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05-03-99South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Agenda May 3,1999 Location: 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, FL Time: 7:30 PM Call to Order A. Roll Call B. Approval.of Minutes C. Project Updates: • Hands On Miami Lode Broadhurst and Lynn Fiala i • Proposed Parking Garage Development Workshop Scheduled for May 18; 1999 at 6:30 p.m. • Trolley • Field Trip (Consider Commission Summer Break) • Boundary Amendment - Commissioner Feliu • Privatization of HUD Housing — Mayor Robaina D. Administrative Issues • Summer Break • Status Report on CRA Interlocal Agreement • Budget Process E. Public Comments F. Staff Comments G. General Comments from CRA Board H. Adjournment Y South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Agenda May 3,1999 Location: 6130 Sunset Drive, South Miami, FL Time: 7:30 PM Call to Order A. Roll Call B. Approval.of Minutes C. Project Updates: • Hands On Miami Lode Broadhurst and Lynn Fiala i • Proposed Parking Garage Development Workshop Scheduled for May 18; 1999 at 6:30 p.m. • Trolley • Field Trip (Consider Commission Summer Break) • Boundary Amendment - Commissioner Feliu • Privatization of HUD Housing — Mayor Robaina D. Administrative Issues • Summer Break • Status Report on CRA Interlocal Agreement • Budget Process E. Public Comments F. Staff Comments G. General Comments from CRA Board H. Adjournment 1 City of South Miami 2 Community Redevelopment Agency Minutes 3 March 1, 1999 4 5 The City of South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency met in regular session on 6 Monday, March 1, 1999 beginning at 7: 30; p.m., in the City Commission Chambers, 6130 Sunset 7 Drive. The following members of the Agency were present, Chairperson Julio Robaina,'Vice- 8 Chairperson Armando Oliveros, Jr., ,Members Horace G. Feliu, David D. Bethel, Mary Scott 9 Russell, and James Bowman with Rubystine Anderson arriving at 7:40 p.m. 10 11 Also in attendance were CRA Consultant Don Delaney, CRA Director Diana Morris, 12 CRA General Counsel John Dellagloria and CRA Secretary Ronetta Taylor. 13 14 Approval of the mutes: 15 January 19, 1999 and February 16, 1999 16 17 Moved by Member Bethel, seconded by Vice - Chairperson Oliveros to approve the 18 minutes as presented. 19 20 There being no discussion, the motion passed by a 6 -0 vote. 21 22 Member Bethel: Yea 23 Member Bowman: Yea 24 Member Feliu: Yea '25 Vice- Chairperson Oliveros: Yea 26 Member Russell: Yea 27 Chairperson Robaina: Yea' 28 29 Trolley Update 30 CRA Director Morris outlined the.new trolley route; each day two loops would be ran 31 with the first loop stopping at South Miami Hospital, City Hall/Library, Metrorail and Shops At 32 Sunset Place; the second loop will stop across from the Senior Citizen building [62 °d Avenue] 33 making the service accessible to Lee Park and surrounding areas, City Hall, Winn Dixie, and 34 Metrorail. She said that signs announcing approximate pick -up time for the additional trolley 35 stops would be posted. She said that from 5:00 p.m., until stopping time the trolley route would 36 include Metrorail, and the Shops At Sunset Place. 37 38 Ms. Morris informed the Agency members that the .advertising features would be erected 39 along the side of the trolley within the next couple of days. This would allow for advertising 40 which would generate additional revenue. 41 42 Chairperson Robaina and Member Russell indicated that they'd been told that the trolley 43 . hasn't been completing the entire route. 44 45 Ms. Moms said that she would check into this. 46 47 Mr. Delaney said that once the trolley route has stabilized, the CRA would have a 48 product to sell [advertising space]. 49 50.. Paint Up /Fix Up Project REGULAR CRA MINUTES 1 MARCH 1, 1999 ,1 Ms. Morris related that this project was moving slowly somewhat due in part to the 2 illness of Reverend Green. Three homes have already been identified for the initial phase of this 3 project. 4 5 Member Bethel commented for clarification purposes that this paint up /fix up project 6 would only include the outside painting of homes. 7 8 Chairperson Robaina emphasized the importance of fixing up the City owned property 9 located next door to the post office. 10 11 Ms. Morris said that administration was already working on this issue. 12 13 Valet Parking 14 Ms. Morris recounted that .at the last CRA meeting the Agency had suggested that 15 administration look into valet parking services with the possibility of utilizing the City's property 16 for this purpose. She indicated that CRA staff is no, longer involved with this issue because 17 Manager Scurr had directed Mr. Rodriguez, the City's Public Works Director to review this 18 matter. 19 20 Chairperson Robaina asked what type of improvements would be made to this property. 21 22 Ms. Morris said some of the improvements being considered involves moving the fence 23 surrounding the property back 7 feet.,.with' landscaping fronting the property. She said that at 24 some point the City might want to consider removing the building currently located on the 25 property. 26 27 Manager Scurr related that at this particular time because the building can be utilized to 28 provide some sort of shelter from the elements, administration. had not envisioned removing the 29 building. 30 31 Chairperson Robaina asked where would the potential revenue from valet service be 32 deposited in the CRA or General Fund budget? 33 34 Manager Scurr said the funds would be deposited in the City's General Fund. 35 36 Member Bethel voiced concern with the lack of security, at this property. He voiced his 37 understanding that the Shops At Sunset Place are also utilizing the property. 38 39 Manager Scurr said that discussions were held with the Shops At Sunset Place about 40 allowing them to utilize the property for the staging of trucks for delivery purposes. 'He said 41 administration became aware today that the Shops At Sunset were utilizing the property to stage 42 for construction dumpsters. He said those dumpsters if not already would be gone by the end of 43 the week. 44 45 Chairperson Robaina inquired about the process that would be used for the valet parking 46 service. 47 48 Manager Scurr said the City would go through a bidding process. 49 REGULAR CRA MInOMS 2 MARCH 1, 1999 1 Administrative Issues 2 Ms. Morris related that the Post. Office has putout a request for bids to do the landscape 3 work. 4 5 Member Anderson shared that some have interpreted the improvements being made at the 6 post office as an indication that it is being relocated from the neighborhood. 7 8 Interlocal Agreement 9 Mr. Delaney reported that Miami -Dade County has not as of yet scheduled a meeting to 10 discuss the Interlocal Agreement. They did respond to staff proposal as it related to the 11 definition of "revenue." He addressed the concern raised by a resident as to whether or not the 12 CRA Interlocal Agreement had the power to zone or rezone. He said that the CRA Interlocal 13 Agreement gave no such power. He referenced the CRA-Plan, Section 2, page 13 holds the ' 14 zoning powers to the City of South Miami and not the CRA. He referenced Section 4, page 18 15 of the CRA Plan also holds that power away from the CRA and leaves it with the City of South 16 Miami. 'He opined that the language was clear however, he would ask the Miami -Dade County 17 Attorney's office to make this language even more clearly indicating that the CRA did not have 18 the power to zone or rezone. 19 20 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that people were interpreting the CRA Plan differently. 21 He emphasized the importance of making the language explicit enough so that there wouldn't 22 been any margin for error. 23 24 Training for new CRA Board members and CRA Advisory Board 25 Ms. Morris conveyed, now that there is a full compliment to the CRA Advisory Board 26 and the newly appointed members of the CRA it would be most beneficial to do a training 27 session. 