good evening. Any person who
receives compensation,
remuneration or expenses for
conducting lobbying activities
is required to register as a
lobbyist with the city clerk
prior to engaging in lobbying
activities before city staff
boards, committees or the city
commission. A copy of the
applicable ordinance is
available at the office of the
city clerk miami city hall
located at 3500. Pan american
drive, miami, florida 33133.
Thank you chair. Thank you very
much. I will do the pledge of
allegiance for discussion. 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. Rafael, do you have to do
a formal roll call or just
obvious that there's only four
four people here tonight? Okay.
>> um, just to note that
christopher norwood who was
appointed by the mayor.
>> he's here. He's just I think
he stepped out for a second but
he's going to be sitting right
here. Oh great. Thank you. And
how many people do we need for
quorum? Eight people would be
needed for quorum. Okay so
we're we're only we only have
five. Assuming with chris.
>> norwood we have five. So yes
with christopher norwood it's
five. Okay.
MR. Norwood thank you very much
for joining us. Peter. So I'm
just going to.
>> do the the roll call.
>> for for.
>> to be on the record. Okay.
Peter erlick here. Nicholas
lopez jenkins. Luis casamayor.
stephen lightner. Gary milano.
Christopher norwood. Monte
traynor. Daniel lopez.
Alejandro martinez. Steve. And
if we can just have everybody
speak on the mics just so
everybody.
>> can hear. Thank you. All
right. Any requests.
>> for absence waiver? No I had
didn't receive any. So we're
going to move on to the
discussion items. Um taking
them slightly out of order if
you don't mind. From the city
attorney would like an update
on the city commission agenda
item that a resolution that we.
Provided last year about
changing.
>> the quorum. Can we have a
status for that item that. Yes.
So the resolution passed. Um
now the resolution essentially
provides that the city manager
will come back and bring an
ordinance which would require
two readings that city
commission. So the next step is
for the city manager to bring
an ordinance consistent with
what you guys have passed,
which was attached to.
>> the to the. Resolution and
then that would require two
readings. Oh, I was under the
impression that was being taken
care of when we submitted our.
Resolution to the city
commission to be approved. No,
the resolution that was passed
by commission essentially
provides that the.
>> manager will bring back an
item. So that.
>> wasn't completed at that
time. So when will that item be
back in.
>> front of commissioners? I
don't have that information
would be the manager who brings
the item. Can you can you
follow up with the manager so
it can be heard.
>> in the next two or or at
best three. Meetings I can have
I can.
>> have I can reach out to rafa
rafael to reach out to the
manager rafaela because we've
been waiting on 12 or 18 months
for this one item to go through
the city commission. It's a
shame there's still a delay.
Parks will follow up. We will
follow up. Will you? Yep. Thank
you very much. We appreciate
that. Any questions from any
board members on that everybody
familiar with that item how
that item works? We have it for
those that are in the audience.
We submitted an item resolution
last year to change our quorum
requirements. It's very hard to
get eight people almost from
any board to show up for
meetings like this. We often
get sick sometimes seven five
to night and our our item would
change the quorum requirements
to only require three three
people to show up to conduct
business. Luckily we often have
five, 6 or 7 but the new
legislation would let us go
forward with three. So we hope
that gets.
>> gets.
>> passed by the city.
Commissioners as soon as
possible through the chair.
Yes. Just to clarify, the.
Resolution provides for five
voting members to constitute a
quorum. Does it? Yeah. All
right. Well it's still better
than 7 or 8. Thank you very
much. Um so then we're going to
quickly go to the um the miami
marine. Stadium basin mooring
field. Is there rafael is there
anybody from the.
Administration here to speak on
that or present on that item
and the status of the miami
marine stadium basin field. So
alejandro is here from the
dream department but they
requested to provide updates in
the.
>> OCTOBER meeting um, when
there will be better updates.
Okay. Um then we we will we are
going to hear from the public
tonight on that item and we can
also um continue that item
until the next meeting in two
months. And so we will be
hearing from. Alejandro in in
more detail in two months
unless he wants to add some.
Comments tonight. After he
hears from the public and we
would like to hear from the
public. There's some wonderful.
Advocates I know in the room
tonight who have great
information and have been
attending meetings for years.
You can speak in any order. Any
.
>> microphone that's working.
Excuse me. Clearly the
microphone works. I'm sorry
ma'am. Um, I'm I'm new here
and, uh but there's an item on
the agenda and there's no one
here to speak about what the
item is or is anybody going to
speak as to what what you know
what the item. Even as a
discussion item? Uh, that's a
great question. The board's
been discussing this particular
item for three or 4 or 5 years.
So I understand you're new to
the you're new to the to the
board there we requested
somebody from the
administration to speak on this
specific item tonight, but
nobody from the. Administration
wants to go into detail
tonight. Unfortunately there
are members of the public that
have a massive amount of.
Information and some
information that hasn't even
been. Distributed to the board.
They've been attending some.
Meetings with government
officials that we have not been
attending, and they're going to
be updating us on what they've
heard. So if you if you like,
we're going to hear from some
members of the.
>> public and I think you'll
you'll learn a lot fairly
quickly. MR. Chair, I would
love to hear from the and we
will hear from the public. But
first I would like to hear who
from the. Administration is
attending this meeting.
>> right now. Two members.
>> gentleman on your left.
Yeah.
>> so director danny lopez
acting parks director okay. And
alejandro martinez. I'm the
director of the dream
department. Of the marine
department. Dream department of
real estate and asset
management. Got it. And so can
someone explain to me what the
miami marine stadium basin
mooring. Field is? What exactly
is it? Why don't we let.
Alejandro handle that question?
Yeah. So I think the better way
to probably to handle it. So go
ahead and listen listen to the
public give their presentation
because like the chair
mentioned this this project has
a long standing history. Um,
you and I can probably meet
offline as well and I can give
you a better summary of what
the project is. Um, so so a lot
of the topics on this there's
going to be a more formal.
Presentation made in OCTOBER. I
would like the benefit of
listening to the public because
then maybe we can incorporate
some of their points in that
presentation and address some
of their concerns. So I think
the best course of action is to
go ahead and listen to the
public and then we can I can
provide comments as appropriate
and if not we can give you, you
know. Documentation onto the
project itself because it's
it's it's a pretty.
>> significant project with a
pretty significant history. Um,
if you don't mind, MR. Chair.
No, not at all. Uh, I'm new to
this committee but I'm not new
to serving on. Committees and
boards and I've never sat on a
committee or board when there's
an item on the agenda that
there's not somebody from the.
Administration who. Presents
what. Exactly the item is. And
so I definitely want to hear
from the public and I'm sure
they can add to whatever the
later. Presentation MAY be by
whomever from the
administration. I just want to
know what is the miami marine
stadium basin mooring field and
why is it on the agenda? And I
would like to hear from staff
to explain that so I can
provide a little bit of insight
on on this I why is it in the
agenda I don't know right. But
um the. Basin mooring field
basically there for years folks
have been able to you know, go
to the basin anchor and
completely neglect their boats.
And so now the city has worked
through a process of creating a
mooring field there to now
create rules and. Regulations
for folks to come and.
Properly.
>> uh, you know, secure their
boats and also pay a fee to the
city for for for that. And then
you know, with that comes.
Services.
>> uh, from the marinas also
the marinas uh, division.
Itself used to be under the
dream department and now it's
under the gsa department. Uh,
so that that change just just
happened not too long ago.
That's a little bit of insight,
you know, on on that, but
that's basically what the
mooring field is. Uh, you know,
I don't know as.
>> far as it being in the
agenda this is my first
meeting. So so just to clarify
the the the the marine, the I'm
sorry, the. Stadium basin field
is a is a is a is out in the
water. Yes. Okay. So it's.
>> a it's it's it's near the
marine stadium. Yeah. So
basically.
>> you have the marine.
>> stadium and then.
>> you have the basin right in
front of it.
>> so it's a body of water.
It's a body of water. It's
called the basin mooring field.
The basin is called the marine
basin uh the marine the marine
stadium basin that's what it's
called. And a mooring field is
going to be.
>> implemented in that basin.
Thank you. All right. Thank you
very much. Um you asked very
good questions, MR. Norwood.
you're absolutely right.
