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Mayor Angelo Castillo: Welcome everyone yesterday
was election day and you had the opportunity to go vote.
It was kind of a low turnout...
But the votes were tallied and people one,
and some didn't succeed, but we want
to thank all of those who won and those
who ran for caring about our community
enough to put their hat in the ring
and to offer their services to a great community.
I want to thank all of you for voting,
for those of you who didn't get to vote,
please set your calendar for the next election.
I'm not a great example at a great many things,
but I can tell you I voted in every election
since I was aged 18.
It's important.
If you don't vote, somebody else's vote counts for double
and if that person doesn't vote, whoever doesn't show up --
does show up counts for triple.
Cast your vote, it's a civic duty,
and it helps to keep our nation great, so thank you very much.
Can we call the roll please?
[Roll call]
I would like to ask you if you could please stand
for the Pledge of Allegiance which will be followed
by the National anthem .
Today, leading us in the pledge and singing the National anthem
is Jenna Chan, her grandparents have been Long Pembroke Pines
residents .
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.
[Singing] Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early What
so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last Whose
broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in Gave proof
through the night that our flag was still Oh, say!
does that star-spangled banner yet O'er the land of the free
and the home of the On the shore, dimly seen
through the mists of the Where the foe's haughty host in dread
silence What is that which the breeze,
o'er the towering As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half Now
it catches the gleam of the morning's
first In fully glory reflected now shines
in the 'Tis the star-spangled banner!
Oh, long may it O'er the land of the free and the home of the
And where is that band who so vauntingly That the havoc of war
and the battle's A home and a country
should leave us no Their blood has washed
out their foul footsteps' No refuge could save the hireling
and From the terror of flight or the gloom of the
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth
O'er the land of the free and the home of the Oh,
thus be it ever, when freemen shall Between their loved home
and the war's Blest with victory and peace,
may the heav'n-rescued Praise the Power that hath made
and preserved us a Then conquer we must,
when our cause it is And this be our motto:
"In God is our And the star-spangled banner in triumph
shall O'er the land of the free and the home of the source:
[Applause]
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Welcome to Commissioner good,
please Mark Commissioner good as present.
We've got some presentations to do today .
Speaker: This is a proclamation of the city of Pembroke Pines
Florida.
[Applause]
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Whereas on August 15th 2026 marks
the 80th anniversary of India independence commemorating eight
decades of its enduring commitment to liberty,
self-determination, democracy, and the rule of law and whereas
the city of Pembroke Pines is proud to recognize and celebrate
the rich cultural heritage, traditions and history
in the Indian community and of all communities,
whose members have made meaningful contributions
to social, cultural, educational, medical,
technological, and the economic vitality of our community.
I, the mayor of the City of Pembroke Pines Florida declare
August 15th India's Independence Day in the city of Pembroke
Pines Joining in the commemoration of this 80th
anniversary of India's independence, thank you.
[Applause]
Speaker: Thank you very much on behalf of Indian Americans,
this is an honor for us because in this country
I know there's a lot of opportunity,
and we are happy we have been able to achieve that
and I respect and honor that proclamation.
Let me read what I wrote --
I am an Indian American, I have been a long time resident
of the city of Pembroke Pines since 1998 and I have been proud
of living in the city of Pembroke Pines and it is
my absolute honor and privilege to receive this proclamation
celebrating August 15th as the 80th anniversary of India
Independence Day.
Even though it is a workday, some of my colleagues are here
and we will take a photograph.
We cannot thank you enough for your kind consideration
of the community , planned erection of Gandhi's Statue,
Diwali resolution, and Hindu Heritage Month which is
the month of October.
I want to thank you because Commissioner Good attended
the 250th anniversary celebration at the Temple.
The mayor was busy because of his grandson,
It is noteworthy similarities between India
and the United States are deep commitment to liberty, equality,
democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law.
We are happy that our customs here in the USA and India
are similar.
We are proud both as Indian heritage
and as American citizens.
This partnership between the world's two largest democracies,
we are 1.4 billion people which is
almost four times the population of the United States
and one third of the area, so we are Very densely populated.
Though India has never been an aggressor,
but it has fought wars with its hostile neighbor.
America has always been the land of opportunity
and we are achieving our American dream
and we are appreciative of the opportunity.
We are law abiding, peace loving,
and happy to serve as doctors, engineers, IT professionals,
business owners and participate in all the social activities.
Mayor, I always look for your Facebook page
that you devote to public affairs and civic engagement.
I learn a lot, especially on property appraisal and things
of that kind.
Thank you mayor , and we would like to have a photograph.
[Applause]
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Vice mayor, if you will join us.
The vice mayor has a certificate of recognition to present.
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: I'm
going to attempt to do this without my glasses, that's
called courage.
Can we have the Pembroke Pines Running Club come up?
I'm going to read something and then I will hand this back
to you .
I'm going to read this .
On behalf of the City Commission I'm
proud to recognize the company as they celebrate
their first anniversary and you will see them out
in our community.
Their dedication to providing health
through the sport of running has brought people together
in our city, strengthened our community spirit.
You have created an inclusive environment
where individuals of all ages and abilities
are encouraged to connect, achieve their goals,
and support one another.
[Reading celebrants' names]
We appreciate your commitment to fostering a more healthy,
connected Pembroke Pines community
and extend our congratulations and best
wishes for your extended success ahead.
I do follow you on Instagram, I don't know that I'm brave enough
to run several miles, I'm more of a Stairmaster person
but I appreciate very much for reaching out to me about this.
I will make up the fact the day I
was supposed to be there I was sick
and I did not want to be around you at that time,
so I will be going out, text me.
But this is for you all, and if you have anything to say Adrian.
Speaker: We started this about a year ago, myself and the others,
this guy right here actually motivated me to start this,
Dominic .
My initiative with this was just to get pines moving,
Pines is a beautiful community and want
to continue to push our agenda and health
and wellness out there, we would like
to continue to align with the city.
Thank you guys so much .
[Applause]
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: We're going to take a photo.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: I run every four years,
that's about it, it's a one time event,
but it's usually a lot of fun .
I'm glad that you are out and you are doing it,
congratulations .
Now we have the charter schools, on behalf of the city Commission
and our entire community I congratulate the city
of Pembroke Pines Charter Schools on earning two very
highly significant awards, the first is the government Finance
Officers Association Distinguished budget
Presentation Award, this is a prestigious award that honors
excellence in budget presentation,
and the Association of School Business Officers International
Meritorious Budget Award , and these prestigious national
honors recognize the city's unwavering commitment
to transparency, accountability, and the excellence of financial
structure.
It reinforces our promise to responsibly manage
public resources while providing exceptional educational
opportunities for our students, here to accept these awards
is the city's Comptroller.
[Applause]
Speaker: Even though this award is currently tied to my team
and myself, it's definitely a team effort and there's a lot
of work that goes behind it so I do want to acknowledge
the people that helped put this together,
that of course is our school leadership team and I thank you
for your unwavering commitment to our charter schools
dedication to our students, individuals in our finance
department, my team on a day to day basis and last I want
to personally thank my mentor Who always supports me .
I'm accepting this on behalf of all of those teams
that make this
[Inaudible]
City Manager: I'm providing public notice of an upcoming
community meeting on August 25th from 6 to 7 p.m.
As required by Florida Law.
This is not a city commission meeting,
nor a meeting conducted by city staff,
although the meeting is being posted by the city.
The Florida legislature created the Brownfield Redevelopment Act
cited as separate sections in Florida statutes
providing for the designation by the City
Commission for resolution of a future date for one
or more parcels within the city as a Brownfield area
and for the corresponding provisions
of environmental Remediation and economic development.
State law provides the framework and application requirements
for the property owners to comply with before resolution
is placed on the City Commission public meeting
agenda for consideration.
One of those requirements concerns public transparency,
the community meeting being conducted by the applicant,
we must announce this meeting here during a public forum.
Wants the applicant has successfully
completed all the statute requirements
they must announce and schedule an additional public hearing
in advance.
The parcel in question has been posted outside at our posting
board at the Northwest corner of Pembroke Road in hiatus,
the public meeting we'll be here on the 25th between 6 and 7 p.m.
