City Commission Conference and CRA Meetings on 2025-05-20 1:30 PM - May 20, 2025

Steven Glassman: no · Ben Sorensen: yes · Dean J. Trantalis: yes

Outcome: Sorensen? Yes. Chair Trent Ellis? Yes. And that resolution is approved. Is there any further

It's May 20th, 2025. This is the conference meeting, and we have a number of presentations that we'll be hearing from staff today. But before we begin, we have a communication from the Fire Rescue Advisory Board, and then we have a walk-on as well. And the Fire Rescue Advisory Board communication simply says that they approved the strategic plan for the Fire Rescue Advisory Committee. And the strategic plan, if you keep scrolling, you'll see it's in the minutes that they've attached. It's a draft of the minutes that they've attached. It's quite lengthy. I know Chief Golan is not here today. He's on vacation. But is Chantel, oh, oh, Bill, you're the chair. Would you like to step forward and explain to us exactly what we're looking to accomplish here? These lights are so bright. It's very hard to see

who's out there. Yeah. Well, that's a good thing because that, therefore, you know, you're not late into the night with a long meeting. So good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the Commission. Well, Vice Mayor's not here. I'm sorry. But Commissioners, Bill Brown, the chairman of the Fire Rescue Advisory Committee. If you recall last fall when the first term of the FRAC was to sunset, we came back before you and asked that we get reauthorized and reappointed for another two-year term. And during those conversations, it was asked by the Commission for the FRAC to develop a strategic plan of what our goals and initiatives were going to be during this next two-year cycle. So that is what is before you. We've been heavily engaged, making sure that if there's no conflicts within our strategic plan, that would be a conflict with the department's strategic plan. And part of it, too, is the fact that they also get part of their accreditation for us being a class one city is that they have stakeholder and community involvement. So this strengthens that class certification process and shows that to the committee that does the evaluation that we are actively engaged in this community. And we're working closely with the PIO. One thing I might add is we hear often the lack of citizens' knowledge of the fire assessment fee. They think the fire assessment fee pays 100% of the fire department's obligation. And as we know, that's not the case. So those are the types of things that we have to work at strategically and communicate to the community so that they have a better understanding and also all the other programs the fire department has to offer.

Thank you. Does anyone have any questions of Mr. Brown? I think we're good.

Thank you. And also the entire committee. But I also want to make notice that they've been

operating with just four people for a long time, which is a difficult number. We need to get them up to, I mean, I always thought the intent when we did the enabling legislation was actually seven.

But then I guess there's a confusion over whether it's seven or five. But regardless, they're only at four. So we, we need to get them a little bit more participation.

So, um, so whose appointees are the folks that are listed here? Mr. Brown, who is, is the

commissioner? You're I'm commissioner Glassman. Okay. The vacancy is the mayor's appointment. I think I've, who? Oh, the mayor, the mayor's designee. Oh, well, let me get on that. I'll just,

I'll just say you have to do the wrong call. I have to make a call. But all the four districts are representative. Okay. So I've been remiss then in appointing somebody there. Okay. We'll do that. So it's just five anyway, correct? Correct. And there've never been contentious votes. So it's not like we needed five people there, right? It's, it's challenging getting at times to get a quorum. Right. Yeah. Oh, it is. Has been. Yes. Okay. All right. So I will work with my staff and we, by next meeting, we should have somebody. Okay. And we look forward to your feedback and

comments on our strategic plan. If there's any other issues that you wish for us to address during the next year, year and a half or a little over a year and a half, we'll be more than happy to do

that. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thanks for your work. Thank you for your commitment to this. This is really important work for us. We have a walk on communication from the budget advisory board regarding the extension of the Northwest Progresso Flagler Heights community redevelopment area. Have all of you received a copy of that? So you do not have a copy of that. Basically what it says is that the, the advisory board supports the extension of the CRA for 10 years at 50% tax increment funding, but it's to be reviewed every two years. And I believe that was a, um, uh, recommendation that, that originated from the, um, the goal setting session that we had earlier this year. Um, anyone have any comments

with regard to that? I do, but we actually have two agenda items that deal with this. Don't we today? Day afternoon and evening? Well, this is for discussion purposes, right? Okay. There,

there is a CRA item and a commission meeting item related to extending the CRA for 10 years. So it's the interlocal agreement. And the Babs recommendation was made after discussion of that extension. Okay.

So you want to discuss it now or you want to discuss it tonight? I can wait. All right. Actually, it won't be tonight. We'll hopefully take up the CRA board meeting after the conference meeting, which should be able to be heard this afternoon. Okay. Thank you, man. You're welcome. Okay. Uh, any other walk on items? Okay. So moving on to business one, we have discussion regarding amending chapter two, section two dash 43 of the code of ordinances restrictions on employment of relatives, otherwise known as nepotism law, right? Good afternoon, mayor commissioners,

Jerome post director of human resources. Um, I'm here to open up the discussion for you. Um, we do have a proposed ordinance change that will be coming before you. We'd like to make sure that it contains how you'd like it written, but ultimately we are proposing a few changes and a couple of clarifications. One, uh, change is that we would clarify that the, um, departments are allowed to hire, promote, transfer, whatever have you, um, members or, or of one's family into the department, but clarify also that no family member may supervise or manage another family member as defined by the ordinance. Um, so we would, uh, make sure that nobody is in the chain of command, um, with this new language. We also want to make sure that we were consistent with state statute, which is more broad, than our current ordinance. Uh, and then of course, as you can see from your packet, there is some history here, uh, in which there was, uh, an audit report that provided that the city was not in any violation over that particular instance. Um, however, the recommendation was to revisit this ordinance and amend it, um, to be more clear. Okay. I have a couple of questions. Um, we currently have a rule

on the, on our books that prevents people of the same family from being hired in the same department or supervised in the same department. So there must've been a reason why we had that. And so now we're looking for an opportunity to change that. But I, but I'm wondering, has the, has, has that reason ever been, um, found to be unfounded? And I'm always concerned, like what happens if a department head has a relative that is within the ranks, but not a direct supervisor, but they're still the department head. How do you prevent the conflict of interest that, that would materialize here under the scenario

that you just described? Well, there's a couple of questions that, that you asked there. One of which is I, I'm a firm believer that decisions are made in the constant context of the times we're in. So whenever that language was originally written there, I agree with you, there must've been some context that, uh, allowed for, um, the recruitment of qualified individuals, um, without going through with family members. Um, however, I can tell you that industry standards now, I think you'd be hard pressed to find, uh, most municipalities barring anybody, um, from, uh, allowing family members working in the same department as long as they're not supervising each other. Um, best practices, of course, are that you keep family members out of the chain of command so you can avoid those

conflicts of interest that you just described. But don't department heads have to sign off on salary increases, on benefits, on, uh, you know, there are all kinds of things that I'm just, I just don't want to fall back into, into a practice that the current ordinance tried to prevent from happening. Um, I mean, what, what was the purpose of this, um, recommendation? Did someone come to us and say, Hey, we're running out of people to hire. We need to start allowing family members to come into the city. You know, we're desperate for good help. What, why are we even talking about this?

Well, there's, there's two things. One of which, as I said, there is a recruitment issue that we do find qualified candidates that just happen to be related to somebody within the same department. I can also tell you that we currently have a number of instances where there are family members working in the same department. Um, it goes back, there's a history to it. I can't tell you exactly the, the details of each and every one. Um, but unfortunately we are probably in violation of

our own ordinance at this point. So, um, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Pam. So this is a, also an

opportunity to, um, rectify what may be, um, out of, out of order for our ordinance by moving forward in a direction of allowing individuals of families to work in different departments together.

Correct. And mayor, to answer your question about department head, the department head would be in the chain of command of another family member. And this is what would be barred by this ordinance change.

Jerome, another question. Do we have, I think we already have this, maybe it's somewhere else, but, uh, not only family members, but personal relationship, uh, engagements between others that should also, how, how is that addressed?

Yes. There are other areas in the personnel rules, et cetera, where we define, um, relationships that would be cohabitating or, um, by affinity, if you will. Um, and those are defined as well.

Great. And that also from a reporting hierarchy is not allowed. Is that right? Correct. Okay. And so we don't need to address, we don't need to adjust anything on that. No, that would already be covered. We're talking more of the just purely kind of relation, the family relationship.

Right. And just remember, this is a discussion that we have, um, to put that ordinance language together to bring forward at a later date. Um, so if there is specific language you'd like to see, um, addressing specifically the affinity issues, we can look at that and add it. Yeah. No, I'm, I'm, as long as you feel it's, it's appropriate and covered, I'm, I'm good

with affinity. And I think, I think this is a good thing. I think, um, you know, not allowing

the reporting, uh, hierarchy to, to have familial relationships is good, but allowing for family members to serve in the same department makes, makes sense to me. Mayor.

Well, well, how do you, well, it's, it's, I, I'm struggling with this one as well. Um, only because, okay, if you read, you know, the cam, the end of page one, um, we're going to try to address both issues here by removing language, prohibiting employment of relatives in the same department, but then we're adding language explicitly prohibiting employment of relatives in an employee's chain of command, regardless of whether the circumstances arise due to appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement. So I don't know, is that fair? I mean, why would you deny advancement? Why would you deny promotion? Why would you, if you're going to do all of that, then, then just why allow family members to be in the department at all?

Well, there's a difference between family members working in the same department and being in the chain of command or the hierarchy that would cause a conflict of interest. So we, we can and have had employees working in the same department. One just doesn't supervise or manage the other in any way, shape, or form.

And is it always possible to avoid that?

I think it can be in the future. Yes.

If there's a promotional opportunity or any kind of advancement opportunity, um, that would then just negate that candidate's possibility for promotion?

There would have to be alternatives looked at for the second person. I mean, could they be transferred? Could they be moved? I mean, that would keep from, um, being able to, or from being required to not promote the other person.

City auditor, what year were you hired? So this was not your report as a city auditor that recommended this?

No, it wasn't. It's kind of interesting that this one was having to do with, um, the chief of the police, the interim chief of police position. So to me, that person had total jurisdiction of every employee in there under their, um, police force. So it was kind of unique thing, but, um, that, that was, was the situation of that audit, uh, report that came out in 2021.

I, I, I just feel that I would like to avoid any issues of conflict. I, I'm not in favor of, of, of this change. Thank you.

So what do you think, Commissioner? What, should there be any, what, what's your, what would you like?

I would just say that we keep it the way it is right now. No, no, um, family, no family members serving, um, together in the same department. Easy. How many departments do we have in the city?

10, 10. Yeah.

10. Well, there are nine other departments where someone could find a job. Well, I just think, I just think that we're opening ourselves up to some issues. I think we're opening a can of worms here. That's the thing. Yeah. I, I, I'm just not comfortable with this. I just see too many issues coming down the

pike on this tonight. Do we have some, um, information to add that maybe what some of the other municipalities also, um, how that, what their practice is? Cause I'm, because, um, opportunity, um, sometimes, you know, if I'm using the wrong word legacy, you know, I can imagine you talking about a police department, you, you have someone that came in as an officer. Okay. The, uh, I'm going to say the grandfather, then the father, the son is, how do you hire than the grandson is? Why do we want to, um, negate that opportunity? That's, that's way, that's the way I'm looking at it. Because with this, you know, with the age, that's quite possible. We don't have, um, grandfathers listed here, but it could be 60, 40 and 20. That's working in that age range, working in that department. Um, I would like to see an opportunity where we don't necessarily have someone that's qualified that could benefit our city looking elsewhere when we could also know, um, almost, I would say the value of a family value, the integrity and bringing that same type of mentality to our agency that will be longterm. Yep. I

completely agree with you commissioner. And I think we have city leadership that can ensure that, um, they are not in the same reporting structure and are still, you know, managed, uh, appropriately. I think we can do both. And I think that's important. I mean, being a Navy veteran that would eliminate my family members from serving in the Navy with me, which just, um, wouldn't be, I think a good thing. So I think we, we miss out a lot by doing that.

So I agree. If I might add the two departments that are most concerned or have had this issue most often come up are police and fire, which are very specific, um, career paths. And I can tell you that I had the honor this weekend of attending the, uh, the, the, um, award ceremony for the fire department at which they promoted 26 lieutenants, two of which were a married couple. So we have two lieutenants. They're not in the chain of command, but they are married.

Let me ask you a question because those are definitely career paths that I think are a bit different than many of the other departments. Is a carve out possible on, on an item like this where you just carve out police and fire?

Well, it's certainly the, the, um, reason for this discussion to get an idea. If you'd like to see a carve out like that, we could introduce it into a proposal, um, ordinance change and, and bring it to back to the commission at a later date.

I would be more comfortable with that too. Um, I think that the police and fire agencies operate differently than the other departments. And, um, and I do, I understand commissioner Beasley Pittman's point. There are certain legacy appointments where, where, you know, mother, daughter, father, son, you know, want to follow in the footsteps of their family to go into, and we, and we want them to stay in Fort Lauderdale. We don't want them to have to go to Hollywood or to Pompano or whatever. Um, so I can see that, um, maybe we should tiptoe into this practice and start with those two departments, the two agencies, and then see how it works out. Um, and I would be, I would be supportive of that. I think commissioner Glasson, would you be supportive of that?

Yes. Again, because I, I do see the difference there. Those are, those are, as you said, career paths. You don't find legacies of, you know, generation after generation, like working in procurement. Um, I mean, I mean, not to put anything down about procurement, but it's just a different thing. It's like, I've never heard of grandfather, son, grandchild, you know, we're

that, that's, we devoted our life to procurement. That said, there are instances in public works

and I don't know, we're making a flood from procurement in the moment. It's okay. I'm just,

I'm just using it as an example. I'm making a little light humor of it, but I, I do see the difference with police and fire. So I would like to see that as a carve out or just start there.

Jerome, how many in other departments, how many familial relationships do we have? Do you have any sense of that?

I really don't. I couldn't give you a number.

I mean, I, in business, I'm, you know, there are many people in business that their children follow in the same industry or for the same company. So I'm, I'm not supportive of the carve out.

And I was going to ask the same question that Ben, Commissioner Sorensen asked, um, how many other departments, you know, we are looking at this with. And right now, um, I don't, I don't see the carve out. I will, you know, I would prefer that we do this across the board.

I can tell you that anecdotally, I know of instances in both DSD and public works for certain. Um, I can't specifically identify any other departments.

So let's, let's talk about public works. How does that look? Is it like, um, is it a large number where we see, um, fathers and sons, mothers, you know, any kind of combination? Could you give us some numbers of what we're looking at?

Again, I'd be reluctant to give you a number because it would be a pure guess.

Okay. All right. Do we have that data somewhere? I mean, is that quantified somewhere or how do you, how do

you even get that other than likeness of name? I think that'd be difficult together other than pull the directors, perhaps.

Well, okay. Well, let me ask this question. How do we know that they're related to, if we don't, if there's no, um, a checkbox to say I'm related to X, Y, Z, how do we get there?

You have to take a DNA test before you get employed.

But seriously, on a serious note, I'm trying to understand how are we identifying these family members if we're not quote unquote asking them?

Well, typically there's no secret, um, about familial relationships. Once people get employed into the department, um, it's no big secret. So, so there's nothing when I'm hired, there's

nothing that says I'm related to, um, person A, B or C within this or anyone within my department.

I do believe we do ask on the application if they're related to another city employee. Okay.

So I think we should not forget the fact that there have been situations in which, um, if not familial relations, but, uh, relationships, but, uh, but, um, relations that have, that have materialized in the association of one another in a department that's led to a romantic relationship. And that's, and that has caused the department in certain situations to go sideways. And there have been firings from that. We can't ignore that. And that was a recent event. And we, we need to understand that, that there should be, you know, um, you know, a wall that we create that prevents that from happening in the future. And, um, we can't be ignorant of the fact that these situations do materialize. Now, um, the question that came up is how do you, how can you ensure that a person who is an upper level in an upper level status in a department not have any influence on the outcome of, of hiring or wage, um, wage increases or promotions or any of the other things that, that an upper level person could impose on a mid-level supervisor, to get their child or family member, um, some kind of benefit or advancement that might not otherwise have occurred, but for the relationship. And that's the prohibition that we're looking to, to ensure that we have in place. So, I mean, it's, it's kind of, it's kind of a dicey situation that we have here. Again, in, in police and fire, I fully understand it because those are sometimes legacy, um, traditions that, that do take place from city to city. And I do, I, I would love to see, um, I would love to see individuals whose parents are in our departments to have their children follow, follow suit. I think that's, uh, that's shows, uh, how important and how great our departments are. Um, uh, Raquel coming from other cities, what has been your experience? What is like, like Miami beach? Tell me, do you recall

what your policy was there? So I do recall that on an application, you would have to disclose, uh, whether you had a relationship or not. And yes, there were familial relationships within departments, uh, but not within the same division or within the same chain of command, particularly in fire and police. And I think here in this situation, we're seeing it in the larger departments. So DSD public works, fire and police, those are some of the biggest departments that we have. So it is a lot easier to find opportunities for family members to be within the same department, but not within the same chain of command or division. And that's what you want to establish

here. Isn't that right, Jerome? Correct. Again, just to share, I mean, I am sure public works, I mean, Anthony, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure in public works, we have fathers or mothers who've been working there and their children are wonderful and talented and they've, you know, moved into working in public works. Do you see that Anthony? Is that at all? Does that happen from a legacy perspective? And tell us about your children in public works. Yes, exactly.