Normally and it's completely
appropriate for an expert from
the city or the county or
whatever government entity we'd
like to in front of us to give
us a background information on
a particular item. The the
mooring field that we're.
Discussing will be in the miami
marine stadium. Basin.
>> which I believe is
approximately 45 acres. Is that
correct? And it's also.
Designated historic. Um
everybody's. Familiar with
that. Gary milano you recall
the designation of the miami
marine basin as historic. Okay.
Um, which which means it has a
whole whole different set of.
Requirements.
>> that should be honored. Uh,
anything historic should be
should be reviewed. Um. I have
a for for chris norwood to
review quickly. There's an
article there's a publication
here. This is from dade
heritage trust. Independent
called. Preservation today.
Historic miami marine stadium
rebirth of an icon. This is.
1617 years ago. This is from
2009. Gary can you hand this to
chris to [Laughter] Look at the
pictures? I'm I'm fine. I I
would love to review this
absolutely absolutely. I just
wanted to understand just what
what it is and and it's on the
agenda. It's on the agenda.
>> because we're. Reviewing
what about it? Oh we've been
we've had we've heard a lot of
comments from. Constituents
taxpayers. Residents um. Rowers
dragon boat rowers about the.
Future of marine stadium basin
and they they been asking for
an. Update on the.
>> status of the proposed
mooring field. Perfect. I'm
good I'm ready all right thank
you thank you thank you your
comments are excellent.
Questions are excellent. Um
leah would you like to speak
first? Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN.
My name is leah kennard and I
am a very frequent user of the
basin and I thank you MR.
Norwood for asking those
questions. Um and I also am
just going to state the value
of this this board.
>> for the involvement of the
public has renewed my belief in
democracy. Um it's really it's
a vibrant opportunity for the
public to participate in city
decision making. And so I'm
very grateful that we can talk
about what's happening in the
basin tonight so that the
people who are here are all
people who are interested
either because they're out
there rowing or paddling or
because they're concerned about
the environment and what
happened. And the reason we are
all here is because like you,
we did not know what was
happening in the basin and the
city was moving forward with a
full permitting process to put
in 195 healix anchors into the
floor of the basin that
literally covers the acreage of
the basin. Some changes were
made initially um to what the
city's plan would be, but it
was never brought to this board
to discuss this. And so we have
not had an opportunity as
paddlers as the community of
paddlers, uh, to be able to
react to what the plans were.
So it is something that is
discoverable through all of the
permitting process with
diagrams of what the anchorage
will look like. And the city's
plan has been a very good idea
that we don't want boats to
just be dropping anchors in the
basin and and dragging the
anchors around. And so the idea
of having a mooring field would
be that boats would come in and
they would connect to boys that
are anchored in the bottom of
the basin. And that would be a
better idea for preserving the
environment. Uh, it also is um
it would take care of the
derelict boats. There used to
be a number of derelict boats
sitting in the basin. Um and
then after covid began, uh,
people discovered that the best
way for me to live is on the
water in the basin or all
around miami on a boat. And so
there were close to 200 boats
that were parking in the basin
and we were all out there
paddling around them. All these
people know that um and it was
very uncomfortable because
there was a lot of sewage in
the water as well. It used to
be that the miami marine
stadium basin was a place for
manatees. We would see them
frequently for dolphin
sometimes stingray. I even
remember seeing a baby shark
out there one time from the
boat. When you're paddling or
rowing you are touching the
water so you understand the
water. It's not like being in a
motor boat where you're looking
down at the water. I mean we
experience what the marine
stadium basin is. And so when I
became aware through the um
friends of biscayne bay that
the permitting process was
process was going on, I read
every single um permit and I
was shocked and so I prepared
this document that highlights
what I think the real issues
are so that you have some
background information to be
able to um to consider and so
you can read through the
document. I'm just going to hit
the high points of this and
that is that um the first item
number one says the current
proposal represents a dramatic
expansion beyond previous
public discussions and ignores
the long standing concerns of
long standing stakeholders. And
I know that roger bernstein and
I have been talking at this
microphone since 2018 about
mooring fields. Roger is very
familiar with mooring fields.
I'm I'm familiar as a user of
the basin and so um, something
that is of interest to me is
that the virginia key advisory,
the virginia key master plan
that dates back to 2010. And
this is also for those of you
who are newer in this group, it
is it was developed by city
charrettes that went on for a
long period of time and the
public actually designed what
they thought the master plan
for virginia key should be. And
the master plan is still being
used. And one of the reasons
that that got my attention is
because it was used as an
argument to build the boat ramp
and we were not people that
were really in favor of the
boat ramp because we weren't
sure how the parking was going
to occur, how the traffic was
going to exist, what the
traffic on rickenbacker was
going to be. But in the
meantime the city used the
virginia key master plan and
one line that said boat ramp.
And so I point that out now
that the virginia key master
plan has no lines about a
mooring field, it does not
exist in the master plan. And
so if we're going to use the
master plan, I would put that
out there that it doesn't exist
in the master plan. Secondly,
the current proposal is not
consistent with the long term
vision for virginia key and
that's where I was that's I
read that instead I need to go
back to the first one because
the argument for the first
statement is that the city
commission has approved 75
mooring buoys for a mooring
field. There has been no
conversation about 195 anchors
in the basin anywhere in in the
public in a general public
meeting that I'm aware of. Um
and so we jump from 75 buoys to
195 anchors which are also
potential buoys. Number three
the mooring field must not be
planned in isolation. And
that's because all of the
projects that are going on on
virginia key right now have
interaction they intersect with
each other and um and I find it
sort of interesting that when
it comes to traffic, there's
traffic that all of these
projects create, there's
parking needs that all the
projects create and there's
also traffic in the basin as
well and and the permitting
process. There's no
consideration of any traffic in
the basin. Um. Going on the
current proposal falls a fails
to account for the basin's
daily recreational use by the
paddling community who are
represented here. I know here
we see outriggers the outrigger
community is represented the
paddling teams uh dragon
slayers who've been out there
for at least two decades. Um I
don't know that there are any
puff representatives here
tonight and the sos are the
dragon boat team that I'm a
member of um is currently
competing in [Laughter] France.
That's why none of my friends
are here. I stayed back
[Laughter] And um but oh thank
you but so they I mean and it's
a statement that all of these
teams are internationally
known. The coaches for our
teams are people that are
recognized around the world.
They're usa certified quite a
number of them are they offer
training and so the basin is
not only a place for
competition it's also a place
for practice um public input
and changes in state and county
laws are helping to support the
basin as a safe place for
marine life and the reputation
and attraction for miami for
water sports. And I'm going to
refer here to and have roger
bernstein talk because um, in
going back through my notes, I
realized that in 2018 we were
already talking about anchorage
limitation area. We ourselves
had talked to an attorney who
was knowledgeable about that
and roger has kept up with that
all along and he can speak in a
much more intelligent way about
it than I can. But that's
referenced in the last part. So
I have two things that I would
like to see happen that the
city discontinue the committing
the current permitting process.
That's why to meet tonight
rather than waiting until
there's a quorum until OCTOBER
because if the city could get
serious about involving the
community about this, we can
avoid making a lot of mistakes.
So that's one of my asks. The
second one is to engage the
public in the planning
committees and workshops to
consider all the factors
associated with the mooring
field. And so we're ready to
help. I mean I think the city
could come up with a much
better plan if we are involved
in doing that. But roger can
explain a lot more about the
laws and policies. Before you
sit down for a quick question
if there were I mean this this
board did was aware of the
legislation pending for I think
it was 50 mooring that I
believe. It's turned into 75 at
a city commission meeting.
>> I believe it went to the
city commission with 50 and
during the meeting
commissioners suggested through
the interest of some of the
boating lobbyists that it go
from 50 to 75 and I think it's
75 past. 75 past. 75 didn't I
believe come to this board? But
my question is if there were
100 or 195 mooring in the
basin, what would that do to
people's ability to grow cruise
shells or dragon boats or
triathlons or use the basin for
recreation and and
non-motorized boating? My
opinion is it would basically
put us out of business because
we have a need for events. Uh,
i know that the permitting
process includes the estimate
that the marine stadium might
have five events in a year that
would require moving vessels if
the basin was filled up with
vessels on those mooring, the
marine stadium would not be
able to have events. Um because
you cannot move we can tell you
it's tough to move any vessel
because we tried to do that
before. Okay, so I guess we're
going to hear from roger and
anybody else that wants to
speak. Does anybody else have a
question for leah I do jerry.
