Saturday night. And, you know, I'm all about
activating the park. But one of the things I want to do,
especially when we're using taxpayer dollars for our own
shows, is make sure that there's an economic impact on
the businesses downtown. And Mark did tell me there really
wasn't much impact. It was a slow night. And James, you and
I had a good conversation about it, and you told me what would
be different with this jazz festival, the way you're going
about it, engaging the business on a national scale, and that
the music is a little bit more mainstream, that type of thing.
So and everything you said, I appreciated it and, you know,
and I support it. So I appreciate that. Just to to go
over Friday night and Saturday night. So Friday night. So for
our $250,000, does that include everything Friday night, our
tree lighting, our music, is that maybe a tricky question?
Like so I mean, that's not the entire tree lighting event, but
it is the music portion that will that will begin at, I
think, 8 p.m. Right, Ricky? Mayor, mayor, vice mayor,
commissioners, city manager, city attorney. Rick Engle,
parks and recreation, cultural arts director. Yes. Friday
night, the music for the tree lighting will start around 8:00.
You know, we have Santa in the park and lighting of the tree.
Prior, the jazz musicians will be playing some Christmas music,
you know, holiday music to tie into the tree lighting event.
But the only portion coming out of this funding is the the band
portion, the rest of it, the other funding from the city
will handle the rest of the tree lighting event. We're
doing the same thing as last year, the snow and similar
stuff. Yeah, a lot of the similar things with the snow
and you know, the balance actually the, the, the sledding.
Yes, yes, yes, the snow is very, very popular. So yeah. And I
think I choked on a lot of that snow. Right. Yeah, I do like it.
I like the effect. Artificial snow is definitely got into
people's throats and kind of made them cough. So you might
want to reconsider what you do. There is that soapy snow, soapy
snow that was up on the plaza. Yeah. We were talking more
about the sleigh riding. Sleigh riding. Yeah, let's keep that.
If that's a problem, we can eliminate the the snow, the
soap snow. So I just, I just with as someone who does shows,
not as much as I'd like to these days because I'm busy
with this, the the, the $250,000 budget. I mean, I
expect some major talent on Saturday like that that would
that would normally fill up 5000 seats when you're selling
tickets, like, like that's the type of money you spend for
something. So I'm leaving it to you guys. You know, I trust you
guys and all that you've done and will do. So looking forward
to it. And that's a motion to approve. Okay, just we have a
motion to approve. But just a quick note, I know we
designated a cap of $250,000, but it doesn't mean that we
need to spend it all if because those dollars can go towards
future concerts as well. So Ricky seems like he wanted to
mention, just want to clarify on the budget, 200 000 was
approved By the commission from the city. We're anticipating
receiving the other 50,000 from a grant. We also applied for as
well. Two other grants, one that we did not receive and
another one that's pending. But we anticipate having at least
50,000 from grants, which makes up the 250,000. All right. Well,
the resolution is in an amount up to. And so we'll leave that
leave you, Ricky, to the being a good steward of grants and to
the foundation for being good stewards of the continuing
relationship with the Arts Park to, you know, be as efficient
as we can with every dollar as if it's your own because it's
all of ours. Collective dollars to use throughout the year.
Commissioner Hernandez, thank you, mayor. As I tell my
friends, we're not always going to agree. I cannot in
wholeheartedly vote for this the amount of money that we're
spending. And quite frankly, you can't dismiss. I appreciate
that when you actually said that you have people coming to
the park and have their cheese and have their wine. Well, we
have ordinances that people are not supposed to be bringing
alcohol into park. Whenever we have other events, we actually
check their bags to make sure that they don't bring any
coolers or anything like that. Yes, we're tolerating this here.
We're competing now. You want to do picnics. We're competing
with the brick and mortar restaurants that we have in the
downtown. Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? Ladies
and gentlemen, with all due respect, we spend millions of
dollars to bring people to the downtown, yet we pay other
entities to rob those brick and mortar businesses that we
expect survival to come and do these things. And we do it time
and time again. I respectfully disagree. I'm listening to the
business people that are actually in the downtown and
see that this happen. By their own admission, they brought in
900 to 1000 people to to a venue. That's okay. We have
other venues that brings thousands of people. They
grovel to get $25,000 from Parks and RECs to be able to do
those events. They get sponsors from other people to do those
events. I'm not going to be later this. I'm just not going
to vote for it because of the businesses that I represent in
the downtown area do not support the event, because this
is counterproductive for what we've been trying to do for
years, and we spend millions of dollars doing it. I get it that
it may be very nice and everything, and it's enjoyable
by some. I don't take that away from them, but we're hurting
our downtown businesses, so there's no way that I can
support this. I just want to I completely respect your, you
know, statement. I just want to make sure that it's clear that
I believe that the idea behind this picnic concept is to
engage the downtown businesses, to provide this and to have
them be the ones that are charging for it and reaping the
benefit of providing it. I heard I heard what they said
and they said local businesses, they didn't say downtown
businesses. And I have I just get we just got an email from
one of the downtown businesses. They have not been addressed
when it comes to these things. I get what the concept may be,
but it's already happening where people are bringing wine
and cheese and what have you. And then we have people from
the Downtown Business Association and from the
downtown businesses themselves, saying that these events don't
bring anyone to the area. And I can see the local residents
coming by with their picnic baskets and their bottles of
wine and their cheese actually coming to lay on the lawn and
listen to a great jazz festival. There's nothing wrong with that.
If that's what we're doing, that's peachy King and Hunky
dory. But should we be spending 250,000 or $200,000 in order to
get this done? When we have other events, the only require
$25,000 from us, and they got a gravel from everything else and
pay for lease and police and what have you. And they cannot
bring alcohol into the park, and they bring thousands of
people into the neighborhood. This is what we're comparing.
What you were alluding to, Commissioner Gruber, is what
are we getting for our dollar? I don't begrudge the event. God
bless you. But I think that we can spend our money wiser when
it comes to bringing people to the downtown, if that's what we
want, if what we want to have, we have a special jazz festival,
which is a great event for some, and so be it. But I'm looking
for my I'm looking after my business residents. Thank you
Commissioner. Thank you. Commissioner. Then. Biederman.
Yes, I support this. I think that it's not cheap, but it's
the beginning of something very large. And we already are
moving towards national recognition, which we don't
have on our typical concerts. The one thing I would ask,
really, of Rick, is to get with Jennifer Holman. When we first
talked about this with Clare and Terry, we talked about also
activating other venues in the city, not that the The Rhythm
Foundation has to oversee it, but certainly at Cinema
Paradiso, we could have documentaries of jazz musicians
at the Performing Arts Center. We could have some more local
jazz events happening simultaneously or through the
rest of the weekend. So I just want to make sure that we are
taking advantage of this opportunity to also engage the
Art and culture center. So thank you. And I did second the
motion. All right. Commissioner Biederman. So pick and choose.
And, you know, like different things. I also had concerns
about the activation of downtown. I mean, I love the
idea, if you're going to include those businesses to
provide picnic lunches, that's great. If you're going to bring
it in from somewhere else where people are going to bring their
own picnic basket and, and not support those businesses,
that's not great. I do have a question, though. When is
Artwalk? That weekend. Is that that Saturday night? Somebody.
Ricky. Normally Art walk is the third Saturday of each month.
So it's going to be that same night. And it was with our own
events also now. So I mean, I, I have some concerns about that.
Somebody said it's 2 to 6 p.m. somebody said it's 2 to 8 p.m.
I'd like to know what it is. So Friday night, the concert would
start around 8:00, and on Saturday it'll run from 2 p.m.
to 8 p.m. Okay. Just wanted to clarify that Arts, Arts, the
art walk would be sort of like an after party kind of
opportunity to kind of help tell people leaving the Jazz
Fest. Art walk continues till 10 p.m. Scroll your way over to
downtown. Well, the one thing to bring up with the art art
walk is the Art walk. Current contract expires at the end of
September. We're in the process of preparing an RFP. All right.
So we don't know we're going back out. So depending on how
that RFP and how that change, we you know, we may change the
date. We have to see what we get when we come back out. But
the jazz walk at this point, the idea of the that was
brought up about, you know, jazz after downtown, you know,
I think we can make that happen. That idea, that jazz, strolling,
jazz musicians, even if it's the kids from Dillard, you know,
I think that would be great. And then that would bring those
same jazz lovers into downtown to go to the restaurants and
spend money, because that's what this is all about. And
maybe even have like the jazz musicians a week or two ahead
of time on a Saturday night or Friday night, strolling in
downtown to bring some life and some exposure to what's going
to happen. You had mentioned that you are going to set up
meetings with us. Yes, sir. I think the time to set up those
meetings were prior to tonight, so that this wouldn't have been
such a heavy discussion, because I can't support this. I
mean, leading up to today, I couldn't support it hearing how
we're going to include those businesses in downtown kind of
makes it more palatable. $250,000 is a lot of money, 200
000 in my notes, I had, you know, what's the county
contributing? We we talked about cultural arts division
and the county should be giving some money. We talked about the
TDC should be giving some money. I think those are all important
factors before we approve $250,000. So if I may, the
$50,000 grant, the county offers a 50 up to $50,000 grant.
We feel we have a good shot at that, but we. Application goes
in June. So that's where. Yeah, we won't know until after. So
what happens if we don't get 50,000. Do we cut their budget
50,000. If we don't get the 50,000 in the grants, then our
budget is 200 000. That's what the city could still make it
work for that. This is this project is new and we are
working at reverse engineering. Okay. So we we haven't made
commitments until we have commitments in terms of signing
commitments. Right. So so the budget is something that we
have to control based on what we work with. So what happens
if we only have 200? Or what happens if we cut it to 150? We
won't be spending money we don't have. But what happens to
the draw? I mean, you already have. I'm sure you have a list
of musicians that you're trying to lock in dates, what their
costs are for what's. So let's say it's only 150. What has to
be cut from. If we cut that 5000, is that extra advertising?
Is that extra talent? I mean, where is this 250 000 being
spent? So that that's so in the, let's say the instance that it
does get cut down to $150,000 for whatever reason, what that
means in practical terms would mean less artists, because
that's driving the bulk of the drives, the bulk of the of the
budget, and then less ancillary activations at the event and
then less marketing. That's, that's basically where the
money would come out. And how much of this 250 is the
overhead or profit margin of the Rhythm Foundation? It's
less than 10%. Okay. I'm okay with that. I have a question.
So we're talking about activating the downtown. We're
talking about historical stuff we've used to do to promote
downtown city manager at one time. At least it's not here.
But at one time, the city the CRA used to do like CRA tokens
that were had a dollar amount value to them that people would
get at the Jazz Fest or at other events, that they would
be able to go into a restaurant or a participating restaurant
in downtown and use that kind of as a coupon that the city
would or the CRA would reimburse the business for as
in order to encourage people to go in, is that something that
we can do, especially for just this weekend, make it time
sensitive that they could use it that night or within 30 days
or something like that. So, I mean, I recall that a time
frame and, you know, that was a way to drive business into the
downtown. And I think we did it with parking and we did it with
some other things. So, you know, I think we can look at those
kinds of opportunities. I know that there's already been some
discussion about offering coupons for, you know, two for
one drink or, or, you know, free dessert, free entree, you
know, those kinds of things. The problem is, I understand
that the businesses don't necessarily want to bear that
expense. They would like to figure out a way to, for the
some help in incentivizing that. And we can explore that. I
think, you know, we need to make sure that it's kosher with
the regulations governing how CRA funds are allowed to be
used. And, you know, and we can take a look at those kinds of
opportunities. Well, maybe economic development has some
funds that we could use for that too, because for $200,000
or $250,000, it takes like pulling fingernails out in
order for us to give the salsa fest more money, which brings
in 5000 people, or the we, you know, or Saint Patrick's Day to
give the Liberians money to promote that or to promote FIFA
or whatever it is, you know, but yet we're going to like
easily hand over $250,000 to bring in some jazz musicians.
That is a very small segment of our population also. I mean,
jazz listeners, I mean, everybody has their own, you
know, taste of what music they listen to. And as Commissioner
Hernandez said, it's a much older demographic that might
not spend that much money in downtown that listen to Jazz
Age. Takes one to know one, right? He said. Peachy keen and
hunky dory to everybody enjoying. And I'm. And I'm
going to throw this out there that I think that if we did a a
80s or 90s retro event in downtown, that would bring out
a different demographic that might spend more money in
downtown, and it would fill the restaurants probably too. So
I'd love to hear something about that. And back to the
meeting with us. Should have been done earlier. I look
forward to seeing what we're going to do and how it's going
to make things better. But this is kind of like a one shot deal
in my opinion. I won't be here for the next vote on this, but
I'll be out there talking about it like some of the other
people. If this fails or this doesn't bring any amount of
money people, or it doesn't bring any amount of money to
our restaurants, it's not happening again. I mean, I
don't think anyway, and it might jeopardize the other
concerts that Rhythm Foundation does. So I mean, that's just a
shot over the bow kind of thing. Kevin, listen, we love Rhythm
Foundation. They've been putting on amazing shows for
like more than ten years here. I agree. And they do some good
shows in superstar work. Yeah. And I know all the shows are
great. I know you know that it's amazing. And a lot of
people I agree that we're putting in way more. All due
respect, we're putting in way more dollars to this. And
obviously we're a little apprehensive about putting that
much into one event. I think originally, James, you yourself
had a reaction and said, hey, wait a second. If we're going
to enter into this management agreement for the stage, maybe
those dollars would be, you know, wise to invest throughout
the year and let's have the jazz test concert and kind of
see where it goes there. And I know the momentum has been
building with people that are impassioned about the jazz
festival. But what, you know, the commissioners here are
saying about investing this much money in this genre in one
event, let's just say nothing really against the genre. We're
some of us are a little apprehensive about. So maybe I
know that you obviously are ready to produce this, but you
know, if you can give an honest figure, putting aside everybody
that you know is dying to have this and those that are
apprehensive, I mean, I have another we're going to look to
you to give us, you know, we're looking to you to manage the
amphitheater and to give us good advice and to do things.
And so are we in the right direction here? Or would you
say, guys, let's have two of these three events with these
dollars and over months as opposed to one Saturday. So,
you know. Exactly. And I and I think I think you're right here
because this is a new day in the arts park. This is a new
time we have the gates are up. So this is going to be a free
but gated event. We are going to control how people come in.
And we're putting we're putting effort into the seating and the,
and the, and the arrangement. And there will be
infrastructure spend that will be reused in other parts, other
parts of the season. So in a sense, we're launching the new
arts park with this event. This is this is a this is a gate
opener, if you will, of the gates that we now have. So we
see this as, as something that is actually good with the
market right now, we see a resurgence of interest in jazz.
We think we can do something different than other people
have in other communities. It's going to stand out. It's going
to be a national event, and it's going to give us a good
impetus to move forward into the season ahead, because we're
we're essentially developing a new gated ticketed facility in,
in, in South Florida. And it's a it's a long road we're going
into. We know it's a multiyear effort to build this into where
we see it going, but this is a great way to really open the
door. We think it is a fit, multi-generational fit. We
think it is something that's going to get recognized
critically and popular in a popular way. And, and we think
it is going to have we're going to take particular interest in
connecting to the business community that's built right
into the plan here. We're stopping at 8:00. We want you
to go right into the into the historic district and have
dinner. We're not serving dinner. We're serving picnics
here. So this is this is a calculated project to to kick
off the new era in the arts park. So two things, mayor,
real quick, number one, maybe we should wait on this till
they have more solid agreements with our restaurants that are
going to do something and provide those picnic lunches
available, and they have to book the talent ahead of time.
And so there's time. Two, two more questions. One is how much
did Saturday night cost us for the thousand people that showed
up? That was the budget for that was $50,000. Okay. I
wasn't expecting that answer, but I thought it was me a lot
less. And then finally the the other question was, I remember
we had expos here was that rhythm foundation that did that,
or was that another group that did that? It was a long time
ago. Ric Expos way before your time. I don't remember that.
Yes. Yeah. They were at the Arts. They were at the I think
they were one of the first shows that opened at the new
theater. Right. Or were they the last one at the theater
more than ten years ago? That was probably before our time.
No, no, it was since I've been involved. Well, 15 years ago, I
was trying to remember if it was when the Arts Park
Amphitheater was dedicated or or expose everybody. Can you
hear it? All right. Or if it was for the city's 90th. But I
think it was for the Arts Park Amphitheater dedication. Yes.
Okay. All right. I'm fine. Thank you, thank you. And if if
if if I may. We fully recognize and respect the, the the, the
concerns that Commissioner Hernandez and Biederman have
have brought forth. This is a big this is a big investment.
And as commissioners, fiscal stewardship of public dollars
are a main concern of this of this board. And so I completely
appreciate and and respect that concern. And I'm going to focus
on using. There are some really interesting data systems that
are available to be able to track. It's going to basically
track people's movements into and out of the, of the, of the
arts park. And it will tell us specifically where did they
come from and where did they go afterwards? Yeah. I'm sorry, I
was looking up history there. He's he's obsessed. So I
remember when Commissioner Shuhan brought this up and, and
Claire in regards to it, and my suggestion was start small,
small and go big. I've suggested many times to have
jazz in the park, meaning our small parks throughout the
entire city, just to create that synergy and then bring it
to the forefront. But we also have to remember that everyone
has different genre likes, and we're such a culturally diverse
city. Young, old rock, you name it, whatever we have, we're
just very diverse. I would like to know how many of those
residents of Hollywood attended the jazz festival that you had
put on the other week, which we can't track now because it's
something in hindsight. Maybe they did track it. Did you know
we did not use that? That particular system that I
described. But so here's here is a couple of my concerns. I,
I actually am in favor of this, surprisingly, because you have
to start somewhere and new brings new to the to the like,
if we don't try it, we'll never know. Although the funding is
really, I guess the biggest concern. And that was my
concern that I brought up the last time we talked about this.
But we have to be visionaries and we have to say, you know,
this was something that was very promotional back in the
day and we're bringing it back. We just had our Historical
Preservation Board showing us. We talked about history. It's
important, Commissioner Quintana mentioned, about
bringing children so that they can be exposed. Dillard High
School being there on and on and on. My couple of requests
are. One, Commissioner Chapin brought up Cultural Arts Center
and the downtown businesses before I could approve this.
And I don't know if we have to put it in the motion to approve,
but one very important that you reach out to the downtown
business associations to create that connectivity, whatever it
may be. From my understanding, the downtown was the slowest.
It was in Saturday nights that it's been for a long time. Why
is that? The only thing I can think of is that the parking
was taken up to attend the events, perhaps, and then
everyone left after the concert was over. What time did it end?
At 11, 10 or 11. By then you're ready to go home. And so that
synergy did not create. And then it ultimately affected the
downtown because people probably couldn't find parking
and they went somewhere else. Right. And that's just my
analogy of it. So what I think would make this definitely a
bang for our buck is the coordination with the downtown
business associations, the art and cultural center creating
even with having detail, I'm thinking of detail and policing,
because this is the biggest concern that we hear is if we
have a crowd, you have to provide safety. That's a cost,
but making sure that we have that adequate safety net that's
there, that has to be worked out and that should
circumference the entire amount of money that we're investing.
In addition to that, I think. Promoting the downtown some way,
I don't know if the picnic thing is really the way to go.
I although I'm not a vendor of that sort, I just think that
puts a little bit more taxing problems on the businesses
there. Sit down, come into the restaurant and have dinner, not
pack up a bag of lunch and send it to the park. I think that's
going to be very, very challenging. Perhaps booths,
maybe that they can set up downtown at the concert itself.
But really and truly, you know, if we don't start somewhere and
my idea was not incorporated. So here we are today with
having a jazz festival at the Arts Park. Again, it is
something creative. It's something bringing back from
the past. And it could be a win win for everyone, as long as
that communication is open and we have the ability to know
that they're involved and that we can create some type of
connectivity from the arts park to the downtown, because that's
the whole purpose of the of doing all of these. Correct. So
I don't know, can we amend the motion to include the downtown
and the Art and cultural center to be involved, and also to
make sure that the coverage of funding is not just for the
performers, but for the bleed into the downtown of security
purposes. I don't know if anybody can answer that. If I
could do that, or could it be solely rectified under the
supervisor, under your permission of City Manager? I
think we have heard the direction from the commission
that you want very much to make sure that the downtown
businesses are engaged in this, that the Art and Culture Center
is engaged in this, and that staff administer the event in
that way to make sure that we are doing that. So I think that
certainly we will count on the Rhythm Foundation to work with
us on that and to and I, and we will be limiting the outside
involvement of other vendors that are not downtown. You know,
I think that that is appropriate, you know, as it
relates to this. But I don't think that we need you to work
that into the motion. Does that make sense? Yeah. I think the
50,000 that we're getting from this, the county, if we were to
get that, is acceptable. I just am concerned about the amount
of money that's being spent that that really is a concern
as far as what's going what benefits are we going to reap
from it? But I understand that the that the the one and the
desire. I just don't know if the pool is worth. I'll just
say that while Joanne is here with CMD, since this would be a
big investment on the part of the city, we have to make sure
to help promote it and. And maybe even put some outdoor
banners and kind of really promote, you know, the jazz,
you know, for the whole month of, of November leading up to
this to kind of, you know, put some pull banners up in and
around the downtown with the saxophone and kind of whatever
the brand design of the jazz festival. If what we're seeing
on this graphic is the design, we can, you know, bring this to
the outdoor spaces and banners and what have you and kind of
help pump it up, give businesses a flier, you know,
or a, you know, an 18 by, by 12 kind of, you know, poster to
put at the front of their business. And really, you know,
for the whole month of November, plaster all of downtown with
jazz, jazz, and to everybody's point, try to make it something
that could be recurring and regionally and even, let's just
say nationally recognized that would be worthy of the
investment of trying to make it happen and hopefully get that
return to businesses and to the community. All right. We've got
commissioners Hernandez, Quintana, and Gruber, and then
hopefully we'll take a vote. Go ahead, Commissioner Hernandez.
Thank you. Mayor, if we invest this kind of money into the
sports tourism for the upcoming events that are taking place,
we will have 100 times the amount of attendance and we're
not doing it. Come on, people, let's realize is that we are
our own worst enemy when it comes to the downtown. I can't
say it enough. Okay, so and I just and I believe everything
that you were doing, we're doing it for the right reasons.
So I'm going to make a motion to amend this motion and to
make sure that they have street performance in the middle of
the downtown. But in in street corner, performance in the
middle of the downtown, and no picnic and no alcohol in the
park. This is how they disguise bringing in their wine and
their cheese from home. They ain't buying that because there
ain't no businesses in downtown that is going to be making
picnic baskets. This is a story that they want to sell in. I'm
not buying it, but in order for that to take place, I need
somebody to second my motion. I said I would second it, but I
think you have to allow them to sell alcohol. Oh yeah. And if
they want to sell alcohol, then they can sell alcohol. But we
make sure that we have police on the gates, make sure that
there's no outside alcohol coming in, that you support
that. I'm good with that because at the end of the day,
we're not spending the money we're spending in the downtown
to allow for this to happen right under our eyes. And then
they come in front of us. And no disrespect, but our
businesses need to survive. We're the ones who pushed it
and asked them to do it. Hang on. But also, I don't. But I
was a chair on when you guys sell alcohol, there's a cost
share on it that the city gets right. The we do, we do sell,
we do sell alcohol and we would have concessions on the event.
And then the revenue share portion of the Hollywood Arts
Park is off of ticket sales, where the city gets a gets a
surcharge off of it. And this is a free event. And this was a
free event. Yeah. So I think I did want to has to include the
city gets a portion of the alcohol sales. I wanted to add
something though. Commissioner Hernandez, along the lines of
what you were thinking, because it's true. When it's an ungated
event, people bring in whatever they want. We have police
officers for that. We managed to do it in other events where
we actually have officers on the gate. And right. So now
we're talking we're talking about a gated event which has a
food and beverage program as a main core of its component. Not
according to my motion, sir. I'm eliminating that. And
that's part of we're not. So we're talking about not
bringing in from the outside. Everything that you work with
here will be either pre ordered and ready for you at the event,
or we'll have packaged things that will be there inside the
event, but not bringing in from public. With all due respect,
with all due respect, you're asking us to pay you to compete
with our own restaurants in the downtown? No, we're doing that
in conjunction with the restaurants here. And and the
difference is, excuse me, the the restaurants are not really
it is my equipped. It is my time. I'm sorry. The
Commissioner move forward. It is my time. I get what you're
trying to say. I haven't heard that you got a commitment from
any of the restaurants in the downtown to prepare those
picnic baskets. You may very well have local businesses
preparing those baskets, and that's great for Hollywood. But
if we spend $200,000 and we give $200,000 to the businesses
in the downtown without having any event we want downtown, let
me finish. If we just give out the money, just like we were
giving them out to you, let's say, hey, you know, downtown
businesses, here's $200,000. Fill the downtown with people.
I'm willing to bet you that we will fill that park. We will be
able to do other things for the residents of the city of
Hollywood to do it. There's a there's a value to what you're
doing. I just don't believe that $200,000 is that value.
When we're actually encouraging you to compete with the brick
and mortar restaurants in the downtown, you telling me that
those people are going to be able to preorder those picnic
baskets, and you're going to be provided because you're going
to have them there, sir, unless you tell me you're buying it
from any other restaurants in the downtown, you're competing
with those people. That's not the purpose of my spending the
money. And we and we feel that's all I see. So you will
have the time to respond to me. Just like I sat here patiently
and I waited for all my colleagues to talk, to talk. I
represent the businesses in the downtown, and I respect my
colleagues that feel otherwise. I don't have a problem with
that. But we also have and I'm looking at the city manager
with this in our parks and RECs. We also have other events in
the downtown that they come to us and grovel to us for money,
and they bring thousands and thousands of people to the
downtown. They spend a great deal of money to support those
businesses in the downtown. What message are we sending to
our downtown businesses when we allow something like this to
happen? That brings nothing to the downtown except a good
experience for some. And the businesses that are there are
suffering. I'm not the one just saying that there's an email
that say that. Some of my colleagues have brought that to
the attention. I'm sorry. Well, I know, but my point, my point
is this is something that we need to bring under control. I
did I voted for you guys, by the way. I don't have a problem
with that. But when I see that it's counterproductive to what
we've been trying to do for years with the downtown
businesses, you need to adjust your program because we're
paying you to do this. So when you say that you're going to
have picnic baskets, no, I have a motion that I got a second to
eliminate that because I don't want you to have those picnic
baskets, because that takes food away from those
restaurants. Unless you say, we're going to have a contract
with those restaurants that are going to provide that. That's
not what he's saying. With all due respect, please. I'm ready
to we're ready to say that, sir. We only want businesses from
downtown. We haven't secured them and solicited them as yet.
We are working. We are working closely with with the Downtown
Business Association in the city. Okay. Those locations,
this let's postpone this. We got time between now and
November. Let's. If we have time, we have time to do it.
Okay, let's postpone this. And you come with the businesses in
the downtown that you're going to use for this. And I will
support it 100% into into you do that. This is just a story
that I just, quite frankly, don't believe. I don't know
many of the businesses in downtown that will create those
business baskets. So with all due respect, we have them. Yeah.
No, yeah. Motion to I just wanted to add one, one thing.
In the past we have tried. If you could just hang on. Sorry.
We have a motion to continue from Commissioner Hernandez.
There a second on that right now. I'll second it for
discussion. Okay. We have a motion to continue the item.
Let's continue discussion. And I like look, if you're going to
do this, you will prove me wrong. And I will be the first
one that will say I'm wrong. I made a mistake. It's a great
event. But until that happens, the experiences that we have
had in the past that we have here event competing with the
downtown businesses, I don't want to see that you want us to
continue to bring up the jazz festival. We want to be part of
it. I like the street vendor idea. I like all those other
things, sit with the business owners, have a plan and come
back to us so they can support it. In this way I can support
it, otherwise I cannot, because it was brought to the attention
that some of the businesses this last Friday or Saturday
was some of the worst weekend they had yet. We had an event
where you had 1000 people. So if if the people that are
coming are not local people and they're coming from somewhere
else, they got to park somewhere. Now we're competing
for parking spot. Let's all work together. We have the
ability to do it. We seem to have the money. We seem to be
able to have the grant from there. So I like to postpone
this for two weeks if possible, so that we can come back. Can
we do the time? Certain. So if we do continue the item, we
would need to choose a time certain, a date two weeks from
now. Would that be all right? I have a quasi judicial hearing
or. Yeah, I have an idea. Go ahead. I'd like to hear your
idea. I've already had discussion on it. Well, no, I
would support. We already had discussion on it. I would I
would support approving this today. I can't based based
based on discussion parliamentary procedure. You
could reconsider your vote in two weeks at the next meeting
per why providing that they don't deliver on securing deals
with downtown, I prefer that they. I would support
reconsideration. No, no, no, I understand that. But in two
weeks then we're going to have all this thing again. I would
just rather postpone this, have them talk to the businesses in
the downtown, come back to us with a plan and have the
businesses in downtown says, you know what, they've
committed to this and let's do that because this way the
businesses in the downtown will feel that they're part of this.