28 29 Mr. Delaney emphasized the importance `of the training' session for the CRA Advisory 30 Board and newly appointed CRA members. He said this could also be a refresher course for 31 members of the City Commission. 32 33 Chairperson Robaina said that he'd like to also open this workshop to the general public. 34 This would provide the citizens, with an opportunity to be enlightened as well. 35 36 Mr. Delaney recommended having a Saturday workshop. He suggested that those 37 individuals with questions should have them written down on index cards and have them 38 available during this workshop. 39 40 Chairperson Robaina conveyed to the listening audience that this workshop would be a 41 good time for those. individuals with questions and concerns to have them addressed. 42 43 Semi- Annual Meeting and Public Workshop 44 Ms. Morris indicated that this semi- annual meeting and public workshop is another 45 opportunity for public input. There is a provision in the CRA Plan that states that there would 46 be a semi - annual public workshop. 47 48 Mr. Delaney suggested inviting all those entities that originally participated in the 49 development of the CRA Plan to this semi- annual meeting and public workshop. 50 REGUI" CRA MINUTES 3 MARCH 1, 1999 - 1 Commissioner, Russell suggested inviting Hometown, Inc. 2 3 This workshop and semi - annual meeting was scheduled for April 5, 1999 beginning at 4 7:30 p.m. 5 .6 Tour of other CRA's 7 Ms. Morris identified the municipalities of Delray Beach, Pompano Beach and Boca 8 Raton as possible areas to tour. 9 10 Vice Chairperson Oliveros indicated that even though it is farther, away one of the best 11 possible CRA's is in West Palm Beach. He asked Mr. Delaney his opinion of which CRA's 12 would be most appropriate for the City to visit. 13 14 Mr. Delaney said that he didn't just want to do all residential or all commercial CRA. 15 Pompano Beach's CRA has a housing project; Delay Beach's CRA has a mix; Boca Raton's 16 CRA has a tremendous downtown area; and West Palm Beach's CRA has, everything from 17 rehabbed homes to the revitalization of downtown. 18 19 Member Feliu related that he wanted to visit some areas that have been rehabbed. This is 20 the kind of testimonial he wanted to see whereby people who have been living in houses that 21 have been substandard. for years because of an unequal policy of "separate but equal" finally 22 getting the opportunity to fix their homes up. 23 24 Member Russell commented that this is a really great idea. 25 26 Public Comments 27 Mr. David Tucker, Sr., of 6556 SW 780' Terrace appeared before the Community 28 Redevelopment Agency members to asked that notification of this meeting be sent to the other 29 members of the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board. He reminded everyone 30 that the Charter of the City of South Miami is the law by which all things' should be governed. 31 32 Mr. Delaney told Mr. 'Tucker . that providing notification to the Community 33 Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board was a very good suggestion. 34 35 Mr. Randy Wiscombe of 6821 SW 77th Terrace appeared before the Community 36 Redevelopment Agency members and suggested. including the City's Planning Board' members 37 along on the CRA Tour. 38 39 Mr. Ralph Smathers appeared before the City Commission to voice his concern about the 40 proposal to build the 500 space - parking garage [71" Street Parking garage]. He opined that an 41 adequate study has to be made to support this structure. He related that in order to build on this 42 site the property where Mario's Cleaners is located would have to be acquired. He indicated that 43 Mario has three years left on this lease. He shared that he'd spoken with the owner of property 44 where Mario's Cleaners is located and shared that the Comras Group did in fact have an option 45 to buy the property. That purchase would however, be subject to Mario's lease. He said one of 46 the things that will be seen in South Miami if this garage is allowed to be built would be a heavy 47 use by tour buses: 48 49 Mr. Smathers said that he saw a considerable opportunity for conflict of interest between 50 the CRA and the City of South Miami in the fact the_ manager of the CRA is also,a high level REGULAR CRA MINUTES 4 MARCH 1, '1999 ,.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 executive of the City. of South Miami: He said this conflict directly relates to this particular project because the citizens of the City of South Miami own the property in question. He opined that there is a lot of money involved with this proposition and a lot, of opportunity for the developer. He then referenced a newspaper article written in the Miami Herald Neighbor's section and quoted a remark made by Ms. Morris regarding this issue. He said there is no way that he can believe that the assistant City Manager for the City of South Miami would propose a situation like this with.something that is as important as'this. He said this issue obviously has to be putout for competitive bid. Vice - Chairperson Oliveros told Mr. Smathers that this project was put out for competitive bid. He said there were three interested parties initially involved with only company submitting the final documents. Mr. Smathers related that he'd not seen any of this information in the newspaper prior. He said that he'd been here long before if he'd known that there was any possibility that anybody was thinking of putting a 500 space garage on the 71" Street property. Chairperson Robaina said that an RFP &Q was put out. Mr. Delaney said that the interested parties had to pay $10,000.00 just to make the proposal with an additional $15,000 being paid by the selected proposal.. Mr. Smathers asked if the building concept been designed as of yet. Vice - Chairperson Oliveros said that conceptual drawings were presented at the last meeting. Mr. Smathers indicated that he got most of his information from the local newspaper. CRA General Counsel Dellagloria informed Mr. Smathers that he'd be more than happy to meet with him at his convenience to go over any type of legal matters or questions he might have in regard to the Agency. He said in that way some of the issues that may not be issues at all can be put to bed. Chairperson Robaina conveyed that Mr. Smathers is one of the City's very informed citizen and if he was having, difficulties with this issue just think what less informed citizens are experiencing. Mr. Smathers shared that when this presentation was . made before at the last CRA meeting the cable transmission was so bad no one understood what was going on. Member Feliu conveyed that this, is an equipment problem which administration is working diligently to correct. Chairperson Robaina indicated that Ms. Diaz, the City's Public Relations and Communications Officer would be working to get. the word out to the community via a City Newsletter that would be mailed to every resident. He shared that part of the problem in the past has been a lack of communication. REGULAR CRA MINUTES 5 MARCH 1, 1999 1 Member Feliu shared pursuant to an article in the Miami Herald the City of Coral Gables 2 is up in arms over the fact that it is costing them an enormous amount of money to handle the 3 overflow of sewage from the Shops'At Sunset Place'. 4 5 Vice- Chairperson Oliveros said that Coral Gables should take this issue up at Miami - 6 Dade County's level because that is the entity that approved the construction.. He said the 7 complaint has to do with Miami -Dade County Sewer System not the City of South Miami. 8 9 Staff Comments 10 There were none. 11 12 General Comments 13 Member Russell asked that the minutes be provided to the Community Redevelopment 14 Agency members the Friday prior to the Agency meeting. She further conveyed that a nameplate 15 should be ordered for the General Counsel. 16 17 Chairperson Robaina shared that he'd been approached about the possibility of having the 18 account receivablelpayable printed in the local community newspaper. 