Um you said that they're in
permitting right now. Do they
have not obtained a permit for
the project yet? Correct. So
they're not amending an
existing permit. They're
requesting a new permit.
Actually, uh julia and I can
explain more about that. Um
that's how I became familiar
with the process was because of
the work that they were doing.
And the other thing is the
objective the objective of the
mooring field originally was to
get rid of the derelict vessels
that were anchoring in the
basin, correct? Correct.
>> and right now all of those
boats derelict vessels have
moved out of the basin and
they're on the south side of
the causeway at this point.
Correct.
>> do you know why and how that
occurred since the original
objective of the mooring field
was to provide a mechanism to
regulate the area within the
marine stadium basin? That's a
wonderful question, gary. Um,
for those of us of us that have
been out there watching vessels
disappear, it was a mystery
where all at once the vessels
are gone, the the dolphin are
coming back. Um we can only um
you know, think that it was
because of enforcement and we
can say that enforcement worked
for calming down the jet skis.
We had a horrible jet ski
problem in the basin. Um and in
fact caesar is here tonight
and. So you'd have to you have
to speak on the microphone.
>> yeah. Why don't you come up
and. Talk and I'll step away.
Thank you.
>> very much.
>> I'll introduce andre. Or do
you want excuse me. My name is
andres sosa. Andres sosa. I'm
also part of this community.
It's that we use the basin what
I see in the proper way like
the basin historically we have
the marine station. I think
it's a purpose that we are
spending money renewing the
marine stadium and at the same
time we're discussing something
that is going to block the
purpose of the renewal of the
marine stadium. In my point of
view marine stadium the basin
was built for sports yes motor
sports water sports but it was
sports and we want to keep it
that way. We have the mrc here
that we have a growing
community over there. We have
dragon boaters, we have
paddlers. That is the only spot
one of the few spots that we
have in miami with access to
the water for small watercraft
not suffering dangers like
crazy people driving jet ski
and run over the. I saw this
personally both friends of mine
run over by jet ski. I saw
people dying in the marine
stadium with jet ski because in
miami it's really easy to rent
a boat. You don't need a
license or nothing. Anyone can
have a boat in my opinion
transforming as you ask you ask
the most crucial question. The
purpose of the mooring fields
was to block people from
sleeping with boats over that
and control that from the past
year and a half this is not
happening and I have an answer
for that because cesar put a
race over there every year I
put an event every day every
year that is a polynesian
festival that I bring people
from french polynesia, from
hawaii, from rapanui, from
brazil and I do a festival
polynesian festival. So we have
to deal with the police
requesting to move those boats.
They move those boats. So on my
point of view I think it's like
they understand that it's
better to take care or have
suffering three months we are
taking more of the marine
stadium so the law enforcement
is working right now. We just
need to keep the law
enforcement running and we
don't need to spend money
putting more infields over
there that is going to cut the
purpose. Maybe we can put
sports again in the basin using
the marine stadium. You know,
with that beautiful skyline of
miami that's one one we can
work together as a community if
you guys allow us to
participate and help you guys
to restore that the amazing
place that is the basin, you
know the marine stadium that's
our only access to the water
safely. You know to put like
you have like a ladies here
dragon boaters for from 15
years old to 80 using that
basin you know and you don't
know how dangerous it is
sometimes people in the boat
they don't have the knowledge
and the view and the
perspective of being in a small
watercraft in the ocean with a
55 foot boat they come close to
you, they make waves. You can
you can go down in the water if
a person that already has a
certain age turns like a death
and life in that moment, you
know? So it's a very crucial
point this this discussion here
and we want to be involved.
It's not about oh we're here to
block this or block no, we want
to get involved to ban better
for everyone. That's the whole
point of we are. Here staying
on second. Gary do you have a
follow up question? Thank you.
Um the other thing I see is
that the marine stadium
restoration just passed through
the referendum. So the marine
stadium is going to happen. So
the marine stadium to have
venues needs to have the basin
available to be able to provide
a variety of different.
Exactly.
>> so I see the mooring field
conflicting with the marine
stadium venues in the future as
well. Exactly. So at this point
I think it's important you know
again we're going to hear a
formal presentation on OCTOBER
27th here at 530 and we'll hear
from the city and we'll be able
to ask them questions and find
out where the permitting is and
where the funding is. The
biggest problem we as a board
have seen through the years is
that the city provides they put
together these projects, they
go to the funding source, they
obtain the funding without
coming to us and I've got
documentation here that any
project on virginia key is
supposed to come before this
board before it goes forward
and that's something that the
city has failed doing and
because of that they get
project funding which they
don't want to return. They've
got you know, a gazillion
dollars and they go oh, but we
got this money now we we just
can't turn away from it. But
that's the thing the city needs
to do to provide the proper to
follow the master plan. Exactly
.And that's something that
this board was put together to
oversee the implementation of
the master plan. And that's
what we do every day on this
board is basically look at
projects and hopefully this
project will be reviewed, you
know by you you know once we
get a formal presentation we'll
be able to ask questions. But
permitting is one thing and
funding is the other. And
that's the thing that we need
to kind of see where that's at
and see if there's a way that
through community involvement
we can maybe change the course
the direction of this mooring
field project. Thank you so
much. And I just want to point
out that this amount of people
that you see here actually I
wouldn't say there's not 110%
of what we have of paddlers
over there, but it's a huge
community that we if we bring
everyone we're going to load
this like three times. It's a
big community that enjoys the
basin and we just keep
continuing enjoying and we
don't want to stop progress.
I'm not here we know that
progress but like as you said
we can use the money properly
maybe make the basin better for
everyone really better for
everyone.
>> well thank you for taking
the time to come. Roger
bernstein and anybody else that
wants to speak and we'll be
able to get up after roger
speaks. Hi there, I'm roger
bernstein. I live in the city
of miami. I've rowed in the
marine stadium basin for over
30 years and I've seen it
change. I've seen it
deteriorate and I've seen it
improve this proposal for
mooring field and this is a
proposal that doesn't exist at
this point. Proposal for a
mooring field is a solution in
search of a problem that no
longer exists. The problem was
that the basin had over the
years accumulated all kinds of
vessels including derelict
vessels at risks of sinking
boats that were anchored out
there as the rate for wet
storage docks went up and up.
People said I'm not going to
pay $3,000 a month for my 30
foot sailboat. I'll find a
place to put it. And the marine
stadium was fairly accessible
from the shore and it became
covered with these things. Now
these boats would sit out there
and not be used. I would row at
6:00 in the morning. It was
pitch dark by law they're
supposed to have lights on
them. They had no lights. They
were improperly anchored. They
drifted all over the place. You
had no idea where the boat was
here yesterday and today it's
over there. It was horrible. So
the city of miami said we under
florida law do not have the
authority to regulate our own
water. It has to come from fwc
and tallahassee by law they
regulate the waters of the
state of florida and the one
solution the city came up with
they said if we applied fwc and
we get a permit for a mooring
field, we can put that mooring
field in the basin and then we
will displace all of these
garbage boats that are anchored
there. And that was the idea.
So originally it was 50 mooring
.Then the commission passed
752 years ago they came up with
this plan for 195 and I've
asked that it be circulated
here. It covers the basin from
top to bottom side to side.
That's it. No more public use.
Why did they do that? I sat
with them at dream and they
said we're doing this because
the mooring field by law will
prohibit anybody from anchoring
their boat there. And in
addition the law says 100ft
perimeter beyond that mooring
field they can't anchor their
boat so mechanically to fill up
the basin. That's what we do.
So that plan is two years old.
Guess what the last session of
the florida legislature they
extended the 100 foot perimeter
to 300ft. So that's 600ft from
side to side and top to bottom.
You don't have to put mooring
there because you can't anchor
there by law that plan does not
anticipate that. The second
thing that has happened is I
told you that the state had
authority to regulate anchoring
in the county's and they were
very jealous about that
authority and they would not
let the counties do very much.