Peter, I think you've made your point. Well, loud and clear and
okay, we understand it. There is a motion to continue on the
floor as being discussed right now. And so why don't we go
ahead and run through the queue, and then hopefully we'll take
care of the item? I don't think that the issue on the
continuance is that much of a problem. If it, you know, has
staff and Rhythm Foundation come back with a plan after
they've met with the business association, got some
businesses to be on board, maybe better explain to us how
the picnic basket works with procuring the. Let's just call
it the the picnic items from the downtown businesses. Who's
going to package it? Maybe their vendor in the park not
expecting the businesses to put picnic baskets together. So
everybody does what they're good at, which is one cooks
food, the other one puts it in a package, situates it at the
park, give us an impression about what the investment you
want to make in the park is to kind of show us how the money
is being well invested in a new novel. Way to use the new and
improved Arts Park area with the with the fence and what
have you. And so I think it could be you could impress us
more. But right now, realize the ask and it's not your fault
because we, on a whim said, hey, let's approve $200,000 for a
jazz festival. And we asked you to do that. And you guys are
saying, okay, well, I can do it. So I guess we're second
guessing ourselves, some of us a little bit on the dollar
figure, because it is more than we've ever spent on a free show.
And so maybe even when you look at this, you say, well, gee
whiz, city, city of Hollywood, we realize we can do this with
150, and I'll be happy and have the same impact. And let's
reserve the extra 50,000 for, you know, another jazz or
another music festival in December or in January or
whatever. So we don't have to blow it all on Saturday just
because we gave you a budget. Maybe you can say, you know, we
don't need to put it all on Saturday because we're all here
to work and promote events throughout the year, not just
this one day. It's not a goodbye rhythm foundation one
time let's, you know, spend it all on one day and keep it and
that's it. So I'm okay with the continuance. And then coming
back, you know, being, you know, developed a little further and
presented with a little more detail, if that makes the
commissioners, you know, feel better about it. Let's go to
Commissioner Quintana, then Gruber, then calorie. Thank you.
Mayor. Yeah. So I certainly am in agreement of giving it more
time to give it a little bit more concreteness. When I was
there on Saturday, both James and Adam were talking to me
about exactly what you all are asking for. They had told me
about working with the downtown businesses and having them be
the one who provide the food they talk to me about involving
the art and culture Center, like it sounded like that was
already part of their thought. The thing they said is they
didn't want to move forward with that until they knew that
they that we were all right with them doing that. Like
that's why they hadn't reached out yet to the to try to work
something out with the downtown businesses because they wanted
to get past today before they went and did that kind of work.
So just assuming goodwill, I'm going to assume that. And I
guess I just want us to consider that it is a startup
venture that could potentially bring people from all over the
country to come here. And you're absolutely right about,
you know, each there's different people with different
preferences in music, and maybe some of you are not jazz fans,
but there are I mean, there is a market nationally for
something like that, if I may just say. And my so my
experience is that 80s music is plentiful in South Florida that
often the concerts that come here from other parts of the
world is from the 80s and the 90s, and that this is something
different and unusual that we usually don't get here. And so
it would be a way to offer something that's unique. So for
me, it just seems like it depends, right? So like, yeah,
$50,000 for Saturday. But that's because you may not have
ever heard of Joe Lovano, but Joe Lovano has his Grammy
winning saxophonist. He's won a grant, grant won a Grammy and
14 nominations. He's taught jazz. I mean, since the 1970s,
that guy has released 40 albums as a jazz leader. So it's not
like Joe Schmo from down the street. Who's local. This is a
big name nationally, internationally known performer.
So what I'm saying is we could be attracting people from
outside the area for this event. It was a one time event to see
whether they just they didn't do the kind of promotion that
will be done for the jazz festival, for this, for the
jazz picnic or whatever it ends up being. So I just would like
for us to consider that and to not necessarily assume ill will.
And it's just communicating what we want. Thank you. Let's
go to Commissioner Gruber. Yeah. Thank you. You know, I did
reach out to James yesterday just because I was concerned
about this. And I definitely made my opinion known that with
especially with this. But even the other shows that we need
major economic impact on the downtown businesses. And James
and I were on the same page. So that's why I was comfortable
today going forward with with regards to the street
performers, you know, listen, the goal of what we want to do
when we bring people to Arts Park is then bring those boots
into downtown. What's that? Right? So knowing that we have
art walk on the same night, usually that's from 6 to 10, I
would suggest. I mean, the street performers are good, but
maybe in that budget that we're giving you, we do one of the
semi headliners in that time frame. That's after the
festival. So that brings those boots. Somebody says, hey,
here's whatever band, you know that and some of that budget
goes to that. And that means they have to walk through
downtown. And even if they weren't going to do anything,
they may get an ice cream at one of our places. They'll see
what's going on. So I think when I first heard that was
going to be the same night, I thought that was one of the
dumbest things I ever heard. But now that I've processed it,
I think, you know, we can we can use it to our advantage. So
I would like that if we go forward with this, and I'd like
to go forward with this, that that stage, which is going to
be there anyway, is activated with one of the talents that
we're purchasing in that in that budget. So. Yep. And that
brings those people right through downtown. We're putting
it on 19th still Art walk, is that right? It's in the
downtown on, on, on 19th. I thought it was on 20th. I
missed it the last couple days. But now it's facing south the
stage right on on 19th. It's no longer at the end of Harrison
Street. It's by Morning Star. Right, right, right. So yeah.
So I would suggest that just, you know, I don't want to
micromanage your production, but I think that's a way to
bring them through. And it was very clear when we were on the
phone that whatever food program you and I agree with
you, these brick and mortar restaurants aren't set up to be
vendors at festivals, so you can't ask them to do that. But
you had said you had an idea that you would create something
that people are ordering and whatever. So again, if as long
as we're on the same page that you say, hey, we've engaged
with these downtown restaurants and using them and we do it
that way again, I'm, I'm in favor of this. So yeah. Are you
okay with continuing it? We can bring it back in two weeks, but
I can just tell you that that that's probably going to need
to make a decision then because the yeah, the good talent's
already half of them are probably gone. You know, you
got to book them a year in advance, usually commissioner,
vice mayor. Curiosity, why are we not charging since we put
the gate. The whole understanding is that once we
put up the fence, I'll go ahead. Easier to that we would be able
to start ticketing. And if these are world renowned,
people from all over the nation are going to come to hear jazz.
Why wouldn't they pay? I pay money to go to the hard rock,
to listen to a band that's not even as well renowned as you're
stating. So why wouldn't we charge for this? So, Vice Mayor,
the the reason that this event is coming forward, about a
little over a year ago, the Commission directed us to put
together a jazz free jazz festival, and we set the budget
at that time at $200,000 to do so. James, if he thinks he can
charge a ticket cover here. That's why it was a right but.
But free when you say free for the public, it's this isn't
free. This is question is dollars. No, we were told to do
it as a free event to the public. Not I don't remember
that. Thank you. James. I'd like your opinion on the
ticketing on on if ticketing this makes sense. And if that's
secures just enough, you know the same. We want a
pre-registration. We do want people to register to come in
to the to the park that day. We want them. We want to know
they're coming. We we will not charge them to come in. We have
an area where you could be general admission, but we want
them to engage in the hospitality amenities of the
event. And that's that's the really the mission here. That's
a culinary component to a to a music festival. So how do you
do that? You do that through through a pre-ordering of the
food Will not be free, but we're not making money on it.
It's just going to be a pass through to the to the
restaurants that provide the food. I think that we're
setting, setting a, a very challenging precedent because
if one venue is going to charge for food and so forth, we're
going to have to continue that. I don't think that that's the
proper. I mean, personally, I think my understanding when we
put the fence, because I was against the fence, because it
is a public park. So now we're blocking it in, we're charging
for events. And I understood that it was a revenue
generating type of service. And that's why we had to have the
the fence. If we have the fence, we charge for the concert that
covers the costs of the bands that are coming in. And then
there's other ways to go about bringing that foot traffic in,
which I still think needs to be promoted, but to lay out that
amount of money to bring a fee, a free. And I, I don't remember
a free festival, but I could be completely wrong. And please
forgive me for not remembering that, but a free festival at
this amount. I know that I spoke about it, that it was
very a large. I think it was 350,000, was the original ask.
But I think we need to charge. If we have the fence, we have
to start somewhere and this is the way we start. And then that
way it covers the costs and not on the city. And this way we
can bleed it into the downtown and promote it. This is this is
the challenge that we're, that we're working with, and we're
trying to find a way to use the park in a, in an upgraded
amenity sense. So you will have a pre-reserved plan, what
you're going to do when you come in, you're going to have
an area that's set aside for you with a picnic blanket.
You're going to have a program of food and beverage that goes
with that. And so to come up with that, with that amenity,
yet doing it as a free show is the challenge that we've been
faced with. So we we were we were tasked with the free show
and that's how we're coming up with the, with the idea. And,
and we have different tiers that we're looking at some of
it just seeded not necessarily a picnic area. We have. We also
intend to bring in some folding chairs to the area and use it
as a seated venue as well, because this music does lend
itself to sitting and listening. It's not the standing and
dancing type of show, so we're looking to upgrade that level
of service in the park. So we welcome the opportunity to have
these discussions and come back and, and show our hospitality
amenity plans more, more in more detail because we didn't
we didn't come prepared for that today. But we can do that.
And we and we have to do that. That's the work we have to do.
That's the challenge of working with the park now as a gated
facility. Yet we were told this is a free event, so that's how
we're approaching it. So if we didn't tell you, this would be
a free event. Do you feel like this is an event that's
appropriate to charge a a ticket for? Is that a is that a
maybe when you come back in two weeks, you can tell us if
you've looked at an alternative, you know, direction for the
event. That could be if it were to be ticketed and if that's a
successful direction, if that's what you prefer. And, and
propose something different than the picnic idea, then by
all means propose it. I don't want your hands because you all
are the producers that are, you know, they're going to be
evaluated on the success of the event. And if we've given you
parameters that you know, you're trying to work with but
you don't think are ideal, then I want to hear that. I don't
want you to just do what we said because we thought it was
a good idea, you know, in fact, we want to know who's coming.
We want to we want to be able to communicate with them in
advance. Is it going to be a different way of using the park?
Don't come with all of your, you know, packages and chairs
and everything. We're going to be providing those things. So
we do want a way to know who's coming and to engage them
beforehand. So it's not just a walk up free event. So these
are the challenges that we're it seems beautiful, except that
if we spend this much money and we don't have thousands of
people plural, which there won't be room if everybody's
got a picnic blanket set up, then I'm afraid about how many
people will be able to accommodate and not have room.
And then we've spent $200,000 to have 400 people have a
beautiful night. I don't know, we're looking at all of the
capacities in the different tiers that we that we can do.
We think we can still do a great number of people in the
thousands for sure. And it's not going to be your highest
capacity number ever, because that's a different type of
setup. But we think this is where the arts park should be
going. Now, as it's gated venue, we want to be able to provide
this higher level of experience and bring in these other genres
that are that are more, I guess, more sophisticated. I got you.
All right. So we do have a motion to continue on the floor.
June 3rd and June 17th are our upcoming city commission
meetings. Before I go to Commissioner Hernandez, city
manager, is June 3rd or 17 preferred by you? That's two
weeks versus one month rhythm Foundation. What do you prefer?
Happy. Happy to come back. Third, pick the date you want
to be back in two weeks with the plan or in a month, two
weeks, two weeks. All right. June 3rd at 2 p.m. is when it
would be. Commissioner Hernandez, you have the floor.
Thank you, mayor. And for the record, I love jazz, smooth
jazz. I either either jazz. I love jazz because it's good
music. And you can learn a great deal from just listening
to the music. So this is not against music. This is not
against the Rhythm Foundation. This is against us giving more
money for one music versus another when we're supposed to
be even keel when it comes to that. And if I heard you
correctly, this is a free event, but you cannot come free at the
door, which means you got to pre-register. Do people have to
buy anything to pre-register? Can I just send I'm going to
come to the event or do I need to purchase a picnic and all
that other stuff and what have, you know, you would know on the
record? Well, the question the that is the question that we're
that we're we're struggling with. We had looked to do it as
a free registration opportunity or the preprogramed opportunity.
So both a general admission area and a reserve area, let's
call it where you will have a plan. So we're looking for a
hybrid here. So exactly. I'm looking forward to see what you
bring back in two weeks. And the people that you're going to
be talking to the downtown and what have you, because this is
what some of the people are saying that they don't want
they don't want to the haves and the have nots, because
we're paying for this. We're the we're the public funding
for this. And yet if you pay, you're going to have a picnic
area, you're going to have your wine, your cheese and
everything else. If you don't pay, you're going to be with a
hurt on the back. And we're paying for the whole thing. We
underwriting this. So I would love to hear more about when
you come back in two weeks, and please come back with the
people that you're going to be working for with in the
downtown and a complete plan that we can actually approve
and look forward to having a long term relationship with you.
But at the end of the day, this is something that it was, as
some people say, half baked at this point because you yourself
don't know you have a concept that you want to follow, but
you don't have a plan yet to that concept. So I'm looking
forward to hearing them two weeks. All right, so we've got
support for the continuance, and we'll take a vote on that
for in two weeks on June 3rd. Let's close it out with
Commissioners Hernandez and Schumann on the continuance. Go
ahead. Commissioner. Yeah that's what's on the floor. You
go ahead Kevin. Okay. So I think that some of this is good
compromise. And this isn't the early 2000 anymore. I think a
lot of our restaurants are prepared to do Uber Eats. And I
think that would be a great concept as part of this. Maybe
not Uber Eats, but Boucher brothers, I don't know if they
talked to you guys about it, but they talked about doing
something similar on the beach where people could order from
an app and it gives their GPS location on the sand and they
could deliver food. I think that similar concept could be
done here, whether they're preorder or order at the time.
They could order through a Arts park app, bring you food from a
certain restaurant similar to the ship. What's the. The
alleyway that is the the ship. The shipyard, is that what it's
called? Where people can order from three different places
through an app, or the food hall where you could order on
the app. You could do it in a arts park with participating
restaurants. I think you guys got two weeks to come up with
this, but and I know that pressure's on, but I think that
some of the restaurants in downtown would be happy to
compete with the food hall in Arts Park through an app like
that. All right. Commissioner, the continuance, nothing on the
continuance. Okay. All right. All those in favor of
continuing the resolution to our upcoming June 3rd meeting
at 2 p.m. All those in favor, say aye. Aye, aye. Any opposed?
Hearing none. The item carries unanimously. Thank you all.
Appreciate it. And looking forward to to you all coming
back in two weeks. Go ahead Commissioner. Thank you. I just
want to say that this is before us today because a year ago,
this Commission wanted to have the re birth of the Hollywood
Jazz Fest, which, as I understand, was always a free
event. We did it for 20 years. It was nationally recognized.
And and that's kind of where we were going. It was a jazz fest
that was famous in Hollywood, and we all agreed to revitalize
it. And I think you're right, Commissioner Clary, you said,
let's tone it down. And we did. If you remember, it started
with 500 000, because that was the budget that we had for the
centennial and we all scaled it back. So my concern is only
that I don't want to cheap out here. I want to make sure that
this is something that we're all proud of, that it's the
first of something that's just going to grow and grow and grow,
have national recognition. We already have serious on board.
I understand your concerns, Commissioner Hernandez, but I
thought the picnic thing was fabulous. Bring all of our
downtown restaurants. You're going to tell them how to do it.
We're going to make sure they don't have single use plastic.
We're going to have I mean, I grew up with this at
Merriweather Park and Mary. Time. So I just think that we
shouldn't lose sight of the mandate that we gave to our,
our parks Department to put together a nationally
recognized free jazz fest in our city. And I'm really
excited to see what you guys come back with. So thank you.
All right. Thank you all. No one expected this to take this
much discussion, but thank you for for talking it out with us.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, on to our regular agenda. We've
got four items. It is surprisingly 420 almost. And so
it looks like we'll take up the time. I thought we'd have a
break. All right, let's go to resolution of the city
commission. City, Hollywood authorizing the city to accept
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection 25,
2026 land Water Conservation Fund Program grant in the
amount of $1.5 million for the construction of Sunset Park.
Authorizing the matching funds. ET cetera. ET cetera. ET cetera.
We have a motion from Vice Mayor, second from Commissioner
Hernandez. Are there any speaker cards on item 28? We do.
Claire. Garrett, come on up. Hello again. I'm here to speak
in favor of accepting the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection 2025 2026 land Water Conservation
Fund Program grant in the amount of $1.5 million for the
construction of Sunset Park and authorizing the 1 to 1 matching
funds that are required. Many members of the community,
myself included, work hard to campaign for the passage of the
general Obligation Bond, which included funds sufficient to
purchase this property but insufficient for transformation
into a new passive park for the enjoyment of all the residents.
Many civic associations, including the Park Civic
Association, which I belong to, wrote support letters in
October of 2024 to accompany the application for this grant.
The city has been working diligently to apply for all
available grants, and it is so exciting to see some of the
funding for construction starting to fall into place.
But it is bittersweet that local activists Karen Caputo is
no longer here with us. To celebrate this accomplishment.
She devoted many years of her life to the Herculean effort to
save this property from commercial development. I'm
taking this opportunity to suggest that when all the
necessary funding is acquired and the passive park is finally
built, that Karen's name be remembered somewhere at this
property. Thank you, thank you. Claire, we have a motion and a
second to approve the item. Vice mayor. No, I said motion
to approve. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Hearing none. The item carries five zero with Commissioners
Peterman and Quintana away from the dais. They can enter their
votes later if they wish. Item 29 is resolution of the City
Commission. City of Hollywood authorizing the appropriate
city officials to issue a change order to blank to
blanket purchase agreement. PA 601132 with SFM janitorial
services for janitorial services to increase the
contract amount as provided on the agenda. I know this is an
item that you probably reviewed with this additional facilities
that would be serviced for improved janitorial services.
Motion to approve. We have a motion from Vice Mayor Kolody,
second from Commissioner Gruber. No speaker cards on item 29.
All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. Item
carries unanimously. Commissioner Quintana, did you
want to register a vote for item 28 on the on sunset? Is
that a yes? Yes. Thank you. Clerk you have that item 30 is
a resolution. The City Commission city Hollywood
authorizing the city to execute a memo of understanding with
the city of Lauderhill. Should the City of Hollywood be
awarded as a sub recipient of the 2026 World Cup event
funding facilitated by the county and the city of
Lauderhill. Through their arrangement in an amount up to
$65,000, authorizing the required 1 to 1 matching funds,
etc. we have a motion of approval from Vice Mayor Kolody
and a second from Commissioner Gruber, and no speaker cards on
item 30. Pat. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any
opposed? Hearing none. Item carries unanimously.
Commissioner Behrmann, did you want to register a vote on the
Grant for sunset on item 28. Yes, yes and yes, Pat, it is
for 23:05 p.m. comments will be 5 p.m. Let's go ahead to any
comments by the City Commission, city attorney, city manager,
Commissioner Shuhan. Go ahead. Thank you. Mayor. Really just
wanted to reiterate to our team that the county has made
available $20 million in county resiliency grants. I know VIN
and Tamera and Adam, you're all aware of it, but it's a great
opportunity to take advantage and get some county money to do
some of our work. And the only other thing is really for Jovan,
and that is we're getting emails from residents about
overnight parking that they used to be able to have it, and
that different parts of the city are being treated
differently. And we just need some clarity. In my opinion, if
parking is sitting empty overnight and someone has a
city parking pass, I don't really see an issue with it.
But it seems like in some places it's okay and some
places it's not. So we just need to get a better
understanding as to the why. When it's parking that's just
sitting unused overnight. So, you know, I know whenever I get
an email about it, it's been forwarded to you or Roger
specifically on the barrier island. There are places where
it's says, you know, residents only overnight. And yet in
other areas, even residents can't use it. So if there's a
need where the parking is being utilized for another purpose,
like, like the problem we had at Keating, for example,
something like that makes sense where we really had to crack
down. But in areas where it's just empty, I would like us to
take a look and otherwise that's really it. Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner Hernandez. Thank you mayor.
Summer is coming and the rains are coming with it, even though
we've missed the rain because there's been a drought where we
are. But if it's at all possible, if we could clean the
drains and address that, that that's that's pivotal for some
of the issues that we're having. Because as soon as it starts
raining, it's going to happen at the same time. And if we
don't have the drains, it's going to be harder to keep up
with. When it comes to something like that. Speed
bumps. We've received emails of crashes on 24th Avenue and
particularly Van Buren Street, and I'd like to have an update
at some point if we do want something like this. It's been
months that we talked about it. I met with PD, I've met with
the engineering department the residents are clamoring to for
some kind of update, whether it's good or bad, just so they
can know what's going on. Also, on 22nd Avenue, we were
supposed to be doing something with that. It doesn't have to
be right now. Just get me the information so that I can
provide that to the residents. And just a comment about what
we were discussing earlier today. It's hard for some of
the businesses in the downtown to support events that garner
this kind of expense. When they themselves put events that
bring in more and more people, not only to their businesses,
but to all the other businesses around in the area, and they
have to fight for the money to get. So if we can just have.
And this is a great idea, but what I saw and heard today,
it's something that they want us to give a blank check for a
concept that they haven't really ironed out yet. They
have an idea and it's a great idea, but it's the same as
somebody's paying for it. Because if you're telling me
that you're going to have a picnic area reserved for you
because you bought a picnic, they called it an amenity, but
let's call it a package, and you're going to be set aside
and you're going to do this and you're going to have you. And
if you didn't, you have to register to come in and then
you would be in a different place. That to me is not what I
consider the concept that we talked about a year ago of a
free event and call me novice. I may be novice when it comes
to this, but a free event is something that we said, this is
happening, come and enjoy it. And if you come in at the last
minute because you didn't know that you were going to be in
town or you moving, you coming into town or something like
that, that's what I envision when it comes to a free event.
But when you have an event that you have to make arrangements
to be there because by registering and then if you
purchase a package, you have the ability to have an
exclusive area. I gather that. So we need to, you know, look
at that idea. If that is really what we want for something like
this, because the average folk in my district may not be able
to afford that picnic package to come to their own park in
their own backyard. So we need to ask those questions within
this two weeks and maybe talk to them and see what we can
clear up in order to come up with a, with something that we
can all be proud of. I don't have anything against the event.
I just don't want to be counterproductive to the money
that we're spending in our downtown to bring people to the
downtown so they can come to the businesses. That was my
point, and thank you all for allowing this two weeks for
those things to be cleared out. Thank you. Thank you,
Commissioner Hernandez. I think it'll be a good use of of the
time to develop the concept further. Let's go ahead to Vice
Mayor for any comments. Thank you. I just wanted to touch
base and let everyone know that after our last commission
meeting, when we recognized Jerry Christiansen, and we're
going to be putting his name on the Pal building. I went to
work a couple days later and I try not to. I am a nurse at
night and a commissioner during the day, and a lot of people
don't know, believe it or not, that I'm a commissioner. And
one gentleman stopped me in the hallway. He's a respiratory
therapist supervisor, and he said, I just want to thank the
city of Hollywood for recognizing Jerry Christensen.
He was a vital role in his life, and he is where he is today.
And I said, oh, were you the story that he had mentioned
when he was here before us about the young man putting him?
He said, no. He said, but every holiday Jerry would come and he
would give us a check or he would bring us a basket, or he
would always be willing to pick me up and take me somewhere. He
even offered to take him and his brother to Japan one time
on a family vacation with him and his wife, but he said he
always thought the check came from the city of Hollywood
because he worked at Powell and he was a police officer. But
instead, he said he took one look at one of the checks one
Christmas, and it was from him and his wife. And he said, you
know, that guy is really, really special. And you guys
are very, very blessed to have him in your city. And I can't
thank you enough for doing what you guys did. It's really
remarkable. So when you hear, you know, not everybody watches
the TV and everyone hears all the bad that happens. But when
you hear someone recognize the good that we do, it's really
remarkable to hear that and to have him share his story. And
he wants to be involved in actually be there the day that
we put the name up. And I said, please share your story when
you come. But I think that that was something positive to share
with the commission of the good work that we do do opposed to
all of the negative. In addition to that, I've had a
lot of complaints about the school zone areas, ticketing,
and in some places there are, prior to the school zone itself,
flashing lights. And then in some areas there's not. And the
areas that are not receiving the flashing lights, they come
upon the school zone, which I would argue you have to
recognize the school zone areas and not speed. And we've seen,
as we've been reported on, that there's been a decrease of
injuries and so forth. But if we're doing, for one, we should
do for all. And in these areas that don't have the flashing
lights to pre warn individuals that they're coming up on a
school zone, then we should implement them because we have
them in some areas. So people rely on that as a, I guess, a
safety brake. Now my understanding is that the
county has placed those flashing lights in certain
areas where the schools aren't zones are at and not in others
and individuals, unfortunately, are getting tickets that they
wish they could contest because of the flashing lights. So I
don't know how we can work with the county by placing these
flashing lights at all the school zone areas to to pre
alert to make aware because it is actually beneficial because
people are slowing down and they are saving lives. And then
it would eliminate the ticketing to some extent or
eliminate the flashing lights. And people be aware of their
school zones, which we all were prior, but we can't have for
some and not for others. It's just not fair. And I think it
makes it very challenging to, to, to force people to pay a
ticket when some areas have it and some don't. And so this is
a big concern that I've been brought to my attention. So I'm
wondering if there's anybody to support the city looking into
that and working with the county. Sure, sure. And maybe
city manager we can get a report on, on, on that. And
then the last thing that I have is we just talked about this
jazz festival. You know, the the price tag is very high.
We've all I've spoke about it at the last time, a year ago
when we mentioned it, I asked to go small. We didn't. And
here we are today. But if we implement something which is
the gate to start charging for events, my understanding was
once we have it, we need to incorporate that. Granted, it
was said that it was a free concert, but I still feel that
there is an opportunity for investment purposes. I feel
like I'm the underdog on this, which is fine, and sometimes we
have to take risks. You know, I'm getting text messages that
jazz people don't like jazz. Jazz is an old thing and
nobody's coming. I'm also getting people saying, bring
the 80s back. There's always a mix, right? But sometimes we
have to take chances that are beneficial. And if it doesn't
work out, lesson learned, we don't move forward. But I think
that this is an opportunity that we have to bring something
back that was very beneficial to the city. I just am
concerned about the cost. So I agree with you, Commissioner
Hernandez, and I am looking forward to them coming back and
discussing that. And the last thing I have is Claire just
mentioned about naming the park. I spoke with Patty Anderson,
who was one of Karen Caputo's best friends. She mentioned an
element that she had mentioned it, an element at the park. And
I think that that's a really great idea to memorize. Karen,
of all the hard work that she did to make sure that that came
out, along with North Central Civic Association, I think that
that would be a benefit. In addition to that, the
pickleball crew at Pickleball Park also wants the opportunity
to name courts after individuals who've provided.
When do you say enough is enough? By naming certain parks
and places of things, I don't know. I think that should be a
discussion, maybe to be brought forth of how do we, you know,
when you do too much of it, it gets lost. And the importance
of it, I think, gets lost. But I'm looking for support to have
them come back with the information about how do we go
about naming and what the criteria should be, since we've
gone from someone who's past to someone now who's maybe in
their element age or have a crisis of some sort, and we're
naming it so they can enjoy the the recognition. But I think we
need to vet that out a little bit more for them to look into
it. I'll support that. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank
you. All right. Let's get to Commissioner Gruber then. Just
a couple of things. One, I saw an email from the president of
Playland Estates. I think, Alison, we were looped in on it.
The the wayfaring signs. Wayfarer signs. Is that what
they're called? Those, those community signs. So apparently
Playland Estates was left off of there, according to DCM,
because the sign they have was put there privately. It's the
first I'm hearing of it. So staff can get back to me to
explain that to me. I don't know who's maintaining their
sign. There's nobody there that's maintaining it. So I
think if staff can look into that and let me know, because
I'd like Playland to also get a sign when we finally get them.
And, and maybe someone can tell me when we are getting those
signs, maybe before Commissioner Biederman and
Larry are. And then I did hear good news that the Sloane
Stephens summer camp is happening at driftwood. This is
a free camp for kids, has tennis, sports, tutoring, life
skills. Really amazing. So if Ricky or whoever on staff can
just get us the information, all of us to so that we can
spread the word, so people can sign up because it's already
late in the game and a free camp for kids is really amazing.
So if staff can get that information to all of us so we
can spread the word, and that's all I have. Thank you. Thank
you, Commissioner Gruber. Let's go to Commissioner Biederman.