Yes. Let's share. All my kids want to follow me into my career. Yes. Wise, wise. Good afternoon, Anthony, part of assistant city manager. So public works, very large departments, 500 people. And I do believe there are some familiar relationships within the organization, not in chains of command. I do know in DSD at one point we had two brothers and one of the brother's sons all working in trades in the building division and a couple other divisions had familiar relationships. But again, we were always very vigilant on where they landed, who they reported to and how that would all work. So we, you know, it, it is, it is an issue. I agree with Jerome that if you're trying to recruit, you know, sometimes you do run into that situation. And if the best candidate is blocked because of that, it might be not that

beneficial to the city. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. I think the key is just mayor. I think the key is just having very clear guidelines and very good oversight of department heads and assistant city managers to ensure that there's not within the chain of command, just as I think fire and police could do a great job doing that. I think, so I think other departments could too. You know what? I'm

willing to go with it just to see how it works. But if we find abuse, we can always change it. Fair enough. But I have, I have misgivings about it, but we'll just see. All right. Thank you. Any other trouble you have, Jerome? I'm sure I can find some for you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Jerome. Okay. Moving on to business two, fix it FTL update presentation.

Hello. Are you there at the switchboard 24 seven? I try not to be. I try to get at least eight hours of sleep. Otherwise I am there. Good afternoon, mayor and commissioners. My name is Juan Rodriguez from the development services department. And I am here today to provide you all an overview of our fix it FTL system, which is our request management system for the city, share some metrics from the first year of implementation of the fix it FTL system, give you an update on some of the changes that we've implemented since we first launched. And I would be remiss not to take the opportunity to share with the public on how easy it is to submit a request in our fix it FTL system as well. So to start off, I just want to provide an overview and a foundation as to what fix it FTL is and some of the metrics from our first year of operation. Fix it FTL was launched in March of 2024. The implementation of the fix it FTL system was led by our acting director, Portia Garcia, senior technology strategist, Jennifer Peters, senior administrative assistant, Felicia Blue, members of our IT department and myself. The fix it FTL system serves the city's external request management system and our internal work order routing system. The fix it FTL system replaced our previous legacy system that you all might learn, know it as LauderServe and was completely replaced in March of 2024. The fix it FTL system

is accessible through the city's website at www.fortlauderdale.gov forward slash fix it FTL and as a mobile app

on both the Apple iOS and Android operating systems. Neighbors who do not have access to the city's

website to internet or to a smartphone can call our citywide customer support center at 954-828-8000 so that our customer support center staff can enter in requests on their behalf. In the next few slides,

I'm going to share some metrics from our first year of operation from the system. So the metrics you'll be seeing on the for the most part are going to be from the implementation date of March 2024 to March of

2025, the first full year. Within those 12 months, the city of Fort Lauderdale received 39,756 service requests through fix it FTL. Of those 37,266 or 93% of those requests are closed and completed by our city staff. The other requests are in some form of either in progress or in further investigation by our city staff with the goal of completely closing them all out. When we launched the fix it FTL system, we launched with 567 request categories. The implementation team recognizes that this is a lot of request categories. However, in our legacy system Lauderdale serve we started with 1076 requests and we knew that it was a critical a critical goal of reducing those number of requests so that this new system can be more easily accessible by the public and more useful to city staff and I'll give a little bit of an update as to where we are and reducing that number even further in the next slides as well. Within that first year, we also created 22,000 unique neighbor accounts. So what does this mean? This means that 22,000 residents or visitors within the city of Fort Lauderdale created fix it FTL accounts to get updates on their service requests and be able to post within the system itself. Wait, so 22,000 people made 39,000 requests? So 22,000 accounts were created. However, you do not need an account to put in a request into the system. I get it. Okay. You've been busy. Yeah. Which is good. It's good. Of those 39,756 requests received, the majority of those requests, about 81% of those were received and handled by our public works department. So the majority of those requests are mostly handled by public works. From there, our parks and recreation department, development services department, and transportation and mobility department are the heavy users of the fix it FTL system. On the right hand side, you will see the top request types that were received within that first year of implementation of which damage carts, which residents can go ahead and report any type of damage carts for replacement, were the highest amount of requests received. That 14% of all requests received within that first year. And the majority of the rest of the request types are sanitation based.

Can you back up for a second? Yes, of course. You had 1,009 homeless requests. That's a lot.

Yes. And that's just for the homeless concern category. That doesn't take into account the HB 1365 requests, which were created a little bit later on into the implementation. This is the homeless concern request category. You don't have a separate category. You don't have a separate category for the reference to the state statute? Yes, that is a separate category altogether. Do you have a number for that yet? Yeah. So I don't have that on me. We can definitely go ahead and provide that, but it's not as high as this amount. It is in the couple hundreds, but it's not the top even 15 requests at this at the moment of this data collection. So March to March.

So how do you respond to 1,009 homeless concerns? Is that too much of a discussion right now to have?

Chris Cooper, acting assistant city manager. So when those come in, as Juan had mentioned earlier, each request has an assignee who's supposed to triage and address that service request. So with the homeless concerns that comes into our neighbor support department, the camping go to our, our homeless outreach team police department. And then we try to, each request is a little bit different, especially in this category, because sometimes what's requested is a bit more general than there's a leak here or cart left out there. So a lot of it goes into us, trying to identify who the person is, that's the subject of the request, where they are, what their needs are. A lot of that engagement comes to the homeless outreach team. It could come through the task force for any homelessness. It's really just dependent on what the request is and what the needed outcome is.

Okay. But, but it doesn't just stop it, fix it. It goes into a system. It does. Absolutely. Okay, great. Thank you.

What is take five inquiry?

So take five inquiry. I had the same question myself. This is a public works request category. And some of these, some of the request categories are not externally based. Some of them are only for internal work routing. So this is actually led by our sustainability division. And it's, it's basically a recycling education program where our staff will go out and inspect various recycling bins. And if it's an improv, if it's an incorrect recyclable item, they'll go ahead and tag it, provide educational information, and it's all logged through the fix it FTL system. So as you can see, the fix it FTL system can be used for a variety of different work processes as the system continues to grow.

Got it. City manager, you have so few. What can we do to increase that so you can get more attention? We'll work on that. She keeps changing her cell phone number. Exactly. It's strange. It doesn't quite get to her.

So this next slide represents the amount of requests received by commission district. This doesn't mean that, uh, it means that district two is very needy. And, and just to clarify, this could be a visitor, a visitor of the city or a resident of another district. But however, the address of the request that needs action taken is in that commission district. So as you noted, mayor, uh, commission district two represents the most amount of requests received at 29%. Commission district four is the next step at 27%. Then commission district one at 25% and commission district three at 19% of all requests received.

We're number one.

Yeah, you, you take that around with me. I think that the reason why district three has fewer is because of, uh, awareness of the, of the, of the app. Not only that, also the connectivity, that's still an issue. Is that right? Yes, because, um, we promoted, I tell all my neighbors about it as much as I can.

I am an avid user.

I'm pretty sure I am probably 5,000 of those inquiries. She's needy. But I, I think awareness and connectivity. Yeah, exactly. It's not that there aren't as many issues. It's just that. Yeah. Okay.

And then also, even with that, they indicated that, you know, they would still have that opportunity to call the 8,000 number. And this is capturing what's on the fix it.

So to answer your question, Mayor, acting director, Portia Garcia is on it. And she pulled the number of HB 1365 requests today. And there has been 90 received so far.

Okay.

So this next slide shows the number of requests received by month within that first year of implementation. A couple of things to note here. Within the first three months of implementation, you'll see that we received significantly lower requests than we did in the later months since the system launch in March of 2024. The reason for that being is when we launched in March of 2024, we actually implemented a soft launch. This gave an opportunity for our staff to be able to work out a lot of the kinks within the workflows, make sure that all requests were assigned to proper staff, and to be able to exercise within the system before doing a mass marketing campaign and really getting the word out there. In June of 2024, you start seeing that the average amount received by month is between 3,000 to 4,000. And that's because we partnered with our amazing strategic communications team, did a bus bench campaign, social media campaign, email blasts, began presentations at neighborhood association meetings upon requests, and began plugging Fix-It FTL and any type of pertinent social media blasts from our strategic communications team moving forward. So, as you see, as a result of that, we received between 3,000 to 4,000 requests per month since system launch in June of 2024, since the hard launch of the system. Next, I just want to highlight some of the changes and improvements that we've been making within the system since implementation. We recognize that this is a living, breathing system, and we want to make sure we improve the system year after year, and we don't just settle on what we did when we began with the system in March of 2024. One of the things that we changed was the visibility of service requests. The reason why this was changed, so as you can see on the left, was prior when the option to see these requests was available on the map, and the right is in our current state. The reason being is that we received concerns or feedback from some of our users that sensitive information could possibly be relayed within those requests. So, for example, phone numbers, addresses, possible photos. So, this does not mean that whoever entered the request doesn't get the information. They still get all the updates and are still able to see when their actual request is closed. However, someone going on the website cannot look up potentially sensitive information. So, those have been made privatized. Next is a consolidation of fixed-it FTL request categories, and also the naming conventions. Because we were moving from the previous legacy system, Lauder-Sherb, which was primarily used for internal routing, we recognized that we wanted this to be a two-way communication system between us and the community. Because of that, we know that it is extremely critical that the system remains accessible and easy to use for everyone. That's why we went from the original over 1,000 categories to the 567 at launch to today, we have 398. And this is something that the Customer Support Center and the Development Services Department works with every single fixed-it FTL liaison in each department to try to work through their business practices and processes to be able to reduce those categories even further. So, as we continue using the system, as additional features come online, because this is a vendor-hosted system, so there's additional features that come online as the system does maintenance and updates, we're able to leverage those and continue to reduce the number of categories so it's easier to put in a request in the fix-it FTL system. And I'll provide a tip in our last slide when I'm going through the refresher on how to enter a fixed-it FTL category that neighbors can use to be able to navigate the number of requests even more. With that same effect, we also want to make sure that the naming conventions of some of our request categories are easier to understand for the public. So, we have our internal request categories, like Take 5 Inquiry. The average neighbor might not know what that is. However, an external request category, like a pothole, we want to make sure that that naming convention is easily understood so that neighbors can go ahead and put in the proper requests. And last but not least is internal reporting and coordination. The Development Services Department, the implementation team, and myself, we are very, very lucky that this has become really a group effort within the city. Basically, every single department takes it extremely seriously to make sure that all requests are addressed and that all actions taken on behalf of the city are communicated to the neighbor. That is why we work with each and every one of our fix-it FTL liaisons to make sure that the information is accurate, inputted into the system, and that every single request is acknowledged and worked on. Lastly, I wanted to go ahead, before I open up to any questions and feedback that you may have, and just take this opportunity to remind the public of how easy it is to put in a fix-it FTL request. As I mentioned, if anyone has any technical difficulties putting in a fix-it FTL request, you can go ahead and tell your constituents that they can call the Customer Support Center at 954-828-8000, and they are trained to be able to troubleshoot a lot of those issues because a lot of the issues can be individual basis. We've seen reports of individuals not putting their location services on or they don't understand how to add a photo. Those simple requests, our Customer Support Center can go ahead and troubleshoot from there. So the first step, and these are the same steps whether you put in a request on our website at www.fortlauderdale.gov forward slash fix-it FTL, or on our mobile application, it's the same exact steps. The first step, although I'm illustrating on the mobile application, you can follow this exact same workflow on our website as well. If you're entering a request through the mobile application, you can either click on the first link, which is Enter a New Fix-It FTL Request, or click New Request in the navigation panel at the bottom. The application also allows us to leverage the app to go ahead and display critical links to services within the city, so such as paying your utility bill, paying a parking citation. But we wanted to make sure that the main function of the app, which is to enter in a fix-it FTL request, is directly highlighted first. From there, you can add a photo. A photo is not mandatory for fix-it FTL request categories. A lot of times, we see people driving by or running by or walking by and they don't have time to take a photo. That does not need to be added. From there, you would enter in the location of the request itself. This can be done in two ways. You can either enter in a physical address, or you can use the map to drop a pin if you're not aware of what the address is. From there, you would specify the request category that you're entering the request for, and this is a feature that I promote often when we're talking in our neighborhood association meetings, is that search bar up top. So if you know that you're putting in a request for a pothole or graffiti, you can go ahead and actually type in that search bar, and it will eliminate all the rest of the categories so that you only see the category that you actually want to submit a request for up front. From there, it will take you to the request submission page where you will answer various questions. Every request category has different questions that allow staff to get the information that they need to in order to satisfy the request. Once all those questions are answered, you can go ahead and submit, and if you created a neighbor account, like I mentioned earlier, you're able to get updates as our staff are taking action against a request and satisfying the needs of our neighbors. And that is all that I have for you today, but I'm open to any questions or feedback that you may have on Fix It FTL.

Anyone have any questions?

Actually, just a comment. First of all, thank you for the presentation. It's excellent. You did a great job. I obviously, well, you saw we have a lot of requests in District 2. We promote this a lot in all of our communications. We promote it when we attend all of our neighborhood association meetings. People are very receptive to this, and we always ask how many have it, and a good number of hands always go up. So people are definitely using it, and they like using it. The only thing that I hear, and I'm glad you're working on it, the only thing I hear negatively is that's step four, and the number of categories and trying to figure out, I would try to get it down to as few as possible. Again, that's the only comment that I hear that recommends a change for that. Otherwise, folks are really using it and wanting to use it, and they find it rather simple. And so I just want to say thanks for that because it really is resonating with the folks whenever we go to any of our neighborhood meetings. Absolutely. Thank you.

Okay. Anyone else have any questions or comments? Ben, do you want to say anything? Thanks.

Thank you. This is great.

I think, Chris, were you and I talking about to make with Fix-It Fort Lauder allow more of the back-and-forth updates in terms of status? I just forget if I was talking to you or Anthony about that. Does that ring a bell?

It does ring a bell. Okay. So I think what you might be talking about is we have some back-end systems where there's interfaces with Fix-It, such as our Lauder build system and our city work system to where at one point in time there were issues where the feedback wasn't transferring from one to the other. So just for everybody's understanding, when the user interface, which is Fix-It, somebody puts a request in there, we have back-end systems that our staff uses to manage processes and projects. So the intent is that staff only works in the back-of-house systems, and then that information is pushed into the customer-facing system of Fix-It. So we have addressed those issues with both of those platforms, so that interaction is improved at this point.

Okay, great. So that's going back and forth.

That was a concern I had a little bit ago. Yes, since its implementation, those integrations are completely functional between our city work system and our solar land management system. Okay.

Not a question, just a comment. Thank you again for the presentation, and great innovation. This is definitely in the right direction with all of our opportunities for smart cities, things of that matter. So this is great. And, again, I believe overall the city is – we are embracing this. And, again, I love it. So if that means anything, I love it.

That makes me so happy. Thank you. Well, we love that you love it. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Keep up the good work. And whoever created this concept, invented this option – I'm sorry? You did not sign up, no. Did you want to speak? Sure. Sure. Your name is – you're going to have to sign up with the clerk anyway after you speak.

Ted and Sarah, President of River Oaks Civic Association. My question was, did you say there was two different categories for homeless concern and homeless encampment? Did you say that?

Yes.

Okay, because I got very confused. I used this a lot, and it seems to me like everything that I put on was always supposed to be homeless camping, but I put under homeless concern because I did not see the two different choices there. And quite a few times I got back on this thing that my – it was closed. Your request has been closed on a homeless situation, and your numbers of reports and closing is way high. I mean, I'm a great – I love baseball, and I love statistics, and so that's a great statistic. But I had some that were labeled closed, and I went right back there to the exact location where I thought I had my concern, and it was the same exact situation as it was, but I was informed that it was closed, that it had been taken care of. And as far as the interaction goes, I know for a while all – the only interaction I saw was at the very bottom, you can press a thing that says if you want to say thank you. And there was like – there was nothing else but that. But so, I mean – and there is too many choices. We have some with – let's say if I have a pile of trash, I don't – and it's – there's so many different situations where you can push on what – who's supposed to – what does it fall under that I think we could shorten that up a little bit on that. But – because I use this a lot. It does work. I mean, I use it, but mostly for the homeless situation. But, you know, we need to – I don't understand why I get told it's closed when it really wasn't.

So it's not that District 2 is more needy. It's just that –

River Oaks.

River Oaks. Okay.

And proud of it.

So, Commissioner Sorensen, you can avoid River Oaks.

Hey.

Love River Oaks. Was just at the River Oaks Civic Association meeting the other night.

Okay.

Which was fantastic. Great, great meeting. So we love our engaged neighbors. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome. Okay. Anyone else who wish to speak on this item? There being none, move on to Business 3 Holiday Park Parking Update. Who's here to speak on that? Oh, our parking guru.

That would be me.