19 20 There being no further business to come before this Agency, the meeting adjourned at 21 8:15 p.m. 22 23 24 Approved 25 26 Attest: 27 Chairperson 28 29 30 31 Secretary REGULAR CRA MINUTES MARCH " 1,1999 1 City of South Miami 2 Community Redevelopment. Agency Minutes 3 Monday, April 5,1999 4 5 A. Roll Call: 6 7 The Community Redevelopment Agency for the City of South Miami, s Florida met in regular session on Monday, April 5, 1999 beginning at 7:30 p.m., in 9 the City Commission Chambers; 6130 Sunset Drive. The following members of l o the Agency were present; Chairperson Julio Robaina, Vice - Chairperson Armando 11 Oliveros, Jr., Members Mary Scott Russell, David D. Bethel, Rubystine Anderson, 12 James Bowman and Horace G. Feliu. 13 14 Also in attendance were CRA Director Diana Morris, CRA Consultant Don 15 Delaney, CRA General Counsel John Dellagloria and CRA Secretary Ronetta 16 Taylor. 17 18 B. Approval of Minutes 19. Moved by Member Russell, seconded by Vice Chairperson Oliveros to defer 20 the approval of the minutes to the next regular meeting. 21 22 There being no discussion, the motion passed by a 7 -0 vote. 23 24 Vice- Chairperson Oliveros: Yea 25 Member Russell: Yea 26 Member Anderson: Yea 27 Member Feliu: Yea 28 Member Bowman: Yea 29 Member Bethel Yea 30 Chairperson Robaina: Yea 31 32 C. Overview of Agency 33 CRA Director Morris related that this is the first semi - annual report on the 34 CRA, which is now six months old. 35 36 Chairperson Robaina acknowledged the CRA Advisory Board members 37 Helen Diaz, Charles Foschini Lee Perry, Charate Palmer and David Tucker, Sr. 38 He also acknowledged the two resident appointees to the CRA Agency as being 39 Rubystine Anderson and James Bowman a former City Commissioner. . c� ruNV�s 1 APRIZ 5,, 1999 1 2 Mr. Delaney related. that when the Community Redevelopment Plan was 3 adopted by the City Commission and the Miami -Dade County Commission one of 4 the things this Agency did that others had not done in this State was incorporated 5 into the CRA Plan a section entitled "safeguards to ensure proper implementation 6 � of programs and accountability." It provides -that the CRA would hold semi 7 annual information land. public workshops to report on programs, I projects status s and progress, to gather input from property owners, citizens and interested parties 9 regarding redevelopment activities as well as discuss strategies related to local lo redevelopment issues. 11 12 Mr., Delaney thanked Chamber South for its assistance in helping to put out 13 the notice about this semi- annual meeting and ,workshop to its membership. He 14 related that the CRA has a life of thirty (30) years. It has the five sitting members 15 of the City Commission along with two appointed by the City Commission who 16 resides in the CRA area. He said to provide extra assistance and 'expertise the 17 Commission also created a Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board 18 with the appointment of five members. He related that the Advisory Board 19 members along with the two residents appointed to the CRA Board would go 20 through a training session later this month. 21 22 Mr. Delaney said there has been some confusion as to whether or not the 23 CRA had the authority to zone or re -zone. He emphasized that the CRA does not 24 have the authority to zone or re -zone. That power is left with the City of South 25 Miami. He said this information could be found on pages 13 and 19 of the CRA 26 Plan. The planning documents that this Board uses as guides are; 1) the 27 comprehensive plan, 2) Hometown',Plan and 3) Charrettes One and TOO. He 28 emphasized that the CRA Board is about implementing the plans that have already 29 been made. 30 31 Mr. Delaney said that the CRA hasn't received any funding in its first year. 32 $365,000 has been raised, that will be discussed under the "Budget Section" of the 33 agenda. He related that approximately 93% of the funds raised by the CRA Board 34 are private funds with a very. small portion coming from public funding. This 35 Agency by creating and 'gaining approval o.f a Tax Increment Financing 36 mechanism will bring back in tax dollars 15 to 20 Million dollars that would have 37 gone to Miami -Dade County. This money would The spent by the CRA on 38 programs in the Redevelopment area. He said a dedicated revenue stream has been 39 created for the thirty (30) years. 40 CRA Z11rNU2XS 2 APRIL 5, 1999 1 D Presentation of Projects 2 Plan to hold community meeting (in CRA area) 3 Ms. Morris, CRA Director indicated that the CRA Board must approve all 4 projects funded by the CRA. She shared that administration has been working with 5 Mayor ' Robaina and Commissioner. Bethel to set up a meeting in the CRA 6 community with the same type of information and opportunity for community 7 input. She related that Reverend Green has graciously offered the use of St. John s A.M.E. Church for this purpose. This meeting would be finalized within the next 9 couple of weeks. 10 11 Chairperson Robaina asked how is advertisement being done so that the 12 residents in this area are notified. 13 14 Ms. Morris said that if the need be flyers would be handed out door to door. 15 16 Chairperson Robaina emphasized the importance of getting people to come 17 out to the meetings. 18 19 A Saturday workshop or public meeting was preferred. 20 21 Paint up- fix -up Project 22 Ms. Morris related that seven homes have been painted. She invited 23 Reverend Green to come forward for comments. She related that the CRA has 24 teamed up with the Wounded Healers, Inc. She said funds for this project were 25 received from Bank Atlantic, the Comras Company with a very sizable amount of 26 paint donated from Home Depot. 27 28 . Reverend William Green, Pastor of St. John A.M.E. Church appeared before 29 the City Commission to share, the Wounded Healers, Inc., involvement with this 30 project. He said that the Wounded Healers, Inc., painted seven homes within the 31 CRA community. He shared that the Wounded Healers, Inc., has five young men 32 who have started back to school to learn some marketable skills. These young men 33 who would be seeking to secure personal certification - in painting and drywall. He 34 said eventually these young men would be leaving Wounded Healers to make their 35 way in the marketplace by starting their own company. He. said the Wounded 36 Healers, Inc., would - then assist another group of young men in a similar endeavor. 37 38 Reverend Green highlighted some before and after pictures of some of the 39 houses that were painted. He said the Cobb' house was painted and windows that 4o had been broken out were replaced. APRIZ 5, 1999 1 2 Mayor Robaina shared that he'd read an article in the Neighbor's section of 3 Miami Herald which made it sound like all that is being done is slapping on a coat 4 of paint. He.said that he.took those comments to be offensive because these young 5 men are doing a lot more than painting and are not getting credit for it. 6 7 Reverend Green commended these young men for their hard work and long 8 hours. He emphasized that there would be aabrand new company incorporated soon 9 in the City of South Miami that was founded by this effort. He asked that the lo words "quick victory" be changed to "the beginning of the initiative that we set for 11 the change in the community." 12 13 Mayor Robaina conveyed his pleasure -with this group of individuals 14 venturing out by starting their own business. He related that one of the initiatives 15 the Commission is imposing on new developers is that they hire people from the 16 community. 17 18 Commissioner Feliu shared that he'd seen the impeccable, professional and 19 conscious work performed by this group of individuals. He inquired if there were 2o enough houses in the CRA area to paint that would keep these individuals busy. 21 22- Reverend Green said the first set of houses was painted free of charge. The 23 next set of houses will be charged a minimum fee. 24 25 Commissioner Feliu related that he is sure there are a lot of residents in the 26 community that can benefit from this and at the same time help the Wounded 27 Healers program. 