So just real quick, just to not to beat a dead horse. But, you
know, we spent, you know, $5,000, I think, for a concert
out West, but that we're going to spend $200,000 for the arts
park if it makes economic development sense, is the only
reason I would support it. But I think it's unfair. And it's
not evenly distributed, you know, and then we're talking
about it's kind of like the haves and the have nots kind of
thing. You know, I would say that probably 70% of our
population can't afford a, you know, a fancy wine and cheese
box at the Arts park and to pay for a, a square of a blanket or
whatever it is. So I think that we have to make sure, as
Commissioner Hernandez said, that we have to make sure that
it's even. And, you know, people of all means, you know,
Joseph Young said Hollywood should be a place for everybody,
whether it's the most opulent to the most humble, a working
class. We need to maintain that. That being said, we are all
entitled to change our minds based on new information. We've
heard that in the past from certain commissioners. Oh, I
just changed my mind. Well, I think we're all allowed to
change our minds, not just 1 or 2 of us. So thank you very much.
Thank you, Commissioner Quintana. I was actually going
to wave, but I'm going to say something now. I totally agree.
We are all entitled to change our minds. In fact, I think
that when new information comes in, it is the wise thing to do
to be open to changing our minds as opposed to sticking
with something, whether we got new information or not. And
then I will say. I, I'm assuming that the reason for
the picnic basket idea was to bring in the businesses that
that was why that came up. Otherwise, it would have just
been a free concert without any food and just what we typically
do. So I think that was the intention. And then. Yeah, I
guess that's all I'll say. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
All right. Well, I have some good news for everyone. I
reached out to the friend of Shelby Thomas. That was that
was sharing information about Shelby's condition. We all know
that Shelby is the president of Ocean Rescue Alliance
International, and we worked with her and her nonprofit to
deploy our swim from shore reefs. And she's been a real
great person that we've all very much respected. She's a
PhD in marine biology. She had a motorcycle accident, not her
fault some weeks ago. And the good news is, is that I got a
chance to speak with her. It was a day after she was able to
speak, after some medical devices were removed from her
throat and things. And, you know, like you would expect
from Shelby besides, you know, thanking us for for reaching
out and caring about her, she started talking right away
about Depp and her commitment to help us get through
everything. And she had contacts in DC. And I was like,
Shelby, slow down. You need to get better right now. And all
we want. That's what we want for you right now. But I just
wanted to share to everyone, this amazing person, Shelby,
that we know we're always impressed with and that she
automatically is, is thinking about, you know, her commitment
to Hollywood and wanting to see these reefs continue to
flourish. We talked about, you know, coral permits that she's
received and wanting to support us and her team and offered
that along the way. So our our good wishes to Shelby. If
you're watching out there for a quick and speedy recovery, we
know the road is still some some ways ahead, but hopefully
she's starting to heal quickly. And thankfully she is. She is
not impacted in her in her professional capabilities
already talking about Depp permits. So feel better. Shelby,
we're with you. I want to thank the city team and Vice Mayor
Kolody specifically. Yesterday we had the closing for the
Knights of Columbus building. Everyone, a round of applause.
So there is now more parking in the vicinity of the Skate
Justice Skate Park and the pickleball courts and Stan
Goldman Park. And I know we'll look forward to the city team's
recommendation as to the utilization of the building.
And of course, Javon, I can expect that the gates are open
for parking right away, right? Absolutely, sir. And we'll
definitely charge. Yeah, look at that. If we're not charging
for a jazz concert, I don't think you're charging for
asphalt. But now put some signage real quick, you know,
parking so people know and it's more orderly. And that's great.
Speaking of that park real quick didn't plan on mentioning
it, but might as well. So when you walk into the area in
between the pickleball and the skate park, put a sign
somewhere there that tells people what amenities are in
the park, like, you know, dog park to the left, you know,
kids playground to the left, walking trail to the left,
exercise park to the right, pickleball to the right, skate
park, a little menu of what there is because people might
not realize all that there is. Even if they're right there,
100ft away, they might not understand. So let's share the
wealth there. Yep. Yesterday I did a public service
announcement video with Memorial Regional Hospitals
Trauma Unit for safety for people who operate e-scooters
and and electric bicycles and things. There's a lot of, of
activity at the trauma unit from people, you know, breaking
ankles, hurting their head when colliding either with a car or
just crashing with those devices. So wear shoes and wear
helmets. Doctor Drew Rosenthal doesn't want to see you at the
trauma ward. And I don't think you want to go there either. So
hopefully I told him to collaborate. Joanne with us
when they put the video out. And last the state of Florida.
The sustainability person, Julia had mentioned synthetic
turf, but the state of Florida had just passed their final
rule. As you might know, there's a state law that allows
for synthetic turf everywhere in the state of Florida on
preempts cities from prohibiting it. There are
standards that the household needs to conform to, but
synthetic turf is allowed on residential property less than
one acre in size. So I asked. I forwarded the rule to staff and
asked that they put together a guide sheet so residents know,
you know what the what the rules are, but otherwise they
also have the opportunity to have synthetic turf, which I
believe is very, very successful and helpful and also
helps to conserve water. There's always pluses and
minuses to everything, but I see a lot of great pluses for
people who can't have or don't want to spend money maintaining
and watering turf, you know, 24, seven, 365 all right. That's it
for me. I want to wish everyone a safe Memorial Day. Chief, I
know you're going to have your work cut out for you a little
bit, depending on the weather with the, you know, the heavy
volume of people we might have either on the beach downtown or
on the waterways. So thanks to HPD and Fire Rescue for all the
work that you're going to be doing this upcoming holiday
weekend. And let's go to city attorney for announcements.
Thank you. Mayor. One announcement today, pursuant to
Florida Statutes 28, 6.011, subsection eight, subsection A
governing public meetings, I, as the attorney for the City of
Hollywood, wish to inform the city during this public meeting
that I desire to hold an executive session on Wednesday,
May 27th, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. to seek advice concerning
litigation. Styled in three cases, Hollywood Park
Apartments South LLC versus City of Hollywood, Hollywood
Park Apartments West LLC versus City of Hollywood and Maroon
2319, LLC versus the City of Hollywood. Invited to attend
this session are the Mayor and commissioners, city manager
Raelin Storey, Assistant City Attorney Kendra Breeden and
myself. Thank you. Let's go to City Manager. Just a few
announcements. I want to make sure that everyone knows that
there is a Memorial Day concert at the Boulevard Heights
Amphitheater that is Friday night from 6 to 9 p.m. the. I
thought you were going to mention it. You forgot, didn't
you? So I'll reactivate. Okay. Go ahead, Commissioner
Biederman. I didn't want to steal. That's okay. No, go.
You'll do a great job announcing free food for the
first 150 people. Barbecue. We're doing a tattered flag
replacement. Bring in your old tattered flag. We'll give you a
brand new flag in a package, and we'll make sure that your
old flag gets disposed of appropriately with the Boy
Scouts. And I think they're going to have raffles also.
Plenty and plenty. Listen, we're waiving parking prices
for the day. It's free parking for the whole weekend. And it's
the Shane Duncan Band. So high energy. Yes, country. They are
everything. They're very well versed. They have. Everybody
loves them when they come out. It was a good turnout last year.
Hopefully it'll be better turnout this year. Yeah. Thank
you to my colleagues for supporting concerts out on the
West Side and for Parks and Rec putting them together. And I
didn't mention I just want to thank Chief Devlin, the police
Fallen police officer memorial yesterday was always, you know,
important. And it's great to have the families come every
year and to show the concern and the honor that we have for
them year in and year out. And it was great to hear that all
those fallen officers will be recognized in the new police
headquarters. So thank you, Chief and Command Staff and
Police Department family 6770 Garfield Street and Boulevard
Heights. Shane Duncan band. Saturday night, baby. Yep. All
right. Just a couple of Friday night. Friday night, Friday
night. Just a couple of things to mention from the consent
agenda that were approved that I think are noteworthy. The
Commission did approve a resolution related to some
federal legislation that's pending that would further
limit city's abilities to have any regulatory authority over
5G antennas. Obviously, that's a concern that's come up a bit
in our community, and we just want to emphasize that we don't
support any additional limits on our ability to manage that.
We also had a a piggyback contract with Amazon business.
We just like a lot of folks, we spend a lot of money with
Amazon, and this allows us to take full advantage of a number
of different business type services or business oriented
services that they have, and save money on the purchasing
that we do do through Amazon. And so it really is evidence of
our performance and, and procurement and performance
management group looking at additional ways to save funding.
And then finally, we do receive, we received approval to seek
operational funding in a grant through the Department of Elder
Affairs at the state that that funding flows through the Area
Agency on Aging for the daycare, Adult respite care for
Alzheimer's that we are going to be operating at our Oak Lake
Park once those renovations are complete there. And so, you
know, this is an important service to our residents right
now. It's taking place in Pembroke Pines, but we'll be
looking very much forward to moving it to the Oak Lake Park
facility and being able to operate it out of that facility.
Thank you so much. So we will recess the meeting until 5 p.m.
for citizens comments. Thank you. All.
Segment two was withdrawn because of additional resident
and business engagement problems, but segment three
moved forward minus one business entity. The
inconsistency is exactly why residents feel not confident
with this project reflecting the the master plan and the
balanced process for moving forward. Vice Mayor Callari
even mentioned she didn't understand why we had to do the
raised dunes. She said we should do it at the grade level.
Lea Gottlieb, who is your top South Florida environmentalist,
said he believed that for long term growth, you really had to
do it at the low level and do it slowly. In the meantime,
your beautiful trees that they mentioned, your Hollywood beach,
gorgeous trees that survived the palm blight and hurricanes
may die as a result of this, you know, because Broward
County wanted you to move this forward. You didn't have to do
it with such inconsistency of what is happening now. This is
also a public safety issue. You get these things raised high.
Nobody can see who's walking by and what's going on. I mean,
this is not just an environmental issue. This is an
economic issue, a tourism issue, a historic preservation issue.
You just you just did a thing today on historic preservation,
a public access issue and a safety issue. Residents also
raised the concerns about possibly rodents. Rodents love
to live in your dunes, folks. Are you going to exchange palm
trees for rodents? I ask you that. It'll be very interesting
when. Okay, I know my time is up. I've been here before, but
I will be back next month. And believe me, this is not going
away from the beach. Drew Martin, followed by Pam Borgio.
Then Ann Ralston. Good evening, Mayor and commissioners. Can
you hear me? Yes, sir. Drew Martin, Sierra Club. I'm here
from Palm Beach County. Came here to speak on a different
item, but I got here early, so I'm going to speak on the
general comments. I wanted to thank the commissioner who
asked that they use not use single use plastics at the in
your giveaway picnic. I think that's really important that it
be completely sustainable. I'm glad to see you have a
sustainability committee, and I was pleased to see that they
have a lot of good things that they're recommending, but we
really need to get away from any kind of single use plastics.
So if you're handing away a bag, a picnic, make sure that you
have either silverware that's made of metal that is going to
be given back and washed, or you're going to be using some
materials or you're not not going to need silverware. And
also no plastic cups, which I'm sure you won't have. I wanted
to address the mayor's comments on the turf issue, and he said
that he thought it saved water. If you used these plastic
grasses and you really don't save water and it's really bad
for the environment. So I hope the mayor will take a look at
this and reevaluate his opinion, because I think it's important.
You know, when the mayor says, oh, you know, the it's fine if
you use astroturf. Well, it's really not astroturf. First of
all, does not age well. It's generally impermeable, which
means that any water hits, it's not going to make it into your
aquifer, which is bad for your water retention. It creates
runoff, which can lead to flooding. And it creates
microplastics in the environment. And microplastics
are a huge issue. Some of them are resulting in PFAs, which is
causing cancer in some people. So we really don't want micro,
you know, astroturf. We want people to use we don't want
them to use turf, and we don't want them to put in
non-sustainable grasses. What we want them to use are natural
ground covers, natural ground covers that don't need to be
watered. I don't water my yard and it's fine. You have to get
we have to get used to this. Florida. Never. No one ever had
sprinklers 150 years ago. When you talk about. You want to go
back in time and restore your buildings, well, let's restore
the process people use. Back then, they didn't have
sprinklers. They had natural water, they had cisterns. And
they they conserve their water. And that's what we want to do.
We don't want to encourage astroturf and we don't want to
convince, tell people that they're conserving water by
using astroturf, which is really the wrong direction to
go in. Thank you. Thank you. Just for the record, the state
of Florida prevents cities from prohibiting synthetic turf. And
the DEP created standards, and that's what I was sharing. Pam
Borgio followed by yeah, and I don't mind it. Pam Borgio
followed by Ann Ralston. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor,
commissioners, I'm going to go all over tonight for citizen
comments. First of all, I'd like to thank each and every
one of you for your service to our community. I know you have
our best interests at heart. Most of the time. I'll just
leave it at that. Safety issues. I am out in my backyard every
single night listening to the wonderful drag racing on
Sheridan Street near my home on Park Road, where they're going
in the opposite directions low flying helicopters, low flying
planes so close to my house, my gazebo shakes. So that's a
concern for me. They are coming from Miami. They're coming from
Perry Airport and Fort Lauderdale. You all know where
I live. So it's a concern as our community continues to grow,
there are going to be more and more safety hazards. As the
police can tell you, I'm at least once a week sending in a
notice saying they're speeding again. I'm on Facebook going.
Welcome to Hollywood. And you can hear the drag racing. I'm
not trying to do negative reporting, but we need to open
up our eyes. We're getting bigger. So safety is an
extremely important concern for me. City Hall property, the new
police department, which I'm excited hopefully to get a tour
of. I'm thinking and really hoping that we can consolidate
a lot of the city offices into one location,herefore opening
up possibly this location to build. I. As you know, I've
been born and raised in Hollywood. I'm 60 plus years
old and change is not always great. I fight it because I
like our hometown. I love our hometown, but it's no longer a
hometown feel. So what can we do to assure the long time
residents as yourselves? You've been here 20 plus years. To me,
your longtime residents. We need to find a compromise to
work together and find the best direction in locations. Change
is welcoming to most of us. It depends on where and what we're
doing and how, where we're going with these projects. And
last but not least, real quick, David Park tennis courts. I
think the city of Hollywood has a great opportunity to expand
that and bring in a world class tennis tournament. We have the
hard rock, we have Delray Beach tennis tournament, you have the
Miami Open, so let's utilize what we can in that area. You
have the ability with the old police station to create a
bigger section. Thank you, thank you, Pam and Ralston,
followed by Andre Brown, then Mr. Swan, Kevin Swan, thank you.
As on my way here tonight, there was a sign on a new
building that went up on Van Buren Street saying two months
free rent as an incentive to get people in there with the
Cirque being foreclosed on, it seems to me that there may be a
change in atmosphere as to constantly putting up new
buildings all over that. I think Goya, Gea, something like
that on Fillmore and Taylor is going up the one across the
street. It concerns me if if the Cirque had a lot of
incentives, at least from a newspaper report, and I just
don't want us to be holding the bag for it, it seems to me that
the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and
over again and expect different results. I'm not sure that this
constant approval of building more and higher is, is going to
be sustainable in the future. Also, according to the Miami
Herald, there are ten more schools expected to close.
These are public schools, not private schools. So now that
the private schools seem to be getting public money and the
public schools are in financial straits, they're laying off
employees. So there's supposed to be ten more to close in 27.
Thank you, Andre Brown, followed by Kevin Swan, then
Jonathan Anderson. And the last two speakers will be Lynn Smith.
And Jesse. Put that back on three. Yeah, yeah. There you go.
There you go. We got you mayor, commissioners, city manager.
And to all my brothers and sisters, my name is Andre Brown.
I had a meeting over there in Hallandale. Very positive. Oh,
was it a good meeting? It was a team of activists gathering
over there to come together and making sure that everything
goes right during these elections. They're going to be
posted at every post, and they're going to make sure
everything goes according to plan. Now, first of all, I want
to I want to know how the police officer is doing who was
injured in the accident. I hope he's well. I have that much
respect to bring that up as well. So the topic back over to
Hallandale was, you know, Liberia, Hallandale, Danny West
Park and Pembroke Park. So we had a, just like I said, a good
meeting. And I became a consultant. If nobody know that
yet, but I am a consultant now. And thank you. So by being a
consultant now, everybody know what consultants do. Okay. So
it's, it's, you know, you can look it up, it'll tell you just
what it, what it, what it do, what consultants do. It'll tell
you. Also, Broward County has all that money. You mean to
tell me they got billions and billions of dollars? How come
none of that money don't come here? How come it don't come
here to help with the situation that we have in our communities?
That's something to think about. Ladies and gentlemen, Robert
County got all that money? Why is it being held back? Who was
holding it back? Is it hold back for a ransom? Is it hold
back for a ransom? Oh, you. If you don't do what I say do, you
ain't going to get this year. I know what's going on up there
in Broward County as well. I got inside connections. I got
outside connections. So no, nobody going to pull. I've been
hoodwinked before, so I know what time it is. I had them on
me. Nobody gets away with murder with Andre Brown because
there's a new sheriff in town and that's Andre Brown.
Remember that. Thank you. Andre. Mr. Swan, come on up. Kevin
Swan, followed by Jonathan Anderson. Yeah. Back again. My
name is William Kevin Swan. I live at 3411 Grant Street. Been
a resident of Hollywood for over 70 years, plus the five
years my family came here as vacation before we moved here
from Pennsylvania in 1956. Is the zoning lady here? Somebody
representing zoning department? Nobody. There you are. There
was a meeting a couple of months ago with the upstairs
second floor of the library, and I wanted to single you out
tonight. I wanted to single you out tonight because who in
their right mind would approve a parking lot in a
residentially zoned area? Who did you get an extra bonus for
that? Is that part of the package? And then, of course,
we have miss your vice mayor, Tracy Collier, who represents
my territory in Hollywood Hills between park and and and 35th
and Garfield down to Johnson. And she works for the hospital.
My neighborhood is turned in to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now.
It's not that way anymore because now it's just parking
lots, paved parking lots. The vibration starts at 705 in the
morning and goes until before I left the house tonight. And
then when it's all done, I'll have all the cars coming in and
going and slamming the doors and the fumes and the
noxiousness. And that's all due to you all. Now, as far as that
lady over there who was passionate about her hospital,
the development of the beach, trust me, it's like baseball.
They don't get it tonight. They'll get it again. He'll
keep throwing the ball until they hit it because all the
commissioners. Pardon me, but you all are complicit in the
degradation of this town. Where's your humanity? Where's
your morality? Where's your your monies? Where is it? I
thought the other day that maybe I should recommend
spending some money to put a confessional in the in the in
the mayor's, in the in the building someplace. Rent a
priest and a rabbi and a pastor once for a couple hours a month.
But then again, you probably wouldn't go there because you
in your heart and soul, you have nothing to confess because
this is what you do. You just constantly build. Don't think
about anybody else but yourself. My pictures on my walls are you.
I put. I can show you my phone, a glass of water on my kitchen
cabinets vibrating. That's what I have to live for the last
couple of months. But you care. Of course you don't. Because
all you care about is the developer. And I'm not against
the hospital. Don't get me wrong. Let's make that clear.
Hospital does a good job, but it's the management of the
hospital. And what you've allowed them to do is criminal.
You might even get some other people from the prisons to come
and take your jobs, because they might do a better job.
Thank you, Mr. Swan. Jonathan Anderson, followed by Lynn
Smith. And the last card is Jesse Hernandez. Good evening,
mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, my commissioner,
as well as my Holloway Hills alumni. It was so nice to have
Adam to present the class of 76 50th year proclamation. Thanks
for recognizing the Spartan Nation. I came out in 72 as a
rebel educator. I was called the N word by one of my math
teachers, but I got suspended. But that's the last time I got
suspended. And also to the city manager, the day is May the
20th. You all know what significance is made of. 20th.
No. Say again. Well, yes, it's a Florida Emancipation Day and
the proclamation was read in Tallahassee by General Edward
McCook in Tallahassee, and also today they recognize the
Department of Justice in regards to the gentleman that
was on a humanitarian mission department at the at the
freedom statue, they're going after Raul Castro regards to
inhumane treatment, shooting down that plane. But I asked
myself why I came here. What does emancipation mean? It
means a sense of freedom from slavery. But Abraham Lincoln
created something in regards to 40 acres and a mule. And then
when the 17 then when he got assassinated, the 17 president
came in, Andrew Johnson, he made sure he erased that. He
pardoned the Confederate that seceded from the nation.
Florida was one of those secession states. We in the
deep, deep South, we ain't we ain't we ain't out of this. And
I come speaking straight up as a man. I have no fear of no man.
I respect everybody. I'm like Malcolm X. That was his
celebration of life yesterday as W.E.B. Du Bois. They had a
nice celebration for him. A rebel with a cause. I have a
cause to. To fight for justice. The fight for not be looking at
us as a 3/5 of a person. Not to be looking inhumane as though
I'm savages. We know the history. That's why sometimes
they're trying to erase the history. Because it says
something about America. She don't want to fess up to. If
she can't negotiate and steal it, she'll go to war and try to
take it. But bullies have that day coming. And I realize right
now, as a retiree, I do have a little more time now so I can
focus my attention in regards to making sure justice takes
place within America. And I'll be coming back with some things
quick. Create that arrangement on Hollywood Beach because
Hollywood can set the example in regards to reparation.
Appreciate you all. Thank you. Lynn Smith, followed by Jesse
Hernandez. Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners Lynn
Smith, I want to talk to you today about orange Brook. And I
was looking to have an event there because I love it still,
even though it's old and eventually it's going to be
demolished, we should be operational using it for things.
Claire showed me some pictures today of the mold at the front
of the building and inside the building, and we want to do an
event there for about 150 people. And I think, you know,
we we're looking for income producing issues. And orange
Brook, the views are still fabulous. The bar's beautiful.
That's the place I'd really like to do this event. So I
don't know if there's any way of sending a crew over there to
get it up and then get it so that events, other events can
be happening. I don't know if we're just closing it down and
not going to use it anymore, but it's still beautiful and we
should use it for some kind of income producing areas. So
thank you very much. Thank you, Jesse Hernandez. Hold on. Hello,
mayor. Vice mayor. I'll have to recognize Commissioner
Hernandez. I spoke with the city attorney about this. I
don't believe I have a reason to recuse myself, but my wife
is going to ask for something. So being the fact that she's my
wife. I'm just. It's not a vote. So I think. Okay, okay. Just
wanted to make sure it's on the up. Okay. He does love you
though. Thank you, thank you. My name again. Jesse Hernandez,
the chair of the Hispanic Affairs Council. I'm here on
behalf of the council seeking direct. If you the
commissioners can please give direction to the staff for. We
are ready to launch our celebration of Hispanic
Heritage celebration in October 10th, and we need to send the
invites and. We like to use the proper letterhead, city
letterhead. So Peter. So just me then of course, if you can
please direct staff. If they can approve the proper
letterhead so we can start sending the invitations. Yeah,
of course, I don't think there's any issue with that.
It's a city sanctioned opportunity to celebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month. I don't see an issue with that.
Simply save the date October 10th. Art spark sounds good.
We'll work. We'll work with the Hispanic Affairs Council to
make sure that that happens. Great. Okay. Got it. Thank you.
Yep. Michael Snyder, you had a last card. And that will
conclude citizens comments. And then we'll recess until the 6
p.m. item. Good evening, Mr. Snyder. Long time no see. Yeah.
Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I would apologize up front.
Unfortunately, I only know two people on the dais here, and I
haven't had the pleasure of meeting the other five. And I
think this is only the second time I've ever appeared at a
citizen's agenda to talk on an item, because I really don't
think it's a very effective way to advance a person's agenda or
group's agenda. But they have it. But I felt compelled to
come tonight. I've lived on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk for
almost 30 years. I actually had my bar mitzvah celebration at
the Old Hollywood Beach Hotel in 1965. And what drew me to
Hollywood Beach was the beach, to me is the best kept beach in
the area, bar none. It's it's magnificent. It's, I think, the
single most important asset that this city has. And if it's
not on the most important single asset, it's close on
everybody else's agenda to the top. And what's going on with
this new project with the dunes. And by the way, Mr. Vice Mayor,
I commend you. I'm told you're the only one that voted against
dunes. Is that I believe environmental concerns. I
believe in taking care of our assets and the beach. But I
walked the boardwalk all the time, and I'm taller than most
people. And the few dunes that we've had over the years that
have been there for years and years. You can't see the ocean
when you walk. You can't see it. And what has this new project
that's going on, I think is the worst decision I have ever seen
in the city of Hollywood. Make. And I have to tell you, I've
been involved in politics my whole life, and commissions and
councils and states they can do and they can undo. Well, I'm
telling you that when you go to put up campaign signs, the
reason you do is you want people to see it. Well, do you
know what? When I walk on the boardwalk, I want to see the
ocean. And with these dunes, you can't see the ocean. What
have we done here? And then to to have two classifications of
residents versus commercial is unbelievable. So please undo
what's been done because this is the single worst decision
I've ever seen the city of Hollywood make. So thank you
very much for listening to me. Thank you Michael. All right.
That concludes citizens comments, everyone. We're going
to recess until 6 p.m. to hear item 32. Thank you.
Read it here. We're ready. All right. Thank you so much.
Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here at City Hall
here in the City of Hollywood. We are resuming our meeting
today, May 20th. We have one remaining item on today's
agenda. And of course, it is a 6 p.m. time certain item. It's
just after 6 p.m. Item 32 is a resolution of the City
Commission, the City of Hollywood, Florida, approving
and authorizing the appropriate city officials to execute the
First Amendment to the Comprehensive Agreement for the
Development of Public and Private Facilities at 1301
South Ocean Drive, between the City of Hollywood and PR1301
South Ocean Drive, LLC. This is an item from the Office of
Communications, Marketing and Economic Development focusing
on our Strategic Plan Area of Economic Vitality for the City
of Hollywood. At this time, I'd like to offer an opportunity
for the City Manager to introduce the staff and the
item. Thank you, Ray Lynn. Thank you, mayor, vice mayor.
City commissioners. We're here today to consider an amendment
to our comprehensive agreement with PR1301 South Ocean Drive
that allows this public private partnership to move ahead,
incorporating additional public benefit in the form of hero
housing by using the state's live local statute, if
applicable. In most instances, live local preempts local
discretion and control over land use, but the latest
amendment actually offers more local control when it comes to
live local projects on publicly owned land. That's because in
Broward County, city land use regulations are superseded by
the county, and that's been a challenge in this particular
case, where the city and county have had an ongoing conflict
over the land use for this site. The latest amendment to live
local, unless vetoed by the governor, would allow this to
be decided by the city. And in this instance, you have a P
three which requires a public benefit. And we now have the
addition of workforce housing at a time when affordability
continues to be a critical concern in our community. We're
in the budget planning process here at the city, as you know,
and it's a time when we are keenly aware of the necessity
of balancing needs with resources, revenues with
expenditures, where we give a lot of thought to our role as
fiscal stewards and to the financial resiliency of the
city overall. On today's agenda, funding for continued review of
our utility rates was one of the items, because the
commission, of course, is working very hard with our
utilities department to figure out a way to provide stormwater
improvements and other critical utilities upgrades to the tune
of hundreds of millions of dollars, without raising our
utility rates so high that they become a real burden for our
residents and businesses. We had funding today on the agenda
for cleaning of city facilities, funding for special events like
the Jazz Festival. Each year our costs increase and we fund
nearly half of our general fund budget through property tax
revenue. In the city of Hollywood, we count on
redevelopment and reinvestment in our community to continue to
build our tax base. Each commission meeting, we hear of
the desires of our commission and residents for additional
programs, services and public improvements. We now have a
nearly billion dollar overall budget, a big change from the
financial urgency that gripped the city back during the Great
Recession of 2008 2009, where literally, this city lost more
than a third of its tax base. And it took us more than a
decade to recover from that. And we still see the legacy
impact of deferred maintenance and investments from that
period. This one project doesn't ensure the city's
financial future, but its significance and what it brings
to the city cannot be dismissed. And we have seen a decline in
the growth rate of our taxable in the growth rate of our
taxable value each year for the past four years. For those of
you who don't, or for those individuals who don't think
smart growth includes residential redevelopment on
the beach, it's important to note this project is in a
section of our beach, the area south of Van Buren Street that
is characterized by mid and high rise condo development.
The developed area of our beach represents just 2% of the
city's overall land, but residential development on the
beach represents $4.8 billion in taxable value. That's more
than 17% of our overall tax base. To generate just the tax
revenue that this project is projected to provide would
require an increase of 0.18 mills, bringing the city's
overall millage rate to over eight. If we wanted to generate
that same revenue from the average single family home in
Hollywood, it would take 1557 single family homes requiring
approximately 300 acres of land. That's land the City of
Hollywood does not have. We've received emails questioning how
this project could even be considered and the financial
benefits, along with the new oceanfront community center, a
revitalized park with more green space, new parking and no
change to public beach access are the reasons this project
was approved in 2022, and the commission and city continue to
abide by the requirements of the Comprehensive Agreement,
which is what you're here tonight to amend, Lisa Liotta,
our real estate development officer, will be providing a
presentation. Dave Keller, our special projects over finance
will be also adding some notes. But first, our city attorney is
going to address questions involving the charter and city
ordinance requirements, as well as the revised Reso that is on
the dais. Thank you very much, City Manager. I received
several questions ?regarding the applicability of the proposed
charter amendment, which is on the November ballot for this
year. I just wanted to very briefly go through the
background with you all in the event that there was any
confusion. This agreement was signed in May of 2022. In 2024,
the Charter Review Committee suggested placing a charter
amendment on the ballot that would require certain
properties, including properties east of the
intercoastal. City owned properties east of the
Intracoastal go through a referendum in order to be
disposed of. It would be a property similar to one like
1301. However, because this agreement was signed in 2022,
the city has contractual obligations that we are already
under, and any sort of ballot amendment would not apply to
this contract, which was entered in 2022. So even though
the proposed charter language was not did not go forward in
2024, the commission chose to put an ordinance, assuming that,
assuming the same language that was in the charter amendment
and voluntarily placing those constraints on themselves.