I guess.

Good afternoon, Mayor. It's just nobody better. Ben Rogers, Acting Assistant City Manager. So today we're going to go through an update on Holiday Park. Some things have progressed over the last couple months. We came to the commission in January and talked about the city effort on delivering additional parking for the park needs. Since that time, we've received two unsolicited proposals that deliver things. And the goal and the intent of today is really to find out from the commission what the next steps are and if they have a desire to have staff further evaluate the unsolicited proposals and come back to the commission with more information. Or if you want to continue moving forward with the city efforts for a surface parking lot. Okay.

Before you begin, I do believe it was the decision of the commission to move forward on the south parking lot to surface that, correct?

That's correct.

And is that effort moving forward?

Yes. That effort's underway, and one of the slides will highlight where we are in that process and what the remaining timeline is.

Great. Thank you.

So I wanted to start off again and just rebalance and make sure everyone understands the need for additional parking in a Holiday Park. There's been a lot of demand generators that have been added to the park between the development and expansion of park leagues and events, the activation of the Parker Playhouse, the War Memorial, and the Baptist Health Iceplex. We also have parks bond projects going on that will deliver improvements for the entire community, but specifically the Jimmy Everett Tennis Center. The first nine courts are finished. They're moving along very well in their timeline, looking to have that completed in the fall and winter months of 2025. But with that will be some tennis tournaments and some other activations that will create additional demand. And then in phase three of the parks bond, we have pickleball courts, we have playground, we have splash pads, other community amenities. That will be delivered. We added the YMCA on here. They do have their own project. They have their own parking that meets their needs. But we know that the space that the Y goes on now is used for Parker Playhouse parking. It's used for overflow parking in the area. So once that parcel is developed, that overflow parking will be eliminated. So Mayor, you beat me to the punch. We came back in January. We talked through the design criteria package that city staff started. That scope had the design team coming back with two concepts. We actually got four or five of them out of it. There was two main ones. One just a garage only that would be larger in scale and on the north side. And then the second option was a surface lot on the south side and a smaller garage on the north side. Staff also evaluated what two surface lots would look like. And at that time, Mayor, you are correct. The direction from the commission was to prioritize the south parking lot. There was comments and mentions of the use and demand of the iceplex, the conditions of the facilities, and the challenges of using the parking there. So staff has been working with our design criteria package team to finalize the revisions needed to change that scope from a garage to the parking lots, and hoping to finalize that 30% design in the next couple weeks, early summer. And then the timeline on the bottom would be if we go through our traditional methodology, we'd be in procurement probably to the end of this year. We would award a contract for the contractor sometime in early 2026. And depending on when that gets fully executed and the mobilization notice for seed comes through, we look for the construction of that to be completed in the fall of 2026. So we have about...

It shouldn't take that long to put some asphalt on a parking lot.

Yeah. One of the challenges for this parcel is the stormwater. There's a lot of stormwater collection in this area. If you recall, there's a lot of flooding that goes on during heavy rains. And so it's more than just the asphalt on the top, but there's a lot of other utility elements, lighting to the area that needs to be added, too. So understand the concerns. And this is, in my opinion, a conservative approach on the timeline. But I do think it's important to notate that it is approximately 18 months still for a full implementation.

Okay.

So that leads us to we received two unsolicited proposals for this, two different firms that listed on here. The first one, Holiday Park Parking Partners, on the left side, they submitted their proposal in March and then had a revision come forth in April. And Park Place Garage LLC submitted theirs earlier this month. While we're not here to go through and compare one to the other at this point or to rank or award or anything like that, I did want to provide just a general overview of what the proposals included. And so they both deliver additional parking. Some have surface lots. Both have a parking garage. Both of them have electric vehicle charging in there. Both proposals reference the addition of fire stations. I think that's been a commission priority to try to identify a space in this area east of the tracks that could be readily available for a fire station. And then both of them have similar deal structures where the developer provides the effort in capital, the development responsibilities. The city would have some kind of annual lease payment and then we would we'd have the option to operate and maintain the parking garage. We have the ability to set the rates, retain parking revenue. And then both of them, I think, have different strategies on revenue opportunities which may mitigate the city's annual lease payment. So very high level overview for the commission today. But just, again, trying to understand if the commission would like to move forward with staff's surface lot effort or if they have an interest in learning more about these proposals. And just to remind the city commission on the unsolicited proposal process, multiple steps in there. And right now we're really trying to figure out from the city commission if they would like for staff to further evaluate the proposals that we received. If so, we'll go through an evaluation process and then we would bring it back to the city commission to determine if they want to have an intent to enter into a comprehensive agreement. My recommendation would be, if that was the case, that we would schedule conference presentations before the summer recess. Let both of the proposers come and provide an overview of their proposal and then get feedback from the city commission at that point. So, Mayor, that concludes my presentation.

Okay. Any questions? Go ahead.

I did. I'm sorry. Thank you, Mayor. So, Ben, why are you phrasing it so that it's a choice of either move forward with the surfing lots or look at this? Why can't we go simultaneously with getting that south lot done, paved, and also at the same time moving forward with the proposals?

We could. Part of the one proposal was for them to develop the south parking lot. So, that could be probably expedited through their practice if we would move forward with that. I think that both of the proposers are interested in learning more of what the commission desire is. And if there's a south surface lot that would still stay in addition to a parking garage, I think that they might be able to expedite the service delivery. However, if it's the commission's desire for the staff to keep moving forward, we can absolutely deliver the 30% plans and then come back to the commission and figure out if you want us to invest more time and resources to advance city staff efforts.

So, you basically just think that we would expedite the timeline if we did decide to go with a proposal for a garage and at the same time let them handle the south lot. That would save us how much time?

I think there's different strategies to go in place. The one thing you need to keep in consideration is that we'd have to get to an interim agreement or we'd have to get to a comprehensive agreement before the work would start. And so, if you would move forward with choosing a proposal before the summer recess, the commission would have the ability to create a competition period if they would like.

If they would, it would be when we come back from summer recess that we'd bring that forth with the other proposals that were received. And then we would start negotiations or take the direction from the commission on how they want to rank those proposals.

Then we'd start negotiations. So, I do think there are expedited timelines through an unsolicited proposal, but we all need to, again, remember the steps that we have to take before they would get the keys turned over.

Understood. I think that we've delayed this for a long time. We probably should have already had something there in this park to accommodate all of the, like, as you mentioned, Parker Playhouse, War Memorial, the Panthers, the restaurant, the Y coming, Broward Health coming. There's so much happening in that park. So, I'm just in favor of moving forward as quickly as possible and evaluating these proposals and see if they make sense for us. That's just my take.

Anyone else have any questions or comments?

Yes, I have a question.

Go ahead.

With the possibility of moving in the direction of, you know, having a P3 and that south lot, right now we're talking about doing asphalt, correct? Is there another option, another opportunity that we could maybe utilize that would be move quicker, that would also give us the parking opportunity that we need, but that does not cost us as much as the asphalt? Is that something that we can consider?

Yeah, so in the past we looked at doing limestone or crushed gravel in that area. I think the challenges we have are in our city code of what we do for parking lots. The second issue that we have is the stormwater issue in that area and, you know, not being able to drain as effectively as what a stormwater system would. So, we have evaluated different things. If that, again, is the direction of the commission, I'm happy to reevaluate that, see if we can find a short-term solution.

I don't know what this method is called, but I don't remember where I was, but it was like a, it wasn't the gravel, but it was like a packed sand or something that was really, really hard. It wasn't concrete, but it was so sturdy, it was just as, in my opinion, as hard as the concrete. And my understanding is not as expensive as asphalt, because I, you know, I'm always considering what we're putting down to then come back and remove. So, if we're going to move in a direction where we're going to address that right-now need, also wanting to be able to put something there that is cost-efficient, where we're not just saying, okay, asphalt, three years, tear that $5 million, which would probably be more than that for asphalt, but removing it and saying, okay, now we're going in a different direction.

Yeah, those are great points, and understand where you're coming from. I think the challenge that we have in this area is just the low-lying area and for the stormwater system. I'll continue to work with DSD and Public Works and see if we can come up with an intermediary solution, but that is one of the bigger challenges right now is the stormwater. Okay, thank you.

Ben, from a cost perspective, considering unsolicited proposals that would look at including the surface lot on the south side, what's your sense of cost of an unsolicited proposer doing that south lot versus city doing the south lot?

So, it's hard for me to forecast what the financials are at this point. I think we need to get into negotiations. We need to also have a baseline design to make sure we're comparing apples to apples. I do think that the service delivery or the implementation of it would be expedited through a private party, but I can't answer your question at this time.

Okay, that's fine. Part of the south side, if I'm under it, I think you and I have talked about this before, but part of the south side not only is the surface lot, but greater pedestrian safety, access, crossing, I forget what that road is, but between the iceplex and the parking lot, that would be part of this project. Is that right?

Yeah, and we're making some temporary improvements out there right now, and so I think you'll see some of them coming about. But as part of the bigger project, I think that we intend to have some raised crosswalks from the parking lot over to the iceplex side, so that way they're marked, and then there's also traffic calming elements incorporated with it.

Okay, great. If we did want to move forward with the unsolicited proposal process and we wanted to move that forward as efficiently as possible, as quickly as possible, give me a sense of timing in terms of should we talk today about the, I forget what the phrase you used, but the time to consider other proposals coming in and so forth. Give me a little bit there.

Yeah, so Florida statute, and I might have to lean on the city attorney on this, but Florida statute used to require that there's a 21 to 180-day competition period. So once you decided that you had an intent to enter into the competition agreement, you would set a competition period during that time. Florida statute has changed. I don't believe that's any longer a requirement, but I would defer to the city attorney to confirm that.

Okay, thanks. Dwayne?

So, excuse me. So it remains a requirement. What the statute has done is add an alternative process. So if you do not what they now call the public bid processes, which you're accustomed to providing the 21 to 120 days for additional solicitors to submit proposals, before entering into a comprehensive agreement, you can now go into a public meeting process. It requires two noticed public meetings. The first I would call an evaluation meeting, in which the presenters present before the city commission at a public meeting, hear comments from the public. The second meeting is a determination meeting where there's specific criteria in the statute that the commission has to make a determination that the proposal meets and address all the comments that were made at the prior meeting in terms of awarding or entering in a comprehensive agreement with that particular proposer.

You know, the thing is that probably a private entity could produce this asphalt parking lot quicker than the city, but it's going to take time to get to that point. And I think that, as Dwayne just pointed out, having the two meetings, there's notice, there's, you know, that would take longer than the 21 days that we would be allowed to open that window of competition. You know, I'm looking at page six of seven, and it says both proposals indicate a parking garage can be constructed in approximately 12 months. Well, they want to build a huge parking structure in one year, and we're talking about just paving an area in 18 months. Well, what this belies is the fact that you have to get to that point. You have to get to the point where the design has been completed, the permits have been processed, you know, and that could take a year. So while it says it can do it in 12 months, it could take a year to get to that point. With the unsolicited proposals, the same thing. By the time we get to approve an unsolicited proposal, it may be a year because staff still has to review the proposal. That's going to take a little while. And honestly, Ben, I personally think that we should probably go ahead and get the surface parking lot done, and then we can focus on the structure itself, which I think is going to be significant and possibly a game-changer for that area, and I hate to delay the surface parking lot because it is an absolute mess. So that's just my thought. I'm just, you know, and there are a few people who have signed up to speak. You know, maybe we can listen to them. Great. That sounds good, man. Yeah. All right. Does that conclude your presentation?

Yes, sir. Can you just keep that handy because I want to refer back to it a little bit. Thanks.

Let's see. This was for questions only. Can you, John, share it just for questions or do you want to make a statement? Okay. Same with Gary Olson. Gary, are you here? Okay. The lady in the dark glasses. I won't mention your name because apparently you're here incommunicado. Well, since I've had cataract surgery, my eyes are sensitive to the light. Yeah. What's that?

Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Marilyn Lomano. I'm here as a citizen, taxpayer, and resident. Today, you're reviewing two unsolicited proposals to construct parking structures and parking lots and other things in Holiday Park under Florida Statute 255065. That statute, as the city attorney explained to you, has been substantially modified. I urge you never to go into the new process, which is the non-competition process, but that's a whole other story. Doubtless, there will be presentations. Actually, we haven't seen a presentation of the proposal. We may or may not find clear answers. You may be urged or you may desire to notice this proposal to see if there are other interested parties. And doubtless, we will spend considerable amounts of time on details and dueling proposals. And doubtless, there may even be lawsuits involved. In my opinion, these are not the relevant issues. I'm going to make this briefer. You've already proposed and approved and want to move forward with a south parking lot, a surface parking lot. You've made that decision, a good decision in my estimation. But what has changed in the last three months since you made that decision? Have we, in the last three months, discovered that we absolutely must have more parking right now? Did we realize that we needed a heliport? These guys will want to build a heliport.

It's for the starship that will be landing there.

Thank you very much. Bringing the stars to the war memorial. I find that interesting. Do we really need another fire station, having just finished building fire stations? A simple parking lot with a forest of trees, solar lights, EV charging stations, and natural stormwater drainage, which I would be happy to elaborate on if I had time to answer questions. That would just be fine with me. You always have the option to add parking structures at a later date if they are needed. A modest proposal sounds very good, especially considering the ongoing and future demands on the city's budget. While infrastructure like stormwater sewers and water distribution pipes are added to the resident utility bills, it nonetheless adds up and starts to hurt. However, we need a new city hall. The police headquarters keeps getting more expensive. We may be pushing our bonding capacity now, and we have sidewalk dreams. Our city budgets this year and in the future will be very difficult. The possibility of losing property tax and state tax support are very real. Development is slowing down. The recession is looming. Winter may be coming. Now is not the time to be entering into a... I don't know how you wake up in the morning.

My God. It's so scary.

I'm such a happy person. Naturally happy.

It's just scary. Oh, scary. Keep those blinders on.

Now is not the time. The point is, now is not the time to be entering into a P3 with anybody for anything except the most pressing needs. Surely you don't think that there's free money to be had in a P3. Surely you know from experience that a P3 costs more. And surely you don't think P3s come in on time and on budget and deliver all that was proposed all the time. P3s do shift the risk of construction onto a private entity with admittedly more expertise and bandwidth than the city can provide. However, I understand that you may be averse to undertaking capital projects given your recent problems with the police headquarters and parks bonds. That's understandable. But it doesn't take a genius to build a parking lot. So let's thank these people very much for their interest, and thanks but no thanks at this time. Give them back their money and send them on their way. Let's move forward with our modest parking lot proposal, and don't forget to plant plenty of trees. Thank you very much. And if you're interested in natural stormwater drainage for parking lots, I can send you 500 slides that I've taken of European cities that don't use asphalt, use natural stormwater drainage, if you're interested. Thank you.

Thank you. So I want to make sure we all understand what a submission of an unsolicited proposal is all about. So two such proposals have been tendered to the city of Fort Lauderdale. So the city commission can direct city staff to accept them, accept the 25,000, still 25,000, right? Accept the 25,000, which is to cover staff time to review them, at which time the city commission will be asked to hear from city staff and see what the results are, the staff analysis of each proposal. It does not commit the city to do anything if we accept the tender, correct? It just allows staff to review the components of the proposals and go forward. I know that this commission has in the past indicated a need and a desire to improve the parking access in and around the iceplex, parker, and everything that's going on, plus the new and improved tenant's facility. You know, parking is going to be in a greater demand than it is today. And I think this commission has put out there that we're looking for ideas. And as we move forward with the surface parking lot, I do think it behooves the commission to direct staff to accept these unsolicited proposals just to see what they are, just to allow us to focus on what exactly is being proposed. And then when you folks come back with your analysis, we'll be in a much better position to make a decision. Does that make sense to everybody? Does that make sense? Okay. Are you okay with that, Commissioner Sorensen?

Yeah, I just have some questions, but I'm good with the general direction. Okay. Go ahead.

Go ahead, Commissioner.

Okay. Great. Was there anyone else who wanted to talk, Mayor, or is that it? That was it. Okay. Great. Thanks. Let's see. Ben, can you pull up that deck again and go to the parking space analysis? So talk me through, if you would, just briefly, do we need more parking than we currently have on the south side?

Do we need a garage? So I think that in the past, the Parks Bond originally contemplated a smaller garage. And then with the activations and these demand generators coming to the park, it's created a desire for more. We do have a legal obligation to provide the park or playhouse with at least 600 parking spaces. So that's one of the factors for consideration. The War Memorial Auditorium has been activated. It's starting to host concerts, and they're starting to have events there. So I think the concern, Commissioner, is that with multiple demand generators that have events at the same time, that if you don't build it to the 800 to the 1,000 space garage, you're still going to have a lot of challenges on high demand periods.

So the surface line, off the top of your head, is it 625 parking spaces? Or is that, what does that number come from?

So the 625 was when we developed the north and the south. The north and the south. Yes.

Approximately what will the south accommodate?

So we still needed to refine it, but the ballpark number was 400. Okay. We need to overlap that with some of our DSD and code requirements for landscaping improvements. We also probably want to do setback from the condos to have a green space there. So we have some other considerations, but I would say 300 to 400 spaces.