The legislature recently passed
a law and the beginning of it
says previously florida
statutes generally preempted
local governments from
regulating the anchoring of
vessels outside the mark
boundaries of mooring field.
Section 327.4 e108n2 of the
florida statutes provides a
limited exception to the
anchoring preemption under
which a county could establish
a 45 day anchoring limitation
area under certain conditions.
With that 45 days means is if a
boat is anchored in the marine
stadium, it can be there for no
more than 45 days. Then it has
to move. So the idea of
derelict vessels sitting there
for years until they sink is
finished. This is a county
ordinance. It has gone through
all of the procedures. I
believe the final reading is on
OCTOBER uh it will create.
Section 7-40.1 of the of the
code of miami-dade county. This
means that the county can
working with the city designate
any portion or all of the
marine stadium basin as an
anchoring limitation area and
boats can't go in there. So
this ridiculous 195 ball
mooring field made the plan
made two years ago does not
take account of the 300 foot
perimeter does not take account
of the anchoring limitation
area. It can't go forward. We
need to look at this and say
hey there's been enforcement.
The basin is clear. We don't
need 195 ball mooring field to
clear the basin. We MAY not
need any mooring field in the
basin. And. As leah said, they
can't blindly move forward with
this thing when the
circumstances have changed. The
basin is empty of derelict
boats. There's a 600 foot area
300ft on each side top and
bottom around a mooring field
and the county has the ability
to create an anchoring
limitation area for some or all
of the basin. So this idea of
195 ball mooring field is a
solution to a problem that no
longer exists. Questions? Roger
.
>> yes. Quick question. Thank
you. I know you've been working
on this issue for for years
many years and you've been
wonderful coming to the
meetings and educating all of
the board members and city
staff. And in the next few
weeks can you reach out to
alejandro on my right who is
the director of dream and um
maybe have a meeting with him
and and share your ideas. A
question is this under dream or
capital improvements or what?
Um, I think daniel lopez said
can you can you enlighten us
daniel and who's in charge of
this project now? Yeah.
>> so my understanding is that
mooring fields are within the
marinas division and the
marinas division is now under
the gsa department. Now I can't
speak to specifically you know
how that has transpired but
that that's the best
information I can provide at
the time. You can go ahead and
reach out to me and then I'll
make sure that the appropriate
people are part of the
discussion because it's going
to be multifaceted, right? So
it's obviously a very
complicated project. It has a
lot of moving pieces. So I'll
make sure that the right people
are in attendance to this
discussion. Good.
>> uh certainly we will do that
and. I think everybody has the
same intention here which is to
keep the basin open and free of
derelict vessels and available.
Well roger that's that's not an
accurate statement. Since
you've got a drawing here with
195 mooring, you cannot say
that everybody is in favor of
keeping the basin open.
Somebody is working diligently
and incredibly detail and
putting in dozens or hundreds
of hours to achieve achieve
this goal.
>> yeah. But the expressed
reason for that horrible thing
is to displace the illegally
anchored boats. I believe I
hear you and I understand. And
I'm not going to question the
intention of whoever is behind
this yet all I'm saying is the
the problem has been solved by
enforcement. And by the way, if
you put a mooring field in
without enforcement guess what
happens? You get illegally
anchored boats. Gary do you
have any questions? Roger chris
norwood roger bernstein for
roger. Yeah, I do I not
necessarily from the gentleman
at the microphone but. Is your
microphone on? Oh I'm sorry.
Yeah I do have some questions
but perhaps for the gentleman
but not necessarily um you
mentioned before someone
mentioned before that there has
been a project that has uh not
gone before this board relating
to virginia key. What what is
that exactly? Is it is it the
the subject matter that we're
talking about right now? Well,
essentially by charter and the
city attorney can opine more
accurately than I can but items
that affect virginia key park
that are substantive and might
be changing the park are
supposed to come before this
board before moving on to the
city commission and we're
supposed to hear the items in
detail and vote. We can vote.
We only vote as
recommendations. We can vote
yes or no. It doesn't have to
have any impact whatsoever on
the city commission. No, I
understand that, MR. Chair. My
question was what has gone
before the city that has not
come before this board? What
exactly are we talking.
>> about this we did hear this
item as it pertained to request
for 50 more moving it up above
50 to 75 which was occurred
during the course of a
commission. We haven't seen any
item or any information
whatsoever about the mooring
fields going up from 75 to 190
100 or 195..
>> got it. And then um I'm
hearing from some of the
members here some of the people
from the public I I'm the
question just keeps popping in
my mind what is it that we're
trying to accomplish that can't
be accomplished through
enforcement? What exactly are
we trying to accomplish with
the more info that cannot be
accomplished with proper
enforcement under the current
policies or codes of the city?
Roger, do you want to answer
that? Well, I would like to
know from the parks like or
dream what exactly are we
trying to do that cannot be
done by proper code
enforcement? So that's one of
the items that that we need to
circle back. So so obviously a
lot of the information that's
presented to here is very
valuable. I don't want to give
an incomplete answer. So I want
to circle back with staff and
in the OCTOBER presentation
that's obviously going to be
you know part and parcel of
what's presented to the group.
>> thank you very much. And
that that's going to be a big
question for me at that meeting
because I I really need to
understand, uh you know, what
is it that we're trying to do
that just simply cannot be done
through proper enforcement? And
then lastly, um, my last
question is, um, give me one
second the um. If and this is
actually to the question that I
had because as I read the the
code, you know, the in 50-2 it
talks about the marine stadium
prohibitive anchorage area and
so what additional regulatory
authority does establishing a
permitted mooring field give us
that we do not presently have?
And again I know that's going
to be a question I'm going to
ask in OCTOBER and I would
really like an answer, uh, to
that to that question. And then
this is someone who doesn't
know too much about rowing or
anything like that, but I'm
assuming the basin is important
again, I, I offer that clearly
I don't know a lot about rowing
and things of that nature, but
I'm assuming this is attractive
because it's calm water. Is
that why it's attractive to
boating and boats wanting the
more that and so on and so
forth. It's attractive because
it is protected on three sides
but it doesn't not have the
infrastructure that you would
want in a mooring field. In
other words, if I'm coming here
from connecticut on my 40 foot
sailboat and I want to come to
miami and spend 2 or 3 weeks
here getting my boat ready to
go to the bahamas, I want a
place where I can safely attach
my boat which you can to a
mooring. I want ready access
to. Grocery stores, marine
supply stores, parking
restaurants none of that exists
around the marine stadium. If I
put my boat there now I'm
taking taxis and ubers and
busses to get all this stuff.
If I put my boat in dinner key
in coconut grove, all of that
infrastructure is available and
my understanding is that there
are unused mooring ball permits
for dinner key you could put
another 100 or 150 boats there
where they already have parking
showers, trash walking to
stores, marine stores there is
no need from a boating
community point of view to put
this thing in the marine
stadium. I understand but I
guess my question was way more
basic than that. The reason why
these boats want to go there is
because it's calm water. Yes,
and the reason why people row
and paddle and all these things
because it's very calm water is
that not duplicate is I guess
it's not not necessarily
duplicated in too many places.
No like that. There there are
plenty there are better places
to put a mooring field if you
want. I'm talking.
>> about one. I'm talking about
just why all people whether you
want to put a boat there,
whether you want a paddle boat,
whether you want a row I'm just
saying in general the reason
why we're having this
discussion is because you guys
like it to be there because
it's calm water and it's
attractive to what you're
doing. Yeah, but I'm saying
there are better places to put
a mooring field in the county
than the marine stadium. There
are not a whole lot of other
places where the water is calm
to row, to paddle, to swim and
to do water based activities.