However, that ordinance language did not affect
contracts that had already been entered into, such as this one
and any proposed ballot amendment, such as the one
going forward this November, would also not affect any
proposed any contract into which the city had already
entered, such as this in 2022. As to the item, the reso that
is on the dais before you, there is a small change to it
in which we combined two of the. Whereas clauses. After
conferring further with outside counsel regarding the
resolution, I determined that it was best to eliminate some
of the duplicative language which was in the resolution and
also tweaked the language very slightly in a way that I felt
better protected the city for the future. And with that, I
would like Lisa Liotta to come forward, and she has a brief
presentation. Welcome, Lisa. Good evening. For the record.
Lisa Liotta, Development Officer, Before delving into
the details of the amendment, I would like to briefly walk
through the timeline that led us to this point. On January
21st, 2020, the developers submitted an unsolicited
proposal to the city pursuant to Florida statutes. Following
that submission, on June 23rd, 2020, the city published a
notice of its intent to receive, review and evaluate proposals
for the same project purpose, thereby opening a competitive
process. On September 28th, 2020, the developer submitted a
timely response to the city's request for proposals. Seven
other proposals were received on February 18th, 2021, the
City Selection Committee determined that the developer's
proposal best matched best met the objectives outlined in the
RFP and recommended that the developer be designated as the
winning applicant and proceeded to contract negotiations with
the city. On March 17th, 2021, the City Commission accepted
the selection committee's recommendation and directed
staff to negotiate a comprehensive agreement shortly
thereafter, on May 5th, 2022, the City of Hollywood and PRH.
1301 South Ocean Drive, LLC entered into a comprehensive
development agreement, which included a conceptual design
consisting of 159 residential condominium units. Today, May
20th, 2026, the First Amendment to the Comprehensive Agreement
is being presented to the City Commission for consideration
and approval. The amendment introduces the Live Local Act
to the agreement. The Live Local Act, also known as Senate
Bill 102, was enacted to address the growing need for
affordable housing across Florida and officially took
effect on July 1st, 2023. This legislation was specifically
designed to expand affordable housing opportunities for
Florida residents by encouraging the development of
affordable rental apartments and mixed use communities.
Under the Act, developers are provided with several
incentives, including tax benefits, increased building
density, reduced parking requirements, and and an
expedited expedited approval process. In return. At least
40% of the residential units must remain affordable for at
least 30 years. It is also important to recognize that as
a live local development, this project height may not be used
as a comparator or benchmark for other live local
developments. By incorporating the Live Local Act into the
agreement, the amendment supports efforts to increase
the availability of quality affordable housing while
promoting responsible and sustainable development within
the community. The Live Local Act specifically targets what
is often referred to as the missing middle workforce. This
group includes essential working professionals such as
teachers, nurses, police officers and others who
frequently earn too much to qualify for traditional housing
assistance yet still struggle to afford housing in the
communities where they work. The update applies to
households earning between 80 and 120% of the local Ami. To
encourage the development of housing for these residents,
the legislation provides developers with incentives. In
exchange, the housing must comply with rent limits
established by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation,
which are based on the multifamily tax subsidy
projects. Income limits published by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development. The idea is to
expand residential opportunities and strengthen
its long term affordability throughout Florida communities.
During this legislative session, another amendment, HB 139 to
the Live Local Act, was approved and is awaiting the
governor's signature. The amendment, among other things,
requires counties and municipalities to authorize
multifamily developments on property owned by a county,
municipality or school district. We have a chart for the 2026
income and rent limits for 2026. The rent limits established for
120% of the a MIR2661 per month for a studio apartment and 2851
per month for a one bedroom. The corresponding income limits
for households at 120% of the a MIR $106,000 annually for a one
person household and 121 680 annually for a two person
household. These figures help define eligibility for
workforce housing under the Live Local Act and ensure that
housing remains attainable for Florida's working residents.
Now returning to the amendment and starting with section 1.37,
which defines defines private facilities under the revised
language, private Facilities is defined as a luxury residential
condominium development consisting of up to 210
dwelling units, including 126 market rate units and 84
affordable hero housing rental units. By comparison, the
original agreement authorized a luxury residential condominium
development with a maximum of 190 dwelling units. The
amendment does not propose any changes to the associated
parking or project amenities. Section 1.43 was also added and
includes a definition of hero housing, which in summary
refers to rental units referred reserved for households earning
no more than 120% of Broward County's Ami, based on HUD
income and rent limitations, and it gives priority for a
City of Hollywood police officers, firefighters and city
employees than to local hospital workers and teachers
who qualify under the income limits. Section 3.7, under
general terms, has been added and reads similarly to section
1.343 and in summary, section 3.7 states that the project
includes at least 84 hero housing units reserved for
households earning 120% or less of Broward County's Ami, and
that the developer must sign and record restrictive
covenants in Broward County to enforce these affordability
requirements for the legality for the legally required period,
and these restrictions cannot be subordinated to third party
mortgages or liens. It proceeds with rent limits being updated
annually based on Broward County Ami, or a comparable
replacement standard. If Broward County Ami is not
available. Continuing with the general terms, section 3.8
clarifies that the market rate units will remain subject to
all applicable city ad valorem taxes and assessments, and will
not qualify for any exemption from those payments. And
section 5.5 under Design Review. Review Process provides that if
authorized by law at the time of sign off submission, the
project will be developed in accordance with the Live Local
Act as set forth in section 166.0415, one of the Florida
statutes, including any amendments to the law. Section
5.6 is a bit lengthy and clarifies that the property is
zoned for government use, also known as GU, which is a
discretionary zoning designation where development
standards such as height, setbacks, density, and building
massing are determined through site specific City Commission
approval rather than standard zoning regulations, and that
the project is being advanced as a negotiated public private
partnership and additional development flexibility being
granted, including increased building height being is being
provided in exchange for the public facilities and other
community benefits included in the agreement. Importantly, the
amendment also makes clear that these approvals are unique to
the specific project and the GU framework and are not intended
to create a precedent or establish development rights
for other properties, including projects proposed under the
Live Local Act or similar state legislation. Section 5.6
concludes that the amendment concludes the amendment and
confirms that nothing in the section shall limit or impair
the city's contractual obligations to the developer
developer. Granted under the original agreement, the
amendments or any future city approvals for the project. The
business terms in the Comprehensive Agreement remain
the same and include the initial base, the initial rent,
the base rent and the closing rent, the fee from the condo
resale, the city retaining fee. Simple ownership, the project
being effectuated through a long term 99 year ground lease.
The private facilities being owned by the developer for the
duration of the lease, all land and public facilities being
owned by the city, a new and upgraded community center and
parking upgrades and improvements to Harry Berry
Park. No cost to the city for project utilities,
infrastructure and utilities for the private facilities, and
a commitment to the. To achieve the standards of the Florida
Green Building Coalition, or an equivalent or greater
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Now, at
this time, I would like to ask David Keller to review and
explain the project's financial benefits. Thank you. Lisa. Good
afternoon. Mayor, city Commission, city Manager, city
attorney and staff, and the public. So. What's the trick
here? We're going to talk about a number of revenues that are
identified in the in the agreements and go over how
they're calculated and talk about what they would mean in
terms of first year revenues to the city and projected revenues
over the 99 years of the term of the agreement. So the first
one we're going to talk about is the initial cash to the city
from what is called in the agreement, the closing rent. So
there are included in the project 126 market rate units
and 84 hero housing or affordable housing units. The
market rate units are expected to sale sell for $630 million.
The agreement calls for the city to receive a closing rent
of 14% of that amount, which is, as you can see at the top there,
$88,200,000 on the affordable or hero housing. Those are
expected to sell for 24 million. 14% of that amount is 3,360,000,
for a total between those two. In closing, rent of 91,560,000.
Now there are two offsets against that right up front.
The agreement calls for what is called an initial rent being
paid to the city of $10 million, minus the payment to the to
CBRE for a net of 9,039,399. Also, we would back out of that
number, the $20 million that the developer will be spending
up to $20 million for the improvements and the
construction of the new community center at the beach.
That leaves a net of 62,000,520 $601 working right down the
right column here. Conservatively, the city is
projecting to receive 75% of that in the first year and
amount of $46.9 million, with a balance of 15.6 coming in the
second year. The next revenue stream we want to talk about is
the ad valorem taxes. You've heard a lot of people talking
about what this might mean and what it might be. That would be
based on a formula. At the top left, you can see there's that
$630 million that we just discussed. In general, the
property appraiser reduces the sale amount by 20% so that 80%
of the sale value becomes taxable. In this case, if we
reduced it by 20%, we would have a taxable value on the
market rate units of $504 million. On the top right, you
see the affordable housing. Now this is a little different. We
start off with the 24 million that we just referenced on the
previous slide, reduced that by 20%. You end up with $19.2
million. However, for the Live Local Act, 75% of that would be
exempt from taxation. So we're going to reduce the 19.2
million by 75% and end up with taxable affordable housing of
$4.8 million, adding the 4.8 to the 504 million. You see a
total of 508.8 million that would be taxable if you take
that times the city's current this year millage rate, you
would see a total ad valorem tax in the first year of
$4,050,000 in change. There's another revenue stream
identified in the agreements. It is identified in the
agreements as the base rent, but you can also think of it as
an annual lease payment. This is calculated at $0.85 per
square foot of the 350 zero zero zero square feet of the
market rate units, it is to be adjusted each year by CPI. Just
for your information, we're using a 3% CPI growth for all
of these figures over the course of the 99 years, actual
CPI average over the last 99 years is 3.1%. So we're right
on target with what actual experience has been the $0.85
times the 350,000ft?!S would bea first year payment of $297,500.
If you take that out over 99 years, with a 3% growth rate,
that would end up being $175 million over the 99 years. The
next revenue identified is called a resale fee. Now, the
resale talks about if those units are bought originally,
and then after some period, they're sold to someone else
with that transaction, that second and every future sale
after that, the city gets a fee on the transaction of the sale.
That fee is based on. A quarter of a percent. So the starting
unit price of each of those units is just under $5 million.
We're assuming six units per year sold. That's a total of
$29.99 million, and times the quarter of a percent. That
would result in $74,979 in the first year, again, looking at
over 99 years, increasing by 3% would result in $44,134,000
over the 99 year period. The next revenue, if I advance it,
is our fire fee. We have a fire Non-ad valorem assessment in
year one. That would be $77,910 to the city doing the same
thing. Assuming an increase of 3%, it would result in
$45,860,000 over the 99 years. So let's look at this
comprehensive now comprehensively and what it
would mean to the city in the left or the green column. You
see what all of this would mean to the city in the first year
that the project is on the tax rolls, I'm just going to go
right down the column on the left hand side. That initial
rent payment we discussed net would be 9 million, $30,000.
That closing rent, which is the 14% of the sales, would be
$46.9 million. The first year is ad valorem. Taxes would be 4
million. The resale fees on those six units would be
$75,000. The base rent would be 297,500. The fire Non-ad
valorem assessment that we just looked at would be 77,910 and
impact fees, which are a one time fee in the first year,
would be $400,000. If you look over on the right hand side in
the blue boxes, you'll see each of those projected out over the
99 year period. So again, I'll just summarize by going right
down them. That initial payment is still $9 million. No change
there. The closing rent payment, the total would be 62,520,000.
Again, remember that's paid over the first two years as the
units are initially sold ad valorem over 99 years would
grow to $2.4 billion. The resale fees over 99 years 44.1
million. The base rent 175.1 million. The fire fees 45.9
million. And those impact fees, again, that's a one time fee.
So the 99 year total is the same as the first year total at
400,000. The total 99 year cumulative revenue to the city
generated by this project is estimated to be $2.72 billion.
In addition to that, just as a reminder, you can see right at
the very bottom note there, there's still also the $20
million that the developer would spend to make the
improvements to the community center itself. So that
concludes the financial projections. I'm going to ask
Lisa to step back up for a couple of closing slides. Thank
you. Thank you, Dave. I understand that there have been
some questions regarding the design and the site plan, and
the design and site plan are still being finalized, but
essentially the project has been redesigned to create a
slender point tower massing, reducing the wall effect from a
one A and the beach. The Azalea Terrace access is now
maintained. The. This preserves the coastal corridor view
corridors. Additionally, the building is now. The building
now has a sculptured facade and heavily naturalized podium,
which establish a refined tropical modern esthetic that
embraces the beachfront environment. Rather than
imposing a harsh hardscape barrier. Here's another view.
Looking from the west, the existing dunes are untouched.
The community center fronts the ocean with expansive outdoor
deck space. There is both surface parking and garage
parking within the first level of the parking garage. To serve
the public. Another view from the south. So what are our next
steps? Our next steps are to finalize the design and site
plan for formal submission address, public outreach,
finalize needed amendments and exhibits to the comprehensive
Agreement and ground lease in compliance with Florida State
statutes. With that, we conclude this presentation item
number 32, a resolution approving the First Amendment
to the Comprehensive Agreement, Comprehensive Development
Agreement between the City of Hollywood and PR 1301 South
Ocean Drive, LLC. All right. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you,
City Manager. Thank you, David, for the presentation. It's
certainly eye opening to see all of the all the details and
the financial benefits that you outlined through this public
private partnership. One thing that just David didn't mention
in his in his slides is while the city will be receiving a
projected $4 million a year, initially in property taxes and
growing from the project, roughly the same and separately
would be generated and go toward the school district and
the county as other taxing districts. We just presented
the city portion, so public school funding and county
priority and county operational funding will also be in a
similar dollar figure, depending on their millage rate,
but roughly the same. So, Pat, can I have the speaker cards,
please? And if there are any questions to city staff at this
time, I'll be happy to call one of my colleagues. Otherwise,
we'll go with public comment. Commissioner, did you want to
do public comment first? Okay. All right, everybody, how many
cards do we have, Pat? Pat, do you know how many cards? Okay,
28 cards. All right. We have three minutes per speaker, so
we'll have about an hour and a half. If you take up all of the
three minutes of public speaking time. Happy to hear
your comments. If you're in the audience and you want to
support someone who just spoke and you agree with what they
said and you want to show them support, the way to do that at
these meetings without clapping and interrupting the meeting
and interrupting the flow, is to do what's called jazz hands.
And we could see the jazz, all the jazz that you guys put out
there. All right, so let's begin. Speaking of jazz, we
talked about jazz today. Terry Cantrell. Come on up. Terry
Cantrell, followed by Claire Garrett, all that jazz. Mayor.
Thank you very much, Terry. By the way, November 21st,
Downtown Hollywood, big jazz festival. Make sure to make
plans. We hope from your lips to God's ears might be scaled
down, but it'll still happen. Go ahead. Okay. I'm counting on
it. I'm joking. Terry Cantrell, member, president, Hollywood
Lakes Civic Association today, speaking on behalf of the HLC.
A yeah, we oppose this project beginning in 2001 and we
continue to oppose it. Today. I was one of 100 people that
spoke on March 16th, 2022. You may well, most of you recall
you were here. 90. 90 of us spoke against ten spoke for
those that spoke for the project, were doing business
with related. So obviously for that, I mean, it is a little
confusing how we could oppose live local and then embrace it
so quickly after we won that lawsuit. I understand the logic
behind that. However. Live Local is so new and so fresh.
Is this is this legal? Are we going to be able to do that?
The governor hasn't signed that in yet, so we don't even know
if that's going to happen or not. And it could very well be
challenged. One thing David's numbers are just dazzling. I
mean, I I'm a kid you on that, but it makes assumptions. It
makes assumption that every single unit is rented or sold
right off the bat. And every single hero unit is rented
right off the bat. So that may not be the case. It's it's a
gamble. We're basically speculating on that. We know
that Chip Abel's vacation rental high rise, is now in
foreclosure downtown. And that was. And because they went
condo and they and that didn't work. So now they're in
foreclosure and there's, I guess, some rentals that are
still vacant downtown and some of the newer projects too. So
there's a lot of assumption here that this is going to work.
And I had to laugh because the comparator clause that Lisa
mentioned is also a little questionable for the sense that
they may not a developer like related may look at another
project two blocks down the road and he may say, well, I
just built a 30 story project there. You can't use that live
local project that you already built. However, you guys can
give them a P and D, a plan, a development, and they can build
it as big as they want. So that whole comparator clause really
doesn't work at all. P and D would be the easy, easy way to
replace that and circumvent that. So and I'm still not
certain and how we confirm that 40% of these of these 84 units
are actually going to stay at market at affordable rates. I
don't know that mechanism. I guess apparently it is in place.
Hopefully the state did that, but I still haven't seen that
anywhere. It might be good to explain that to people too, but
the bottom line is that the HLC is still opposed to this
project. Thank you Terry. Clara Garrett, followed by Lynn Smith.
Hello, mayor and commissioners. I'm here today to speak in
opposition not only to this amendment, but to speak also in
opposition to the stealthy way in which it was introduced by
one of the commissioners in her commissioner comments at the
end of the meeting, when few people were still in attendance.
It reminds us of the way that the pay raise action was rammed
through late at night last year, governing without transparency
and governing without giving the public sufficient
opportunity to participate in an open dialog before final
decisions are made on major issues, just erodes the
public's faith in and respect for their government. Harsh
words, perhaps, but a sentiment shared by many Hollywood
residents who are deeply disappointed in how this
commission has pushed this through. Getting back to the
amendment itself, besides the fact that it will provide for a
high rise building that is taller and denser than the
original, highly unpopular version, this amendment will
now become a live local project, meaning that it will now bypass
all county approvals and sustainability regulations. The
county requirements are there to protect people and to
protect the sensitive barrier island environment. It is
irresponsible to use live local to do an end run around these
county protections, which are meant to be there for the
public. So when the next 100 year storm hits Hollywood Beach,
the decision whether or not to bypass county requirements
using this end run will take on greater significance in
hindsight, won't it? History will judge the wisdom of your
vote tonight, Lynn Smith, followed by Michael Seltzer.
Good evening everyone. Lynn Smith, president of Downtown
Parks, Parkside Royal Poinciana Civic Association. And I'm here
to say that we are not in favor of what's happening today. I
sat here and listened to presentation tonight of numbers,
and I have learned in my lifetime billions of dollars
and looked at all kinds of contracts. And I can tell you
that I can't tell you anything that was that that was said to
me tonight. I don't understand the numbers. And we had a law.
It was called Lenny's Law. And if Lenny didn't understand it,
and I understood a lot. I've lent so much money in my life.
This is just really mind boggling. And I can't believe
that all of you guys can understand the numbers and
hoping as we go into this terrible economic plunge, which
I believe we're going into, I have a feeling for that. And
I've been through all kinds of cycles. My concern is not so
much about the things that we're talking about, but I keep
going back to this idea where we had a contract with the
summit and that this was left to the community. And there's
something in writing where I hear, and I don't know all the
details, and I apologize for that, that our city manager
decided that we could go outside this contract and that
this that we are really we're acting on this contract and
we're giving something to the community. Well, a 30 story
high rise for me is not giving something to community. That
land belongs to everybody in this county, in this city,
every resident of this city. And we need to know we got as
many people as we could today under short notice. We all ran
around like a bunch of crazy people, because we want to let
you know that we're not happy with this. And and I don't
believe I believe that it's I call them sneak attacks because
the thing with the salaries, this I mean, it just is all
happening so fast. And you're and you're excluding the, the,
the county, which is making me really nervous because there's
not going to be any oversight except you guys deciding that
these numbers are beautiful. I could be sitting with them. And
if I think you need a degree in finance or something, and I've
looked at a lot of projects and this is very scary to me. So I
know that you're going to vote. I know who's going to vote. I
can tell you right now who's going to vote for and who's
going to vote against, because you've been doing the same
thing, but all of you are going to have to live with this
decision. And I hope that when you think today and you push
the button for yes or no, that you remember that this belongs
to us. And if I was an attorney and I wish I was, I would be
filing the lawsuit already against you because this
initial contract did not mean that you could give the, the
this property to a developer to develop a high rise. And if and
that's the end. And I, I hope that you'll be thinking about
it and that you that you will well, you're going to vote your
conscience, whatever that is. All right. Michael Seltzer
settle down everybody. Jazz hands. Michael Seltzer followed
by Dennis Demartino. The first thing I have Michael Seltzer
956 Hollywood Boulevard. The first thing I have to ask is if
this was signed in May 2022, why are we still talking about
it four years later? And why didn't anything happen in those
four years? Also, I can't understand from the
presentation if this is a sale or rental for the live local
portion and the assumption of $5 million per each unit has to
be wrong. And I think we're getting hoodwinked. That being
said, I am in favor of the Live Local act. I am in favor of it
being on the beach. God knows there's enough property on the
beach that is probably should be knocked down. And I'm in
favor of having it. For renters that pay 120%. But what about
80 and 60%? Are they going to be included in this? Or is it
just for the people making 120%? But when this PP3 was made
years ago, there was no mention of live local. And this added
bonus or whatever they're getting. And maybe this P three
should be redone and bring in more developers. Now that's a
whole different project. It's not what it was when it was
presented to these people years ago. As for the height, as for
the height of 30 stories. Me personally, having moved from
Belle Harbor where the traffic is horrendous, I think it's a
little bit too high, but I guess I can live with it. So in
conclusion, I think this p three should be redone and or
the height be reduced. And the apartments, whether they're for
rental or sale, be made or developed on another piece of
property on I believe this is four acres. And what happens if
all these numbers that we were just presented with that none
of us saw before are wrong? What is the city end up getting
the way it was presented? Those numbers are fabulous, but I
have a feeling they might be slightly exaggerated. Thank you.
Thank you Michael. Let's go to Dennis Demartino followed by
Melissa Sherman. Esteemed commission members. And I use
that term for decorum purposes only. Concerned citizens. And
the rest of you, here we are again. More than five years
we've been coming back and forth with this. The community
has vocally, physically showed their dislike of this project.
They brought up every possible opportunity to tell you how
wrong it is. The county has agreed with us on most of them.
You failed on the density and you went around that end. You
failed on the zoning and you went out on that end. You
failed on the mapping and you went around on that end and now
you're bringing in live local. I want to know how this idea
came to be. Did somebody just have a dream in the middle of
the night that they decided to do live local, or did somebody
else ask them to speak for them and present it live? Locals?
Not all that a great idea. It seems like a good idea, but
you've got people making $100,000 to qualify for this
affordable housing. It's not going to help the people that
really need to be helped with housing. And there's a lot of
development going on in the city right now. The Dixie
corridor, the 441, there's going to be buildings there.
There's going to be property. There's going to be
opportunities for people. There's a high vacancy rate,
buildings are closing. People are not being able to rent out
or sell units. And we're going to provide more. Why? Because
some realtor comes in and offers us a lot of money. You
got to remember, while the while the money is going up
year after year in value, the value of the money is going
down and down after year. I don't know what else can be
said. I just know that the land wasn't meant for that purpose.
I know that the barrier island, the resiliency, doesn't
accommodate much more density. I know that that the people
don't want it. And I think we're working under a couple of
very misleading assumptions here. One is that live local is
going to help out the people that need it, and it doesn't.
Another is going to bring us a lot of money stretched out over
a lot of years. That goes down in value. I think the biggest
misunderstanding and miss assumption right now is that
we're constituents and your representatives, because you
seem to represent a few people, some more than others. And the
constituents, well, we don't know what we want. Melissa
Sherman followed by Pam Borgio. Good afternoon, Mayor and
commissioners. My name is Melissa Sherman. I'm a resident
of Royal Poinciana. I'm also a public school teacher 25 years
here in Broward County. I'm here tonight to ask you not to
approve this project. Not because I oppose housing, not
because I oppose growth, not because I believe Hollywood
should pause while the rest of the South Florida changes
around us. I'm asking you to vote no, because growth without
trust is not planning. Growth without infrastructure is not
vision. Growth without neighborhood protection is not
progress. It's just a high rise. Drop from the sky and hand it
to residents like an invoice. I'm asking you to vote no
because live local isn't what it sounds like. When the school
board of Broward County makes its rough calculations about
how much a teacher makes and how many teachers they can
afford for this sum of money, the dollar amount they
routinely use is about $75,000. Income and benefits. With
$75,000 a year, you can afford about $4,400 a month in rent.
But the estimates that I'm hearing of $2,600 as being caps
for what people can reasonably. Ford on a low income salary is
just absurd. And you don't have to be a math teacher to be able
to do those calculations. Ladies and gentlemen, you just
have to be able to sit in the audience and listen. The other
reason I'm urging you to say no is because this isn't just any
plot of land. This is a piece of land where the city has been
rushing ahead with a vote that moves away from the purpose of
the land. Without fully answering to the public. We
deserve a clear explanation of how this project complies with
the original terms, what public benefit is being preserved, and
why would you move forward before those questions are
fully resolved? A land deal is not a suggestion scribbled in
pencil. It's a public commitment, and before this
commission takes any action, you should honor that
commitment openly, carefully and transparently to residents.
This does not feel like a fair process. It feels like the deck
has been stacked before the public even reaches the
microphone. This commission has the power to say no, not yet,
not this way. Not until the public feels like this is a
public process again, and not ever for private developers. On
1301 South Ocean Drive, a no vote tonight is not
anti-housing. It is pro planning. It is pro resident.
It is pro accountability. Please do not approve this
project tonight. Say no to developing 1301 Ocean Drive.
Thank you, Pamela Borgio followed by Drew Martin. Good
evening, Pamela Burgio, Hollywood Hills resident. I'm
just going to speak my mind. This is absolutely, totally
wrong. And if I can say the few words I want to say, but I'm
not going to because I'm in public right now, I'm disgusted.
We're here talking about private land for the public, if
that makes any sense. It was deeded to the public. It needs
to be voted on by the public. We voted you into office. Yes,
some of you are leaving, but that doesn't mean you should
not be taking care of your responsibilities and your
duties to us. We pay and we're going to suffer. You're going
to suffer because you're changing the outlook of
Hollywood Beach, not just that parcel, the entire beach. And
this is what brings people to our community, what you're
doing and how you're doing it is totally wrong. And I
disrespect anybody who disagrees with me on that
because you know it's wrong. Okay? And I'm getting heated
over it. I've, I've controlled myself for so long and to see
the people that I once respected disrespect me. It has
to work both ways. And what you did last year when I wasn't
even in the audience and found out after the fact of voting
yourselves a raise and voting yourself, pensions and health
insurance. I don't know all of it. I wasn't here that should
have went to the public vote as well. This needs to go to the
public vote as well. We may not agree on the project, but this
project should not be at this property period. Stay with the
law. Stay with what you did in the master plan. Our ordinances
are laws. Everything says no. The county says no. All these
numbers are an assumption. Guess what? When we assume,
okay, it's it's an opportunity for money. It's not a guarantee.
And Commissioner, years ago, we had a conversation about the
Margaritaville project and you said, then I wish I didn't vote
for it. Learn realize that there's a process that was put
in place by this commission and former commissioners and prior
staff, and you're going against those rules and regulations for
the public. It's wrong, and I'm mad. And everybody behind me
listening, wherever you're at, and I know you're not even
paying attention to me because you're not looking at me. And
I'm looking at each and every one of you vote the right way.
Drew Martin, followed by Ann Ralston. After Ann will be
Donna Green. Drew Martin, I'm here on behalf of the Sierra
Club. I came a long way. I came from Palm Beach County. I
prefer not to drive on I-95 to get here. Okay. I'm sorry. I
came down here to oppose this project because it's just wrong.
Everything about it is wrong. I don't think it'll benefit
anybody. I don't think the live local, you know, it's just a
loophole for developers. That's all. Live local is they can get
out of meeting all the requirements. They don't have
to meet the sustainability requirements. They don't have
to meet the environmental requirements. You don't have to
listen to the county. And, you know, I don't think it's going
to produce the numbers that you think it is. Now. I saw a
scientific presentation and the the assumption is in 40 years,
Broward County is going to be underwater. And I don't that's
not a financial term. That's a physical term. And certainly,
although we hope that's not the case, this project is in the
worst place to be built. When you're talking about sea level
rise, storm surge, hurricanes, the higher a project is, the
more windstorm damage there is. And I can tell you the, the
financial benefit of a project that's wiped out by a hurricane
is zero. So you're looking at zero financial benefit. If this
project were destroyed. And that's not completely an
unrealistic possibility, because we look at storm surge
and the flooding and the fact that the coastline is receding
inland is very likely that this project may be on very soft
ground, and it may not be there in 40 or 50 years. These
numbers depend on the project lasting 99 years. So if it
doesn't, that reduces significantly the county's
income. So you need to consider that when you make this vote
today. Now everybody knows that the public is not in favor of
this. And so, you know, the irony is, you know, in a
democratic country, we are faced with the fact that our
representatives often are not listening to us. And I think
this will those who vote for this are basically not
listening to the public, because not one person has
stood up here and asked you to move forward with this project.