Okay. So it sounds more like three than four. Okay. So with 300 additional spaces and considering the activation of War Memorial, the IcePlex, and Parker. So the Parker, the grass lot that's to the side of the Parker now, do we have an estimate as to how many cars can be parked there as is?

I don't have the number off the top of my head. I do know that for the 600 that they've got to use both the east portion and the west portion to accommodate the number of vehicles that they generate.

Okay.

Would you, all right, so let's just pick a number for a moment. Let's say 500 spaces. 500 cars can be parked on the north parking lot. Okay.

I think for illustration purposes, it'd probably be closer to 3 to 350.

Oh, really? Okay. So that's the north side, right? Okay. So 350. So we're still, based on the estimate for demand, we're still far short of what we need is what you're saying.

And is that 350 northeast and northwest on the other side of the Parker?

I would need to confirm that. But for illustrative purposes, I think that the northeast would be around the 300, 350.

Okay. And then, I mean, west isn't that, there's not that many available. There's not that many.

And the Y is going to take up some of that.

That's what I was going to say is the Y is going to eat into that right on the west side.

Right.

Okay.

Sorry, go ahead. And on the grass parcel now for the east, you also need to consider the weather conditions because a lot of times we'll have heavy rains and there'll be ponding where some of the lot's not available. So the number they fit in there is a fluctuate number based off of the conditions.

Okay. So just, okay, so we're thinking out loud right now. And so it's clear to us that a structure is going to be necessary to really accommodate. I mean, we wanted the War Memorial to be, you know, to be revitalized. And we're thankful that the Panther organization came in and did what they did. And it's an amazing element to what we have to offer here in our city. The Iceplex has been an amazing success. And as long as the, you know, whether the Panthers are champions or not, we know we have a base of support in our community that will always support the Florida Panthers. And that area will continue to be a popular watch party area that will need parking. And, of course, the parker continues to become, you know, it's as successful today as it was in the past. And people love coming to the events, the performances. I mean, I've been there about four or five times in this past six months, which is probably more than I've been in the last five years. There's just so many great things happening there. So we clearly need more parking. And I believe the estimate was, I think we needed 1,000 more parking spaces in addition to the south asphalt parking area. So I don't know about the office space. I think the commission said we didn't really want to have office space there. Tell me about the fires. Is that an EMS station or is that like with trucks and things?

I think for the fire EMS station, it would be a two-bay station, probably 6,000, 8,000 square feet, very similar to the project that we're putting in the Heron Garage over by Las Olas. I don't know if the immediate demand would be to fill it out. But I think if we're going to invest into infrastructure for the future with the demand in the area of Sears Town and other developments, that it would probably be better to build it bigger than smaller.

So the closest fire station, though, to that area is the one by the bus station, right? Chantel, you want to chime in on this? So the closest fire station is the one by the bus station, correct?

Yes, sir. Fire station 2, which is west of the trucks.

Which is west of the trucks. Yes, sir. Right. So that's an issue.

Yes, sir.

Yeah. Okay. All right.

Mayor? Yes, sir. If I may. And obviously I've been speaking to all of these parties for Holiday Park and also the neighborhoods surrounding it and the neighborhoods. We have to start thinking about not just now but the future. So the chief has also expressed several times at several of our meetings that we need to have this. The population is booming in Flagler Village. The population, even more and more young families, as the Miami Herald said the other day in that downtown area. Same thing with Victoria Park, Flagler Village. And also just the mere fact that we still are going to be building that Y there with Broward Health. I just think that it's really important for us not just to think about what we need now but we have to think about the future. And I'm all in support of doing that garage with approximately 1,000 spaces in addition to the 300 spaces on the surface lot. And I really think that staff needs to be given the green light to go ahead and really get this to us as soon as possible and evaluate these proposals and let's get on with this discussion. But I do believe we do need the EMS very much there because of what's happening. And when Searstown, by the way, they're going to be getting ready soon to go into permitting, that's going to be bringing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of more units just across the street from this. So I just see that there is a need. There is an urgency. And as I said, we have to just be forward thinking, not just looking around what do we need today. Thank you.

So is it possible that we may consider incorporating a fire facility in another location? In other words, I can hear the pushback on this, on the parking structure. The pushback is, you know, this is a park and we're trying to reduce the amount of visual obstruction by having fewer structures in an area that is supposed to be an open air, open space park. And having a parking structure sort of interferes with that idea of keeping it, you know, open and airy and so forth. But necessity is also going to be, needs to be addressed. And the necessity of parking, like I said, we've activated War Memorial, we have the Iceplex, the popularity of the Parker, and now the Y. You know, we've made this a very intense area. A lot of intense activity is going to be taking place and does take place there. So, but my question was, I mean, I don't see the need for an office space there, but I was just wondering, like, the fire structure, like, why can't we make some sort of deal with the Searstown people to put a fire structure in their location? They've got plenty of real estate, we might be able to work something out with them. The point is, I'm trying to reduce the size of this structure so that it doesn't look like, you know, a landing field, you know.

But I'm not sure that those two bays would actually reduce or increase the size of the structure. They would just be built into the structure on the ground floor. I'm not sure that that would actually increase or...

Well, it would certainly take up more parking spaces, right? So we could reduce it. If we say we want 1,000 parking spaces, then the 1,000 parking spaces would be contained within a smaller structure if we don't have all these add-ons, is all I'm saying.

Right. Well, I think once staff does their evaluation, this conversation can go on in much greater depth because we'll have just more information. And I think then we can tweak it once we evaluate it, once staff evaluates it and gives us the proposals. You know, there is another way to look at it, and I know what you're talking about when you're saying taking up the space. But if you do consolidate all of the parking into a structure, you're keeping the rest of the green space in Holiday Park available as green space. You're not going to be parking people all over the place and saying, oh, my gosh, we need to have more surface lots. And you actually are, I think, increasing the amount of green space that you will be able to maintain if you put this all in just one structure. That's just another way of looking at it.

That's an argument that has merit.

I agree with you because people, out of necessity, will park wherever they can because there's no parking. So, all right, to conclude this conversation then, why don't we authorize staff to accept, to receive the tendered proposals and then make their analysis and then come back to the commission with their recommendations? Does that make sense?

Mayor, I just have a bunch more questions. Go ahead. Just so, because I just want to understand and track this. Okay, so fire, just to touch on the fire station again, I mean, Chief Bodding, I heard Chief Golan has told me many times that we need, for the future growth of the city, we really need to have a fire station, EMS substation somewhere in this direct vicinity. This is really important. And this is one, I think he said, one of the deficiencies of the city when he looks future growth, that we have a real need here and we need to fill that need soon. Is that, am I saying that right? Yes, sir. Okay. So, that's where I think, I mean, I think we've really got to prioritize the fire station. I think this project makes sense to fit that in while we're doing this. So, okay. So, I just want to make sure I'm tracking the need for that. In fact, I think the Chief said, out of all the districts, this is one of the areas of most needs in terms of a fire substation or station. So, okay. All right. Thank you, Chief. Ben, a couple more questions on parking. So, you said the parker needs 600 parking spaces. War Memorial needs 100. Am I saying that right?

No, War Memorial would need dramatically more.

Okay, how many?

It depends on what concert they have, but the 1,000 space garage baseline was based off of about the last year. We've had some engagement sessions with both the Parker and the Panthers, and that 1,000 space was kind of the baseline of what they would like to see.

You had to add a zero there.

So, got it.

Sometimes my math is not what it could be. So, for War Memorial Auditorium, we need 1,000 spaces.

So, we got into conversations about the use of the garage and how many times there will be overlapping events, the competition of the needs. And at the end of the discussion, it was determined that 1,000 space total would be the baseline for what we need. If we need to further evaluate that and look at adding more spaces or contracting spaces, we can get those conversations. But right now, we've not had any active conversation based off of the direction to move forward with the surface lot.

Okay.

Okay. So, you're saying 1,000 is the sum of Parker, which we're saying is 600, plus War Memorial, which is some unknown number, plus Iceplex. I'm differentiating Iceplex from War Memorial because I think those are two separate entities that we should talk about. Okay.

So, Parker, plus War Memorial, plus Iceplex, plus just kind of parking to walk the dogs or whatever the case may be, that gets to 1,000. And the tennis. And the tennis. I mean, and I even park there sometimes when we're playing soccer with the girls. And pickleball. And pickleball. There you go. So, that gets to 1,000 total need.

Or is that 1,000 plus existing south surface?

The conversations we've had in the past were just focused on the Playhouse and on the Panthers. And the outcome was 1,000 spaces. So, if the commission desires, we can go back and start having additional planning efforts and come back with a number for consideration. If that is 1,200 or 1,300, we can confirm that. One of the challenges is just not knowing the number of times you overlap events. And, you know, the concern from a staff perspective, just based off the cost of the garage, is if you build 1,200 spaces and on an average need you're filling 400 of them or 500 of them, you have a garage that's partially empty during the non-event nights.

Right. So, but the good thing about having this garage, and not to interrupt you, but during hurricanes, having a safe space for people to park their vehicles, you know, if no event is taking place. I mean, there are multiple uses for garages that may not necessarily be for the entertainment. But, yes, there will be times when it's empty. But, God forbid, there are events happening at the Parker, the Iceplex, and War Memorial on the same night, okay, we'd be hard-pressed for parking. Absolutely. So, but on a typical, you're saying on a typical evening of just the Parker, there would be like 600, a need for 600, War Memorial, maybe the same amount. So, Iceplex is variable because of the different things that go on there. So, I think, Ben, we just picked 1,000 spaces as a number to work with on top of the south parking lot of 300. I think that's what we had thought about when we put out to the community the need for a parking structure. So, why don't we go with that then?

Yeah, and we can go back and start reevaluating the demand needs. We, again, as the commission directed to go with the surface lot, we kind of stopped the conversations there. But happy to reengage with the Y, with the Panthers, with the Parker, with Carl, and the Parks and Recreation Department to get what that total sum number may be.

Do we know what the occupancy capacity is for the War Memorial?

I do not.

Do we know? Chantel, you don't know. Off the top of your head. I mean, that number would be determinative as to what the need would be. So, if you figure one and a half people per car, you know, just as an example, then if the capacity is 600, then all you need is 400 cars. Who's talking? Oh, come on up. You can't talk from there. You have to talk when you're on camera. Did they say 2,000?

2,000 capacity? People mean it, right?

I'm just picking numbers. I'm just, it was just for conversation. Yes, sir. Identify yourself and speak into the microphone.

Is it? It's your on. You're on. Gary Olson.

Hello, Gary.

I'm not a developer. Or a reporter. To answer your question, the capacity is 4,000. What is capacity? That is what is advertised. Capacity for what? Of War Memorial. 4,000. FTL War Memorial, right? It's 3,400 general capacity plus another 600 for VIP. Okay. The balcony. So that's 4,000. But that doesn't include everybody else in the Iceplex.

Right.

So you have, and you have the bar and restaurant.

So you've given us a number now. So it's a more realistic. It's 4,000 plus. Okay. So that's a more realistic number. Okay. Okay. So to Ben, there's.

Thanks.

Yeah. Now that helps. So thank you, Gary. That helps. Thank you. Could I just, could I just add? Oh, Ty. Hello. One second. One second. Okay.

Thank you.

Hello, Ty. Ty Sutton, president, CEO of the Broward Center. It's roughly 3,000 is where they figured out maximum GA capacity is at this point for the War Memorial itself. Okay. Well, that's still a significant number. It is a very significant number.

Okay. Raquel. Hold on a second. Raquel.

I just wanted to add that just because a facility has a certain capacity doesn't mean that that's the number of cars that we will anticipate. So we need to go back and evaluate further. And we could also talk to all the entities on the campus to talk about how they schedule events and maybe come to some consensus on how that should be handled.

Sometimes that's out of their control. You know, uh, you know, if a certain, if a certain talent can only perform a certain day, uh, or a certain group can only show up at a certain, uh, uh, you know, time. Um, but you're right. If, if the capacity is 3000, even if it's one car for every three people, there's still a thousand cars and some people might come by Uber or Lyft. So that's also consideration, but that's the only exclusive to the War Memorial. If there's a park, if there's an event at the Parker, then where'd you go, Ty? Did you run away? Oh, there you, uh, if there's an event at the Parker, you know, that complicates it. So, um, we definitely have a need for parking. There's no doubt about it. If we use a thousand as a benchmark for the, for the parking structure and knowing that we have the extra 300 plus in the, in the surface lot, I think that would more than cover what we, what we need for the moment. We can't build anything bigger. Let's just put it that way. I don't think we should think about anything bigger. I think these, these renderings, uh, make it look like we're building a mini city there. I think they're a little, uh, a little, um, distorted in terms of their size and their, and their context. I'd like to see more realistic renderings at some point. And when you do come back, I would love to see something that's a little bit more, um, um, nature respectful in terms of trying to blend the, the exterior, uh, with the park setting that we have there, because right now they look very industrial and we certainly don't want that feeling in, in, uh, holiday park.

Okay. So thank you. So just to sum, I think we're hearing from chief body and we have a significant need for a fire rescue station in the area. I think this project is a, is a great option for that. I'm hearing we're massively under parked in this area. And that's my experience too. When I'm there going to the iceplex and playing on the fields with our girls. So mayor, I think this is the right need and approach to, to seek support for. Okay. So now if you'd go to the last, I think it's the last page, Ben, or the second last page. Yeah, here. Okay. Okay. So, um, if, if we said, Hey, please evaluate, uh, these two options, does, is, do we, at what point is it stated by the city that we would, uh, welcome any other unsolicited proposals, uh, for a project like this? How do we communicate that or when? If I may.

Um, so that would occur when the city commission makes a determination that it intends to enter into a comprehensive agreement with any one of the proposers. So you would be extending that notice and then you would set that time period, uh, for the, between 21 and 120 days.

Okay. So to answer your question on this flow chart, it would come after, after, uh, we, after see where it says yes. It's the second blue box. Today is the yes. Today is the yes. The first yes. Yep. Then the evaluation proposal. And then it comes to go to the right. Yep. If we decide to go yes, that's when we set the time, right? Right. That's correct.

Okay. And so it's that second blue box.

Great. And so that second yes above the four blue, blue rectangles, that yes is saying yes to what question?

Yes to one of the proposals that, that the commission wants to enter into a comprehensive agreement. So at, at the, at the, at the moment you're making a determination as to whether or not you'd like staff to evaluate the proposals that you've received. Right. Once staff completes that evaluation, they'll bring that back to the commission and a determination as to whether or not you want to go with one of the projects will be made at that time and you will express an intent to enter into a comprehensive agreement. The statute then provides that we provide a window, a time for other proposers to submit proposals and you'll set that window between the 21 days and the hundred and, between 21 days and 120 days to receive other proposals. Uh, we'll evaluate those and then you'll move forward with negotiations of the, um, comprehensive agreement.

Great. Got it. So, um, it would seem to me the most efficient way to do this is to get any unsolicited proposals now while staff is evaluating the two we already have so that they can fully evaluate all of them and then come to us with, at the yes green, the second yes green box, which I think we're doing implicitly right now. Right. So anyone who's interested in as my guess is they would submit an unsolicited proposal hearing our feedback now. Um, then even when we get all those, we still by statute have to set a timeframe for any other proposals to come in. Now, what's not stated there is when we accept the, if, if other proposals come in, in that second blue rectangular box, we would need to do an additional city staff evaluation of those new proposals. Is that right? That's correct. Okay. So that, so it starts the process. It would be another, another step in that. Right. It now won't, it wouldn't begin the 21 to 120 day process. Correct. But it would just, it would involve city evaluation. You should just build, build in the time period for city evaluation, but it doesn't

add another, um, cycle of accepting additional proposals. Excellent. And then great. And then the

yes rectangle above the four that is saying, yes, we intend to enter into a comprehensive agreement with a certain proposal, right? That's your choosing one saying we're interested in this. It doesn't correct me if I'm wrong. It doesn't commit us to partnering with that entity. Is that

right? That's correct. The statute does not provide for a commitment up until the time that you actually negotiate and enter into the comprehensive agreement. Even if you choose to enter into an interim agreement with any of the parties that does not commit you to entering into a comprehensive

agreement. Excellent. So we're not committed until you get to the green square at the bottom. Is that, is that right? So we can evaluate, get some in prior to the, uh, second. Yes, we can get more in after the second. Yes, we can evaluate all of this and then make, make a decision. Right. So,

so I think you illustrated, uh, very clearly. I think the one uniqueness we have in this situation is that we have two unsolicited proposals right now. Right. So when you get to that decision of entering into and accepting one, you need to select one of them, one of the two, and then the other one would be a competition proposal. Right. So I think that's the only difference, uh, in this

scenario. And a day after we enter into, intend to enter into comprehensive, comprehensive agreement with one of these, we could have four unsolicited proposals come in the next day and then we evaluate those as well. Right. Um, okay, great. So what's the timeline, the, the, to, uh, staff evaluate the two existing proposals, um, to bring back to us for us to consider that second. Yes.