We've posted to a more commissioners may be
in attendance .
We will be back at a later date with additional information
outside of the public meeting Next week.
Thank you.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Commission report?
board of adjustment decisions?
Speaker: None, mayor.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Okay, appointments.
I'm happy to announce the appointment
on the advisory board.
Speaker: Thank you for the opportunity,
I've been waiting several years and finally it is here.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: He served as an alternate member with
the Greater Appreciation Board and I want to thank you
for your service , whenever possible it's my policy
to appoint alternate members to be regular members because you
have a sense of what they talk about.
I really want to thank you for your service, good luck.
[Applause]
Commissioner good?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: Today I'm
pleased to bring forward the appointment of Hennessy Toledo
to our citizens Budget Advisory Board, she is in the audience
if she can come up to the podium while I introduce her
to our public hearing.
Yancy has been a resident of Pembroke Pines for eight years
and she brings both a deep commitment
to our community and an exceptional professional
background in municipal finance.
In her application she expressed a genuine desire to help make
responsible, transparent, and well informed budget decisions .
The commitment is something I know
to be true from professional experience.
I had the privilege with working with her years
ago during our time together in government
and I saw firsthand the level of talent
that she brings to the table.
Her professionalism, her mastery of complex financial systems
and her ability to break down complicated budget issues
into clear, actionable insights made her
an invaluable part of the team.
I will be honest, I was saddened when she moved on because she
was exactly the kind of steady, thoughtful highly skilled
professional you always want in your organization .
Her resume reflects that same strength.
More than 20 years of experience in government finance,
including her current role as grants and accounting manager
and prior service as an accounting supervisor
and senior budget analysis.
She has deep expertise in forecasting, budgeting,
ERP systems and financial reporting.
That's the precise skill set that strengthens this
board's ability to analyze complex financial information .
But beyond her technical qualification,
she brings a citizens focused perspective and a sincere desire
to contribute to the long term fiscal health of the city where
she and her family call home .
She's experienced, she is committed,
and she's someone I personally know to be exceptional ,
so Mister Mayor I make my appointment to the citizens
Budget Advisory Board.
[Applause]
Speaker: Thank you so much for all your kind words,
I certainly appreciate the opportunity.
It's an honor to serve my community
and I will definitely not disappoint,
I know I have big expectations and I will certainly beat them.
As of right now I can tell you I feel very honored
to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of my community
and I would definitely hope to make some wise recommendations
as to how we can all move forward
in a more efficient manner and also
being prudent and making best use of our budgeted funds, which
we all know is going to be impacted by the upcoming
property tax, so I know the budget
is going to be looked at very closely
and will be almost scrutinized where we can maximize
the use of our funds and how we can serve our constituents
in the best way possible.
I hope to be part of that effort, I'm honored to be here
and I thank you again for this opportunity
and thank you again for your kind words, Commissioner.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: The consent agenda today --
I'm sorry, go right ahead.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: I'm also
proud to bring forward the appointment
and in this case reassignment of Aaron Lee
to the city of Pembroke Pines budget Advisory board.
If he could come up, and as he's making his way,
let me again introduce you to the public .
Aaron is a third generation resident
of Pembroke Pines with more than 20 years of living in the city.
His roots here run deep, and his commitment to our neighborhoods,
our family, and our future is unmistakable .
I want to take a moment to thank his grandmother Betty who is
here tonight, and his mother Shawna who is also here tonight
.
Two women who poured love, discipline, and community
pride into raising him.
Their dedication has shaped the young leader
who is stepping forward to serve the city they wholeheartedly
support.
Pembroke Pines is stronger because of families like theirs,
families who raise the next generation with care show up
and to lead it.
Aaron joins this board after serving with distinction
on the economic Development Board
where he was highly respected for his professionalism,
his preparation and his ability to bring
a fresh community centered perspective to every discussion.
This tenure there has taught him well,
he understands how economic choices, development patterns,
and market trends directly influence the city's long term
financial health.
These are exactly the skills that
strengthen the work of our budget advisory.
What stands out most about Aaron is his heart for service.
In his application he wrote that he wants to offer new innovative
solutions for the greater good of my community while advocating
for other residents .
That is the mindset we want guiding
our fiscal conversations, thoughtful, forward looking,
and rooted in the lived experience of our residents.
Aaron is actively engaged in issues that directly impact
our immediate and surrounding communities,
he understands the decisions we make today shape the city
our families want to inherit tomorrow pier his reassignment
to this board is not only appropriate,
it is an investment in the kind of leadership that Pembroke
Pines deserves .
With gratitude to the family that raised him,
and confidence in the leadership he
brings come I welcome him to the Budget Advisory Board.
Thank you for taking on this opportunity sir .
Speaker: Thank you everybody , two years ago I was before you
all because I was coming up for an appointment on being
on the economic board and I learned a lot of what it takes
to keep a busy city productive the right way.
Though this is bittersweet, I do look forward
to being on the budget advisory board
and I definitely want to share more innovative ideas
but also make sure the city goes in the right direction.
I personally want to thank you for considering me
for this role, and thank you guys again for having me here.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: Mayor, Mr. Lee, come back down.
It's not customary for us to address appointees afterwards,
but I must tell you that your work on the Economic Development
Board did not go unnoticed by me and your peers ,
and everything that was said I want to double that.
Speaker: You have the commitment of this community,
keep moving forward, thank you so much.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Today's consent agenda
consists of items one through five.
The motion would need to be -- is there a motion?
it passes unanimously.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Motion
to approve countertops for housing apartments.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Is there a second?
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Thank you
for your comments in the Monday night memo,
I do have some follow up questions in the bid package.
It says there's a project manager assigned to this
overseeing the installation.
Do you have that person already identified ?
So we've been installing these countertops
for a period of time?
Assistant City Manager: Multiple times
this contract has been brought in front of the commission
and we've awarded it to different bids.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Who
approves the number of installations expected?
Assistant City Manager: I believe
it's the public service department,
they have a need for renovation.
I specifically don't know how many are in need of replacement
today .
Speaker: There are new apartments that need countertops
at Pines Place, however, there may be tomorrow .
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Do you
anticipate between now and the end of the year
68 kitchen bathrooms that would need to be replaced?
Speaker: No.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Page 13 has a total of 68 units
currently in the bid spec.
Given the fact that the property may be sold
and maybe closed upon before the end of the year,
I don't know if we are in good faith
putting this out to bid in good faith
to a potential vendor that are going to be placing
time and effort for potentially 68 countertops
but the closing is anticipated to occur
before the end of the year.
I don't know why we are going with this,
let alone making a potential investment.
Especially if we have no foreseeable vacancies
in the foreseeable future.
Speaker: The vendor has no expectations ,
as we inspect them, very often public works can come
in and make the countertops, they don't need to replace them,
it happens on an as needed basis.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: The current vendor
is aware of it?
Assistant City Manager: This is for as needed service,
we go back and work with the community Services department
and come up with a different estimate
or I can change all those quantities to one if that's
something you would prefer.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: I would like to be able to put
something out to the public that is actually going to occur,
because what's going to happen is you're going to have a major
retailer , they have the economies of scale going from
this specific manufacturer.
You've already selected what is going to be produced
and what type, therefore the only other possibility
for the vendor is to buy in quantity for the cheaper price.
If they're putting a bid in, potentially 50 or more units,
they're certainly not going to get it if we are only going
to be turning over 3 or 4 on an as needed basis .
You do have a one year cap , which is fine.
I'm just not comfortable putting something out on the street --
it doesn't say as needed In the bid spec.
Assistant City Manager: I believe
the bid spec does represent that it's on an as needed basis,
we can always go back and add additional language
about the potential sale of the property
if that would make the Commissioner more
comfortable with the item we could change it
to unit quantities of one.
At the end of the day, we don't really
know what is expected at that facility.
Turnover can happen any day and needs could arise,
so that's why we have this contract just
on an as needed basis to address those situations
but we could definitely do that.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: If you're comfortable with that,
mayor would it be appropriate?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: So this
is a contract for both locations?
you don't want to knock it down to nothing
when you have Pembroke Pines Point with a bunch of seniors
living there.
