Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners - Apr 21, 2026

Good morning. I'm Commissioner Natalie Milian-Orbis. Blessed to be with you here today, Tuesday, April 21st, as we kick off our commission meeting, our county commission meeting. And we have some very, very special presentations this morning. So thank you for joining us. And the first one is for National Volunteer Month. And Kathy, would you like to come on down? We have our Community Services Department Director, Kathy Burgos. Come on down, Kathy. Thank you for joining us. Yes. So I'm honored today to present a proclamation recognizing National Volunteer Month, along with our mayor and our fellow commissioners. And that is a time to celebrate individuals who not just give their time, but their heart to uplift others and to help us accomplish the goals of our community. Volunteerism is the spirit of our community in action. And it brings people together, it strengthens families, and it reminds us of the power that we have each day to make a difference. And here in Miami-Dade County, that spirit is alive and thriving through our Community Services Department and the Division of Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities. We especially appreciate our senior volunteers. You all have seen so much and been through so much, and you make such a difference in our community. Thank you so much. Yes. Round of applause. So to our volunteers, you are the heart of Miami-Dade County. Your selflessness inspires all of us and leaves a lasting impact on the lives of everyone that you touch. And with that, I have a proclamation, but first I want our mayor, Daniela Levincava, to say some words. Mayor, thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner, for making it possible for us to recognize these wonderful people who do so much for our community. Truly a joy to see people in action. Volunteering is really giving your heart and soul to the community. Am I right? There you go. And this is all through our Community Services Department and Kathy Burgos, our director. And she wanted to be sure that we recognized you. So together with our great commissioner and those who've joined us here, we give you a special salute. I want to say that volunteering can encompass so many different things. Whether you're helping a child, somebody who has a disability, or someone older and firm. Whether you're out in a park setting or in a community building, whether you're at an event, there are so many ways that you can help. And we have a number of programs that include the Relief Program, Foster Grandparent. Do we have any foster grandparents in the house? Yeah, that is really so special. Our Senior Companion Program. Okay, all right. Good showing there. And our Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, just to name a few. So you make us so proud. We're so happy to honor you in this special month. There are volunteers throughout our community, but we're singling you out this month for this special recognition. Before we do the proc, maybe, Kathy, would you like to just say a little, a quick word? Yes. Thank you. Commissioner, thank you so much. It means so much to our department, to our volunteers, to our staff. Your work and your advocacy means a lot to us. And, Mayor, this, that's right. And, Mayor, thank you for taking a no-wrong-door approach to services. This is our group of lovely people who give, as you mentioned, Commissioner, their hearts each and every day. So I wanted to personally thank you, as well as our community services department staff, who are also here to support them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have all of you come up now? Can we have everybody who's here for the Volunteer Proclamation to please come up? We have a very special presentation. Hello. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Where we can see you all. Yes. And if you could take off your yellow stickers. Oh, okay. Take them off. Take off the yellow sticker. Yeah, just for a minute. That was to get you in the building. Yeah. And if you get in trouble, the mayor's here. Yes, that's right. We'll vouch for you. Now, how... I think we need some of them. Yeah. Can we get some of you all behind, around us here? Direct us, please. Yes. Here, go. Can we have some people go to the back? Show this in the front, please. Show it in the front. I'll hold it. Yes, okay. Exactly. I know. We'll take it from standing out. All right. So, as we spoke before, this proclamation, I'll read the end of it. Be it resolved that Mayor Daniela Levincava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, and the members of the Board of County Commissioners on behalf of Miami-Dade County and this community, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as National Volunteer Month. So, thank you so much, everybody, for everything that you do. Thank you. Kathy. Oh, here we go. Do you want to get in the middle? And then we'll take your photo. Awesome. Good morning. Good morning. Now you're talking. All right, guys. We are going to, and my team will keep me honest here and on track, but we are going to move on to the next presentation. It's a lengthy morning this morning, so we're going to try to get through it quickly. The next presentation is a very special presentation in recognition of the 2026 Every Drop Counts Children's Water Conservation Poster Contest winners, sponsored by yours truly, the chairman of the board and our Madam Mayor's office. So, good morning, everyone. I am pleased to welcome you to this special presentation recognizing the winners of the 2026 Every Drop Counts Children's Poster Contest, hosted by our WASDE department. This annual program highlights the creativity of our young future leaders and the importance of protecting one of our most valuable resources, which we all know is water. Water. All right. This year's theme was Use Water Wisely. This does have something to do with Wise 305. I don't know, but use water wisely. Don't waste it. Do not waste water. And these very talented young persons did a great job at that. It is a great reminder that small actions like turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth or running full loads of laundry can make a big difference when we all do them together. This year, more than 1,800 students from 55 different schools across Miami-Dade County participated, showing strong community commitment to conservation. Before we begin, I want to congratulate all of the students being recognized, as well as their parents, who some are here today, their teachers, of course, and the schools for supporting these efforts. But I do want to take a moment of personal privilege and do a special shout out to Emiliano Villafane from Bentry Elementary. Emiliano, gracias por estar con nosotros aquí, que va a Bentry Elementary. ¿Dónde estás, Emiliano? Párate. All right. Míralo, ahí está. A ver si lo veo. Ya está caminando. All right. Mira, él está listo. Emiliano está listo. ¿Cómo está, Emiliano? So, Emiliano es de Bentry Elementary. He speaks Spanish, so that's why I'm doing this. Emiliano no solamente es de mi distrito, pero va a la escuela que yo fui. Que es Bentry Elementary. Ese es mi elementario. Mi primaria. ¿Tú sabías que yo iba a esa escuela también? No sabías nada, ¿no? No te lo dijo la maestra, ni la principal, ni nadie. ¿Qué cosa más grande es esto? ¿Qué está pasando aquí? Emiliano, muchas gracias por estar con nosotros. La verdad que está bello esto. No sé dónde cogiste ese talento tan bueno. Pero te voy a pedir que te sientes un momentico aquí con tu padre, con el resto de los escolares, y ahora te vamos a llamar, ¿ok? Gracias, Emiliano. All right, give it up for my District 10, Emiliano Villafane. And now I will turn it over to the mayor and WASTE director for the additional remarks for today's presentation. So much excitement in the room. All these lovely young people, they're starting young. Elementary school students, all of them, and they are learning about the importance of water. We all know water is life, and they're learning to conserve, just like our chairman said, and I'm sure they're teaching their parents. Could you all be quiet, please? Be quiet. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Well, we appreciate you. We appreciate the fact that you put your heart and soul into these beautiful drawings. Personally, I'm going to make a set of note cards from this beautiful artwork, because I celebrate it so. I'm so proud of each of their expressions of concern and celebration of water. So they're all water warriors. All right, young people? Are you all water warriors fighting for our water? I know you are. So, and your work is just beautiful, and you have learned that small actions really do make a difference. And, by the way, you can tell people. You can be an evangelist. You can be a champion, a crusader to protect our water, because you're going to know more about it than many, many people, thanks to the efforts of your teachers and your parents. So please, don't be shy. Let people know what you have learned about the importance of it. So we have the first place winner was District 9 from this year, last year's first place winner. Let me see if I've got this right. I don't think so. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Well, this is very important. Well, okay. So in addition to all of the celebration, we are also recognizing the fact that at last year's Drop Savers Poster Contest first place winner, and this year's Every Drop Counts Children's Poster Contest District 9 winner, a young child named Ryder, showed us the impact that his voice could have. He won two years in a row. And he could not be with us, sadly, today. He lost his life in March, and his parents are here, and we're so grateful to them for coming. Thank you so much for letting us share this moment with you and our great pride in his accomplishment. And we know that he contributed so much in his lifetime, including his love of art and his love for our environment. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So we miss him, and we know that the other children are going to carry on his legacy through their work as well. So thank you, one and all. I'm going to pass the mic now to our director. Thank you, Jay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. You know, at WASDE, for those that don't know me, I'm Jay Fink. I'm the director of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department. Happy to be here today to celebrate the creativity of our youngest stakeholders. It's an honor to be here celebrating the creativity and commitment of our youngest community members. Programs like Every Drop Counts Children's Poster Contest are a vital part of Miami-Dade County's Water Use Efficiency Plan, helping to educate students about the importance of conserving and protecting our water resources. This year, we received more than 1,800 entries, each one reflecting thoughtful ideas and powerful messages about conservation. These students are not only talented artists, they are ambassadors for responsible water use. At WASDE, we remain committed to providing high-quality, reliable water service while continuing to invest in conservation programs that make a lasting impact. Congratulations to all of today's winners, and thank you all for helping us spread the message that every drop truly does count. We have a winner representing each district this morning, and with that, I'm going to pass it off to our Water Use Efficiency Manager, Patrick Martin, who's going to introduce the winners. Thank you, Director Fink. Good morning, everyone. Thank you to the students, parents, and teachers for attending. In just a few moments, we'll be welcoming the 13 first-place winners of the contest, and one from each county commission district. But before we begin, I would just like to take a moment to recognize the sponsors of the contest. They're displayed on the screen that you can see overhead. Thank you for your continued generosity and support of this important program. I'd also like to extend a special thank you to Publix for their generosity in providing us with today's recognition luncheon, which will take place on the outside terrace upstairs immediately following the ceremony. And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, I'll be calling up our winning student artists. As mentioned earlier, we kindly ask the parents and teachers to remain in their seats during the presentation. Following the ceremony, we will have an opportunity for family photos on the terrace where the luncheon is served. Commissioners, please step forward to join your district winner for a photo as they are called. And students, as I call your name, please come to the front of the room to be presented with your award and remain for a final group photo. So, you'll stay up here on the dais. All right. District 1, Erele Dorsey, Parkway Elementary School. Congratulations. Excellent. District 2, Pietro Besson Aventura Learning Center. District 3, Eric Wheeler. It's a Small World Elementary School. District 4, Valentina Yurasa, Ogis Elementary School. Right here, right here. Four, right here. District 5, Olivia Martinez Villalvozo, La Prima Casa, Montessori. District 6, Everlett Castro, Sylvania Heights Elementary School. District 7, Natalie Yao, Kendell Elementary School. District 8, Emma Vendrell, Cutler Ridge Elementary School. District 9, Ryder Lieb, Pine Lake Elementary School. His father, James McVeigh, will accept the award on his behalf. District 10, Emiliano Villafane, Bentry Elementary School. District 11, Mila Arabchik, Akemedir Charter School West. District 12, Juanita Correa Velazquez, Bridge Prep Academy of Doral. And finally, District 13, Edric Matasino Diaz, Lakeview Elementary. Lakeview Academy, I'm sorry. Congratulations to all of our winners, and thank you to every student who participated in this year's contest. I also have a special announcement. The Florida Section of American Water Works Association, FSAWWA, they have the statewide Drop Savers Water Conservation Contest, and they've announced that one of the poster contest winners here in Miami-Dade County also plays first at the state level in the Drop Savers Conservation Poster Contest. And Melissa Velez, if you could, she's a FSAWWA state coordinator. If you can join me in announcing the first place winner of the state competition, Melissa, that would be Juanita from District 12, Correa Velazquez. Thank you, Juanita. Congratulations. I hope you continue to participate in these initiatives that help promote the importance of water conservation in your daily routine. And I now request that our 13 winners, Madam Mayor, County Commissioners, Chief Coley, and WASI Director J.J. Fink, stay together for a group photo. Thank you, everyone. This concludes our award ceremony. We invite all students and their families to join us on the terrace for a special luncheon. You'll be directed out from where the terrace is located. Thank you to the chairman and the Board of County Commissioners for hosting the annual special presentation, and thank you for being here today. The rabbi, we're recognizing the 30-year accomplishment of the Shabbat of Kendo, the Friendship Circle, and the Batsma kitchen. He sent us some notes saying, like, the number of volunteers that have come out, and I put here, maybe, just jump here that you had the opportunity to witness this firsthand. You've been to the site, right? Yeah. Because this is, like, highlighting the accomplishments. For Shabbat? And the proclamations are behind you, but I'll bring it to you. Thank you. So, how are we proud of you? Thank you. Thank you. All right, all right, guys. Let's get the next presentation going. All right, we did pictures. We recognized everyone. All right, guys. All right, guys. Thank you again to all of the very talented children that participated in our WASDE 2026 poster contest. Can we please exit quietly so that we can, we have one more presentation before we get started. And the last presentation of the day, I am pleased to honor and present a proclamation recognizing the 30th year milestone and lasting impact of the Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest Friendship Circle and Mitzvah Kitchen, a journey that began nearly three decades ago as a small storefront and has since grown into the Friendship Campus, now home to these three impactful initiatives. I've personally had the privilege to witness firsthand the work that the Mitzvah Kitchen and that the entire Chabad or Chabad is doing over at the Friendship Circle. I've toured it. I've seen that the work that they're doing. And honestly, I'm honored not just as a member of this community to support it, but also to call you a friend, Rabbi, and to be a part of such a great mission. And I won't rant too much because I know this is not technically in my district, so I will hand it over to the district commissioner to officially do the presentation. So thank you for being with us this morning, though. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for taking a moment to extend a formal proclamation on behalf of our entire community to Rabbi Harlig and the incredible work that he does. Rabbi, please join us here. We all know the rabbi very, very well. And if we can have a copy of the proclamation, I frankly think that this is long overdue. You have done so much for our community. You are present and front-facing every time and any time that we need you. And frankly, your work continues, and we're extremely grateful for it. I will certainly pass the microphone because I know there's a number of my colleagues that want to share their gratitude for the great work that you do. And frankly, if you hadn't had the opportunity to visit the Friendship Campus, please take a moment to do so. They're doing extraordinary work. And the mitzvah kitchen is the newest addition to this extraordinary space where we are, they are preparing meals for those who needed hundreds of meals and training young adults with skills that they will use and take well into their lifetime. So extraordinary thank you. And this proclamation, in my humble opinion, is long overdue. Well, this rabbi and I are dear friends. And his wonderful wife, Nechama, who probably is taking care of business, I would say, while the rabbi is here receiving this award. But truly, they are partners in life and partners in service. So they founded the Chabad. You know, Chabad is a movement. And you start small, you put out a seed, and then it grows. And this surely has grown into a phenomenal, phenomenal presence, not just for South Dade, but for all of Miami-Dade County and beyond. So Friendship