28 29 Commissioner Bethel said -that Reverend Green should be commended for. 3o his guidance, role model and leadership as it relates to these young men. He said 31 that he'd witnessed the enthusiasm of the residents in the CRA area about getting 32 their homes fixed up. They were planting flowers in their yards. He said this fix - 33 up program pis starting to rub off on other neighbors because they've started fixing 34 up their homes too. He emphasized that there are some good things going on in 35 this community. 36 37 Commissioner Feliu 'suggested having flyers sent out advertising the 38 Wounded Healers ability to paint and fix -up homes. at a good discount for the 39 people in the Community. 40 CRA MINUTES 4 APRIL 5, 1999 1 Ms. Morris shared that., Sarah Tompkins, of OCED advised her that they 2 have a project whereby people can get;paint to paint their homes. She said this 3 might be another. source to be used for this purpose. 4 5 Mr. Delaney reiterated to the public that this money was raised without the 6 involvement of any tax dollars. 7 s Discussion - Commercial Rehab Project 9 Ms. Morris shared that they'd gone with Commissioner Bethel to look at lo some of the commercial properties in the CRA area and spoken with the owner of 11 South Miami Market. She showed some before and after pictures of one 12 commercial establishment in the CRA area that had been painted. She said the 13 owner also plans to do some landscaping around the property. People in the 14 Community were used to do the painting. 15 16 Mr. Delaney recounted the tour he'd taken with Commissioner Bethel and 17. Ms. Morris in the commercial section of the CRA area. They'd visited the market 18 and met the new owner who wants to make improvements. He said administration 19 has found the money for those improvements. He said this would be discussed 2o during the budget portion of the agenda. He recounted. that the Comras Group was 21 charged a $25,000.00 fee to have an expert at the table. $10,000 of those funds is 22 allocated to do a phase.one audit and appraisal. He said administration would like 23 for the Commission to allow the CRA to use the $152000 to implement this same 24 type of program for commercial properties in the CRA area. 25 26 27 28 29 30 Member Bowman asked if Mr. Delaney was referring to the South Miami Market. Mr. Delaney replied "yes." 31 Member Bowman indicated that he would be against this because the owner 32 and operator of the South Miami market is making all kinds of money there and 33 should be able to fix the building up without the help of the CRA. 34 35 Member Bethel shared that he'd visited this. area with Mr. Delaney and Ms. 36 Morris. He said this is a business in'the black community that employs no African 37 Americans. He emphasized that this business is taking a lot of money out of the 38 community. 39 CRA MINUTES 5 APRIL 5, 1999 1 Chairperson Robaina concurred with Commissioner Bethel's comments and 2 asked if these individuals are making a profit from this business why give them the 3 money to fix up their building. 4 5 Mr. Delaney said when the fieldwork was done that establishment was 6 added to the recommended list. 7 s Chairperson Robaina conveyed that he was not against the business but if an 9 individual is able to pay out of their own pocket to have their establishment fixed 10 up why can't they. 11 2 Mr. Delaney said the CRA's proposal was to come up with a recommended 13 list of commercial sites to implement the same type of program that was 14 successfully done for residential neighborhood. 15 16 Vice- Chairperson Oliveros suggested loaning the funds that would have 17 been allocated for South Miami Market to assist another business that wanted to 18 come into the community get established. 19 20 Chairperson Robaina concurred with Vice Chairperson Oliveros' suggestion. 21 He further voiced -continued support for the Wounded Healers, Inc. in this 22 endeavor. 23 24 Member Bethel shared that a suggestion was made to have the residents take 25 the trolley to Winn Dixie for their shopping needs instead of utilizing South Miami 26 Market. 27 28 Member Bowman commented that this market is definitely robbing the poor 29 people. 30 31 Vice - Chairperson 01iveros opined that this Board is here to give direction to 32 its administration.. Staff has indicated that the CRA wanted to assist with the 33 commercial growth in this community. 34 35 Member Anderson related that when South Miami Market see that the other 36 businesses have been improved they would be inspired to do the same for theirs 37 because they have the funds. 3s cFtA asrrroz�s 6 APRIZ 5, 1999 1 Member Russell addressed her comments to spending moneys that have 2 been allocated for another purpose. She said that she'd like to see a budget first in 3 addition to . making sure the environmental impact fee is covered. 4 5 Mr. Delaney. related that the CRA did have a program to assist with the start 6 up of businesses. He said there is also a program for the commercial paint- up /fix- 7 up. He conveyed that the CRA not cut out every, other commercial establishment 8 just because South Miami Market is not serving the community well. 9 10 General Counsel Dellagloria indicated that at this point no direction to staff 11 is necessary. He related just like the guideline criteria used for the residential 12 program perhaps staff would like the opportunity. to go back and come up with 13 guidelines for future residential and commercial projects. 14 15 Member Feliu opined that the CRA should concentrate on the residential. 16 paint-up/fix-up program. 17 18 Members Bethel and Russell concurred with Member Feliu's opinion. 19 20 Member Russell opined that the residential program has been very 21 successful so far therefore this effort needs to I be maintained and focused on. 22 23 Member Anderson opined that the residential program should continue to be 24 focused on. She said that the CRA members could go to the commercial 25 establishments about improving their property. 26 27 Ms. Morris indicated that an architect had purchased the property next to the 28 Sheraton Four Points Hotel and is in the process of renovating it. 29 30 Sewer Hook- up/Impact Fee (OCED project) 31 Ms. Morris shared that administration had met with staff from OCED to 32 discuss the funds that were allocated approximately three years prior for this 33 purpose. She emphasized that this is a Miami -Dade County project whereby the 34 City is not responsible for the implementation. The problem has been that even 35 though the sewer lines have been installed the cost of hooking up to the sewer lines 36 is out of reach for some people [approximately $4,500.000 which includes the 37 impact and hook -up fees]. Discussions have been held with OCED to allocate a 38 portion of this money back to the City so that people who are qualified can be 39 helped with this' purpose. 40 CRA 24INVITS 7 APRIL 5, 1999 1 Chairperson Robaina inquired about the guidelines for selecting the eligible 2 households for sewer hook -up. 3 4 Mr. Delaney said that the property - .owner would .fall under OCED 5 guidelines. He said there has been approximately $300,000.00 allocated for South 6 Miami residents to be hooked up to the' sewer lines. He said the property would 7 have to be in the OCED target area. The problem is the money never gets to the 8 property that need it. He related that the professional staff from OCED has agreed 9 to recommend that that money come through the CRA so that the citizens can get lo hooked up to the sewer system. This request has to be approved by the OCED 11 director. 12 13 Chairperson Robaina voiced his support of this recommendation. 14 15 Ms. Morris emphasized the importance of having the homes connected to 16 the sewer system because permits to have the septic tanks pumped out will no 17 longer be issued in the near future 18 19 Mr. Delaney emphasized ' that environmental regulations ' for Miami -Dade 20 County will not give permits for property owners to, clean their own septic tanks if 21 an available sewer system is in that area. 22 2 3 Mr. Harold Brijbasi, representative from OCED appeared before the 24 Community Redevelopment Agency Board and related that the funds that were 25 allocated for the sewer connection were meant for residents that met a certain 26 income criteria and not every household. He emphasized that the income 27 guidelines must be met. The Community Action Agency and its staff is utilized for 28 this purpose. He said the impact . fee is ' the issue most residents are having a 29 problem with. 30 31 Chairperson Robaina said the impact fee is a separate: charge. He asked if 32 this is where the CRA funding would be of assistance. 