Got it. So if you put 195
mooring in there, you
basically kick the people out
who are doing passive water
sports. Mhm. Roger quick
question. There's rowing now at
the on indian creek at the
indian creek rowing club. Yes
miami beach rowing club. Miami
beach rowing club yes. That's
uh what is it? 70s and 70s yes
on indian creek. What are the
complications or benefits and
problems with rowing and I know
a lot of college teams come
down to florida and train there
during the year to prepare for
their spring season. But are
there problems um practicing on
indian creek hurdles from jet
skis and motorboats and. The
city of miami beach has
embraced the rowing club there
from the beginning and provided
space for it, provided
enforcement provided
facilities. Uh, that's not
exactly the way things have
worked in the city of miami and
miami rowing club is here to
talk about that. But mrc is
operating without a lease. From
the city. Um do do the rowers
on indian creek have have to
stop a practices because
there's a bridge is down or a
bigger boat coming towards
them. They don't have problems
um. They don't have jet ski
problems they don't have
speeding boat problems because
number one there's enforcement
and number two from what I
understand of the setup there
they're not a lot of places or
any places nearby where you can
drop a boat into the water.
Okay.
>> so you can go to you can go
to virginia key, throw your jet
ski in the water and you're
off. So looking at your drawing
that you've provided of 100 is
this 195.
>> that's 195. Where'd you get
this drawing. From the that's
the city plan. So if this was
executed and there were close
to 195 yachts or boats tied up,
what would that do to people
that wanted to row? It would be
over there would be no room
there. Plus in that same basin
with the proposal for a new
lease on the rickenbacker
marina there would be what,
another 600 boats that'll be
launched into that basin from
dry storage force force into a
little corridor on the south
side of the mooring field to
get in and out. Okay. Um leah
said you can't look at this
proposal for mooring field
without looking at the
seaquarium proposal without
looking at the marine stadium
proposal without looking at the
rickenbacker marina proposal.
Um, I noticed that our esteemed
board member steve steve
leibner is in the room. To my
right. Thank you so much peter.
I apologize for my tardiness.
Tardiness? I was actually on a
trolley at 5:00 but the driver
decided to take a very long
break. Oh so so roger, I
appreciate all the all the
investigation and all the
information you provided for
us. What I'm hearing is there
is absolutely no justification
for this mooring field and I
take it we don't have a quorum
tonight but I certainly would
support, uh, a resolution
opposing a mooring field in the
marine stadium basin. So I'm
waiting to hear justification
for mooring field of which I
haven't heard maybe in OCTOBER
I doubt it. Um that's my $0.02.
Thank you very much, board
member. Could I just add to the
record that we do have a lease
agreement with the miami rowing
club? The city does have a
lease agreement with the miami
rowing club. It's a license
agreement but it's yes. Peter
if I MAY add have we have we
passed any resolutions
regarding the mooring field,
the marine stadium basin? No we
haven't discussed the item. The
item hasn't been brought to us
by city staff and several years
we did get an a um some
information when it was headed
to the commission for 50 votes
a 5050 ball mooring field which
got expanded to 75. Nobody as
far as I know nobody from the
administration has come back to
update us on the plans to go
from 75 to 195, which is shown
in this drawing. Thank you.
Thank you thank you very much
roger bernstein. MR. CHAIRMAN,
I want to I wanted to address
the question of why the mooring
field is so important to the
people that are in this room
and that is because of the the
use by human powered boats. All
of us are human powered and the
likelihood of tipping or
hooting as we would say in open
water is so much greater than
it is in the quiet, uh the
quiet gentle waters of the
basin. So the basin is the
favored place for rowers to
learn how to row in their
shells and for paddlers and
we're all very specific about
that. Some of us are paddlers
and some of us are rowers, but
it's a big deal for us to get
out in the open water of
biscayne bay. Now that's not
the case with the outriggers
the outrigger paddlers who are
here tonight these are very
strong individuals who paddle
for miles and they use the
basin as their launching place.
They cover a lot of territory
and they train in the basin and
there is no other place like
when you ask about other places
during covid we tried to use
the miami yacht club uh very
difficult. We could not get
boats there. There's very
limited space for sharing but
we had to alter our schedule.
Um it it was not ideal at all.
Sometimes we've gone up to
broward county and we actually
have people who um in our team
in the sos team we have people
from the keys and people from
broward county who come and so
virginia key serves as a great
meeting place for such a wide
audience of paddlers. So and I
don't want to take any more
time because I know all these
people are trying to burst
their bursting their themes and
[Laughter] Talking about why
the basin is important. Who who
else wants to talk? You do a
great fantastic job. Leah chair
I just have a question. Yes.
>> chris norwood. Uh, the
people here, uh, just to talk
about the basin are some of the
other items that we have on the
agenda. That's a that's a good
question is is everybody
there's a few people in the
room that that would like to
talk about other items. So
we'll we'll finish up with this
item soon and we'll move to
finish up the other items.
Peter just to let you know also
you requested that the miami
rowing center have a
representative to provide an
update on their activities and
since that is here. Wonderful
and we'd love to hear from that
person. Good evening. I don't
mean to interrupt you because
it's just a I'm just trying to
understand how we function. Um
we take items and have public
comment after each item. Is
that how this board functions?
Yes.
>> normally there's a
presentation from the
administration and then we hear
from the public afterwards. For
every item. So so we have a
presentation a discussion and
then public comment and then
the next item presentation
discussion and public. Yes but
often in our meetings we only
have 3 or 4 people in the room
from the public. Tonight is one
of the largest gatherings of
the public that I've ever seen.
Got it. I'm sorry sir. Sure.
>> thank you. Good evening. I'm
leonard levy. Uh, I'm a
lifelong resident of south
florida, having grown up in
south beach living in key
biscayne, active in all kinds
of paddling and boating
activities. I've been boating
in these waters since I'm 14
and 15 years old. I remember
the miami marine stadium
activities in the 60s. They
were just fantastic the
concerts, the activities we had
on the barge it was wonderful.
One thing we're not talking
about here is the ecology and
the effect of these mooring
fields on marine life in those
waters. This was addressed I
think we had meetings about 7
or 8 years ago in which
somebody went to the extent of
having a scuba diver going
through the waters of the
marine stadium, taking videos
of the marine life and there
was shown to be active marine
life all kinds of fish, crabs,
all kinds of fish. We enjoyed
seeing the beauty of tarpon,
manatees, dolphin, even
crocodiles in our waters. It's
fantastic. It's beautiful to
see. It's wonderful to have
this. How durham would ever let
this happen is beyond me.
Durham is there to protect
marine life. You know we have
so many condos going up along
brickell avenue and downtown
miami, edgewater everywhere all
these places want a marina, a
dock space for boats to make
their developments more
attractive to people. Durham
has been tough on those people.
they're not letting them have
those marinas. How could they
let this happen really a
density that we're seeing of
all these 195 mooring fields
with the boats, those are
casting great shadows over the
bottom of the water. These are
shallow waters. It would
destroy the seagrass. You
destroy the seagrass. You don't
have the crabs. You don't have
the fish to for the other fish
to want to come in and feed it
would be a disaster. So you
know to preserve and I think
that this is not just
applicable this argument to the
marine stadium, but I'm sure
that you have the bailiwick of
considering what's going on
with some other projects in our
waters like buy this aquarium
and whatever nearby this is all
going to be affected. The
waters are not the same as what
they used to be. Believe me,
you talk to any old person who
grew up in miami out in the bay
catching grouper, catching you
know, diving for lobster. You
can't do that anymore. You know
it's just too much boat
traffic, cruise ships, all
kinds of stuff. We have to sort
of put the brakes on it at some
point. Thank you. Thank you
sir. We have a speaker with a
colorful shirt on. Yes thank
you. My name is balazs vandor
uh, resident of the city of
miami for about 15 years now.
Uh, I've been paddling at the
at mrc for about 20 years
before I you know, I was coming
down from broward, you know,
before I moved to miami. Uh,
you know, it's such an
important, uh, place for
paddling and rowing in south
florida. Uh, just one quick
comment, uh, additional answer
to the question of why this is
so important, you know, for
paddling. Yes, it is a
protected area and why a
protected area is important is
because these are racing teams
competitive teams. So it's not
like oh let's go out for a
sunday evening paddle. No I
mean there's a coach this
practice plans that need to be
followed without interruption.