Circle, which was founded by this rabbi and Revitsem, and has become the go-to place for so many when their children need special support because of their special needs and a mentoring program for young people. I'm looking out at our youth commission, and I'm thinking, these are mentors. And I know some of them have been part of Friendship Circle. So extraordinary program and also respite care for the parents. And now the latest, Mitzvah Kitchen, which is preparing meals for so many of our programs in the community where people really need that sustenance. So everything about service, community, learning, and caring is reflected in this great rabbi and his great work with Chabad. I'm very proud to join. Thank you, Commissioner, for bringing this recognition. Long overdue. Thank you, Madam Mayor. So Bella and Sebastian participated in Friendship Circle for over 10 years. It really is such a wonderful organization. And as parents of autistic children and adults, we can pay for therapy. We can pay for intervention. But we can't necessarily get them friends. So it's so important for us and for their self-esteem and their growth into adulthood to have friends. And Friendship Circle is a godsend for so many of us. And a great opportunity for us to really talk about inclusion. As we tell all the volunteers, if you volunteer at Friendship Circle, it will change your life. If you allow a neurodivergent person into your life, your life will be better for it. And really, the foundation of it is it's amazing volunteers that are there day after day, year after year, and make a commitment to stay with that child for a long period of time. So it is not a revolving door. And now that there's the Friendship Campus and the addition of the adult program, it's so important. We go up to 30, which is amazing, where everyone drops off at 22. Now Friendship Circle is serving adults way into their 20s and up to 30, which for some of us that have been with Friendship Circle for a long time, mine are 22 and 21, right? It was a natural transition. They have an amazing kitchen. Bella has volunteered at Mitzvah Kitchen. It's so wonderful. But they're also doing a lot of different vocational training. So if you haven't gone on to the Friendship Campus, if you haven't volunteered at Friendship Circle, please consider doing so. And for all of our parents that are out there that are wondering about the socialization, I'll say this. Just because someone is in the spectrum doesn't mean that they're antisocial. Quite the opposite. They need community. And if you take them to Friendship Circle, they will find their tribe, and they will be better people and happier people as a result. Commissioner Steinberg. I'll just say that congratulations on this incredible milestone. You serve the greater community, and I don't know that people understand that, that everybody in need can come to the Friendship Circle and to your center. So thank you. Rabbi, would you like to say a few words? Thank you. Thank you. I'm humbled to be here today. And this is very meaningful because for me, the work that we do, we couldn't do it without having the support of the county. And a lot of times people just talk the talk, but our commissioners, led by our mayor, and are looking around, all of you have been big supporters, financial supporters of the work that we do. And the lives that we impact, we can only do it through your support. So thank you on behalf of Chabad, on behalf of Friendship Circle, on behalf of Mitzvah Kishim, because the work we can't do without you. And it's by divine providence that we're doing this proclamation on Volunteer Month, not date, Volunteer Month, because I say the specialty of our Friendship Campus, it brings people together to change other people's lives. I think that's the uniqueness of our campus. That was the Lubavitcher Rebbe's vision. Be lamplighted and inspire other people. So it's by divine providence that we did it this month, because really that's what it's all about, inspiring people to help other people. So thank you so much. Thank you, Rabbi. So be it resolved that Madam Mayor, Daniela Levine-Kava of Miami-Dade County, Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, and the members of the Board of County Commissioners, on behalf of Miami-Dade County and this community, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, April 21st, 2026, as Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest's 30th Anniversary Day. Congratulations, Rabbi. Khafre would set up his very high-tech ladder so that we can take a photo. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is crazy happening. What do you want to do with that? Yeah. This is crazy. Just stop. I don't know how to do this. Honestly. Honestly. Hold email. Hold email. Hold email? That's crazy. Honestly, I bet I'm just crazy. Go for it. Good job. Oh my God. Yes. Look at my desk. I keep crying out, like, comes on. Oh no. I did. Dude, I almost lost my voice. She's like, raging in college. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please call the roll. Good morning to all. Commissioner Bastien. Yes. Commissioner Bermudez. Here. Commissioner Cohen Higgins. Senator Garcia. Yes. Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzalez. Here. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Here. Commissioner Milian Orbis. Commissioner Regalado. Present. Vice Chairman McGee. Chairman Rodriguez. Present. We have nine members present. We have a quorum. Right. If we can all, this is a very busy morning. All right. If we can all please stand for the invocation this morning led by Rabbi Yossi Harlig of the Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest at the invitation of Commissioner Cohen Higgins. Good morning. We gathered here today with a shared responsibility to serve, to lead, and to care for every person who calls Miami-Dade County home. Almighty God, we ask for your blessings upon our Mayor Daniel Levin-Cavo, upon Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, upon all the commissioners, and upon all those entrusted with the well-being of this diverse and vibrant community. Grant them wisdom to make sound decisions, clarity in moments of challenge, and the courage to do what is right. Bless them with the ability to listen, truly listen, and to lead with integrity, guided not only by policy, but by compassion for every individual. We are reminded that leadership is not only about decisions made in this chamber, but about lives impacted every day beyond these walls. Behind every agenda item is a person, a family, a story. As we stand in this month, Autism Awareness Month, we are reminded of powerful truth. Every soul matters, and every life counts. As a director of the Friendship Circle, I have the privilege of seeing every day the beauty of neurodiversion and the strength of individuals with unique abilities. Not limitations, but different ways of seeing and contributing to the world. We think of the children, the families, and the dedicated professionals and volunteers who support them with strength, love, and commitment. May we as a community ensure that every individual is given the opportunity to thrive and to feel a true self-sense of belonging. Help us build not just a stronger county, but a kinder one, where inclusion is a lived reality, and every person is seen, valued, and empowered. Almighty God, bless Miami-Dade County with unity, with peace, and with a shared commitment to lift one another. And let us say amen. Thank you. Amen. And before we do the Pledge of Allegiance, if we could remain standing and join me in a moment of silence to join Commissioner Bermudez's office as one of his most valued team members, Vivian, lost her uncle, Manuel Fejol, recently. So if we could just join in a moment of silence together with them. Thank you. Please join me for the pledge. I pledge allegiance. You may be seated. All right. Good morning, youth commissioners. How are you? Thank you for being here for this joint commission meeting. I am sure you are all thrilled. I think we have about 20 of you guys being sworn in today. So I am sure you are all thrilled to be skipping school today. Of course, not to be here with us, but because you get to play hooky. The goal of our youth commissioners, colleagues, is to foster great youth involvement in county government, and I can personally speak to the impact this program has had, especially through my own appointees. I want to recognize District 10's appointee, Victoria Puente, who is here today, and Robbie Thompkin, which are my two District 10 appointees. And I'd like to recognize that- Support item 7A, it removed an outdated role that require businesses to display their local business tax receipt. This is something that we don't need in digital age. Thank you to Commissioner Mabudis for bringing this item forward. We are here to continue supporting small business. We also support 11A8. Right now, we save more than 120,000 bills to collect about $60,000 in total. In many cases, it costs more than process the bill than the amount collected. This change will save about $750,000 and allow those resources to be used where they truly benefit residents because we are here to protect the taxpayer money. I thank Commissioner Emilian for moving this item forward. One more point. During last budget process, I committed that the