33 34 Member Russell inquired about the amount of the impact and plumber fees. 35 36 Mr. Brijbasi related that the impact fee was close to $3,000.00 dollars. 3? 38 Chairperson Robaina asked for clarification purposes as to what would the 3.9 funds allocated to the CRA be used for. 40 CRA MINUTES 8 APRXZ 5, 1999 1 . Mr. Delaney said they were going to try to get the funds reprogrammed to 2. come through the CRA so that administration can work with eligible applicants to 3. get that money to th= so that they can pay the impact fee and plumber for sewer 4 hook -up. 5 6 Marshall Williamson Park Safety Improvement Grant 7 Ms. Morris indicated.that the City was awarded $50,000.00 from OCED for s safety improvements for Marshall Williamson Park. She related that not all, of the 9 funding requested was received therefore the improvement plan has to be lo amended. She said the community; the Parks & Recreation as well as the Police 11 department -have been involved in this project. She said that the Planning 12 Department would also be involved in this project. 13 14 Chairperson Robaina asked if the lights installed in the park were the ones 15 that couldn't be broken. 16 17 Ms. Morris said that those lights were already installed in the park. 18 19 Member Russell inquired as to the source of the grant award. 20 21 Ms. Morris said the funds came from OCED. 22 23 Proposed Parking Garage -- 58th Avenue/71St Street 24 Mr. Delaney reported that since the last meeting the negotiating team met 25 with the Simon and Comras Company on two occasions. A public report would be 26 provided to the CRA and City Commission the beginning of June '99. He related 27 that he'd like to have a meeting with each member of the Board to brief them on 28 the progress. 29 30 Member Feliu recounted that at the last Commission Meeting discussion 31 took place as to whether or not another parking garage was necessary. He related. 32 that Mr. Basu, the City's Assistant City Manager/Planning Director would be 33 making a visual assessment of the available parking spaces in the downtown area. 34 35 Proposed Miami -Dade County Metrorail Garage Project 36 Ms. Morris related that the local group of Dover & Kohl, Cooper and Shaw 37 has been selected by Miami -Dade County to begin the negotiating phase for this 38 project. 39 40 Member Feliu asked Mr. Basu about the parking inventory study. cMA WAVU S 9 APRIL 5, 1999 1 2 Mr. Basu said this is part of the negotiations. At the right point in time when 3 the traffic and parking issue is discussed this would be part of the information. He 4 said the negotiation hasn't reached that point as of yet. 5 6 Manager Scurr recounted the original exceptions that were given to the 7 Shops At Sunset Place plus or minus 1000 parking spaces over code required 8 parking. This is part of the mix of what is going on in the downtown area and 9 what's generated the RFP for the two parking garages. 10 11 Mr. Victor Dover appeared before the City Commission to share with them 12 the progress that is being made at Miami -Dade County's level as it related to the 13 proposed Miami -Dade County Metrorail , Garage Redevelopment. He said 14 essentially this redevelopment would transform the Metrorail parking garage by 15 adding things to it and improving the garage. 1) Making . the garage more user 16 friendly; 2) transforming the garage to be compatible with the neighborhood; 3) a 17 housing element will be added; 4) arcade will be added over the sidewalk and 18 around the parking garage which would encourage human activity. 19 20 Mr. Delaney asked if Miami -Dade County had selected a negotiating team 21 as of yet for this program. 22 23 Mr. Dover replied that so far he hasn't heard as to whether or not negotiation 24 team members have been selected. 25 26 Mr. Delaney inquired as to whether, or not the City has been contacted about 27 having someone from the City of South Miami on this negotiating team. 28 29 Manager Scurr said the City was invited to sit in on the presentation portion 30 of this process but no invitation has been extended for someone to sit on the 31 negotiation team. 32 33 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that he wanted to see this project moved 34 forward quickly. He asked if a letter was .sent from the CRA Board would it help 35 to expedite the process. 36 37 Mr. Delaney opined that it would make a difference. 38 CMA MIxvTES 10, APRIZ 5, 1999 I By acclamation, the CRA staff was directed to send a letter to Miami -Dade 2 - County on behalf of the CRA Board expressing their desire to move this project 3 forward expeditiously. 4 5 Trolley Update -- Route changes, Ridership 6 Ms. Morris recounted that the CRA had received $225,000.00 for the 7 implementation of a free trolley service. These funds will operate the trolley for 8 two years. The ridership count per week was approximately 1000 passengers. She 9 conveyed that the new route, which would go into effect this week, would further .lo increase the ridership. She related that Member Russell had made a very good 11 suggestion about a Sunday route to accommodate the churches. 12 13 Ms. Morris addressed the advertisement space available on the. trolley. She 14 related that the trolley service indicated that six panels could be affixed to the 15 trolley for this purpose. Each panel would generate approximately $400 -$500 per 16 month. She estimated revenues from the advertisement of approximately $24,000 17 per year. 18 19 Chairperson Robaina asked for the record what account would this revenue 20 would be put into. 21 22 Ms. Morris said the revenues would go into the CRA operating account and 23 could be utilized for whatever projects the CRA Board deems appropriate. 24 25 Review of FPL project, Post,Office Improvement/Old Inspection Station 26 Ms. Morris showed before and after pictures of the FPL site. She detailed the 27 improvements agreed upon and implemented by FPL. 28 29 Ms. Morris showed before, and after pictures of the Post Office. She detailed 30 the improvements being made by the Post Office. The bids for this landscaping 31 project have .,gone out. She said representatives from the Post Office said the 32 landscaping would be done in a couple of months. 33 34 Ms. Morris related that the fence at the Old Inspection Station property has 35 been moved back approximately 6 or 7 feet. The barbwire has been taken down. 36 On tomorrow morning the landscaping for this site would go before the ERPB for 37 approval. 38 39 40 CRA haNUTEs 11 APRIL 5, 1999 1 ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES 2 3 Financial Status Report 4 Mr. Delaney -reported on the revenue the CRA has generated in the first six 5 months as to where it came from where it is being allocated and other moneys the 6 CRA Board would be considering to allocate: 1) $225,000 was received from 7 negotiations between the' CRA and the Shops At Sunset Drive. These funds were s allocated to operate the first two years of the Trolley Service; 2) $2,500 was 9 received from the Bank Atlantic Foundation which was utilized in the residential lo paint -up /fix -up program.; 3) a $500.00. private donation from the Comras 11 Company which was also spent on the paint -up /fix -up program.; 4) $1,000.00 was 12 donated to the Parks & Recreation program; '5) $50,000.00 in public funds was 13 secured for Marshall Williams Park for safety .improvement; 6) investing the 14 current revenues' to generate an estimate an additional $10,000.00 additional 15 dollars to be allocated where the CRA Board thinks is appropriate; 7) $25,000 of 16 in -kind funding for FPL improvements. This project has been completed; 8) 17 $25,000 of in -kind funding. for Post Office Improvements; 9) $25,000 was 18 generated from the RFP with the Simon/Comras Group. He said approximately 19 $10,000 of that has been spent on a Phase One environmental audit and appraisal. 