You can't just stop for
somebody doing it or a couple
of dinghies to cross your path
and you know, wait on your
recipes. No, I mean these these
these are serious teams as leah
was saying, you know her uh,
cancer survivor team that my
wife is also a member of you
know, they are in france right
now competing. You know, my
team also goes and competes. So
that's why it's very important
to have, you know, a large flat
body of water that's available
for these sports. The you know,
my other comment is that you
know, if you want to see what
this really means, just come
out to mrc on a saturday
morning, you know, see the
number of people you know, the
number of teams and what you
will see is just a fraction. I
mean my team has probably about
80 members probably 30 or 40
will come out for us today
morning practice. But there's a
lot you know it's not always
the same people. It's a lot of
people who are connected to
this space in spite of the fact
this is a very limited space. I
mean there could be a lot more
rowing, a lot more paddling in
miami if we had the space. But
you know, that is just you
know, the facilities are very
limited. I like to give the
example you know andre is from
brazil. Outrigger paddling for
example started in miami in the
early 2000. My team was founded
around 2003 in brazil in rio
started around the same time
after 23 years in miami. Now
there is two teams for
outrigger paddling in rio about
4087 teams in rio they they
organize world championships
thousands of visitors coming in
for that impossible in miami.
So thank you thank you very
much. Okay and do we have a
representative here from the
miami rowing club? Would you
would you like to speak. We'd
love to hear from you. And we
notice we're we are provided
with a I think a six page six
page summary from the miami
rowing club. Thank you very
much for putting this together
for for our board and we'd love
to hear your comments on your
activities. Hi.
>> good evening. My name is
cesar herrera. I am the head
coach and operations director
in miami rowing center. So in
this moment we have a lease
agreement with this regulation
that uh we are running several
programs under the umbrella of
miami rowing club, the
principal program or one of the
principal program is the youth
program. We have a program that
we have been the in the in the
same place for more than 50
years. Uh, I wonder you know
that in this moment the the
youth program in miami rowing
club is the most important
program that we have in the
country and they are in the top
in the in the state. Uh, at the
same time we have different
programs that they are under
the umbrella of miami rowing
club. We have several programs
of the dragon boat and other
paddle program program that
also we have in this moment
also we have one small youth
sailing program. Um that that's
that's our principal activity
in miami rowing club. I wonder
you know that also during the
last uh I am talking about the
last 20 years that I have been
working there, you know, so uh,
the program has been winning
more than 17 state
championships, the youth
program we have been that they
have participated in the usa
national team in different
category of the 23 on the 19
and also we have the master
program that they we have a
group of members that they
have. They are training
consistently all the time in
the [Laughter] In mrc really
the the beautiful place that we
have in the basin and
supporting the everything that
we have been talking here. So
the miami the in this moment
that we have is a beautiful
place and the only place in
miami that we have to running
our program. Um really I we
have been the support I want to
to say that one I have I have
been receiving the support of
the miami police and the marine
patrol from the miami city
miami and really the last year
and a half they they were
measured the vaccine has been
safe for the first time really
in the past. We have one coach
that that she is a woman that
she was in reach of the half a
serious injury of maybe losing
her life because we have five
jetski running around her for
more than ten minutes and in
one moment also one guy he
showed me one agung uh we have
in this moment one coach that
is still in court because for
one situation that we have with
the uh with one uh girls boat
and he was in the front of
between the the girls and the
guy that was in the boat drunk
and we I call the police in
that moment the police arrived
immediately and they stopped
the situation this guy was in
jail was under arrest and this
coach is in still in the court.
But really I wonder you know
that in this moment the the
most important activity that we
have in the in the mrc uh are
all the partners that we have
we have today that we have more
than 300 people at the same
time on the water the day that
we have more traffic is
saturday and sunday that also
we use our flow in the in the
flexi park sometime during the
week that according to the
schedule that they have the
different dragon boat. Uh also
we have more people in traffic
around the the area. MR..
>> MR. Herrera um, I don't know
if you've seen this drawing
with 195 mooring in the
historic marine stadium basin,
but what would this do to the
ability of paddlers and rowers
or anybody that wants to use
the basin if there are 195
yachts and boats. This
situation with the mooring
field is nothing new that is
coming for a while and you have
some information that I know
that this is coming from 2017
or before that a year the
mooring field was a solution
that the city was giving us to
try to keep safe the the the
basin and all the problem that
we have really that's what the
principal goal in that moment
many years ago I was part of
that conversation with the um
in that moment with the
director of the department and
and other people that were
involved in this, uh, in this
job, uh, that was here also he
was in this, uh, in this group.
Um, we found in that moment
like the principal solution for
for the situation that we have
in the basin for the for the on
board and all and everything
that you know that we have in
the, in the past, uh, we have
been several meetings. Um
facundo is the board PRESIDENT.
We have been several meetings
with with the city, uh,
including the uh, the the
commissioner of the district
about [Applause] This situation
with the mooring field and
really what we needed to
continue running the program
because we need to be sure that
we can continue running our
program because. Well, this is
this is 195. That is.
>> what would what would that
do to your programing your
ability of people to use the
basin? The problem that the
combination field. Yeah. So
this I'm. Facundo barrera I'm a
PRESIDENT Of the miami rowing
club PRESIDENT Of the board. I
work with cesar every day. So
we've been in conversations
with uh city staff in
preparation for a previous
version not this exact version
the previous version of the
mooring field. We gave some
feedback to the city staff of
how the mooring field would
have to be adapted for us to be
able to operate if a mooring
field with 195 boys and 195
boats is established in the
basin, we will not be able to
operate. That is very clear now
we've also been assured that
it's. Do you mind repeating
that? I will repeat it but I
will repeat it for 195 mooring
fields with 195 yachts would
not let us operate. However I
need to finish the sentence the
city has promised us that there
will be not 195 yachts nor 195
more that there will be 195
anchors only. So if it's only
anchors we can operate above
the anchors. That's all. So and
what we gave the feedback on is
we need whatever the number of
anchors anchors don't interfere
with our rowing. What
interferes with our rowing is
the number of mooring boats and
yachts. So please keep in mind
if the plan is to put in 195
anchors, there is no problem
with us for operating if their
plan is to putting 195 mooring
and 195 yachts yes there is
okay. Thank you. Anybody any
board members have any
questions? Steven I'd like to
know what what damage 195
anchors are going to do to the
floor of the basin. So we might
need a representative from
durham to help us with that.
This item will be heard again
in two months. So maybe
somebody from durham can
request somebody from durham to
show up any other any other
anybody else like to speak on
this item? I'd just like to.
Reinforce one thing that we are
going to be in circles here. I
didn't participate in any of
those meetings before I for my
understanding, if the mooring
field is to block people from
coming and stopping your boats
in the basin, we don't have
them. We don't need one more
field. We don't need zero
morning field over there. We
need that water clear to to be
doing our sport with that
safely. As soon as you put one
anchor over there and you don't
put law enforcement it's done.
We're talking about miami. We
have people here from different
I'm from brazil. I'm like
cubans. We have we have people
from different countries here.
It's difficult to control these
people. You guys saw what
happened on the world cup here
the year before they did like
thank GOD they did the world
championship here and they saw
what like different people from
different countries they can do
right when you it's difficult
to follow rules. You know here
in miami what I see if you put
one anchor over there and you
don't put law enforcement has
no purpose and if you're going
to put an anchor and put law
enforcement. The law
enforcement is doing their job.
It's not it's doing their job.
It's avoiding people to go
crazy in the water. It's not
only about the anchors. It's
not only about the morning.
We're talking about people
coming to party crazy party in
places that with people doing
sports.
>> all right. In conclusion in
conclusion. In conclusion I'm
point my point is this it's
like we don't need a mooring
florida we did zero morning I
don't know whether it was
discussed before but if the
purpose was to not bring boats
over there the purpose is
already done for last year and
a half we don't have boats over
there. Thank you so much for
for speaking. Do we have a
young lady? Good evening. I'll
make it quick. Hi, my name is
julia. Good evening everyone.
