Oh, yeah. Good evening. Good
evening, ladies and gentlemen.
The mayor has called the
council meeting to order. Mayor
Roscoe, present. Council member
Bracken here. Council member
Kaplan. Good enough. Council
member. London. Vice mayor.
Sardine. Council member. Stoner.
Here. Council member. Vasquez.
Thank you, MR. Mayor. We do
have a quorum. Please rise for
the Pledge of Allegiance. I
pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America.
To the republic for which it
stands. One nation under GOD,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Stay standing
for the invocation. Good
evening, honorable mayor, vice
mayor, esteemed members of our
council. So in our society,
leaders are appointed by their
fellow citizens who entrust and
empower them to represent us
and to look out for the benefit
of the community. On a deeper
level, the Talmud teaches that
every position of leadership is
appointed from heaven, meaning
when a person finds themselves
in a position of responsibility,
especially when it's a
responsibility of service to
others, they are not there by
accident. We're taught that
they have been placed there
from heaven. And together with
that responsibility comes the
ability to fulfill it properly.
GOD does not place us in a
position where something is
asked of us that we do not have
the ability to accomplish. Our
village is now preparing for a
new fiscal year, and in the
Jewish calendar, we're also
preparing for a new year. In
the weeks ahead, we will
celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Rosh
Hashanah is the Jewish New Year,
but the Hebrew words Rosh
Hashanah translate more
literally as the head of the
year, just as the head gives
vision and direction to the
entire body these days, give
vision and direction to the
year ahead. And actually the
Torah. The leaders of a
community are also called heads
for the same reason, because
they are called upon to provide
clarity, vision, and direction
for the path ahead. If that is
their responsibility, then
surely they have been given the
ability to fulfill it and to
fulfill it with much success.
With this in mind, please join
me in prayer to the Almighty
GOD. MAY our Council be blessed
to carry the responsibility
entrusted to them with
confidence and with joy. MAY
they guide us toward our shared
vision, leading by example as
good citizens, kind neighbors,
and as a part of a connected
community. MAY GOD bless their
minds with clarity and wisdom,
and bless their hearts with
kindness and sensitivity to
listen deeply and lead
effectively. And MAY our
village be blessed to become
the community we all hope for.
One where we live together in
peace, harmony, and friendship.
And MAY we all be blessed as we
wish each other a Shana Tova a
year filled with goodness and
sweetness. A year in which our
community grew stronger and
more connected. And let us say
Amen. Amen. Rabbi. The next
item, MR. Mayor, is brief
comments by Council. Okay.
Anybody here? To my right. I
always have something to say.
Go ahead. I would just like to.
Remind everyone that on AUGUST
15th, Saturday, we had our
first ever sports fair at the
Village Community Center and it
was fantastic. It was very well
attended. It was super, super
fun. And I would like to
recognize David Carano in
particular, who put the entire
day together. He coordinated
everything, food, all the all
the coaches. It was amazing.
And I would like to thank David
for all of his hard work. It
was a wonderful event and it
will be one that we will repeat
annually, I'm sure. Thanks,
David. Thank you. Oh, I see the
the young ladies back there.
Let's do the young ladies who
are celebrating kb girls soccer
team, u13 state champions. So
let's let's Council let's go
down.
Congratulations.
On your
Sunday that. Was all right. You
want to hold this. Who's. Coach
do you want to tell us what
this great team did? Thank you,
everyone for being here. Thank
you. Thank you Marcelo. Thank
you Jimmy. Thank you Sofia, and
congratulations to my girls.
Good afternoon everyone. I'm
very proud to be here today
representing the Soccer Club
Girls program. Over the last
few years, our girls program
has grown tremendously. Our
girls have won the
Commissioner's Cup, PRESIDENT
Cup and now the State Cup.
Something very special for our
programs and for you as well.
But for me, it's not only about
the trophies, it's about the
development of our girls, their
hard work, commitment,
dedication, discipline and how
much they have improved. The
State Cup trophy belongs to
everyone or players or coaches,
parents, the girls and the
entire community. I'm very
proud of you guys and
everything we have accomplished
together. We haven't finished
yet. This is only the beginning.
Thank you everyone and GOD
bless you. Thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you.
Yes, ma'am. Yes. Next. Are you.
Who is? Wait wait wait. Good
evening. My name is Sophia
Chica and I am so honored to be
representing my team today. I'm
incredibly proud to say that
the Key Biscayne 2013 girls are
Florida State champions. Our
team is the first girls team in
our club's history to win a
Florida State championship. So
this is a historic moment for
our team, our club and Key
Biscayne. Most of us have
played together since we were
little. We have grown up
together, practice together,
won, lost and become best
friends. This was such a great
season for us and it was a
season that I will always
remember. We learned so much
not just about soccer, but also
about working together,
trusting each other, staying
positive and not giving up when
things got difficult. Every
practice gave us a chance to
improve and learn something new.
We practice and practice,
sometimes repeating the same
things until we got them right.
We worked on our skills, our
teamwork and our communication
and our confidence. There were
definitely moments when things
were hard, but we kept showing
up and working together. We
pushed each other to get better
and we learned from our
mistakes instead of letting
them bring us down. Every game
and every practice helped us
become a stronger team. Looking
back, I think all of those
little moments throughout the
season prepared us for the
biggest moments. Winning the
state championship wasn't just
about what happened on the
final day. It was a result of
everything we had done
throughout the season, all the
practices, all the games, all
the things we learned and all
the time we spent together.
When we finally won, it felt
really special because we knew
how much we were, how much work
we had put in into getting
there. And even though winning
was amazing, I think one of the
best parts of the season was
getting to experience it
together. We had so many fun
moments, laughed together,
supported each other, and made
memories that we will remember
for a long time. I really
enjoyed being with my teammates
every week and getting to see
how much we improved from the
beginning of the season to the
end. I truly believe that
friendship and teamwork helped
us win. We fight for each other
on the field because we care
about each other off the field.
We know each other's strengths,
we trust each other, and we
know what we can count on each
other. That connection is
something really special about
our team. I want to thank our
coaches, families, club and
community for supporting us.
Our coaches believed us, taught
us, challenged us and helped us
become better players and
better teammates. Our families
have supported us through all
the practices, games,
tournaments and everything in
between, and our community has
given us a place to play, grow
and represent Key Biscayne. And
most importantly, I want to
thank my my teammates. I'm so
grateful for all the memories
we have made together, for the
way we always support each
other, and for how much we have
grown together over the years.
I'm really proud to be part of
this team. We have been through
so much together and getting to
share this championship with
the people I have grown up
playing with makes it even more
special. I know that none of
this would have been the same
without each other, without
each and every one of them. But
I also hope this championship
can help create change. Girls
are a smaller part of our
soccer program, and
historically we have not always
had the same coaching,
specialized training or
opportunities as the boys. And
still this group of girls
became the first girls state
championships in our club's
history. That shows how much
potential there is when girls
are given the opportunity to
work hard, develop and compete
at a high level. Imagine high
level. Imagine what girls could
accomplish if we continue
investing in them and giving
them more opportunities to grow.
As we get older, many girls
leave Biscayne to find higher
level opportunities. But why
should girls have to leave Key
Biscayne to find those
opportunities? Why can't we
build a girls program so strong
that talented girls from other
communities want to come to Key
Biscayne to play, develop and
compete. We want to stay
together, keep growing, and and
help make Biscayne a
destination for girls soccer.
We want younger girls in our
community to see that there's a
place for them here, and that
they can dream big and work
toward their goal without
having to leave their community.
We were excited to represent
Key Biscayne at Nationals, and
I was sad that journey ended,
but I know we have already
accomplished something really
special together, and I am
proud of everything that we did
this season. This season taught
us that hard work, patience,
teamwork and enjoying the game
can take you a long way. We
didn't just win a championship.
We learned and proved and
created memories together that
will carry with us. I hope this
championship can be the start
of even more opportunities for
girls soccer in Key Biscayne.
We are proud of what we have
accomplished, grateful for
everyone who helped us get here,
and excited to keep working,
growing and representing Key
Biscayne. Thank you.
Winning
the Florida State Championship
with the 2013 Girls Elite team
means so much to all of us.
We've been playing together for
so long and through all these
years. We've made so many
memories that will carry with
us forever. We've grown
together, support each other,
laugh together, and push
through all the hard moments
together. This championship
isn't just about winning a
trophy, it's about everything
we've been through as a team
and how far we've come. We're
so thankful for every
opportunity, every game, every
practice and most importantly
for each other. We're also
super thankful for coach, for
believing in us, pushing us,
and helping us become the
players and teams we are today.
And to all of our families who
have supported us throughout
every game, practice, early
mornings and long drives. Thank
you for always being there and
believing in us. I'm so proud
to be part of this team and
couldn't imagine sharing this
moment with anyone else. We
started as teammates, but along
the way we became families.
Thank you. Good evening. My
name is Valentina Gill and I
play for the u14 girls team.
Winning the State Cup final was
one of the best moments of my
life, but getting there was not
easy. A few months before, I
had a huge knee surgery and I
had to work hard to get back to
soccer. Recovery was hard. I
missed playing with my team and
sometimes I felt frustrated
because I just wanted to be
back on the field. I had to be
patient and keep working even
when it was difficult. On MAY
17th, I got to play in the
State Cup final. We were losing
one zero and there were only
ten minutes left in the game.
We didn't give up. We kept
fighting, scored and came back
to win the game. Winning, after
everything I had been through,
made the moment even more
special. Going. Going from
having surgery and working to
get back to the field and to
winning a state Cup was
something I will never forget.
This experience taught me to
never give up, even when things
get hard. If you keep working
and believe in yourself, you'll
come back stronger. Thank you.
Thank you parents. Thank you a
team. It's a great victory. We
we're going to do it again next
year. No no no no. Are we going
to do it again next year? One.
Two. Three. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Good job.
No. Why do
I smell like. I was eating? The
next item? The next item, MR.
Mayor, is public comments.
All
right. Yeah. Okay, everyone,
I've got a lot of public
comments here tonight, so I'll
be brief and to the point and
try not to repeat what what the
other person has said already.
So that would be great. I'm
going to start with Linda.
Correct? Yes, yes. Can I move
this? I think you can reach you.
So. You. Can you hold it? Yeah.
Okay. Good evening. My name is
Linda. Correct. I live at 101
Ocean Lane Drive, and I'm
formerly from the uk, as you
can probably hear. And now I'm
a permanent resident of
Paradise Island of Key Biscayne.
Except it's not a Paradise
island. If you are handicapped,
let me give you some examples.
I understand that a rolling
wheelchair was purchased by the
village a while ago, but where
is it? I also understand that
there was a request made to
purchase beach mats and a
floating wheelchair. It would
be great if there was a
floating wheelchair available
in the Key Biscayne Beach Park
near the paddle board site, and
beach mats that extended near
to the sea. So frustrating not
being able to get onto the
beach. Finally, in connection
with the beach access paths
next to the Commodore Club or
the Key Biscayne Beach Park,
there is no way at all for
disabled people to get onto the
beach at these locations. I
also understand that the mayor
and the manager have details
and photos of the poor state of
the repair of the beach paths.
Access issues. Please get them
repaired. Please consider what
I have mentioned as a resident,
I would love to be able to
breathe in the fresh sea air
sargassum, allowing in a
wheelchair. Thank you. Thank
you. Jackson. Berlin. Good
evening, Council members. My
name is Jackson Berlin. I live
in a in a 1121 Crandon
Boulevard, apartment f 1203.
I'm 17 years old. I'm a senior
at Ransom Everglades, and I've
lived on Key Biscayne ever
since I was in kindergarten.
Now, according to chapter eight,
article six, since 2009, this
village has regulated lighting
to protect sea turtles. However,
the same cannot be said about
birds. So let's examine why Key
Biscayne is so necessary
towards the migration of birds.
Then understand how unregulated
lighting has its effect on
these birds. Before finally
looking at some resolutions to
this problem. First of all, Key
Biscayne is uniquely situated
in the lead. Key Biscayne is
specifically billed. Bag parks
is a critical stopover on the
Atlantic fairway. The Cape
Florida banding station has
banded its 50,000th bird last
year, representing 119 species.
The Smithsonian and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Studies estimates
building collisions kill 599
million birds a year.
Nationally, 56% of these deaths
is caused by low rise buildings.
The reason for this is due to
many municipal buildings
keeping lights on past hours,
such as 11 P.M. To dawn during
migration season, and due to
the fact that migration season
started here AUGUST 15th, just
ten days ago, these birds are
currently at risk. Now, I have
two resolutions to this problem.
First of all, during the fall
migration season, turning off
village and municipal lighting
past 11 P.M. To dawn during the
migration season. This way, we
can mitigate the deaths of
birds during the migration
season due to unregulated
lighting. And second of all,
outside the power of the
village, there is the power of
the residents. Which leads to
my second resolution, which is
supporting lights out programs
in Key Biscayne. Over 30
different states in the U.S.
Have adopted lights out
programs such as New York, San
Francisco, Chicago, Boston and
every state owned building in
New York State. However, as far
as I can find, there is not a
single Florida municipality
that has adopted this
resolution. Key Biscayne could
be the first. After turning off
lights, worked, a 20 year study
in Chicago found that having
the lights in the area cut
collisions 11 fold in spring,
supporting. Nonprofits such as
Smart Bird, a group that I run
with students, will support the
fact that residents should turn
off lights past 11 P.M. To 6
A.M. Thank you and support this
resolution. Thank you so much.
Edward. Edward stone. Good
evening, Mayor and council.
Edward Stone, longtime resident
of the key. 355 Harbor Lane.
When we spoke last JUNE, I
raised concerns regarding the
consistency, transparency and
accountability of the village's
administrative process. I
explained these concerns extend
beyond my individual property
dispute and provided an
administrative summary packet
with specific examples within
it. I ended by asking how those
concerns could be reviewed and
addressed. I'm back tonight
because the concerns remain
unanswered. On JUNE 29th, the
village manager characterized
the remaining concerns as
internal village operations.
Consider my prior requests
fulfilled and closed the matter.
I asked which outstanding
concerns were considered
internal, operational and the
basis for the determination. I
did not receive an answer. I
continued through the
administrative process. Since
then, another significant
inconsistency has emerged. I
was repeatedly advised in
writing that code violations
remained active and fines
continued to run. Yet at the
AUGUST 7th Special Magistrates
Meeting, village staff
presented MAY 13th as the
compliance date. I asked the
manager to review the
underlying administrative
record. I'm not challenging the
Special Magistrate's
Independent decision. I'm
asking for a review of the
village's administrative
actions and the records that
precede it. I understand
section 4.02 of the Village
Charter prohibits individual
council members from directing
village employees. I'm not
asking you to do that, but
section 3.01 makes the manager
responsible to the Council for
the village's administration
and section 4.02 b expressly
recognizes inquiries and
investigations made in good
faith. So I ask, what charter
complaint process exists for
reviewing documented concerns
about village administration
when those concerns are
characterized as internal
operation and closed without
substantial review? I'm asking
that these administrative
concerns be reviewed and
addressed. At minimum, I ask
that this matter be placed on a
future council agenda and that
the appropriate review and
oversight process be reviewed.
Truly, thank you for your time,
your consideration, and your
service to our island. Thank
you so much. Steve Powell.
Thank you. Counsel Steve Powell,
441 Island Drive, Key Biscayne,
speaking tonight about 303
Galen Avenue, Coral Reef
Apartments. Initially on
tonight's agenda as a first
reading of a codification of 30
district. My understanding is
the zoning action was pulled
from the agenda in favor of a
presentation of the proposed
redevelopment. In short, I do
not feel that this project
should be pushed off for the
following reasons. Zoning the
clarification change would not
establish a precedence. There
are only five properties non
waterfront properties in Key
Biscayne that are zoned r, m 34
are in the the district and
then the other. The fifth is up
on Ocean Lane with the
exception of 303. All are built
to a maximum density already.
They're not going to be
redeveloped. All of the
properties are individually
owned condos, with the
exception of 303. So
redevelopment of the other
properties is virtually
impossible if not economically
feasible. Pushing off 303 to
allow for a larger study of the
Garden District is not in the
best interest of the community.
Why? The district represents 30
parcels, plus or minus. All but
two are individual condos
without a significant increase
in density, development is
virtually impossible, and
there's no way we're going to
allow more density anywhere. In
my opinion, the my opinion,
stopping the study, something
that will never happen. Meaning
the redevelopment of the Garden
District is academic at best,
but in reality a waste of
taxpayer money. And we don't
need that. Finishing up tax
revenue 303 today is assessed
at approximately $9 million,
with about 26,000 contributed
to your budget. Redevelopment
would likely add $150 million
in assessed value and
approximately 500,000 to your
to your budget. When the state
is trying to limit our revenue,
you would think an additional
500,000 would be welcomed.
Infrastructure improvements
redevelopment would involve on
and off site water stormwater
improvements, which the
district would seriously
benefit from. And a bird in the
hand is better than two. In the
bush. You have a local
developer which has spent
hundreds of thousands of
dollars to study this site. The
developer has invested months
of due diligence and meetings
with the village staff seeking
guidance, and is not increasing
the density. In fact, would be
reducing the current use as a
transient hotel, not moving
forward with the request to
amend the zoning code will
likely not allow the developer
to proceed with the contract,
and the village would lose a
unique opportunity to leverage
this development for overall
enhancement to the district.
Thank you. Oh, by the way, I'm
over time. Is it third time
I've received this on the
swales. I hope that the village
will take that up. I have by
far one of the largest swales.
Thank GOD I spent a lot of
money on it, but I keep getting
notices about the compliance
and I hope we will rereview
that. Thank you. Okay. Next
speaker Luis de la Cruz. Good
afternoon. Council Luis de la
Cruz, 640 Allendale. MR. Mayor,
MR. Vice mayor, I think on the
floor. I come to you to speak
to you about three items on
your agenda. The first item is
nine a, which is. The roadway
resurfacing. Please think about
not paving over our brick
pavers. We have a little bit of
resilience in those brick
pavers, and we can probably
make them a lot more resilient.
If you follow the advice of
some of the people that have
come to talk to you before, but
certainly by putting paving or
stamped concrete to replace the
brick pavers, that's going
backwards instead of helping
resiliency, which is what we're
trying to deal with here in Key
Biscayne, you're making it less
resilient. So please think
about, you know, approve the
project, but stop them from
from paving over our brick, our
brick paver roundabouts. Second
item is ten c, which is the,
the resolution to approve the
site plan for storm water pump
station and a backup generator.
We don't need a backup
generator. All we need is
undergrounding our utilities,
which we should have done ten
years ago and which we still
have not started, and which has
to start as soon as possible,
either with this council or for
the next council for sure. So I
can only tell you that this
backup generators, once you
underground utilities, it's
only going to be turned on
whenever you're testing it. So
you're spending all this money,
and I don't want to hear that
it comes from a grant and
whatever, because grant is
still tax money. You know,
people have to pay taxes in
order for grants to become
grants. Let's not waste our
money. Let's use it wisely. We
have a lot of things that we
need to spend money on. Please
don't approve a backup
generator because then that
sets a precedent. And then I'm
going to see the projects
coming up for for the git
proposals with the backup
generator at each at each
particular. Well, that is not
the way we should we should go
about it. I think London knows
about it as much as anybody
else. My last item is ten d and
that's probably the one that's
dearest to my heart, because
Aecom and Stantec, two
companies that we have that we
have had in the past, be our
consultants and who have failed
us in the past. And now we are
proposing that they continue
being our consultants. I just
don't understand why our
management is doing with this.
And I don't know who it was
that the proposed these as as
proper consultants, but for
sure. Stanton. I was on the
council when Stantec missed,
designed our village green and
we had to tear it back up and.
And unfortunately, you know,
MR. Kaplan and I had to, you
know, do everything that we
didn't want to do and approve a,
an artificial turf. But we they
failed us before Aecom failed
us. Just recently, we spent
$8.5 million that we're
throwing down the drain because
they missed designed something
they they didn't MISS Design it.
They just designed something
that the village keeps saying
would never have approved. So
thank you. Please, please look
into that before you. Thank you.
Mike Davey. Motion to adjourn.
There you go. See? Finally
getting it. Second Mike Davey,
50 Ocean Lane Drive. I'm sure
this is going to be a quick
meeting because we've got judge
here and he never lengthens
meetings. Thank you all. Now I
just came here to remind
everybody we're at first of all
congratulations to all of you
who qualified to run for
council. And my condolences.
You know, we do appreciate it.
It's important that we continue
to have good people stand up to
run this village, because local
government is the most
important form of government,
and it's where you can have the
biggest impact. I'm really here
to speak about the property tax
amendment. I think the village
needs to take a position on it.
I am strongly against it. I
think it's a bad idea. If we
want to investigate property
taxes in the state of Florida,
we have the opportunity this
year. There's the the tax
commission or committee they're
forming up in Tallahassee that
can take a look at smart ways
to address inequalities or
inefficiencies in our property
tax system. A political theater
is not how you want to do
things, although we do that
often in the state of Florida.