tax collector office will return $20 million early to the county to continue supporting the different programs and essential services our community truly needs. As of today, that money is already in the county bank accounts. Will we continue to put people first in Miami-Dade County? God bless Miami-Dade County and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tax Collector. And I thought you almost weren't going to say it because you supported so many other issues. But yes, just for my colleagues that were part of this process through the last fiscal budget and were aware of my negotiations with our tax collector's office. Today, we received the remaining $20 million in advance that he had committed to us in order for us to be able to balance our fiscal year budget. So thank you again, tax collector, for that. I know it's not statutorily required, so appreciate your good faith efforts in helping us balance our county budget. All right, with that remaining two minutes each, just as the tax collector had, is Thomas Kennedy followed by Stanley Young. You may approach the wells, state your name and address, the item on which you're speaking on. Please remain on topic. You have two minutes to speak. Stanley Young, I see you coming up. Whoever gets to the well first gets to speak first. All right, Mr. Young. Good morning, Commissioners, Chair, Madam Mayor, all our distinguished commissioners who are leading our city, leading our community in the way that we need to go. So, you know, my name is Chaplain Stanley Young. I'm Chaplain here in Freedom Prison and Jail Ministry, concerned about my community. 500 Northwest 2nd Avenue is where I reside. What I have been campaigning for or has been bringing aware to this well is about our plight of our community concerning. Right now, it's concerning building. As we drive through Miami-Dade County, I see some of the buildings are very old, 30, 40 years old buildings. I see empty lots that are in our county where it needs to have affordable housing. You are doing, I think, an extraordinary job in actually trying to address this issue. But we need to accelerate it to a greater level. We need to accelerate it where we can have more affordable housing in our community. I will continue to champion for affordable housing until we get to that level where we will have where a person who out here working in the community, working, driving buses, police officers, what may have you, will be able to have a decent and livable place to live. Just like President Biden once said, he's going to build from the bottom up. I have been waiting for that for a long time. That we start with the ones who are living on the streets and build our way up to the top. That is the way to go. That is the way we need to address those issues that are in our community. Let's continue to build, build, build. Thank you. God bless. Thank you, Mr. Young. All right. Do I have Thomas Kennedy here? Thomas Kennedy, not here. Not here. Thomas Kennedy, not here. All right. All right. And that concludes our public speakers. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. You're not registered here. Maybe you're in reasonable, maybe you're in on a, yeah, you're on a public hearing item. Is 5E, that's one of my public hearing. Yeah, that's later. That's later down the line. Yeah. Commissioner Gilbert, you're right. So public hearing is officially, reasonable opportunity is officially closed. Commissioner Gilbert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a point of personal privilege to acknowledge something. I left on the dais. Well, let me start off this way. Every spring over the past six years, I've taken around 50 students from our community on a spring break expedition trip. The first year, we did the Grand Canyon. Then we did Broadway, New York City. Then we did Washington, D.C. and all the monuments. Last year, we did a civil rights tour through Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia. And this year, we did the second half of that civil rights tour through Louisiana. And so, while I was there, I had an opportunity to meet a young lady. Her name's Leona Tate. And it was interesting because she was one of, we're all familiar with the, I guess the Rockwell picture of Ruby Bridges desegregating schools. Well, she was one of the six original young ladies who actually desegregated schools in Louisiana in 1960. And it was so interesting because she is not just alive. She's alive and kicking, vibrant. She gave us a tour of her facility. And she signed a book, personally signed a book for each of you. So this is something I brought back from the kids and myself to you and also to remind us all that it really just wasn't that long ago. It really wasn't that long ago. She's still alive and vibrant and fighting a good fight. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner Gilbert. That's very, very thoughtful. Appreciate that. And if I can recognize Commissioner Bermudez for a personal moment of privilege as well. I believe I was communicated the wrong name of Vivian Zunco. Commissioner Bermudez, if you can. Yes. Well, first of all, most important, thank you and Commissioner Orbis for these sentiments, which is important to Vivian, who's been a long-term member, not only of District 12, but here has worked with many of you in the past. But her uncle that did pass away is not Manolo Fejo, but her other uncle, Daniel Castro. And I know she appreciates his sentiments, which is the most important thing. Unfortunately, she got that notice as we got here today. So in the quickness of it happening, obviously, we were in a—and I know that you, I think, also know him personally. So our sentiments go out to Vivian and to the Castro family for the passing away of her uncle, Daniel. Thank you, Commissioner Bermudez. And may her other uncle live a long, healthy life. All right. May we set the agenda now, Madam Attorney? Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a number of changes. Item 2B2, Commissioner Steinberg adds this item to the pull list. 2B3, Commissioner Millian Orbis adds this item to the pull list. 2B6, Commissioner Millian Orbis adds this item to the pull list. Item 5K, Commissioner Millian Orbis is requesting deferral of this item to your May 5th commission meeting. 8F1, Senator Garcia adds this item to the pull list. 8K1, Commissioner Bastien adds this item to the pull list. 8M1, Senator Garcia and Commissioner Millian Orbis add this item to the pull list. 8P2, and 8P3, Commissioner Millian Orbis adds these items to the pull list. 8P5, Commissioner Bermudez is adding this item to the pull list. 10A1, Senator Garcia pulls the item. 11A6, Senator Garcia pulls this item. 11A8, Senator Garcia and Commissioner Gilbert, add this item to the pull list. And item 15B2, Commissioner Regalado adds this item to the pull list. I also have additional requests for co-sponsorship. 3B1, Commissioner Regalado co-sponsor. 3B3, 3B4, and 3B5, Senator Garcia assumes sponsorship of these items. 5C and 5D, Senator Garcia co-sponsor. 82, Commissioner Steinberg. 8M1, Commissioner Bastien assumes sponsorship of this item. 9A1, Commissioner McGee co-sponsor. 9A3, Commissioner Steinberg co-sponsor. 11A1, Commissioner Millian Orbis co-sponsor. 11A4, Commissioner Bastien. 11A5, Senator Garcia. 11A11, Substitute. 11A12, and 11A13, Senator Garcia co-sponsor. The items to be considered at today's meeting will be those listed in the printed final agenda with the additions, deferrals, withdrawals, and scriveners errors noted in the Chairman's memorandum and the items I just mentioned. The commission will approve all of these items by a single vote setting the agenda except item 2B8, which is the mayor's appointment of the director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. Ordinances for first reading. Public hearings. Item 6A1, a discussion item regarding property tax reform. Item 6B1, discussion item regarding America 250. Ordinances set for second reading. Item 8B4, a commercial service airport contract, which must be voted on separately and is not on your pull list. Item 15D1, substitute and its supplement, which is a ballot for recommendations for the gubernatorial appointment to the Children's Trust, and I believe a ballot will be distributed, or has been. And the following pull list items. Item 2B2, 2B3, 2B6, 8F1, 8K1, 8M1, 802, 8P1, 8P2, 8P3, 8P5, 10A1, 11A6, 11A8, 14A1. Mr. Chair, this is a first reading item. I'll take this item up with the other first readings. 14A2 and 15B2. A motion to set the agendas in order. Any additional pulls? Commissioner Hardiman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to pull item 5F for the amendment that needs to be made. And then also I want to add to the motion, a motion to continue to the next commission meeting, item 11A12. 11A12. Okay. Any other pulls? And Madam Attorney, I believe I heard you say 15D1, that one is pulled, right? We need that for the Children's Trust appointee? Yes, that is 15D1 substitute and it's supplement for a ballot. 