I'm the executive coordinator
for the friends of biscayne
bay. We've actually been
holding a citizen meeting every
friday at 11 A.M.. We'd love to
have you so that you can
continue to gather information
on everything that we've been
researching not only for the
mooring field but everything
that's going on on key
biscayne. I think everybody
already expressed everything
that I was going to comment on,
so I'm not going to repeat
myself, but I think it's clear
the community is very opposed
to the mooring field for
reasons of the rowers, the
businesses, the ecological life
and everything that's affected
around it. And um I'm just
going to keep it short. Thank
you so much for listening to
me. Thank you for attending the
meeting. Anybody else have any
questions before we go to
another item? And for the
members of the public that have
sat through this meeting since
5155 30 thank you very much. We
appreciate your presence. And
MR. Chair, I do have a
question. I guess it MAY be
pertaining to this. I'm just
trying to understand something
conceptually. Uh, I've heard
several times about jet skis in
the basin. Is it lawful for jet
skis to be in the basin? Uh, I
believe it's lawful, but
there's a speed limit. Would
anybody else like to answer. So
I can add a little bit? Um you
know, as everyone expressed
already the basin in the past
was very unsafe. Uh, then one
of the first things the city
was able to accomplish was to
put channel markers and these
markers, uh, they were actually
no wake zone markers. So that
was will give the police
department and marine patrol
and you know, and and fwc and
any other marine patrol within
the area to enforce the low
speeds. So there is so when you
come into base you have to
lower your speed. Yes to what?
To no wake zone. It's just a no
wake zone. So that means that
as you're moving you cannot
create a wake. Five miles. It
needs to be as flat as right.
And there's a law that you know
you you are responsible for
your own wake. So whatever your
wake does and if it damages
something that's your
responsibility. Um do people
follow that. MR. Norwood um a
year a year, a year and a half
ago three people were killed in
the marine stadium basin from
accidents with jet skis. I
believe they involved um
drivers that were drunk or
drugged, but three people were
killed within a six month
period. It was the problem was
terrible before, uh,
enforcement was improved. Okay
so I understand so there is a
speed limit. It's supposed to
be like very very low. Yes.
>> and the people who are
forced that are. Marine patrol.
the marine patrol which would
be the city the. City's the
city's marine patrol. The
county marine patrol also has
the jurisdiction and fwc
florida fish and wildlife. Got
it.
>> okay. Thank you.
>> we're going to move on to
another item if you if those of
you in the room that were here
for the marine basin item,
you're welcome to leave you
don't you certainly don't have
to stick around but please come
back in two months OCTOBER 27th
and this item will be back on
the agenda. Thank you. Thank
you so much for your comments
and for participating. Roger.
Thank you very much. And leah.
Excuse me.
>> oh left on the agenda. Oh
it's a great question. We we
have an item on the
rickenbacker marina site and a
referendum question and also
there's litigation involved in
that site. We're not going to
be talking about that for very
long, but it's very important
to the city of miami and the
rickenbacker um the marine
stadium basin uh, depending on
who who's the who takes over
that site is important to the
rowing on the on the on the
basin and the other item yes,
that is that's another item on
the agenda my miami seaquarium
site that will be on the agenda
in two months again we and if
there's anybody in the room who
has information on that site.
Thank you very much. We will
hear from anybody who would
like to be heard but it will be
heard in more detail with I
believe the. We hope to have
the principal um from terror
group who will be at our
meeting on OCTOBER 27th for
that item to be heard in more
detail and then um so those are
the only two items left to be
heard the miami seaquarium site
and the discussion on the
rickenbacker marina site. Um
well sir. Uh yes. So for the
for the item. I hate to keep
doing this but I need to
understand when we do an item
that I expect somebody from the
administration to tee it up. Um
and that's good for I don't
know if this is being recorded
for the public. It's good for
the people here that MAY not be
aware of why the item is on the
agenda. So are you are we going
to the item or the miami
seaquarium site? Well first
we're going to hear from this
uh from the public on an item
that they're here to speak
about and then we will go on to
the discuss that that item and
then the last item that we
haven't hadn't discussed yet.
Um but I'm confused MR. Chair.
Uh, what is the next item on
the agenda? Which item are you
here to speak on? Seaquarium
seaquarium. So if that's the
next item on the agenda then I
think it would be wise for us
to have the administration just
you know, why is this on the
yes just tee it up for us a
little bit. We that's the item
has been on the agenda for
weeks. We would love to hear
from somebody from the
administration on this item.
Rafael, is anybody from the
administration here to give us
a briefing on the miami
seaquarium site? This is a
county property. So per the
request of the board I reached
out to david martin and he will
I'm in communication with him
to see if he's going to be able
to attend the meeting in
OCTOBER. But this is not a city
of miami item so that's why
there's no city administration
to provide an update
specifically on it. Understood.
>> so MR. CHAIRMAN, uh is this
why is this on the agenda? What
is the. Well because this
aquarium is is incredibly
important to virginia key park.
It's a 32 acre park site owned
by the county on the south side
of the causeway. And anything
that happens there is going to
impact virginia key park and
anybody who's in leadership
position at the city of miami
should be incredibly curious
and interested what's going to
happen with the miami
seaquarium site and from what
we've read in the paper and
we've we've sent articles to
the board members over the last
week or so on that issue. But
given the current proposal that
we're aware of on this aquarium
site, I mean, they're they
would increase the traffic
count in the rickenbacker
causeway by 1500 vehicles a day
that's meaningful to virginia
key park and everything the
city is trying to achieve and
many leaders of the city of
miami should be following that
issue incredibly closely and
wanting to get involved in any
capacity they can even though
the site is owned by the
county. So this is on the this
is on the agenda. How long has
this been on the agenda I
should ask. 3 or 4 weeks. 3 or
4 weeks you mean it was on it
was put on agenda just for this
meeting. I um I don't have the
our previous meeting MR.
Norwood if I don't think it was
on our previous meeting. Okay
but it's probably been on
requested three weeks ago. Well
can we hear from gary milano?
Well.
>> maybe I can help. Well no
no, I think I just want to hear
from the chair because the
chair controls the agenda. So
I'm asking the CHAIRMAN What
items are on the agenda and
when they were put on there for
a reason. So I'm assuming that
you put this on the agenda for
discussion at the last meeting.
Is that what happened? Yes.
>> or maybe shortly thereafter
the last meeting. Now the chair
puts items on the agenda but
with chair also um adds items
that are contributed by any
board member or any anybody of
interest.
>> that's all I want to know
like how it got on the agenda.
That's all that's all. Gary
milano do you want to speak to
that to the in the microphone
gary. Um, the last meeting
before we adjourned we
basically work with the city as
far as the coordinator to talk
about what we'd like to hear
about as far as projects
because we hear we read in the
newspaper as far as this
project aquarium or marina
being developed and we just
like to have a representative
come talk to us about it and
sometimes the city is able to
do that in this case for this
aquarium site they're not. But
I was able to work with the
city to direct them to the
person but they were not able
to make it tonight. So that's
why we moved that presentation
for this aquarium site which is
a county site. But this board
oversees all of virginia key
county sites the rosenstiel
school, everything you know and
that's why this board was put
together to review all projects
associated with virginia key.
So maybe that helps you
understand why it was put on as
a discussion item.
>> I think for me from a from a
procedural perspective, when I
see an agenda item, uh, when I
see an agenda, I just if I
expect there to be a
presentation, someone should
tee it up before we give it to
the public. You know that
that's just something I'm
accustomed.
>> to and that's the way it's
always been. It's just that we
were not able to get a
representative here for
tonight's meeting. But we
thought since other people were
here about it maybe we would
discuss it a little bit.
>> I have no problem. With
that. What I'm saying is from a
board perspective, every agenda
item when it's here and it's
advertised to people somebody
should give a presentation
about it whether it's the
chairperson. If the chair asks
one of the members to just tee
it up and say this is an item
on the agenda that we thought
was important for us to discuss
and then open it up [Laughter]
To the public. I think you have
made a difference tonight.
>> and. You'll see in the
future. MR. Norwood, you're
100% accurate.
>> yes. Thank you very much. Um
so the the miami seaquarium
item we hope to hear from david
martin, the principal of the
terror group on OCTOBER 27th
and maybe anybody from the city
that has some background on
that item. And we'll also hear
from members of the public on
OCTOBER 27th and it's crucial
it's a crucial item. It's also
a crucial item to the to the
village of key biscayne. It's
going to have a huge effect on
any residents in key biscayne,
and anything that's happening
on that site would be
incredibly important to them.