So I would advocate that we get
out, we start educating people
about what it means. And, and
we do something because it's
going to hurt us a little bit.
But when it hurts other
communities in the county and
the state, that's going to come
back on us. And the fact is,
this property tax amendment is
not intended to help the
taxpayers of Florida. It's
intended to help the lobbyists
of Florida. And so we have to
stand up for the taxpayers and
get them educated so they
understand what's coming at
them in 70 days on NOVEMBER 3rd.
Thank you all. I'm going to go
home. Thank you, thank you.
Brett Moss. Good evening
Council Brett Moss. 152 West
Mashta Drive. I'm here to speak
about it or to think about it a
little bit. I'm still looking
at my stuff here. I'm speaking
about two items similar to Luis
de la Cruz's items. Ten d the
cna that you guys are going to
be talking about tonight. I
know a lot of the firms that
submitted the bids in there,
and I looked over them, a lot
of small and midsize local
firms that are actually
excellent firms that can do a
lot of this work. It's not a
surprise to me that many of
them did not make it to the
short list. What happens in
these situations is that these
national firms, which I'm not
saying are bad and it's okay to
have them on there, but the
national firms have a ton of
money lobbying, power marketing.
They come in with big
presentations and they wow
everybody. The smaller firms,
the local firms, don't put
their money into that as much.
They put it into the workers
and the results of what comes
out. So it's not a surprise to
me that that's what happened.
But it's a bit bizarre to me
that we have firms that have
worked with us in the past,
recently, within the last few
months, to others in the past,
with owners who actually live
in Key Biscayne, who have put
their name in there and did not
even make it to the short list
of the top six. I think that
Key Biscayne well, first, i
just want to make sure you guys
have a deep discussion about
this tonight. And I believe
that Key Biscayne should be
much more inclusive to local
firms. It helps our community,
and it also benefits Key
Biscayne as well. If you guys
do that. The second one is on
nine a. The proposed stamped
asphalt on Harbor. I am totally
against this. I don't think
this meets our expectations of
quality. This is cheap. It's. I
can tell you right now that
Brickell actually did this for
every single one of their
crosswalks on Brickell Avenue,
and I watched all of them fail.
They all broke, they got
patched, they looked horrible.
And three years ago, they
ripped them all up. And what do
you think they put in there?
They put the pavers back. We've
had those pavers there for 20
plus years. They don't even
need to be removed. They just
need to be taken out and reset
with a correct base on them.
And I agree as well with I just
want to add one other thing is
that we don't have busses
traveling out there every
single hour, every day as we
experienced before, so we will
have less use on it. But I do
agree with what Luis said as
well. I think all the
intersections should be reset.
I think we should take one of
them. Maybe Wes would drive and
do a pervious test of a
pervious pavers and see how it
does over a couple of years,
and maybe if it works, we put
that in our future plan to
reset the other ones like that.
If it doesn't work, we just
have to repair one. So again, i
hope that you guys can meet our
expectations of quality. I do
not agree with going with a
cheap stamped asphalt. Thank
you, thank you. Enrique Lopez.
Hello, members of the council.
Mayor. Vice mayor. My name is
Enrique Lopez. 340 Glenridge
Road. Very quickly, I'm here to
propose that we go ahead with
the redevelopment of 303 Ellen
Drive, item seven e in the
agenda, I think would be a
great addition to the village.
It will bring a much needed tax
dollars. It's by a well-known
local developer, and I think I
don't see any issue with not
going ahead with it. Thank you,
thank you. Martin. Good evening.
Good evening, 400. I'm also
here to support the development
of a Galen Drive. And I believe
that Walter, as a developer is
a is a great addition. And he
will push this in the right way.
I think it will bring more
taxes to the city and it will
help also the local community
here as well. Thank you, thank
you. Good evening everyone. My
name is 781 Brandon Boulevard.
I have been a resident for more
than 25 years now. I'm here to
speak about 7303 Galen Drive.
My professional experience has
given me a strong understanding
of development and urban
planning, and this proposal in
particular requires no
additional density, yet it
would significantly increase
the property's contribution to
the tax base, replacing the
existing units with higher
quality residences help
alleviate flooding on the
streets and enhance surrounding
property taxes or property
values. Actually, the existing
building holds no meaningful
historical, architectural and
cultural significance for the
community. It belongs to a
different era, actually, and by
replacing a short term rental
with permanent residences, the
project will reduce traffic
noise and bring more year round
residents to Biscayne and
strengthening the sense of
community of the village.
Overall, the project represents
a positive step for the
community and deserves to be
evaluated on its own merits.
Thank you, thank you. Looks
like Lucas or Luis Capurro. Hi.
Good evening, mayor and council
members. My name is Lucas
Capurro and I am the developer
of Casa on Sunrise Drive. I
believe the project. Will your
address please? Sorry. And your
address, please? 202 Sunrise
Drive. Thank you. I believe
this project will be a positive
addition to the village. It
will improve the neighborhood,
increase the value of
surrounding properties and
strengthen the local tax base.
Thank you, thank you. Bridget.
One name. Last name. Everybody
knows Bridget. Oh, thank you,
MR. Mayor. Good evening, MR.
Mayor. Vice mayor, Council
members, first of all, thank
you so much for everything you
do for your name and address.
931 Harbor Drive, Bridget
Nachtigall. Thank you. And I've
been in Key Biscayne residence
since 1982. I'm here to support
the project for 303 Galen. We
can preserve what makes our
community special. We still.
Allowing it to evolve. This
project is an opportunity to
build something safer, stronger,
and better prepared for our
future. All of us. We need to
think about safety and
hurricane protection. We need
to think about flooding and
resilience. And we have to look
around Miami because we're part
of Miami and see how this city
is growing everywhere. We need
to grow. I mean, we all want to
keep our Paradise Island. I
don't want to live anywhere in
Miami. And I think all of you
know, I'm a real estate agent.
I've been doing it for 37 years.
I think I've sold all over
Miami, and I wouldn't live
anywhere but this beautiful
island. But it's part of life.
There's construction everywhere.
There's new houses everywhere
going up. And there's no reason
why this developer who wants to
invest in our island and is
going to do a great job,
wouldn't be allowed to do so.
So thank you, thank you.
Roberto de Leon. Hello. Robbie
de Leon 101 would drive. I'm
here in support for 303. Galen.
I believe we should encourage
new builders to knock down
develop these older buildings
instead of remodeling non
conforming buildings. And
that's it. Thank you, thank you.
Alejandro Jimenez. Good evening.
Alejandro Jimenez from Spain,
resident here in Key Biscayne
for the last 29 years, 25 Grand
Bay state. I'm here to support
303 Galen development. I agree
that we need to embellish our
our community, our city. Miami
is growing. Like we said, I
think we have to keep in part
with it, and certainly it will
bring a lot of value to annex
properties. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Lucas. You're close.
Very close. How are you? Good
night. My name is Lucas. It's
151 Crandon Boulevard, unit 334.
I'm here tonight to speak in
favor of the development of 303
Gallant Drive. I live in the
Sunrise Gallant area for many
years, and I care deeply about
what happens in that part of
the island. And I care about
the future of the island as a
whole. I understand, I
understand that change can be
difficult here. Key Biscayne is
a special. We all have memories
from ten, 20, 30, 40 years, and
naturally, we want to protect
the things that made us fall in
love with this island. But that
nostalgia is human, and we tend
to remember the past better,
simpler, and more familiar by
representing the character of
Biscayne, we cannot be
prevented from evolving. Many
of the buildings in sunrise and
sunrise and Galen are now
decades old. They belong from
another era construction,
design and planning. At some
point, responsible development
is not a threat to our
community. It's an investment
for our community and for our
future. 3039 represents an
opportunity, an opportunity to
improve this area, modernize
our housing stock, enhance
streetscape, and demonstrate
that Key Biscayne can move
forward while still protecting
the character that makes this
village unique. Sometimes I
felt I feel that the village.
In the village, we spend so
much time trying to safeguard
the past that we make it
unnecessary, difficult to build
the future. And I understand
the instinct, the instinct. We
may also remember that when
going when going to blockbuster,
it was a great. On a Friday
night. But now the world has
changed and we use Netflix. It
doesn't mean that the memories
were bad, it simply means that
the communities and
technologies and the way of
life have evolved. Key Biscayne
has to evolve to. Our
responsibility should not be to
stop change. It should be to
make sure change is thoughtful,
responsible and beneficial for
the community. I believe 303
gallon drive is an opportunity
for this council to demonstrate
that we can respect the past
without being trapped by it. We
can preserve what we can
preserve what makes Biscayne
special, what allowing the
village to enter into the next
chapter. So I encourage you to,
to, to take a look to the
project, not simply as another
development proposal, but as an
opportunity for improvement,
modernization, and responsible
evolution of our island. Thank
you, thank you. Gonzalo
Fernandez del Castillo. Hello,
Everyone. Gonzalo. Fernando del
Castillo. I've been a resident
in Key Biscayne for the last 15.
Please, for the record, 345
Harbor Lane. Thank you. And
this is my second property that
I buy in the key. And I'm
living my American dream. I'm
putting all my money in this
city. And I believe that all
infrastructure should come to a
renewal at one point. I'm in
favor of 303 gallon drive as
the house that I'm buying right
now, and I'm building, and I'm
going to bring more taxes to
the city. I believe that all
the infrastructure in this city
should be renewed at one point,
and we should support this
developers. So we have new
infrastructure in the city.
This building, this new
infrastructure will help us all.
And hopefully my house in the
future will be building.
Bringing this new
infrastructure to the city will
receive more taxpayers on the
value of my home in the future
is going to be worth more. So
we need to renew the
infrastructure, and we need to
support developers to do new
infrastructure in this city.
Thank you. Thank you. Very.
Hello, Council and Mayor
Maurice Ferr\, 151 Crandon
Boulevard. I wanted to talk
about agenda item seven e, the
development on 303 Galen. A lot
of people have already spoken
about it and proponent of it. I
wanted to give maybe a
different angle from my point
of view. I grew up on Key
Biscayne. I was fortunate
enough to be here, met my wife
here. We got married, ended up
leaving Key Biscayne, and lived
out outside of it. We always
wanted to come back to Key
Biscayne and live here, but it
was extremely difficult, and
one of the big reasons was
because of optionality. And so
I am for this development on
303 Galen, because if you look
down on the streets, it's
pretty skewed in the sense of
the type of apartment buildings
of you get some high end nice
ones. And then on the other
side, not so nice. And so being
given the optionality to move
to Key Biscayne and have these
choices would be greatly
beneficial. And I'd love for
other people that are going
through a similar situation to
be able to do the same. Thank
you. Thank you. Walter. Fortuna.
Yeah. You want to speak? All
right. We can do that. I've got
Cecile Sanchez. Good evening.
Cecile Sanchez, 260 Cypress
Drive. I'm a real estate agent
with Fortune International. It
is wonderful that a developer
is local. Hopefully, he's going
to do a good job like he's done
in the others that he has built.
My question and I'm the first,
is what happens? Some zoning
code variances. Are we enough
parking? Can we all understand
that that building that is.
There is apparently what I've
heard and I saw that it's time
for it to go. It's wonderful
that it could we could have a
new building elevated. Maybe
the developer, if there's an
issue, maybe they can work on.
I think there's good people
here that maybe they can go to
terms. If there's anything that
needs to be tweaked. But we
need to think about that. It's
true that most of those
buildings, that's where my
brother and my cousins, when
they got married, that's where
they started living in those
buildings. Maybe it's time
we're all getting old. It the
buildings do too. That's number
one. Number two are you talking
about? I told him to speak for
herself. No, talking about
myself. So, number two, I want
you to please look at the
wonderful work that Saint Agnes
did on the keystone pavers that
they just replaced or reset.
Think about it. Think about it.
For this, I saw that we have
here in the middle where the
Monaco fountain is. How long
are we going to keep on looking
at those break old, broken up
imitation keystone finish.
Please get the contractor that
did it in Saint Agnes. Check it.
I don't know, but I think it's
worthwhile that. Please do me a
favor. Save the trees. If you
need to work on that little
bumpy park. Marilyn Monroe Park,
whatever you want to call it.
Where are you going to put all
these contraptions? Think of
what? Or analyze what? Luis de
la Cruz said. We don't need the
equipment. And is it an
emergency? There's so many
things going on. We're all
going crazy. Sea aquarium, you
know. Please, can we slow down?
There's a new mayor coming. New
council. Can you wait and just
take it easy? Nothing is
happening. Thank goodness
there's no hurricanes coming.
Save the trees, please. Thank
you, thank you. Brad, where are
you? You're supposed to take
over already. And Adriana.
Adriana, 1121 Crandon Boulevard,
f 205. Okay. We cannot stop the
development and change of our
island. MR. De Fortuna has been
a resident of our island for
more than 30 years. I am sure
that his project will be made
with respect for our community
and its future. I'm sure. Let
me see. Because I just wrote it
and the telephone. Community
and its future. I'm sure your
project will be. His project
will be better than any project
from a developer who doesn't
live in our island. Thank you,
thank you. I'm. Having trouble
with this one. Mark Chatburn.
All right. You can read the
writing. Good evening. MR. Good
evening, council members, and
I'm here. I'm a resident. Mark
chapter 701 Crandon Boulevard.
Thank you. I've been a resident
for years. I also work here in
the island. I'm a real estate
broker and I'm here to support
item seven e, the new or the
proposed redevelopment for 303
gallon drive. I think it's a
wonderful opportunity and a
wonderful project. We work with
buyers all the time and in
today's environment, people
buyers are looking for quality
construction and safety and of
course long term investment. We
are advocating for the island
to bring a lot of people to buy
and live in this wonderful
place. And sometimes we
struggle, sometimes we do. I
also think that well-designed
redevelopments elevates the
overall quality and appearance
of our village, like new homes
and all these beautiful
commercial spaces that are
being fixed. It all helps. I
also think that newer and
resilient buildings help
support the surrounding
property values. I do believe
that a new building will help
the entire area where the
building is being redeveloped.
I think this project respects
the existing density while
improving safety, resilience
and the quality of the
neighborhood. It's a thoughtful
investment in the future of Key
Biscayne, and I respectfully
encourage the council to
support it. Thank you, thank
you. That's all the public
comments that I have at this
time. MR. Attorney, could we
just jump to the presentation
on the on 303, since we have so
many people here and the
council doesn't have a problem
with that? Sure. Counsel,
you're good with that. So. Okay,
Jeremy, you're up first. Good
evening, MR. Mayor. Members of
the council. My name is Mario
Garcia. Sarah, with offices at
600 Brickell Avenue and my
residents at 600 Great Tree
Drive here this evening,
representing Galen Drive mw,
llc, the contract purchaser for
the property, located at 303
Galen Drive, commonly referred
to as the Coral Reef Apartments.
MR. Mayor, I think the
anticipation was that with just.
The applicant will be
presenting this evening, but
I'm sure staff is available for
any questions or comments that
you might have. We're bringing
the presentation up on the
screen now. While we're doing
that, I introduce the rest of
the project team that's there
that's here. This evening. I'm
joined this evening by Walter
de Fortuna, the principal of
Galen Drive mw llc, who is a
longtime resident of Key
Biscayne with a proven track
record, as you've already heard
this evening in a real estate
development and hospitality
sections. Also joined by
Bernardo Ford of Arquitectonica,
who is our project architect,
as well as MR. Judd Kurlantzick,
our planning and zoning
consultant. There is a land use
and zoning code text amendment
component of our request, which
I will present on with Judd's
assistance, and then Bernardo
will present the project here
to orient. Everybody is the
project site and we'll provide
some background information on
it. It's a little over one acre
in size, located at the very
east end of Galen Drive, the
Ritz-Carlton hotel is to its
east and the Ritz-Carlton
Tennis Center is to its
immediate north. The Galen
Breakers Condominiums is to the
south, on the other side of
Galen Drive, the existing
building on the site, the Coral
Reef Apartments is a 51 unit,
three story apartment building,
originally constructed in 1967
with a combination of one
bedroom and two bedroom
apartments, it is one of the
few properties in Key Biscayne,
unfortunately, whose assessed
value has actually gone down
over the last few years. Its
assessed value in 2023 was 9.5
million, and today it is
8,000,850 000. The units are
presently rented out for both
long term and short term
rentals, and based on anecdotal
evidence, it is short term
rental units do not compare
favorably to other short term
rental units available in Key
Biscayne. The entire ground
floor of units in this building
is below base flood elevation,
and the property contributes a
total of $26,000 in tax revenue
to the village annually, which
is about $500 in tax revenue
per unit each year. As you are
aware, we have single family
homes in the village which
contribute more in tax revenue
to the village. In short, this
is a site crying out for and in
need of redevelopment. The
first thing we looked at, of
course, is the property zoning.
As you can see from this map,
which is a village zoning map,
the property is zoned ahm 30,
which is the village's high
rise multifamily zoning
district. Of importance to note
and noted on the plan there is
that there are about four ahm
30 properties, including this
one, which are located in the
vicinity, which are not
oceanfront, not beachfront. The
failure of the drafters of the
village's zoning code to
acknowledge this distinction
led to a mistake in the code,
which we are asking you to
correct. On the left side of
this image, you'll see the
height, floor, area, and
density allowed by the existing
zoning. It is very important to
note that the height permitted
today is 150ft. That height is
already permitted. The floor
area which is allowed is what
is bizarre. As you can see, the
far of 0.4 is ridiculously
small for a 150 foot high
building. When one applies that
current zoning to the property,
the amount of floor area which
could potentially be
constructed in new construction
today on this property is
19,800ft!S. That is less than
half of what exists today.
Dividing that number by the 34
units permitted today and
deducting a 2,420% for common
area would leave you with an
average unit size of 465ft!S.
That is barely a respectable
studio apartment. Comparing the
below summary on this slide
with the upper summary makes
clear why this property has
never been a candidate for
redevelopment, despite its
unfortunate current condition.
What exists today the 51 unit
and the 46,290 209ft!S in three
stories is considerably more
than what is allowed under
today's zoning. There is
absolutely no incentive for
redevelopment of this property,
which makes absolutely no sense.
When we look at the next lowest
zoning district, which is rm 16,
ahm 30 is what we're zoned. Ahm
16 is the next lowest zoning
district. It's supposed to be
the medium density, low rise
zoning of the village. One
realizes the internal
inconsistency in this code. Ahm
16 allows an far, which is
twice as high point eight as
what is allowed for a non
oceanfront ahm 30 property. How
can the supposedly more intense
zoning district have half the
far of the lesser intense
zoning district? The answer to
what caused this mistake lies
in the language right below
that highlighted area. The
higher f, a, r and r 30 is only
achievable if an oceanfront
property dedicates easements
for beach access. Access. The
drafters of the code just
failed to acknowledge that
there were none. Oceanfront ahm
30 properties such as 303 Galen.
We know that this happened by
investigating a little bit of
history. All of the village's
properties, which today are
most almost all of the
village's properties today,
which are zoned ahm 30, were
zoned either Ru four or Ru four
a under Miami-Dade County. Far
is regulated even until today
in the county's r four and ru4
districts pursuant to the far
table you see in front of you.
This is the exact same far
table that you see in the
village's rm 30 zoning district,
which are all built out and
maxed out under the previous
county zoning, with the
exception of 303. Galen. Simply
speaking, when the new village
code was adopted, they cut and
paste this far table. Added the
language on beach access
easements, and overlooked the
fact that several of the 30
properties are not beach front.
To sort of help support this
argument, I'm bringing out
somebody from our village
history, which is Judd
Kurlantzick, our planning and
zoning consultant who many of
you know, previously served as
planning and zoning director
for the village. Judd. Thank
you. Mario Judd Kurlantzick 611
Ocean Drive and a 25 year
resident of the village. When
the village incorporated, we
took over. We used the county's
zoning code and over a series
of several Zorks, which for
Mayor Kaplan participated in,
we began to rezone the village.
We started with the single
family and we moved to
multi-family. And then we moved
to the oceanfront. And what
happened here? We looked at the
Garden District, which which
name came later in that time,
and we said that there's
something special about the
Garden District. But things
have changed. It's time for new
construction. And when we look
at the rm 30 buildings, as
shown on the map, there's four
of them at the end of the block
that are m 30, while the rest
of that zoning district is rm
16 very different in height
150ft. When I was building
Zoning Planning director, we
did a study. Jeremy is also
updated that study that the end
those buildings at the end of
the blocks, the four of them
all approach or have an far of
2.0. They're all maximizing the
density. They were built under
the county code. And as Mario
said, we simply cut and paste
the the county code into our
code when it came time to do
this, unfortunately, I made a
mistake. One of the very rare
ones that I made. I like to
think that others would differ
with me on that, but I'd like
to think that somehow we put. I
put in oceanfront easement and
that's how you get to the 2.0.