2o He said there will be approximately $15,000 'left for a quick victory project. He 21 said the direction tonight was to take that money and look into expanding the 22 residential paint -up /fix -up program. 23 24 Member Feliu inquired about the funding arrangement for the trolley service 25 as whether or not this agreement with the Shops At Sunset. Place was made prior to 26 the CRA inception. 27 28 Mr. Delaney said that Member Feliu was correct in part. He said the 29 agreement stipulated that if the City purchased or leased a trolley and operated the 30 trolley service using their funds the Shops At Sunset Place would pay for twenty 31 hours per week of service. He said a commitment was provided for in the City's 32 Comprehensive Master Plan to have a trolley service by the year 1999. He 33 emphasized that:in order for the City to do this it would have to spend taxpayers 34 dollars. The CRA negotiated to have the Shops At Sunset Place provide the money 35 up front. KV 37 Member Feliu said he understood this however, he didn't understand the 38 logic behind it. He said that he wasn't sure the $225,000.00 should be considered 39 CRA -Funds because of a pre - negotiated deal between the City and the Shops At 4 0 Sunset Place. He said if the City had never negotiated the funds would not have cIM MINUTES 12 APRIL 5, 1999 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 existed. He emphasized. that the CRA was not responsible for obtaining those funds. Mr. Delaney related that Member Feliu was correct when he said that the CRA didn't have anything to do with the negotiations of the Development Order and the funds attached to it. Chairperson Robaina interjected. and conveyed that Member Feliu was correct to a point.. He said the CRA is the tool that caused the City to get the money up front for the trolley service. He said that without this money the City would have to come up with $100,000.00. to fund the trolley service. He said that the funds collected up front from the ,Shops At Sunset Place are being placed in an interesting bearing account to generate more income. Vice -Chair Oliveros said that the City Commission had voted for this issue. He related that he understood what Member Feliu was saying. The bottom line is that the money being used for the trolley service are City funds. - He said the City did not have the money to.buy or lease a trolley, to hire a driver before 1998. The only way that this could be done was to see if this issue could be negotiated and get the money through to the CRA so that it can fund the service. He emphasized' that the City wasn't using the funds it is in an interest bearing account. He reiterated that the Commission made a decision to. use that money in the CRA. Member Feliu said that he wanted to make sure of accountability and that the money is credited to the right entity. He opined that these funds should not have been credited to the CRA Fund (income). He emphasized that the people have to see the accountability. Mr. Delaney related that he was directed to solve the trolley service problem. Member Feliu emphasized that the original origin of the funds for the trolley service did not come from the CRA. Chairperson Robaina asked that this budget format be listed from hence forward in one of the local publications or the City's newsletter for the 'residents. Member Russell inquired as to how the CRA funds was being invested and how much revenue was being generated. CRA MNU=s APRSL 5, 1999 13 1 Mr. Delaney said all of the funds that are cash funds are in a non -CRA trust 2 account. He said that he didn't have the authority to get these funds invested in s something that would yield more than. it is presently receiving which is 4 approximately 'one (1 %) percent. He said staff has identified funds from the 5 Florida League of Cities that generate between 6 1/Z and 7 '/4 percent. 6 7 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that someone should be held accountable for s the lost of this potential revenue. He said that he'd thought that the funds were 9 receiving more interest. 10 11 Ms. Morris interjected and related that she's provided Mr. Oshikoya, the 12 City's Finance Director with information from the Florida League of Cities. She 13 related that Mr. Oshikoya had already come up with some other ideas as well. 14 15 Chairperson Robaina inquired as to how long the City has had these funds. 16 17 Mr. Delaney said approximately six months. 18 19 Chairperson Robaina asked how soon could the moneys be transferred to a 20 high yield account. 21 22 Manager Scurr opined that the wrong impression is being sent. He related 23 that. a meeting was held a couple of weeks prior to discuss this very issue. Part of 24 the research that has to be done is that the money has to be liquidated -when it is 25 needed. He said administration is working on this and if there are some problems 26 administration is willing to resolve them. He said this is just a project budget. It 27 is not a budget or a statement of accounts but different projects that have been 28 funded. 29 30 Chairperson Robaina asked. if his impression. was correct that the 31 $225,000.00 was sitting somewhere earning one (1%) percent. 32 33 Mr. Oshikoya, the City's Finance Director appeared before the CRA Board 34 and related that this was not. the case and even if it were the case there would be a 35 reason for it. This has been discussed with Ms. Morris before. He related that it 36 will cost the City approximately $212,000.00 for the trolley service for one year. 37 He said that he'd sent a memorandum to Ms. Morris asking; for the monthly 38 expenses for this service' so that whatever balances left can be invested. He 39 emphasized that a cash flow as to what the monthly expenses are would be 40 needed. He said that he could provide the CRA members with the account CRA zff&VU ES 14 APRXL 5, 1999 1 information. He said the funds were not in the long -term investments. The short- 2 term investment could last up to twelve months. 3 4 Chairperson Robaina asked for Mr. Oshikoya to provide the members with a 5 report on exactly how much return the money is receiving. , He commented that 6 since the CRA has received so little why is it not being maximized. 7 s Mr. Oshikoya said funds are invested pursuant to State Statutes. If CRA 9 funds are not being invested that same way there is a reason for it. 10 11 Member Russell suggested having each member of the CRA brought up to 12 date on the CRA funding. She asked for a report of this issue at the next CRA 13 meeting. 14 15 Projected 3 -Year Revenue 16 Mr. Delaney stated that the CRA budget would have to be done at the same 17 time as the City's budget because it would have to go to Miami -Dade County as 18 well. There will be a training session on April 20' with the new members of the 19 CRA and the CRA Advisory Board being invited. He said a bi- annual budget 20 would be proposed (2 -year budget). He said according to the property appraiser's 21 office the CRA would have approximately $500,000.00 this fall with a Million or 22 so the year after that. 23 24 Chairperson Robaina related that he wanted a more aggressive investment 25 approach to handling these funds. He fiu ther . related that he wanted an 26 independent auditing firm to handle this account. 27 28 Mr. Delaney related that the City gets to select what type of auditing 29 services that, would be required. He said the CRA budget would end September 3o 30'' of this year. A report to the State Auditing General, Miami -Dade County and 31 the City Commission. is due by March 31" of the following year, six months after 32 the books close. There are no TIFF funds. He said this is a simple $1,500.00 33 audit this fiscal year. Next year because there will be more private and TIFF 34 revenue the CRA would need a full blown audit. He said the decision to have the 35 same auditing firm or another auditing firm, complete this audit. He related that 36 the CRA budget has to be adopted by July '99 because it has, to be taken before the 37 Miami -Dade County Commission. 