So I think that the challenge of that is that each proposal is not apples to apples. There's some difference in approach. There's different in granularity of information that's provided. So I think we need to come up with a matrix or an understanding on the staff side of what we're looking for, engage with each of the proposers, learn more about what it entails, and then come back to the city commission. If this is something that you would like to see before the summer recess, I think staff can put resources to it to make that happen. If it's something you want to do after summer recess, um, that would provide more adequate time. Yeah. I'd like to see it

personally before summer recess, because I think there's, you know, some degree of information you have, I think if we can be efficient with evaluating these, um, that would be helpful so that we can start this process going, because I think it's possible we may get other unsolicited as though we have to evaluate as well. Uh, is my thinking, but we are going to get more going to get at least one and maybe two. I, I, as a district commissioner, I'm, I've been very involved in this and yeah, we're going to get more. So we need to get started. Uh, we

need to evaluate what we have and also save some time because you'll be evaluating at least

one or two more in addition to these two. Is it a question? I'm sorry about to interrupt. Go ahead. Is there a, um, cap to how many more we can get? So I heard the number four, um, just thrown out there. Could we end up with 10? Is there a cap? I'm not aware of it.

I hope not. I'm not, I'm not aware of a maximum, uh, cap city attorney, city manager.

That's 250 grand. Yeah. So no cap. I just want to make sure we set expectations adequately. So the more proposals that we get, more time that we'll need to evaluate them. And that's

part of my question with the number of additional, um, proposals that we get, what does that do to the timeline for evaluation and also selecting and moving forward? If I am understanding

commissioner Soren correctly, I think he's asking that we create the competition window period now. So that way, whatever, uh, additional proposals come in, they come in over the summer months and we have time to evaluate them and then provide the commission with an update when you return from recess. I think that's what I'm taking away from commissioner Sorenson.

I was, what I was suggesting is there a way to evaluate the two for the staff to evaluate the two proposals and, uh, bring those back to us prior to the summer recess. And then maybe no, the answer, maybe no, it's pretty aggressive. So maybe no, but I'd like to get that going. Um, you know, get that back to us as, as soon as possible because it doesn't preclude us from continuing to analyze and evaluate other proposals. Yeah. So I'd like to

confer with city attorney and city manager offline before I commit to that, that deadline. Um,

I do understand what your request is. And then I guess the last question is going back to the surface parking lot. So I I'm interested in just getting the surface parking lot done as efficiently and cost effective as possible. Um, it seems so it seems like if we did ask the unsolicited proposer to include the South surface side in their agreement that while their construction timeline, maybe more, maybe faster, I just don't know if going through this whole process by the time we get to that's the city commission agreement approval. I think if we did ourselves, we'd just be, and that's what you think, mayor, right? You think we'd just be faster. Is that, yeah. Yeah. Is that your sense, Ben? Or do you think we can move through this fast enough so that net South side surface would still be done by unsolicited proposal

prior to us? Yeah. I think the mayor's point was to continue moving the city project forward. So that way, if it, if there are challenges with the comprehensive agreement, if there's challenges with the P3 option that we didn't just stop, right? The benefit of doing that, that approach is that we are going through the design process. So there could be a scenario where we do the design and then if we have a P3 at that time, maybe we turn them over the a hundred percent designs and they're just constructing. So I think there's a, uh, a spectrum of options that could happen along the way. I think today of getting the initial feedback from the commission and direction

is what's what staff needed. Okay, great. So in other words, we could ask unsolicited or you could talk to unsolicited proposals and say, Hey, we, the city are going to move forward building the South side parking lot. What we'd be interested in is if you're selected, uh, that you would then pick up that project where it stands that day and possibly complete it towards end as part of the

proposal. I don't want to commit that, but yes, that's the intent. I think there's a lot of technical elements that go into that. So, but that would be the concept of there could be a handover point

sometime along the timeline. Yeah. I like that because that, I think that efficiency and so forth, that makes sense. Okay, great. Okay. Mayor, thank you. Okay. Very good. Uh, district

commissioner, you have any other comments? No, I'm good. Let's just get rolling. All right. So mayor, just to summarize, I like to do this each time. We're going to continue moving forward with the surface slot with city resources, uh, as planned. We are going to, you're, we're going to evaluate at the staff level, the two unsolic proposals that we have, and then bring it back to the commission at a point that we're ready to share that information for the commission to determine if they want to, uh, or intend to enter into a comprehensive agreement. Bingo. And my last question is, I know that commissioner Sorensen asked for that to be before the summer recess. Can you confirm the will of the commission on that timing? Well, doesn't it depend on your progress? It does, but I think depending on how many resources we put behind it and the urgency of the commission, we'll, we'll, we'll drive that. I think that. Yes. Do your best. Okay. Take it one

step at a time. Thank you. Thank you. One last question. Just the going back to the kind of impervious versus impervious. So Marilyn, it sounds like you have some great concepts. Um, so can we really look at that grass pave systems for the South side? Yeah, we can explore all the different

alternatives. This one has its pro and con. Yeah. So we'll, we'll put that together. Great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One last question. No, that's it. All yours, mayor. Thank you.

All right. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ben. Uh, we can take a break for a few minutes or just go right into our commission reports. It'd be commissioner Beasley Pittman. You want to go ahead? Okay. Sorry, everyone. No. Do you want to take a break? You're okay. Keep going. Okay. Here we go.

Here we go. Here we go. Okay. A couple, um, items I would like to share as far as what we were able to attend and also accomplish some conversations we've had as well. Um, on, on May 7th, we attend the Fort Lauderdale FOP, Fort Lauderdale PD Falling Officers Memorial, which is always a, um, beautiful presentation. They bring on a, a wonderful memorial for those of our officers who have fallen. And I'm always, um, touched by the presentation. And it was a, a great opportunity to be here to witness that again. Also, I had the privilege of attending one of our legacy child care centers, um, graduation, the Red Schoolhouse. They've been in our community for, um, 57 years. And, um, this year graduating, um, their four-year-olds, um, to move them up into the next level going on to kindergarten. And, um, um, I'm going to have to make sure that you all come next year. It is so cute. They just, you know, it's amazing, um, to watch our, I like to say our right now generation. I don't like to say our future. These young people, they're really, um, they're little stars. They take to the stage and they recite their, um, poems and, um, what they're doing. I really applaud, um, the Red Schoolhouse and how they're preparing our, our future, our children for the next stage of education. What's the age group? Um, the graduation was for four-year-olds and they're moving on to kindergarten. So you're talking about some little cute ones. Um, but it's a daycare and, um, they usually have up to, um, like the five-year-olds. But we know we have so much of a change in our culture, um, with education. A lot of kids are now, um, using vouchers and going into charter schools or even with what's going back, the cutback where you can't even, um, have those vouchers to allow those young people to go on to that type of education. Um, also wanting to share that on May 9th, um, I did not attend, but I, um, give congratulations to Robert Larkrey for being recognized as the 2025, um, downtown of the year award. Um, I spoke with him and we know that, um, Mr. Larkrey does some amazing work here in the city and I believe that was definitely an honor worth deserving of him. Also on that very same night, Relay for Life, American Cancer Society, uh, Relay for Life at Carter Park, 6 p.m. Again, a, um, event that we've been hosting through the city for, um, decades now. Um, I even had the privilege for, um, actually 10 years to be the chair for that organization, for that very relay. Again, we had a great turnout and, um, times are changing, um, Relay used to go from 6 p.m. to, um, 6 a.m. the next morning. Now this down from 6 p.m. to midnight. So, but still the same energy, the same, um, recognition of, um, those individuals who are in this, in the journey right now, they're fighting this fight with the battle of cancer. Also the fundraising opportunity that goes on with the different teams and, um, enabling Relay for Life, American Cancer Society to provide funding for the services that they also, um, offer to our communities, as well as the, um, research for a cure for cancer. Also, I'd like to share that on, um, in regards to IM6 trunk, that initiative that we are, um, have introduced to, um, the district, the city overall. Um, at this point we are in what's considered phase two. I'm excited to be, um, um, championing this along with, um, city staff that is helping us move this about. Um, we have introduced it to the community. We have videos out that is encouraging everyone to, um, um, take on to this hashtag, this phrase, I am six trunk. And overall, again, this is to bring, um, awareness and, and, and that again, that, that embracing of district three and who we are and what has been accomplished through our city. Um, the stuff that we're in now is beginning to work on the economics and, um, public safety and housing pieces. Um, there is a survey that went live through our city website. Um, it's a survey that's asking our neighbors what it is that they are hoping to see what to accomplish, what is needed. Um, with that, the survey is also going to allow for a six trunk empowerment summit that's scheduled for June 19th and, um, more information to be coming for that, but really excited about community engagement. Um, individuals are now calling our office, trying to find out more about it and what they too can do. Who's host, who's hosting that the event for, um, the summit. Yeah. Um, our city, we are in ones that are in charge of that along with, um, the economic development division. Our public

affairs division is planning that event is that okay. That's on the 19th of July of July. So we

have a little time, so we'll have more information regarding that as well. Also, I want to share that I had a great conversation with, um, Barbara Markley with the legal women voters regarding, um, gun safety and making us aware of the opportunities to, um, pass out those gun locks. They have had a great, um, running success. They've started in 2017 passing out those locks and they have a campaign that is entitled lock up your guns, um, lock up your guns, guns down. So it's a great opportunity for us as the city. They're willing to share those locks. We can give them out through HOAs events that we're having. Um, and I look forward to, um, working with her again, um, as a civic association president, Dorsey Riverbend, um, with, this is one of the initiatives that we had where we got those locks and shared them. So we look forward to, um, continuing that opportunity as well. On May 14th, we had a great opportunity. We, as a city could be really, um, excited about the building business with impact. Um, there we had, um, the opportunity for a, um, local business owners to pitch their businesses before a panel of five judges. Um, also within that, um, there was some great, great new businesses. The shark tank. Not as intense, but you know, they came, they really had some great, um, opportunities and business that they were sharing with us. Um, city manager Williams was there. She brought a welcome to those individuals, those business that were there and our, our judges, I want to, you know, bring out to just let you know, it wasn't just a little, a little event. It was major. We bought, they brought in some major, um, stakeholders from the community. Um, George greens, grimes, I may be pronouncing this wrong name improperly. He is the chapter chairman for the score for score Broward County. Also Anthony Santana, the CEO and founder of one square one startup solutions, J.R. McFarland, which is the, um, senior small business developer officer of the urban league of Broward County for their entrepreneurship center, as well as Andre cross business associate coordinator for the city of Fort Lauderdale along with, um, Alexander Bailey, who is the founder and financial planner for brick stone. So this was a great opportunity. Um, those who presented their, their businesses, they did very well. I was excited to be in the room and it's just an indication of what we, the city of Fort Lauderdale is doing to inspire and embrace entrepreneurship in our city. Okay. Also, I'd like to share that's done with that part. Let's see here. Okay. I have a couple of things that I wanted to, um, have a conversation about, um, in regards, I'm, I'm, I'm hoping that most of us are, have read in, in, in the newspaper. I even seen some articles about, um, what's going on regarding, um, school lunches within overall

in the nation and in our city, in our county. Um, Broward County will be eliminating free

lunches and, um, mayor, I understand that you are part of the, um, a coalition, uh, hunger alliance with the mayors and, um, hoping that you all have discussed this in a, some degree, but I'm hoping that as a city that we could collaborate, see what we can do, where we can, um, embrace this some, in some manner to address this overall. Um, if you could share.

Well, I think it's, I think it's a, as a result of federal funding being cut off. It is, it

is. And, and the, and the education department, our board of education, our, our school board has not really made, made those choices yet. They haven't budgeted for them. Um, I think that's where the decision is made. Um, it's a travesty. It is that that decision was made. At the federal level, because it, it's completely ignorant of the, of the situations that exist in so many of our school communities. And, uh, um, I mean, it just makes no sense to me when I, when I hear that they're about to give a big tax cut for people that don't need it. And yet, you know, young kids who come to school hungry, right. Um, and go home from school hungry, you know, it's, it, it's such a small number compared to, um, other programs that, that whose benefits are often spurious, but this is a clearly a benefit for all the young kids. I don't know. I, I, I intend to follow up. We're having the, uh, U S conference of mayors and next month, and I know this is going to be a topic of conversation.

Okay. Great. Because I'm, I'm hoping with that, um, even if there isn't a, a conclusion that can be met there, what can we do within our city to ensure, um, that our children, because we, we know that it's a situation now. And if we go where they're not even having opportunity to have lunch, food, nutrition during school hours, we are now watching a, a problem escalate

even to another level. So are we able to, um, well, the thing is the, the, the school year is just about over. Right. So it's really going to be for this fall, I would imagine. So it gives time for the school board to, you know, reassess his priorities and realize that they've got to come up with money in order to continue in this program. I mean, they have taxing power, they, you know, if they need to increase their millage rate to accommodate this program, you know, that's their decision to do so. Um, maybe as a commission, we can think about it. I

don't know if that's something that, yeah, I hope we will can, um, consider something, um, to the whole dais because, um, you know, understanding, yes, it falls back on the school board, but yet and still we're talking about our neighbors, our children who are, who will go without food where it's already a challenge. So Raquel, can you find out what kind of price tag we're looking at and what

the school board is looking to do going forward? I'm sorry. I think we need to get a little confirmation and clarity around what was cut because, uh, it may have been that blanket free lunch, uh, despite, uh, income category was eliminated, but perhaps income-based free and reduced lunch still remains. So we need to get a little clarification on. If you can come back

and maybe put it on a conference item and see exactly what, what options we have. Okay. Okay.

I would appreciate that because I know we, um, being a city and a, uh, dais that is concerned about everyone. So we've, we partially fund school resource officers, right? Which we should

never have to, but we do because we, we believe in the safety of our kids. So, um, um, now we're talking about, you know, breakfast and lunch too, right? Yeah. Um, it just boggles the mind

sometimes, but go ahead. And even is there a possibility with, um, partnerships with any type of, um, entities that may be looking to do something that don't know how to navigate through the process. So just a conversation. I wanted to bring it out so, um, that our neighbors know that we understand what's going on and we're not being, um, silent to it or turning

a, uh, a blind eye to it. Yeah, I completely agree. And, and Raquel, even if it's just like a quick memo so that, cause there may, maybe there's some action we need to start taking with school board members or so forth. So any clarity would be great. I'll engage with our

chief education officer. And I know our parks and recreation department also, uh, does some things surrounding, uh, food insecurity. So yes, we can provide a memo and also come back with a conference item as necessary. Okay. All right. I thank you for that. And then, um,

one other item, um, it has been one of the legacy churches in, in my district, they approach my office and they have a desire, um, to rename a street in the community after, um, the late Reverend Dr. W. C. Bell Jr. He had, um, he was the pastor of the church for 50 years in the community and they would like to rename, um, what is known as Northwest 23rd lane. 23rd lane sits between, um, Northwest 22nd street and 26th street. And, um, it's 23rd lane is really, it's a short street. It's not a long, um, fairway. And they would like to rename that street in honor of Dr. Bell. Um, again, in the community for over 50 years, the church name is, um, Mount Carmel, um, Baptist church, um, in the community. They have had, um, years of community outreach, which included weekly homeless ministry and, um, food distributing activities and fostering the neighbors, um, toy giveaways, and also, um, working with other spiritual leaders in the community. And just, it's a long resume that they have here. And I am, um, familiar with, um, Dr. Bell. Um, again, I always love to say I grew up in district three and I know so many of, um, the households of faith and he really was a, a light in the community. And I think this will be a great opportunity to, um, memorialize and highlight who he is and that his legacy continues. And the church has continued also in that same vein to work with the neighbors and in the city overall. Um, so my question is what, how could we do this in the most? I don't know what the process is, but is there, um, uh, is there, what is the neighborhood

association that encompasses this street?

That would be, um, Rock Island, um, association.

So can Rock Island, um, I think, I think the neighborhood association has to recommend

that, right? Uh, good afternoon. Milos Mastorovic acting director for cities, transportation and mobility department. So there are two ways to go about this. One of the ways is, uh, for the city commission to, uh, provide a direction to city manager. Historically, this would be discussed, uh, during conference meeting. And then if that direction is provided, uh, and if there is a consensus among the elect, among elected officials, then we would help out with this request, uh, without having to go through regular policy that would require, um, individual to submit a request.

Oh, my desire, if we as a commission could move forward with this, that's my reason for bringing it to the commission today.

But going through that process, I mean, there has to be a recommendation from the neighborhood association. Isn't that correct?

Uh, not if, uh, we go through commission direction process.

All right. Well, what's the pleasure of the commission? Any objection to this?

Is it possible that we can just get, like, a fact sheet and then do it at the next? I would just like to read a little bit something. Is that possible?

Yes, I can share with, um, what, what's considered like a bio they sent over. Thank you. We can share that.

Got it. Thank you.

Thank you. And that concludes my, my, my time.

Okay. Very good. Uh, commissioner Glassman.