It's absolutely impossible for
those four buildings, which are
landlocked, to provide an
oceanfront easement. It cannot
happen. That was the mistake.
It was recognized sometime
after that. My good friend
Jeremy is also recognized also.
And now we're getting around to
fixing this mistake. I never
thought I'd be part of this
process to do that, but that's
where I find myself right now.
So we're asking you to correct
that error of several years ago,
because it's impossible to
provide an easement. We're
entitled to get to the 2.0.
That's the underlying zoning.
We're entitled to the density,
and we're asking you to to set
to do that for us and move
forward with what will be a.
And you're going to see it from
Arquitectonica, a magnificent
transitional building. They
really did a great job. And
we'll get into how much better
this building is going to be.
Being a Bf and above taking
care of all the resiliency
problems. And when it comes
down to negotiating with the
village, I believe we're going
to make a very generous proffer,
which is going to improve the
entire infrastructure in the
Garden District. Thank you very
much, mayor. Keep going. Thank
you. Thank you, MR. Mayor. I'd
say we probably have about
another 5 or 6 minutes. Okay.
Let me now touch upon the issue
of density, because we are
requesting a code amendment to
allow arm 30 properties to keep
their existing density. As I
mentioned earlier, all of the
arm 30 properties were
developed under Miami-Dade
County zoning and are more
dense than what is permitted
today. The Village code allows
them to keep their greater
density existing density when
being rebuilt in the event of a
natural catastrophe.
Accordingly, those higher
densities can be kept into
perpetuity and are here to stay.
It is highly unlikely that
those buildings will ever be
redeveloped at a lower density.
We're asking you to acknowledge
that reality and allow
properties to keep their
existing density upon
redevelopment also, so as to
encourage new construction,
which is resilient of better
quality and contributes more to
the community. With regards to
F.A.R, we are asking you to
correct a mistake and with
regards to density, we are
asking you to allow us to keep
what we have consistent with
other policies in the village's
comprehensive plan. But in both
cases, we are proposing that
this only be allowed in the
form of bonuses or additional
public benefit is provided in
the form of either land
easements or monetary
contributions. The previous
slide was a proposed amendment
to the Comprehensive Plan text.
This slide is the amendment to
the zoning code text. In this
way, we can have an rm 30
zoning district which makes
sense. Treats non oceanfront
properties appropriately and
allows redevelopment, but a
quality redevelopment which
does not create increased
density and create significant
public benefit. With that said,
I'll ask Bernardo to come up
and discuss the project and
then Walter will close us out.
Good afternoon. I'm Bernardo,
I'm a principal of
Arquitectonica, 2900 Oak Avenue,
Miami. I'm going to take you
through some of the images and
plans of the project. Oh, here.
Which one? Here. Just Yarrow.
Okay. Thank you. Well, that is
the location is where you see
it marked r in 30. That
rectangle is the subject
property to the north. You can
see that there's a series of
tennis courts and racket courts.
There's no building to that
side. But to the south, there's
a building that you'll see how
we are being respectful of, in
the manner in which we straddle
by moving our building to the
west so that it clears, it
keeps its views across the
space. You can see here the
massing that is permitted on
the site, and how we have
actually minimized it for the
purpose that I just described.
You can see here the ground
level, and it's important to
point out that we're above the
b f as required. And we vetted
all this plan that you see here
with the civil engineers to
make sure that the building is
resilient and that it's
protected from flooding,
including all the spaces that
you see here. You can see your
rise to the level of the lobby,
and even the mep space is
properly protected at that
elevation. It is the intent of
is to provide a building that
is self-sufficient. It drains
itself, it contains its waters
within, and that it's resilient
to any event that MAY happen.
You can see here the next level,
as we go up into the garage,
you can see the garage spanning
across. It's a very low slung
horizontal volume that goes
across the space. And
immediately after that we have
an open space. You can see
where the building is to the
left, to the west to help
provide the open space for the
building. To the south, you see
where the location of the
swimming pool is. Some terraces
for lounging. The amenities
open and indoors are happening
on this level. If we go to the
next level, you see how that
double height space provides
natural light. Also in the
afternoon into the pool deck,
and also opens up and gives air
space to the south, towards the
street and towards the
neighbors. And finally the
building rises above it and you
can see the simple organization
of the floor plan that is fully
shifted to the position that I
that I described. And
eventually we are enclosing the
mechanical space. So it will
not be evident. You can see
here the building position and
where it is located. You can
see the companion buildings on
the waterfront and to the south,
to the north, to the east and
and where the adjacent building
is located and why we are
shifted to the void space next
to it. You can see here other
views here in the context of
the racket complex that occurs
to the north and northwest of
the property. And you can see
here, here in the context of
other buildings of similar
height, because similar scale
wouldn't be appropriate to say,
because this is a far smaller
building in terms of footprint,
a fraction of any of the other
buildings of its kind. And you
can see how the ground level,
you see the rise of the
vehicles arriving to the lobby,
and how we have a very low
slung garage that is providing
shade to the covered drop off
on a rainy day and how it is
fully landscaped along a berm
and along the whole front edge
of the street. This is a really
green passage along the street,
actually unusually green for
that street that is of another
era where greenery wasn't as
dominant as what we're trying
to create here. We also had
greenery on that interstitial
space on the pool deck that
goes all the way across the
frontage. You can see here the
arrival and its transparency
and being friendly to the
street. You can see the
walkways that are going by the
property and and how green
we're trying to make them. And
you can see here the pool deck
and what I meant by opening up
the building on that level
above the garage so that it
would float and, and give
openness to the next door
neighbors. Here you can see the
view from the swimming pool and
viewing the other direction
towards the waterfront.
Complexes that exist towards
the east. But you can see here
the amount of open space that
we're creating on this level to
open up the airspace towards
the street. And I hope this
gives you the general plan. You
can see that we have resiliency
and rain garden strategy for
the building. We have a
stormwater strategy. We have a.
Resilient planting palette
throughout. We have a native
coastal landscape that is very
much part of our landscape
strategy. You can see here the
many elements of that landscape
strategy that we are using in
every way in order to make this
a really green, sustainable and
resilient building. And we have
studied all these elements. You
can see that the Florida, the
native and Florida adapted
species that are very much part
of the, of the, of the concept
that we are bringing into the
property, including natural
stone and mulch and textural
ground covers. So hopefully
this gives you a general sense
of what we're anticipating to
create within the building and
around it. Okay. Thank you very
much. Thank you. MR. Mayor.
Council members, thank you very
much for the opportunity to
present this. Bernardo. Maybe
not that many people know your
talent, but I want to thank you
very much. I know that you have
put a lot of effort and a lot
of time and a very small period
of time to create this
beautiful building. So I really
want to congratulate you on it.
I live on 720 Harvard Drive. My
name is Walter de Fortuna. I've
been a resident for over 40
years. Me and my family have
lived in this island for the
same time. I'm really happy and
I'm proud to live in this place.
For me, it's not. I'm not. I
don't consider myself an extra
developer to this island. I
consider my family and my
friends here. So I had put a
lot of time and effort in this
project. I had to spend a lot
of time hiring consultants,
following the guidelines of the
members of staff, and I was
presented with this opportunity
a while ago. I know this family
that owned this building for
more than 25 years. They own
this building for over 30 years.
They bought it for $3.5 million.
Now it's assessed at about nine.
The development opportunity,
you know, give us a chance to
address the flooding in the
street. I was the developer
behind 285 and 201 sunrise,
both in the Garden District. I
never came in front of you to
ask you for anything. I think I
did the right things with those
building. I'm trying to do the
same thing with this building.
I was put in the agenda to talk
about it. You know, I thought I
was hoping we were going to
vote on this. I spoke to the
council members before I spoke
to staff deeply. I looked at
every issue. I carefully
analyzed these these
possibilities, and I thought,
this is a great addition to to
the island. I'm one against
more traffic, more density,
more crowdedness in in our city,
but I'm not asking for any more
density. I my, my speech is the
30 unit or the 51 units that
are there. If I don't do this
development, they're still
going to be there. They were
there for 60 years. They will
probably be there for another
60 years. The building. We all
know how it looks like. I'm not
asking, you know, I mean, to
give me another 60 units. I
said, let me have what it is
existing there so I can develop
this project. Because if that
is not possible, this project
is not doable. A few days ago,
I thought this was going to be
treated in front of you as an
item in the agenda to be voted.
They told me that they decided
to take it and all respectfully,
I thought it was taken because
the the thing they told me is
that it was going to look at a
more, more comprehensive way to
look at the whole Garden
District. I'm against the
rezoning of the whole Garden
District. I don't think it
needs it. This is the only
building in the whole island
that is single owner. All the
other buildings in the island
are condominiums. I've been
there around that developed all
over Miami. I can tell you, you
can plan, you can change the
zoning, but you're not going to
see a lot of new buildings
because buying individual units
from condo owners is not an
easy task. I did it at 201
sunrise where a group of
friends tried. It took me ten
years to buy 19 units, so that
gives you scope of how easy it
is to see a new development in
the island. So all I'm asking
with a very in a very
respectful way to be put back
on the agenda and to be treated
and notwithstanding
preferential way, I don't want
anything special. I just want
to consider these projects for
his own merits. And basically,
if you, council members and
mayor think that this is a
project that should be approved
based on the merits, approve it.
And if it's not, deny it. So I
really thank you very much for
your time and effort and your
consideration. Thank you.
Should I conclude my comments,
mayor? Yes, yes, we we need to
keep going here. Understood. So
it's going to be about two
minutes. I want to assure
everyone that this is not spot
zoning. Spot zoning is when you
treat a particular property
differently from the rest. What
we're looking to do here is
correct. An error that there is
in the arm 30 zoning
designation tonight. We're not
asking you to agree with what
we're proposing or to indicate
whether you're going to approve
this project or not. We just
want a fair hearing on the
applications we've requested.
That's the right of every
applicant, and we ask that you
do not deprive us or defer that
hearing of the application. And
in particular, we would ask,
and I know this is a unique ask,
but we would ask that you
schedule a special meeting of
the council the second week of
SEPTEMBER, so that this council
could be the one that reviews
this project and provides their
determination on this proposed
zoning code text amendment.
This is a small town that has
always prided itself as
treating everyone fairly, and
that is the only thing that
we're asking for this evening.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. So I would I would
like Jeremy, our building
director, and Chad, our village
attorney, talk to the council
about what challenges we have
to if if we want to move
forward with this. So the
applicant has proposed a
comprehensive plan amendment, a
zoning code text amendment, a
site plan, and potentially
variances depending on the site
plan. The Comprehensive Plan
amendment requires review by
the state of Florida and its
agencies. So between first and
second reading of an ordinance
amending the Comprehensive Plan,
we have to allow the state and
its agencies 30 days to review.
So we need to back out those
days in any review for a
comprehensive plan before we
can have second reading. We
also have a site plan workshop
requirement that you guys MAY
recall was adopted, which also,
I believe requires 28 days
prior to it being heard for
that workshop to occur. So
really, we need to have at
least 30 days before between
first and second reading to
allow the state process to
occur. And the zoning workshop
to occur. So then there's
notification requirements that
obviously something was put
into the, I mean, just accepted
responsibility. Even though he
never made a mistake, he said
this is what he made and that
is that it's impossible to have
a, a path or an easement to the
water when you're not on the
water. Now, does that require a
change in the comprehensive
plan since that what was an
impossibility? And we put in
there the the language that
Judd was referring to was in
the zoning code and not the
comprehensive plan. The
amendment to the Comprehensive
Plan is to allow for the
redevelopment of this project
at its existing densities, and
to allow for a higher F.A.R. So
it doesn't have to deal with
the provision that Judd was
referring to. I also believe if
that provision. I don't have it
in front of me right now, but I
think it says if it's a
waterfront property, the far is
you can have an far bonus. So I
don't think that it was saying
it was not addressing non
waterfront properties. I think
it was actually saying that if
you are a waterfront property,
you are entitled to this bonus.
You say that's correct a
mistake. No it's no I'm not
going to speak to judge the
veracity of Judd's statements,
but I'm just going to say that
if you put it was on the screen,
there was the word if at the
beginning of that sentence that
was neglected to be stated,
it's okay. Judd hasn't been
here in a while. Maybe he was
nervous, but it's. So that's
all I'm saying. It's not just
if your waterfront. It's if
your waterfront and grant an
easement. Correct. It's 7.5ft
easement, then you're entitled
to the far bonus to get you up
to 2.0. Have you ruled out. I
mean, another possibility is
that that lower far was
actually intended. I don't know
that. So the the first goal in
our master plan where we lay
out like what we care about in
the village, actually has a
sentence that says property
should be redeveloped at the
lowest possible density while
respecting property rights. So
there was definitely part of
when the village was founded
that I. That's why I think, you
know, a reduction to 30 units
per acre was intentional. Now
the.0.4 far is rather extreme
when the other properties that
are in this district are
currently. Some of them are at
already at 2.0 far. So I. To
say it's a mistake or not is in
the past, frankly, like we we
have it in front of us to
potentially change it. Jeremy.
Do we have a minimum size units?
We do have a provision for
minimum sized units. Yes.
What's our minimum? I would
have to check. I would have to
check 500ft. I the square feet.
Yeah. I think it's I don't I
don't know if we set a minimum
for studios, but I believe it's,
I believe it's over 500ft!S. And
if they develop this with the
0.4 would give you 465. I think
they said. So you say whether
0.4 was intended or not. If it
was intended, it was intended
to make units which would not
be conforming with our code. If
to maximize it, there is no
guarantee that you must
maximize your density on the
site though. Well, but you get
technical when you give
somebody a zoning that says 30
units day or 50, you have to
assume that you don't want them
to go above that, but you have
to assume economically, if it
makes sense, that's what
they're going to do. Typically.
Yes, typically. Okay. Yeah. So
I mean, we have cases of
buildings, even even the most
recent site plan getting built
below their potential maximum
density though. Thank you. Can
I ask just one question? Can
you come to the door to me was
I'm not going to speak about
what was intended or not, but
what is clear to me that I'm
m16 has a point eight. So if it
was intended, the intention was
to do smaller buildings with
more intensive use. Is that
what I hear you saying? No, I'm
just asking, that's all. No, I
don't I don't think we need to
get bogged down on on intent on
the far it is. It stands out as
being well, it stands out okay.
Okay. So. Council, what is the
desire? We know that we have to
jump through some hoops and
there's some obstacles here.
MR. One, one clarification. I'm
sorry. Yes. Did you say between
the first and the second
hearing would have to wait 28
days? Can we go ahead and have
a hearing on this? Can we have
a workshop on it and discuss it?
You have to between first and
second hearing, you would need
to have at least 30 days
because the Comprehensive Plan
amendment. But we can go ahead
and move forward with a hearing.
The first reading of this.
There's no item for for vote
today. No, I know, yeah, but
can we schedule. Yeah. So so
requesting a meeting for the
first week of SEPTEMBER. And
first, it boggles me that we
had an item and then we pulled
it. And that is a separate
discussion. But I think we need
to move forward with it. I
think it would allow us an
opportunity to talk about it
more in detail, not consume
tonight's agenda. But, you know,
the requesting for this to have
discussed on SEPTEMBER there, I
think I don't see unless unless
council has any objections to
that. Can we check can we give
the developer the, the
knowledge that we're going to
work with them and move forward
with an intention to move
forward, to try to come to a
positive resolution so we can
work on the project? I mean,
sure, you can have a discussion
tonight on and you can give
those remarks in. To answer
your question, I think really
the cut off deadline, I think
it would be around SEPTEMBER
10th to have a a first reading,
just to give you an idea. Okay.
So the decision is, I mean,
what is the I would I would say
either we could have it tonight
or move it for the requesting
for the first week of SEPTEMBER.
Isn't that what you said?
SEPTEMBER 10th is, is the the
last date that that that would
make all those 30 days, all
those hoops being jumped. We
also have to factor in that we
have a ten day advertising
requirement before the first
reading. So there's a window of
opportunity. I know, and it's,
it's really that SEPTEMBER 10th
is kind of the sweet spot, I
would say, for us to work with
the clerk and to work with
Jeremy and the applicant to
have the item ready. So are we
suggesting having a special
meeting to have whatever the
sense of the board is?
Obviously we want to do it. I,
I look, I think I'll be out of
town, but I think this was an
important conversation. I'm
happy to understand which one
at a time here. I'm sorry. Say
again, I'm out of town, but I
can zoom in and I'm happy to do
it. Okay. I'm here. I'm good.
I'm available. I'm here. I have
a question. There's a workshop
already. We have a lot. We have
a lot on. I just want to know.
I'm not giving an opinion. We
have a big schedule coming up
with budget. We have a lot of
workshops and different things
going on. Can I have some idea
of the layout of that? Because
we can't come every single
night. I can't is the workshop
already? You don't have
anything better? I do not, I'm
not coming every time. I love
the council, but I'm not coming
every night. But Nancy, just so
you're aware that it's 6:00 on
the 10th, we already have a. So
are we proposing to do it that
night earlier and maybe move
that meeting to to some further?
Yeah. MR. Mayor, we could move
that. We could move that
meeting. Okay. That would be
good. All right. Program to be
here. So I mean, I would make a
motion. We proceed to to go
forward. Okay. Second. Second.
All right. I think there is a
consensus of council. There's
no guarantee that we're going
to approve anything. We're
we're just providing for a a
path to make sure that we give
everyone an opportunity to make
their case. And so it will be
up to us to approve it or not
approve it. And based on the
evidence that you have in front
of you and it becomes a a real
zoning hearing at that point.
Right? Is that right, MR.
Attorney? Yes. So what I would
i think in order to try to have
second reading shortly after
that, we would have to have
first reading of the
Comprehensive Plan Amendment,
first reading of the text
amendment, and probably the
zoning workshop. The workshop
at the same meeting. Okay, so
that's SEPTEMBER after our we
have a budget hearing on
SEPTEMBER 8th. So so we really
have a very short window there
between the ninth and the 10th,
right? Yeah. MR. Manager. Yes,
mayor, obviously tight timeline.
The attorney has mentioned it.
So what I would ask, and
obviously we'll do that as well
directly, but I want to make
sure I ask you as well that we
ask the developer to show up
first thing tomorrow morning.
We got a tight line to turn
this around. Okay. We have
about a week. Consensus of
council. Consensus of council.
Yes. Chad, the state planning
agency no longer needs to
approve comp plan amendment. So
the. So the state Land Plan
agency or the Department of
Commerce is what they're called
now. They will provide their
commentary. However, they are
limited that they cannot object
to the amendment unless it
affects an important state
interest. So we don't have that
affecting any time yet. No, we
we will. So the way that it
works in practice is, is that
if there's if this were to pass
on first reading the next day,
Jeremy will transmit it to the
state, and then the state has
30 days to give their comments.
Presumably, if there's no
important state interest
impacted that the state
identifies or their agencies,
then we will proceed to to
second reading of the ordinance.
The only state interest I can
think of is lights out for bird
protection right at the moment.
Okay. Candles instead of
electric. Yeah. Okay. So, we'll
I'll have staff work with the
parties and, and see if we can
get it to the proper place,
which would be that SEPTEMBER
1st hearing and then a
potential second hearing first.
No, no, no. SEPTEMBER 10th
first. No, no. At the beginning
of SEPTEMBER. Okay. First week,
first reading. Okay. Is
everybody clear? No. Okay.
Right. MR. Mayor, Council
members, I just want to say one
more thing. I do have very
clearly that that you have not
said that. Of course you this
was to approve the project. It
was to treat it. And I'm very
grateful of that. Thank you
very much. Thank you. The next
item, MR. Mayor, is the agenda
approval deferrals. Oh. Oh,
wait a minute. And we're still
not finished with presentation.
Okay. It's eight. Already going
home. All right. Let's let's
see if we can move out. We got
more business here. Okay. Let's
take the conversations outside.
We almost had to fire you again,
though. But. The next item, MR.
Mayor, is the agenda. Approval.
Deferrals. Additions, deletions,
substitutions and withdrawals.
Okay, I have some deferrals. I
would I would like to defer
11b111b511b1. Yeah. Wait, just
my discussion manager's report.
Yeah that's wait a minute.
That's a manager's report item.
Yeah it's but they're my
discussion items. So I'm just
saying I want to take them off
the. Oh okay. I'm sorry. 11 b
one. And the other item 11 b
five. And then on ten d. I
would like to defer. And I also
move that we direct the the
manager to put out for bids
again, which is what we're
supposed to do originally
before today to try and get
some smaller local firms here.
I would, I would second the
motion on that. Okay. I'm good
with that too. I was going to
second as well. Okay. Excuse me.
You're pulling pulling the item
on this. Yeah. We're we're
giving instructions to the
manager to go redo, redo the
various consultants pursuant to
rfq. And in doing them with
small firms, we're going to
we're going to push for the
small firms. There's one more
thing you might want to suggest.