38 39 Bonds CRA WZ;U =S 15, APRIZ 5, 1999 I Mr. Delaney said during the training session it would be discussed how 2 CRA Bonds work. He said it is important that.. the CRA Advisory 3 Board also know about this procedure. 4 5 Status. Report on CRA Interlocal Agreement 6 Ms. Morris indicated that she'd spoken with Mr. Tony Crapp's office earlier 7 today. A representative is working on" trying to get a date for the City to meet. s The City's changes to the Interlocal° Agreement were sent back to Miami -Dade 9 County several months prior. At this point it is with the Miami -Dade County lo Attorney's office. 11 12 Training for Advisory Board and New CRA Board Members 13 Ms. Morris announced that the Training session for the new CRA Board 14 members and the advisory board members would take place on Saturday, April 24th 15 from 10:00 .a.m., to 12 noon in the City Commission Chambers, 6130 Sunset 16 Drive. She related that anyone that would like to can attend this training session. 17 18 Field Trip (to neighboring cities with active CRA's) 19 Ms. Morris related that staff had visited Delray Beach and another couple of 20 places would ibe visited. She related that Coach USA was working on an estimate 21 for a larger vehicle to be utilized for this trip. 22 23 Mr. Delaney said that he'd like for the CRA Board to give it some thought 24 as to who they think the seats should be filled with. 25 26 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that he also wanted some residents invited in 27 order to see what a CRA could really accomplish. 2s 29 General Counsel Dellagloria opined that it would be incumbent upon the 30 City to advertise this trip and have it open so that some of the community 31 representatives as well as the press are invited. 32 33 F. PUBLIC COMMENTS 34 Mr. Edward' English of 6117 SW 44th . Street and the South Miami 35 Homeowners Association President appeared before the Community 36 Redevelopment Agency Board. He provided to the CRA Board members with a 37 list of projects that the SMHOA was suggesting to have done. He said a copy of . 38 the MOSS Report has been provided as well. He pointed out pertinent suggestions 39, in the SMHOA list. He related that the SMHOA` is not against the development. 4o He addressed his comments to the CRA projected Budget which included the TIFF CRA rtzNV =s 16. APRXZ 5, 1999 1 revenue. He asked that the budget be reviewed again with real hard numbers as 2 opposed to, estimates. 3 4 Mr. Delaney said that the CRA Board had just done exactly what Mr. 5 English is recommending. 6 7 Chairperson Robaina asked for the realistic budget figures. 8 9 Mr. Delaney said the numbers in the Redevelopment Plan were based on to 95% for political reasons. 11 12 Chairperson Robaina asked when would the City have the hard numbers. 13 14 Ms. Morris said a representative from Miami Dade County ; tax appraiser's 15 office said that it would be another four to six weeks. 16 17 Mr. English indicated that the Shops At Sunset Place would only generate 18 approximately. $600,000.00 with, an annual. expenditure of $750,000.00 which 19 means that the City is already over expended by $150,000.00. 20 21 Member Feliu said the City has already engaged a firm to study how the 22 City can get more revenue from the Shops At Sunset Place to offset ' the 23 $7505,000.00. 24 25 Mr. Delaney related that the CRA has its own revenue stream for thirty years 26 and would be able to pay the cost of the trolley service because it has the program 27 to do that. 28 29 Mr. English said there are items that should be identified that that will come 30 out of the CRA budget that the City would be responsible for. He emphasized the 31 importance of identifying these items in preparation for next year's budget. 32 33 Chairperson Robaina related that he'd like to have answers to the questions 34 raised by Mr. English, presented in simple form so that everyone can understand 35 them. 36 37 Member Feliu opined that this could be resolved by simply cutting the 38 services in that area. 39 CRA r IZJ =S 17 APRIL 5, 1999 1 Mr. English next addressed the CRA procedures and guidelines. He opined 2 that it would be a good. idea if the CRA Director would do a survey of bonafied 3 CRA'.s in the State of Florida to discover their problem areas. He said that Miami 4 Dade County had two failed CRA's. 5 6 Mr. English suggested a Regional Impact Study to evaluate the impact of 7 regional shopping malls on South Miami and the Shops At Sunset Place. (Merrick 8 Village proposal, Dadeland Mall, Dadeland South proposal, Proposed mall at 9 Williamson Site — US 1 and 104th Street). This Impact Study should also be lo designed to determine the need for additional parking garages. 11 12 Mr. Delaney asked if Mr. English was suggesting that the City's tax dollars 13 be spent on . an Impact Study beyond the boundaries of the City's limits. He said 14 the DRI legislation provides for the private sector to fund this study., He related 15 that the developer would be paying for the traffic study, for the 71St Street parking - 16 garage. 17 18 Mr. English recommended a "feasibility study" be done to study the 19 performance to justify the CRA. He said that the OCED could do a lot of things 20 that the CRA is trying to do. 21 22 Chairperson Robaina concurred with concerns expressed by Mr. English. 23 24 Mr. English opined that once the City knows the exact needs the Shops At 25 Sunset Place would need and the City has the exact amount of TIFF revenues 26 every thing will level off. 27 28 Chairperson Robaina said that he would sit with CRA Staff to make sure the 29 questions and concerns are addressed. 30 31 Mr. Dick Ward of 8325 SW 62nd .Court appeared before the Community 32 Redevelopment Agency Board and indicated that the $7502000.00 was placed in 33 the 1998 /99. Fiscal Year's budget for the operation of the Shops At Sunset Place. 34 The SMHOA was able to get $100,000.00 cut from the initial budget. He opined 35 that from looking, at what is happening. the City would not get a chance to cut back 36 on that service as far as the Shops At Sunset Place is concerned and what's going 37 on in the downtown area. He related that -Mr. English had put more time into the 38 CRA issue than anybody had he's every seen before.. He said that he found it 39 rather insulting to witness. staff members snickering while. Mr. English'was making 4o his presentation. He . inquired as to whether or not the Commission members CPA rurroTES 18 APRIL 5, 1999 1 would address the Pedestrian Overpass issue during their trip to Tallahassee for 2 Dade Days. 3 4 Chairperson Robaina indicated that this issue would be discussed in 5 Tallahassee. 6 7 Mr. Ward inquired as to the location where this pedestrian overpass would 8 connect. 9 10 Member Russell related that Mr. Basu had provided a report at a previous 11 meeting and said that it is required to connect on Sunset Drive and US One. The 12 angle from the Metro -Rail Station and the parking garage makes it not feasible to 13 connect into the Shops At Sunset Place. 14 15 Mr. Ward inquired as to whether or not revenue from occupational licenses 16 from the Shops At Sunset Place was placed in the CRA coffers. 17 18 Vice - Chairperson Oliveros replied that the occupational license fees would 19 go into the City's coffers. 20 21 Mr. Ward related that he was glad to hear Member Feliu bring up the fact 22 that the $2252000.00 was not a part of the original CRA and how it became a part 23 of the CRA money: He said that he was also pleased to see Chairperson Robaina 24 attack the fact that the City was only receiving a small interest on the money. He 25 said it was his understanding that when the ' $225,000.00 was received that half of it 26 was- going to be invested this fiscal year with the other half would be put into 27 investments for term time. 28 29 Mr. Ward addressed concerns raised by Member Bowman about South 30 Miami Market. He said that market has been taking advantage of the people in the 31 Murray Park area for .many years. He commended Member Bowman for calling 32 this to everyone's attention and no using CRA funds to fix -up this facility. 