Yes. Thank you, mayor. Um, commissioner Beasley Pittman mentioned it, but I just want to reiterate again. Yes. The, the, the police union, uh, FOPs, uh, fallen family officers. That is always an amazing memorial ceremony. Probably. I think just one of the most touching ones we have all year. So, uh, again, um, for the job that they do on that, it's, it's, it's really a tremendous, uh, event and, uh, so, so significant and so important, uh, that we do that. Um, I want to congratulate the folks, uh, behind Jay's Steakhouse. They took that historic church on third Avenue, that church that was moved brick by brick, uh, from Las Solas. Uh, um, and actually was the original St. Anthony's. A lot of people don't realize that, but, um, they pretty much gutted that church, uh, from when it was, um, what was that restaurant right before that? Holly blue, Holly blue, Holly blue. Yes. Thank you. Um, um, gutted what was there from Holly blue and they've made it into a very, very handsome, uh, elegant, very handsome phrase, a space that's really tremendous. I wish them all the best, uh, again on third Avenue, um, in Flagler village. Congratulations. Um, uh, commissioner Beasley Pittman again mentioned that, um, downtown run of the year. So I want to just add him again, my congratulations. Uh, really that's an amazing family legacy, um, that Robert Lockery has and just going back generations and generations and generations. They all would not have been able to work in the same department in the city of Fort Lauderdale. Um, but they, they are an amazing family and I wanted to say congratulations on that, on that event. It was really well done. The chamber does that along with the, uh, downtown development authority, a great job. Um, I wanted to thank the Lauderdale beach homeowners association for inviting me and hosting me on Monday, May 12th, uh, always great discussions there and, uh, a very engaged group, uh, as are all of the, I'm always impressed with all of our neighborhood associations, uh, that get folks really engaged and work so hard on behalf of their neighborhoods on a volunteer basis. Uh, Wednesday, uh, May 14th, um, I attended mayor. You were also there, uh, again, this was done by the chamber and also, uh, the beach improvement business district. Um, a session called the future of Fort Lauderdale beach 2030 revisited just to see how the plans were going with five years left in that vision. Uh, again, uh, very, very great group of, um, um, folks, stakeholders from the barrier Island, uh, uh, excellent session. So thank you to all that put that together. Uh, on Thursday, May 15th, uh, mayor, you were also there. Um, the first residential for sale product in many years in downtown, we've been seeing just so much rental product. Um, but the Andare residences, um, just to the west of, uh, Tunnel Top Plaza, uh, our first, uh, residential, um, for sale product. Um, commissioner Sorensen was there as well. Um, good turnout. Um, and in a very short amount of time, uh, they've already hit 50% sales. So, um, that's indicative, uh, of that need. Um, we'll see how that goes with the rest of, uh, of downtown, uh, coming up. Um, I think tomorrow is, uh, I think it's pronounced, uh, Ukaya smokehouse. Um, that is a brand new, um, Japanese smokehouse, uh, downtown. Um, and tomorrow is the ribbon cutting for that. Also Flagler Village Civic Association is meeting. Um, Thursday, May 22nd is the MPO State of the Region Awards at the Broward County Convention Center. Um, also it's a busy day Thursday. Um, Coley Hammock is hosting the inaugural Mary Brickle Social, uh, honoring, uh, a visionary Mary Brickle, uh, a real estate pioneer in the history of our city. Uh, and then that evening, uh, we're going to be celebrating the USS, uh, Fort Lauderdale, uh, with their commissioning and support committee, uh, with the ship's sponsor, the Honorable Meredith Berger. Uh, we'll be hosting that. Uh, we'll be getting update on the ship, on the captain, uh, on the crew and what's been happening with the USS Fort Lauderdale. Then Saturday, the Great American Beach Party. Um, uh, that's always a very, uh, very well attended event all day Saturday with events happening, um, the entire, the entire day. Uh, and last but not least on Monday, we will have the two Memorial Day, uh, commemorations in Lauderdale Memorial Park Cemetery, um, and also the Riverwalk. And that's it for me, Mayor. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Commissioner Sorensen. Thank you,

Mayor. Um, let's see. The fallen officers in Memorial has been mentioned. It was wonderfully done and having the families there is really meaningful, uh, for me. Uh, I joined the first meeting of the Broward Business Council on Homelessness, uh, Governance Tiger team. So I'm co-chairing that, uh, Governance Tiger team. So we're working with other municipalities to work together on homelessness. And Raquel, one idea I had as I was meeting with them and just working with other homeless providers around the city is we've got a lot of homeless providers that are doing great work. We're partnering with in some really neat ways. I thought at some point for a conference meeting, it could be helpful to have several of the homeless providers, service providers come just share briefly what they're doing, how we're partnering with them and needs opportunities to do things better. I thought maybe could be helpful. Um, if the commission is a mayor is open to something like that. Good idea. You can certainly do that. Okay. Great. Thanks. Uh, spent some time at Strana Anna High School working with, um, traffic flow and with the neighbors there. That was a very positive meeting. Uh, I went up to the South Florida water management headquarters in West Palm Beach, uh, last week with many of our, uh, city staff members, our chief waterway officer, and, and to really explore mayor, how to really partner more effectively with the South Florida water management district. As you know, water flows West to East in the, in the district. And so the water that lands in Weston and the Everglades inevitably comes East. And one of the challenges we have is the impact that can have on us when we have inundated, when we're inundated with water. And so we really dug into how we can more effectively communicate, collaborate so that we're not getting overly inundated by Western water. And so that was very good conversation. I think it could be helpful at some point, mayor, just to, even if it's, it could be an email or just a brief presentation of, they shared the deck with us that we went through with them just to understand flow and so forth and how to, to mitigate some of the impacts that we've had in the past.

So just want to share that. Um, Raquel, my big concern, our big concern is the, when they flush out Lake Okeechobee, when there's, when it gets too high and they have to lower the level and then, you know, all the poisonous substances are flowing through our canals. You know, I know we're building a reservoir to hopefully capture that overflow in the future, but we're still not there. And, uh, and that's what creates, uh, algae, algae bloom. So I would like to incorporate a little bit of, of that into the, whatever, into the discussion that you're describing, because we do suffer the impact of whatever goes on in the West. It comes East

through our waterways. Exactly. Yeah. Agreed. For Kel, is that the fair? Okay, great. Um, remind me where we are with the city attorney. So I've had a chance to interview all of the city attorney candidates. What's, what's our next step in that? We're doing individual interviews, right? So I've done that. And when are we, well, I haven't done it yet. Okay. Well, we'll, we'll, we'll give you time. First, he has to appoint someone to the fireboard. He has to appoint someone to the fireboard to work on that. You got a full list of to do's. Great. So take your time. And then when? Thank you. June 3rd. June 3rd. Okay. So June 3rd, we're going to have a, what, a conference? At conference, we're going to have a discussion. So two weeks from today. But we agreed we're not

interviewing on that day. We were just discussing it. Right. Just discussing it. Because we're all

interviewing. Exactly. Individually. Okay. So June 3rd, we'll have a discussion about the candidates and then make a decision or recommendation what we might want to do. Okay. And then that would walk on at night, I guess. Is that how that works? Yeah, I think. Well, depending upon our decision. Okay. Yep. Okay. Okay. Great. So that's two weeks from now. Great. Thank you. Um, went to, uh, Raquel and many others were there. Um, and mayor, you were there, presented kind of the key to the city to chief judge, uh, tutor. And you'll probably talk about that, but, um, just, I thought that was wonderful. I'll let you talk more about that. Um, let's see. Today is, uh, Haitian flag day, Haitian heritage month, Asian Pacific American heritage month. And so I just want to, uh, lift up Haitian, Asian Americans, you know, how much they contribute to our community. Um, proud, especially my team members, Vicki and Sabrina with, uh, connections to that, that heritage and just the importance of, of immigrants in our city and in our country. Um, so grateful for that. Um, mayor, you may already be tracking this, but Jim Notter, who was a former Broward County school superintendent, passed away May 7th. Who did Jim Notter? Oh, right. Are you pronouncing that name right? Yeah. Is that? Okay. So I saw that. Okay. So tonight, tonight, if you want to recognize that, that'd be great. Thank you. Um, next topic is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is seeking public input for, uh, its consideration of national outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program, which would potentially expand offshore oil and gas drilling near our coast. Mayor, it's something I'm very concerned with. I think in 2017, we passed a re or sorry, not we, the city commission, cause I wasn't on it then passed a resolution expressing the city commission's, um, opposition to expanded offshore oil and gas drilling near our coast. It's something I'm very concerned about and just want to see if that's something we could consider a similar resolution as past. We can do that. And, um, it's interesting

cause the, uh, I think it was the secretary of the interior was here recently. Um, um, um, I didn't have a chance to, I was invited to meet with him, but I was already committed somewhere else. But, uh, the thing is that, you know, we are, we are just being caught in the crosshairs of, of a culture change in Washington where the floodgates of exploration have been open, whether it be in the ocean and in park lands and public lands, uh, places that were once considered off limits and sacred. We are now just part of that conversation. Now I'd like to think that, um, our folks in Tallahassee would have some influence on trying to steer away from that kind of thinking where offshore drilling is just totally inappropriate for our communities because any accident alone would devastate, uh, a, uh, shoreline community. So, um, I think our appeal should be to the governor of Florida and, uh, and, uh, our senators who hopefully can, you know, um, participate in our, in our, our request at the federal level that they, that they restrict any kind of offshore drilling here in the state of Florida. Yeah. Thank you. And in the Gulf of America. Yep. Yep.

Uh, agree. And so the, the deadline for public inputs, June 16th of 2025. So could we expedite, expedite or create some kind of communication or resolution? Raquel, is that something like that? Maybe we could do it at the next meeting. Is that okay? Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. Great. Um, um, chart, I, there was a, a survey that went out, uh, in terms of charter revision questions and survey, uh, seeking public input. And I was just, mayor, I just wanted to, I, and I might've missed this when it was going out, but just want to get a sense for timing, like how, what's the length of time that this survey would go out. And I've talked with Raquel, just, I'd like to just in the future, when we're surveying, um, specific topics like this, I'd like to kind of be aware of it before it goes out and understand the questions and so forth. In which, with regard to which subject for charter revision or, or what updates to the charter should be made? So, um, any, any suggestions that

you might have on topics relating to charter revision, I would recommend that you speak to the, cause I've, I've, I've asked if I can go to the charter revision meeting, I think the first meeting in June, uh, if I'm not mistaken, uh, just to be able to talk with them about my ideas. But I think anybody on the commission should have that opportunity either in writing or personally to go and make any suggestions that you have and let them sift through those suggestions and, and then report back to the commission because there are a number of things that I've always wished that they could, that they could consider. Now, the last go around, um, there were a number of, of, you know, of good recommendations that we never got to really review. And right now, I think they're in the process of doing their, their community outreach. Um, I think I saw a memo somewhere where there are certain meetings that are scheduled for community outreach in which they're, in which we had requested that they do that. Um, and before they came back to us with any recommendations. So in that process, either attend one of those meetings or, um, submit your ideas directly to the commission, to the committee, because I think that there's a lot of good things that we can do this go around. I'd love to see them on the next ballot in November of next year so that people can vote on, you know, some of those revisions that need to be, that need to be addressed. So, um, it's your option how you want to do that, but don't, don't hold back, you know, they'll good.

Um, just, um, commenting on what you said, Ben, I agree, um, about the survey because I learned about the survey in a sense, third party and, um, I would have liked to have known that it was going out and even also, um, with the recommendation, they give us the recommendation. I would have liked to have known what those questions were. And when I looked at them, I thought they were kind of, um, um, what word do I want to use? There was, it was some of the questions wasn't a question that I believe everyone can answer because you would need to know the background. You would really have to have gone into and understanding the charter. So, um, with that, I understand that we're doing the community outreach to educating and inform, but the survey is before that informing and giving that information. So are we really going to get the right answers or a answer because someone may just say, um, in a and move on because they can't properly answer the question or they don't feel

comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. Agree. And I, I was asking, uh, Raquel and the team, and I guess there's the one other survey that we have going on as just kind of, uh, um, ongoing survey, I guess, and correct me if I'm wrong, Raquel, but it's kind of what are, how is the city doing? What concerns do you have? It's just kind of an ongoing survey, which is, is fine. I mean, I'm good with that, but the more specific

topics like to know all of the comments are well received. And, you know, we could on the charter revision survey, uh, stop that survey and wait for more of the public outreach to occur and allow for you to review the questions in advance of a survey going back out to the community. Uh, so I do think it is a best practice for us. Why don't we do that? Why don't we do that? Okay. To, to Pam's, uh,

point, it gives people more context if they understand some of the subject matter areas and the history and all of that. And that way we can also review the survey questions. Okay. Yeah. Whatever,

whatever y'all like. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Good with that. Yeah. Okay. Um, great, uh, broadband access. We've, you know, we've talked about this before, Raquel, can you give us a little update on that in terms of increasing broadband access across the city? I think there was a contractor we were engaging

with or is that sound? So we, we do have a lobbyist, uh, engaging with the department of commerce at this time to, uh, identify addresses within the city that have issues with broadband and looking for the department of commerce to, uh, enforce amongst the various companies to ensure that the service is provided in those areas. I would defer to our information technology department because I believe we have a, a pilot activity going on right now as it relates to broadband afternoon on the mic.

No, you, you, you pressed it correctly, but pull it down in front of you. Pull down the microphone.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. My first time. So good afternoon, everyone. Angela Marinas. I'm the acting, uh, director for information technology. We do have a couple of programs. We actually have more than one. Uh, there's two pilot programs that we're currently working on, uh, associated with broadband. Uh, those are pilot programs. We partner up with, um, Rachel and working together. It's going to be South of, it's actually in district two. So we have two going on at the same time. There's one North of Sistrunk and there's one South of Sistrunk. And what we have done is we've come together to work both of those projects together. So we, two different initiatives. One was awarded to the city of Fort Lauderdale, which is currently going through our procurement process. Uh, it will be coming up to commission and one of the upcoming commission meetings. And one is out for RFP and it's associated with a lighting program that will also provide broadband connectivity. In addition, we are working with a, uh, third party company who is actively doing presentations of what, uh, additional broadband capability we should bring to the city. Now broadband, uh, remember that broadband, it's a little bit broader than having companies offer the service because the problem with, uh, it's not only offering a service, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, they all always offer services. The greater challenge is, uh, having the, uh, feasibility of purchasing those services. So we're working again. We have at least two pilots that are in the pipeline. We have a, uh, activity ongoing with a broadband, uh, uh, local organization that we've been working with. Uh, we're trying to fine tune all the details, make sure that one, by the time we bring it up to commission, it's as accurate and as clear as possible. So there's no confusion.

Thank you. That's great. That's good to know. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Thanks for that update.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh, mayor, that's it. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, just a few things, a lot of things have already been mentioned, but I do want to highlight, uh, some of the other things that have, um, that I find important. Uh, excuse me on May 16th, um, we had a, uh, luncheon in honor of Judge Tudor, who is retiring as chief judge from the, uh, Broward bench. And the reason why that luncheon was important is because it was put on by our, our, um, homeless outreach community within the city. Uh, police officers, our staff members, um, uh, strategic communications, uh, Judge Barner, um, Commissioner Sorenson was there. And it was a way to recognize Judge Tudor for all of his efforts

to try to move forward on how we're dealing with homelessness here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. We must keep in mind that it was the judge that helped bring the community court to Fort Lauderdale, being the first in the state at the time. And, uh, and, and it was really a nice setting. Uh,

it was at the public library. Um, and, uh, uh, it was great to see, um, so many community stakeholders that, that did participate, that did attend, and that were there to applaud Judge Tudor for his efforts. Uh, on behalf of the city, I presented a key to the city, um, uh, to Judge Tudor and, uh, and just, uh, give him a, uh, I thought a, a well-deserved send off. Now he is going to enter private practice. He's actually working now with Conrad and Cher as a consultant. And, uh, we'll probably see more of him from time to time. He's not leaving the city. So, but it was a great opportunity to recognize his efforts. Um, going forward, I, I want to emphasize what's happening this weekend in the city of Fort Lauderdale. We are, we are having our, our Memorial Day celebrations on Saturday, Saturday. We're having, um, at two o'clock, the paratroopers will be coming down and, uh, we'll be, um, welcoming those men and women in the, in, uh, in, um, in, in service who, uh, will be participating in our, uh, overall Memorial Day celebration. And then at three o'clock, we're going to be recognizing our Walk of Fame, uh, nominees and, uh, uh, and they will have their star in the sidewalk that afternoon. And that starts at three o'clock. And then, um, and, but throughout the day, there'll be, um, events at the, um, Oceanside Park for kids, families to be there all day. And, uh, once again, Fort Lauderdale is a great place to bring your family and to enjoy these free events that, uh, we like to provide to the community. Then on Monday, Memorial Day itself, we'll continue to have our, um, Memorial Day celebration or ceremony at Lauderdale Memorial Park Cemetery. So over there on state road 84, uh, we invite everybody from the community to attend. So, uh, I think it's once again, uh, a great opportunity for this, everyone to appreciate the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice to our country to protect the freedoms that we all share and appreciate. And then later that morning at 11 o'clock, the local American legions will, um, sponsor another ceremony, another Memorial Day ceremony in front of the Sandy Niniger statue, which is at the Broward Center right there on, on the new river. So we welcome people to come to the nine o'clock event and the 11 o'clock event in recognition of, of Memorial Day. Um, on June 1st, um, I'm going to be attending the 10th anniversary of the St. Jude, uh, Kananaya Catholic church. It's, uh, in district two actually. Um, and, uh, uh, I went, I attended their event before. It's a wonderful celebration of a local community that, um, originates out of the country of India, um, celebrants of, of the Catholic faith who, uh, who have established themselves here in our city. And, uh, and, uh, it's a great turnout and, uh, and we really appreciate the diversity that Fort Lauderdale is able to offer people to know that wherever you come from, there's a place for you here in our city. So, um, with that being said, I have nothing further.