Why do we have to limit anybody,
anybody who wants to work with
us, why do we have to limit
them if they're qualified? Why
do we have to have a list?
We're ready to do a job. We
have people ready to apply.
Somebody else can apply. What
do we have to have?
Pre-Approved list. We have
pre-approved. Fine. Why can't
we take anybody else with a new
job comes up if somebody wants
to apply any reason not to. I
think the primary reason is to
have people on board so that
then you can move quickly. I'm.
I'm saying you have all the
people on board. Anybody's
applied now who meets the basic
qualifications. Okay, would be
accepted. But now job comes up,
we're going to go build a
boardwalk. I'm just making some
up. And Joe Blow Engineering
Company hears about it. And
they want to be they want to do
it and they submit their thing.
We like it fine. Why can't they?
Why are we going to limit
ourselves? MR. Mayor? We don't
limit ourselves. What this is,
is to get a pre-qualified pool.
We put it out so that we have
consultants that we work with
on a regular basis. Yeah, we
don't have to use them. We can
choose to go in a different
direction, put out an rfq, put
out an rfp and use another
contractor consultant. But what
this does do for us, and we've
used them quite frequently,
it's creates a relationship
with these firms so that when
we need specific things, we can
turn to them and actually do
the work with just a work order
versus going through an entire
contracting procedure. So it
simplifies our work. Kind of
what Ed is saying. I'm, I'm
wondering why if of, of all the
people or companies that apply
that you are panel deems
qualified, why would we not
accept them? Is there a reason
to only have three two. So let
me let me work with you on that.
Let's say there are 100. It's
okay to have 100. We don't have
100. I mean, no, no, but I'm
just saying, if there's just a
large number, is it is it
workable with a large number
when you want to use them, you
pick somebody. We can't. And
they say fine, work with them.
You don't make an agreement
with them. You try somebody
else. You go down the list
because you can't have them bid
against each other. Correct.
Chad. Yeah. This cannot be this
is under cna, right? That's
correct. You cannot they're not
allowed to bid against each
other once they're as part of
one, once they're part of the
continuing services agreement
pool. Correct. So it's who you
award it to from your pool. Is
that so it's the cna is a two
step process. You start and you
qualify based upon
qualifications. You might want
to tell the public what cna is.
Cna is the acronym for the
Consultants Competitive
Negotiation Act. It's section
two, 87.055. The Florida
statutes. And that process
dictates for certain types of
professionals, engineers being
one of them, that you need to
go through and first qualify
those professionals. Price
cannot be considered during
that stage. It's prohibited by
law. Once you qualify the
professionals, then you can
negotiate price. So it's a two
step process. And the once
they're selected and they're
part of your pool, as
Councilmember London said,
you're not allowed to say, oh
to one company, bid this job
and then go to another one, bid
the same job and have them bid
against each other. You just
have to just bid it and then
move on. But Chad, just what
you said. So now we have a list
of ten people for argument's
sake, and we're going to build
this big boardwalk we talked
about. And all of a sudden
somebody wants to be qualified.
So they submit. Why? Why can
they not submit their
qualifications at that point in
time? We're going to build
something. Well, so the point
of they can. But the point of
this process is that it's fast,
right? You have these people
almost on call, right? Yeah.
All I'm saying is that we have
this list and let's say we
selected everybody who applied
this go around, okay? And then
somebody else comes. Now we're
going to do a job. And Joe Blow
engineer says, hey, I'm really
an expert that I heard about
that I want to bid on that
thing. And he submits his
qualifications. Why can't we
get him at that point in time?
You can't do that. Why? Because
that's the purpose of the the
request for qualifications. And
you put it out on the street to
qualify x amount of firms at
that time. Okay. So in your in
your example, yeah, if we
weren't happy with someone on
our continuing services list to
do the job, the boardwalk, we
would the boardwalk, we would
have to bid it out if it, if it
was a project that, you know,
met the criteria for bidding
under the. Basically then we
could say every time we do a
job, anybody's interested can
submit their qualifications,
right? That would slow down the
process tremendously. That's
why you don't do that. That's
why governments have these
pools. I understand, but what
it does is it limits our
choices. And all of a sudden,
and excuse me, and it does
limit the contractors or, or
engineering firms that will
apply and will be selected.
There's a give and take with
with this with the speed of we
move so slow. I don't really
think it makes much difference.
Well, it, I mean you're talking
months between in that process.
Why does it have to be months I
don't you can. How long did it
take for this process? I don't
know, I believe we started in
MAY. Didn't we have the same
problem with, with with the,
with with git of course we
wanted them to do it. They
weren't on the list then. We
had we had to resolve that
issue. Yeah. But and we, we bid
it and it and it took time,
which is why six months, I
didn't take six months, but it
took it was not necessary to
wait six months like we did. So
we got to move. Yeah. Yeah. So
everybody is good with. No, no
we're not we're giving
direction. Yes to to come back
more small firms. Yeah. With,
with an, with an rfq that would
be pushing for the smaller
firms and also maybe another
come back also with another
method for selection committee.
Because what they did this time
to me says we need something
different. That's all. All
right. You got it. I'm sorry.
Can you repeat the amendment?
Selection committee investigate.
So mayor mayor. So so I
understand is so we want to
cancel this current one out and
and start over and then start a
new process. Make small to
medium size companies. Anybody
want to do a benefit to it,
give them benefit and then come
back with some recommendations.
Okay. Local presence as well.
Local. All those in favor? Aye
aye. Opposed. Motion carries.
Okay. On the agenda. Are there
any other amendments to the
agenda. You're still deferring
ten d now that we've direction.
Yes. Yes. Consent agenda. No
we're all those in favor of the
agenda changes I, I thank you
opposed. Thank you. The next
item is the consent agenda.
Hold on a minute. We we have
some presentations. I apologize,
MR. Sulu, are you here? Yes.
MR. DeSouza, is there. There's
two. MR. How can you MISS Him?
Oh, GOD. There's double trouble.
Double trouble. All right. I
this was happening, but MR.
Mayor just wanted to. Just a
quick privilege, please. I just
I just want to say to Robert
that a couple of months ago I
ran into into Derek and I asked
him about the academy, and he
was telling me he was coming up
in 30 years. And this for me is
deeply personal. You MAY not
know, but my daughter was it
was a time when she was growing
up. She was going through a
hard time, you know, and I
brought her to the academy and,
and your, your your group
really helped to bring her
confidence back and really got
her on her way. And I know
you've done a lot for a lot of
families of that incubus gain.
So to me, it was very, it was
very special. And I want to
thank you for all. Everything
that you do for our community.
As a father. I want to thank
you for your done for my
daughter. Even though after
yellow belt she went on to
fashion still. But I want to
thank you for that. Thank you,
thank you, thank you sir. Let
me read a couple lines here.
Whereas over the past 30 years,
thousands of students have
trained at the academy.
Hundreds have earned black
belts and generations of Key
Biscayne families have
benefited from its emphasis on
personal growth, self-control,
humility, hard work, and
community values. Whereas
Sensei Robert Zulu and a
Martial Arts Hall of Fame
inductee. Okay, 10th degree
Black Belt educator, author,
entrepreneur, and community
leader has dedicated his career
to mentoring young people and
adults alike and helping them
develop the skills the
character necessary to succeed
in life. And whereas today, the
Academy of Martial Arts remains
a family legacy, and whereas
the Key Biscayne has evolved
over the last three decades,
the Academy has remained a
constant presence, helping
shape the character of our
community and providing a
positive environment where
children become leaders, adults
build confidence and lifelong
friendships. Now, therefore, I
Joy Rascoe, mayor of the
village of Key Biscayne, do
hereby issue this proclamation
in recognition of the 30th
anniversary of the Academy of
Martial Arts. Hey! I have a
soccer speech. No. Okay. Okay.
I just have to tell you. You
know, I. Look, I'm going to be
presenting tonight and and Joe
Rascoe, and we're going to make
it work. And and, and, and, and
our, our our mayor, our past
Mayor Kaplan and, and, and
Brett and everybody's been so
supportive of the, of the
Academy. It's been great having
a business here. It's been
great bringing my family here.
My son's here. He's. And I just
very grateful for this village
and how they have welcomed us
and helped us build here. So
thank you very much, i
appreciate it. All right. Get
get get to work. E MR. Mayor,
just a quick thing. I need to
say this for the record and
make sure the clerk is aware
that I recused myself from that
discussion. The cna, I know, I
know was brought up as a
deferral, and all of a sudden
it became a vote quickly, but
it needs to be registered. I
already filled out the form
back in JUNE on that. It was
just everything was packaged
into one. So I just want to
make sure I put that for the
record. Thank you. Okay. Am I
driving this or how does this
work? Thank you. So just press
it. Okay, great. Okay. So hi,
my name is Robert. I am the
chair of the Educational
Advisory Board. I'm glad to see
that several of my board
members are here, including our
new candidate for council, our
principal Tarafa. She's here.
So thank you for everybody's
here to support what we're
going to be talking about. So
if you notice, my first slide
is the greatest asset. You know,
I'm here not just as behalf of
the Educational Advisory Board,
but we have done a tremendous
amount of of communication and
working with the community. We
did. Village, a full survey
that many of the parents were
involved in. We also had a, a
teacher survey. We had a deep
analysis of what the results
for the survey were. We have a
very, very engaged ptsa. We've
been talking to the district.
We've been talking to the
Leadership at the school. So
this is not just several people
that came up with a couple
ideas. The whole community
surged forward in order to for
you to hear the words that I'm
going to be saying. And that's
what's behind this presentation.
So I just wanted to clarify
that. So first slide, I think I
do this right. Yes. You told me
how to do it. Oh, here we go.
Okay, so we have the tale of
two schools. We have a very
successful school. And in our
school with our elementary
school, it is well attended. It
covers about 80% of our
population of that age. The
grades, as you can see in the
slides, the grades, the
performance are great and there
are rising. The it is an a
school, but we want to do
better. We're ranked pretty
high as far as the county's
concerned. And typically the
results of that elementary
education. We're getting great
feedbacks from the kids that go
to other programs. However, if
you notice our grades here for
the middle school are really
terrible. So something's wrong
there and we just have to
figure out it's very peculiar.
That's the same school, the
same teachers, the same
administration. What happens?
Why is this sudden drop in
performance for our middle
school? Next slide here. Okay,
good. And you can see what
happens with our this tells how
many students are in each grade.
And as soon as we get to sixth
grade, the whole thing drops,
the bottom drops out, and
everybody exoduses off mostly
to mass. So it's the the
parents are not choosing to
leave public education. They're
just choosing to leave this
particular school. So there's
something something's wrong
here. So that's what concerned
us. First, we agreed the
committee agreed to support the
elementary school and push them
to excel even further. But boy,
we had a very dangerous
situation because we're looking
at this school as a. And I
thought, I think we called it a
spiral death thing that was
happening. So let's see. Next
slide. Okay. Why does this
happen? Funding in this state
follows population enrollment.
This is really the end of it.
So if you don't have the
enrollment, the funding
disappears. If the funding
disappears, the programing,
everything just starts to fall
apart terribly. And so we have
to look at that. We, we, we're
very concerned about that next.
Okay. So what we what we think.
And it's not just us, but what
we think is in order to look at
this is to look at the pipeline.
What happens to the students.
They're all going to mass. Most
of them are going to mass. So
we have to look at the pipeline
and we have a decision to make
because if we don't take action,
the school is going to die. And
I've heard of things that they
would close it down within
months. So the question was, do
we want to lose our middle
school? Is that what we want?
Let's just close it. Who can
goes to mass and that's it. And
we and we'll just concentrate
on the on the elementary school.
And after a lot of great
thought and involvement with
the community, the goal is not
to just let it die. Let's,
let's really make a colossal
effort to see what we can do to
save it. Okay, so that's what
we're going to be discussing
today. Our first ask is right
down there on the bottom of the
slide, and I'll come back to
that real quick at the end,
which is to work with the
district to see about the
pipeline, because right now all
our students are leaving for
mass and, and we end up, we end
up with a dying school. So we
are just slightly adjust that
we have an opportunity to get
some population to get some
funding back, to really create
the same exact excitement and
success that we have at the
elementary level. Okay. So
that's, that's what the goal is
here next. Okay. So the, the
investment, it's going to cost
money. I mean, you know,
nationally, we're ranked at the
bottom regarding how much we
invest in our teachers and our
students. We're at the very,
very bottom or the top two
bottom of how we invest in. So
it takes money, but a lot of
the funding does come when you
have enrollment and that goes
up. We have to help though,
right? So next, we have had a
tremendous amount of help from
the council and also from the
community and also from the
ptsa. And we started since we
started just recently, we've
been able to accomplish a lot
of things. We have a new
computer lab. We've taken all
the old computers and updated
them. We actually had a
resident that came forth with a
$12,000 check in order to help
with the computers. The Stem
lab is reviving. There's a
brand new communications
program that has been brought
in by the district. There's new
fields, new scoreboard, new new
branding. Our new principal,
which she's incredible. She
she's getting an excitement
going. In fact, just this week,
she was in a dunk tank while
they were trying to raise money
for the school that night. They
raised $11,000. Most of it was
because people wanted to dunk
her. So she is popular. So all
right. Next. All right. This is
a plan that has come together
not just by a few people's
opinion. This is after a great
deal of work with the survey,
with a deep members of the
board, also by the ptsa, by the
district, by the teachers, and
so on to create a plan. How can
we affect the growth and
improvement of the school? How
do we go from a to a plus with
the elementary? How do we get
the the middle school from the
death spiral? Okay, you don't
have to look at all the crazy
numbers because it's going to
take a while for you to
understand this list. So I
don't want to go item by item.
What I do want you to take a
look at is that the bottom that
the the whole plan, the first
stage is that $635,000 that I'm
going to ask you for all
tonight. No, I'm kidding. Not
all of it. I have some
solutions for you. So don't
don't think I'm going to ask
you for the whole entire map.
We're going to dunk Ed. Excuse
me. We're going to dunk Ed.
Yeah, yeah. Yes. Okay. So we
got for the first stage of this
plan. Listen, if you want a
high quality school, it's not
enough just to fund it with
what the state and what the
county brings you. You got to
do more. And there's a couple
of schools in our district that
are raising $1 million a year.
Apart from the taxes, I know
about 46% of our real estate
taxes go into the school, but
it's just not enough. It's just
not enough. So how do we do it?
So number one, this is what the
ptsa has agreed to raise this
year. They've tripled, almost
tripled what their fundraising.
The community is very excited
about this. They've almost
tripled the amount of money
that they're raising, and
they're on their way to do that.
And so out of that 600 already,
they've committed to raise
324,000, which is terrific.
Number next, if you look at the
there's a bottom number there,
playground replacement and
outdoor spaces, $170,000. The
district has committed to doing
some of that, plus some of the
programing and that that you
see numbers up there,
everything that you see in
yellow. The ptsa said, count me
in. I want to help with that.
All right. So so we're not
alone looking at that huge
number. Right. And, and, and
guess the number. I think it's
one of the number when you want
to move into new community, the
first thing you say are the
schools. That's the first thing
you look at how the schools and
then obviously here, how the
beaches, you know, and how's
the how's the management, how's
the taxes? How's that? But the
number one thing is how the
schools. So we really have to,
to keep that in mind and how we
invest and look at it and work
towards it. Okay, so there's
two asks, number one, which
we've already had three
meetings with the district. We
want the council to support our
efforts to talk to the district
to see if we can adjust the
numbers, so they don't take our
whole population of our middle
school. So there's some
adjustments that they would
leave. We we work on building
two very, very good middle
schools. Which one is mast,
obviously, and then the other
one would be k through eight.
So we're asking the council to
support our continued efforts
to work with the districts to
adjust those numbers. The idea
would be to increase the slots
for high school. For Key
Biscayne, the high school
numbers would stay the same.
They're not going to be touched,
right? No. No. Yeah. 11 was
increase. The 1100 totality
stays the same. Yes. But yes,
to answer your question, yes.
You still want slots to be
available for kids coming out
of the gate? Yes, yes. So
that's a very delicate that's
got to be done just right. So
kids that are remaining in
sixth grade, seventh and eighth
grade, is that because they
can't get into mass. There's no
space available. Some. Is there
is there an entry requirement
for mass. Yes. So they're I'm
just thinking why all of a
sudden we'd have all these low
scores for reading, math and
science, unless the people who
aren't getting in probably are
the ones holding the numbers
down for the fifth grade.
Absolutely. That's one of the
reasons. Yes. So therefore, by
doing what you're doing is
really I don't see how that's
really going to boost those
numbers up. I think again,
either you're going to have
more people going from sixth
grade or seventh, staying in
the middle school, in our
school, or they don't. You're
not going to be able to do that.
I mean, these kids can't blame
them for not doing well because
maybe they just can't do well.
Right. Well, the the problem is
because of our reduced
population, we have reduced
funding, which we have a
reduced offer. I understand
that, but the point is that's
would that make somebody score
better in math or reading? In
science, if the programing is
good enough, they'll stay. Okay.
So you're saying ones that are
going to mass will stay instead
of going to mass, some will
stay here. Well, not all of
them will get in. I mean, isn't
mass like, hey, this is the
place to be. This is a great
place. Yes, yes. When everybody
still really want and the
parents want, they really want
to put their kids in masks. Not,
not always, not always, not all.
First of all, you have
proximity. So I don't have to
take my kid a, b. I don't want
my junior high school kid
mixing with high school level
thinking, okay, three they are
we we're much better at special
needs or special education
aspects that they cannot be.
There's no none of that service
at all at mass. Okay, so we're
strong in that. And I think the
failure has been that the
programing has not kept up many
of these programs. The good
ones are that when you get
through middle school, by the
time you're done, you've
already have several credits in
your high school and so on.
With the high school. When you
get to college, you've already
finished your first year in
college, so we don't have that
availability. Mass does, and if
we create that, then we could.
Those parents that want the
kids to stay, that want the
proximity, that want the bike
ride, that want the special
because there's some. Or the
special or the special needs
more focused in the, in the, in
the middle school, the kids
with special needs or, or
dyslexia or whatever they
happen to be learning
disabilities or no, it's, it's
not special. No, it's, it's,
it's across the board. I mean,
you know, that's what we're
trying to do some of that. And
there is some of that. And if
you look at some of the funding,
like I said, I don't want to
get into the weeds right now.
Okay. So all right. So I didn't
answer your question. Did I
know? It seems like to me
you're trying to keep school
going for people who really
don't want to be there, really
want to be in mass, but they
can't get in mass at this point.
So that's why they're there. No,
no, that's not the case. No. So
I'm going to lean a little bit
on you, Frank, so we can go
through a little historical.
Yeah, we did a good thing at a
time where we signed the
compact in the ila to expand
mass. We had overcrowding mass
also was looking for expansion.
We then partnered with them. We
created middle school there. We
created 1100 seats that were
effectively split almost in
half, practically about 150
seats per grade. Those seats
have stayed remain static
throughout the last 12 years.
Never been looked at again
depending on what the
population was. At the same
time, mass was going through a,
let's call it a heyday of
promoting itself as a rigorous
school, and the perception was
the only way to solidify your
place in mass in high school
was to get in early, meaning
leave this school early to get
early, and then be able to stay
and remain. That created a mass
exodus of which we've
effectively never recovered
from. So along with that,
exodus went funding. Along with
that funding went support and
went programing because the
children took off thinking the
only way to get into mass high
school, which also offered
proximity, a high school with
proximity, which, if you ask
most parents, will tell you
anecdotally. Speaking of 30
parents that I've spoken to,
many of them didn't apply
anywhere else simply because
they wanted their children to
stay close. Right? So this
created this downward spiral of
which we've never really
recovered from. Sylvia, I think,
was involved in the beginning
of that change. And so it
creates this chicken and egg.
How do we get better programing
to create a strong middle
school? If we don't get the
enrollment, we can't get the
enrollment without programing.
We can't get programing without
enrollment. Then we don't get
money. Back to my original
thing. So when you talk about
scores, you mentioned scores.
You'll notice in the line items
there is investment for
intervention, early
intervention, math and science,
which both make a huge effect.
And I think maybe MR. Raffa
could speak a little bit more
to that because she's more of
an educator than I am. I think
what's always lacked is this
opportunity for everyone to row
in the same direction. And so
we have an incredible eab that
then took a survey, went to the
parents and asked very detailed,
what would they like to see?
Number one, do they want to
remain in the school? The
answer emphatically is
absolutely. I happen to be one.
I have a fifth grader. I would
love my child to stay here and
walk that my child to school.
Throughout middle school, my
first child. I chose not to
leave here. Why? Because there
was a better option. Carver.
Better programing, more
rigorous, more preparing them
for success in some future. So
since then, what we've been
doing is just looking and
studying, talking to the
administration, the district to
understand and the families,
what do they want to see in
their middle school? Number one,
they want proximity for sure.