Assistant City Manager: I know the comment was
made that the vendors typically by the materials ahead of time,
I don't know any vendors buying tons of countertops
ahead of time to install them.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: This is a contract .
Mayor Angelo Castillo: What is the source
of funds for this contract?
Assistant City Manager: Community services
department's budget.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: What is the source of funds,
is this a grant?
comes out of revenues from the rents,
and this vendor continues to be available
for any potential future?
Assistant City Manager: That would
be an opportunity for the purchaser
to work out with the vendor.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: If they want
to work out a different contract but they have the ability
to use our contract, or their own,
has that been thought through?
Assistant City Manager: The purchaser would be a separate
entity, they could definitely contract with a vendor
and utilize the same pricing and the purchaser would have
to agree to the pricing, it's definitely something that can be
arranged..
.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: What would be the appropriate
language to adopt this modification to quantity
as needed ?
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Can you still extract a bid
if it has no numbers in it?
does it allow you to make a determination on pricing?
Assistant City Manager: Staff comes up
with a quantity to help estimate what they believe is needed.
We go with the lowest bidder once they are qualified,
so if we use the quality of one we
would just total that versus skewed data
with higher quantities for different types of work.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: It's right there in the document,
on an as needed basis, so I'm not sure
that we need this motion.
It's right in front of you.
On the city's screen, it's 4.1, it's in blue.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: That clarifies the as needed,
so there's no need for me to make that change ,
I think there should be a separation between point
and place , I think there ought to be.
I would like to , would that be a bifurcation?
Speaker: Maybe we can just reference not to exceed a number
of units .
Can you put in a not to exceed number?
Assistant City Manager: I wouldn't recommend
that we limit the city to not exceed a certain number,
I think if we just identify that these are estimated numbers
and we're asking the vendor to provide services
on an as needed basis that provides
enough information to the vendor to adequately vet the project
and gives the city the flexibility To award
the parts needed.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Can we just
procure the actual material and move the labor out?
Mayor Angelo Castillo: If you want
to have a conversation about the internal operations of the city,
this is not the place to have it.
This entire discussion , I didn't see the as needed and I
didn't see the 68 versus the one versus the discussion about
whether or not it should be done on a time materials basis .
The staff knows what they are doing ,
I think the as needed point was very well taken,
it's right there.
So unless you have a motion to make, we need to move on.
All those in favor say aye?
It passes unanimously.
I have two speakers .
Mario Garcia: Good evening mayor , vice mayor,
members of the city Council, men and women of the Pembroke Pines
Police Department.
Thank you for allowing me a few minutes
to speak before you about something that's
very personal to me, but also something I believe
is very important to our entire community.
I'm here today as a father who lost his only son.
He was a decorated former South Florida law enforcement
officer who struggled with PTSD during and after his service.
A few years ago, he took his life.
There isn't a day that doesn't go by that I
don't think about my son.
As a father, I will always wonder
if there was something more that I could have done,
but today I don't want to just focus only on what we lost,
I want to focus on lives we can still save.
our police officers see things that most people will never
see in a lifetime, they deal with the trauma, violence,
death, and tremendous pressure, also
while being expected to go home at the end of their shift
and simply move on.
We ask our officers to protect our families, our businesses,
and our communities.
I believe we have a responsibility to them as well.
I am respectfully asking the City Council and the city
of Pembroke Pines to look at providing additional mental
health resources specifically for the men and women
of the Pembroke Pines Police Department that could include
confidential counseling, PTSD and trauma service,
peer support groups, and making sure that our officers can speak
without feeling that asking for help could hurt their careers
and their reputations .
We cannot wait until another officer reaches that breaking
point or until another family has to experience the kind
of loss that my family has experienced.
my son's life cannot be saved, but perhaps some other
officer's life can be.
If putting better resources in place
helps even one officer to come home safely to their family,
then I believe it was well worth every effort and every dollar
invested in it.
we lost a police officer last week in the city of sunrise,
we lost a police officer in the city of Doral 13 days ago ,
continues to happen, something has got to be done.
I asked the city to look at options
that we can explore to make sure that the safety and the wellness
of our police officers, men and women, are cared for.
Thank you very much for your time , and God help us all.
Thank you.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: We thank you for your service
and for your son's service, I know
the police department is in the back
and you are part of the citizens group.
Please talk to them, and open a dialog that will allow you
to know what it is that we do to keep the mental health of all
of our officers strong , and let's talk about what more we
can do and I want to thank you for coming forward .
It's an honor to have you.
Second reading ordinance.
Speaker: Proposal of the ordinance
of the city of Pembroke Pines amending chapter 38
of the city's Code of Ordinances which
provides for retirement income plan for general employees
of the city to completely terminate the plan in accordance
with the provisions of the city's code.
For the purposes Of Effectuating the termination plan described
and provided for herein with codification and effective date
for the record the item is now on the floor for consideration.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Moved and seconded any discussion
or questions?
Speaker: Although you may benefit theoretically
from the termination plan you are
entitled to vote under chapter 12 that may require
your recusal from voting.
Speaker: I received an email today --
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: Referencing the retirement plan,
I don't know anything about that.
Speaker: There are no changes to the existing plan.
Speaker: That individual has been contacted
and told he does have a coda that's part of the plan,
it's in the documentation, so he was notified.
Commissioner Thomas Jr.: So there's
a clear reference to the documentation that
indicates This plan, or whoever is
going to assume responsibility.
the most important thing for me is just that it's all spelled
out .
There was no reference in any of the controlling documents and I
just wanted to make sure it exists .
That's all I needed.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Will you please call the roll? [ Voting -
all ayes]
Mayor Angelo Castillo: This item passes unanimously,
thank you very much.
I want to congratulate the city manager, city attorney, and also
Mr. Rothstein for a job well done.
Item number seven.
Speaker: A motion to adopt proposed ordinance
on second and final reading of an ordinance of the City
Commission of the city of Pembroke Pines Florida amending
ordinance number 2052 providing for an amended
budget for fiscal year 2025 2026 for the city,
providing for conflicts, providing for severability,
and providing an effective date.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: By your vote,
this item passes, thank you very much.
Number eight.
City Attorney: Proposed ordinance
in the city of Pembroke Pines Florida charter
authorizing the execution of the agreement
to a sub sublease for a real property generally located
at 8013 South Palm Drive tower one, 8210 Florida Drive Tower
two, and 8203 Florida Drive Tower three,
collectively referred to as Pines Place
and described in exhibit B which property is subleased
by the city from the State of Florida Department of Children
and Family Services and owned by the State of Florida
through the Board of Trustees of the Internal Trust
Fund of the State of Florida.
Authorizing the closing of the transaction contemplated
in the agreement effective upon the filing by the City Manager
with the City Clerk of a certificate confirming
that the closing requirements in the agreement
have been satisfied, the form of which
is attached here as exhibit C subject to the terms
and conditions as set forth in the agreement,
authorizing the proper city officials to execute
all necessary documents and to take
all actions necessary to close the transaction
consistent with the authority granted herein,
providing that any amendments extending the review
period to the agreement to enter sub sublease
may be approved by a duly executed resolution of the City
Commission, providing for conflicts,
providing for severability,
and providing for an effective date.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: By your vote, this item passes.
You have your 4/5 vote, congratulations Pembroke Pines.
We are on our way to doing great things with this item
and I really look forward to doing the next steps.
Number nine.
City Attorney: Propose resolution vacating
the Unplatted utility easement recorded in Broward County
official records book and as more particularly described
in exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein,
on the property located at 151 southwest 184th Avenue,
Pembroke Pines Florida.
More particularly described by its legal description in exhibit
B, attached hereto and incorporated herein,
providing for recordation, providing
for conflicts, severability, and an effective date.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Any discussion?
All those in favor say aye?
Motion passes unanimously.
City Attorney: Number ten for the record is motion to adopt
proposed resolution number 2026 R 19 ,
proposed resolution of the city of Pembroke Pines Florida
amending the budget for the State University Charter
Elementary School for the charter school fiscal year
beginning July 1st 2025 .
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Any discussion?
motion passes unanimously.
