Miami-Dade County Commission Meeting - April 16, 2024
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Miami-Dade County Commission Meeting - April 16, 2024
The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners met on April 16, 2024, at 9:30 AM in Commission Chambers. The meeting included special presentations, public comment, zoning and CDMP hearings, and numerous consent and discussion items. Key actions included the adoption of several resolutions, deferral of a contentious CDMP application for an assisted living facility, and approval of funding for electric buses, transit grants, and emergency laundry services.
Special Presentations
- 2024 "Every Drop Counts" Children's Water Conservation Poster Contest: Recognized 13 winners from over 3,200 entries across 104 schools. Roy Coley, Director of Water and Sewer, presented. One student also won the statewide "Drop Savers" contest.
- United Way Miami Centennial 1924-2024: Honored United Way of Miami-Dade for 100 years of service. Commissioners and Mayor highlighted its role during the pandemic and ongoing community support.
- Cuban and Cuban-American Veterans Day Proclamation: Declared April 17, 2024 as such. Proclamation presented by Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez.
Reasonable Opportunity for the Public to be Heard
- Roy Hardeman (Chairman of Marvel City Advisory Board, Liberty City Democratic Club) expressed frustration over lack of economic development and housing for African Americans in Liberty City, Model City, and Brownsville areas. He urged the commission to resolve these issues.
Consent Calendar
- Routine approvals included: road co-designations (Raymond R. Robinson Street, Lourdes Lozano Street), discretionary fund allocations, grant acceptances (e.g., $200,000 from Pérez Family Foundation for Auditorium, $100,000 for African Heritage Cultural Arts Center), and intergovernmental agreements for non-ad valorem assessment services.
- Several items were pulled for discussion: 3B4 (electric bus grant), 3B5/3B6 (transit block grants), 8L3 (rescinding bond funds), 8O2 (amendment for sewer line contract), 11A1 (grant reporting), 14A1 (affordable housing ground lease), 14A2 (emergency laundry services), 14A3 (earthquake relief leave donation), 14A4 (Learjet grant).
Public Comments & Testimony
- On zoning items, resident Edward Capote spoke in support of item 5J (fence and RV parking). On item 5L (Lennar townhomes), Mary Waters objected to the rezoning, citing lack of notification and inconsistency with the neighborhood.
- On the CDMP item 7A (assisted living facility), no public hearing was held at this meeting (hearing had occurred on March 21, 2024). However, residents from District 8 were present and the item was discussed at length.
Discussion Items
- 2B2 - Report on Underground Utility Damage: Director Roy Coley presented a report on companies that damage water and sewer lines. Two companies (Future Inc. and Reyes L Y Underground LLC) were referred for debarment. Commissioner discussed a separate issue with biosolids hauling contracts, noting that a contractor (Cynegro) failed to perform, leading to an emergency contract with Compost USA.
- 3B4 - Electric Bus Grant: Resolution to accept $18.9 million from FDEP for 63 electric buses. Discussion included the Proterra bankruptcy and difference with New Flyer. Director Yulis Cleckley assured the board of New Flyer's reliability. Approved 12-1.
- 3B5/3B6 - Transit Block Grants: Approved 11-1 each.
- 8L3 - Rescinding Bond Funds: Adopted 13-0.
- 8O2 - Sewer Line Contract Amendment: Approved 13-0 after discussion about clerical error.
- 11A1 - Grant Reporting: Amended and adopted. Requires quarterly reports on state and federal funding secured since 2020.
- 14A2 - Emergency Laundry Services: Extended contract with Goodwill Industries for $4.7 million. Heated debate about delays in bringing laundry in-house. Approved 13-0.
- 14A3 - Earthquake Relief Leave Donation: Allowed employees to donate leave time for Taiwan earthquake relief. Adopted 12-0.
- 14A4 - Learjet Grant: $5 million from Building Better Communities bond for economic development. Approved 13-0.