So it's definitely not the public's in the public interest.
Thank you. And Ralston, followed by Donna Green, then
Andre Brown. I think I see Andre, thank you for at least
holding the meeting at six where people could come. The
dates that Lisa went through, all were when Covid was
happening and there weren't public meetings. I think I
don't know how they were done. This P three came through in
January of 2020 and March of 2021, and it got signed in 22,
I think when City Hall. So there's the public is not
really being able to come in attendance. That's number one,
Raylan, you said something about the last four years. The
tax base did something. I didn't catch it. But the tax
rate or the tax base in Broward County has been increasing. Not
like before live local happened after this contract was signed.
That shouldn't have any bearing on this particular contract.
There. No offense to Mr. Bush. God rest his soul. Those are
George Bush numbers. That is a projection that means nothing
but a piece of paper. I can sit there and say, yeah, my
checkbook has $2 million in it. That doesn't make it so. And
how are you going to guarantee taxes if the state gets rid of
a state income tax, then you're going to have to depend on us
buying something. And guess what? When you start out
pricing certain things, we're going to stop buying because we
can't afford it. So that wasn't brought up at all about what
happens if the state gets rid of income tax. I mean property
tax. Sorry. Thank you for the correction. We are paying for
the new community center. I guess that's our benefit
because I know I'm not going to be living 99 years from now to
see that 90 projected million dollars or whatever we're
supposed to be getting. When a property gets assessed on a
sale price, that's usually 10%, not 20%. David, I'm sorry, but
I work there. Did it include homesteaded properties?
Assuming these luxury apartments or condos, are they
going to be homesteaded? Is that projected in those fancy
figures? I didn't hear it. So these are questions just
sitting there not lawyer. And then one other question I have
which bothered me in the comprehensive plan, they list
the properties that are affected by this agreement.
There is one folio number in here that doesn't exist. Why it
I can't find it anywhere. I've called the property Appraiser's
office to research to see if it was split or combined from
another property. You can still get that record. To my
knowledge, and from what I found out at Bcpa, this
property does not exist. I don't know why it's there.
Thank you. And Donna Green, followed by Andre Brown. Is
Andre here? I don't think he's here. So Mark Ross will follow.
Donna. Good afternoon, Mayor and commissioners. My name is
Donna Green, 526 North Rainbow Drive. I've lived in Hollywood
more than 35 years, and I'm here also representing many
other people who can't be here. They say insanity is doing
something over and over and expecting different results. So
I must be crazy because I have been here many times speaking
against this project. And I guess I'm here because I'm an
optimist, and I believe you all love Hollywood. What we are,
what we have always loved about our city and about our beach in
particular. So I'm an optimist. I believe you all care what we
think, what the residents think, what the residents want. And as
you can see, we're all speaking up to preserve this piece of
the beach that we love and that we want to protect from a new
sham, which is the live local. This, to me, is another trick
and a gimmick to take away control from the residents who
deserve to have a voice. We haven't been able to vote on
this, and we've come many times, explained how we feel,
explained why this is important, explained the value of the
character of the beach and why we are marketable because of
our charm. That's why we get on all of the best of lists the
charm, the character, the small town feel. I know it's not
going to last forever in some parts of the beach, but this is
the land that belongs to the city. The deed that said it
should be for public use has been talked about, and people
try to use gymnastics To talk around how it doesn't count
that we can still use it for a private high rise. It is wrong.
That is not public. Unless someone invites me on their
balcony to watch the. Because it's public. I do not believe
this is a public property. You're putting a private
building on our public land. So please, please consider the
long term impact of what this will do to the trust of the
residents. What we believe about our commission and what
you do to represent us. Please keep the trust. We need that.
Thank you. Thank you. Donna. Mark Ross, followed by. I think
it's Patty DiBiase. Hi. How are you doing? I've been here
before. Seems like five years. Doing the same damn thing. No,
no, no. Everybody's saying the same thing over and over again.
It's not your property to give it away. It's not. It was
deeded to be given to the people of the city. It's a
beautiful little place. The buildings are falling apart.
It's a tilt wall building a solid concrete. And what I.
What? I said they should make a damn. A rescue place for it.
There's no place for people to get off the beach here. If
there is this bad storm. There's no country boy air
boats out there to come and save people. They don't do that
anymore. There's no they're not going to get off these people.
I talked to people. I know people. They're not going to
leave their building. They're not going to leave it. They're
going to be stuck out there. How are you going to get to
them? They can't drive a truck out there. It's flooded. It's
full of water. And, you know, the ocean is going to come up
into there and it's going to happen. And my parents are here
in the night. My grandparents are here in the 1926 hurricane.
And they held hands from a wood house and they went to a
concrete building. That's why they survived. And it can be
hell. And we're supposed to get Andrew and they decide to go to
Miami, so nobody knows where they're going to go. And that's
going to happen. The building we have there right now, the
community center, if the tilt wall building is solid concrete
with t beam roof, I build buildings that I did the
diplomat, all the windows at the diplomat. And I also did
Espirito Santo in downtown Miami. When Wilma hit, we did
the contract for our glass was $23 million. The Four Seasons
blew the glass out of his four seasons. It hit my building 300
and 306, 360 pieces of glass in fenestration. Aluminum,
fenestration had to be replaced. We fixed it for $80 million. So
the repair after a hurricane is ridiculous on these buildings.
But either way, that building right now can be used as a, as
a, as a place to get people out of here. It can be that
building is big enough for two helicopter pads for for rescue.
We're also going to land. It's at least one way you could get
people out of the area, you know. Otherwise people are
going to die from a hurricane here. It's that simple. It's
going to happen. It's happened before I was here in 63. Cleo
went through, you know, and it was nice. We had trees in the
backyard, 2.5ft diameter, ten foot above the ground, snapped
them in half like toothpicks. You know, it happens, you know?
And I can't believe I'm looking at you guys even going through
this again. And why are you fighting it so bad? You know, I
can't believe that it's a, I hate to say corrupt, but it
doesn't make any sense to you that you want to do this. It
doesn't make any damn sense. I see you and I talk to you.
People for five years have been doing this same thing.
Everybody's doing same the same thing. You're sitting there
smiling. I'm like, I don't have much respect for you. You told
me, no, they're going to dump it. It's never going to happen.
Yeah, it goes both ways. You remind me of Foghorn Leghorn.
Thanks, Mark. By. Patti DiBiase. You'll correct me if I'm wrong
on the pronunciation. Rick Goldman, you're next. Patti
DiBiase, 2020, Tyler Street. Hello, Patti DiBiase. Good
afternoon, commissioners. I mean, good evening. I've been
here. Well, this is not the first time I've been here to
speak on behalf of saving our public beachfront. We have seen
the Broward Planning Council recommendation not to build on
this parcel that is still community land. It is my
understanding. Back in 1980, it was deeded to the city for open
space recreation, public and municipal purposes forever.
Families have enjoyed this beach for years, but now the
battle continues. The language of the deed never intended to
permit privately owned condominiums, apartments,
rental, or any other form of private residential development.
The financial revenue should not override the original deed.
Finding a loophole like live local and have a percentage
affordable housing still does not make this right. There are
many empty units throughout the city. There are even
foreclosures. Why not open those to affordable homes? They
will be better centralized for families that also need public
transportation. They can walk, use busses, trains. This would
make better financial sense. Putting them on the beach where
you need a car. And even with gas so high now driving back to
the land, you know the mainland is a hardship. This is bad
financial deal to use as a loophole just so you can build
there. Is it really for the working class? Why not protect
the beautiful piece of beach property for all the working
class? In addition to what I just stated, let's look at the
environmental consequences to our fragile barrier island.
Affordable or not, we are still going to have mandatory
hurricane evacuation. The zone will flood with saltwater
intrusion. Is this a smart place to build more homes, more
families that will need help during the storm, evacuation
and rebuilding. If we get hit by a major storm, just like the
West Coast, there are people in Fort Myers still waiting to
rebuild, waiting for insurance claims. Who is going to help to
rebuild? We, the taxpayers are the real working class. I beg
all of you to please consider the recommendation of the
Planning Council to preserve this unique oceanfront property
for public use, allowing private high density
development would fundamentally change both the character and
the intent use that the property was deeded to us
forever. Thank you. Thank you. Stephanie Burns, followed by
Scott Evans, then Sylvia Meyer. Stephanie Burns, Eric Goldman.
Did I skip Rick Goldman? Rick Goldman, come on up. My
apologies. I moved the car too quickly. Thank you. The land
we're talking about still has a deed restriction on it that
says the land must be used as open space, such as a public
park or some other purpose. And for the past 50 years, everyone
understood what the words public purpose meant. However,
today we're supposed to believe that selling our land on a 99
year lease so it becomes a privately owned condo is a
public purpose. If this is such a great opportunity for us, I
don't know why you won't let us vote on it. But more than that,
we heard about how we're going to get millions and millions of
dollars if we just wait a century. But when my parents
moved to South Florida and bought their first brand new
three bedroom home, it was less than a century ago, and it cost
$11,000. And two parents working full time struggled to
pay on that $11,000 house. But eight years later, they wanted
a three bedroom house. And that three bedroom cost an
outrageous $23,000 in just eight years. How much it
changed. But my dad said, we'll keep the windows open. He
wasn't going to pay the extra 1500 to get central air. It was
too much. Okay, one summer is all it took and he bought the
central air later. But in more recent history, 40 years ago, I
moved into South Lake and I paid an outrageous amount. I
paid $109,000 to live half a mile from the ocean in South
Lake. Today, Zillow says my house is worth 1,000,003. So if
you think about it, in just 40 years, what a dollar used to
buy then is now like $0.08, $0.09, something like that. So
when we hear about the millions and millions we're getting,
it's like we're getting paid in monopoly money. If the building
is even standing that long, because sometimes they don't.
And when we hear that this affordable housing. Imagine the
waitresses on the beach could pay only 2600 a month and
they'll get a studio. I don't think they're going to be
standing in line for that. This is outrageous. It needs to stop.
We've been against it for the past five years. Why not listen
to us? Or at least let us vote on it? Stephanie Burns,
followed by Scott Evans. Scott, come on up. I guess Stephanie
Burns might not be here. Barnes. Stephanie Barnes no, no, Kathy,
unless you want to be Stephanie Barnes today. I thought you
were Kathy Dibona and we'll call you up. Scott come on up.
I'll be Stephanie Barnes. Yes. Scott Evans, Park East. Love to
speculative financial benefits. We get commissioners,
commissioners, mayors. I know you all by first name, so we'll
dispense with formalities. Happy Emancipation Day to
everyone today, May 20th, 1301. Public oceanfront open space
that is deeded for recreation period. Live local was formed
by lobbyists supporting big developers to bypass city and
county authority. I thought Home Rule was something the
entire Hollywood Commission stood for. That's what I
thought. Anyway, there was a letter sent to you guys by
Robert Garcia, and I read it, and I thought he had a lot of
good points. He wrote the legal 50 year lease ordinance and
vote historical, environmental and factual basis, supporting
the denial of this live local application has already been
thoroughly established through the extensive review and
finding of qualified professionals, city records and
the properties long recognized deed restrictions, I ask that
you follow the recommendations and concerns made by your
Hollywood and Broward County constituents and the
overwhelming public response opposing this proposal with
limited support in favor of it. I think there was 1 or 2 people
that did favor this last time I was here, and they were both
realtors. I was one of the 250 people lined up outside City
Hall during Covid to speak to the commission against this
sweetheart deal and present. When Carol eviscerated the
proposal. Related group submitted, many of you on the
commission were ready to already rubber stamp it, which
I'm shocked. We're a republic. I think you all know what that
is a form of government in which the power belongs to a
body of citizens entitled to vote, and their voice is
exercised by their elected leaders. The citizens own this
land. Let us vote November 3rd and the people will decide
further. Efforts to usurp the power of the people is a giant
red flag to me, and I suggest we need to dig deeper and as
they say, follow the money. Sylvia Meyer, followed by Tim
McVeigh. Hard act to follow over there. I need my glasses.
So pushing this through, I thought I was there. I am okay,
pushing this through with affordable housing does not
make it more palpable when there are so many other options
around the city that can and should be redeveloped. The only
reason that affordable renters rentals are being considered,
even though they don't seem very affordable to the people
who they're supposed to reach, is just to bypass the county
vote, which at this time seems unfavorable to the developer
and the city. Since this contract was passed in 2022. I
wonder if you've examined related as your partners in
affordable housing. They're famous for their poor door
because they don't want. They're famous for their poor
door. They famous for amenity charges, separate amenities for
affordable housing, or none at all. It was related that it's
called the Set in Manhattan, which explicitly forbid rooftop
access for affordable renters. Separate addresses, separate
entrances, all sorts of ways to keep certain residents in their
place and out of other spaces. That's how your that's your
partner in getting this built with affordable housing. The
fact remains that this is being slated to be built or it does
not belong. This land belongs to Hollywood residents and we
deserve a vote on it. The utter hypocrisy from certain
commission members who rail against losing hometown rule to
Tallahassee to push this forward against residents
outcry is offensive at the least. And since we cannot vote
in on social media, unfortunately not everybody
comes out to speak, but they rail against this project on
social media and they call for you guys to be voted out. So
some of you are charming out since you can't be voted out. I
ask everybody in the audience and who's listening to think
about who the commissioners who are going to vote yes to this
or supporting, and really examine those candidates and
reject them. If you don't want the same reckless decision
making that bypasses the support of residents, no
private condo belongs on this public land. And wait until
they come for a public park near you. Tim McVeigh, followed
by Jeffrey Pearson. Good evening. Tim McVeigh, 4316 Van
Buren Street. I have been asked by a long term resident, Robert
A Jason, 3400 North 37th Street, to read the following statement
into the record regarding the agenda item being considered.
His statement in his entirety has been provided to the City
Clerk. He writes. Dear City Commissioners, as a lifelong
resident of Hollywood, Florida since 1939, I respectfully and
strongly urge you to reject the latest live local proposal and
the proposed 1301 condominium development concerning the
property located at 1301 South Ocean Drive in Hollywood. In my
opinion, the legal, historical and factual basis supporting
the denial of this application has already been thoroughly
established through the extensive review and findings
of qualified professionals, city records and the properties
long recognized deed restrictions. More importantly,
I possess firsthand knowledge of the original intent
surrounding the city's acceptance of this property. 52
years ago, I served as one of five members on the City
Committee that determined the acceptance of this property
from the owner through then Chief Financial Officer Frank
Stephens. The conveyance was accepted, subject to explicit
deed restrictions limiting the properties used to open space,
park, recreational and other public and municipal purposes.
That language has never intended to permit privately
owned condominiums, apartment rentals or any form of private
residential development. Municipal purposes refer to
legitimate public uses such as police, fire and civic
facilities, not private high density residential properties
operated for private gain. At that time, Mr. Stephens and
owner Mr. Mailman made unmistakably clear that the
donor's intent and expectations were that unique oceanfront
property would remain in perpetual use for the benefit
of the citizens of Hollywood. For more than five decades,
that deed restricted public use has remained uninterrupted and
honored. This property is not simply another development site.
It is unique and irreplaceable. Public trust asset, whose
historic purpose and protected status should be preserved
exactly as intended by its owners and accepted by the city.
Allowing residential development on this property
would permanently alter its character, undermine the
original deed restrictions, and weaken public confidence in the
city's commitment to honoring donor intent and protecting
public land. In closing, I respectfully ask that you
follow the recommendatns and concern expressed by your
constituents from throughout the city of Hollywood. The
overwhelming public response has been strongly opposed to
this public, with very limited support for it. Please preserve
this project for the public purposes for which it was
entrusted to the city over 50 years ago. Respectfully
submitted. Robert a Jason. Thank you. Good. Good timing.
Jeffrey Pearson, Jeffrey Pearson, followed by Cat Uddin.
Mr. mayor, commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to
speak. I'll be brief. I'm sorry. So many will say more
eloquently and succinctly than I am able to, so I'll move this
right along. Thank you for doing something. Many of you
were involved during the City of Hollywood financial downfall
period, and you rescued us from it. But what you're planning
here is not the proper way to do this. You need to rework the
analysis for worst case scenario, not best case
scenario. The let's not have another Margaritaville. Not
that you were involved in it, but the problem with
Margaritaville was that so much was left on the table. Period.
That's all there is to it. Okay, I have 245 story buildings
about to be constructed. They've broken ground across
the street from me. A lot more ad valorem is going to come out
of those two buildings than will ever come out of anything
built on 1301. Find a better way to do this. A better way to
get out of this contract and produce income. And thank you.
Thank you, Jeffrey Cat, followed by Siobhan McLaughlin.
Cat Yudin. This is not the same project as it was when it was
voted on in 2022. It was different in December of last
year when you voted on the land Use Amendment, and it has
changed quite significantly again since December. We should
be asking our city attorney if the changes are so significant,
could we consider a new contract with the new numbers
and details? If so, our current ordinance regarding leases of
50 years or more going to a vote of the people of Hollywood
should be honored. Residents are questioning how making so
many units to be affordable rentals with live local tax
breaks will result in the same financial benefit to the city.
The city also seemed to agree that nice hotels would benefit
the beach more more so than condo towers. While most local
governments are fighting live local mandates, our city has
now decided to force a live local project on its own
constituents. Even more puzzling, the city just spent a
great deal of resources, time and taxpayer money fighting a
live local lawsuit on our beach a few blocks down so that we
could keep the low rise character of our beach. And we
won the lawsuit about a month ago. Why are we now turning
around and doing it to ourselves? None of this makes
any sense. The whole point of ruining this special locals
area of our beach with a private tower was revenue. How
can the revenue be the same if 40% of the units are affordable
rentals? And speaking of affordability, a realistic view
of what Broward teachers make as needed. I was a Broward
teacher for 15 years, and at the end of 15 years I made
about $60,000, not even remotely close to probably 80%
of the annual median income in Broward. It's an insult to
teachers to use us to sell this project. I'm a hero who
believes in preserving this special spot, so let's not kid
ourselves that these units will actually be affordable and more
on the way. Oh, I'm sorry. We also have many empty units
available downtown and more on the way. This project is not
necessary, especially in this location. This is not smart
planning. This is a mandatory hurricane evacuation zone.
Sheridan Street and Hollywood Boulevard have been impassable
during a regular rainstorm. A1 A is a mess, and the barrier
island will continue to have major challenges far into the
future as it floods with salt water on a sunny day,
scientists predict a possible 2 to 7ft of sea level rise by
2100. This project will block the sun and lock us into a
legal relationship with an unknown condo association for
99 years. This is public land deeded to the city for parks,
recreation, open space and public purpose. A private condo
tower is not public. This project will, will will affect
public access because spaces will likely be taken by
residents and their guests. Just like what happened at
Magnolia Terrace. I'm no longer able to park at Keating Park
with my annual resident parking pass, because too many condo
owners were parking there. This is exactly what will happen at
Azalea Terrace. Thank you to the residents who showed up to
speak. Even though we know that they'll be voting against us.
Siobhan McLaughlin followed by jazz hands guys. Siobhan
McLaughlin followed by Drew Cariaso. Siobhan McLaughlin,
1409 Rodman Street. I sent you an email earlier today about a
quote, but I'd like to add another one to it. If wishes
were horses, beggars would ride. I am truly disappointed that
the city staff gives you such an optimistic view of the
finances and the revenue, but there is no downside to it.
Once again, I feel that the city staff, perhaps because the
city manager answers to you and then the managers of the
various departments, answer to the City manager, we are not
getting a complete and honest picture of what could be
happening, and I think that is unfortunate. This project has
been opposed by multiple multiple people organizations.
It is just troubling that you continue to ask the residents
to trust you when the trust has been betrayed, and I ask you
tonight to vote no on the live local. It is not something that
the residents want. It is beneath your dignity to
actually go ahead and do this. When so many people have
questions about the fidelity, the honesty of the project. So
I thank you very much. Thank you. Drew Cariaso, followed by
Tess Youngish. Commissioners and mayor. My name is Drew
Cariaso, Hollywood, Florida. I don't normally come up and
speak. I usually write to you, but this time I don't know if
you've even read my. If you've read my either my. I don't know
if you've actually read what I've written previously. So I
felt that I needed to come and speak in person. Here we are
again, five years and many residents, including myself,
remain strongly opposed to this proposal. When this first
started, Commissioner Shoham, who holds a law degree, a civil
engineer, provided detailed concerns regarding why this
proposal may not be in Hollywood's long term interest.
I like Margaritaville, so I know some people don't, but I
recall Commissioner Hernandez, you surprised me at one of the
previous commission meetings and mentioned that
Margaritaville plans were not fully reviewed and that because
of an oversight, you would not have supported the project if
you were serving on the commission. And that was
because the concern of the city lost value. Opportunity lost a
valuable opportunity in the parking garage, and that
oversight was missed by staff. And I you really impressed me.
I was like, you know what? I like that project. But you're
right, we're losing that revenue because we didn't fully
vet that project. Now we're facing another major public
land proposal where the plans and even the benefits to the
city are still do not appear clear floor space is being
shifted. Square footage calculations continue to change,
and the contract terms appear tied to the developments
footage, calculations. They continue to change the size.
Everything keeps changing. It's it's, you know, even our
benefits, the long term revenue to the city is still not
completely clear. We have proposals. We have an idea. But
I love spreadsheets, but I don't see where those numbers
were going to get those numbers at the last minute. The ad in
live local provision for only a small number of units, and only
for a limited 30 year or 30 years appear. I'm losing my
time. We also watched major developments in stability
across South Florida, including projects such as Circo Tell and
which is now going into bankruptcy. Thankfully, that's
not a city property. That would be a great live local. I mean,
why not? Why not shift and use that? Use our places that are
empty, not build something that we, the residents, have been
against for five years. I remain strongly opposed to the
proposed condominium development. 1301 even the
addition of a small number of affordable housing units that
appear designed to to make the project more publicly palatable.
Thank you drew. Thank you. Vote no, please. Thank you. Tess
youngish, followed by Dan Lacey. Is Tess here? All right. So
we'll hear from Dan Lacey, followed by an Castaneda.
Evening, everybody. Thanks a lot. Appreciate you taking the
time. Dan Lacy, 1324 Arthur Street. For 24 years, it seems
like we're back for Groundhog Day again. I remember standing
here, I don't know, five years ago and hearing these same
conversations over and over again about this project. The
one thing that I can see as a as a constant thread throughout
these discussions has been, please put this to a vote for
the citizens by the citizens of Hollywood. Everybody's asking
for that. And yet, year after year, month after month, it has
never been put up for vote. I've yet to hear one good thing
about this project. This is a horrible contract. The city of
Hollywood becomes a landlord for 100 years, and we are on
the hook to collect rents. The only people who benefit from
this are the developers. They get their money up front. They
walk away. We're on the hook for a hundred years. Everybody
in this room will be dead before that city for that lease
is up. Anything, any liability on that property, any Surfside
towers collapse, any kind of storm damage we are on the hook
for. We are liable for that. This is not the goose that laid
the golden egg. The goose that laid the golden egg is the
property. We have. Public land on. Beachfront is so rare in
Florida. I could probably count on one hand in this area where
those instances exist. This is a terrible deal and you're
going to vote how you're going to vote. But that's your legacy.
Now, the one thing I do have to say, and I only had a few
seconds to see it, but in the numbers, the financial
projections, which were, I admit, quite rosy looking, I
did see that the developer is committed to $20 million in
improvements on the on the public property, which sounds
great, but if you read the fine print that was up there for
just a couple of seconds, that 20 million is backed out of our
first year's rent. So it's very disingenuous to say that, to
say that they're putting this money up to improve on the
property when actually, no, they're not. We are. And that's
right up there. I just saw that in a couple of seconds. What
else is in there that we're not seeing? I do this for a living
for a big old health care system down the road. And if I
can see that in a couple of seconds, I want to know what
else is in this contract. This is a bad deal. The city is on
the hook. The liability and exposure window is out. Is is
crazy on this. Please vote your conscience. This is not good
for the city. Thank you very much for listening. Appreciate
it. Thank you. Dan Ann Castaneda, followed by Rachel
Mazur, then Monica Pulver, then Glenn Margolis. And B Castaneda.
Welcome. Hello. This is my first time doing this, so I
don't know what I'm supposed to say. Hi, I live here, I love
living here, I live, I work here, my husband lives and
works here. My daughter lives and works and goes to school
here. So I live local. You could say actually I live hyper
local. I don't have a car. I ride a bicycle. So if it's not
in Hollywood, I'm not going see my point? Okay, so I don't know
why you guys are building another luxury condo. The
infrastructure, the traffic, you're taking away stuff from
the community. It's really crazy. Then you guys started
putting these things up. So before I came here, like I
didn't have your numbers, the way that this live local act
came to be. You guys are dirty, dirty politicians. This is a
dirty, dirty, dirty, tricky, tricky thing that you did. And
you should be ashamed of yourselves. You couldn't get it
one way and then you tried another way. You couldn't get
it that way. So then what did you do? You figured out how to
get it. This is a toddler having a temper tantrum saying,
mommy, mommy, please. Mommy said no, you went to daddy and
daddy said yes. Okay. You only guaranteeing affordable housing
for 30 years. Okay. And I was like all on board. And then I
heard the 30 years thing. And then you put up your numbers,
your affordable housing. Hold on, you guys said. And she went.
So they went so fast. 26, 61 a month for a studio. 2891 I
think it was for one bedroom. What's a two two? Because I
have a kid. How much is it? Two, two, 3500. What planet are you
living on that you think that $3,500 is affordable rent for a
family who lives hyper local lives, works, goes to school in
our city. You guys, this is a joke. This is all a joke. And
then I heard it was a related group. Hi, Eric. Sorry, I'm not
surprised you guys are in bed with the related group. God, I
had so much more to say, but, like, I got so heated. It's
really sad that you what you want to do to this beautiful
beach. The part of the charm of Hollywood is that we don't have
skyscrapers shooting up into the sky. We actually have sun.
It's ironic. Sunny Isles is named Sunny Isles. One of the
things that I love most about this place is the old
architecture, the buildings, the cool places that you get to
see. We don't want a modern skyscraper. Like, what is that?
Really? Think about what you're doing because this is not the
way to grow Hollywood. You don't need to grow vertically
to grow as a city. We don't need to go up. You guys can fix
other things, Mr. Mayor. There's a lot of stuff you can
fix downtown. Maybe you can occupy your time with that. You
guys could all put your minds together and figure out a way
how to bring back historic downtown, instead of building
another high rise that might make you more likable. It might.
Thank you so much for your time. But you guys, you have to vote
no on this. Use your brains. Goodbye. Thank you. She lives
in radius. She lives in radius. So sweet. Rachel Mazur. I don't
know if you could follow an Rachel, but. Welcome. Hi. Thank
you, thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm going to read
Monica Pulver's next. I am here tonight to go on the record
against this proposal to incorporate the Live Local Act
into the agreement for 1301. This is a new law, the
ramifications of which are not yet understood. And as new as
it is, the city has already been in a lawsuit connected
with this law. The term P3 refers to public private
partnership as our elected officials who are elected to
represent the public. I would hope that our own city
government would not support a P3 project, that the public is
so firmly against. The city has done a good job growing the tax
base with the addition of several buildings that provide
tax revenue and housing opportunities without financial
liability for the city to maintain them and without
costing the city public land. Four years ago, when this
project was initially approved by the city and again tonight,
it was clear that the financial aspect of this project has not
been reviewed. The city has focused specifically and solely
on gross revenue, and has not considered at all what it would
cost the city. Each year and over 99 years of waterfront
existence to keep this building structurally sound and in good
condition. I mean, consider what we have seen with
beachfront buildings when people did not want to spend
the money needed to shore them up. Over time, the city will
not have a choice. It will have to spend whatever is needed
over the 99 years to keep this building safe. In the face of
years of salt water and wind battering it on the beach. We
are talking about a 400 foot building. This is completely
uncharted territory for our city, so we are basically
committing to spend unknown millions of dollars to protect
this building. This is a commitment to write a blank
check, blank checks of taxpayer money for the next 99 years in
addition to the. In addition, the project has been redesigned,
causing a need to reconsider how this redesign impacts the
city's responsibilities and expenses for maintenance. It
would be completely irresponsible to push this
project forward without taking time to thoroughly examine and
make transparent to the public all financial aspects that
could harm our city, and to commit the city to a brand new
law. Before we can truly understand how this new law
could impact our future residents over the next 99
years, just as we endeavor to make our parents proud even
after they have passed, we have a duty to our grandchildren and
future generations that we that will ultimately form our legacy
in this city. If the city of New York had 99 year land lease
Central Park, how would that have changed the city? What
would people think of their legacy? When you consider your
vote, please think of the priceless value of what this
park brings to our city. Think of the recent article published
in parade magazine and what makes Hollywood special. Please
model our future and your legacy after Delray Beach.