City Attorney: Next up is number 11,
proposed resolution number 2026 R 20 is a resolution of the City
of Pembroke Pines Florida, amending the budget for the City
of Pembroke Pines Florida State University Charter Elementary
School for the charter school fiscal year beginning July 1st
2025 providing for conflicts, severability,
and an effective date.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Motion please.
Any discussion?
All those in favor say aye, it passes unanimously.
Reports of league and MPO representatives.
Speaker: Very happy to have attended .
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: The city of Coral Springs
was most interesting, the Sunshine law
and things in relation to communications were there,
it was really interesting and the theme of it
was basically going beyond the social post showing us what
the city's example was doing.
One highlight that we saw is they're actually doing a series
on their social media and YouTube in the daily life
of a worker mostly focused on highlighting what their taxes
pay for, which I think we talked about here highlighting more
with the taxpayer money goes to and so they've done a really
beautifully done curated video series that they have online,
I encourage our communications department to look at that
and they also mentioned a whole host of resources ,
the presentation is available on the app when you log in with
your credentials for the conference.
If you can't find it, I can share the ones I got
and be able to take knowledge from what they've been doing.
On September 3rd there's going to be the next meeting .
Mayor Angelo Castillo: I want to thank all of you that attended.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Colleagues who've attended
conferences , usually the material covered Is distributed
amongst the rest of the commission.
If you are able, can you--?
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Sure.
Anything else on that?
Mr. Attorney?
City Attorney: Regarding the tax issue,
we confirmed no appeal has been filed
and the parties took the litigation to Tallahassee
and Leon County and that item will appear
on the ballot in November.
Thank you for the coordination regarding the meeting that will
occur on the 31st of August at 2:00 regarding the pending
litigation.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: All right, discussion
and possible action regarding the draft of a resolution
condemning Islamophobia.
I've been working a lot with the Muslim community
and engage with the Muslim Students Association
and I've heard growing concerns about increased Islamophobic
rhetoric, a lot of us have also been hearing anti-Semitic
as well on the rise due to global conflicts.
Those concerns are reflected nationally across the board
and the data showed that religion based hate
crimes reached their highest level in 2023 since 2017
and a few research poll found Muslims reported
discrimination had increased following
recent global conflicts.
I'm asking for the Legal Council to develop
the appropriate language for the resolution to formally adopt
a resolution requesting the administration
to add this to existing discrimination policies.
It would be according to those guidelines
as well, this is not to provide special protections,
it's about reaffirming a standard that applies equally
to everyone in Pembroke Pines.
No person should face discrimination, threats,
violence, or unequal treatment because of their religion
or perceived religion.
When antisemitism, anti hatred, racism and other forms of bias
affect our community, we must speak effectively against them
and I hope we can do that here .
It's just the direction to the city's attorney office,
and I hope we can discuss that here.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: This commission
has never shied away from the principle
that every single resident of Pembroke Pines regardless
of characteristics of birth or chance are welcomed here
and should be respected on equal terms.
We have the same set of laws that apply to everyone,
and there's no reason for there to be this kind of bigotry
or racism or hatred of any kind in the city
is diverse and beautiful as ours, and really does get along.
While the state of Florida has created
some new laws in that regard that
don't go into effect until the beginning of this year,
if we do not require Tallahassee or anybody else
to tell us what our conscience already tells us
which is that respect for everyone regardless of how they
pray or where they're from, what color they are, their age
or who they love or any of those other things.
Here in Pembroke Pines, we stand up for the dignity of every
human being .
They are accountable to the law for their behavior
but not to their status as it relates
to characteristics of birth.
We've done it before, there are two previous resolutions that
are in effect that were passed by the previous Commission
and have never been overturned by this commission,
I hope they never are.
This adds to that , we did indeed pass an antisemitism
resolution.
Everyone here is welcome, respected,
and as the governing body of this city it's
important we be on the record to say
that everyone matters so I have no difficulty with your item.
Anybody else wish to speak?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: I agree with modifying our anti
ordinance, I just want to make sure the city attorney
recognizes that any changes to the document does not conflict
with state statute and it does not endorse any organization
and involve any prohibited entity .
I can tell you our Muslim residents
are part of the fabric of Pembroke Pines.
Families who contribute to our city every day,
and standing against discrimination
towards them is simply just standing for our community,
so I certainly support Your discussion
and your bringing this forward, Commissioner Rodriguez,
thank you.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Remember the days
when God forbid you sat down next to a Muslim
and had the conversation and broke bread.
But the truth is , I condemn hatred,
intimidation and discrimination on all levels.
Anti-Semitism, it's been less than a year since I've been
attacked on social media .
We have an opportunity to embrace the resolution
that we passed to include all whether you're
a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu, people of faith, people with no faith.
They have every single right that everybody else does ,
so I'd like to be able to include that , city attorney.
And just know that the city will continue
to stand against hatred and discrimination.
Mayor, I remember 2015, an eight year old boy
attending Pines Mill who came up to me and said he
was being bullied in school because he was Muslim,
and I went to the parents and the parents
were afraid to speak out because they thought
they were going to get horrific things done
to them Or their property.
And that is three blocks away from here, right inside
the municipal boundary of Pembroke Pines.
I remember knocking on the door and an individual
came out and says I'll support you Commissioner
if you get rid of that so and so three doors down from me.
If we're going to re-do this Resolution,
we need to acknowledge there's hatred existing
today in the current boundaries, anything else is just words.
Resolutions are only paper unless we act upon those words.
This country is beautiful because all of us
have the same goal.
Living in peace, freedom, raising a family .
The United States of America is beautiful ,
but it's being torn apart by rhetoric.
November is coming and the rhetoric
is going to get even worse.
the question is, what are we going
to do as neighbors to go you know what?
That's not acceptable.
Are we going to be part of feeding the nonsense ,
identify people red blue purple green, are we going to do that?
it's not the neighbors I know, the friends that I have.
But they exist within our society .
I don't want to get any more emotional than this mayor,
so I will stop.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: I'm sensing that we have consensus.
A lot of people say to me what has happened to America
and what is going on with all this hatred and division?
America is just fine, she is waiting for us exactly where we
left her, hopeful that we will come back .
And that's why it's so important when
we say to young people and one another welcome to America,
that those words mean something and that they
don't mean the wrong thing.
I want to thank you for coming forward with this.
City Attorney: I've listened to the discussion ,
I also am wary and aware of the various statutes regulations
and policies in the legal matters that you are aware
of as well which we consider very seriously as we craft
the document we can live with legally, operationally,
and for the benefit of the City of Pembroke Pines,
we will do that.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: I don't want anyone to misunderstand
the action that we are doing , we just all need to get along
better, we need to shape up that way.
Thank you again Commissioner Rodriguez
for a very well thought item.
With that consensus, we now have item 13 .
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: I just wanted to put on the table
a discussion request update .
I know there was also some follow up questions
so staff can let us know how the texting program is working
and how people can sign up and afterwards
make sure we have that information rotate it online.
I know it's been published multiple times .
Speaker: I had a couple of questions
that I think a lot of them were explained within the memo
but I wanted to ask.
There's a program with the emergency
and non-emergency texting, can you speak on that
so we have an explanation and if you
are able to share any sorts of communication
it would be greatly appreciated.
Speaker: Currently the system is contracted through the state's
Emergency Management department, and through this system
we can push out both emergency and non-emergency notification
systems.
The emergency notification systems are set out city wide,
so it goes to tens of thousands of residents that have
information that links them to Pembroke Pines and emergency
notifications are intended for anything that presents a safety
concern, and no one --
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: Can you
give us an example of what might be sent out in that manner?
Speaker: We've only posted a city wide emergency alert once
since we implemented the system, and that was when Flamingo Road
and the Boulevard westbound and northbound lanes were completely
shut down , I thought it rose to a safety concern and so everyone
who has any sort of connection to Pembroke Pines
that's in the Everbridge system received that alert .
That's intended for just emergency
purposes safety concerns.
Typically I would not use it for traffic related issues except
for the specific location .
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: I believe you can sign up online,
Mr. Clark can you show us where that is?
so people know how to sign up for the opt in one,
my understanding is it is guided more
towards non-emergency scenarios.