They want to keep their
children here, but they want
programing to very specific
programing, which is made up in
this list that's been created
out of a master plan that has
been made in unison in
collaboration with the eab,
with the survey, with the
families, with the
administration, and with the
district of which for the first
time I've seen since I've been
involved in the education,
everybody's rowing in the same
direction. Furthermore, there's
a problem in mass to which we
don't talk a lot about where
they have a wait list of almost
500 students. And so they're
having an issue as well, where
they have students that want to
get into the school. But
because of the allocation, the
way it's set up for us, they
can't because those are our
seats. So the ask here is
twofold. We can't require a
reallocation of seats to focus
on high school and middle
school unless we give them the
families a rigorous alternative,
of which they can still get
great education, but still
ensure that they can get in at
a second entry point, which is
ninth grade. So the ask is
twofold. Number one, look at an
Ela that nobody's ever looked
at for the last 12 years to see
what is that rebalancing of
that reallocation look like.
And number two, that investment
that will kick start this
ability to get some programing,
to get parents to actually want
to stay because the programing
is rigorous. So a couple of
things have happened that have
helped us. Number one, in order
to secure success in high
school, you want to career path
the child to make sure that
their next step from here is
successful into a program like
Mast. So we just received a new
ap assistant principal, happens
to be an ap that came from mast.
His own words were one of the
biggest reasons people come to
mast is because children in
middle school can receive high
school credits. Through our
program, we've already
initiated that same program.
And actually they can they can
receive more high school
credits in the program. They're
about to launch here at the
middle school than even at the
Mast Middle school. The
district has come forward and
said, we are even looking at
possible now, adding some maybe
dual enrollment opportunities.
Et cetera. Et cetera. So the
programing is starting. When we
went to the district, we
weren't sure what we were going
to get as far as what are some
of the ideas. But we went and
told them that our families
want to keep their middle
school. Everybody wants to keep
their middle school. That's all
they really needed to hear, to
get the motivation to really
want to help. We have a pta,
just anecdotally, that over the
last three years has raised
between 140 and $150,000 every
year annually. This pta is
committed to 325,000. They just
put in they just put together a
first annual event, a community
event that we've never done. It
was probably the single largest
event that's ever happened at
the Ccbc. Thousands of children,
they were able to raise $11,000
just from a dunk tank and food.
So they were offering hot dogs.
And the idea was to introduce
in two hours, in two hours. So
the idea was to introduce this
community to what we have, what
the school is. And so, you know,
I came to this island, and one
thing I can say is that we're
surrounded by exceptionalism.
This is no different. This is
something I've never seen
before in the eight years that
I've been working on education
or trying to better it for my
kids, for kids in general, the
momentum we have is incredible.
Our chairs doing a great job. I
think this is a real
opportunity. Now. It MAY be the
last ditch effort to really
turn this school much better
than just good enough. This
could be an exceptional school.
The elementary is great and the
funnel is growing every day.
Five years ago we had one pre-k,
four class. We have three pre-k,
four classes. There's even
conversation about creating a
pre-k three. So the funnel is
healthy. We actually have an
opportunity here to turn this
narrative that public schools
are slowly dying. Maybe public
schools, but not our community
school. And everybody's getting
on board and the energy is
palpable. And I think that what
Robert's helped us do, I think
what Sylvia's on the eib as
well. We have an incredible eab.
The administration is great.
Our principal got into the dunk
tank. I mean, they're all
working together. Everybody's
rowing in the same direction.
So the ask is not money
necessarily. It's just this
council to make a stand and say,
we want to stand for our middle
school. We want to stand for
our k-8. We don't want to lose
our k, and we're going to
support it in every way, any
way we can. My question is,
have you done a survey to find
out of these people who are in
the six who have stayed here,
who've not gone to mass, if
they could go to mass, would
they want to go to mass today?
Yes. You've done that survey.
Yes people do. The answer is
yes, because there's a waitlist.
And actually two children just
left k-8 to go to mass. So in
other words, the only reason
they're here is because they
can't get into mass today. Yes.
Yesterday. Yes. Okay. Tomorrow.
No, that was not the case.
Historically. No. You said it's
not the case. I don't think so.
I think to ask the people to
find out. I think we have. One
thing that changed was that's
why I answered so confidently.
That turned out to be more
successful than it might have
been envisioned 13 years ago.
But the other was anxiety about
getting into mass. And if you
didn't take advantage of that
middle school slot, yep, you
weren't going to get into high
school. But no one's talking
about the other issue, which we
really can't debate tonight.
But the the stipend that you
get for going to private school,
going to Saint Agnes, going to
some of the other schools. So
the reduced enrollment across
the district is something real
it's causing for sure, for sure.
You know, but I will tell you,
we use every single one of our
1100 seats, so there's no lack
of students to actually fill
both programs. What there is,
is there's lack of programing
and support yesterday. Not
today, not tomorrow. As long as
we have the chair and the ab
working and continuing to do
the work that they're doing
with the council's help, I
think these asks are really a
continuation of our commitments,
plural, that have persisted for
a long time. And I personally
am invested in what you're
trying to achieve, and I'll
continue to support and thank
you. I think these are
essential ideas, not good ideas.
They're essential ideas. So all
right, let's bring this to a
landing. Okay, so very simple.
We're continuing to talk with
the district. The first thing
we would like is to have the
council agree that we continue
that work in order to adjust
that pipeline. So some of the
students would stay on and we
have an opportunity to possibly
save the middle school. It'll
be a pilot program. And that's
the to give us the the okay to
go ahead and continue to
negotiate consensus of Council.
Yeah, we there's going to be a
law of unintended consequences
conversation about
unintentionally depriving
masked middle of its energy. Of
course, we'll be careful about
that for sure. Okay. You want
to succinctly say what it is
that my colleagues are going to
agree to? Okay. To the best.
Maybe our vice mayor would be
better at wording this, but
it's just it. In plain terms,
it's the okay to look at the
ila for the first time in over
12 years. Tell me what works is
interlocal agreement.
Interlocal agreement. It says
there on the presentation. That
makes sense. It basically was
an agreement whereby through
our investment in mast, we
received 1100 guaranteed
continue to support discussions.
Right. That makes sense. Then
the second the second ask is
just your your continued
support. Get involved, you know,
get on, get wait, wait, go talk
to the ptsa. I'm sorry, Vice
Mayor. Go ahead. Last year, the
council supported 50,000 and we
used it very well, as you could
see in the list this year. We
need that support again. We're
actually going up to 140,000
because we're actually raising
600 and so on. But then and you
sort of have an idea what
that's for. I, I would say you
got to look at this carefully.
I mean, if you if you want to
prove that, but I don't think
it's, you know, during budget
season and every that that
would be difficult. But I think
the answer is about 140 000. So.
All right. Well we'll we'll
have to dissect that. I think
so, I think so yes. Discussions.
Yes. Money perhaps take a look
at it. We'll we'll take a look
at it and see where all our
priorities are. So minimum to
repeat the 50,000 that we did
last year and then see if we
could increase it. Okay. Thank
you, thank you thank you. Good
job. Congratulations. Thank you.
Thank you Council to support
discussions. Yes. Yes. The next
item is the Zork update. Good
evening Jeremy building zoning
and planning director. I will
keep this relatively brief
because we will come back with
a more lengthy presentation to
go through all of the extensive
changes. But suffice to say
that the committee did great
work in attempting to resolve
something that's quite
difficult, which is how do we
get more resilient and
particular go up with the
finished floor levels of our
homes to protect them from
flooding, while at the same
time preserving community
character and attempting to
make houses seem less massive
and to sort of mitigate the
potential negative effects of
having that elevated ground
level. There was a lot of rigor,
20 plus meetings. There was
community tours, a lot of great
experience on there. So we will
be coming back with a very
detailed presentation on the
content and specifics. The next
item, let's do the
Sustainability Advisory Board
presentation. Regarding the
residential waste contract rfp.
Thank you. Mayor. Vice mayor.
Yes, yes, I know I don't have a
presentation coming out of the
woodwork. Family affair. My son
had to go home. If not, he'd be
up here giving a little speech.
So real quick, Councilmember
Vasquez, thank you very much
again for for that honor, for
my father. I very much
appreciate that. And 30 years
in the community has been a
blessing. So we're very
grateful. This real quick is
just an overview of a letter
that was submitted to you. We
have been working diligently
with the sab and also with with
our Council liaison Council
member, member Bracken, and the
staff has been absolutely
fantastic in the assistance
with, you know, prepping this
request for proposal for the
waste contract that's about to
go out. We do have a couple of
main items that we want to
ensure get included and have
direction from council. And
they're very simple,
straightforward. Number one is
flexibility. Number two is
sustainability. Number three is
accountability. And number four
is education and outreach. So
just to give you a quick
overview, we already have
flexibility baked in to the
contract as is where we have a
no penalty carve out letting
the village switch recycling
vendors if a better option
comes along. What we're looking
to propose is that we have the
same flexibility extended to
yard waste and composting, as
new technologies and options
become available. Obviously,
diversion is a big part of
sustainable practices. So the
point that we can optimize that
in the future, we want to be
open to those opportunities.
Locking into one vendor method
for these streams for the life
of the contract means we can
adapt as better diversion
options emerge. This just
protects our optionality.
Number two, sustainability.
Obviously coming from the sab,
we want to ensure that in the
vendor criteria, we have a
matrix that takes these items
into consideration, not just
who's providing and to what,
but things like making sure
that they're the score bidders
on sustainability performance.
We want diversion rates, data
infrastructure named diversion
facilities and fleet fuel type
built into how we score for
this winning bid. If
sustainability is in the
scoring, it's not really a
selection criteria. It's a
footnote that puts us on equal
footing with price and service
in this decision. Number three
is data accountability. Again,
we've already had this
discussion at length with the
sab staff has been great to
include this. We just want to
bring this to your attention.
It is in our contract currently,
but we want to be more adamant
about the frequency about which
we get this data and who's also
analyzing it. Because if we get
it and it's not looked at, it
doesn't do us much good. So one
of the things we're looking for
is weekly kpi reports from the
hauler volumes, final
destinations for each waste
stream, delivery receipts,
noncompliance tickets, which is
a new one and routes tied to
destinations we can't manage.
What we can't see right now. We
have limited visibility into
where our waste actually ends
up, and we want to make sure we
have that information to make
informed decisions moving
forward. We also want to hold
ourselves accountable. A
designated person, staff,
volunteer or consultant,
actually analyzing that data
and turning it into
recommendations, not just
filing the reports and having
those numbers. And finally,
education and outreach. We've
put a big onus on the waste
haulers within this rfp to
provide educational components.
As the sab, we've also stepped
forward and offered to any
extent that we can, if it's
creating literature, if it's
hosting workshops, if it's
getting the information out to
the community, we're ready,
willing and able to help. We've
had these discussions at length.
We already have a robust
program in place ready to
launch once that provider is
chosen. And these are the
recommendations we're moving
forward. Again, we're asking
council to direct staff to
build these into the rfp now,
not before it's released, not
to negotiate them after the
fact. Happy to walk through any
questions you have on the
letters. This is just an
overview. And again, I would
like to point out just a big
thanks to Doctor Michael, who
is one of our board members who
introduced us to Melissa Doyle,
who works for the city of Fort
Lauderdale. And she has been
instrumental in helping to
piece this together. She has
worked tirelessly with with
Benjamin and with Chris. And
these two gentlemen have been
absolutely fantastic. So I want
to thank them also for their
input and their time and their
dedication, and I'll leave it
at that. All right. Council
member Robert, liaison, before
you leave. Yes, sir. Discuss
the the opportunity of the
additional brown bin. Yes,
please. Excuse me, I overlooked
that. So one of the things that
we're recommending in the
flexibility and also the
increase is to put a third bin.
Because right now we have one
for municipal solid waste. We
have one for recycling. One of
the things that we're proposing
is a third brown bin currently,
waste landscape and yard waste,
when it reaches a tipping point,
is simply put into the waste
into the waste bin. What we
want to do is we want to
provide a segmented bin in
order to provide that service
as an add on to what is
currently happening. All right.
And one of the things that
we're looking, again, when you
look at the sustainability
matrix, is, okay, this isn't
only being taken to the
landfill, but if there are
vendors out there that can
provide an alternative solution
to this landscape and yard
waste going to a more
sustainable practice facility,
that would be ideal. So just,
just simply the if you think
about what happens in the
single family home community,
we get these bulk pickups,
right? So every landscaping
contractor and their mother
throws all that landscaping
material on those bulk pickups,
right? So that's where all that
debris ends up getting
landfilled. What the idea of
the second, the third bin is,
is to have a weekly pickup of
landscaping material so that
you don't, you get a much
higher diversion rate. That's
the thought process here.
That's a big part of the whole
sustainability movement is to
get no one wants to build
another landfill. Right. So
that's the whole idea. Extend
the life of the landfill and we
don't have to build another one.
That's the whole purpose of
recycling. These guys are doing
a great job. Thank you very
much. Thank you, thank you.
Okay. I just have a quick
question. I'm sorry the last
time and thank you for doing
that for for looking into
detail on this. The last time
we spoke with the manager on
this, I think they were going
out with an rfq. This was
moving forward. Have you been
able to incorporate these
comments? Where are we at with
the negotiations of that or
with staff? We're still
stacking the rfp, still in
writing. And in fact, we're
coming to you tonight to extend
the current contract so that we
make sure that we work. We have
been working very closely with
the sab just to get them one
more time to extend the
contract as it currently is.
Yeah, we need to extend and
allow for the six months to
incorporate and to study these,
these so that we can put out.
Got it. And then this will not
be a simple rfp in particularly.
We're going to do some
alternatives on it so that we
understand the cost of this
additional requirement, right.
So that we clearly understand
what we're stepping into so
that that's something we're
going to work together with you.
And I know you and Chris have
already been working, so yes,
sir, we're good to go. Just to
point out, you gave us two
months. We hit the two month
schedule. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Everybody. Have a
wonderful evening. We've
exceeded the quota tonight.
Yeah. Thank you everybody.
Alright? Consent agenda. Move.
Second. I want to pull. I'm
sorry. There's a community
center. No, no. Okay. Skip that.
I'm sorry. Who moved the
consent agenda? Second. Second.
We'll pull eight b. Thank you.
Eight d oh, wait. I'm sorry.
You're man Council member
London. You'd like to 8b8d and
eight e the e okay. Consensus
of council to remove the three
items from the consent agenda.
It has to be unanimous. We
don't need to consent. Okay,
well. Yes. Okay. Good man wants
to pull them. You can pull them.
It's just, you know, it usually
happens in the agenda portion.
That's all I'm. And you all
agree to it. So that's why I
asked that. No I don't it's
fine. So all those in favor of
the amended consent agenda I, I
opposed motion carries. Okay.
I'm going to read 8ba
resolution of the village
council of the village of Key
Biscayne, Florida. Yeah, yeah.
It's not deferred. It's pulled.
You pulled it right. I want to
discuss it. Yes. So it's gotta
read the title. Yes, I do make
it official. A resolution of
the village Council of the
village of Key Biscayne,
Florida, approving an
interlocal agreement with
Miami-Dade County to enforce
section 2-9, 8.3 of the Miami
Dade County Code of Ordinances
and additional regulations
relating to the operation of
micromobility devices, electric
bicycles and motorized scooters
within the village, providing
for authorization and providing
for an effective date. So,
mayor, before chief tells you I
need someone to second who
moved it second. And thank you,
mayor, before we have the chief
kick off, I just want to make
sure it's clear with the
council that this is just an
extension of an existing
interlocal agreement. So, chief,
if you take it from here. Yeah.
As. Good evening, mayor, vice
mayor, Council, what's your
issue is this. Chief, if
somebody's coming off the
island and they want to go to
Cape Florida State Park, and
they're going on a motorized
micromobility device, or you
want to call it, are you going
to give them a ticket on the
way to the park? As long as
they're not operating it in a
class 2 or 3 fashion and what
they're allowed to operate
micromobility devices on
Crandon Boulevard in the bike
lane in a class one fashion. No
problem. Correct. Okay. So in
other words, there's a way to
get through. No, that's my
first question. And number two,
is that okay? Joe bought
himself a new electric bike
last week. He didn't tell you
about it. So anyway, he now has
walked up to Crandon Boulevard
and he wants to go to Miami. We
get a ticket leaving Key
Biscayne. If he stays in the
bike lane. No. Class one bike?
No. No objection. Move on. All
those in favor of eight, be.
Aye. Opposed. Motion carries.
The next item is a resolution
8da resolution of the Village
Council of the Village of Key
Biscayne, Florida, selecting
Maverick United Elevator, llc
for elevator maintenance and
repair services in an amount
not to exceed $41,400 annually
over a three year term pursuant
to invitation to bid itb number
2026 dash ten, providing for
authorization and providing for
an effective date. Move it.
Second. Where's the second? I'm
sorry, are you? Thank you. It's
a discussion issue. Issue. I
have a question. Sure. Well,
you pulled it. I did, but I
want to speak first. Well, if
you. I thought we were
deferring these. I don't know.
Okay. Just questions about my
okay. My questions as follows.
Pulling from the consent. We
started with the I guess the
community center with the
elevator and they came before
us. You weren't here at the
time, but we came before us and
they said, hey, listen, we got
to get rid of, I think it was
Schindler. We had, as a
contractor put it in, we're not
doing the job, blah, blah, blah.
We got new contractor and
they'll take care of everything,
the warranty with a guarantee.
Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera.
Next thing I remember, we had
another work order. Do you know
what? They weren't doing it. We
had to get somebody else to do
it. I think did it on an
emergency basis, didn't you,
Steve? On the elevator in the
in the community center. Right.
Yeah. Because that was an
immediate emergency. Yes. So my
question now is now we're
getting another contractor to
do this. And what are they
warranting and what will they
do and what will they charge us?
Is it a flat monthly fee or is
it just for time when they come
to work, they're charging a
flat monthly fee for the
maintenance, operation and
inspection of those elevators.
So basically there's no parts
and labor involved in repairs.
There's no parts and labor
involved. There is a markup on
the parts that they have to buy.
It's a 9% markup. Okay. And my
question then is, can you get a
service contract for parts and
labor to be included? That's
not how the industry works,
really. Okay, so the ones I've
gotten, they don't work that
way. Okay. They haven't tell
them they haven't contracts
I've got are all wrong. You're
screwing me up. You shouldn't
do that for me. That's. They
have not been with us that way.
No. Okay. They all wanted a
percentage markup on the parts.
I'm not saying the 1%. Listen,
I'm talking about a contract
that says for so much a month,
they will take care of it.
Service calls. Either you want
it working hours, you want it
24 hours, a different charge.
And you're saying that doesn't
exist. That's their inspection
and maintenance of the
elevators, and they'll cover it
under that. But if there's
additional parts required, they
will charge you for the parts,
the labor with a markup on the
parts. Have you tried to get a
contract? Parts and labor. We
did. This contract went out and
we had nine bidders come back,
and all nine bidders bid it the
same way. Yes. Okay, fine. Good
enough done. Nancy. Okay. Two
things. One, I just want to
bring to everyone's attention
that a long time ago I asked
council to include in all of
our contracts that if any of
the tariffs were found to be
unlawful and they were going to
be reimbursed, that we would
have in our contract, that they
get reimbursed to us. Thank you
very much for doing it. I saw
that in there. That's fantastic.
My other my other question here
is. Or or issue is with the
with the extensions of the
contract. Shouldn't that even
even if shouldn't that come
before council? Shouldn't we at
least know whether or not we're
at the time where we're going
to extend it or not? Because i
think it's manager's discretion,
unless I didn't read that
properly. Attorney. So our and
we've had this discussion in
the past on this dais, our
standard agreement for a lot of
our professional services is a
three year agreement with two
year extensions that are
permitted by the manager.
That's how we typically do it.
It's up to the council if you
want to change that on any
contract. It comes to our
attention, oh, come to your
attention. Well, that's just,
you know, if you would like the
manager to notify the council
once he exercised an extension,
that's fine. I don't know how
Steve, before it's exercised,
just in case any of us know of
problems or have issues or
something. I don't think that's
unreasonable. No, I don't, you
know, think well, I'm not sure
if it's necessary to have it in
the agreement, but Steve,
practice. I don't know what
your typical practice is. Not
100%, I have noticed noticed
them on a number of them. Not
but not not 100% of them. I
just think it would be. So we
would like to know so that
anyone has an issue, they could
bring it up because I when
you're in the middle of a three
year contract, you don't know
that it's about to end and that
it's necessary to do anything
about it. Okay, well, we could
put it in the agreement if you
want, or we could just have it,
or you could have it as a
practice with the manager. I
think that's fine. I think
that's fine. All right, MR.