Let's not turn Hollywood into the next Sunny Isles. Thank you.
Monica Pulver, followed by Glenn Margolis, then Kathy
Dibona. Good evening commissioners. Hi, Monica. Hi.
I don't normally come to these meetings, but I felt compelled
for this one. Sorry, I'm a bit soft spoken when I'm not angry.
My concern here is really with the fruit of the poison tree
going back to the deed, the original intent of that deed,
and those people who gave that property to the people of this
city, that's the biggest concern, because what we've
done is circumvented their wishes. And that's not legal
because they put it in a legal document. So I'm not sure how
the commissioners can go ahead with a project that, at first
light, looks illegal to do. So that's my first concern. I mean,
I'm the trustee on my grandmother's estate. If I
don't follow her wishes with her money, I'm my fiduciary
duties have been lost. So that's the one thing. The
second thing is that the gentleman here talked about
putting certain things as restricted covenants, which I
makes me laugh because the original owners did the same
thing, restrictive covenants, but it was circumvented by a
lease because they weren't smart enough or slick enough at
the time to say, wait a minute, sell or lease prohibition,
because they weren't thinking like that. They didn't think
that they'd be betrayed like that. So he talks about
something in a restrictive covenant that doesn't mean
anything anymore, does it? If you talk about where we're
coming from to where we're going, developers always get
their money up front. We all know that. So since you guys
know for five years you've been listening to everybody say, no.
My question is, why are you doing it? Mayor? Mayor, why?
Why lead this if the money isn't really solid and you
can't honestly say this will benefit the residents of our
city, then there's another reason. And that's what all of
you have to figure out for yourselves. What is the real
reason? Because it doesn't look like you're benefiting us. So
are you benefiting you? Yes. Thank you very much for your
time. Thank you. One would think that all the slides shown
by the staff show the public benefit. But hey, Glenn
Margolis, followed by Kathy Dibona. Yeah, good evening,
mayor and commissioners. I'm Gwen Margolis and long term
Hollywood resident. I've been a ACP certified planner for
almost 50 years. I've studied cities, I've studied
development, transportation and emergency management. And my
first concern, and it's already been covered is what about the
evacuation is going to take place here? This is a mandatory
evacuation zone. So now you have more people that have to
evacuate. You have more shelters that have to be added,
you know, and that's, that's something that will never be
addressed because you're dealing with the devil with
this new law, with local will probably come back and bite you
and you will find out if I was the developer and I was doing a
live local deal with you, I would say as soon as you sign
that, I'm just going to design it how I want. I'll show you a
few things, but I'm going to change them. And you have no
ability to do anything because it takes the power away from
the county. Sure, but it takes the power away from the city.
You will not have the ability to manage this. You cannot
write a local contract that will oversee, that will
overarch the the powers that the developer gets by going in
on this live local law. I think this is a really everybody you
know, there's so many things. I mean, I'm just sitting here
listening and the people here have brought up tremendous
amount of of downside to this, the rosy projection figures. I
didn't haven't heard anything about. How much is it going to
cost. You don't just develop, you know, millions of dollars
of revenue by adding a 30 story building without cost. How many
additional firefighters special fire equipment will you have to
purchase? How much you know? Is that all going to what are all
these costs going to be? This is really not a very, you know,
detailed project. And by going with this live local, you're
you're really cutting off any control that the city has. You
really don't want to go this way. I mean, it, aside from it
being a bad project for all these other reasons, you don't
want to do this live local. You really, really need to think
about this. You know, if you really want to go forward, try
to find another way. But, but don't get into a way where the
developer runs everything, you know, you'll find that your
contract, an agreement will be easily overthrown. You know, in
court, I mean, the courts these days, they go with the big
money people, and the developers are the ones that
have the big money. You know, the city you're you're worried
about making some revenue here. I think it's the downside is
going to be very bad. Thank you. Kathy Dibona. Followed by Steve
Welsh. Then Gladys would. Hello each and every one of you.
Kathy Dibona. And I'm here today as the president of the
Hollywood Beach Civic Association, as well as a 53
year resident of this city, proud resident of this city.
Each one of you know that I picked this up today to just
you probably have seen this, but this is the Dania Beach
Press latest edition. And on it, it shows how many more people
we're going to have on our streets, and how many more
people are going to be coming in to all of these big
buildings and condos that are being built. Two eight story
buildings will join. Second 101 apartment building due to open
2026. We're being squashed in the. The traffic has been
horrendous. Anyway. It's been. I told I think we you and I
spoke about this recently, Josh, that there are some days where
it's like 4th of July down on the beach. You can't move. I
can't get out to get into the street to get on a one a. It's
just incredible. As far as 1301 is concerned, these fine people,
your constituents, these highly intelligent people have spoken
about all of this for five years over and over again. They
know the numbers. I'm not a number person. You know that
about me already. Can't even balance my checkbook. I'm a
person that talks from the heart, and my heart says that
right now, on this day, this d day, this is the day where you
prove to us our people, your people, whether or not you're
going to break trust. Because this is an open trust issue. We
have trusted you. You've been elected to represent us, to
represent what we wish, what the majority wish, over and
over and over and over. Over the years. We come before you.
I'm here begging at this point because I know what today means.
I'm here pleading for the people that have. I can tell
you in the last couple of days and nights, how many people
have either called me, emailed me, texted me, stop me. They're
scared. They don't want to lose this. Today you gave the awards
for the preservation awards for the award awardees, and I
wasn't able to be here because I had to sit in the DMV to get
my license renewed. But we had our representatives here, and
I'm very proud to be on the preservation board. 1301 is
right next to those same buildings that we just got a
preservation award for those Tudor buildings. That area, to
me, should be under an overlay for preservation, including
1301. It wasn't included when we when we did the go bond, but
right after the go bond was implemented, then we heard, oh,
there's big problems at 1301. Why wasn't it included then to
be fixed? Okay. Is that it? Thank you though for listening.
Steve Welsh, followed by Gladys Wood. Then the last three
speakers will be Isabel Barney. Gary J. Aju and Claudia Herzog.
Good evening. My name is Steve Welsh. I am here to urge a no
vote on item 23 to understand why this live, local pivot is
so fundamentally misguided, we must look at the history of the
developer, Jorge Perez, CEO of The Related Group. He built his
immense success on the foundations of genuine
affordable housing. After earning his degree, he began
his career as city planner. City of Miami. He created
neighborhood programs and neighborhoods that actually
worked for lower income people. He successfully utilized
federal subsidies to build a multibillion dollar portfolio
before expanding into luxury coastal high rises. Mr. Perez
knows firsthand how affordable housing is to work. It is
therefore beyond comprehension why related Group is choosing
to compromise its corporate legacy by working with Mayor
Levy to strip Hollywood citizens of its property. This
land was explicitly, explicitly and legally deeded to the
citizens of Hollywood, not to Jorge Perez, not to you, and
not to you. To us. Oh, there is a viable, transformative
solution that would protect public access assets and serve
as a monumental boon to Mr. Perez's sons, John, Paul and
Nick, who now manage the firm's housing pipeline. If affordable
housing is truly the driving spirit behind this pivot, not
just a convenient legal shield, I challenge the developer and
the city to redirect these resources where they're
actually needed. I propose comprehensive alternatives,
transfer the development rights away from our irreplaceable
beachfront. Take the $365 million related plan to spend
on a highly disruptive barrier island high rise, and deploy
those funds toward true, equitable housing along
Hollywood's primary transportation corridors,
federal highway, Dixie highway and State Route 441, focusing
on sensitive, considerate infill in these inland
neighborhoods would address Hollywood's actual workforce
housing deficiencies without suffocating our barrier island.
Finally, because the commission appears intent on rushing this
vote to ignore the public's desire to wait for a November
referendum, I am also formally submitting the attached 119
public record requests to the City Clerk to ensure complete
transparency throughout this process. Please vote no on item
233232. Gladys would. Followed by Isabel Barney. Good evening.
I'm also opposed to building a high rise condo on the 1301
property, one of the last remaining locations with open
space on Hollywood Beach. This project has faced significant
opposition and for many valid reasons in the past, and it's
shameful that the live local law is now being considered as
a method to push it through. I ask that you listen to the
voices of the community, the taxpayers and residents who
want to preserve and protect our barrier island and
beautiful beach from overdevelopment, increased
traffic, and greater density. We deserve to be heard before
moving forward with any application of the live local
law for this project. This very controversial project, the
community should be allowed the opportunity to vote to vote on
it in a public referendum. Thank you, thank you. Isabel
Barney, followed by got. Gary or Gary. It'll tell us, Mr. Aju,
but go ahead. Isabel. Yeah. Good evening. I was going to
speak for my three minutes and then decided that everything I
was going to say has been said, and my only request is that you
do not vote tonight. But think about everything that has been
said today. And from my heart, I hope that something moves you.
Because sometimes I feel like nothing we say moves you
because you sit here and and it seems like you've already made
your minds. And so many times I've said what I was going to
say. It's not the first time. And we're all human beings. We
all make mistakes. We all have passions. But there is always
one right thing. And I think the right thing is to say no to
this project. And there are so many other options. So just put
your hand in your heart and and think with your heart instead
of whatever else has been driving you until now. Because
there is more than just this next project to us all. We have
to move on. Thank you, thank you. Gary. Aigoo, he's going to
tell me if I pronounce it correctly. And then final
speaker will be Claudia Herzog. Good evening everyone. Thank
you very much. I'm so proud to have such a great, brilliant
neighbors. I'm not going to be as brilliant as as everybody
else. I don't think I need to say no to our government. I
think you know what to do. I saw some posters and I was
speaking for a few years to the people. I said, what is this?
And everybody was explaining a little bit, and I trust you
guys. I said, this thing is not going to happen at all. This is
just common sense. And I never heard not even one person who
was in favor of this. Never, never. So I didn't, I didn't
thought this is my first time engaging into this. I never
thought this is going to be even this far. Today is my
first time and I'm very surprised. Before Margaret Bill,
before I was hanging out every weekend over there and because
of the project, I was not involved. But I needed to move
to Freedom and Freedom Street together with the dogs. It's
okay, I'm with my kids, but because of this project, I
think I'm going to need to move even further. Or I don't know,
but I think it's going to change my habits with my family
as well. So thank you very much. You know what to do, I'm sure,
and thank you. She had to leave. All right. Thank you. That
concludes public comment. I appreciate everybody that came
out. All right. Now we'll have an opportunity for the City
Commission to ask any questions of the city staff or just
discuss the item. Ultimately, a motion will be made and we will
take a vote on this resolution, and that will end the meeting.
Since this is the last item on today's agenda, let's begin
with Commissioner Shuhan. Thank you, mayor. First, I just want
to thank all the residents that came out tonight. You've
touched on so many of the issues that I have in my notes
as well. And so I really just want to thank you for your
ongoing dedication to making sure the city is doing what's
right. So thank you, Lisa. My first question is for you. And
one of the speakers mentioned poor doors. And for those that
don't know, in buildings in other cities, we've never had
anything like this in Hollywood before. When housing that's
affordable is built within a condominium or other market
building, oftentimes the developer will have separate
entrances for people that are on the lower income, or they
won't be allowed to use the amenities in the building, or
they have to have amenity fees. Do we know in this particular
project, if there's assurances that all amenities will be
available to all residents and that there will be no distinct
entrance, and that the condos and apartments will be evenly
distributed throughout the building? Either Elisa or city
manager, whoever. I mean, we haven't. As I mentioned earlier,
the design has not been submitted. There have been some
preliminary discussions. Guys, please don't interrupt. Please.
Jazz hands or maybe like this, I don't know. There have been
some preliminary discussions about the design, but nothing
has been formally submitted in regard to the design, the
amenities. I understand there will be amenities for both the
condos as well as the rentals, separate amenities. That really
hasn't been hasn't been discussed in great detail. So
until really the submit a plan and a design, we don't have all
the answers. Thank you. I'm going to get back to that. I
think, mayor, in the interest of time, I am going to start
with my objections to the resolution. And then what I
would like to conclude with is if you guys are going to pass
this resolution, because I will not be supporting it. My
suggested changes to it to avoid things, just like we were
talking about poor doors and things like that, which
actually I had submitted to staff about a year ago, the Bal
Harbor ordinance that bans those. But we haven't gotten
around to passing that yet, so I'll come back to that. So my
first comment is we should not be invoking the live local act
as a municipality in the state of Florida, and I cannot
support the way we are proceeding. Are we as a
commission dedicated to fighting home Rule, really
going to invoke this live local act, all to circumvent what was
legally and contractually required an anticipated. When
this agreement was signed, city and county review were a part
of this contract. So the live Local act can be used to create
affordable housing in appropriate locations. As many
of these residents said, it should be near appropriate
infrastructure, like public schools, where we have none of
those on the barrier island. The Live local act is a huge
erosion of the ability of Florida cities and counties to
govern themselves, and the use of it by our commission as a
tool to undermine home rule anywhere is a slap in the face.
And contrary to the objectives of the Florida League of Cities,
our neighboring Florida cities and our counties. But no more,
especially here in Hollywood, where together, the seven of us,
with our staff and our outside counsel, have thus far defeated
the improper use of the Live Local Act. It is a huge mistake
to support this course of action with unknown, absolutely
unknown and permanent ramifications. Once this
building is built, that piece of public open space is gone,
and to be the first city to sacrifice community park and
open space pursuant to the Live Local act is shockingly wrong.
Don't do it. And then really, a huge question how demaris can
we have a resolution tonight based on a law that does not
even exist? Guys, please do the jazz hands, please. Yes, please.
The way that the resolution is drafted, it allows the use of
live local to the extent that that use is applicable to the
contract. If there is no if this is not signed into law by
the governor, then live local would not be allowable. We're
talking about tonight. It's not even even if the governor
approves it, it doesn't go into effect until July 1st. That's
correct. Secondly, adding density notwithstanding of how
we got here tonight, which is simply to avoid the ordinary
and anticipated county oversight of any project in
this city, and especially those in fragile environments. My
concerns throughout this review process remain. It is a
terrible location. To add increased density. We are
doubling the density that this commission approved less than
six months ago, when we approved 25 units per acre for
a grand total of 111 units. This is an at risk area for
climate catastrophe and for sea level rise. It is a barrier
island and a hurricane evacuation zone to add 200, and
is at least a 210 units. The proposal before us adding
another 100 units from what we just decided in January, makes
these concerns even more alarming. And that's on top of
what these residents have talked about forever. The
original deed district restrictions, which we
stretched to get this far, and also whether it's truly, really
a proper P3, which is something that includes publicly
available benefits, these private condos and these rental
units will not be available to the public under the current.
Please do not make any noise under the current Comprehensive
Development agreement, rentals are expressly barred. The
original P3 approval was critically based on the
inclusion of only luxury condominiums and no rentals.
And contrary to the erroneous assertion in tonight's draft
resolution, the CDA, which is the Comprehensive Development
Agreement as signed, precludes rentals. It says in the event
that the developer determines that despite the developer's
best commercially reasonable efforts, the private facilities
cannot be developed as a condominium. With the agreement
within the The agreed time frames, the developer shall
have the right to convert the private development to a rental
project. And that is it. And not only hasn't that been done,
this developer, along with its partner at the city, has done
nothing for five years to try to get the project that is
originally set forth in CDA approved. They submitted a
joint application with the city years ago, let it expire and
has done nothing since. There is nothing pending before the
county at all right now. That has to do with the original
plans other than the the the map change. Adding 40% rental
units after a contract that doesn't allow rentals is a
profound change to the original development agreement. As
stated, 100% luxury condos. It also takes away the city and
county approvals that were legally and contractually
required. And like I said, the live local preemption has not
even been approved yet. And not only that, the live local act
did not even exist when this P3 was brought to our attention to
amend this, this agreement in a way that is presented to us
tonight is tantamount, in my opinion. And I've only been
doing construction law for 35 years, tantamount to a cardinal
change. It is material, and it is so profound that it falls
outside of our original contract, increasing the
density, relying on a statutory scheme that didn't exist at the
time of the agreement or that the lease was signed. Adding
rental units constitutes a new agreement, and as such, the
ordinance that this Commission agreed to in October of 24,
requiring any lease of this property for 50 years or more,
it must be approved by the majority vote of the city.
Electors voting on such proposal. Yes, this commission
and God bless all of you. We did the right thing in October
of 24, and that was Commissioner Clary. It was the
right thing to do. The the charter vote had gotten screwed
up, and we self-imposed on ourselves the botched charter
language with this new ordinance. Any agreement that
we reach to add rental units under the Live Local Act at
this density has to go to a vote of our residents. And the
good news is that, per our city clerk, we have sufficient time
to get it on the ballot for November, I believe, she said.
The June 8th is the deadline. Should we ignore our own law
that we put in place in October of 24, any taxpaying resident
will likely be able to follow suit to properly enforce our
ordinance. The financial backup. And David, you know how much I
love you. It is sorely, sorely lacking. The deal presented to
us tonight has no real backup other than $1,800 a square foot
for these units, and it is absolutely a fantasy and
unrealistic. Forgive my skepticism, but in December and
I mean December of 25, when we sat here, the financial
overview of this project without an affordable housing
component projected 1.83 billion over the life of the
project. I have that that was from December. That has
increased by $1 billion since December. It's impossible.
Additionally, there has not been a single sale on the
barrier island for $1,800 a square foot ever. You all
recall that the driving issue for this P3 is generating
revenue. When we first listened to these proposals, we spent
hours and hours analyzing the value. Why aren't we demanding
that now? What is the rush? Get us a true valuation. Bring in
an independent entity to value this. We would be breaching our
duty to vote on this today. The P3 statute 2550655 D requires
that the city perform an independent analysis of a
proposed P3, which demonstrates cost effectiveness and overall
public benefit before the contract is awarded and as a
commission. With the magnitude of the changes today, we must
demand that same exact level of analysis. The rise and fall of
this city does not depend on a single project. The city has a
lot of needs. It always has. We always figure out a way to get
the most important ones done, but to sell our recreation and
commercial space when things get tight is a terrible
solution. Whoever here said you are selling the golden goose is
correct. We've done it to Margaritaville. We're going to
do it here. It'll be Garfield next. And whoever said, be
careful. They're coming to your district next. Because as soon
as we run out of beachfront property. Well, the beach is
going to be coming to district two and then district three. So
those will be beachfront two. We cannot sell our open space
to make up what we see as shortfalls that we know,
because we have the most amazing budget staff. We meet
it every single year, and it is disingenuous for this
commission to suggest to the public that we have to do this.
We do not have to do this. Where is the draft amendment to
the lease? And I'm going back to why in God's name are we
doing this? Two years after the idea popped up, the original 99
year lease is completely structured around luxury condos.
It says the tenant intends to develop private facilities of
the project into a condominium, and upon completion, transfer
the individual condominium units to condominium owners.
After recording the condominium declaration, tenant shall
assign the lease to the Condominium Association, which
will assume all rights and obligations of the tenant. The
documents define a residential building as a luxury
residential building. The ability to sublease by the
tenant, which is in essence a related group, is allowed only
to the extent those sub tenants are consistent with a luxury
condominium. The Comprehensive Development Agreement defines
private facilities as luxury rental condominium. This
proposed amendment again changes all of it, and this is
a profound change that requires a voter referendum. This
amendment is missing crucial details, and here are just a
few. And honestly, I got a lot going on right now and have not
had a chance to go through all of this. But who is going to be
the landlord to these 84 units per section 2550657 A seven the
rights and responsibilities of the parties to a P three in the
course of the project operation have to be identified in the
agreement. There is no identification in the agreement
as to who is going to be responsible for these rental
units, who is actually physically going to maintain
the live local apartments? We have had so many concerns about
condo associations. When we initially considered this, we
were so worried, how is this condo association going to take
care of our precious beachfront? And now we're injecting a
second entity, a landlord of live local apartments. There's
no discussion of short term vacation rentals, which is a
huge discussion. The lease currently prohibits rental of
any unit for less than six months. How does that work?
With 84 rental units? We do not. As a city of Hollywood, which I
am so deeply proud to sit here and serve with you guys. We
never needed a local live, local agreement to build
affordable housing here in Hollywood. We've done it. We've
done it time and again on our own with creative financing and
at every step, people have come to us. Commissioner Gruber, you
suggested it on several projects and we did it. If you
need any evidence that this is simply a workaround to avoid
local oversight, just look at orange Brook, another P three
where we put in on our own a demand for affordable housing.
If we wanted affordable housing at this site, we could have
gotten it without any loss of home rule, without any tax
incentives, without any financial sacrifice or strings
attached as they are to a live local project. But we didn't
because we wanted luxury condominiums in that location.
So let's not be disingenuous. The need for affordable housing
and hero housing, whatever we call it, is great, but it has
nothing to do with why we're here today. We just added 8000
units along Federal Highway and 4300 to 441. And what I think
has not been discussed at all. If anyone falls into this 80%
to 120% Ami, please come live on the barrier island, because
if you search today to rent anything on the barrier island
under $2,600 a month, you will find 100 units available today.
So why are we building for that bracket of income? It's not
needed. It's there over a hundred units and all of them
are larger than the 500ft?!S micro units that are proposed
today. And none of them, I assure you, have poor doors or
separate entities. And they let all of their residents come
through the same door and use the same pool. The real need in
Hollywood. And I'm going to ask Pat, Chris to put up the slide.
The real need. If we want to address a need for affordable
housing on this island, if we really want to be productive
and follow through with the suggestions that we've often
heard here, is make that housing available for the
lowest of income who actually work on the island cooks,
waiters, hostesses, housekeepers, all of that. This
is a go to the rental page. One is owner. Yes. This slide come
from Broward County. It was prepared by Fiu's. Urban and
Metropolitan Studies Department. But this is the document that's
used in the county. And you will see in the category of 80
to 100% median income. We have a surplus in the city of
Hollywood of 2500 units. But you look at extremely low
income. That's where the need is, 6800 units. And it's been
discussed on this on this dais. If we really wanted to do
something incredible, let's allow the cooks, the maids, the
waitresses to give up their cars and live on the barrier
island. But that's not what we're doing because that's not
really, really the concern. I said proper affordable housing,
especially hero housing, should be near all the things that are
important transportation, medical schools, etc. that is
not the case here. If we do move forward, I hope you demand
that the resolution is fixed and this is what I'm coming
back to, because I have been on this dais too many times trying
to convey that this is not a good deal for the city of
Hollywood. The dollars are unrealistic. Like I said, the
$1,800 is not real. It's not real. Six months ago, we. We
looked at 1.8 billion. And today it's whatever it was,
it's so fantastical. But if this commission does decide to
move forward, I suggest one, two, three, four, five changes
to the current resolution. And I'm very serious about this.
And I hope if you guys vote that you will put these changes
in there. The first is get rid of the 80 to 120 Ami and make
it under the 30%. There's plenty of units on the island
under $2,600 are at $2,600, and they're available right now.
Make the threshold for those people that really need it,
where there's a very serious deficit in Hollywood. Number
two, stop the delay tactics. As I mentioned, nothing has
happened on this project for years except talk, talk, talk.
The amendment must expressly state that there will no longer
be any statutory tolling for, quote, emergency orders issued
due to hurricanes and other parts of the state. This
project could have been built by now, but because the
developer has taken advantage of delays, because a typical
requirement in an agreement like this was inadvertently
omitted from the original agreement, we have been taken
advantage of. All we have to say is no statutory delays. It
has to be true force majeure, where the developer's ability
to proceed is physically hampered by the city or by
Mother Nature. It has to be fixed. Otherwise there's going
to be three more hurricanes. Nothing's going to happen in
Hollywood and you're going to lose another four years. I'm
serious. This is a critical amendment. So number one, lower
the Army percentage. Number two, stop the delay tactics. Number
three, please do not proceed with this amendment to the
Comprehensive Development Agreement without making sure
that disgraceful poor door policies are barred. I don't
think any of you want to be known as the poor door landlord,
implying that our heroes or our busboys aren't fit to walk
through the same lobby or swim in the same pool as the
wealthier residents. No segregation, no separate
amenities. All residents in any city building get to use the
same amenities, demand that the affordable units are
distributed throughout the building. No segregation for
reclaim the unencumbered parcels. So if you'll recall
the original agreement, there was no density allowed at the
community center. So the developer asked and the city
agreed to bring in surrounding park parcels that we could
transfer that density from to get to what then became 111
units. When we passed the Lupa in December. If you proceed
under the live Local act, all of the density that we gave to
the project should be returned to the city in this amendment.
Get rid of it. If you are swap. If you are getting your density
under the live local, which for those that don't know, allows
the highest density anywhere in the city to be used on our
barrier island, then none of the additional parcels that
were referenced in the Comprehensive Development
Agreement are needed any longer, and we should take them out so
they're available for the future to the city,
unencumbered. And then finally, this was one that I just picked
up during the presentation on slide 12 of Lisa's presentation,
there was a comment in the. In the amendment that was a one
way up. Slide 12. Nothing in this section shall limit or
impair the city's contractual obligations to the developer.
Granted, under the original agreement, the First Amendment
or any subsequent city approvals, I would ask Damaris,
unless there's some good reason otherwise, that this be mutual,
that none of our none of the developer's contractual
obligations, you know, are impacted or impaired either. So
that's my one, two, three, four fifth suggestion that if you're
going to proceed with this, make sure these five changes
are in there. So we are home Rule heroes. And that means we
don't support or invoke state state laws like the Live Local
Act that undermine our ability to control our destiny by home
rule. And that should apply whether it's Hollywood, Broward
County, or any other Florida municipality or county. Let the
Comprehensive Development Agreement, as we agreed to in
2022, just run its course. With the current scope of work and
the 25 units per acre that you just approved in December, tell
the developer that, per the contract, as required, they
must make at least a reasonable commercial effort to satisfy
the Comprehensive Development Agreement in its current form.
That is what Hollywood and Related agreed to, and the Live
Local Act will be here. It's not going away. We know it's
getting worse every year. It will be here. If for some
reason the county does not grant the density change, then
proceed with live local if that's what we choose to do.
But why would we do it now? Why would we do it now? Otherwise,
please just send it to the voters. It's a great
opportunity to do what is right for our engaged, intelligent
and concerned residents. If both parties. Agree that the
Live Local Act is a way to go, send it to the voters. As I
mentioned, I believe June 8th is the deadline to get it on
the ballot. And I think, as I mentioned, that regardless of
what we decide, that it absolutely will be subject to
the ordinance that we enacted in October 24th, because to
convert this from a straight P three with all 100% luxury
condos to now 40% apartments under a law that didn't exist,
creates a profoundly different project, and it is subject to
the laws that we imposed on ourselves. So that's it. I hope,
if nothing else, that at least these changes get put into the
amendment if you choose to vote on it. But I ask that you just
let the document, as it stands, run its course. Thank you.
Thank you, Ray Lynn. During the presentation, staff had pointed
out that the next step in this process is for the staff to
work with council and amend the Comprehensive Development
Agreement and the ground lease, and it may include subjects
that Commissioner Shuhan had brought up today. I don't feel
like it's appropriate in this resolution to get into the
details of what would be, you know, deeper analysis into the
amendments that need to be made to the C, D, A and the lease
agreement. So I don't see a reason. Mayor, why would you
agree to something before you know the impact to everything?
Why? What is all this, all this, all this guys, all this
resolution is doing is expressing the city
commission's agreement and intent to be willing to use the
Live Local Act subject to this coming back, where does it say
subject to it says we're letting them proceed under live
local. What am I missing? But really, why don't you go ahead
with regards to what's next in the process? Yes. So there is
the ability to proceed under live local for the issue of the
density. But the comprehensive agreement which governs our
business arrangement and the ground lease have to be
modified. And so those will come back with the opportunity
to adjust terms in any way the Commission would like. What
they're what they're are we breaking it into pieces like
that? Why shouldn't this commission give have the
opportunity to see every change that's needed before live local
becomes a part of this deal? We're happy to do it afterwards.
In other words, this is just to express the intent and then see
the details. Then let's make. Then I will I suggest a six
change to the amendment, and that is that it does not go
into effect until until the Comprehensive Development
Agreement and the lease are properly amended to accommodate
it. In other words, you're biting off pieces before you
know what you're eating. That's the practical impact of this
anyway. Nothing happens without an amendment. No it isn't mayor.
You're giving the developer the opportunity to build a live
local act under the ordinance. That cannot happen without city
approval. And tonight we would be giving city approval for a
live local act on our property. Except that the difference is.
And I'll pass it on to Commissioner Biderman next.