Speaker: They could sign up and put their contact information,
whatever they prefer, and they can choose once they sign up
they will automatically always get emergency notifications
but there are now three categories for opt
in non-emergency which includes city events,
city services and city traffic alerts .
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: I believe
it is that free cost, correct?
Speaker: From what I understand, it is completely free of charge.
Because Everbridge is contracted through the state,
it is free of charge from what I understand .
Speaker: The grant is no charge for emergency and non-emergency.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: If there's
construction on our particular road or things like that
and there's going to be a disruption in the space,
this text messaging program can also
be worked towards that as well, correct?
Speaker: We have templates already, yes.
Speaker: If you are signed up for the opt in notifications,
I have been utilizing the system regularly since June
for disruptions , so I very highly recommend residents
to opt in.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: I wanted
to be able to promote this as much as possible because it's
only really as useful as however many people sign up
and opt into it, and I wanted obviously
to bring attention to it which is why I put it on the agenda,
so if we can continuously online and on social media
be able to communicate that we have this communication system,
I think not necessarily innovative as we all
have text messages, but it really
slims down all the constant barrage of information
we get on social media.
This is very particular and we can Geo target
for specific circumstances, so I think
it's a wonderful system and program the city is
able to provide with a grant free of cost until 2029,
after that hopefully the grant continues but I just
wanted to highlight that.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Anyone else
have any questions about this?
let's get to item 14.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Possible action
to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance amending
a section of the city's Land Development Code currently
referenced as domesticated livestock and poultry
to include provisions for the management of livestock waste.
Staff has provided some language for us to consider,
and if you have any questions about that language?
The purpose of this is to protect the public from horse
manure waste properly using the appropriate storage bins,
how you manage it to prevent runoff,
and this came forward from the discussion back in May or June I
believe .
Most of it is in the backup, so I would ask my colleagues
for a second.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Item dies for lack of a second.
Item 15.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Discussion and possible action
to review the administration previous agenda item ,
I have the city attorney to come down.
This one is a little bit unique, this was not
commission driven back in 2024.
This was prepared by administration,
placed on an agenda and subsequently pulled
by the administration for a reason that has not really
been quite explained in the public view.
I sat down with code enforcement now three times this year ,
once in January, again in February, last time without Mr.
Sherman's presence because it wasn't included in the invite,
that would have been in July.
The city manager, city administration was asked on all
three of those meetings when and if the item would ever come back
.
City Manager: I just want clarity
that the item was pulled because it was never discussed with me.
Normally the policy of commission
if there's going to be a change there
has to be a motion to direct the city attorney to do so.
I was not involved in any of those meetings concerning
this item, and that was the reason it was pulled.
As indicated, this item should have been brought forward asking
for the city Attorney's office to prepare an item regarding
these code enforcement issues , that is all we are waiting for .
I was informed there were suggestions that were made,
I know our city attorney Brian was involved
and this item should have been placed on the agenda
to instruct the city attorney to prepare
an ordinance with some direction and the ordinance
would come back to the Commission
to give them an opportunity to hear what the issues are
and discuss them at that time.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: What
I recall hearing in the meeting in January of this year,
and again in February of this year,
was that it was pulled to give Vargas the opportunity
to review the policy.
At those two meetings I had inquired of the city manager
to review the information, here we are just about September
and I had to put it on because we haven't had any movement.
Basically, I want to give the microphone to the city attorney
Sherman, but without stealing his thunder,
our magistrates would have another tool in their toolbox
to address repeated offenders if we were to take Mr.
Ross's polling, the public does not have a majority
of confidence in our code enforcement .
Looking at that, I learned the end of the meeting two weeks ago
I was requested if this was going to come up I
need to put it on.
So it's here because I've asked the administration three times
to bring it forward and they said
if you want to discuss it you need to bring it forward,
the city attorney's office never really reviewed it
but I don't know how that's even possible considering staff
has two exhibits with strikeouts.
Staff didn't do that.
I mean, maybe staff did it, but it's not the dollar amount .
I'm not fixated on one value of how much a fine should be.
Would I recognize is that we made
an adjustment for other items within our city policies
because $10 today is a lot less money than it was ten years ago,
and we clearly do not have the attention of repeat offenders
when it comes to cleaning up their property,
coding up the compliance.
And the magistrate has the ability
if the city were to allow them to do so,
to look at some other options.
Can you please address the commission on exhibit one which
I believe is an actual proposed ordinance whereas clause .
Staff didn't do that.
There's code, there's underlines.
Staff did not do that, somebody had to prepare that.
As the city attorney, do you have any recollection
on how exhibit one and two showed up?
Assistant City Attorney: We were asked to put something together
for discussion, understanding it still
needed to go to commission.
We drafted this particular document,
as to why it was pulled or anything
that happened after it was submitted,
I would refer you to Mr.
[Inaudible]
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: City manager Dodge,
we have a product produced, give us
the opportunity to discuss it.
City Manager: If an item is to be presented and drafted
as an ordinance, it must first be presented to the Commission
to discuss and then the city attorney prepares it
and then we consider it as a vote.
This was totally inappropriate, the police chief wasn't
aware of it, I wasn't aware of it, no one consulted
or even presented any to me.
Some of these fines I think are absolutely ridiculous to expect
a homeowner to be fined up to $1,000 per day for a violation
for the first violations I'm reading right here.
As we know, the purpose for code is compliance,
it's not a fine or to penalize somebody.
Usually those who have these violations, if it
was for not cutting their grass or maintaining their property
or painting their house, it's probably
because they didn't have the resources to do it
and now you are looking at putting fines that in my opinion
are ridiculous.
I suggested before this item come on
it be an item to direct city attorney to prepare something
with ideas that the commissioner would have
and then once you do that, it's incorporated.
We never present an ordinance that has not been directed to do
so by the Commission .
Was out of place, it wasn't discussed with
the administration, if a staff person did it
at someone's request, I don't know whose request it was at ,
it certainly wasn't from my office.
I think this evening, there's nothing wrong
with changing this motion to instruct the city
attorney to prepare something based
on a recommendation by a commissioner
and bring it back to the Commission for consideration.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: I'm trying hard to be as kind
about this as I can, but --
Mayor Angelo Castillo: There have
been certain items brought before this commission that
have not been vetted by staff.
Even though we have two new members,
we have all been here long enough
to know that we rely on professional staff
to assist us in organizing presentations
before the Commission, and with respect to this matter, that
was not done.
The city manager wasn't talked to,
the police chief wasn't talked to,
I don't know how this came up.
I've never seen it before.
Substantively, I am not a fine increase mode from $250 to 500
or 1000 , that's just not in my judgment a thing that has any
sense of place or time right now .
In my state of the city speech I made note of the fact that 80%
of all code compliance concerns in the community whether
in violation, 80% are voluntarily resolved .
While I hear a lot of stuff out there about code compliance,
people are very slow to pick up the phone and call it in,
but they want to complain about the community.
And then when we pass things like don't park on your lawn,
they call us all kind of names because we
are enforcing this stuff.
Just a quick vignette, I remember a phone call I got from
a lady in Pines Village , she wanted to sell her house.
She had a good price, she had a homeowner that was looking
to buy her house to live there , but her neighbor had three
trucks and two broken down cars parked on the lawn and she
looked at that and said I love your house, it's a great price,
but I can't live like this.
That person lost the sale because we don't have a sense
of standards , so we went to staff,
it was done in the right way , and we created some new rules.
Now all of a sudden people are complaining
because they can't park their car on the lawn anymore.
It's enough to tear your hair out!
If we want to have a conversation about code
enforcement, I think we should, and if there's
an appetite for more fines, much less what I'm looking at here,
thousands of dollars, if someone wants
to have that discussion you should have it, but let's
vet these items through the staff.
I'm sick and tired of staff saying
I never heard this before, no one ever contacted me.
We have people here who are responsible for assets
and money, go and see them and then bring
an item that is vetted so we can have this discussion.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: If the clerk can pull up
the first page, I know we have a really good IT department.
This file was created January 13th 2025,
clearly somebody stuck it in.