Manager. I'm sorry. Can you
repeat the direction that as a
motion. Do I need to. That's
okay. No, it could be a
consensus of council to direct
the manager of counsel. I think
the manager under the notify
counsel when prior to a an
extension of the two year
contract. Okay. Thank you,
thank you. Okay. On a d all
those in favor? Aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. Next item one
more, MR. E a resolution of the
Village Council of the Village
of Key Biscayne, Florida,
authorizing the village manager
to enter an agreement with the
Florida International
University Board of Trustees on
behalf of Florida International
University for a coastal
subsurface groundwater
monitoring program on village
property, providing for
implementation and providing
for an effective date. Move.
Second. Thank you. My only
question on this is how will
this affect us moving forward
with the storm sewer
installation, design and
installation? Is this going to
delay things? If so, how long
will it delay things? Doesn't
delay anything. I mean if
anything it's. In other words,
if we get g, I, t or somebody
else to move forward, another
engineer, we're getting free
agreement. I'm all for the free.
I'm the problem with that. Okay,
I like free. These two things
are totally separate. So that's
not going to stop anything. No.
What's that one doesn't affect
the other. Good. Okay. I have
no question. No problem. Okay.
Did you Steve, did you bring up
with Chad my question, my legal
question? Well, we'll look into
it. Okay. And it's something
and obviously we want to keep
it here. So. Yes. No, you
brought up a good question and
we will definitely look into it.
That was it. Thank you sir.
MADAM Clerk. All those in favor?
Aye. Opposed. Motion carries.
Okay. Nine a the next item is
the second reading of a capital
project authorizing ordinance
of the Village Council of the
Village of Key Biscayne,
Florida, selecting b and g
Construction Solutions Corp for
the Harbor Drive. Milling,
resurfacing and roadway
reconstruction project in an
amount not to exceed $2,384,688.
Providing for authorization,
providing for implementation
and providing for an effective
date. Move. Second. Thank you.
Calling. Been working on this
for what, three years? Four
years approximately, sir. It's
coming, it's coming. I would
like to just amend this. If we
call it amend or, or parse it
or take it apart and say that
the is brought up tonight by
Brett about the what do you
call it, the stamped asphalt
that let's talk about at this
point in time? I see that's
part of the contract, 200 000.
Go forward with everything else
and we take a final decision on
that. In other words, take that
out of the contract today until
we advise them that that's what
we want. I would caution
against that, if I MAY, because
once you enter into the
contract, that would constitute
a material change and the
contractor can do after that,
you have to pay a premium price
for any changes. Perhaps it's
really something to consider. I
don't I have done all of those.
Yeah. Can you just but but I
would call okay. So my my thing
quickly before you before you
go further, if we change this
in any other material way, it's
got to go back to the county.
No, because this portion of the
road is on our dime. Yes. Okay.
But it is in a single contract
and that is going to a single
contractor. So but couldn't we
have an amendment to the
contract to take that out with
an agreement that if we put it
back in, this is going to be
the price? What they've already
quoted us or to provide for
this, a certain amount of time,
we would do the contract and
have a change order if we don't
do this, because this is the
last thing that's going to
happen about the first thing.
Correct? What's the what's the
square footage? I mean, this is
the first thing that's going to
happen before the circle. The
circles are the first thing
they're going to start working
on. Yes, you're going to stamp
on the stamp concrete. They're
going to start removing the
brick pavers and the concrete
underneath the brick pavers and
preparing that area with base
and building it up to be able
to get to an elevation, a level
where they can do the asphalt
and then come back and do the
brick pavers. But they have to
work on that. And the concrete
ribbons that are there, we have
to make a decision quickly. Yes.
Okay. Right now I'm just and
it's 1.9 million as somebody
else's money. So listen, I got
no problem doing it. The
question is, if Brett is
telling you it all came up, why
do we want to do something
that's been unsuccessful
somewhere else? Right. But by
the same token, well, we had
that presentation. Was it
kimley-horn or. Yes, it said
that to do this in a pervious
way was going to cost a million.
I'm not saying about impervious.
We're talking I'm not saying
impervious. I'm saying I'm just
not here. I agree with you. I'm
not I'm not disagreeing. I'm
just saying that I think it
brought up that the bricks have
been there for 20 years.
They're not maintained. They're
not maintained. Now, do you
know how many times I talked to
you? Anybody drives down Harbor
Drive? It's just horrible. Okay,
well, we're also not going to
have busses. Sorry. We're not
going to have busses. No, but
we haven't had busses for a
while. It's still horrible. We
have concrete trucks, but we
have concrete trucks. Whatever
we have. The point being, it's
not being maintained. No, the
question is, can we maintain
bricks with our maintenance
department or do we have to
basically sub subcontract out
maintenance? What what's your
issue with doing this? I'm
really I'm not sure what you're
what you're proposing. I'm
supposing either not to do the
bricks and do them properly or
do something else. That's all I
think. Can we can we discuss
what we mean properly. So so if
these are sand set pavers we're
going to continue having
problems with them. So so the
the question is if we rebuild
the the structure underneath
the street using concrete or
some appropriate surface relay
the pavers back down. Wouldn't
it make more sense that we
cement those in place versus
that they are currently cement
based underneath them? There is
a cement base. I understand,
but they're not. But they're
set. They're sand set after
that fact. Correct. All right.
So every time we have a rain,
every time we have a water
event, we flush out things. We
undermine the the pavers. Not
necessarily. They have a
concrete ribbon around the
edges so that that sand doesn't
necessarily flush out. But it
is, it is we are losing sand in
them and they do settle. We
have gone back and reset a lot
of these pavers numerous times.
Just in the two years that I've
been here. Yeah. But that's
going to happen a lot that that
is part of that's part of
having brick pavers. And people
need to understand that. And we
have done it in Las Olas,
places like that, where you
have these brick pavers and
they move, they shift it. It's
a maintenance issue. If you
want brick pavers, you have to
deal with that. If you want
stamped asphalt, you have to
deal with with the tires, with
the dirt and having to replace
it. So either, you know, pick
pick your poison. I guess
that's what I'm trying to say.
But but let me just one quick,
quick, if I MAY, please. It
says pattern payment 246,693.
Is that pattern payment the
portion that you're talking
about being stamped. That is
correct. Okay. And you're
allowing a contingency for
$24,000 added to it. Is that is
that just let me ask you a
question. If you ask the
contractor, what price would he
give you right now? If you talk
to them and get a general idea,
because I think this subject is
I don't think we should really
cut corners just to move a
contract. I think we should
look at this. And I think this
is a subject that is not
something we want to just my
opinion. I hear the concern.
I've heard Brett speak about it.
I have a particular concern
with it. I think there's
options out there that we could
do. I'm asking the question,
can we ask the contractor to
see what price that would be
before we sign this contract? A
price to do what to do a brick
pavers to brick pavers. Yes.
Okay. Let's, let's, let's
forget about the maintenance
issue because it's going to
happen. The village has to make
a commitment. If they want
brick pavers, we're going to
have to take care of them. Yes,
we can look for options, but
what I'm saying is that we have
to it requires a specific type
of maintenance. Can you talk to
the contractor on this? I
certainly I can ask, can you
come back with a price and let
us know because right now we're
voting kind of blind. Would you
agree with that? Does this
contract result in brick pavers
at the end? Is that the final
finish. No stamped pavers.
It'll be it'll be patterned
asphalt. Correct. So you either
live very different than it
currently is. I do want to say
all of our prior conversations
about this have been about the
circles and drainage and
resiliency. We never talked
about esthetics that I recall.
It's always been pervious
versus right. So we're ending
up with something that is
completely impervious. So if we
can get something that looks
better, get set bricks, that's
no, no less, no more impervious
than, than the, the, the tar.
I'm not sure what difference it
makes other than the price and
the maintenance. So part of it
has to do with what we want the
village to look like. Let's do
it before we sign the contract,
not after. Because once we sign
the contract, then we pay
premium. MR. Mayor, we spent
three years on this and
obviously this is the council's
call. We've been talking for
the last year that this would
be stamped asphalt. We've had
one reading on this. It's
already been passed. This is
$1.9 million of county money,
but it is up to the council.
But I do want to let the
council know that the staff is
getting frustrated as we keep
changing these projects, but of
course, we'll do what the
council wishes us to do. Okay.
The is there a potential that
we would have to go back to the
county on any of this? That's
that's my it would be about. No,
no, but but Chad, can you is
there any reason that this
would have to go back? Because
if it does, I. I got a real
problem with this. I mean, I
don't I don't see that it's
just on the county years to get
this. We're just talking about
the stamp concrete component,
correct. To me, that's that's a
non-material change. I mean,
that's an esthetic change that
that they flat out said they
would not pay or have any part
of the stamp of the brick
pavers. So if we go brick
pavers, that is completely out.
Would it be a significant
change? I don't know, they said
they weren't going to pay for
the stamped asphalt either or
whatever. Anything. So anything
esthetic they're not paying for
right. They're only providing
the asphalt part per the only
providing the asphalt portion
in the new paving right. And
the concrete curbing. So it's
irrelevant. It's irrelevant to
the county. Correct. They
probably won't care. So the
timing of the project would
walk me through the most
expedited manner in which we
could potentially change the
stamped asphalt. For now, the
brick pavers, you approved this
contract, and we would issue a
change order to the contractor
later on, which is what MR.
London was saying. I'm saying
there's potential. I mean, I'm
discussing it. Yeah, I
understand the question. What
Mike is saying. Explore the
idea of not having a new set of
hard set. Yeah. But everybody
what everybody thinks of a
change order, that's an option
that Chris can put in the in
the change, the potential
change order is go sand set or
bricks or, or, or concrete set,
whatever that would, that would
be in the, in a change order
that we would issue to the
contractor. Yes. Option to do
one or the other or both. And
we would, we would obviously we
would get a credit for what
he's calculated for the. Do you
have an opinion on those two
different sets? I think the
issue with brick pavers
throughout the island, we just
replaced a number of speed
tables that were done in brick
pavers that were settling, that
we've had issues with not only
the, the speed tables are a bit
more complex than that, a bit
more complex, but they did have
issues, different issues.
Fernwood, the circles here on
Fernwood and some of the speed
tables here on Fernwood show
deterioration of the brick
pavers settlement. They all
settle greatly here in the
island. They're affected by our
the tidal the groundwater
moving up and down in our title
effect Harbor Drive. We're
talking about Harbor Drive, but
I was asked about throughout
the village brick pavers in my
in my opinion, on one versus
the other, I think we receive
much better stability with
stamped asphalt and the
stamping is just the esthetic
side. But I think we received
much better stability with the
asphalt and much a better
maintenance that can be done to
them. If we find issues we can
repay. You attest the failure
that former Council member
Brett Moss brought up with
regards to Brickell. I didn't
hear his comments on Brickell.
I'm sorry I wasn't in the room.
Brett, you want to tell him
what you saw? As far as they
deteriorated, they chipped.
They. Yeah, sure. Just get a
little description of the
comment. Was that in Brickell,
all the crosswalks were done
with asphalt, stamped asphalt
and patterned asphalt. And a
little bit more than three
years ago, you can tell that
they were chipping, cracking,
popping off. They were patching
them. And then finally, three
years ago, they came in,
removed all of it. And what did
they put in? They put the brick
brick pavers back, the concrete
brick pavers. So that's what
all Brickell has now because I
believe it. The other part of
the comment was that the brick
pavers had lasted 20 plus years.
Yes, with some deterioration,
but harbors different than the
tables. Correct. The speed
bumps. Right. It's more flat to
to COUNCILMAN Vasquez's point,
it requires heavy maintenance.
We have performed maintenance
on the circles on the brick
pavers, but it is a constant
maintenance and it is something
that we contract out. We do not
do that in-house. We don't have
the failures that were just
that he just described. Do I
have, I'm sorry, concern of the
failures that he just I don't
believe that we would have the
volume of traffic that they
have on Brickell. On our road.
We have significant traffic,
but not to that extent. So then
we're talking more about
esthetics, which is what you
were talking about. How do we
this is an esthetics point. You
mentioned something else, Chris,
about settlement, which makes
me remember. Now, maybe you
remember we had an engineering
firm which designed all the,
the circles with all the pavers
and everything else. And at the
time, Jean Santiago was our
chief building official, and he
had we had a requirement here
of 5000 psi concrete for
everything. And at that point
in time, these guys used 2,500
pounds. I remember Jim, you
remember. So actually they came
for another job and we brought
that up. So we didn't start
using them. Now, I don't know
if in fact I don't know what
kind of mesh or anything they
did for reinforcing this thing.
So I don't know what you're
going to do. Now for the base
underneath the pavers. We're
just going to use the same base
that's there correctly. If, if
if we're going to restore and
replace the pavers, we would
use the same base. If if the
integrity of that base is still.
But you have you had settlement
everywhere, just occasionally
in different places. All of the
traffic circles have some form
of settlement and need
significant restoration. I
don't know if I, I don't want
to say everything Of. By the
same token, I know that wasn't
done according to what our
building official the way he
wanted it done. And I know we
stopped using that engineering
firm again. 5000 psi is
significantly. It's over. Yeah,
but he also knew that as soon
as you start pouring into
cylinders, you add water to say,
you know, can I get more water?
MAY I offer something perhaps
as a way just to kind of find a
middle ground and move forward
with this? Is there a way that
you can negotiate with a
contractor, some contingency to
be added into the line items
here that covers for the brick
pavers right now? Should the
village choose to move forward
with that and allow us the
opportunity to talk about it
more in detail. We were on
second reading. I know, I know,
MR. Mayor. I'm but I'm asking a
question whether. So what
you're saying, basically, is
that we have to approve it
based on what it is or start
over. I mean, you know, no, no
I'm not. What I'm trying to say
is that I know we're in second
reading, but I'm asking if
there's an opportunity. Come
back quickly with a negotiated
value on this and bring it back.
But negotiate with the
contractor, see if you can
include a number right here in
the contingency. I don't
believe we can. Can you do that?
I'd have to double check. I
don't believe we can
renegotiate this contract.
That's what I'm saying. Okay,
well, can we. It would be an
add on. So it would be a change
or or or or get an agreement
with the contractor in writing
that you'll you'll subject to a
price. We agree to it. Tonight.
We move forward. You get a
price. We just I don't know. I
mean, it's going to hit us
anyway. I don't know. I think
we just we just had a solution.
Sign this contract and then we
want to change order. Okay.
Quickly and say it'll come back
to us with a price. Right.
Buyer beware. They're going to
hate you. Move forward. Is
there any difference in
treating this cost item as an
allowance and making a
selection. And that cost item
is applicable to that final
selection, whatever it happens
to be. I believe you're making
a significant change to the
contract. That's why my
recommendation would be approve
the contract and treat this as
a change order request from the
council, if that's the
expedited way. Let's get on
with it. I think that's the
expedited way. And Chris, do
you believe we'd have to
authorize additional money for
that or what do we need there?
Yeah, there could potentially
be a cost increase obviously
for the brick pavers. We have a
contingency with $24,000.25.
Well that's just for the that's
just for the stamp. That's just
we have a larger contingency in
the plot. I'm just saying
that'll do for bricks. Let's
just half $1 million. Half $1
million. Okay. So then the only
other question would be then
deciding how we set it. That's
that's that's an option that
Chris can provide us. Sand set
or concrete set. We'll let the
we'll let the contract. So we
go with it. And we, we are
agreeing to a potential change
order that. We don't know what
that amount is exactly, but we
need that quickly because you
said they're going to do that
right away and they're going to
start working on that right
away. So the scheduling that
we've talked with the
contractor was to start with
the circles, start with
multiple circles at one time
and and do correct. But we can
change. When's he going to
start. We're going to do that.
We were trying to get them
started immediately. As soon as
this is signed. That would be
like to adjust the schedule now
since we need to finish before
the mayor's done. Okay. Really,
it's one of the things we're
trying to do. So consensus of
council for the amendment. And
then there needs to be a public
hearing. Public hearing is now
open. Comments. Way to go.
Seeing no one come forward.
Public hearing is now closed.
So mayor so I understand. So we
signed contracts. Can we ask
them to reclaim the current
bricks to potentially reclaim
the bricks? We can. Okay, great.
Yeah. If they're so money, sign
the contract as is immediately
asked once it's signed for a
change order, get the quote for
the change order. If it's the
same, good for us, not the same.
We'll come back for the
additional money. I think you
can control that. Readjust the
readjust the schedule
accordingly. I think you can
control the price. Just come
back and let us know what it
will be. But I think you should
be able to control. It's not
like you're getting into some
unknown condition. Sure. But
it's going to be it's going to
be an addition. Bricks. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. All right. Council
member. London. Yes. On the
ordinance, as amended. And vice
mayor. Yes. Council member.
Stoner. Yes. Council member.
Vazquez. Yes. Mayor. Roscoe.
Baby. What? Yes. Thank you.
Council member. Bracken.
Council member. Kaplan. Yes.
The ordnance is adopted on
second reading, as amended. The
next item is an ordinance on
First Reading, an ordinance of
the Village of Key Biscayne,
Florida, amending section 21-11
of the Village Code of
Ordinances relating to the
placement of gravel and other
landscape materials in public
rights of way providing for
severability, providing for
codification, providing for
conflicts, and providing for an
effective date. Move second.
Thank you. Item properly before
us, MR. Director. Good evening.
So this is a relatively simple
item, whereas our code
currently only allows to be
funny. No no no. This is a
simple one. This one really is
simple. The our code only
allows turf in the first 3 or
6ft of the swale. This would
also allow gravel. Yay! Okay.
She's not even here, MISTER
COUNCILMAN. For gravel. Gravel
elastic. Enough. Should it? I
mean, oyster shells, decorative
pebbles. We're going to
generate a specification that
is going to be. It has to be
two things. Oyster shells are
not ideal because they break
down over time under weight. So
and we also don't want anything
that's too fine that when a car
travels over, it gets kicked
onto the asphalt that can
actually cause like basically
like a sandpaper effect between
the car tires and the asphalt
and where the asphalt away to
soon go down the drain or go
down the drain. All right, so
we're going to specify the
product for hardness and for
the size of the material. And
then let people final pick
their own product as long as it
meets those criteria. For
example, the I think we were on
our Zork tour and it was, what
was it? Greenwood. And there's
white pebbles that are aligned.
Do you remember? Yes. That
would that would pass muster, I
would think. I believe so.
There I would defer to our
public Works director whether
he wants something that is
angular, which tends to lock in
place better than like river
rock, which can slide. Skipping
stones MAY not be ideal.
Identified 57 rock is the sort
of standard that we model it on.
Is is MR. Bracken's rock, rock,
rock. Right. I'll need a sample
of your. It might be a little
small, but you got a 52,
perhaps. I probably got smaller
for sure. Oh, my feet are small,
so I'm sure I got to check it
out. All right. Any other
questions? I need to open a
public hearing. Public hearing
is now open. On rocks. Public
hearing is now closed. Vice
Mayor Sardinas, this is just on
one first reading. This is just
on 90. It's on first reading.
But it required a public
hearing, right? 90 is what I'm.
Yeah, 90 is the more
challenging. Okay, okay. Vice
mayor sardines on nine b yes.
Councilmember stoner yes.
Councilmember. Vasquez. Yes.
Mayor. Roscoe. Yes.
Councilmember. Bracken. Yes.
Councilmember. Kaplan. Yes.
Councilmember. London. Yes.
Okay. Yes. The irons is the
ordinance is approved on first
reading. The next item is an
ordinance on first reading, an
ordinance of the Village of Key
Biscayne, Florida, amending
section 5-4 of the Village Code
of Ordinances relating to
temporary construction, parking
and maintenance standards,
providing for severability,
providing for codification,
providing for conflicts, and
providing for an effective date
move. Second. Thank you.
Seconded. So two review. So
this is a probably more
difficult challenging ordinance
regarding a more difficult and
challenging topic regarding
swales, which is what do we do
with the problem of
construction parking. So right
now when somebody comes in for
construction site, we require
them to, to have a
pre-construction meeting. And
we already have standards for
how they deal with their own
construction site, including
putting gravel for a temporary
basis in the swales, which is
going to serve for their own
parking. So what we're
proposing is to basically
extend that area of where they
gravel to adjacent properties
to provide for temporary
parking spots in total. So that
would be two per adjacent
property. And that would
because of it's in this section
of the code where we already
have these provisions for
temporary site conditions.
We've got good coverage in here
for how you would do that, how
the how the process works with
our own code compliance staff
inspecting these areas, also
restoring it after the fact. So
what in a nutshell, we're doing
is where construction vehicles
now sort of disperse in the
neighborhood. We're going to
try and concentrate them. That
does mean the immediately
adjacent property owners are
going to have a little bit more
pain, because they are really
going to be where the parking
sort of designated concentrated,
but move them off the street,
move them off of just sort of
scattering through the whole
neighborhood and causing that
problem, and also creating a
surface that can take the
beating in the short term and
creating a way where that
contractor team, the owner of
that property is going to be
responsible for restoring the
landscape to the
pre-construction conditions on
their neighbors, where, again,
we do hold folks accountable
when they wreck swales and we
won't give them a c oh before
they do it, but there's not
really a provision to say, oh,
you damaged the neighbor's
landscape that was in the swale.