Except that the difference is in this case, we are the
property owner. We are a party to a P three. It's not some
live local act on private property that runs its own
course under the statute. Here we are the landlord here we get
to agree to approve the design, the site plan and the terms of
our lease agreement. So I disagree respectfully with the
once this is agreed to tonight, there is no taking back the
ability for this project to be a live local act project. I'm
fine with that. Let's go to Commissioner Biderman, let's go.
Commissioner Commissioner Biderman, please don't. I
thought there were people in front of me, but okay, so it
was it was addressed about the parking. And can somebody
clarify how many parking spaces we're going to have? Because
with more units you need more parking spaces. But somebody
said something about we're not having more parking spaces.
It's the same amount of parking space as the original agreement.
Just to be clear, the actual design and site plan are not
before you tonight. And the you know, that has not been
determined yet. So the amount of parking spaces that would be
required are not have not been determined at this point in
time. So that would be something that could be
negotiated. If there's a concern that the parking is
deficient. So I have a problem with that because we need to
make sure there's a surplus of parking above what there is now,
right. That's what we that's what we kept promising. But now
we are getting an additional 84 units without 84.5 more parking
spaces. Yes. AM I right? There? As there isn't a a finalized
design and site plan yet? Is your request to have additional
parking for the live local units? Is that what you're
asking for? So if the parking calculation is one and a half
parking spaces per unit, then we need 122 more parking spaces
above what was already promised, right? Yes. If yes. Okay, so
we're not giving up that opportunity by approving this
amendment about requiring more parking, because the live local
doesn't. Give up that requirement of so many parking
spaces per unit. Yes, it does, it does. It does tell us the
terms of our agreement control, the approval of the site plan,
and through the ground lease and the development agreement.
Right, right. Yes. We would have to agree with the design
and site plan process will determine the level of parking
that is required for the building. Approving a live
local doesn't give up our ability as a legislative body
to approve the site plan. And that's up. That's correct.
There are some. Andrea Winget, Director of Development service
I just wanted to add to what the city manager was saying is
that you're not in a regulatory capacity tonight approving a
live local. You're in your landlord tenant being asked to
approve concepts of adding affordable housing and adding
another tool to the contract, which includes live local. And
I'm not sure if that helps with some of the conversation, just
an expression of intent. It doesn't. But I believe that the
way I understand this, the fact that we're the landlord gives
us more power than a typical. A live local landlord. That's
correct. And we're not giving up any of that landlord. Right.
Tonight, the only thing that you are allowing tonight is the
use of the Live Local Act to provide density through the
provision of 40% of the units for affordable or workforce
housing. But by doing that, we're not giving up any
legislative powers. That's my question, I guess. I'm sorry I
had to buy, by the landlord's approval of doing a live local
project. What powers are we stripping of the legislative
body? It's not really the legislative. It's really the
contract where we're under contract with the P three
partner and those. That contract determines our
relationship and what we are authorized to approve and what
to review. And that's the full scope of a site plan and design
and everything else. And by doing this, we are reclaiming
our home rule by taking the home rule local, as opposed to
giving it to the county or allowing the county to control
what we do locally. And in this case, in this case, this the
way that live local works when it is municipally owned or
government owned property, you have you're wearing essentially
two hats and you don't see any of the rights that you have as
a owner of the property. You, in this case, are regaining the
right to control the residential density on the site,
which in Broward County is controlled by the county. And
so in this case, Live local brings that back to you as a
landlord. Okay. And like Commissioner Quintana, I love
the idea of mixed use housing, mixed income housing, where we
have income level, different income levels living in the
same concept. And we've talked about that in other buildings.
So I agree with Commissioner Quintana on that. It was said
earlier about that this building isn't going to be
sustainable because it's live local. Is that true? I mean,
we're going to be still living by, you know, the Florida
Building Code and all those things. Yes, absolutely. The
requirement, the all of the requirements that are currently
in the comprehensive agreement stay there with the exception
of the provisions that are being amended tonight. And
those relate to the number of units being provided and the
type of unit with the 84 units being the live local units or
hero housing. Okay, so the live local doesn't allow them to
skip our local building codes or our requirements, like our,
you know, green building codes and stuff like that. That's
correct. And there are going to be South Florida building
standards, normal FEMA floor elevation, right? All of those
things. So in other buildings are knocked down by a hurricane.
Theoretically, this building is still going to be standing,
standing because it is built better, more modern. Okay. Yes.
It was said earlier about how the taxpayer should decide, but
the last time I checked, all seven of us live in Hollywood.
We all pay taxes in Hollywood. I believe we all own homes and
we pay our property taxes anyway. And it's it's hard to
believe that residents would criticize our staff, that we
don't know, that our staff doesn't know what we're talking
about. But yet the staff member singular at the South Florida
Planning Council or Broward County Planning Council. Knows
better than what our staff knows. I didn't interrupt y'all.
Don't interrupt me, please. So it's kind of hypocritical to
tell our staff how much we appreciate them and then say,
you don't know what you're talking about and back the bus
up over them. And I spoke to Bob Gibson multiple times over
the years. I know him better than probably everybody in this
room. Maybe not everybody. And I spoke to him on April 26th,
2021, when this first became a thing, but there was no
opposition to it yet. And Bob told me some of the stuff
that's in the letter, the only thing that was said today, and
the only thing that I saw in the letter online that he said
for sure was the fact that you're they're not making more
green space. But what he did tell me at the time, and which
was confirmed in the minutes that were read at the last
couple of hearings, is that the deed was written to be vague.
And the minutes that were read at the meeting said that the
commission could do with what they want with this property.
That's what was in the minutes. And that's what Bob Gibson told
me on April 26th, 2021 at 2 p.m. I know it's hard to
believe. I know the date and time, but I looked up my notes.
And I spoke to Bob Gibson two nights ago after I saw the
letter and we discussed it and he said, oh, I sent that letter
to the Broward County. I didn't expect everybody to see what it
said in it. So I would love to see Bob Gibson tell all of us
what was written in a letter, because I don't know that it
wasn't prompted by somebody, because some of what's written
in the letter isn't factual. And I'm going to end with this,
and I'm going to agree with Donna Green. I prefer to be an
optimist and believe that the numbers that staff gave us are
going to pan out to be accurate. And the residents, 20 years
from now, five years from now, 50 years from now, are going to
remember the five commissioners or six commissioners that vote
yes on this and that make this go forward are going to believe
that we did the right thing because they're going to
benefit from the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars
that are going to improve every neighborhood, from Liberia to
Hillcrest to Beverly Park to Driftwood Boulevard Heights and
Playland Estates, because those are the neighborhoods that need
improvements. The beach has 400 some odd million dollars worth
of improvements over the last 30 years. It's time the rest of
the city gets improvements. Thank you, thank you. Could
could the Sergeant at Arms please remove him? Please
remove him. Let's go ahead now to Commissioner Quintana. Thank
you. Mayor. Raelyn. When we started the discussion, can you
clarify for me? You said the latest amendment to the Live
Local Act allows cities to determine. Could you just
clarify that for me? The latest amendment to the Live Local Act
includes government owned lands as places where live local
developments can be built. And so in this particular case,
because this is government owned property, the. It now
allows live local to give us control over the density issue.
And as the owner of the property, the landlord. We have
ultimate control over design, site plan and kind of what goes
on our property through the business agreements, the
comprehensive agreement that we have now, we have an existing
comprehensive agreement. So that is at at base what they
what we've already agreed to. And there are aspects of that
that need to be modified in order to address this. And we
are fully committed to working to bring those modifications
forward. But but there is a an agreement that's already in
place. Okay. So is that latest version of the live local? Is
that the same thing I'm looking at? Adam, the House Bill 1389.
Is that the same thing that Raelyn is referring to? That's
correct. Okay. So at so here's I'm just going to read a couple
of lines from the beginning. And my. I'm not an attorney,
let me just say that. But it says it's an act relating to
affordable housing, amending state statute. 125 blah, blah,
blah, and one, six, six blah, blah, blah, requiring,
requiring that counties and municipalities authorize and
multifamily and mixed use residential uses and allowable
uses. So it means that the city cannot say no. Correct. Because
we're required to authorize mixed use and multifamily
development. Correct. The word says requires sorry. So the the
city, you know, there's multiple layers of approvals in
these projects and, and live local, you know, addresses
where residential development can go in areas that are not
typically have that don't typically have that land use or
zoning that would allow multifamily or mixed use
residential development. And so in order to promote affordable
housing and allow it in more places than local regulations
might typically allow it, that's what live local. So
there's a difference between allow and require for me, you
know, like that means different things to me when it says
requires that municipalities allow it on their property,
that's what it says. And then further down, it says that this
new version prohibits municipalities from restricting
the height or restricting the. Through other the height or
blah, blah, blah, dimensional means requiring certain
setbacks. So we can't control the setbacks, we can't control
the step backs. This new bill says that that cities. But. So
how is that different? Somebody help me understand because
we're the landlord, but we're also the municipality. The
municipality can't control. So then it says further there's
that's in here. But then then that's the House bill, then the
Senate bill. 962. It limits the cities ability to restrict
height, density or design. Hello, design. So I'm wondering
the changes that have happened to the design. I mean, I think
the new design for this project is so much better than what we
got the first time around. I have to say, I agree that it's
much better, but if this Senate Bill 962, which I guess is that
Adam, clarify, please tell me tell me if I'm wrong. Sure, if
I could. So ultimately, both the Senate and the House
approved House Bill 1389, 962 was substituted for 1389. So
that is the bill that is currently has been approved by
the legislature and is waiting. Governor. Action, which one?
The. 913, not. 962 that's correct. So the enrolled. So we
would still be able to control design as long as the bill
doesn't state that then. Yes. And but but we would still have
restrictions on controlling height setbacks or setbacks.
Correct. So the city wouldn't be able to control that stuff
with the new live local version. Yes. It follows House Bill 1389.
The language that's spelled out there would be. Okay. Yeah. So.
Thank you for clarifying that. I totally I wrote down RaeLynn
at your introduction when you talked about the challenges
that we have with having to upgrade our utilities. And it's
one of the things that I've been losing sleep over and the
cost of that, and how much of a hardship it's going to be on
our residents. And the idea that bringing in this money
could help offset that hardship. You knew that. I was going to
hear that. That's why you said it. I yeah, so I just made note
of it. Then the next thing I wrote down was you said there
was a decline in the growth of our tax rate over the last. I
didn't catch that number of years. Can you tell me what
that means? So the rate of increase in our overall taxable
value has has gone down. Each year. We were seeing a steady
increase of our taxable value. One year might be 7%, and next
year it was 8%. And we were in double digits for a while. For
the past four years, that rate of increase has declined. So
you're referring to like when Marty Care comes and does his
okay. So what happens if, David, you spent so much time with me,
helping me understand those numbers? I wish that we would
have had enough time to really do that with our residents so
that it wasn't because the slides did go by really fast.
And I, I, as a resident, would not have been able to
understand that without the ability to sit down with you.
And even then, you know, it's not an easy thing to grasp if
it's not your every day. But but I mean, what if the one of
the questions I asked myself is like, what if the values go
down and the projections that we're making is not what it
ends up being? And to what extent do we have assurances
from the developer that the city won't end up losing that,
you know, and, and losing what we're counting on to make this
worth it? Because if we're going to. I mean, that's the
thing I've my I've said, if we're going to do this where
we're going to give up this, this public land, then we have
to be really in a good place about knowing where it's going
to be worthwhile to make this sacrifice. And so, you know,
what provisions are, are we putting in place so that the
developer is making our city whole? Should something change
in the conditions? RaeLynn maybe you could talk about the
minimum guarantees. And even if this were a lesser dollar per
square foot, you know, if $1,800 weren't achievable and
it's $1,200 a square foot, which Hollywood Beach is
getting all day long, it's still $60 million on the top
side. I mean, even if you reduce the assumption at 1800,
which pushes the needle for luxury, but nonetheless,
looking forward four years from now, it's probably a fair
figure. But if it were, if it were not to materialize, you're
still at at the first year, 14% of gross sales being at $60
million range. And then subtract from that the cost of
the community center, the public community center. And so
you're still you're still at a high figure. And the agreement
itself, the original agreement, I believe, has a minimum 35 as
a floor, but we're all day long going to be at 50 plus even in
a worst case scenario. In my mind, the mayor's correct. He's
he's remembering that the terms and the comprehensive agreement
where we did set a floor of 35 million. So that that is the
minimum that we would be achieving in the upfront years
in that in that initial initial rent, in those initial payments,
the 35 million is the floor there. And then, you know, I
mean, like anything there, the tax revenue will be based on
the value of the property. So, you know, the tax revenue
typically has increased over the years. And that, you know,
that is why Dave figured that at 3% because that's typically
what we've seen in terms of, of growth, right? To add to that,
excuse me, and to answer your question specifically, as
Raelyn said, and the mayor said, there is a there's a floor of
35 million. So we did take a look and said, what would
happen if that 1800 didn't materialize? And we ran the
numbers at 1200 significantly lower, and it still generates
over the over the first year, that closing number, instead of
being nine, 98 million, would be 62 million at 1200 a square
foot. And I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. Sorry. And so the the
2.7 billion number would change to 1.9 billion if all of those
rental costs and sale costs came down to 1200 square foot,
instead of 1800 square foot. And 1200, we think is very low,
very conservative. So even if it dropped all the way to that,
we're still talking about 1.9 billion coming to the city
based on the 126 and the 84 units. Okay. Thank you. So I do
think it's important if we have information about how the 84
units are going to be maintained, to share that
information. I think as much as as we can share, we should. So
I expect those terms would be in the modified agreement.
Absolutely. So the ground lease, the comprehensive agreement
governs and is the controlling document during this during the
entitlement and development construction phase, essentially.
And then at that point, the ground lease kicks in and
governs the the remainder of the the term of the agreement
and kind of becomes the controlling document. So the
ground lease will have to be modified. I believe the plan
for and, you know, it's interesting to me because when
this was originally being. This was originally proposed as a
rental. The entire. Their original proposal was a rental.
And it was, you know, a luxury rental. And when it switched to
a condominium, then the concern started to be raised. Well, how
will we possibly work with a condominium association versus
at least with a rental? You have one management company
managing all of the rental units. And so we're only in
business essentially with one entity that's managing all the
rental units. And how will we handle that in a condominium?
And now that we've added the rental back in that concern,
you know, is sort of coming, you know, flipping on its head.
So in reality, the rental unit, very similar to how we did at
University Station with the public parking garage and the
Barry University piece, that is a retail component. We condos
out our public portion of the parking garage. So just like
you can have a residential condominium unit, you can turn
into a condo unit. Those 840 housing units, and then they
will be sold as, as a, as a unit. The 84 individual unit
sold as one unit to a company, and it will likely be a related
company. They have an affordable division. And so it
will likely go to that division to be managed like they manage
hundreds, really thousands of other affordable housing units
across South Florida, Texas, Arizona, I mean, New York, you
know. The affordable housing units will be kept at at the
affordable rate for 30 years correctly. That's correct. Yes.
So the leases for 99 years. So what happens to those 84 units
at the end of 30 years? You would we would have the
opportunity, as the landlord at that time, provided that some
legislation hasn't changed. We haven't extended live local to
negotiate what we would like to have happen to those units at
that point. And would we be negotiating with the the
company that owns those units at that point, whether they
would stay as affordable or and we control that if we would
like right now, the lease will call for them to be managed as
affordable, but all of that would be governed in the lease.
And we right now, the commitment is just for 30 years
right now. And yes, under live local. That's what the
entitlement minimum of 30 years live local. Yes. The affordable
housing is for a minimum of 30 years. That's because there's
lots of places in Broward County where it's 50. Yes, they
are getting. Anyone who develops under live local is
getting a benefit. And in order to get that benefit, to be able
to use live local, they must maintain that affordability for
the 30 years, right. So at the end of 30 years, then the, the
entity that owns the 84 units would then either choose to,
you know, depending on how negotiating negotiations go
with us, either choose to keep it rental or choose to make
them market rate units. They will do whatever is required by
us as the landlord in the ground lease, and we can
discern that now. And we could amend that in the future, but
they would be required to manage those units in the way
that is provided for within the ground lease, not now, but in
the amendment to the ground lease. Okay. I just have to say,
I mean, it's hard for me to I will absolutely, under no
circumstances approve anything that has separate entrances for
people who are in the affordable units. Any.
Absolutely. Under no circumstances will my name go
on anything of the sort. And I. A Commissioner Shuhan said a
couple of the things that I had written down, because a lot of
the. We have an excess of projects built at 120%. I do
get to speak right, I do, I do have time, I can speak, it's
okay. All right. So so we have an excess of 120%. What we
don't have is for 60 and and below. And so when I look at
the chart that shows what the 80 to 120% is for a single
person, that's between 71 and $106,000. Our teachers make 50,
51, 51,000 as starters. Our police officers. Would be, I
believe, at this. Oh my gosh, where is that post-it note
where I had that? Yeah, I think they would be yeah. 65. And so
a lot of our city employees would not. They don't make the
80%. They would not be able to afford these units. I have the
categories here somewhere in my notes, but a lot of our our
professional people would not be able to. So I would request
that this the Army be lowered. And so as it stands right now,
and without knowing the answers to some of the questions that
we had about what will be in the comprehensive agreement,
I'm not going to be approving this. I'm not going to vote yes
for this either until that stuff is clear for me. Thank
you, Commissioner Quintana. Let's go to Commissioner Gruber.
Thank you. Just to touch on the if it was a 120%, am I correct?
If it was a single income person, one teacher, single
income, they wouldn't be in that bracket. But if it was a
police officer and a teacher couple parents, then they would
be exactly in that bracket. So it, it does get into there. And
you know, the 30 to 120% Ami is not something that the city of
Hollywood decides. That's federal HUD and the state. And
they decide it's a quantitative objective thing and those
things qualify. So it's, it's not it's not us putting it out
there saying that this is what it is that comes from above us.
And we don't have a say in that formula. I wanted to city
Attorney, if you could just read. I just want to digress
for a second. I think it's important. Can you read the
deed restriction, please? I think it's ten words. Yeah.
Sorry. I just need to find that. No worries. Happy to read it.
So I don't know the exact words offhand. I think it's a
community space, a community, open space, parks. And to the
extent that we're talking about municipal purposes or public
purposes, right. Any public or municipal purposes. So case law
would say that the use of leasing, public, sorry, leasing
public property, even if that use is to lease it for private
purpose, may still qualify and still qualify as municipal
purpose. And in this case, there is the community center.
That was the initial public purpose that the city was
obtaining, the former that used to be the sales center for the
building that they built next door to 27 story towers. I'm
talking about the community center that is proposed under
the P3. Got it. That's the public purpose, certainly, that
the city has received. Got it, got it. So I just I just want
to go back because, you know, if you had tuned into this when
we started at 6:00 and never really paid attention to any of
this, one would think that we are taking away the park, the
community center, the parking, the public beach, and just
putting a tower. Right. I see Steve, you're shaking your head.
Yes. Right. But see, that's not the case. And I'll tell you, I
go to that beach more often. As much, if not more often than
anyone in this room. That's the beach I go to. I've been going
there for 50 years. I surf there, I go there with my
family. I go there with my friends, and I know what's
there. There's an old community center. We did our Diamond
Service awards in there a few weeks ago. I was in there.
There's no windows. I felt like I was in a one star rehab
facility for seniors. That's my opinion of it. And that's what
a lot of my friends and family feel about it. It's been there.
It's served a great purpose. It's been amazing. There's a
playground there. I don't take my nieces and nephews there.
It's it's, you know, long overdue for some repairs. The
bathrooms, when we're at the beach and one of us need to go
there, we just go home, you know, it's like that those need
to be repaired as well. And there's a surface parking lot.
And when this was first proposed, if you were to tell
me we were getting rid of all of that and just putting a high
rise, I would have said absolutely not. And when the
deed restriction was explained to me, I said, what are we
getting to replace? What's there? Can someone pull up the
slide of the picture of the proposal of the project? It's
in here somewhere. So I'm passionate about this beach as
well. This is this is where I go, okay, you all can laugh. It
says more about you. That's fine. You know, you can laugh.
This is it's I I'm glad I made you laugh. Levity is good,
right? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's one of the few
places I can surf. So I'm stuck going there. Do you have the
picture? Yeah, we'll bring it up. Okay. Well, anyway, until
we get to the picture. So my question was, what are we going
to do to replace these which were given to us and with that
deed restriction. So what do we have there? The new community
center, which from what I understand and someone can
correct me if I'm wrong and this is the only thing I'll
accept, is now much larger. It's got ceiling to floor glass
two stories high overlooking the ocean. Is that correct? I
don't know if the. Eric, do you want to tell me that or images
in Lisa's presentation? It was was it was Lisa's presentation.
It's important, I think that that we take a look at this
because really, had you just come to this for the first time
and watched these last three hours, that's really what you
would think, that we're just replacing all of these things
with a high rise and not and not keeping the public
amenities. Just wait a minute for that. I'll wait for it. Yep.
Well it's up. That's not it. It's a picture. No, it's a
picture of the rendering. Come on. Sorry. No, no important.
Wait. There we go. No, no. Next one. There you go. Okay, so I'm
sure all of you in this room are extremely familiar with
what's there now, right? So the community center is that front
building that that's not for just the new residents that
that's going to be for the community. That will be the
nicest municipal community center in all of South Florida.
Okay. I'm the commissioner for district four. We don't have a
community center. My my residents and I know there's
none of you here. There was one. He had to leave. You know, our
majority of them are in favor of this. They are. You guys can
say nobody wants it, but they are in favor. And they've come
to past meetings and spoken and they've been jeered at by you
guys, just like you do to me. But that's fine. I'm an elected
official. You can do it to me. But I tell them, don't worry,
you don't have to come here. You know, you just tell me what
you want and I'll do it, okay? Because. Is there anyone here
from district four right now? Raise your hand if you are
district five. All right. There's. Yeah. Anyway. Anyway.
Anyway, so that's the new community center. I view that
as as. Excuse me. Let's not have a back and forth from the
audience. Trust me about what I'm saying. That's the new
community center. I view that as a significant improvement to
the public, right? If you look to the right Harry Berry Park,
correct me if I'm wrong, but is that slated to be increased in
green space when they remove the surface parking lot and put
those parking spaces in the garage? Yes. So there will be
more green space increase in green space, right. So parking
garage will now encompass the public parking that we had.
Correct. That's well between the parking garage and the
surface parking that will be along Azalea Street and Surf
Road, you will have together the total parking. So is it
it's my interpretation that the public square footage available
after this project is built will be significantly increased
between the community center, the park. The green space will
be increased because that condo building is going in the air on
top of the parking garage. So it's not taking any available
square footage. We've now increased by doubling the
height of the community center, the community center space. Now
that's got views of the ocean. And we have the park now. I'm
sorry, but I respect all of you for coming out here. But the
fact that you need to vilify me for thinking that I like that
it it's concerning, you know, but that's okay. You're you
know, you can have your opinion. I voted on this project before
this phase of affordable housing came into it. And for
those of you who don't know, I'm on the Affordable Housing
Advisory Committee. And we do have a housing crisis. So as
far as if we're able to add some, you know, 84 units of
120% Ami and a teacher and a police officer can move there.
I'm I'm okay with it. I actually see an improvement to
the project and why that particular. But no, I'm going
to listen a little more. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much.
They can't afford it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you,
Commissioner Gruber. Two people making that money. Yes. Look.
All right. I have commissioners, I have Commissioner Vice Mayor
Kolody in the queue. And then I'll give an opportunity to
Commissioner Hernandez, who hasn't spoken. And then those
that already spoke will have an opportunity. Let's go to
commissioner vice mayor. So first I, I feel obligated to
set the record straight. Steve Walsh, it's not the mayor who
suggested it was me to put live local on this, to be for
discussion. And it was seconded. You pointed out the mayor,
we're not going to go back and forth. I am putting it on the
record that it was. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's
okay. I'm the one body. What does it matter? Just come on,
Gracie. It's okay. Excuse me. Okay. Then let the record speak.
It's fine. So I'm the one who suggested this to come forward
for discussion. Me and me alone. Clare. Garrett, you're 100%
correct. I have been true. I have sat up on this dais for
almost 14 years. I have been true to the residents of the
city of Hollywood, not just district three, and not against
anyone. We have hard facts that we've been faced with, and how
this discussion came about was for the past couple of
commission meetings, we have talked about a $2 billion
stormwater master plan. We've talked about how we're going to
increase everybody's water bills to pay for septic to
sewer, who aren't going to get it for almost 30 years. Donna,
you and I, we're not going to get something. We're not going
to get sewer for 30 years, but we're going to pay $200 more a
month for that. We have seniors, over 3000 seniors who have
lived in this city and paid their bills and are living
paycheck to paycheck, and we're going to force them out if they
are not the special ones who have a trust or who have
financially sound income. And believe you me, I know a lot of
them who do not have the money to afford to have this increase.
We are an old city. We are forced to make these hard
decisions to help move the city forward. We're state mandated
by some of this stuff, such as septic to sewer. Some of the
things are out of our control and some of the things are in
our control. How this came about. Years ago, we brought in
CBRE because of me. Again, I suggested sell City Hall, sell
the circle, redevelop it, and let's make it something great
so that we can generate funding to come into this city. What
that caused is we have to look at everything because we are. I
guess you would say we have to be fair across the board. And
what that did is turned into a workshop. And we looked at all
the properties that we have in the city of Hollywood that we
own that can be redeveloped. And we were given a perfect
scenario of what this would look like, what that would look
like. You can redevelop this area. You can redevelop that
area. And the top one was 1301. That was number one. Pam, you
could shake your head. No, but that was the number one
presentation. And unfortunately as which was stated today,
people can change their minds. But at that time and
Commissioner Quintana was not here, I don't think
Commissioner Gruber was here at the time, but at that time, and
I'm bringing up, people could change their mind. And that's
the right we have, Commissioner Shoham said. Super Bowl of
Super Bowls, we thought it was going to be great. We're going
to have a great community center. We're going to be able
to do it. But that was as a development on that site. Today,
we hear a lot of conflicting don't touch it at all. Don't do
anything. Leave our community center as it is. But prior we
had, yeah, we can generate funding. We could do something
better for the community. We can make it better. And this is
what it's evolved to. That shows that it's liquid and it's
fluid, and decisions are constantly being made. This
project definitely signifies Home Rule, and I have been a
Home Rule hero for over 13 years. I go to state, I fight,
I try to make sure that vacation rentals don't affect
us, along with Commissioner Shoham, along with everybody
else here. I actually said we all need to go because one
voice isn't enough. We need all of our voices, and there are a
lot of problems that we have that we're faced with in the
city. And what got me into this job, which, let me tell you,
six months, is looking really good after tonight. But what
got me into this job is the financial urgency that this
city and the prior leaders set forth. We are faced with losing
our fire department, our police department, our general
employees were leaving by the drones. Our city wasn't safe.
We were in financial urgency of $34 million. And if anybody
doesn't know, because I'm sure everybody does their homework.
I'm married to a cop, 30 year veteran. It was devastating.
And when you talk to the individuals, the firefighters,
the police officers, the general employees, they were
devastated. And those are by decisions that were made by the
city. And I swore to get up here and make sure to make it
right. I swore to get up here and be the voice of the people.
I didn't promise anybody anything contrary to what
anybody thinks that I promised the police, the world. Feldman.
All the statements that were made. What I promised was to be
educated, to learn and to do what's best for all, not for
some. And what I heard today, and the emails that I've gotten,
I've had people tell me on the email, do you think that a
multi-million dollar individual wants to live with a rufous
with a dirty shirt? Do you think that's appropriate?
That's that's so not right. And I will tell you, I am the core
of the epitome of being right for people. We talk about
infrastructure and flooding. Cat, you got to do something.
We can't get the money from mid air. And I got to sit on my
hands so that my hands don't misconstrue the middle finger,
that everyone thinks that now is like a joke in the city of
Hollywood. But it takes a leader to be able to sit up
here, to be able to take the emails, listen to all sides,
and make a decision to move us forward. This is definitely
Home rule, what we did today, or what we plan on doing, or
what I did and what everyone agreed to, is being able to put
the ball in our court for us to make a decision as a city of
Hollywood for our residents, all of our residents, to be
able to make decisions. And as you heard today, we're talking
about being a landlord. We get to make those decisions, not
the county and not the state. Even though the state now has
mandated live local, we're taking that before it gets any
worse, and we're making a decision that makes us better.
The county has made some really challenging decisions in the
years past. E 911. To this day, I still get calls, I get emails
how terrible it is. I was the only no vote on that decision.
But the difference of opinions. Here we are with 911 with all
the issues that we still face. The tower Commissioner and I
was a joke. We were Thelma and Louise fighting not to put the
tower in Westlake Village. The county won on that one. Is the
tower there? Yes. Is it going to? Cause we don't know what
the future holds. Everyone said it would cause problems. Now
we're talking about 5G. We talk about all of these things that
what we're faced with today and what the future holds. None of
us will know. We don't have a crystal ball, but we are
presented with the opportunity to protect home rule, to make
decisions and really have the wherewithal and the leadership
to make sure that we are financially sound. Now, I agree,
shockingly, the numbers may be a little inflated. Okay, but
let's go. Let's just ignore the presentation that was giving.