I've already talked to people
in key biscayne and I. I know
they're very concerned and
curious what's going to happen
with. So we had a member of the
public who who's going to speak
I believe. Which would you like
to [Laughter] Speak? Yeah I
apologize uh. Oh good. Yeah.
>> so um so my name is valeria.
I'm my degree is I have a
master's degree in marine
chemistry and atmospheric
science and I work with the
friends of biscayne bay. Uh,
and actually got my degree at
an institution that is directly
adjacent to this aquarium site,
which is rosenstiel school. Um
,so there is no question that
the former aquarium property,
uh, is an important landmark in
virginia key and its
redevelopment presents an
incredible opportunity for the
city and the county to provide,
you know, for improvement and
public benefit. But the
question we should be asking is
not simply can this property be
redeveloped? The question is
what kind of redevelopment is
appropriate for this publicly
significant waterfront and what
does it mean for the rest of
virginia key and biscayne bay?
The aquarium site cannot be
viewed in isolation. We are
simultaneously considering the
marine stadium mooring field,
the rickenbacker marina
proposal, the marine stadium
restoration. So if we add
another significant marine
component to this aquarium
site, we need to understand the
cumulative impact of vessel
traffic water quality stresses,
wildlife, recreation and public
access. We also need to make
sure that the public receives
meaningful opportunities to
participate. Uh friends of
biscayne bay along with engaged
stakeholders have identified
several areas that deserve
careful review including
impacts to seagrasses, coral
and mangrove resources,
proximity to known manatee
congregation areas, dredging
impacts including water
quality, increasing water
quality, stress, noise and
light pollution issues. I mean
you name it. We're also asking
questions about the existing
lease and whether the proposed
use represents a substantial
change from the property's
historical purpose, including
whether article seven or other
legal requirements could
therefore apply in this case.
Those are questions that
deserve serious and legal
public consideration. I want to
emphasize that this doesn't
have to be an adversarial
conversation. We can support
responsible redevelopment while
still demanding a higher
standard for our bay. The goal
should be to create a project
that provides genuine public
benefits, protects the
environment, preserves public
access and most importantly we
want to leave the bay in a
better condition than it is
today. I would encourage the
advisory board to ask for a
transparent, transparent public
process, an independent
environmental review and clear
assessment of how this project
fits into the larger vision for
virginia key. We have an
opportunity here so let's make
sure that we don't simply
redevelop the property but
create a better future for
biscayne bay and virginia key
thank you. Um thank you very,
very much for your summary.
Your summary was excellent. You
covered a lot of ground. You
spoke very quickly. Um
excellent and all excellent
questions. And as you know this
aquarium is owned by miami-dade
county not the city of miami.
We're all in this board.
Everybody in the room is
incredibly curious and
interested in those questions
being answered appropriately.
Um but unfortunately it's owned
by owned by the county. I'm
sure you're reaching out to
county officials to anybody
anybody else. MR. Milano. I
just want to point out, MR.
Chair, that this board was put
together to review all
properties on virginia p so we
can put a resolution together
to the city commission whether
we support the project or not.
And it's important to do that.
So I don't think it's a county
city sort of thing. It's a
community project. Thank you.
>> oh hopefully maybe somebody
will propose a resolution at
the next meeting when there's a
quorum.
>> I'm sure there will be.
Let's see. Chair, if I just
would like to add there's an
interesting dynamic with the
sea aquarium lease and that the
lease is in fact in bankruptcy.
The previous owner is in
bankruptcy. So there's a a
curious dynamic, uh, in terms
of the new supposed leasee
having access to this lease
depending on what the
bankruptcy court determines.
Well, there's been some
articles that um, rafael sent
along to us in our emails, but
I believe I read that the you
know, the current proposed
tenant bought out the assets
from the bankrupt former tenant
and then subsequently got
approval from miami-dade
county, miami-dade county to to
approve them as to be the new
tenant with a 99 year lease. Is
that if I could defer to the
audience member is that in fact
the the lease is out of
bankruptcy. You can speak on
the microphone. I think even we
are in some in some confusion
there because we have
conversations with dave martin
and there is something going on
with the permitting and the
lease and it's not exactly
explained to us. The details
are not being revealed
basically. So I'm not entirely
sure because now there is a
conversation about apparently
permitting potentially being
put on pause. But before we
were informed that the
permitting cannot be put on
pause because they are in the
bankruptcy court, we cannot get
a clear idea on that either. I
asked that exact question last
last friday on the call and we
are kind of at a loss right
now. Those are all good
questions, steve, and hopefully
we'll have more answers and
some of the articles that have
been in the media have been
have been fairly complete. Um
they're in 3 or 4 different
publications. Journalists have
done a good job tracking down
the history and even the
history of the previous tenant
and previous tenants
bankruptcy. Any other any other
questions for anybody at the
board? MR. Norwood your
questions have been excellent.
Alejandro um so there's only
one other item that's left on
the agenda which we're not
going to go into too much
detail but this the
rickenbacker marina um, that
issue is going to city
referendum this year for voters
to decide on a new tenant.
There's also litigation
involved. Um and we MAY get a
fuller summary in on the
OCTOBER 27th meeting with with
the city attorney. Do you have
any any update on us on the
situation with the rickenbacker
marina referendum question? So
that, um, there's still an
active litigation relating to
that. So I I'd prefer not to
publicly comment on what's
going on with litigation. Um
but the ballot question is
going to the voters in
NOVEMBER. Okay.
>> and if if you if you all
want I can have um rafael
circulate a copy of the
resolution establishing the
ballot question so you can all
see what it says.
>> that would be that would be
great. That'd be that'd be very
nice and I think it should that
item will be on the OCTOBER
27th agenda even though early
voting would have started a few
weeks before OCTOBER 27th. But
I think this board should hear
that item in some degree and
the seeing the legislation in
the ballot language would be
helpful. Gary milano. MR.
Chair, I I saw a permit drawing
for an expansion of the marina,
the rickenbacker marina. Does
this tie in to what you're
talking about? I honestly
haven't seen a lot of details
on the proposal. Major
expansion marina out into the
bay um going west northwest.
That should certainly be just
shown and discussed by this
board. This is a perfect
example where I'm going to
request that the next meeting
that we have somebody from the
city come talk to us about the
marina expansion that is being
permitted. It's being applied
for right now and that's not
something that's been brought
to us before they go to
affirmative. Gary can you speak
into the mic? Sure. [Laughter]
Thank you. I said everything
already so I'm done. No I'm
requesting that we have someone
from the city talk to us about
the marina rickenbacker marina
expansion project where they're
expanding the number of piers
out into the bay. So I just
wanted to give MR. Norwood an
example of where how these
discussion items come about and
sometimes we don't get a
representative to talk about it
because the person can't be
there or for whatever reason
I'll let the.
>> court raphael, can you have
somebody can you put that item
again on the agenda for the
27th and have somebody from the
city able to talk to us?
>> is that is that MR. Chair?
MR. Chair, is that from from
when you say that there's a
permit for more piers.
[Laughter] Yes.
>> is that because of the sea
aquarium site? No no. No no. No
I'm sorry we were talking about
the the rickenbacker wickham.
Rickenbacker marina site. So
you're saying that that that
permit is for that site right.
>> there's two different
projects sea aquarium is over
there and then the rickenbacker
marina is just as you're coming
down on the big high bridge
it's the.
>> one on what's the difference
between the the the marina site
that you're referring to and
the one that the referendum is
is is referring to? Is it the
same site? I believe it. Is the
rickenbacker marina. There's a
voter referendum pertaining to
that exact site. I was unaware
of any proposed enlargement or
expansion or expansion of that
site. Um and that kind of is
the kind of thing that should
be brought to this board before
anybody's applying for permits.
But this aquarium site I know
it's different but isn't that
like a huge development. 30
it's 32 acres I think. Yes
that's huge and that's
specifically controlled by the
county but we should be
informed about it and updated
on it. Got it. Okay. Any any
other questions? Thank you guys
are wonderful to be here
tonight even though we didn't
have a quorum 20 after seven we
covered a lot of ground and
that should be a good meeting
on OCTOBER 27th. Hopefully
we'll have some great
informative speakers. I, I
raphaela thank you very much
for everything tonight. Is