Like, we don't really have an
enforcement mechanism for that.
And now we would. So I do think
the restoration aspect of it is,
is improved with this. I would
like to to offer a thought.
Jeremy. Sure. When we do high
rise projects, we bus people in
and out of the projects. Okay.
And for example, when my crews
come in, they're required to
drop off and go find off site
parking. Okay. You know, the,
the park has the I mean, I'm
not going to put words in the
mouth, but the Bill Baggs Park
has provided this service to
many of these high rise
projects. When they're doing
concrete restoration, there
should be a means and method
for the contractors with their
subcontractors to be able to
drop their employees and go off
site parking. Okay. I
appreciate the fact that I just
see this as as a huge burden on
the neighbor to say, hey,
you're going to put two parking
places in front of my house.
And the concept that we're
going to somehow be able to
regulate the damage that's done,
and then post, post
reconstruction of the people's
yards just sounds like a
nightmare. Okay. I would just
encourage them to say, you got
to put your people off site and
bring it back on site. And if
that adds $20,000 to the
construction cost of a new
house in Key Biscayne, I guess
that's just the way it's going
to be, because I think putting
those two neighbors in that
dispute is going to put you
enforcement guys in a huge
problem. Well, it's also not
fair for a person to have to
live the construction of the
neighbor, having the gravel in
their front yard, having the
parking in their front yard.
It's just, it's just not fair.
And, but that is what they have
now. And it's legal. And we
don't have a method for
restoration. I just want to
point that out. So I do think
enforcement is is a little
complicated. I also think that
choosing of the adjacent
property is kind of wonky,
right? Who decides which
property? Because it can be
across the street next to you
or whatnot. But I do understand
as well on some of these bigger
projects, I think it's easier
as opposed to a residential
where you have. We talked about
the different tradesmen. They
need their truck, they have
their equipment. It gets a
little bit more complex. And I
think the intent here is just
to move what's already
happening from the middle of
the street, causing traffic and
issues. Now moving those trucks
onto our swales, that is that's
the intent. Yeah. I think the
people next to the construction
site are already feeling the
pain. Anyway, I have friends.
Yeah, I saw it happening. Yeah.
Every day would drive by their
house. They had construction
next door. The construction
went on for over a year, and we
had someone complain and said
they were feeling the pain.
Already know every morning they
would get up and they would
park on the street. So the
construction people couldn't
park and ruined their whole
front yard and live with that
mud and mess and the gravel and
everything for a year, 18
months. The problem to the
other, yeah, it creates a
problem for somebody else. But
I understand every homeowner
who really doesn't want to do
that. But one thing I will say
regarding to elaborate on
something that Oscar and I had
discussed, it is very different
between a high rise project
where you've got control over
the contractors, and it is the
challenge where you're going to
have. You might have six trades,
four trades on site. And and of
course, they have their tools
in the truck. So you need at
least one vehicle per trade
that's on site. Can we could we
defer this for a second? Okay.
And, and ask Interscope 2 or 3
of the two of the three of the
major general contractors that
that build out here asking for
their opinion on how best to
sort this out. Absolutely. Yeah.
Those guys are the experts.
They're dealing with it all the
time. They build high end like
these homes are not. No, look,
we'll I'll, I will reach out to
first reading. Do we want to
look we were clear. And I think
when we met with each one of
you, we're trying to solve a
problem as a challenge. So we
want to start the conversation.
And we don't know if this is
the solution. You know, it's I
think it's closer to the
solution, but it might might
not be it for sure. I think we
need to defer it. I think you
can give us direction in
between to come back. Yeah.
Well, but can you park on
what's the best way to do the
procedure on this? Should we
defer it or do they give us
direction and we come back? I
will reach out to the
contractor. So the title is
amending 5.4 relating to
temporary construction, parking
and maintenance standards. I
think that's broad enough to
probably accomplish what you're
saying, right. So you could get
through first reading and then
and then before second reading,
meet with the industry experts,
provide additional changes. We
would be fine if you want to
keep the process going. I just
want to try to take the burden
off the neighbors and try to
try to talk to Mike and talk to
other of these Toto, you know,
say, come up with some ideas. I
think Councilmember Bracken,
the way maybe one suggestion
would be you can pass it on
first reading and give
direction to the administration
to hold an industry forum to
receive feedback and
suggestions before second
reading. Jocelyn, as he as he
amended it, please, I would
amend it. And, you know, we
still have a quorum. So it
could be consensus of Council
and Councilmember Bracken. You
know, if we can't get there,
we'll let you know. Right. I
mean, this this is something
that we needed to start a
conversation, right? First one
is very straightforward. I
encourage this conversation. No,
no, look, I appreciate we
didn't had no pretense that we
had solved everything here. We
had the same conversation
earlier. Jeremy. Yeah. Good.
I'm good. You guys are good.
Then we need a public hearing.
If the vice mayor can open a
public for public hearing,
anybody. Know? People want to
close public hearing? Thank you.
Good job. Oscar. All right.
I'll just share this for the
moment. I think that this is
the existing conditions are
what they are. Yeah. I don't
think I'll be interested in
what industry feedback says. I
don't see any way to avoid the
burden on the neighbors. We're
in a dense community. Neighbors
have the right to build. When
they do, there's spillover. The
one thing that this does that
does not exist is provide for
restoration, and that is a
continuing problem because
there is degradation all the
time because of all this
construction. So I'm ready to
go. I have just one last
comment. If we end up going
forward, ultimately with this
this structure, I would I would
want to have a procedure in
place where you get the, the,
the agreement of the neighbor
that they have been properly
restored instead of because I
know sometimes make sure that
they're happy with the
restoration. That's fair. Sign
off. Precio. Yeah. Something,
something instead of having
actually a really good look.
And I think we would need to,
you know, we don't have an sop
for this yet, right. But we
would need to extensively
document the property
beforehand. You know, we don't
want to have anybody coming
back. I had gold nuggets in my
swale before. And by the way,
this idea, did it come from
another municipality? You saw
it. How did this what was the
brainchild for this? Oh, I
think we were just tossing
around. We know what other
municipalities do. Coral Gables
one of the issues we face is we
have such small lots that
there's not a whole lot of
space to park it. Coral Gables
does not allow any vehicles to
park on the road, so you can't
park on the swale. They have
they have larger swales
typically. Yeah, typically they
park on the lawn. Kendall,
South Miami. I haven't seen
anything else. Exactly. We have
Surfside residential would be
about as close to us as our
small house with high end homes.
Yeah, yeah. Thank you though. I
will look into that. I'll look
into that as well to see if
there's anybody else want to
make sure. I know we mentioned
here. I want to make sure you
guys are clear that remember
this is public right of way. So,
you know, so we're not ongoing
on anyone's property. We're
going on public right of way.
So, you know, getting their
sign off, which is kind of a
questionable, I think it sign
off was for the, the no no no,
I understand no, I understand
now our code guys would have to
be very stringent on taking
pictures beforehand. Right. We
have a similar ordinance in
place. If someone does a cut in
the road that it needs to go
back to the same standard. So
we require it to be, you know,
take pictures in advance that
they sign off. This is what it
is and they need to return it
to it. I just want to be clear,
we're not we're not getting
there right now, but we're
talking about public right of
way. And it is it's also worth
noting this section of the code
in the event that, say, a
construction site is abandoned
and they stop maintaining it,
the village would be able to do
the restoration and take care
of the maintenance, because
there's a provision to then
bill it back to the site and,
you know, it ends up with with
a leaned property, that sort of
thing. It's precedented though.
Okay, good. Okay, okay. Thank
you. So, okay. Council member
stoner on the nine c, as
amended. Yes. Councilmember
Vazquez yes. Mayor Bosco yes.
Councilmember Bracken yes.
Councilmember Kaplan. Yes.
Councilmember. London. Yes.
Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Is
approved on first reading. The
next item is a resolution of
the Village Council of the
Village of Key Biscayne,
Florida, authorizing the
village manager to negotiate
and enter into a Third
Amendment to the Solid Waste
Collection Agreement with Great
Waste and Recycling Services,
llc, and providing for an
effective date move. Second.
Second. Thank you. Yes, sir.
Yeah. Quickly. I think you
heard from the sab tonight
about some of the
recommendations that are going
to go in the rfp with this
contract extension. Does is
just avoid that disruption
while we work on getting that
solicitation issued selection
panel and also transition to
the new vendor. This allows us
a six month window. The vendors
provide us the same existing
pricing that we've had, which I
think is a great deal. And
beyond that, if this for a
reason goes beyond the six
months, there's a 10% increase.
If we want to go month to month.
Beyond that, I don't anticipate
us getting there. By that point.
The solicitation should be done.
Okay. Questions? No. No move.
MR. Trash man. Move. You're
good. Yep. All right. All those
in favor? Aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. The next item is a
resolution of the village
council of the village of Key
Biscayne, Florida, providing
for ratification of the 2026
2029 collective bargaining
agreement between the village
and the International Union of
Police Associations. Afl-cio
for the bargaining unit
consisting of the village's
police lieutenants authorizing
the village manager to sign the
collective bargaining agreement
on behalf of the village and
take all actions necessary to
implement the agreement and
providing for an effective date.
Move. Second. Thank you. How
did the Red Sox do? Well, they
just had strike three and the
passed ball, and we're in extra
innings. Oh, they won last
night though. You met last
night. Oh, last night they won.
Yeah. Then we don't want to
hear, you know. Move. Any
questions? Yeah. Yes, sir. If a
employee works on a holiday, it
will be double their pay. Is
that double their pay plus the
pay for that day. Is it triple?
No. They get. We just get an
extra day. They get double pay
if they work the holiday. Total.
Total. Gotcha. Okay. I just I'm
going to restate what I've
already stated, which is for
article 224 and and 33.3 just
to make sure that. This is for
this round of negotiations.
That is correct. Okay. Good. So
in other words, the other thing
is the Cola in 27 is zero. If
-4% of higher than 4%. In other
words, coal will be the Cola.
But the the the limits 4%. Is
that correct? That is correct.
Okay. Okay. All those in favor?
Aye. Opposed. Motion carries.
Thank you. The next item is a
resolution of the village
council of the village of Key
Biscayne, Florida, approving a
site plan for a stormwater pump
station and backup generator to
be located at the northwest
area of Beach Park. As further
identified in exhibit a,
providing for findings,
providing for recording and
providing for an effective date.
Move. Second. Thank you. Okay.
This is the second reading. The
first reading was JUNE of 2025
for this project. You've seen
it quite a few times. Go
through the presentation really
quickly. It's in the Garden
District. It's just outside of
Beach Park. It is kind of near
that Domino Plaza area. This is
more of the engineering style
view, but let me just jump to
the site plan. The above ground
portion is in blue. The below
ground is in pink. We would be
protecting the mature trees.
That grape tree, and I think
it's a black olive on the
northwest side. And there would
be an access road to maintain
the access we use for
Brightview and our landscapers
kind of through that area. And
they'll come in the same way
into Beach Park. This is for
the flooding that we
experienced in Garden District,
which I'm sure a lot of you
know, is persistent and
concentrated in this far east
area of the district. There's
going to be four wells, a pump
station and a backup generator
with the electrical platform.
I'll make a motion. We approve
the subject to removing the
generator. I don't think the
generator is necessary, MR.
Mayor. I recommend we go ahead
and put it out and make the
generator bid alternate, and we
can make the decision at the
time when it comes back. I'm
sorry. There was a motion.
Council member London made a
motion to remove the generator.
I accept Steve's amendment.
Okay, I second it. And the
amendment. I'm sorry. Yeah.
What was the amendment?
Decision on the generator? Make
the generator optional. Once we
received the contract. Yep.
Correct. And is there I don't
know whether the federal
government is going to make us
do it. So what I read said they
don't. Yeah. But they recommend
it. But then so is mandatory.
What. We don't want to do it
while they're still working on
the approval. So let's put it
out. Put it out for decision.
We're good. I agree with you.
Let's go. And also I want to be
a public hearing. Oh I have a
quick question though. If we if
we do that, which is fine with
me. Does that require us to
build the foundation for the
generator? Yes. I believe what
Steve's referring to is once
you get the contract right,
there is an alternate, then
that decision would be made. We
wouldn't accept a contract with
the alternate and then build
part of the infrastructure for
the generator, but not the rest.
You would make that decision in
advance. Okay. I'm talking
about a structural element here.
I'm talking about a foundation
that would have to be tied into
something and would have to
allow for room for it. So, I
mean, I'm fine. Don't get me
wrong. I'm fine with the idea
of not doing it or moving it,
pushing it. But I want to know
that if eventually that's
decided, what what does that
mean for the contractor and the
engineer and who's designing
this? So for and I want to
bring it back. So what we're
doing tonight is site plan
approval. Yes, sir. And so
anything that would have less
intensity, for instance, if we
took the generator out, which
is sort of the main concern
from our standpoint from from
an esthetic site plan approval
would be less intrusive. And we
the site plan would be in
effect. And the location of
that generator also, and the
where that foundation is
located doesn't impact the
underground component. So it's
like separate enough. But if we
didn't have the generator, we
wouldn't have to build the, the
whole structure for the
generator. That's where there's,
there's like the dunnage that
lifts up the generator. That's
correct. You wouldn't need the
foundation and you wouldn't
need the. So then that could be.
Then all that would be swept
out. All that would be right.
But tonight we're just doing
site plan approval, trying to
keep us focused. Yes. Keep us
focused. Got it. Man, we
recognize that Council Member
Vazquez and the bid alternate
will and will include that
being as an alternate the
structure that holds the
generator as well. Okay. Fair
enough. Thank you. Yeah. Just a
motion. Just. Is it consensus
of Council for. Yes. Yes.
London's final with Steve's.
Steve's alternate London slash
Williamson. I think there's two
things. One, you approve the
site plan. Two, you probably
need to give me guidance
separate from the site plan is
very strict. Site plan? Yes. No.
If you want to give me formal
guidance to do a contract with
a bid alternate, I believe that
would need to be a second. We
need to do a item. Yeah. I mean,
I think you have two items here.
You have approval of the site
plan, which is going to have
everything right. And then
there would be a separate
motion to direct. Steve. So we
made one motion to approve the
site plan. Now we need a second.
We need a public hearing first
if you're on the site plan.
Speaking of the site plan,
public hearing is now open.
Bret you're it. Okay. On the
site plan. Public hearing is
now closed. Thank. Thank you.
Just for the record, I you know,
this idea that we go
underground, we will never have
an outage. Ever. Never say
never, ever, never ever. We're
never going to have an outage.
Never, never, never. So never
say never. I, I, I'm just for
the record, you know, let let's
caution everyone that there MAY
be outages in the future. Yes.
Yeah, sure. Of course. But you
know this even though there's
no data or no one has proved
that that this is true. But we
keep regurgitating the same
thing. But anyway, the point is
to come back with an alternate.
Then we make a decision. The
fact that you agreed with Steve,
I mean, it's like, this is must
be a mistake, you know? Can you
withdraw that, please? It's
like a phased project. Okay.
All right. Let's keep going.
All right. No problem. I'm
sorry. Just for the minutes
afterwards, come back with an
alternative. What? Bids it out
with an option? Bids? Bids.
Bids it out with an option? Yes.
Just like we're doing on the on
the trash option generator. No
generator. Thank you. So
consensus of council for that
amendment. Good enough, MR.
Attorney. Yep. Okay. Okay. So
for ten c, as amended. All
those in favor? Aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. Ten. We're done.
What? No. Well, MR. Mayor, my
presence is required somewhere.
I'm going to excuse myself.
Okay. Have a good night, Frank.
You're still nine, Frank. In
the 11th. The village manager's
report is there. Oh, I have
something. You have something I
gotta look and see what's left.
Are you moving to mayor and
council members or the village
manager's report? I'm jumping
to mayor and council members to
see. Okay, status of improving
our website to facilitate ease
of searches for documents and
information. Council member
stoner, your item just. I don't
have my paperwork in front of
me. Just I just wanted to
report that we're working on it.
There's. Is that Jessica? There
she is that Jessica? Yes it is.
Okay. You can come up and speak
to that, if you wouldn't mind.
Oh, I found your notes here,
but you're better at that than
me. Good evening, Jessica. Good
evening. So we're looking into
different ai bots that could
help us with the search. We we
recognize that the search
capability on the website is
less than terrible. And
hopefully with all the new ai
technology that we have, we
just want to make sure we find
the right fit and that it fits
all the protocols and laws that
that exist. There's a bunch of
them out there and they keep
calling us. So we're picking
and choosing and looking at all
of that. And we're also going
to do a test run with our
vendor that's for our website
right now. And they'll give us
an opportunity to learn what
options are out there. And
while you're there, can we also,
MR. Mayor, do number three? Yes.
Establishment and maintenance
of a section of the village
website for disability and
inclusion services and programs.
Council member stoner Jessica,
would you we launched a new
page on the website that's for
accessibility. And the idea is
to put all the different
offerings that we have
specifically to Key Biscayne.
One of the goals of the website
is we try to keep things as Key
Biscayne centric as possible.
So not putting every
organization, every company
that exists, county or state
wide or countrywide because we
want to keep it very key
Biscayne centric. But we do
offer a lot here, and we wanted
it all in one place. And if you
want to go and look for it,
it's on the footer of every
single page, the very bottom,
you'll see the word
accessibility. And it's also
Key
biscayne.Fl.Gov/accessibility.
And you'll get right there.
It's great. You've made great
progress in that. There's still
a couple of issues I just want
to ask you about keeping it Key
Biscayne only. Is that just a
policy that that we have in
general about the website? It's
not a hard policy. There are a
few pages, but we get a lot. I
mean, Jocelyn can attest to
this. We get a lot of emails
from rehab kind of facilities
and things, and it makes it
easier to explain why we can't
put every single thing out
there. If we have a system, it
it also is hard to say, well,
we put it on our website, but
it's not here. We don't have
any access to it. We don't have
any way of getting you there.
But, you know, we're promoting
it in a way. Right? So is there
would it be okay if you put
things that were not Key
Biscayne centric, that the
disability board felt were
important enough to make people
aware of? I think if it was at
their recommendation, let's say
a soft yes, like it depends,
you know, it would depend on
what it is. And I think one of
the things that's important to
council member is there's a lot
of people doing this. And so
we're going to have to have a
clear vetting process. And I
think the answer is, yes, we
can do it, but we're going to
have to have a process to vet
it. Okay. So what do you
recommend? Do you recommend
that the I don't know what that
would be, but I think we, you
know, we've got to be very
careful what we put out there
because a lot of people are
coming out with these programs.
And, and maybe that is the
Disability Advisory board, but
it's not something that Jessica
could pick and say, oh, no, I
understand. But when I go back
to the disability board, should
I tell them, speak with you,
speak with Juan. Speak with,
give their suggestion, give
their suggestions, and then
speak with Jessica. And then
Juan and I will we'll talk
through it. Look, we're going
to take, you know, in most
cases, we're going to take
their advice. You know, they
they know this better than we.
But we'll also take a look at
it to make. Okay, great. Thank
you. This is, you know, we're
we're entering into new
frontiers. We don't want to
send people in places that we
don't want to send people. And
number five, I think we pulled
that, didn't we? Yes. You had
deferred that. So the next item
would be Council meeting agenda
order. Council member Bracken.
Yeah. Just quickly I've been
working with Steve to come up
with a what, what we basically
call an operational chart.
Steve, to move forward. Where
are we on that chart? It's
actually in your packet. Okay.
Item number one in the
manager's report at 1717. The
other tab 17. Oh. Oh exhibit a,
this is fully comprehensive.
Obviously, we can modify it in
a way that works best. Exhibit
a look at the today's agenda.
So the idea with this was to
get this up in front, to keep
the community and the council
just where we are on status of
of projects. And I think this
is something that we could
review in the front of our
meeting to basically let the
community know where we are.
And I think this would be a
good idea to move this to the
front of the meeting versus to
the tail end, because it also
reminds us of all the projects
that we're currently working on,
keeping the community informed.
So if we could move this to the
front of the meeting. I'm sorry.
What? What's it look like? This.
This chart should be shown. Yes.
This chart should be shown
every meeting at the the first
basically the first start right
before public comment. Before.
Before. Before. Right after.
Public comment. Before. Consent.
Before consent agenda. Yes. The
exhibit e, is that what you're
exhibit a, exhibit a 17. Yeah.
So in this. Oh, can I ask a
question? Yeah, absolutely.