As far as the numbers being inflated. When this deal was
struck back in 2022, we had the same people here yelling at us
not to make this decision. The decision was made. Why not?
Because my pockets are getting lined or anybody else's pocket
is getting lined. It's because we have to worry about our
legacy and our future. And you may say giving away the beach
is going to ruin your legacy. And I'm going to be the worst
commissioner ever Hollywood has seen. Well, I, I don't have a
crystal ball. Maybe that's going to be true and maybe
that's not. But if you can see the presentation and thank you,
Commissioner Gruber, for bringing it up. We now have
become competitive with other cities for people to come to
Hollywood to enjoy our community center, to enjoy our
park, to enjoy our beach. And it's almost shocking for me
today to even be sitting up here because I hate this. And
usually I'm like the crying commissioner. I get all
emotional and upset because I have empathy and I care. But
what I will say is today we were talking, we had a workshop
that we've been here since 9:00 this morning. We had a workshop
today talking about the SWA does anybody know what that's w
a is out there by show of hands. Okay. We had to sit here and
talk about the SWA28 cities have to join and a lot of the
cities are not joining because of the fear factor.
Commissioner shoe is on the SWA board. She spoke in positivity,
the positivity of it. But I will tell you. That even in
itself is a scary risk. But we're taking hopefully I agree
we're going to take the risk of the unknown, but we're putting
the city with the SWA at risk as well if we make that jump. I
don't have anybody out here saying don't do it. You're
leaving it on our backs. Why? Because we know the financials
of the city. We know the future burdens that we are causing,
but we have to come up with a way to pay for all of that. So
we're in the position where we have to make these tough
decisions and to villainize us and tell us that we're wrong.
We've tried to come out creative and come up with
different ways, like selling City hall like or re 99 year
leasing city hall. And this 1301 came about and the deal
was, we want a community center, we want green space and we want
to protect our beach. And that is exactly what's happening. In
addition, we're getting more housing to fill the needs and
the demands that our county is seeing. So whoever keeps
speaking, I think it's Siobhan by saying it under your breath,
please respect the process. Speaking out loud is so
disrespectful. And again, we've asked you not to say it. We've
asked you not to keep repeating yourself and Siobhan, out of
all the respect you know I have for you, it's wrong to keep
jumping out. The vote was made for this project in 2022. It
does not constitute to be placed for a vote. And to be
quite honest, I'm not in favor of that because guess what? If
the city of Hollywood falls on hard times in the future, we
are handcuffed. But because I do value respect of our City of
Hollywood residents, I'm the one who said the mess up
happened. Let's enact it for the next two years until it
does go to a vote. So this project is not going for a vote
because it has already been voted on. And I believe that
that will create a legal issue, and I'm not willing to go down
another legal battle. Anyways. I'm not here to make enemies.
I'm not here to pick sides. What I think myself and every
commissioner up here feels is that we have to do what's best
for the city, so that we don't ever find ourselves and say,
damn, it should've, woulda, coulda. It may not be the best,
but we are getting a darn good project. That's fitting. All
checking all the boxes. With the exception of the affordable
housing. But we have to generate funding and that's
where we went with it. So I hope that you respect that. It
is not to damn anyone or to say I got you, or to be
disrespectful, or to pull the wool over your eyes. It's about
how do we move the city forward and how do we do it financially
and economically, and being a leader and making these tough
decisions. That's all I have. Thank you, thank you. Let's see.
Everyone has spoken except Commissioner Hernandez. So
before I call others, I'll call on you, Commissioner Hernandez.
Thank you. Mayor, I want to thank all of the residents that
are still here, because quite a few of you know, quite a few of
you come. They say what you have to say. And when it comes
time for us to deliberate, you get up and leave. And then they
wonder. They claim that we don't listen to them, when in
fact they just get the information when they actually
see it on the video, on the TV because they don't want to stay
yet. We have to stay. I like to ask the city attorney a couple
questions. The. The and, and Commissioner Gruber ask you to
get what the wording on on that thing says you like. I like I
like to go back to that. Do you have them by any chance, please?
Yes I do, Commissioner. Okay. This conveyance is for Open
space Park recreational and other public and municipal
purposes. Now, I did respond to Commissioner Gruber. I heard
you. I heard you respond, but my question is, is the income
that this building would generate covers the latter of
that which you just read? Yes, yes. Public and municipal
purposes are considered very broad under Florida statutes.
And case law has shown that leasing of public property
constitutes. Okay. Thank you. And this is the reason that I
wanted to go. Could you could you please go to slide number
13? Okay. Let's go to 14 then. There we go. If I go through
these numbers as rosy as they may be by some of you guys
standards, by the way, and I'm okay with something like that.
Can I ask you another question? How many votes do you need for
this resolution? 4 or 5. Four. Okay. Deduction from gross
amount developer contribution community center. That's $20
million that would come of our income. Is that correct?
Somebody just answer me. Not not from the day it was just
somebody from from staff, if you don't mind. I just want the
people to realize this is that money come from our income.
It's my understanding that it does. Yes. Okay. David, can you
okay, let the record reflect that Mr. Keller is saying yes.
That comes from our income and the initial rent to the CBRE
payment is $9 million. Is that correct? Really? Yes. So the
initial rent is $10 million. And then he netted out the the
the commission that's owed to CBRE. And that gives you the
9,000,039. So when this deal closes, CBRE will be getting $9
million. No, no, no, we will be getting $9,000,039, 39 $39,399.
They will be getting just under just a little over 900,000, I
believe. Okay, so they get 10%. Okay. So correct. That's that
was some of my question. By the way. Here is where I'm going to
disagree with some of my colleagues in the dais. Please
don't get mad at me. If the income of that property lives
up to what the deed restriction that you have. I want the $20
million for sunset. I want the $20 million for a community
center in my district or in district four that doesn't have
one. District one already has multiple community centers, and
they don't want the building anyway, so why should we reward
them? No disrespect to you guys. No matter what we do or what we
say, you're going to agree. So I prefer to have that $20
million to go to a community center and district four.
District two, or for us to be able to develop sunset golf
course, please. I and this is where you and I may disagree on
some of this thing, but we have better use of that money than
to continue to give a community center to the people that don't
want the development. And no matter what happens, they're
not going to want that development. Can we go back to
picture 21, if you don't mind, because I've been out, by the
way, drew, you were 100% correct. But I was here with
Margaritaville. I voted no at the time, and I highlighted
because I read all the pages of the contract and I highlighted
the shortcomings. And by the way, the Margaritaville was a
request for proposal that went to no loan, no no money. Then
it went to a $10 million loan, and then it went to a $10
million giveaway. And it wound up being a $28 million giveaway
without ever going to a referendum. And the same people
right here, right now that are opposing this, we're jumping up
and down for Margaritaville. They thought it was the best
thing ever because it was a developer that they liked, and
I'm okay, I'm putting that behind me. But at the end of
the day, these are the same people that are here that were
jumping up and down for Margaritaville. Well, I'm just
saying, not all because some of you were not here, but they
were jumping up and down for Margaritaville and they weren't
listening to anything against it. This development, this
developer listen to the people and says, we don't want you to
encumber the park. And I wasn't here at the time. I did not
vote for this, just by the way, so I can go either way on this,
but I want the $20 million for somewhere else. You guys don't
want the development anyway. We should not reward people that
are not willing to take a settlement. This is a
settlement. It's an agreement, maybe a bad agreement to some
of you, but it's the best agreement that we can come up
with under the conditions that the city is. When it comes to
finances, we need $2 billion. We're getting people that
cannot afford their water bill because of the rates that are
currently are right now. And by the way, just news. Newsflash
to everybody, the water bill over the next five years is
going up 125% because of the needs that we have, just so
that, you know, because I want you guys to hear from me. I'm
the bad guy today. I'm going to keep it real. AM I crazy about
the live local agreement? No. Would I change some of this old
resolution? I would make it simple, simple, good enough for
everybody to understand and for it to cover the legal ground. I
would say the City Commission is willing to entertain the
live Local act for this development agreement,
modifying the terms. In other words, we're not getting into
an agreement right now. We entertaining the getting into
that agreement, and that would satisfy everything that I've
heard here so far today. And I will keep us in the up and up
with you guys, the resident. But if the developer agreed not
to encumber the park, which the original drawing did, the
developer also agreed not to shade the beach. The developer
also agree, yes, with our money to do a community center so
that the youth can still be on that site. The developer has
bent over backwards. Are they going to make money? Yes,
that's their business. Their business is to make money. Our
business as commissioners is to do what we feel is best for all
of the city of Hollywood. And for some of you guys that
demand respect, but yet treat other people's without any
dignity. I don't know why you feel that you can receive what
you don't give. All of us here do not agree on everything. I
love my wife. I don't always agree with her. I love my
daughter. I don't always agree with her. But we have to treat
each other with the level of dignity because we're
colleagues and we expect certain professionalism. The
same thing with staff. I don't always agree with our city
attorney and she will tell you, I do not always agree with the
city manager, and she will tell you all of our staff. They will
tell you that when I don't agree with them, just like I'm
speaking to you right now, I speak to them. We don't have to
agree, but we have to respect each other and we have to agree
to disagree. You may not agree with what I'm asking, but I am
telling this commission we have better use of that $20 million
than what you see right there, because the people that are
voting, which is us, we're not ever going to please these
people ever. So if you guys don't mind, please oblige me
and use those $20 million, which is going to be used for
public purpose for Sunset golf course. So, so that we don't
continue to hang on to try to see how we're going to be able
to do that. And let's make Karen Caputo proud to be able
to give her the park that she was looking for and she was
trying to do. That's 40 acres of development of green space.
Every one of these people here said they want the green space
that's keeping green space. With that $20 million that is
being generated out of that parcel, and whether we get $1.9
billion or we get it $1 billion, or we get $750 million, which
is lower and lower and lower, it's more than what we're going
to get for that parcel if we sell it today. And by the way,
regarding the nine year lease, you're looking at the
individual who is the chair for the for the not only the
development review more years ago, but for the charter review
committee that drove the ballot language that we're looking to
put on the ballot this November so that we no longer have 99
year lease. So any of you that think that what I'm coming is
the left field. No, I do not like 99 year lease. I did not
vote for this, but yet I can I can recognize that it's a good
deal, good business deal. Unlike the other deal that it
was 99 years that I didn't think was a good deal. We're
getting the revenue out of this parking, whatever parking,
public parking revenue generates. We're getting it.
We're not getting it out of the other 99 year lease. The
question came up today. How many parking spaces are going
to be upped because of the 84 live local workforce housing?
We don't know that. I was told that we're going to generate
whatever it requires plus whatever we have. That's what I
was told by the developer. The developers are listening to
what we have to say. I'm being told by our attorney, I don't
know if you want to come up and say anything or not, but I had
a meeting. I do while this Keith Poliakoff for the
applicant. While the site plan is not completed, it's being
worked on. We are providing more parking than that's there
today. Right now it's approximately 131 spaces. I
think there's 80 something spaces there today. The live
local units are parked within the garage just like the condo
units. So the garage floor plate is bigger because of the
live local units. It does not impact in any way the public's
parking spots, which the city will control. That's more than
required by the agreement that surface spots outside of the
the existing building. So that does not change at all. Those
are the cities control parking spots. Thank you. And that's
what I wanted the residents to know, that at least when I had
a meeting with them, which wasn't face to face, it was
virtual. I asked those questions because in the
downtown, parking is at a premium. It's just like how it
is on the beach, and I'm trying to see if we can Keaton Park,
see if we can do another level of surface, couple of level of
surface for the residents and need parking, overnight parking
to be able to park there. I'm trying to work out what the
residents needs, but sometimes it's hard to fulfill those
needs. Number one, when we don't have the money. And
number two, when we have to fight for everything that we
need in order to get it. So I, I will begrudgingly, and I
would ask you, you know, the commission to consider removing
those $20 million for that community center so that we can
use it for Sunset Park, so that we can use it on district four
that doesn't have one, and we can use it with people that
would actually appreciate it. So if this and I will vote for
this, but I would I want you guys to just consider that
because that's not something that is on the table today, but
it's something that it's on my mind because I don't foresee us
having to bond $2 billion for septic to sewer, having to bond,
$2 billion for storm water retention and storm water
drains, and doubling the prices of the water and sewer rates of
our residents, and finding the money to do something with
Sunset Park. And it would be a shame to have that place lay
there for the next 20 years, because we don't have the money
when we actually have it here right now. And if the developer
wants to do something like that as an amenity for those
residents, so be it. Do it on your dime, but don't do it with
the rest of the city's. When we have needs, real needs and
these people, they have two community centers that we spend
good money right now to do. That's where I want to go with
that money. And I don't I don't have to agree with you guys.
You don't have to agree with me. But that's where I really
prefer that those $20 million go, I gotcha. So look, I just
think it presents a legal question that I think staff and
the city attorney have to come back to us as to whether or not
the public purpose of the P three, you know, is sufficient.
What's sufficiently be covered if we were to remove the
community center element, suffice it with the park or
integrate the community center into different, you know, a
different, a different, you know, layout of the building
and preserve dollars to be invested, for example, in
sunset and not invest $20 million in what we see in front
of us, but rather a different integrated community center
within, you know, if the building footprint were to
change and maybe, you know, get the best of both worlds, I mean,
you could do anything with, with the property. I mean, in
terms of how you could architecturally design it. So
but we're not deciding that today. And I think we need some,
some guidance as to what the parameters might be. Okay. Yeah.
Oh, I didn't I didn't know you were still not on. Hold on. Go
ahead Peter. Thank you. And that's the reason that I asked
you at the beginning, if the rent of that building
constitute a public purpose. And she answered, yes. Do we
need more in writing? You said that just by leasing it, it's
sufficient. So go ahead. So what I spoke about was what
constitutes a municipal purpose. That's a different question
from what would constitute a new project under the P three.
And it would require more research. No. The P three had
nothing to do with public purpose. The public purpose is
whether we are getting income. And you said leasing would
cover that. And that's okay. If you need to backpedal, that's
fine. But at the end of the day, that's how I started my
question before I made my statement. And if if we are
able to lease the land and that income that defines as a public
purpose under that particular restriction, then we're cover
that. We don't have to build that. And by the way, we don't
have to have that kind of elaborate thing. And maybe the
developer would be saying, we're willing to throw that in
and we can use that $20 million somewhere else. The fact is, we
need that money for something different. I mean, you could
increase the parking, increase the size of the amenity deck,
integrate the community into that. And, and it would be in
there and there would be more money left over. Yeah, correct.
So that's my point. My point is in, in that's something that we
haven't looked at, but we as a commission need to entertain
that. Quite frankly, there's other needs in the city of
Hollywood and they need to be addressed. We're not ever going
to please the people that came in front of us. So is that a
motion to approve the current resolution? For now, Peter, for
now, it is. All right. We have a motion. Can I have a second,
please? I have a motion in a second. Let's go for second
round comments and then we'll take a vote on the motion.
Commissioner Shuhan. I lost my. Hang on. I just have to open
the sheet. I was hoping, Commissioner Hernandez, you
would. What you had said about considering live local. Because
as I read the amendment, it says and I've lost it on my
computer here, but it says we are authorizing the developer
to proceed under live local period. That's it. So I was
going to suggest, because I certainly. And by the way, I
don't have a problem with amending my motion to. The City
Commission is willing to entertain the Live Local Act
for this modification, for this development agreement
modification. And and if it becomes law, I'm okay with
something like that because it move the project forward. And
if it doesn't become law, we don't have a binding commitment.
But by the way, one of the things that you talked about,
and by the way, I apologize because I know at your time was
that this developer has done nothing. This developer has
done nothing because number one, county administration. Well,
there's, there's a, there's a legal word. They recanted their
letter of approval, triggering other maneuvering that had to
do with the with the development from the developer.
And it's like a chess game. Everybody thinks they're going
to win and they move their pieces. You move your horse,
you move your tower, you move your bishop. So while the
county was doing their movement in chess game, so were they.
They went to Tallahassee and changed the law. And now it
appears that the chess game is in their favor. And this is
what I see happening when it comes to this development. And
no, I was not here at the time, but I keep an eye on what
happens in the City Commission. I have for the last 40 years,
long before I was a commissioner. Why? Because the
devil is in the detail. And this is the reason I asked my
question before I make my statement. At the end of the
day, if it's okay with the with the second of the motion to do
something like this, this part that I just read doesn't do
anything any different than all of this other stuff comes in
here, and that is that the City Commission is willing to
entertain the live Local Act for this development agreement
modification. And if and and it becomes law, I don't know. You
may want to weigh in on something like this, or we can
just go like this. Okay. You said no, no, no, don't withdraw.
I'm just asking if you're willing to. Let me just tell
you what the what the what the language is that we'd be
inserting into, into the agreement under this First
Amendment basically says it. It says verbatim design review
process, section 5.5 on page three. Notwithstanding anything
to the contrary contained herein, meaning the rest of the
Development Agreement, if authorized, if authorized by
law at the time of sign off submission, the parties agree
to develop the project in conformity with section
166.04151 Florida Statutes the Live Local Act, as may be
amended from time to time. So if is the operative word, I
believe that's what the issue is. If it's already in there,
if authorized by law, go ahead. I stand by my motion. Thank you
Carol. Go ahead if you like. Well, I mean, I was going to
suggest. Yeah. Tracy, there's a motion on the table. It would
be my recommendation that we propose a time certain to have
a real legal analysis, a real financial analysis, and a
proposed amendment that, were it, to go forward with an
affordable housing component, that it not have poor doors,
not be segregated, that we get rid of the ability to have
statutory delays. I mean, I really don't think we have
enough information to vote on this. Well, we're not voting on
on a complete amendment right now. Just just an amendment,
notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if
authorized by law at the time of sign off submission, that
just means DeSantis signed it, right? That's it, which we know
is probably going to happen. Right? So if there is a live
local act at that time, then the parties have agreed to
develop it per the live Local act. So it's not iffy. It's not
iffy. But we still have to amend the agreement, the
amendment to the agreement. There's going to be another
revealing. Go ahead and talk about the other amendment again.
There absolutely will be another amendment to the
agreement because there are several provisions that will
need to be modified to the comprehensive agreement and the
ground lease and the development team fully
anticipates that and expects that they are seeking certainty
tonight from you all that that they can use the density
through the live local statute in order to proceed with
finalizing their plans, moving the project forward,
negotiating the ground lease changes, and the Comprehensive
Development Agreement changes, which we are the landlord. I
understand, Ray Lynn, but once you sign this right, then the
next go round where we're asking for very reasonable
things to be put into the Comprehensive Development
agreement, we have already agreed that the project can
proceed per the Live Local Act. So when the developer comes and
says, hey you guys, I have to have separate entrances, I have
to keep these apartments separate. We are not going to
have any leverage because we've already agreed that the
building can be developed per the Live Local Act. My point is,
let let's just postpone this to a time certain so that we have
one amendment to the Comprehensive Development
Agreement. Let's make sure all of us understand what it is
that we're agreeing to. That's what I'm saying. Yes, I hear
you. This clearly isn't enough because it doesn't. It doesn't
it? We end up in a position that conflicts with our
contract right now, which says no rental. So obviously,
there's a lot of things in these documents that have to be
corrected. And the question is, once you agree to one thing,
you lose the ability to negotiate these future things.
So what I would suggest is that we postpone this until a time
certain when council has time to do a full legal analysis on
whether or not the magnitude of these changes aren't, in fact,
a whole new agreement, because the live Local act didn't even
exist when the contract was signed. That staff has an
independent financial analysis not pulling $1,800 for. It's
never happened on the barrier island before, and not $1
billion more than they presented to us six months ago.
Personally, I do not feel comfortable at all that this
Commission has accurate or sufficient information to
decide whether it should or should not agree that this
should be a live, local act project. That's all I'm saying.
I would say, well, give yourself the opportunity to see
all the information. So the city manager is correct that
given the evolving nature of the current project, another
amendment would be required. And at that time, once there is
some idea of what the project would look like, the proposed
project, then there would need to be amendments to the CDA in
order to make that something that we're able to move forward
with. This is not binding. Why don't we have the P three
partners state their agreement to that understanding on the
record. Mayor Keith Polyakov again for the P three partner.
There's no doubt that the final site plan has to come back
before this commission. There was a long discussion probably
an hour ago about, you know, whether or not state law would
allow the developer to do what everything, anything they would
want under the under the live local statute. Yes. If it
wasn't city land, that would be correct. You're the owner of
the land. You guys dictate what is built there. So you agree
that there needs to be a second amendment to the C, D, A and
the ground lease 100%. There has to be the final site plan,
which it will be within. The amendment needs to come before
you. You know, the the design needs to come before you to
make sure that it can be built as we've desired. But if you
answer my question straightforwardly, please. So
I'm sorry, Mr. Polyakov, does the developer agree that there
will be one entrance for all residents in this building and
one set of amendments? I'm not agreeing to that. That's.
Listen, there are buildings all over the United States. You go
to hotels everywhere. There's an entrance to the tower, not
owned by the city, not owned by the city. And there is condo
entrance and apartment entrance and A, B, C and D. Let's not
let's not get over ourselves too much. All right, all right.
We have a motion and a second Commissioner Shuhan feels
differently. Who's next in the queue? Commissioner Biederman?
So I kind of agree with Commissioner Shuhan about the
dual entrance. Unless it's not like, obviously dual. You know,
I mean, it is. So it is then fine. That's going to come back.
Commissioner Shu talks about how you know what the delays
are, but yet she wants to delay the process even more. So I
don't get it. Let's vote on it today. Let everybody go home.
We're going to have another meeting. Everybody's going to
come out and be against the project again. That's just the
way it is. Cat. It's 10 to 10 time stamp for when you go to
do a video clip of what I'm going to say, because I know
that's coming. Can you put up the chart that Commissioner
Shuhan called for earlier? 10 to 10 mutual respect. That's
respect. I'm I'm letting her know this is the time to start
recording mutual respect, you two. Buddy, I've. I've seen
what you've written. Please, please, please. Enough!
Together. Stop. All right, so I understand, you know, and I had
an interview with the Sun-Sentinel three and a half
years ago. And I try to explain why I believe that this project
is good for affordable housing. Believe it or not, it's coming
right back, full circle. So we have a housing shortage. It's
all about supply and demand. You give more supply demand to
cover the demand. The prices come down a little bit and it's
a trickle down. You create $4 million condos. Somebody that
could afford it is going to buy that instead of a $3 million
condo. Human nature. And it goes down the line by not
providing more luxury housing, it takes away moderate priced
housing or market rate housing. Same thing with this. Maybe we
have a surplus of moderate income rental housing of 2500.
And we have a. A need for the extremely low. But if we create
more moderate income housing, then it's going to take people
away from some of the extremely low or the very low that will
free up that property for somebody that can only afford
that. That's what I believe. That's what the statistics show.
You create more, you move people up the line. Everybody
wants the next best thing. They want better than what they
could afford, and you're going to move people up the line,
freeing up cheaper housing for people that could afford that.
That being said, first of all, thank you for commissioner, for
vice mayor, for being a leader, not a follower. I'm sure your
residents appreciate that, as well as many other residents. I
we had a meeting at Driftwood Community Center last night.
For those of you that keep saying everybody in the city is
against this, I asked the 15, 20 people that were there, does
anybody against. 1301 I had to go and explain a little bit
what's going on today. And one person in the room said she's
against it because she wants more information about it.
Nobody else in the room was against it. So it's very
disingenuous to say everybody in the city is against it. The
majority of residents is against it. The majority of the
people in this room that are residents of Hollywood may be
against it, and that might even be pushing the line. So I'm
supporting this. I'm okay with the whole. As Commissioner
Shuhan put it, the poor door entrance, because I think that
it should be one entrance. But I'm ready to vote on it today.
Let's move this forward. Let's get some housing built and
let's improve the community center. Let's improve the city
because we keep hearing the city is, you know, dilapidated.
The city's falling apart. You know, there's too much of that.
Let's improve the city. We got to improve the city. All right.
And there's plenty of money there to build a community
center and Sunset Park, because there's at least $60 million
coming in. If we're spending 20 million on a community center,
there's going to be money left over to build out Sunset Park
and a community center and other things. All right, let's
hear final comments by Commissioners Gruber, Vice
Mayor and Commissioner Hernandez, if any, and we'll
take a vote. Anything? Okay. Vice mayor? Anything else? Yes.
Yes, mayor, I just wanted to also highlight we. We went to a
meeting the other day that was here on the second floor, and
it was about development and what's happening and, and the
demands. And Sandra Eisenhorn really made a great. And I
thought that's where you were going with this slide. You have
the multimillion dollar apartments. But those
individuals have demands for hairdressers, mechanics,
waiters, waitresses, and the list goes on and on. And to
create a a community, that's basically what this is. You're
going to have your multimillionaires buying these
homes. Maybe they're not living there, maybe they're just
renting, but when they come into town, they're going to
need a nurse. They're going to need a police officer, they're
going to need a hairdresser. They're going to need a
housekeeper. They're going to need every average to medium
service income bearing person. And so when we talked to or
when we listened the other day, there is a demand and a need
for high end living. And there's also a demand and need
for affordable living. And then there's that thing in between.
And really and truly, we're meeting, we're checking the box
on all of them. So how this has formulated into just a high
rise that everybody didn't want. I don't agree with getting rid
of the community center, because that's part of how we
push this project forward. And now we're going to take
something away. I'd rather give than take away. And yes,
Commissioner Biederman, the generated funding I had
suggested that the generated funding go towards septic, to
sewer, go towards infrastructure, all the
stormwater drainage and help burden the costs that are going
to be increased to our residents who can't afford it.
Instead of pushing them out. But in negotiations, I would
like to also add one caveat. And now I'm going to change it
up. We're talking about affordable housing. I have been
a strong proponent for senior living and veterans, mainly
seniors. Is there a way we can carve out a certain amount, 10%,
15% of the affordable living to help meet senior housing and
then maybe 10% for veterans? Is that something we can negotiate
into it? When you have seniors that possibly could fit in that,
but I would rather see a senior citizen who's worked their
entire life who are now getting pushed out because of our
increase in prices, be able to to live on the beach and see
the sunrise and see the sunset and be able to commingle with
individuals and they possibly may make that. AM I because
they're affording their own home? And possibly they sell
their home, but also the veterans. I don't know how we
can arrange to meet that. And I don't know the developers here,
but we talk about the demands and needs. And here's a project
that's supposed to be community based. Let's make it community
based. Then if we're going to go to a live local, let's
address 10% to the veterans, 10% to the seniors, then we're
really checking the boxes. Yeah. Well, look, if if that's
permissible under the law, let's when that when this comes
back under the Second Amendment and we have the terms of the
agreement in writing, then let's staff bring us options on.
If we can dictate, you know, allocations of the of the of
the workforce units, you know, by, you know, age or by, by
veteran status and what have you, let us know what the
options are between now and then. All right. Thank you,
Commissioner Hernandez, to close and we'll take a vote.
Thank you mayor, you guys are going to make me vote against
my own motion. And I wasn't I wasn't kidding when I'm saying
that that $20 million could be used somewhere else. I'm not
talking about rewarding bad behavior. I'm talking about
real needs somewhere else. For that $20 million. Commissioner
Biederman, you talked about the other $60 million. The other
$60 million are going to serve a public purpose, which is
going to be help some of the bonds that we're going to need
for the septic to sewer conversion throughout the city
of Hollywood and the storm drainage, you know, if you if
you guys are hell bent on spending those $20 million for
that particular luxury community center, it well, it
doesn't seem to make a difference what it's been
promised. When there's other needs, they don't care for, you
promise? They don't think that you're doing the right task.
Staff with showing us a. And the developer showing us a site
plan that has a reduced cost, integrated community center
with an expanded, you know, in the in the expanded amenity
deck and parking garage that they might be willing to pay
for, for the expanded facilities for the project. I'm
willing to entertain that, but I'm just saying, please don't
zero out my idea because this is the, the, the ability that
we're going to have probably within the next 10 to 15 years
before we can get any money to do anything for the, the parks
that we actually need in the community center. I'm not just
talking about myself. District four doesn't have one. I have
one Fred Lippman, multi-purpose Centers. And when it was closed,
we you know, they were the armories in district three. But
it is it so but at the end of the day, we have a park that
has the ability to do. We don't have to buy the land. We just
have to allocate the money. There is a need in different
communities that will be grateful and very appreciative
of something like that. Happening when somebody else is
getting millions of dollars is saying, don't do it. So let's,
let's, let's see that option. Let's see that option on what
what that looks like to help reduce the cost or eliminate it.
The developer might be eager to, you know, get a get, you know,
a larger footprint on the property for, for the project.
All those in favor of the income that you were expecting
to generate by having a first class venue in that location,
well, you guys don't want it anyway. All those in favor of
the resolution, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Show the
resolution passing five two. That concludes our meeting
today. Thank you all. This meeting is adjourned to be
continued.