It was on our agenda on the 5th of February 2025,
and then it got pulled.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Did the city Commission order this item?
so this is just a request for the city manager
that was never presented to us?
You're looking at some draft, and what is your point?
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: The manager
had concerns of how it got there.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: It doesn't matter how it got there,
it didn't go through the administration and it was never
before us .
Commissioner, if you were still bringing the items to manager
back after it's vetted with staff,
we are duty bound to entertain it
but staff have to be met with, the police chief
has to be met with, the director of code has to be met with,
the city attorney should be part of that.
If you want to bring an item to raise the fines or whatever--
I'm looking at what I'm reading.
If you wish to bring an item, meet with staff, vet your item .
We are now on item 16, Commissioner vice mayor.
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: Thank you for making this
the longest possible item ever .
As our city attorney advise us , the governor vetoed bill --
the bill would have required operating requirements .
Notwithstanding the veto and given a clear proliferation
of the use of e-bikes, e-scooters,
and related micromobility devices by not just
the general population of adults,
but also a significant number of minor children
and publicized evidence of debilitating injuries accidents
and significant life safety issues
and impacts affecting this proliferation,
I will respectfully seek the following
from the mayor, City Commission, and city administration.
A motion to authorize and to direct the city's police
department professionals via the City Manager
to provide a public review and report to the Mayor and City
Commission in the near term as to the existence
and use of e-bikes and related devices in the city,
and an analysis of recommendation
to better protect the public health and safety
necessitated by the ongoing proliferation of such devices
in our community.
And a motion to authorize and direct the City Attorney's
Office to review viable and lawful legislative alternatives
for City Commission consideration
as to the potential regulation of e-bikes and related
micromobility devices to protect best the health safety
and welfare of the citizens and residents of the city and others
who may utilize the city's public streets, highways,
sidewalks and parks.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: So with that objection
I'm going to combine the two motions
and if someone wants to bifurcate them let me know.
Is there a second for discussion?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: I could tell you
this was very disappointing to see that the governor vetoed
legislation to deal with an issue that's starting
to take over our communities.
The state was probably the best level to manage this particular
concern .
What you've put here is an excellent start,
I 100% support all of this review
and would also like to ask if you would consider
adding something that would also incorporate what are
other cities doing in the area.
We could make a law here going to Miramar or any one of these
other cities , and this is the crux of the problem.
It's got to be a regional type of thing,
we are having some discussions but this is really good,
we need to really understand what it is
and how it impacts our city but we also
need to understand what our city is doing in regards to this
and trying to dovetail whatever we want to do with what
other people are doing or go and do a presentation asking them
to consider adopting something, I
ask you incorporate some form of regionalization as well.
Speaker: Those folks up there never
vote unanimously on any legislation,
it was a unanimous vote.
Governor Desantis on June 25th or 26th vetoed it .
Sometimes I can understand where the governor is coming from,
sometimes I can't and this one I can't.
Ultimately I don't want to put words in your mouth but there
are often times we are upset with Tallahassee preempting us
but then there are other times where uniformity,
because to your point, you can go down 1/84 close by where I
live and after you cross Pembroke Road they come through
our city and if you don't have uniformity,
it's challenging I believe it's Cooper City,
possibly Coral Springs also was mentioned.
This is a starting point, and I don't have the answers.
I think law enforcement has something they could present .
I know Mr. Mayor, our neighbor and constituent back there,
he's passionate about the issue and I wanted to mention
something .
But if you don't know a lot about Senate Bill 382,
I think it's important to know nobody's
banning any of these vehicles.
My ten year old daughter said dad,
are you trying to take my friends e-bikes and e-scooters
away and I said no I am not, I am simply trying to protect
the drivers and operators of e-bikes and e-scooters ,
drivers like me that will get in a car and drive home when I
leave here, and pedestrians.
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: I do want our esteemed police
department which does a wonderful job at traffic
management, by the way thanks for the first two
weeks of school and traffic, I know it's hard,
thank you very much for what you've done.
School traffic you have these issues with these vehicles .
You're supposed to only be about 750 lots,
and some go above the 750W, above what normally the limit
on the machine is of 28 miles an hour .
I believe part of what was going to be required in this bill was
reducing speed to ten miles an hour on sidewalks within 50ft
of pedestrians .
There are no licenses required to operate the vehicle,
and no age restriction.
If you look at the material provided to me by Pembroke Pines
Police and the City Attorney's Office,
you are supposed to adhere to the safety rules of the road .
If you are 12 years old and have never sat
for a driver's license, I'm not sure how you're going to be
familiar with the rules of the road,
and that's a big part of it I appreciate very much because I
see kids riding at, but there has to be some kind
of guardrails before they get injured,
before a vehicular driver injures them or injures
themselves because of an accident that takes place .
I know we had two young kids out in the Western part of Pembroke
Pines I believe the first day of school who
were injured on these e-bikes, or e-scooters.
I understand there's a great deal of legality that
our wonderful city attorney's office can help us work through,
but why I wanted to bring this now is because the governor
vetoed this legislation after we had entered summer recess
on the City Commission , and therefore we couldn't meet.
Also, I was hopeful we would have some progress on this
in Tallahassee and I applaud our legislators for Passing it,
I don't quite understand why the governor vetoed it.
I meant this as a starting point for discussion kicking it
to the experts in our police department, our attorneys,
and there's a point that there are folks who are either
watching or will watch contact our city Commission et cetera
who have expressed ongoing concerns,
and I just feel that it's incumbent upon us
to at a minimum start the process to see how it is we
could better protect those drivers and pedestrians ,
one is here that will speak to his experience
at the appropriate time.
I appreciate Commissioner good, your comments, and again, I'm
looking to my colleagues for support,
and to the experts for guidance.
Thank you.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: I want to mention e-bikes
and e-scooters sometimes are a very reliable source of mobility
for some of our residents who can't own cars,
maybe too young to drive cars and you guys hear me talk about
it all the time, the lack of transportation opportunity
within the city of Pembroke Pines and we all continued
to work on .
We wanted to make the regulation so it
would be safer for the movie to be able to use
these vehicles in a sense.
Setting forth the right regulation,
possibly children and speed and things
like that, but there are people who use them
because cars are very expensive and gasoline is very expensive
and this is a way that some people have been getting around
because of the ease that you can get around without actually
pedaling the bike so I wanted us to be able to have that in mind
as well.
The goal isn't to ban, but we don't
want to overregulate what some people use
as their only source of mobility to get to and from work.
I wanted to flag that and mention balancing the safety
but also the protection of our residents to be able to get
to and from where they need to go .
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: There are multiple conversations
with the police department going back last year and again in June
and again recently, I don't want to speak for the chief
but we are all hopeful there would
be some guidance from Tallahassee
or some regulation from Tallahassee,
and again unfortunately the governor
vetoed it so I've been in contact both with Chief Vargas's
command staff, City manager Dodge,
and of course Mr. Sherman and Mr. Gorin.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: If the governor hadn't vetoed it,
it would have been a moving violation ?
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: The text
is there in the Senate bill.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Will there be a code enforcement
city attorney?
City Attorney: It would be a code violation,
and all bicycles are classified the same way .
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: I'm just trying to see
the enforcement side of it , if it hadn't been vetoed if we are
looking at doing something unless it becomes a code
enforcement matter .
City Attorney: Depending on how the drafting occurs,
the regulation would be essentially a police issue.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: Are you hearing with direction
from the commission that you would make it police enforcement
action .
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: My intent is not
to have our code enforcement out policing these vehicles,
I appreciate what Commissioner Rodriguez said
which is why I'm not looking for any sort of overregulation, just
safety.
I want code enforcement going to homes that are violating code,
I don't want code enforcement chasing down
folks who are driving either irresponsibly above a speed
limit or they shouldn't be.
I believe this should be a law enforcement matter,
I believe the chief is perfectly capable of coming back,
the item is asking questions about something that we have
the ability to direct administration to come back
with, so the answers to what you're saying are looking
at each of us and determining what we would like
the administration to return with so I would like it to be
a law enforcement matter , I think our traffic division
police officers within our schools where a lot of these
vehicles are, I see them every day dropping my children off
or picking them up or when I'm jogging ,
I would like this to be a law enforcement issue.