This is when this comes up,
what I've been trying to do and
what I would do if we had this
is highlight what I brought up
at the last meeting or two
meetings ago where we are with
it. And so we don't have to go
through the, you know, the
entire thing we kind of
highlight. That's a really good
point. That's the that's the
intent. Nancy. I think that's a
great idea. So so this, this is
operationally focused. This
isn't necessarily going back on
council action items, right? I
mean, we, I mean, we, we take
your directives and come back
with them. I mean, that's
usually you'll usually see that
if we haven't spoken with you
individually, you'll usually
see that as part of the
manager's report. Like, you
know, you know, many times your
items that are on council
members comments are actually
in the manager's report. So,
you know, we, we take those
directives seriously and we add
those to the manager report. So
I guess the question is, is
this a follow up on the
directives or is this an update
on operational progress? Well,
go ahead. Is walk me through.
So because this is going to be
repetitive. Right, right. To a
certain extent. Right. So walk
me through what happens. We we
just finished public comments.
And now this is up on the
screen. Right. What's next? I
guess, I guess the intention is
to have a status report of
where we are on projects. Okay.
So fundamentally where we are
on a project, you'd agree that
month to month, there's not a
lot of change on many of these.
That's correct. So it should it
should be, you know, I would
only a real highlight.
Something's changed or
something changed. Yes. Okay.
So that we we set, we set that.
So we're aware. Okay. And that
the community is aware. Okay.
So if you're talking about
highlighting what there's a
change or something we have to
look at, or do we then show the
whole thing or do we just show
the ones that there is? I mean,
there's a material change where
there's a material change. I
think we should see a color
code issues, problems not
started, for example, issues
and problems. Correct. This
might be too detailed. It might
be it might be too detailed.
This was I mean, people are
asking me and I'm sure they're
asking you, are we
undergrounding zone eight? Are
we as undergrounding zone one?
So where are we? Are we
approved? So you kind of need
just that. So this is the idea
here was to start this
discussion. Okay. To get to
come up with some format that
Steve could help work on that
we could deliver. Okay. And I,
I wasn't expecting, I wasn't
expecting to have the solution
tonight. Okay. I was expecting
to have feedback from you guys
so that we could all come up.
And there MAY be things that
Benjamin wants to put on this
list. Okay. Financial stuff,
but where we are. So it's the
idea is to is to have a, for
all intents and purposes, a
roadmap for where we are going
and what we're doing. Okay, so
I might see value in something
like this with less detail
bulleted, but then focusing on
the things you feel that you
need our attention, a change,
an issue, a problem. You have a
color coding already here, but
to see this month to month to
month to me is going to be a
lot of repetition. And
eventually what will happen?
It'll just lose all of our
interest. Is it? Isn't this so?
I want it to mean something. Is
this for us or is this for the
public to understand the the
progress that we're making is
both, okay. It's I mean, it's
also a certain amount of
holding ourselves accountable
and, and administration
accountable and also giving the
community sort of an update
like what's happening. Okay,
you know, where are we on zone
one undergrounding? Where are
we on zone eight underground?
Where, where, you know, what's
the status? Okay, quickly so
that we can get that out in
front of the community. Right?
And maybe this goes into the
newspaper, you know, I don't
not sure. It's just, you know,
something that's out there. I
mean, Joe writes these great.
How about how about quarterly
as opposed to monthly?
Quarterly is fine. I mean, it
just I just think it's
important to have some working
agenda. That's an upfront that
we review every meeting. I
think it's a great idea. And I
think that one of the things
you would see is if there's a
change that month, you'd have
the whole thing and then river
change that month being a
different color or highlighted
or something. So you know where
we're going, right? What are
you interpreting? What are you
hearing, Steve? Well, confusion.
No, no, I'm not hearing
confusion. No, I, you know,
there's a lot of things on here
and purposely a lot of things
on here. I, you know, I, I, you
know, I wanted to again
instigate the conversation.
Obviously this will take a long
time and we don't want to do
this highlights, you know,
updates we could we could do. I
did also hear some other folks
mentioning that they would like
updates on the directives as
well. We do try to do that in
the manager's report. I don't
know whether we want a separate
report on that. So I'm trying
to get exactly we're not
getting exactly the first time,
but trying to get closer to
what it is that we're looking
for. The problem with the meant
doing not including the
manager's report on here is
that no one's here now, and the
manager's report is at the end.
Well, that's why he's asking to
do this upfront. But that's why
I'm saying, you know, to make
sure to include some of the
manager's the important action
items in the manager's report
in here. Right. Many of them
are okay. Many of them are. I
mean, not not to the level of
the updating of the code of
conduct. That's that's not in
here, but just, I would say
probably 80% of what's in the
manager's report is in here.
Okay. To some degree. Okay. Are
we are we working towards
understanding what we're we're
trying to do guys feel like
this helpful or not helpful?
Helpful. But I, I think we need
a couple of trial balloons.
Absolutely. So we've got it all
here and now it's bringing it
down and tightening it up. Yeah.
And so, and what I'm, what I'm
hearing is for sure issues.
Okay. Flag. And we don't have a
problem with moving it up into
the agenda. No. As long as it's
not the way it is now. Concise.
Right, right. All right. So so
that, you know, I don't know,
Steve, is it ten items or is it
15 items? I mean, look, that's
a good question. I mean, a lot
of the times they're set up for
the decisions that you all are
going to have to make in a
couple of months. So that's
some of what this is. It's it's
teeing things up in one way.
It's also, you know, letting
the community know that it's
coming up as well. So maybe
it's something that's occurring
in the next 2 to 4 months. The
good thing about it is because
we get the agenda, we can
advance Council can highlight
whatever they would like to
bring up for discussion.
Meanwhile, the whole public has
it, but just not for discussion.
But to note this happened. That
happened. We made this move.
Yeah. Without having to go.
Yeah. You know, item by item. I
think it also to your point,
before it facilitates our
ability to inform residents
which of which we are out there
in, in, in the neighborhood
talking about these things. And
the question does come up,
what's going on with the trees?
What's going on with the, you
know, the jungle gym here in
the pool, the conflict, at
least I think I hear the
conflict in your voices is how
much, right, right. How much
and, and what gets flagged.
Right, right. So remember
though, there's seven of you in
this, probably every single one
of these in one way or another.
You guys have asked me probably
in the last two weeks. Right.
So that's where the conflict.
The other part is procedurally
remember, you know, we have to
make sure we do the business at
the council meeting. So we'd
have to really narrow in on
what we would want to present
up front. Well, yes, the, the,
the person running the meeting
has to say you're going off
tangent and you, you're, you've
got, you know, you're
discussing stuff that important,
but still not coming up yet.
Right. And look, and that's
something. You mean at the
meeting. Yeah. Yeah. I think I
don't even think we should go
through. We should say here it
is. And somebody if you have a
real problem, you. Well, some
even there's even a you there's
sections that say decision
needed, for example, or, or, or
an issue. Right. Needed isn't
isn't isn't that weak. No, no.
I understand at some point.
Yeah. But we're already but we
have a top of mind or doing our
to do our homework to be able
to give the decision when it's
time to make it or ask
questions or ask questions.
Correct. So it's a flag
decision, decision or decision
requested or directive needed,
right. The info only now is
just an update. It's just look,
it's it's going. So maybe we.
And that's going to be
repetitive month over month.
Maybe we just focus on the
decision needed items. Well,
there was another one he
mentioned just now directives
directive same thing. Direction
requested okay. Direction
requested. Or those are the
ones that we need to be
focusing on. Yeah. Okay. It
also gives us foresight of
what's coming that's in the
agenda before we even get the
agenda. That's the intention
and how we want to prioritize
it. But I do like that you have
prioritized as well, because
that is also the ones that tell
you status though, too. You
know, I think going back to
what Nancy said about the
status of zone eight, yeah, I
would imagine that is probably
an info. I think it's
underground. Well, there's the
underground zone eight. It says
decision needed. Okay. Probably.
Yeah. Because we we need to go
forward to it, you know, to
approve the a a t t contract.
Yes. Right. Yeah. So that's,
that's a decision that's needed.
Okay. I think that's a great
idea. And I think everyone's
going to get a lot out of that.
Yeah. Well done Mike. I mean
and Steve and Steve and Mike.
Brett, since you're here and
you're going to be the future
mayor, you got any comments
about this? Because this is
something that the intention is
to help to sit down. Okay, cool.
Thank you. Is there a decision
made? I just wanted direction.
Was it were you all just
discussing it now? We're still
just having a discussion. It's
the first iteration. We think
it's too much and it needs to
be tightened up a bit. And
decision is continue to refine.
Yeah. Yes, we feel comfortable
with that direction. Yes. You
need more detail. No you're
good. All right. Councilmember
Bracket and I will sit down.
Thank you. Thanks, Steve, for
your yeah. That's a great job.
Yeah. If if we adopted Mister
Attorney, do we have to change
some something in our regs? I
need to check the resolution
for the council procedures, but
I think we might be able to
just add it. Yeah, but I'll
confirm that. The clerk could
also ask if it would be by
ordinance, if anything would be
by resolution. So. Sounds good.
Anything else? Just just so
we're clear on the schedule,
the rra council workshop is
going to get changed to most
likely to that site. The site
plan for. Well, we'll have to
change. That's a long meeting.
Both of them are going to be
long meetings. So let the mayor
and I kind of sit down do it on
separate days, figure out. Yeah,
because we have resilient
Infrastructure program and the
Zork, both of those meetings by
themselves are going to be are
those topics are going to be
pretty large. We can't do that
on top of a workshop. I'm just
I'm out of town from 28 to the
to the seventh to the sixth. So
I, I, I'm here for the budget
meeting. I'm just here for the
budget meeting. No, well, we
just went on vacation for two
weeks. I can't go on vacation.
He's the mayor. No, we weren't
meeting Mike. You've been here
for two weeks, Mike. Like, just
I mean, we're not talking about
doing anything before the 10th
anyway. Well, it will be after
the 10th. Okay, good. I'm fine.
Yeah, we're. Yeah, we wouldn't
be ready until the 10th. So
it'll be after the 10th. Okay.
Anything for the good of the
order? Only of the village
manager's report. If you had
anything, any of your 30. I
think each one we've met with
you about what we are with
street light status. Just a
real quick update. So we have
now identified that there are
175 plus or minus lights in the
Special Taxing district. We own
approximately 245 lights
ourselves, and the photometric
study that came out says we
need approximately 550 new
lights. Our original plan was
to move forward with special
taxing district and our lights,
and to transfer them to fpl.
With that many lights that are
short, we think we want to
switch. And this is where I
need your direction. Switch to
moving forward on the shortfall,
putting them ahead of the other
in transfer, because we'll
actually be moving to put more
lights in. That number is still
a work in progress. And it
really comes down to how much
coverage we actually want,
because we all know in the
northwest corner of the village,
there are no lights. At the
same time there. There are
roads that have two lights that
might need three lights. And so
I don't know whether we want to
get to that level of detail
that it looks like it was
purposely left, that we didn't
put too many lights in the
village because we, you know,
at the same time, they looked
at it from a safety perspective.
So that's something that we
want to bring back. We don't
need to make that decision
tonight. But what I need from
you all is direction to if we
want to move forward on the
report, not the replacement.
Excuse me. New lights, new
lights in hot spots. Yes. And
and well and gaps. Right where
we're missing lights. Yes. In
dark areas. I don't understand
you. Go ahead. I'm talking. I
just I just also want to
understand the financial
ramifications. So are we
talking about $4 million, $5
million, $6 million? What are
we talking about as far as
expense to proceed with this
thought? You actually got there
very closely. Yeah, because I
thought that's the number. So
it is. So right now look, the
numbers are approximate. I
think it's actually 546. Sorry.
That's for the gap 500 for the
gap. Correct. But that's,
that's basing it on whether or
not we agree that 500 is the
true gap. To your point.
There's a gap maybe
intentionally up until today. I
do believe it's smart to start
with the gap because that's
where we're missing lights. I
don't know if we need 500. I
think that could seriously
change the entire fabric of the
island. And I think the intent
of having that gap might have
been intentional from the
beginning. So if the number for
500 is 6 million, let's say,
can we start with the gap and
then see where we go there and
continue to see? Yes. And look,
and this was, you know, we got
the presentation last Thursday.
And what they gave us was what
we asked them, what is our gap?
What is our shortfall? What do
we need to meet streetlight
compliance. And that came up to
546. Now if we want to
compliance standard streetlight
planning, you know, we don't
necessarily have to follow. No
we don't. There's no law that
says we have to do it. It's
just, you know, they went
through in the entire village
did, did the measurements of
our lights, you know, and the
coverage and said, if you were
to have full coverage, you need
546 lights. Chris, can I ask a
question, please? Do we have an
example of a street that's
compliant? Yes, yes we do. The
metrics that we're taking would
show us streets that are
compliant, and where there are
the shortfalls and the areas
that we don't have any street
lights whatsoever. Could you
tell us what street that is?
Sorry. Yeah, I'd have to go
back and look in the
presentation at the metrics to
see. So just if I threw out
some street names with just so
is Island Drive, for example,
compliant Island Drive, give me
one second. We can start with
you. Okay. I think it's a late
night. We have a really
impressive photometric study
that you can zoom in, zoom out,
where you can look at it from a
macro level where you can see
where the gaps are okay, or,
and also where the
concentrations are. And then
you can literally zoom in on a,
on a street. Did the work we
did on it. Is that compliant,
for example, that was the most
it does not work. We did well,
no, it does not meet the lumens
of the full standard. Okay,
okay. But we did that on
purpose. If you recall, the
height of the lights were
actually at people's windows.
And so we, I remember toned it
down some. So those are the
sort of decisions we can make.
The reason why I'm asking the
question is that is that Oscar
pointed out the fact that there
might be some intention to make
the lights lower. So if we have
a if we have a street that we
know that was in somewhat
compliance, we could say, okay,
does this meet? This is what
does this meet the. What does
this. First off, this is a
compliance meet. And then does
this actually meet the standard
that we're intending to have?
Right. So because we MAY not
need to be at the extreme level,
we MAY be a happy medium
between. So that MAY be go for
500 lights to 300 lights. I'm
just throwing numbers out. We
have that information. What I
can do is send it to you, and
then we can have a follow up
conversation at the next
council meeting to figure out
how to pay for them. All the
answers you're asking for are
in there. Okay. Right. So we're
just talking theoretically. I
have a question. And generally
speaking, just to let you know,
Council member 546 lights cost
approximately $750,000 over a
ten year period financed, which
is how fpl does their work. Yes,
they amortize it over a ten
year period. Okay. I don't I
just want to make sure I
understand here on your on your
paragraph three, toward the end,
there is the next steps. It's
you're going to coordinate with
fpl and Miami-Dade and complete
the analysis and advance
necessary transfer agreements.
What transfer agreements? So we
have the three buckets that I
mentioned before, the 107. We
won't even tell how many there
are. The special taxing
district. We have lights and
then there's a gap. So we just
talked about the gap. So what
we are intending to do is take
the 175 out of the special
taxing districts, our 240
transfer, and then transfer
them to fpl. Is that ownership
of the lights? Yes. Ownership.
Agree on that. No. Don't ever
remember agreeing that that
that that is what we're working
on to bring it to you. That's a
potential plan. Okay. That's
what I'm saying. We're still
doing the financial analysis,
whether it makes sense. They
were actually taking inventory,
right? Yeah. For for inventory.
Okay. Find out what's what.
Okay. Because when I read
advance the necessary
agreements, I'm trying. Why are
we doing that when we have when
we have one of them is to bring
bring it to you. Okay. Which
would be the consent, the well,
the intent to what's it called?
Transfer, whatever it's called.
It's some letter of intent.
Letter of intent. Okay. That
would go to the special taxing
districts that would start the
process. Okay, perfect. Thank
you. One of the things I want
to make clear is, I think it
was in JUNE that you all gave
us a directive to start
enforcing the swales and sight
lines on the 1st of SEPTEMBER.
Is that still your guidance?
Yes. How do we feel about the
education so far? Well, you saw
Steve Powell bring up his
education. I. I think they've
been pretty well educated.
Jeremy, do you want to add
anything to that? What was
Steve complaining about? He was
because he knows he's going to
let him know three times. I
think he's coming after anybody
that where we've seen continued
issues, we repost, repost,
repost the the and have
actually gone and encircled or
highlighted the particular
element of the code that is an
issue. So Jeremy, he came to me
and just and I might have made
the mistake, so I'm going to
put it on the record. Okay? He
said, if I take those little
plastic poles and I move them,
I told them, move three feet
from the road, okay. And that
would be okay. Now that's
probably that is incorrect
information at this time. That
is what we had decided to deal
with and enforce right of way
was any vertical obstruction,
right. So that we've been doing
all summer, right, including in
some cases, just moving the
sticks for people. What would
be coming next would be no
plastic poles allowed at all.
Right. So he what he's
expressing now is the fact that
he's getting noticed for these
plastic poles, because the
plastic poles are we're not
doing notice of violation or
anything yet, but they will get
a warning. It's been education,
by the way, you have these. You
can't have them very soon. Can
I ask you a question, if I MAY?
I mean, please, the the there
is also a damage by vehicles. I
mean, I've seen the pictures
here. They I don't know if you
can see it, but they create. I
know of it. I know of it. Yeah.
So the plastic poles to a
certain degree, don't they help
that a little bit or they
prevent they prevent people
from parking. They they do help
what we decided collectively
when we had our workshop and
was that you can do landscape
elements, which is to say
plants, rocks, obstructive
rocks, right? Not just not just
gravel. Those are allowed, but
that's, that's not good. I'm
sorry to say that those are an
issue that that destroys
vehicles. If you put rocks like
that, well, that I mean, but
those are allowed. No, no, but
those are allowed beyond three
feet and beyond or beyond six
feet. But that's, that's what
the that's what we went through
with the workshop and came to
consensus on. So I'm not just
that was that was consensus. So
we're not we're not making this
up. This was the regular rocks.
Yeah. So so anything that is a
landscape element is allowed
beyond that three feet zone. So
you are allowed to use those
elements. But we also
collectively decided that posts,
wooden posts, plastic posts,
the rope swags, all those sorts
of things are not allowed. He
could plant a hedge, could
plant a hedge, he could put a
boulder bigger by doing so.
Correct. And we've suggested
that he do that. So all of
those are options on the table.
So to prevent that as
alternative to the plastic
sticks, the the little. What do
you call those things with the.
Reflective reflectors sticks.
Okay. Those would not be
allowed anywhere. Right? So in
this way, you just put the
grass down. You want to make
sure. Good point. Okay. So that
that, that while the grass is
trying to stick that you don't
have the dumb people going over
your lawn there, that temporary
elements, when you temporary
elements are allowed. Okay. All
right. So the so, so so
question for you is what is the
time period that you're going
to allow and not enforce?
Because if you're resodding and
you're constantly resodding,
you could, you could therefore
have these plastic poles out
there forever. So we could tell
Stephen, hey, by the way, just
keep throwing sod out there,
big boy. And you can keep these
plastic poles as long as you
want. So this, this is so, so
maybe, maybe, maybe that's my
situation. My my lawn floats
away with every heavy rain. So
that's why we're allowing the
gravel. That's why we're
allowing gravel. Going to
gravel get to get the rocks.
But, but I think we had a
conversation, Jeremy. Maybe we
didn't communicate, but there
must be some plastic pole that
does this. The. But it's an
esthetic issue. And this was
what we worked through at the
workshop, was that it's as much
about esthetics as it is about
obstruction. So. But the one
thing is. But one quick thing,
I'm sorry, I didn't I didn't
voice my opinion at the
workshop, but but I'm a little
concerned about large angular
rocks three feet off the right
of way. You're driving at night.
You MAY steer, you know, human
error. You MAY drive at night.
I know, man well, I'm told not
to drive, but I mean, we also
have trees there. Yeah, I know,
but but trees grow in. But
we're telling people to go
ahead and put angular big rocks
where there is where you're
driving. I just I'm, I mean,
you should not be driving there.
Well, but human error. Fernando,
you didn't hit that tree on
Ocean Lane Drive, did you? Hit
the generator? I mean, look,
it's hitting, hitting, hitting
large shrubs, hitting trees,
hitting angular rocks. That's
why we have the three foot
clear zone. Like you shouldn't
be driving in anywhere off the
asphalt. But that's why we have
the three foot clear zone with
no vertical obstructions.
Shouldn't be, but human error
or other things. I mean, but,
you know, we want to be safe,
right? We want to, I think, but
I think that that's a that's a
safe standard, though a three
foot clear zone on a
residential street with a very
low speed limit, I think is a
safe standard. Please call it a
ball. Yeah. So that's the
bottom line is should we start
enforcing SEPTEMBER 1st? Let's
have another conversation
before you start. One more.
Yeah one more. Let's put it on
the next agenda. Got it.
Alright. Yeah, we're we're
getting we're getting punchy.
Do we need to put out any
notices saying enforcement is
coming soon? That's what
they've been doing. We've been
doing. I'm just saying that
maybe continue to do it. I
don't know if we have a we
might our current notice might
have a date. So it does have a
date. Yeah. Do adjust it. We'll
have to adjust it coming soon.
We have made it a date that we
were going to do it. Okay.
We're going to go stamp on that.
All right. Thank you. Consensus