15D1, right? Yes. Okay. All right. Commissioner Gilbert's releasing 11888. But Garcia's still a pulling commissioner. Okay. Yes. So this by Senator Garcia. All right. And then, okay. All right. With that, is there a motion with the amended items by Commissioner Hardiman to set the agenda? It's been moved by Commissioner Cohen Higgins. Seconded by, I mean guys, this is just the agenda. Seconded by Gilbert. All in favor of setting the agenda. The agenda signified by saying aye. Aye. All opposed nay. All right. Show our agenda pooled. I mean set. All right. I think I might need coffee this morning. I need a cotadito. Can we get Edie to get me a cotadito? Madame, interim, almost direct. Like, just get me cotadito, please. Okay. Madame Mayor. Madame. Madame. I like your scarf slash handkerchief slash bandana. Okay. And hat. And hat. She's ready. She is ready. I like it. And Chief Coley always, always in style. She might have taken Jerry's hat, yes. But Jerry is kind enough to not mind. All right. Madame Mayor, you are recognized for your appointment. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for putting this on the agenda so quickly. We just announced this the end of last week. So we had to scurry to get ready to bring down our team. So let me introduce to you, hopefully you all know her already, Lydia Lopez, now our director. She's been serving as interim director since Ray Baker moved to the Office of Management and Budget. But she is no stranger to us. She's ten years in library services, five years with Miami-Dade County Public Library. She served as assistant director. She was in charge of the management also of the department. And she now presides over 51 libraries and approximately 800 full-time and part-time employees. So our library system is award-winning. I think you know that. And the programming is very innovative and diverse. Just yesterday, we did groundbreaking for a revisited, renovated library in Miami Lakes. And this is the kind of love and attention that our libraries provide for each of our communities and up to almost 3 million residents. So thank you for your great service, Director Lopez. And we're looking forward to even bigger and better things under your leadership. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And you have the floor for a couple seconds. Thank you. First, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Mayor Daniela Levine Cava for the confidence she has placed in me with this appointment. Mayor Cava, I know how deeply you value libraries and the roles they play in strengthening our communities. I share that belief wholeheartedly, and I am honored by the opportunity to help advance that vision for the residents of Miami-Dade County. I would also like to thank the members of the Board of County Commissioners for your continued support of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. I have had the privilege of working closely with many of you over the years, and I look forward to continuing that collaboration with you and your teams as we work together to deliver impactful programs, resources, and services to our community. I also want to recognize the extraordinary staff of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. Across our 50, soon to be 51, branches and throughout our administrative offices, more than 700 dedicated professionals work every day to connect residents with knowledge, opportunity, and community. This commitment to public service is what makes our library system one of the most respected in the nation, and it is truly an honor to serve alongside them. This moment is also very personal for me. I grew up here in Miami-Dade County, and many of my childhood afternoons were spent at my neighborhood library, what is now the West Chester Regional Library, the Chairman's Library. Like so many residents, the library was a place where curiosity was encouraged, learning felt limitless, and new opportunities began. And those experiences shaped my appreciation for the vital roles libraries play in our communities. Throughout my career, whether serving in the mayor's office, working in higher education, or here with the Miami-Dade Public Library System, I have remained committed to public service, responsible stewardship of public resources, and ensuring that our institutions remain responsive to the needs of our residents. Looking ahead, I believe our libraries will continue to serve as essential civic spaces where people of all ages can learn, grow, connect, and thrive. My vision is to build on the strong foundation already in place, expanding access to technology and lifelong learning, strengthening partnerships across our community, and ensuring that every resident in every neighborhood sees our library as a place of opportunity and belonging. It is truly the honor of a lifetime to serve our community as library director, and I thank you. No, we don't. We don't need a formal motion, right? Nope. This is a... But I do want to say congratulations, Director, now, and I think it's well deserved. So we look forward to working with you. Likewise. Commissioner Gilbert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations, Director. This isn't for you. This is to the Mayor of the Administration through the Chairman. I'm completely supportive of this appointment. I think she's more than qualified. She's been the assistant. I'm very comfortable with it. I'm curious, though. Did we do a national search? Thank you. Through the Chair, I actually was berating myself for not having mentioned that, yes, we did. Thank you. And it was a competitive process, and there were three finalists, and she was finally selected. Thank you. Thank you all. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. All right. Guys, guys, let's do the... We don't clap. What's going on here? All right. It's like a Monday almost. Yeah. All right. We have first reading items, but I do want to bring up a few things that are not on the agenda, just very quickly, just to kind of go through it. One is I want to take a moment to recognize our newly board-elected director for OPBA, Christina. Thank you for being here with us, officially the director for OPBA under Office of the Chair. And with all of your support, I would like her to say something, but I know that she doesn't like to, but I would like, even if it's from there, even if it's... I mean, you should come to the well, but yeah, you are the director now, so I think you should come down to the well, do the walk of... The walk of... Yeah, I wasn't going to say that. Same thing. I wasn't going to say that. And come down to the well and just say thank you to the selection committee and then to the entire board. Guys, I've personally known Christina in many different capacities and many different hats that she's worn, always with the county for several years. Many years, probably about a decade already, quite honestly. And I know that many of you on this dais, some of my colleagues, in fact, have known her that long and even longer. And I believe and am convinced that there is no one more qualified to fill the role of director of OPBA than Christina. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. This isn't a thing I'm saying now that you are the director and that my colleagues voted for you, but I genuinely mean that you know I've always been very honest with you about that. So congratulations from the bottom of my heart. Please say a few words. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Commissioners. I am truly honored by the trust you have placed in me to serve as director of the Office of Policy and Budgetary Affairs. I accept this responsibility with gratitude and a deep commitment, not only to the people of Miami County, but also to this board. I am committed to being responsive and dedicated to your priorities, ensuring you have the information and resources needed to make informed decisions. I want OPBA to be an extension of your offices, whether it's providing support with policy development or assisting with budgetary matters. Together, we can continue to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term planning for the benefit of all residents. Thank you again for this opportunity. Thank you, director. Thank you, director. And I guess then you're off the hook easy today. All right. Not a lot from the day, so we all welcome you, though. Thank you so much, director. All right. Guys, the other thing that I want to bring up, just because in one of our, not our last meeting, but one of the last meetings, we set today's date as the date that we would be hearing from our Waste to Energy partners with the desire and hope of a recommendation of some sort from the administration. And as you have all seen or have noticed in your readings and briefings, the item is not on our agenda, and there's a reason for that. So, at some point in the last two weeks, when my office follows up to make sure that we can put this on the agenda, and we have, of course, been kept abreast of this as the time goes, it was our understanding that the negotiations weren't nearly where it needed to be for it to make an April 21 agenda. And so, I, of course, given that that was the will of this board, I, of course, reached out to the mayor right away, and we both agreed to have a sit-down meeting with all interested parties, which we did. This took place about, what, two weeks ago, a week and a half ago, mayor. We all met at my office, and the two, the conglomerate was there, the two entities that this body selected to negotiate together. And I believe, and Madam Mayor, I'll let you say a few words on it and touch on it in just a second, but I believe that at least when we left that meeting, that we had accomplished a very, very, very large amount of progress. And what was missing was just some information that they needed to get over to the mayor's office, and negotiations just needed to be wrapped up and signed off by the lawyers. Madam Mayor, I will give you the floor to kind of give us, and I know that this is impromptu, this is not an item on the agenda, but I know that, you know, no one's asked me, but I imagine that some of my colleagues must be wondering why this item is not on the agenda when we said it would be, or we all asked for it to be, right? So can you just kind of say since that last meeting that we had, I know that it was agreed that it would not be sufficient time for lawyers to sign off and go through the legal process of it, the legalese of it, but where are we today, and is there any indication that this may make the May 5th agenda? Is this looking for the end of May? I'm hoping we don't roll into June, but I know that our May 19th, if it's May 19th, right, agenda is going to be, has to be a short one as we have the DC flying, but can you give us a very brief update as to where we are? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, and through the Chair, we have been leading the negotiations with Chief Coley and Namada Upal, our Chief Procurement Officer. I'm going to let Chief Coley say a little bit more. I just want to say thank you for convening the meeting. I think it was extremely helpful for clarifying on both sides' expectations and what was needed to move forward, and, in fact, since then, we have received information that we are reviewing, and I'll turn to Chief Coley for further information. And, Chief, if you could please expand on that, and I will say, guys, because it brings me no joy not to have this item on the agenda today, as I'm sure some of you all may share that frustration with me, but this very well may be the largest project that this body ever votes on in our tenure as commissioners, monetarily, that is. So I think it's important that we expedite this as much as we can, but we do do it in the right posture and, you know, with the right process in order for it to be the best version of itself. Chief Coley. Mr. Chairman, just for everyone's reminding, in December, this board directed us to negotiate this joint venture. Then we immediately had meetings that your staff coordinated to begin the negotiation, and we laid out for them in December what it was that we needed. Ultimately, long story short, we got our first proposed submission from them in April, April 6th, and that submission was short, some very material information. For example, things like there was no property selected, no property cost, and we knew that this board had been very vocal in the January meeting that you wanted a property cost, you wanted to make sure there were no royalties, and so the proposal we received in April was silent on those things, as well as it was silent on ash management, and we had been requesting since December financial problem. Excuse me, Chief. Can we sit down in the back and quiet in the chamber? Then keep it short, right? Yes. Who said that? I don't know who said that, but there's a hot mic somewhere. I heard, let's keep it short. Somebody said keep it short, and you're right. Let's try to keep it short, Chief, but do give us as much an update as you can in a summarized version. So we've been requesting for a financial model, and so eventually we did receive a financial model on April the 17th, and so we're going through that model. We're going to submit it to our financial consultants to review for validity and to validate all those assumptions, and we'll be moving. But to answer your question, is this going to be ready for May or June? I don't know how we move forward until we select a property, and we still don't have a property selected, and we weren't recommended one by the proposer, and so we continue to say we need to make a decision on that before we can have any idea what we're doing. All right. Thank you, Chief. So we will, I know that they, in our meeting, in my meeting with the mayor, and I know you were there, Chief, they have two sites, which I'm sure, I believe they brought them up here, and I know that they're doing some progress in negotiations with both of those sites to our request, right, which was the request of no royalties, certainly not in perpetuity, but by preference, no royalties at all, and I know that they're working towards that goal and have certainly gotten some progress on it. So I'm sure that there will be a recommendation soon on the property as well. With that, I'll recognize you again. This was just a quick update for me. This is not an agenda item, but I will recognize you for a second, Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I know that we've all had the opportunity to meet with the proposers as a result of this extension, and I just wanted to put something on the record. I'm glad that Roy mentioned the issue with the ASH. We need a lot more information on that. I also think that as they give us information on the price of the sites, it's important to add mitigation. We know that both sites that are being considered are going to need mitigation credits. I know that it's an estimate, but I think that that needs to be baked into the price and at least give us an idea of what those mitigation credits would cost. I also ask that in this extra time that we're giving them, that we also ask Arcadius to step in a little. Arcadius did a memo for us on February 19, 2025, that had the cost of this over like the 20 years, comparing it to other issues. So now as we get more numbers, we really need Arcadius to step in and do an analysis. I don't want us to just look at their proposal in a vacuum. So I would hope that there is time for Arcadius. We're already paying them. They already have a contract to do that analysis and give us their two cents. They have some information on one of the sites, but I think we need more information on the second one. And I know that there's been a lot of discussion about the campus. I just think that we should have clarity. The campus model was not in the item that was approved by this board. That was something that was proposed by the administration. I think it would be better if the proposers tell us what needs to be co-located and what does not need to be co-located. There are certain things, for example, depending on what they do with the ash, they might want to co-locate something with the ash, but not everything needs to be on the same site. Thank you. All right. Thank you for the update, Chief Coley. And with that, I feel like there was something else. We had the director. We had... All right. That might have been it. If it comes to me, I'll interrupt again. All right. Is it in order to move into first reading items at this time, Madam Attorney? Yes, Mr. Chair. I can read them all. Yeah, we did, Commissioner. We set the agenda. All right. All right. First reading items? Yes. Go ahead. You can read them all. 4A, ordinance relating to the Rapid Transit System Development Zone, amending Sections 33C-2 and 33C-3.3 of the code, expanding the Smart Corridor Subzone of the Rapid Transit Zone. To encompass certain private property in the vicinity of Southwest 27 Avenue and Southwest 28 Lane, located within a quarter mile of a public transit station. Providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. 4B's in ordinance relating to the Rapid Transit System Development Zone, amending Section 33C-2 of the code, amending the Metro Movers Subzone of the Rapid Transit Zone to add certain private property. Providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. 4C's in ordinance amending the boundaries of the OGIS Sanitary Sewer Special Benefit Area in Miami-Date County, Florida. By adding one property, ratifying the non-ed valorem assessment rule, rates and assessments for the area for the fiscal year commencing October 2026. And ending September 30, 2027, and providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 4D's in ordinance granting petition of Biscayne Drive Estates, Community Development District, generally bounded as amended on the north by Southwest 284th Street, on the east by Southwest 167th Avenue, on the south by theoretical Southwest 293th Street, and on the west by Southwest 177th Avenue, Tower Road, creating and establishing San Diego Villas Community Development District, and on the east by Southwest 189th Avenue, on the south by Southwest 358th Street, and on the west by Southwest 192 Avenue, Tower Road. Creating and establishing San Diego Villas Community Development District, providing for name powers and duties, providing description and boundaries, providing initial members of Board of Supervisors, accepting proper declaration of restrictive covenants, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 4F is an ordinance granting petition of Sunset Opportunities B1 LLC and Sunset C1 LLC for the establishment of a community development district, generally bounded on the north by Harriet Tubman Highway, US1, on the east by Southwest 57th Avenue, Red Road, on the south by Southwest 72th Street, Sunset Drive, and on the west by Southwest 57th Avenue, creating and establishing downtown Somi Community Development District, providing for name powers and duties, providing description of boundaries, providing initial members of Board of Supervisors, accepting proper declaration of restrictive covenants, providing severability, exclusion from the state, and the state. 