Um, city manager, you have a report. Thank you, mayor. So I just want to start by saying congratulations to the Florida Panthers as they advance. Go Panthers. They're in North Carolina.

They're in North Carolina tonight. Correct. They're in North Carolina tonight. Correct. So,

so our, our team will begin some preliminary discussions about what that could mean for our city. I just want to make sure that we're prepared and we've had very positive discussions with them. Uh, also. Have we resolved all previous issues? Primarily. Yeah.

Or as they say in the Trump administration, for the most part, the most part is fine.

Yes. Generally speaking. Some cleanup. City manager, we got to get all this done because

winter's coming. Come on. Indeed. We're going to have a lot of time. Indeed. Uh, so we do have, uh, a communication that we sent out, uh, via memorandum. This is regarding a revision to the public hearing date for the fiscal 26 budget. And I know David, you wanted to chime

in here. Yeah. So we were going to have the commission meetings and the budget hearing on Tuesday, September 2nd. And staff was asking if the budget hearing can move to September 3rd. And if you would also want to move the commission meetings to that night as well. What, uh, what day is, is it would be Tuesday, September 2nd to Wednesday, September 3rd. Let's see. And what's the reason? Based on the, yeah, the statutory requirement. Well,

September 1st is Memorial Day. It's Labor Day. Oh, excuse me. Labor Day. Sorry. Um, so it was, you're saying, should we do it on the 4th? We're suggesting September 3rd. On the 3rd? The Wednesday? Mm-hmm. Is that because you folks do your pre-agenda meetings on the

day before? No. I don't do it the day before. It's because, uh, the statutory requirement is 65 days prior to it needed to be moved off of September 2nd. So they were asked to- All

right. So we'll do it the 3rd. It's fine with me. Can we do it? Can we do it all that? Yeah.

Do everything that day? We'll do commission and budget then. I agree with that. Yes. Okay.

Okay. Got it. Okay. And this is just an FYI. Uh, we are in the recruitment process for the public works director position, as well as the information technology director position. Those positions were posted in early May. Uh, we do anticipate a first review of applications next week. And so we'll keep you apprised as we go through that process. Uh, also, I wanted to follow up on the discussion that was initiated at the last meeting regarding the Bahia Mar community development district agreement regarding the location of the pickleball courts, uh, pursuant to the agreement that, uh, the city has with Bahia Mar. We are required to place the pickleball courts at the existing sites of the basketball courts. So the team has looked at some potential alternatives in terms of relocating the basketball courts. And, uh, we do have a document able that we're able to share. I think plan a, that could be brought up. You know, I, I think this is an

opportunity for us to re-imagine all the sporting, um, uh, facilities that we have in that area, pickleball, basketball, uh, even the, even the barbecue and, and the, and the, uh, the, the picnic bench, picnic benches. I think that we, this is, let's do a refresh. We can enhance it, make a, do a better job. We have a private entity that's willing to contribute a significant amount of money to make this happen. You know, let's take advantage of the situation and make it a positive. We're getting a lot of negative response about moving the pickle, moving the basketball course, because they think we're removing them from the, from the, from the beach, which we're not planning to remove them, but we can redesign the area so that it enhances the access as well as the facilities themselves. I mean, I think there are two, two hoops. We can add two more, you know, that we can do better than what we have. And this might be an opportunity to do just that. So what do you, I, is this a presentation you're making to us right now?

I just wanted to give you a preliminary depiction of some sites that we have begun to take a look at. All the sites would require additional vetting. Uh, we are looking at option C as a more viable opportunity and we have, uh, options. I can't see, I can't see that. I think if we go to the next slide.

I don't know. I don't know where option C is. I see where the C is, but I don't know where that

is on the beach. Right over there. See the, it's just, just north of the B ocean. Well, D is right by the B ocean. C is a little bit north of that, above the B ocean. You know, we're not doing anything

right now. So why don't, if you could just give us a hard copy of that and let us let, I can't, I really can't judge that based on what I see there. That red line is the coastal construction line. Correct. So it's best to have whatever we do is best to have it to the left of that line. Correct.

That might be more feasible in terms of permitting. Right. And timing. Um, I mean,

we're in no hurry to do this right now. Um, so, uh, why don't we just have some time to digest these proposals? What is it? A, B, C, and D. And what is, what is the A, B, C, and D with just the basketball courts, but what about the pickleball courts? It goes where the existing basketball courts are circled there in black. Right there. Now, and I don't know, and what would that look like? Are we going to have to put up fencing there? Are we going to have to put up something to block the wind? I mean, there's a whole big thing about this, right? So, um, and Raquel, when you give that

to us in hard copy, can you also throw in all of the, the proposed fitness equipment that there's going to be a bunch of fitness equipment there also as well? It's going to be like an outdoor gym.

We can share all the amenities that currently exist and the amenities that we anticipate.

That would be a good idea. I think Ben has a few more details. I just think that this is not, this is not enough to make a decision. Um, and I'd like to see, I'd like to see, uh, um, renderings that show not just the basketball courts, but also everything else that we can put there. I'd like those, those, that barbecue stuff has been there for years and it's nasty and I think we could do better. And, um, and I, I'd like to see something maybe enhanced and enlarged, um, because this is a public beach. So we should try to create amenities that make people, you know, enjoy what we have there. So Ben, did you want to say something?

Yeah, I think that's great feedback. What we can do is, uh, we can, uh, work with the city manager. We can prepare maybe a commission memo that has some additional information. One thing that the commission needs to keep in consideration is that there are park bond funds allocated to this park. We were getting ready to start the initial task order for the park bond improvements. And what we're going to be doing is modifying that task order to include all of these elements kind of, uh, to your comments, mayor and commissioner Glassman on having a total view of what the layout could be and if things need to shift and, and that can flow. But I think the objective today was just to illustrate that option C right now seems to be the most ideal from an implementation standpoint for the basketball courts and just to make the commission aware of

that. Okay. Thank you. Um, one question, um, with the pickleball courts, I heard that they would include fencing. Is it, um, this is not going to be a structure. It's just fencing. I'm trying to

imagine fencing. So as part of the commission memo that we'll put together, we'll make sure we include those elements. There will be a four foot high fence that would separate the courts and then there'd be an eight foot fence that would serve as the perimeters. And so there are some additional considerations that we'll have to go through the permitting process. Uh, again, as we've illustrated, the coastal construction line will be a primary driver to the expediency and the timeline of any

options that we would put forward. But correct me if I'm wrong, the coastal construction line is not an issue for pickleball because basically that site's grandfathered because we already have the basketball there, even though it's east of the coastal construction line. My understanding is

it's easy to easier to modify them to start a new, but I can't, I can't provide an answer at this time.

Okay. Cause I was under the assumption that it would be grandfathered in because that space has already been developed east of the coastal construction line. City manager, do you have any

clarification on that? I mean, I think with the enhancements that we anticipate, we would still have to go through a permitting process that might be impacted by the coastal construction line.

Okay. But that, that's one of the initial things of the task order we're working on right now for the Parks Bond project is to do the research and to start reaching out to FED, FDEP and getting some of the initial feedback of what our concept plans could or couldn't look like. And also just to roll back for, um,

clarity for those who may be watching or read them the minutes later. In regards to, um, the pickleball courts, replacing the basketball courts. Um, there was conversation where, um, neighbors and others believe that there was an opportunity for amendment to the, um, agreement, the developer's agreement. So that is incorrect or, uh, cause I heard, um, managers say we're quite, we are required to put those, um, courts there because of that agreement. If you could verify it just for the record. So everyone will understand why we're moving in this direction. So we're as staff, we are

responding to the agreement that's in place. And should the city commission desire to amend the agreement, uh, with the agreement of Bahia Mar as well, uh, staff would move in that direction. Okay.

That, for the record, that has to be agreed to by both parties. It's, we can't move forward with

that unilaterally. Correct. The Bahia Mar CDD would have to agree to any modification to said

agreement. Could we look at keeping basketball where it is and then doing pickleball here on the

sea? Well, we already agreed to, uh, move the basketball courts. That's our previous agreement, but let's leave it up to staff to come up with a concept because I think you guys can come up with a nice concept that includes all those sports amenities and really make it a more inviting, functional area for people to come and benefit from doing all this stuff on the beach. So

I don't want to second guess you. Understood. What we'll do is we'll put together a memo that highlights where we are in the process, what we envisioned the timeline and the scope elements to be. Uh, and then we'll, uh, forward that to the commission for their consideration.

So when you come back, you show us everything pertaining to the fencing, um, for the pickleball courts. Is this enclosed? I'm trying to understand because I'm thinking that this would be, um, to shield wind maybe. So if you could just elaborate on that, what this, um, fencing looks like, are we

talking about an enclosed pickleball court? I think we have a couple generic illustrations as part of our park bond projects for other areas. So we'll make sure we include that in the commission memo for your awareness. Okay. Um, but my understanding would be, we provide you with the memo and then we'll move forward with our park bond task order, uh, on moving this forward. Uh, and that will go through a normal park bond process of outreach and getting, uh, feedback. And you got, don't forget

after you speak, go to the clerk and sign up. All right. I had a question. I remember years ago,

like when Seidler was the mayor, they uncovered the, the fort, the Fort Lauderdale fort, like right. I think right. I don't know if it extends under the, under the basketball court. It was actually the, the, one of the, one of the Fort Lauderdale forts was at DC Alexander park. It wasn't like where that bridge is. And I thought they uncovered it, uh, in that parking lot. And then they quickly covered it back up or something. And it always seemed like maybe you guys should do something and put

some brass things in the ground to show you where the wall was and stuff. I always felt that we should build a replica of it. Okay. And I got totally shot down by the beach improvement

advisory board. Well, they, they rules and everybody else. Yeah. But it would be kitschy.

It'd be Fort Lauderdale. People would take a thousand pictures a day, you know, in front of

it. I mean, that's what people, but, but we don't need giant chairs. The district commissioner doesn't have the same vision that the previous district commissioner had. Well, winter is coming. Yeah. Winter is coming. Yeah. Well, you might want to do something to commemorate it. I agree. Maybe put Fort Lauderdale on a horse or something there, a bronze statue or something. Major Lauderdale? Yeah. Maybe. You have nothing, there's nothing really saying the guy that the city's named after in the whole city, right? Well, it's like an apartment complex or something.

Well, we named the city after him. Anyway, anything further? Anything further?

That concludes my report. Okay. Thank you. And, uh, Dwayne, do you have a report? Uh, not necessarily a report. I just want to put closure to the, um, parliamentary procedure matter. Uh, I think the commission was supposed to get back to me individually with their, uh, suggested changes or issues. I haven't received anything, so we'll just go ahead and close

that out. Okay. Thank you. Well, so what does that mean? Close, close it out. Did it, did you, did you give them any suggestions? I don't, I don't know if I've, I mean, other than what

I've already recommended. I don't, yeah. What, um, so are we, are we going to adopt something or what, what's your? No, because based on the last discussion, I believe the direction from the commission was that the individual commissioners would reach out to our office and provide their recommendations or suggestions. We haven't received anything from any of the

commissioners. Okay. So, okay. Well, I mean, I have thoughts, so I'll maybe do that offline,

uh, with you. Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thanks. My question was, well, he said he's going to do that. I was going to, is it too late? Is this, are you giving us a window that we still have an opportunity to submit information if we desire? This was, this was informational.

I, I, I, I just didn't want it kind of lingering out there. Um, and, and so it's good to have some clarity that, that, uh, that there are some commissioners that, you know, want to reach out if you, um, do you desire me to set a window for you all or? I'll reach out to you in the next week. All right. Yeah. But I'm good. I'll just do something. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank

you. All righty. So that concludes our conference meeting. And now, uh, if I'd ask the, uh, the

clerk to call the roll for the CRA board meeting. Uh, vice chair Herbst is not present. Commissioner Glassman. Here. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Here. Commissioner Sorenson. Here. Chair Trantos. Here.

M1, uh, motion to approve the minutes for the May 6th, 2025 community redevelopment agency board meeting minutes. Do I hear a motion? It's almost seconded. Moving seconded. What is this? Uh, better late than never. Uh, please call the roll. Commissioner Glassman. Uh, yes. Commissioner

Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorenson. Yes. Chair Trantos. Yes. And M1's approved. R1. This is a

resolution approving the interlocal agreement between the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, uh, community redevelopment agency and the Broward County board of county commissioners to extend the Northwest Progresso Flagler Heights community redevelopment area for 10 years with city only tax increment funding. Um, so I'd like to introduce the resolution. Introduce. I have two people signed up to speak. Um, Bill.

Good afternoon, Bill Brown. Uh, I'm speaking on behalf of the budget, the chairman of the budget advisory board. Um, as you recall, we were asked to weigh in on the future of the CRA. Um, we did have a lengthy and spirited discussion, uh, at our last board meeting. And that's why we submitted that communication. The, after that discussion, um, we took a, the motion was made to, uh, not to support the CRA. That motion failed, uh, by four to four vote. We then came back and had further discussion and Chris Cooper was heavily involved in that discussion. And we submitted a recommendation, uh, communicated that to you earlier, uh, in a letter as kind of a walk on that it was unanimous, uh, that the moving forward, we support the commission's decision to extend it for a 10 year period with the 50% funding for two years. However, we ask that some benchmarks be put in place as it moves forward to meet the goals and the objectives set forth in the CRA and to get a much clearer understanding of how invest Fort Lauderdale was to work. And if it was the intent to have it replace the CRA at some point, uh, it was discussed to us that by the, uh, executive director, that was never the intent. However, we feel there was some intent that that's what it was to be for. So really for the last three years, nothing has really occurred with invest Fort Lauderdale. So we had concerns that during the next two years, something happens so, so that we can have some benchmarks and provide input back to the commission, uh, prior to the two year period of reevaluation so that we know and get some be able to provide some clear direction, understanding and input as a member or the, from the advisory board as to what that figure should be, because it was told to us that after two years, you can raise that number from 50%, or you can lower that number, or you could choose to do nothing and communicate to the county that it could be sunsetted. Uh, so we felt that it's best keeping in consistency with, from the workshop in January and the priorities that you look at extending it, put a two year mark, but let's put some parameters and benchmarks and some accountability as we move forward. And if, if Chris, did I explain that correctly?

It's not a resounding yes. Well, he's, I mean, that's all right. You're just giving a report from the BAB. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Bill, I, I, man, can I just go ahead? Go ahead. Thank you. Uh, if you can just go back to when you first spoke, you, you mentioned a four to four vote. What was that vote again?

Exactly. The motion was made to recommend sun setting the CRA in September of this year as by the original agreement. I think you mean November, but that's okay. No, it's, I think it's September 27th

or 30th. Yeah. Okay. Or whenever. So let me ask you a question. So that's split four, four. What were the reasons that really, commissioner, they did vote unanimously to extend it. So I, I, if I could just ask the question, why, how did it go from four, four to unanimous to extend it?

I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Because, because, so before we go down that path, I'd like to check the draft minutes. We have some draft minutes from that meeting. My recollection is the initial four to four vote was to extend without any, uh, parameters to it. When that failed four to four, which is a tie, which fails, uh, the recommendation, the subsequent motion was what Mr. Brown communicated, which was to extend, but with certain conditions apply to that extension.