Commissioner Jay Schwartz: When the item first came to us
it was in complete, so I asked for the item to be recent.
For the record for clarification, law enforcement .
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: I believe you are referring
to a technical error made by our administrative assistant that
didn't put in all of the information .
She immediately added the rest of the text,
so that's a non issue .
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Let me weigh in on this ,
when stuff like this comes up, I tend to be resistant
to legislating quickly.
There's a Jeffersonian streak in me,
that governs best governs least, let the people figure
this thing out if they can.
This business with the e-bikes has gotten dangerous.
It's gotten dangerous for adults that drive,
it's gotten dangerous for adults that use them
and it's gotten dangerous for kids that use them.
We're hearing more and more about it, Chief Vargas ,
I had a good chat with our friend Chief Susan.
I don't know if he's North Bay village or Key Biscayne .
They had to regulate it because they had deaths and cars were
hitting these things.
This is a step down from a moped and sometimes a step up
depending on what you buy .
I am disappointed, vice mayor, that this was vetoed.
It's necessary for safety.
We are not saying don't use the vehicle ,
we are saying it's got to be used safely and there have to be
some rules, especially for children.
I see kids pulling wheelies on those things,
making believe that they are motorcycles and they're doing
wheelies, it's unsafe .
but I agree with what Commissioner Rodriguez said,
which is let's not go crazy with this,
let's figure out what's prudent, do that,
ordinances can always be amended and strengthened ,
but at the same time , these kinds of things have been used
in Europe forever .
Mopeds and Vespas and all that, they
don't have the kind of abuses that we've
seen here on terrain that is frankly much more
dangerous than ours.
So I want to support this, and I want
to thank you Vice Mayor for bringing it forward because it
definitely stops the problem.
It is a police problem, if you see someone
in a bike in a road breaking the law, it's a police matter,
it's not code.
I tell people when you see that, call 911,
and they don't want to call 911.
If you don't participate in the partnership,
you can't be satisfied with the outcome .
They want to blog immediately, I saw a bunch of kids,
as if blogging it makes it -- people don't understand,
the police chief can explain better than I can,
there are patterns to things.
When you report it to 911, it gets
reported on the time and the date and all of that
and when the crime analysts see a pattern and safety
specialists, they know how to deploy people based on patterns.
That's why it's important to report these things.
Anything that you see that's a danger or a crime,
pick up the phone and report it so they can understand how
to manage around those patterns, because they tend to be
repetitive .
I think Commissioner good's point is also well taken .
I don't know how, but we should get a list of efforts
to regulate these e-bikes if there were the tri county
area, what those ordinances looked like I don't know how you
would go about that, but if it's out there
and you can search for it there's
some best practices out there in terms of ordinances.
I know our police department is a very creative one,
they will take a look at this and the best practices
and come back hopefully with something
we can all be proud of.
Vice Mayor Michael A. Hernandez: Would you
all like to see the presentation or just
direct the administration?
Mayor Angelo Castillo: How long is the presentation?
Come on up.
Speaker: I'm currently one of the two supervisors
of our traffic division previously assigned
to our community Affairs unit and prior to promotion
of Sergeant I was assigned to the traffic division
as an officer from 2016 to 2019.
First off, I would just like to say thank you
for allowing us and inviting us to present this information,
we are confident it's going to answer most if not all
of the things you presented or planned to
as well as provide insight into the community, especially
parents who may have already purchased these vehicles
or were planning to.
As well as provide some clarification on misconceptions
or confusion about this topic.
Vice Mayor Hernandez, as you mentioned
there is a clear proliferation increased popularity
in electric mobility devices especially
with electric scooters and electric bicycles.
As Commissioner Rodriguez mentioned,
that's due to their affordability
and the convenience provided by being able to travel not only
further, but faster with much less effort ,
and that is why we are seeing them much more frequently
in the community.
What we are seeing in the police department is an increase in two
separate groups that appear to be mistakenly categorized under
the same classification as e-bikes .
The city attorney mentioned it before, there's actually
two separate groups.
There's the e-bikes we've been speaking about,
but there's more commonly referred to as E-motors
which are electric motorcycles, and that's exactly what they
are, they're motorcycles.
As I mentioned, there's no licensing or registration
insurance requirements for electric bicycles or e-bikes
because that's exactly what they are, they're just bicycles.
Correct, the definition of an electric bicycle
is already established in state law.
Some of the criteria for a device to be considered
an electric bicycle, it must have pedals,
it must not exceed 750W of power output and it must have a saddle
like a traditional bicycle.
It can be traditionally operated by all ages ,
there's no additional endorsements required and they
can operate anywhere that bicycles can whether
that's in the roadway or on the sidewalk and so forth.
E motorcycles on the other hand are motor vehicles .
Because electric motorcycles are motor vehicles,
they do have registration and insurance requirements
and sometimes a motorcycle endorsement.
They can only ride on the streets and cannot be ridden
on the sidewalks and they exceed well above 20mph,
sometimes in excess of 50 or 60mph that's the dangerous
aspect we are seeing more of is E motors being operated .
Depending on the power output of the device ,
when the cyclist stops pedaling the electronic assistance
of the motor ceases.
Speed is 20mph, class two can be a pedal assist or a throttle
also max speed of 20mph .
There are specific statutes and state law that regulate
the modification of these devices to exceed those
classified speed limits , and there are traffic violation that
can be enforced if it's determined they have been
modified to exceed those speed limit regulations.
Just like bicycles, they are restricted by the same
guidelines, they have to obey all traffic signals and signs,
stop at red lights, use signals to indicate change of direction
or lane change, yield to pedestrians,
and the helmet requirements are the same as bicycles ,
they must be utilized by Riders under 16 years of age.
they are subject to requirements on roadways and sidewalks
and the added danger comes from the added speed,
in comparison the average bicyclist rides at 12mph.
Here's some local statistics between August
of last year and this year, traffic crashes
involving e-bikes have been a total of 14,
you will notice the location of the crash between the crosswalk
and intersection roadway adds up to more than 14,
that's because some of those crashes occurred
within a crosswalk were also within an intersection.
Those crashes, half of the contributing party
was the driver of the vehicle and the other half
of the contributing party was the operator
of the electric bicycle.
You see the ages of the riders in the third to last category.
This is data specifically towards
the electronic motorcycles, same time frame.
There's been five crashes, mostly on the roadway and all
five were injured and again as I mentioned
before, most of these operators are
unlicensed and unexperienced juveniles operating
what is considered motor vehicles that
should be registered.
Here's some initiatives the police department has already
implemented, traffic division specifically
has received specialized training
through the University of North Florida Institute of Police
Technology and Management, this has been issued to our personnel
and the reference materials that we obtain annually
include our quick reference traffic violation
guides that contain information on e-bike classifications,
privileges and restrictions we've provided
to you for your reference.
Online resources provided through our Office
of Communications where we shared numerous posts
on all of our social media platforms
regarding e-bike safety, and it has been added to our website.
Signs have been deployed throughout the city alerting
the public to information and where they can find it,
and data collection so we can more accurately determine
with data dealing with electric bicycles.
Future objectives to provide additional training to personnel
by providing information on legal updates, education
options.
We plan to have some coordinated operation along with
our neighborhood safety team to focus efforts towards
bicyclists, and drivers .
Safety tips and information and some clarity
between the difference between the vehicles
have been provided in the lobby if anyone would
like to look on the way out.
This information has been disseminated out to the schools
and again, we ask the administration
through the school system to help
us push out this information.
That being said, this is really an education initiative
to let people know that primarily
the electric motorcycles can and should not
be operated by juveniles and providing information
to other riders on how to safely navigate the roadways.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Great job with this, chief and staff,
outstanding.
I think we are on to something here that's actually doable
and will be workable , that we can really get this done.
I'm sort of interested in knowing the city attorney ,
as you give this some thought, how we can intervene if not
legally, then persuasively in some way to get to the parents
of children that use the E motors and let them know what
the rules are that do exist and how to stay safe,
and whether we can take this material which is very valuable,
and also converted in to some sort of website driven video
that parents can ask kids to watch before they get on one
of these things, those are the kinds of things that I think
make a difference is when we explain to folks you need
to know how to do it safely.
to make sure they know the rules, they're using the rules,
so they can go out there and get it done.