33 34 Vice- Chairperson Oliveros conveyed that the Board was trying to identify 35 uses and the intent of the program and the spirit in which the funds would be used. 36 He said it is not to discriminate against any business or. race of people or 37 unemployed people. 38 39 Mr. Randy Wiscombe of 6831 SW 77th Terrace appeared before the 40 Community Redevelopment Agency, Board to voice his concern about a couple of c7m aslrros 19 APRIL 5, 1999 1 things. He said the Planning Board had made several suggestions regarding the 2 guidelines. At the last meeting a request was for a parking inventory before the 3 City Commission move forward with anymore projects. He said the Planning 4 Board is using the Hometown Plan as a guideline. He said that the Planning Board 5 would review the Hometown Plan. He asked why would a model that is not 6 effective be used. He asked that any type of negotiations with the 71st Street 7 Parking Garage is curtailed until the Hometown Plan has been reviewed. 8 9 Member Feliu said that Mr. Wiscombe has come up with a good point. He lo related that the direction for this came from this Board. The negotiations can be 11 done in such a way as to have the project done to specifics as to what the City 12 wants. 13 14 Chairperson Robaina concurred with Mr. Wiscombe's original comments 15 that this issue needs to be revisited. He asked that the message not be sent that the 16 Commission has agreed to any such project because it has not. . 17 18 Mr. Wiscombe related that he'd heard the Shops At Sunset Place referred to 19 Las Vegas because of the signage, which was allowed through the Hometown 20 Plan. He encouraged the Board to be aware of some of those things before this 21 goes any further. 22 23 Ms. Cathy McCann of 5820 SW 8701 Street appeared before the Community 24 Redevelopment Agency Board and referenced the Dickey Report. She related that 25 when she'd read the Dickey Report she'd thought it was talking about a different 2 6 City because she didn't see in South: Miami what this report said. She said that 27 she's read the Moss Report with a great deal of interest. She informed the 28 Commission that she'd taken the liberty of having. a map made which she used as 29 part of her presentation as it related to the CRA area within the past few years 3o regarding affordable housing and developed land which includes the churches. 31 She pointed out an area on this map that represented sewage hook -up. She said 32 there is money for those. homeowners that have not already 'do so if they qualify 33 and live in a particular area. There were also street improvements noted on this 34 map. She said the City would be remiss if it didn't acknowledge that this area has 35 come a long way with tremendous improvements', made. 36 37 Ms. McCann opined that the Moss Report is a fine document and should be 38 part of the CRA Plan. ; She further opined that there are a lot of things in the 39 Dickey Report that is a disservice to the City and its residents. She directed the 4o Board members to pages 10 and 40 of the Moss Report. She related that the CRA OU JCrNU 5 . 20 "Rxz 5, 1999 to 1 could not address social problems. She opined the biggest problem in this area is 2 that most people in this area are working for minimum wages, which isn't the 3 answer. She asked that the Board members compare the Dickey Report with the 4 Moss Report. 5 6 Mr. David Tucker, Sr., of 6556 SW '78th Terrace appeared before the 7 Community Redevelopment Agency Board to express his views about the CRA 8 and its beginnings. He related that the City has a Charter and functions 'by that 9 document which is verified by the State of Florida. He said the CRA could not do lo anything to this City because of its Charter. He said, the City is not responsible, for 11 any kind of bonding failure that the CRA may have. The previous Commission 12 made a decision that it is not only the Commission but also the CRA Board. That 13 resides with this present Commission. He said there might come a time when 14 eminent domain proceeding would have to take place. 15 16 Ms. Lydia White appeared before the Community Redevelopment Agency 17 Board in defense of the Hometown Plan. She said if the Hometown Plan was 18 being adhered to there would be doors that open onto Red Road. 19 20 Mr. Thomas Todd Cooper appeared before the Community Redevelopment 21 Agency in defense of the Hometown Plan as 'it related to the Shops At Sunset 22 Place. 23 24 G. STAFF COMMENTS 25 Ms. Morris voiced her hopes that this meeting would have yield some 26 positive input about future projects and things that could be done rather than 27 arguing the point about something that has already taken place. 28 29 Chairperson Robaina conveyed the importance of the, citizens' input in this 30 process. 31 32 H. GENERAL COMMENTS FROM CRA BOARD 33 Vice Chairperson Oliveros.had no comments. 34 35 Member. Anderson conveyed that this has been a very interested meeting. 36 She related that Mr. English had really done his homework. She related that. she 37 would review the information he'd provided thoroughly. She voiced her assurance 38 of the CRA's accomplishments. 39 CRA 2.11NUTES 21 APRIL 5, 1999 A 1 Member Russell said that'when some one brings this much'. information to a 2 meeting the Board has to appreciate the time and effort put into it. 2 However, she 3 did not understand how that person could expect the Board to respond to so . much 4 without having a chance to review the documents. She voiced her appreciation of 5 having the documentation presented to her a head of time for a proper response. 6 She commended Reverend Green and the Wounded Healers for the success they've ,7 had. 8 9 Member Russell encouraged the re- visiting of the Hometown Plan. She lo asked that this be scheduled either at a public meeting or a workshop format. 11 12 Member Feliu reminded everyone that he was the sponsor of the Wounded 13 Healer, Inc., program. This group has contributed so much to the Community. He 14 further thanked the residents that came out to share their views tonight. 15 16 Member Bowman voiced that he was happy to see that something has been 17 started in the CRA area. He conveyed his hopes that this type of activity would 18 continue to improve area. 19 20 Member Bethel thanked Reverend Green for the outstanding work he's 21 doing in this community. He further commended Ms. Morris and Mr. Delaney for 22 their contributions. He shared that he has first hand knowledge of the great job the 23 CRA is doing. 24 25 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that the CRA was doing a lot of things. Not 26 only is it not just painting and fixing up homes but it is also reestablishing lives in 27 South Miami. He said it is nice to see people getting involved. with the things that 28 are happening in their community. He emphasized the importance of giving the 29 CRA a chance. He said this Board would never do anything to hurt any aspect or 30 part of the City. 31 32 Chairperson Robaina conveyed that he wanted to have. another massive 33 "clean-up" day with Hands On Miami. He asked Ms. Morris to provide him with 34 information on this project at the next City Commission meeting. 35 36 Chairperson Robaina shared with his colleagues and listening audience a 37 thank you letter, he'd received from Ophelia Brown the Executive Director of the 38 Community Action Agency about the projects identified to improve "blighted" 39 area. 40 cux NXNUTES APRIL 5, 1999 22 a 1 Chairperson Robaina thanked everyone for his or her contribution of time 2 toward this endeavor. He said that he would review. the Moss report 3 4 I. ADJOURNMENT 5 There being no further business to come before this Board the meeting 6 adjourned at 10:38 p.m. 7 8 Approved 9 10 Attest: 11 CRA Chairperson 12 13 14 CRA Secretary CM BINU=S 23 APRIL. 5, `1999