When you say it failed because the motion was to extend it with no parameters, what, what do you

mean by parameters there? Exactly. The initial, sorry, Yvette Matthews, um, acting director of the office of management and budget. The initial, uh, um, motion that was made was to send a communication to the city commission that the BAB approves a 10 year CRA extension with 50% funding from the city with a review every two years. So it's basically the action that you all agreed upon or discussed at your commission goal setting. The initial, uh, recommendation was to communicate support for that. The subsequent that failed based on a four to four vote, the subsequent discussion was on setting some parameters and metrics and benchmarks around the success of the CRA so that you all could determine when you do your every two year review, whether or not those benchmarks had been met. And the second component was understanding the role of invest Fort Lauderdale in the overall, um,

continuation of the CRA. Thank you. So basically the first vote that failed was a vote that was supporting what we agreed to in our, um, goal setting workshop. Thank you. Okay. And just quickly in closing, then, uh,

the BAB would ask that you take our suggestions, um, as you move forward in any discussion tonight or on this agreement so that we're able to provide input and you have the information that we can provide to you to make adequate decisions and get a clear understanding of what invest Fort Lauderdale was

truly created for. Thank you. Right. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Charlie King. Um, I was here last summer and you guys were showing these budget things where we were kind of going off a cliff, having these giant budget deficits that we're going to start massing. I think they got up to like $50 million a year or something. And the graph I saw, I mean, it wasn't immediate. And the idea was just, we won't do anything type thing. It's not a big problem yet, but I mean, this is like a big, a bunch of money, you know, like this is, I guess you've cut it down to $6 million, but I mean, just over the years, I mean, I kind of been watching the CRA for 20 years, you know, if it's 30 years and, um, it just take, it brings the worst out in people to, you know, once they put those CRA hats on, it's like, it's not my money. Let's do whatever we want with it or something. And there's been corruption, uh, all sorts of stories. You could write a coffee table book about what's gone on in the CRA over the last 30 years. Uh, the worst of it is the, the self-dealing to politicians when, when the politicians wind up with this money for themselves, you know, like I'm thinking of, you know, Smitty's, you know, Senator Smith, the chicken wing magnet, you know, getting almost a

million dollars, what it was, and these things get built and nobody ever rents them out. The sort of developer gets the free land, they get the money, then they just leave it empty for 10 years or something. You know, like I'm thinking of that one on Sistrunk there by the grocery store. Um, I'm thinking of this, this, this, uh, party that you had a concert that was basically a campaign party, you know, a couple of years ago. I mean, there haven't been the controls and now that there's a smaller pot of money, are you guys going to get, I just think if you were spending taxpayer money and you had to like justify it, you would not do as bad things as not. You guys have done your predecessors have done. It's sort of contingent. Dean's been here the longest. I mean, he's knows what I'm talking about. I'm sure he's voted against some of these things, but they still happened. So why do this? Why? I mean, 30 years, that's like a generation. I mean, that's not enough time for whatever's going to happen there. I mean, is the goal that in 10 years, you're going to do it again or something and bump it up to $12 million. There's nothing in the backup. There's no numbers. It's very sparse. The newspaper hasn't really covered this. So, you know, the county's in on this with you, but they're not putting any money in anymore. Is it really a CRA anymore? You're just, it's like a party fund. It's $6 million. Do what you want with the 6 million. That's it. It used to be connected to property values. So you're saying it's no longer connected to property values. It's just coming straight out of the city budget. So why do this? And I would defer this and have Commissioner Herbst's vote on it too. You know, have all five of you. So you guys are

totally on board with this. Okay. Thank you. Um, um, I don't even know what to say to that.

Well, I do want to say something. Um, I think that when we were first advised that the sunset of the CRA was going to occur this fall, we had a discussion about what was going on in the Northwest and in Flagler village and to determine whether or not funds were needed still to be able to continue with the redevelopment of the area. Right now we see a significant amount of redevelopment in the area taking place and much of it as a result of incentives that we provided financially through the CRA fund. There are still a number of projects that we have committed money to that have yet to see, um, any, any, uh, commencement. And so, so this momentum will continue even if the, uh, even if the program went to sunset in September, but it was my belief. And I thought it was the belief that the commission during the goal setting session that we felt that the momentum needs to be continued and that the projects need to be incentivized in order to continue what I think is an enormous vision of trying to redevelop an area that has been neglected for decades. And we saw the Flagler village area benefit significantly from this program to the point of what we see today, which is funding a lot of the incentive money that, that now we can use to invest a west of the tracks. So, um, we've seen some large projects and we've seen some small projects. Now there have been some abuses. There's no doubt about that. Um, I think we realize that some of the money should not have been used the way it was, but I don't think that comes anywhere close to the benefit that we have been able to achieve through the program that we've seen so far. Um, to stop it in its tracks, I think would be, um, it would be, um, self-defeating because you, you know, we need to go full circle and complete that, that goal of trying to redevelop, uh, the area west of the tracks. And I think we're doing a good job at it. Um, we have put, we have put, um, uh, our CRA director on notice and he's here today and he knows that we've put him on notice that we want regular and continuous updates as to the projects that are, that have been approved. We want to make sure that they're still viable. And if not, then the money needs to come back into the fund and we can give it to somebody that can do something with the money. So it's not like we're ignoring some of the concerns that you have addressed. We've raised them ourselves. And I think that, um, hopefully going forward, we'll have a leaner, but more efficient, um, uh, CRA fund and program that I think that's going to continue to see lots of successes take place and redevelop an area that has long since been ignored. And, um, and I'm hopeful that the commission agrees with

that. Um, I do agree with you, mayor, but there's something also I want to say regarding this. Um, it's a keen, your comments. Um, it, it implicated to me, it sounds like you think that, um, the remaining opportunities that are funding that will go to, um, areas within the Northwest section, because those are the areas that still have development that's waiting to be completed, um, being addressed through those CRA fundings. You named some individuals in those businesses that came forward. I'm not, I'm not aware of what you are referring to when you say, um, certain businesses, um, benefited from the funding when the CRA funds were there for developers, for, um, those who had a, a, um, a plan, a dream, an opportunity to bring development to the area. So that part, I'm really uncomfortable with when you cited a particular, um, business and a particular individual don't understand that. But again, that's your freedom of speech, but sitting here representing, um, district three, um, I don't understand that overall, what I would like to say there is yet much to do in this city in district three. Um, no district should be left behind. I believe that what we're doing is for the city overall. If we are going to be that city that we'd love to say, um, to love, to live, work, play, and invest that includes the whole city. And, um, I, I hope to be, um, a part of the city when I witness my neighbors, all of my neighbors believe in the vision that we have. Um, everything has some challenges, but does not make the whole system corrupt. And I heard that word. So with that being said, I'm hoping that, um, feeding off what the mayor has said, that this commission continues to have that same thought that we will continue on the, um, path that we're on to ensure that district three, um, also receives that funding to increase development opportunity and bring that area back to the legacy that it truly is. Thank you.

Okay. Anyone else have any comments?

I actually have some questions that I'd like to ask. Sure. Go ahead. Uh, and I do have some comments. So, um, can someone tell me in the 30 years, well, almost 30 years, how much money has been committed to the, uh, CRA? How much money has been spent?

Good afternoon. Uh, Mr. Mayor, Vice, well, Vice Mayor is not here. Commissioner is, uh, Clarence Woods. I'm the manager of the CRA. Um, there's been about $60 million that have been allocated to projects, uh, over the life of this particular CRA.

$60 million?

Yes.

Okay. Um, let me ask, cause I do remember when we created... $60 million for Flagler and the rest of Northwest, right? Yes. Yes. The whole, the whole CRA. Yeah. Okay. Um, how much right now is just sitting there that's not been spent, that's sort of just waiting to be spent, committed to be spent, and otherwise? About $40 million. $40? Yeah. Wait, so you're telling me in 29 years we've only, we've spent $60 million and we have $40 million sitting there? I'm sorry. That doesn't make sense.

No, that, it, it, I don't have those numbers in front of me. I think it's, yeah. Huh? You got it?

Okay. So, Commissioner, since, uh, 2017 and awarded incentives, we've awarded between 2017 and 2024 about $95 million. The spend on that's about $49 million. And what's been awarded but not yet spent is about 46, about $47 million.

The CRA was created in 1995, if I'm not mistaken? Correct. So, but you just started at 2017. It took us, it took us, um, 22 years before we started spending any money? No, that's not true.

No. So, so with anything, a CRA, you know, it ramps up. So when the initial finding of slum and blade is identified, which was done pre 95 or in 95 to establish the district, that's the baseline. So the increases in those TIFs in those initial years is more incremental because the development has not occurred yet. The infrastructure improvements have not occurred yet. That value hasn't increased. So you'll see the, the first portion or of that existence be very incremental in what those TIF revenues are. As that development occurs and increases, you'll see that marked increase. So the latter years are typically when you see that reinvestment in the, uh, in the fund. Okay. And that total again was what? From $95 million. $95 million. Yep.

$95. And we've got 40 something that has either been committed to projects that just haven't commenced or still hanging around.

So about half of that has been spent about half and the other half is, is committed, but not yet drawn down.

Okay. So what happens? I, I remember when we created Invest Fort Lauderdale and we all appointed board members to that, to that board, um, thinking that that was what was going to happen once the CRA sunset. I'm disappointed that we had just haven't seen anything really happen with Invest Fort Lauderdale. I, I've heard the reasons, but I, what has been the holdup all these years? When did we create Invest Fort Lauderdale? 2018, 2019?

No, no, no. It was 2020, 2022 is actually when I think we came before the board, uh, to have it established.

2022?

Uh, if, yeah.

Okay. For some reason it seems earlier to me than that, but I'll, I'll go with 2022. Um, but we did appoint people to that and why has it not taken shape?

Uh, what's happening with the Invest Fort Lauderdale is, uh, as you know, we spoke about it in the goal setting. Um, we, we went to the IRS to try to get, to get our 501 C3. The IRS did not allow us to get the 501 C3 designation because, uh, they said it was a city controlled board and that would not qualify for a charitable, uh, or a tax exemption board organization. And when did we get that ruling? Um, so we found out about that early last year. Okay. So that seems, that seems fixable though. It's, that seems fixable to me.

Yeah. So commissioner, just a quick update. So you heard that the BAB, the budget advisory board wants to have an update and an understanding of Invest Fort Lauderdale. We're in the budget season right now. So we'll take that information back to them after they're done with their budget work this year, but we're planning on bringing a presentation to the commission on June 30th to give an overview of Invest Fort Lauderdale and actually, and discuss this governance structure to get feedback and guidance from the commission as to how we can structure that based on what we've heard from the IRS and that ruling to try to move that forward. Invest Fort Lauderdale was intended to be a compliment to the CRA. There's several projects that potentially could have revenue coming back to Invest Fort Lauderdale in the future as a successor to the CRA. But as of now, it's intended to be a compliment to that Northwest CRA until that time occurs

that it's the successor. And I remember that when we did create that and when we did discuss that, I don't think that the intent was as a compliment. I do believe that the intent was

as a successor. Eventually. Yes. Yes. Yes. Um, so, okay. So hopefully we can get going on that

because I, I just don't understand why that's been languishing. Um, let me ask you this question. What happens, let's say the CRA sunsets, what happens to all of the dollars you're saying at least what? 46 million. I think you said that's sitting there now that hasn't been spent

or has been committed and hasn't been spent. What happens to that money? Yeah. So by statute, and this is annually, not just at the sunset year, anything that's not allocated to a specific project is then returned to the taxing authorities, um, that provided the funds and whatever proportion those funds were received by the city. So right now we have four taxing authorities, including the city and Broward County that, that provide funding to the, uh, the Northwest CRA. So if there are funds left over assets as well, there's a, is the process to equally disperse those based

on the proportion in which they funded the CRA. So help me understand, um, among the, uh, Broward County children's services, North Broward hospital district and the city, how does that break down proportionally? Let's say, do you have any idea what that would actually be? Uh, how much return

to each of those taxing authorities? So I don't have the breakdown. Um, the city and county would be the majority, the children's services council and hospital district would be a small, much smaller

portion, but counties about 60%, Mr. Woods has said. So, um, basically then that those funds would not be able to be transferred over to invest for Lauderdale. They would have to be returned to those

four taxing authorities. Correct. For funds to be given or, or used for invest for Lauderdale by the CRA, those funds would have to be allocated from the CRA to invest for Lauderdale. Okay.

That would have to happen within the 10 year period. Correct. So moving forward, um, if this gets

extended and obviously we're the only taxing authority that's willing to contribute to the TIF, county said no. And they've told children's services and North Broward hospital district, no, you're not contributing either. So we're the only one out of four. Correct. What happens to those other three taxing agencies in terms of funds or do they get anything back in return? Or is it just us that's taking roughly 6 million from general operating as opposed to the 11 or 12 million that we typically

have done? How does it play out with the other three taxing authorities? So if I'm understanding your question correctly, this is the last year by the, by the sunset date that we would receive funding from those taxing authorities. If there's funding left over at the end of the, at that sunset date, those funds would be returned proportionally to those taxing authorities. And then going forward after the initiation of the 10 year extension, the only funds would be our city contribution.

Okay. Do we know how much those other three taxing authorities contribute on a yearly basis? We know what we do. Do we know what that is amount for those three other authorities?

Calling my budget help. Um, so for fiscal year 2025, it was $30 million total. The city was 10.7 million of that amount. The County was 14.65. The children's service council was 1.17 and the hospital district

was 3.45. So basically the County will recoup almost $15 million going forward when this ends. And it does it. And I've heard different dates. Doesn't it sunset in November? November 7th, November 7th, November 7th is the proposed sunset. That's what I thought. So the County will all of a sudden find a windfall of about $15 million. Um, correct. The others 3 million for, you know, hospital district and one point something million for. Okay. Um, let me ask you this question. Cause when I read this agenda item, how are we able to commit, um, I know the consensus at our goal setting workshop was to look 10 years out and say yes, and evaluate every couple, every two years and do a 50% of what we've been typically contributing, which is roughly about five or $6 million. How are we able to do this? So how are we able to say that when we only approve budgets on a yearly basis? Why are we able to do anything more than say, well, here's what we can do next year. And then we have to evaluate it every

single year after that. But I think that is, uh, what we'll do. All, all of our budget is subject to, to appropriations. We only, we only, uh, um, approve projects. If we have the funding, those projects that are already, uh, in our fund balance, they've already, they already have the money's allocated to them and whatever fixed amount that will go to those projects have already been determined. So we won't, we won't give any funding unless we have the money, that money actually, or there's a, there's a, um, a projection of what we get in, in July. So we'll know before, uh, the actual budget year, how much money we'll have to be able to spend.

But I, I, I just find it on page two of two of the cam, when we say that funding will be reviewed every two years, shouldn't it say funding will be reviewed every year?

Well, our budgets are approved by you every year. So I would imagine what you guys meant when you said that in the budget, in the budget, um, uh, goal setting process is to evaluate in two years, what the additional or appreciation in the, uh, uh, redevelopment trust fund is at that time.

No, no, no. What we said was that every two years we'll decide whether or not you want to continue with the CRA. That's what that meant. Even though every year we review the budget, but it was actually commissioner Sorenson's recommendation. Can we review this every two years, whether or not we can afford to keep the program going because of the gap that we were advised that there was going to continue to grow in our funding needs. And commissioner Sorenson said, Hey, let's not commit ourselves permanently to this. Let's review it every two years. So that I just don't want there to be a misunderstanding. Is that correct? Commissioner Sorenson? Yeah, that sounds right. Memory serves you.

But that still is different than reviewing funding every two years versus one. No funding every year, every year. We do. We always review the fund. I understand the cam says on page two of two funding will re will be reviewed every two years. That's why I'm having difficulty. All right. So, so we're clarifying. Okay. Okay. Um, fine. I, again, I, you know, I, I did not agree with everybody, I guess at the goal setting workshop. I, I just see a lot of financial stress coming down the pike.

Well, we'll, that's why we're going to review it every couple of years to see whether we can afford to continue the program. In the meantime, we've got $40 million plus sitting out there.

That was my next question. So Clarence, what are our realistic expectations? We've got to push these people of, of this $46 million just sitting there. How many projects in that 46 million means how many projects around 20 or so? That's a lot of projects. Yes. That's all. I mean, you know, my mother used to have an expression. I'm not going to say it because it involves SHIT. She used to say SHIT or get off the pot. And, and I mean, that's how I feel. I mean, we, what are we doing? I don't know what we're doing. All of those projects are in varying

stages of, uh, development, whether pre-development or, I mean, some of them have, uh, already started. Some of them are in, are about to be done, but they're all in some varying stage of, uh, development for those that, uh, have not moved in there. There really aren't that many. We are targeting them to, uh, pull the money back and put into other projects. How, how many of them are not moving

at all that you think are targeting to? Why does he, why don't we give him a chance to make a report to us so that he's not guessing? Which you guys get every, we get every quarter. Yeah. I, yeah. I

would love to know who those projects are. Cause there are other projects that could be more

viable. Absolutely. That we need the money for. Yeah, absolutely. I just feel a sense of urgency

with this. Um, I want to see the redevelopment continue. Um, but I, I don't know how long you

give people or where's the deadline. I mean, if people know that there's no deadline, they could just go forever. So why don't we have that opportunity at a, the projects are not without

deadlines. They do have timeframes. They do have timetables. Thank you, mayor. You're welcome.

Anyone else have any comments? There's a resolution that's been introduced. Is there any further questions

or comments? Anyone wish to speak other than the ones that did speak? I do just want to share that the county anticipates, uh, if the CRA and the city approves the interlocal, the county anticipates considering this item at their June 10th meeting. Okay. Great. Anything further? There being none,

please call the roll. A resolution of the board of commissioners of the Fort Lauderdale community redevelopment agency approving an interlocal agreement among Broward County, the city of Fort Lauderdale and the Fort Lauderdale community redevelopment agency for extension of the term of the Fort Lauderdale Northwest Progresso Flagler Heights community redevelopment area. I'm providing for an effective date. Commissioner Glassman? No. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Commissioner

Sorensen? Yes. Chair Trent Ellis? Yes. And that resolution is approved. Is there any further business of the CRA board? There being none, meetings concluded. We'll now resume our evening meeting at 6 p.m. Thank you.