- Zoning Items (5G-5L): All approved unanimously (12-0) with staff recommendations. 5G (Miami Country Day School expansion) included a proffer of five scholarships. 5J (fence) sparked discussion about making such items administrative.
- CDMP Item 7A and Zoning 8L2: Application for an assisted living facility (216 beds) at 8315 SW 122 Street. The applicant sought to release a 2015 covenant limiting development to 12 units. Commissioners debated: District 8 Commissioner Cohen Higgins opposed due to the broken covenant; others supported due to senior housing need. A motion to deny failed 4-6. A motion to approve with downzoning to RMD also failed 6-4 (needed 7 votes). A motion to defer to the May 7, 2024 BCC meeting passed 6-4.
Key Outcomes
- Deferred: CDMP application 7A (South Dixie and 122, LLC) to May 7, 2024 BCC meeting; companion zoning items 8L1 and 8L2 also deferred.
- Adopted on first reading: Ordinances 4A (Hadley Place special taxing district), 4B (Ojus Sanitary Sewer boundary amendment), 4C (Jackson Health System capital expedite program extension).
- Adopted unanimously: All public hearing items (5A-5F) including road co-designation, park renaming, water and sewer bond issuance, and community development district boundary amendments.
- Approved: All consent items except those pulled.
- Appointments: Yama Pallier to Commission for Women; Igor M. Stavenberg to Felman Entertainment Advisory Board; Franco Basegalupo to Housing Finance Authority.
- Allocations: $10,000 to A3 Foundation for Country Fest; $2,500 (commissioner) to GoFundMe for family of fallen security officer George Cassiano.
Meeting Transcript
We want to yeah, I guess have them sit down and then our MC uh first of all director, would you like to say some words first? Or you pull in first and you and the mayor, and then I'll get up. All right, but I who's who's presenting? Is it the director? All right. Well, we'll we'll we'll we'll so you explain it, go ahead. Okay. Good morning, everyone. So I'm Roy Coley. I'm the director of Miami Dade County Water and Sewer Department. For the last sixteen years, we've done this poster contest. And the reason we do this contest is we want to help our students across the county value water, appreciate water, understand the need for conservation. Now, today's a very exciting day because we had over a hundred and four schools participate. We had three thousand and two hundred entries across this county from kindergarten through fifth grade. And what we have today is a winner from each county commission district. So we're very excited to recognize you and your artistic capabilities, and we thank you for all of the work you put into this, as well as your schools that help participate. So what I want to do is I want to introduce you to our master of ceremonies for the day. And his name is Patrick Martin, and he is our water use efficiency manager. Patrick Woods. So thank you so much for coming. Congratulations to the thirteen winners. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna call up um each student. That's in a minute in a minute. But first, I just want to mention that there's a uh screen up there that's displaying the winning posters, and also we'll show the sponsors that provided gifts to the students that we they'll receive at the luncheon after the um the event. So I just wanted to point that out, and I want to thanks uh thank Publix for their generosity in sponsoring the luncheon for us. Um so, and by the way, that that event the food is going to be served on the terrace right after the event upstairs on the third floor terrace, and there'll be people that'll show you where to go after the event. All right, so um are we gonna have the county commissioners uh for each student step up? Okay. All right, for the ones that are here. All right, excellent. So um, yeah, at this time I'd like to invite the commissioners to join us by the dais. And now I'm going to present the uh the names of the students and parents and teachers. So, what's gonna happen? We're gonna call up the student, and they're gonna come up here to the front. They're gonna have a picture with the mayor, the director, and the respective uh commissioner, and um parents and teachers just remain in your seats if you don't mind. There's gonna be opportunities for photos afterwards with uh you with your student up on the terrace at the luncheon afterwards. All right, so um first student is District One, Liana Taronzo from Carroll City Elementary School. Yeah. All right. Actually, the middle's right here. Yes, there's no district two. There's no district three. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Okay, and uh the next uh student that's here is from District Four, Valentino Urasa from uh Ojus Elementary School. All right. Thank you.
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