I asked for a report on civil citation,
I know that's going to come soon .
I don't want to see a million arrests unless
they're absolutely warranted , but police are very good
at putting together a little gang of kids who are misbehaving
and saying you should follow the rules because it could save
your life , so they really need to know this kind of thing.
I'm all for it, I think there's ways to do this properly .
I hope it will be statewide one day.
Commissioner Maria Rodriguez: The county is working,
they have a specific task force for that and the regulation
of both .
Speaker: I'm a resident that have been with the Pines 15
years now.
I'm standing by our police department
for their enforcement.
I'm an e-scooter rider, it goes 40 miles an hour.
I ride up and down pines every day, Pembroke Road .
I see a lot of reckless driving going on with these e motor
bikes and these 12 year Olds doing wheelies on sidewalks
and around pedestrians .
The reason I feel so strongly is because I visit hospitals
every day, 80% of the injuries I visit at these rehab hospitals
are motorcycles and bike accidents.
80% have to do motorcycle knock, bicycle crashes with vehicles,
and they end up like me.
I would hate to be the parent that
has to go visit their 12 or 11 year old in a hospital
because they got hit on their E motor
going 50 or 60 miles an hour.
We are talking about a 12 year old doing wheelies
in the middle of the street, they are not licensed
and neither is the equipment and I just
find it absurd you've got a 60 mile an hour
vehicle being ridden down the road with children that
are 12 years old that have no road rules
and don't understand the dangers,
and there's zero accountability.
Why are the parents allowing it ,
the accountability starts at the home.
My question is, not when but how many.
Most cases, paralyzed for the rest of their life
because they did something stupid on a motorbike
and I'll be the first one to tell you,
riding on Pines Boulevard and crossing streets
here is putting your life on the line because people do not
stop or yield for pedestrians, they blow through right hand
turns and people like me have to worry not about how I drive
but how all other drivers drive.
That's me as a senior citizen, responsible driver.
I can't imagine a 12 year old on a motor scooter
going 60 miles an hour and thinking
they're going to blow through an intersection
and they're going to stop for them.
They will be hospitalized in a rehab center by the time they
get off that bike and that could be my kids or your kids
or your grandchild or anybody, I see it happen day in and day out
and I'm not going to preach a whole lecture I'm just
supporting my vice mayor Mike for taking on this issue
because this is dangerous .
It should not be allowed by anybody,
let alone people who are not mature minded enough
to know I shouldn't be doing a wheelie in the middle
of the parkway, thank you for your support
and I hope something comes out of this.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: I made the suggestion
to unify these motions under one item
consistent with the commentary we've all
had included in the motion.
That item passes unanimously.
That concludes what we had today on the agenda,
I do have one item on old business.
I thank you for your indulgence, this will not take long.
At our last city Commission meeting,
we had a resident of Pembroke Lakes on 106th come forward
and talk about a problem with trees with a certain degree
of urgency expressed to deal with this right away.
I found that request out of order and I asked for the item
to come back.
It was not on the agenda, there's probably a good reason
why but nevertheless, I inquired the day after that commission
meeting , and I had certain information that came to me from
Assistant City Manager.
Apparently we are already on this issue,
can you come forward please and tell us what we are doing with
the trees on 106th and Taft.
I understand it was an Ada related lawsuit, which
also connects to some of the sidewalk work
that we are trying to get done in Pembroke Lakes,
Can you talk to us about what we are doing regarding the concern?
Assistant City Manager: There was an Ada complaint --
City Attorney: The complainant was before the Federal Highway
Administration, and it was a complainant file in connection
with the assay and there was no order
but there was a settlement of some sort that
relates to the city's obligation providing for a transition plan
and for a safety plan going forward
with regard to that issue impacted by Ada requirements.
Assistant City Attorney: I asked Carl to come join us,
he will give you some more details.
Carl Kent, City Engineer: They measured various sidewalks
to determine if there were discontinuities between
the flags , there were like six streets that were identified
in the letter where they mentioned the letters .
They made mention of trees that were uprooting the sidewalk
and slopes of the sidewalk that were bad,
they also made comments about cars parking in the driveway
sidewalks , police have been going through the neighborhood
and enforcing that .
The areas that were identified in the letter of finding are
the ones we are working on first ,
we are removing the sidewalks and the offending trees and they
weren't able to get through areas because the sidewalks were
sloped in the wrong location and that they had to go through
puddles.
It's being done right now.
Any of the trees that are a move that are needed have been done .
Mayor Angelo Castillo: What is the timetable
for completion of this?
within the next Carl Kent, City Engineer: Within the next month
or so.
City Manager: I believe Mr. Bonilla and Mr.
Hernandez went over the scope of the project and talked about
the trees , and the replacement trees,
and it's my understanding he's better placement right now.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Those are the questions that I asked
and that's the information I've got and I wanted to make sure it
was on the record, and if there's anything more we have
to do with respect to trees or sidewalks or anything else,
it's an important thing for the residents of our community
to count on the Americans with Disabilities Act for justice .
Without anything further?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: New business,
we received an email from Mary Stevens about activity
taking place, have we found out anything
about what they're doing?
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Maybe 4 or 5 months ago I had
a conversation with her, as you know,
it's pretty much been the trash and recycling with the county
working in tandem with the Solid Waste Authority,
but they wish to use a compost location for vegetation .
That's only tree clippings and that kind of thing,
no putrefication waste .
They're also currently using it for concrete and construction
debris, Chopping that up and preparing
it for reuse, and so forth.
City Manager: I've been following it,
they haven't made a determination as a company made
an offer to the county for stated composting vegetation,
the county is going to have the discussion on this week's agenda
and they have to decide whether that goes out
for proposals or just a contract,
but it's only for that section.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: You know this
from your own professional experience
but my understanding is it doesn't generate
a great deal of smell or nuisances
that composting garbage would.
City Manager: You're right, providing it's done correctly.
Many years ago we tried to do composting in the city.
City Manager: Several years ago, it was municipal solid waste
back in the early 90s.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: And it
was the process that failed, not necessarily the concept.
City Manager: The problem was the process
that created an odor.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: If we could just keep an eye
on this, because even the county has recognized this could create
odors, and the reason why is just because it's not food
scraps, it's a process where it goes from air to no air and you
have anaerobic conditions and needs .
What they are doing is putting them outside and of course
there's a process that has to keep it nice so you
don't get air in it.
But the point is, the county themselves in their letter ,
it's very interesting that they are not totally going to do it
yet.
It's a good opportunity for us to watch this process.
I don't know how we can get involved
in watching the process, it is a negotiation
and they could still open it up and have
other participants come in.
Even though they say it's green waste,
it may sometimes include fruit and vegetables.
It's just something to still keep an eye on ,
a plume wherever the wind blows.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: How would we go about this?
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: Pay attention to the way it goes
and if it's going to be acceptable to us,
and if it's not, then we need to voice an opinion
because we've already missed an opportunity where they took
the landfill from 100ft to 300ft,
we have nothing on record that says we oppose that.
At least here if they want to move forward,
we want to be on record saying we are not okay.
City Manager: I will follow to see what the county decides,
but I don't think this is going to happen tomorrow,
it could be several months .
We will follow up on it, but they
are doing this independently.
Commissioner Thomas Good Jr.: It's August 20th,
which is this week, just pay attention to if they accept it
and who's going to be taking it on to negotiations, thank you.
Commissioner Jay D. Schwartz: When do you
anticipate bringing us a factory recycling plan?
City Manager: The recycling we have to sit and still negotiate
and come up with a cost factor.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: When do you
feel you might be ready to present that to us?
Assistant City Attorney: The one for the result project,
the conversation with the commission we are still
looking at finalizing the design criteria package.
Mayor Angelo Castillo: Once we have the package,
I'm thinking we should go to residents and do a survey.
We already started the process, maybe we need to think of what
different ways we can do this, so I think we should probably go
back out and survey people .
Anything else?
All right, this meeting is adjourned, thank you very much.