4F is an ordinance granted petition of Sunset Opportunities B1 LLC and Sunset C1 LLC for the establishment of a community development district, providing for name powers and duties, providing description of boundaries, providing initial members of Board of Supervisors, accepting proper declaration of restrictive covenants, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 4G is an ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bound down the north by Southwest 272 Street on the east by theoretical Southwest 158 Passage, on the south by Southwest 276th Street on the west by Southwest 162 Avenue, known and described as Wildwood Grove's Multi-Purpose Maintenance and Street Lighting Special Taxing District. Identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing the mayor or designee to cause to be maintained and operated various public improvements, and to provide for the installation of street lights. Approving a street lighting agreement of Florida Power and Light and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute the agreement, waiving provisions of resolution number R13006 and providing for exclusion from the code and an effective date. 4H is an ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bound down the north by theoretical Southwest 290 Terrace, on the east by Harriet Tubman Highway, on the south by theoretical Southwest 292 Street, and on the west by Southwest 162 Avenue, known and described as Car Powell Multi-Purpose Maintenance and Street Lighting Special Taxing District, identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing mayor or designee to cause to be maintained and operated, various public improvements, and to provide for the installation of street lights. Approving a street lighting agreement with Homestead Energy Services and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute the agreement, waiving provisions of resolution R13006 and providing for exclusion from the code and an effective date. Four ayes and ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bound down the north by Southwest 236 Street, on the east by Southwest 132 Avenue, on the south by Southwest 240 Street, and on the west by theoretical Southwest 133 Court. No, go quiet please. Known and described as Copart East Street Lighting Special Taxing District, identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing mayor or designee to provide for the installation of street lights, approving a street lighting agreement with Florida Power and Light and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute the agreement. Waiving provisions of resolution number R13006 and providing exclusion from the code and an effective date. Fort J is an ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bounded on the north by theoretical west Oakland Haven Circle, on the east by theoretical west Oakland Haven Circle, on the south by northeast 199th Street, and on the west by Lake Area. Known and described as Julia's estate, multi-purpose maintenance and street lighting special taxing district. Identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing mayor or designee to cause to be maintained and operated. Various public improvements and to provide for the installation of street lights. Approving a street lighting agreement with Florida Power and Light and authorizing mayor or designee to execute the agreement. Waiving provisions of resolution number R13006 and providing for exclusion from the code and an effective date. Fort K is an ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bounded on the north by Southwest 278th Street, on the east by theoretical Southwest 128 Avenue, on the south by Southwest 280 Street, Walton Drive, and on the west by Southwest 128 Place, known and described as Genia Gardens, Subdivision Multi-Purpose Maintenance and Street Lighting Special Taxing District. Identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing mayor or designee to cause to be maintained and operated various public improvements. And providing for exclusion from the code and an effective date. Four L's and ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bound to the north by Southwest 245 Terrace. On the east by Southwest 128 Avenue, on the south by theoretical Southwest 246th Street, and on the west by Southwest 129 Avenue, known and described as Olga Lydia Subdivision Multi-Purpose Maintenance and Street Lighting Special Taxing District. Identifying services to be provided, authorizing and directing mayor or designee to cause to be maintained and operated various public improvements. And to provide for the installation of street lights, approving a street lighting agreement with FPL and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute the agreement. Laiving provisions of resolution number R13006, and providing for exclusive from the code and an effective date. For M as an ordinance relating to fire prevention, amending chapter 14 of the code, updating title, amending definitions, changing requirements for an owner's statement on fire investigations, amending procedures for appeals of fire code violations, updating requirements for operating permits, providing for the recording of consent agreements and notices of violation, requiring building owners and occupants to notify the chief fire official upon correction of certain violations, authorizing the chief fire official to order the disconnection of utilities and buildings and structures with pending fire code violations under specific circumstances. Making technical amendments to the Florida Fire Prevention Code, updating the false fire alarm ordinance, providing for the sale of exempt fireworks in accordance with section 791.04 Florida statutes, providing for the designation and posting to identify structure, sharing a street address, updating requirements for submittal and review of emergency action plans, providing for the testing and maintenance of exit and emergency lighting equipment, providing for the reporting of required maintenance activities for fire protection systems, providing for the protection and installation of emergency power systems, and for the installation and maintenance of water supplies for firefighting outside the urban development boundary. Making technical and conforming changes, amending section 8CC-1 of the code, imposing and modifying civil penalties, and providing severability and inclusion of the code and an effective date. For N as an ordinance relating to zoning, creating section 33-39.5 of the code, amending section 17-124 of the code, to limit the number of extensions in time that may be granted to develop, providing providing for administrative acceptance and approval of covenants, providing for administrative acceptance and approval of covenants relating to the live local act in connection with proposed developments, located within transit oriented developments or areas in the county under certain circumstances, providing criteria, requirements and procedures applicable to such covenants, and modification of such covenants, providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. For O is an ordinance relating to the infill housing initiative program, amending section 17-124 of the code, and to limit the number of extensions in time that may be granted to developers under the Miami-Dade County Infill Housing Initiative Program, providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. And 14-A-1 is an ordinance approving, adopting, and ratifying fiscal year 2024-25, end of year supplemental budget adjustments and amendments for various county departments and funds, amending ordinance numbers 2497, 2499, and 24102 to make budget adjustments, ratifying and approving implementing orders and other board actions, which set fees, charges, and assessments for fiscal year 2024-25, appropriating grant, donation, and contribution funds for fiscal year 2024-25, in accordance with section 2-1796D of the county code, approving certain budgetary reallocations, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. Those are your first reading items. All right. I do have a motion to approve the first reading items. Move. Seconded by the vice chair, seconded by Commissioner Bastien. Any additional bifurcations? Any bifurcations? Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll on first reading items. Commissioner Bastien. Yes for now. Commissioner Bermudez. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Four. Senator Garcia. Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzalez. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Yes. Commissioner Milian Orbis. Yes. Commissioner Regalado. Yes. Commissioner Steinberg. Vice Chairman McGee. Yes for now. Chairman Rodriguez. I vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. All right. Why is my wife calling me? She knows I'm in BCC chairing a meeting right now. All right, why is my wife calling me? She knows I'm in BCC chairing a meeting right now. All right, Madam Attorney. She knows to call twice if it's an emergency, so she'll call twice. All right, let the record reflect. First Lady of District 10 is calling. All right, Madam Attorney, can you please read the public hearing items at this time? Yes. 5A is a resolution code designating that portion of Northwest 137th Avenue between Northwest 12th Street and Northwest 17th Street as Semex Way. And it's supplement, 5B is a resolution renaming North Glade Park as Coach Carol Hardiman Park. And it's supplement, 5C is a resolution renaming the North Day Regional Library, the Federica S. Wilson Regional Library. And it's supplement, 5D is a resolution code designating that portion of Southwest 162nd Avenue from Southwest 232nd Street to Southwest 240th Street as Jimmy Rice Avenue. And it's supplement, 5E substitute is an ordinance relating to the Miami-Dade County Parking Code. Amending section 30-49 of the code. Authorizing parking enforcement entities to issue invoices by mail for non-payment of parking charges. Amending section 30-52 of the code. Authorizing parking enforcement entities to enforce additional parking violations through parking citations by mail. Providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. It's supplement, 5F is a resolution approving and authorizing the issuance by the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency of its tax increment redevelopment revenue bonds. Series 2026 in one or more series in an aggregate principal amount of not to exceed $150 million for purposes of financing eligible community redevelopment projects and paying cost of issuance of such bonds. 5G is a resolution authorizing issuance of not to exceed $725 million of aviation revenue refunding bonds in one or more series for purposes of refunding and redeeming certain outstanding aviation revenue and revenue refunding bonds. Funding reserve account if necessary, funding certain capitalized interest if any, and paying certain cost of issuance. The 5H substitute is an ordinance granting petition of Miami Freedom Park LLC for establishment of a community development district generally bounded on the north by Tamiami Canal, C4 Canal. On the east by Northwest 37th Avenue, on the south by Northwest 14th Street, and on the west by Northwest 42 Avenue, Northwest Lejeune Road. Creating and establishing Lejeune Gardens Community Development District, providing for name powers and duties, providing description and boundaries. Providing initial members of Board of Supervisors. Directing the Mayor does he need to collaborate with the district for the provision of periodic reports by the district. And for the provision of the District 6 County Commissioner to act as a liaison between the district and the county. And to execute the interlocal agreement with the district as necessary. And providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date, and the substitute supplement. 5I is a resolution approving the plat of Abbas South. 5J is a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Blue Nest Homes. 5 LLC, 5L is a resolution approving the plat of Century Estates Royal. 5M is a resolution approving the plat of Century Park Villas North. 5N is a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami Inc. 5O is a resolution approving the waiver of plat of We Shop Enterprises LLC. 5P is a resolution approving the plat of Hanama North Subdivision. 5Q is a resolution approving the plat of Z and M Subdivision. 5R is a resolution approving the plat of Modena Home. 5S is a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Little 79 LLC. Those are your public hearing items. Thank you, Madam Attorney. I'm going to go ahead and open up a public hearing at this time. When I call your name, please approach the Wells and state your name and address and the item on which you're speaking on. You have two minutes to speak. Mark Young, Shira Kasten-Goldstein, Brenda Betancourt, Jonathan Fernandez, and Xavier Alban. Sir, you're recognized. Good morning, Chairman, Commissioners, and members of the community. My name is Mark Young, and I am here on behalf of the Jimmy Rice Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction. Three years ago, Jimmy Rice was taken from the community as an unthinkable tragedy that forever changed many lives. The story gripped the nation. A nine-year-old boy was gone, vanished from his home, bus stopped, just a few houses from his home. It had been three agonizing months before his fate was known. In the wake of the overwhelming grief that a mission to protect children and support families in their most critical moments were born, a way to memorize Jimmy through positive work. Today, we are deeply grateful to Commissioner Cohen Higgins for bringing forward this resolution to co-designate a portion of the road where Jimmy was abducted from as Jimmy Rice Avenue. The designation is more than a sign. It's a lasting tribute. It endures Jimmy's name and still remain part of the community, serving as a reminder of the vigilance, protection, and responsibility we all share to keep children safe. Every day through our work providing bloodhounds to law enforcement agencies, the Jimmy Rice Center carries Jimmy's legacy forward. To date, over 700 bloodhounds have been given and donated to law enforcement agencies across the country. Our apologies that no bloodhounds are with us here today. They are tied up doing various commitments out in the communities. I only wish the Rice family could be here to do witness this moment and a lasting honor given to Jimmy. On behalf of our organization and Jimmy Rice families and the many families we served, thank you for recognizing Jimmy's life in such a powerful, enduring way. Commissioner Higgins, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Young. Go ahead, ma'am. Good morning, Brenda Barrancourt, 33 South West 2nd Avenue, Suites 901. In reference of IE, I was just having questions about the pilot program for the Miami Parking Authority and loading zone. And I'm grateful to Commissioner Vicky Lopez who has provided me the information that I was kind of requesting. I just have a question about not just the loading zone that you guys are advocating to do a pilot program, but at the same time, we have to protect both sizes. Not just the trucks who need to park in the loading zone, but at the same time, what are you guys going to be implementing in this rule or in this pilot program? For those trucks who have the loading zone and decide not to use the loading zone in themselves, double parking in front of buildings. It's a safety issue that we are already having enough traffic as it is. And it's very important for the commissioners to understand it's not just about protecting the trucks who want to park in the loading zone. We decide to assignate to them in front of businesses, which is very important. But what happened with those trucks, drivers who violate and double park, and then you have to go around, especially when it's a one way. So a truck, 18 wheeler in front, you have to go around, you don't know why the cars are coming. So when you see this, I see this type of pilot program is important, but we need to not just protect those loading zone, but we need as well Miami Parking Authority to have a way to prevent more accidents that we already have. Downtown Miami, very heavy areas are important, but the neighborhood as well. Many of our neighborhood is a one way street, and if a truck decide to park in the middle, because they don't want to use the loading zone, then we all pay the prices to wait until they finish their business in order for the traffic to move. So please, when you see this pilot program, the Miami Parking Authority, Commissioner Lopez, thank you. But I think it's a great initiative, but we have to think about the people ourselves as drivers, and not just the commercial drivers. Thank you. Thank you, Brenda. Go ahead. Good morning, Madam Mayor, Chairman, members of the Board of County Commissioners, and a special thank you to Commissioner Danielle Cohen-Higgins for your leadership on this meaningful resolution of 5-D, naming a portion of the avenue where Jimmy Rice was abducted from as Jimmy Rice Avenue. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, and for honoring Jimmy in such a lasting and visible way. My connection to this moment is both professional and deeply personal. I began my career in TV news, I covered Jimmy's story, and like so many in this community, it never left me. That work is also what connected me to Mark Young, who just recently spoke to you, and who's with us today. His late wife, Terry Lynn, served as the Rice's family publicist from the day Jimmy was abducted, and until recently when she passed this past year. Through that shared experience, a lasting friendship was formed. And for this community, this moment is deeply personal. The very street and avenue being proposed in front of you today still carries, 30 years later, a makeshift memorial in honor of Jimmy, lovingly maintained by the neighbors for nearly 30 years. A testament to how deeply this loss is felt and never forgotten. Today, I am proud to volunteer with the Jimmy Rice Center, because I believe it is my responsibility, our collective responsibility, to ensure that Jimmy's legacy continues to protect others. Through its mission, the center is saving lives every day. With us today are two additional volunteers. Gabby DeLespriela, who recently retired from 25 years at NBC News, and two covered the story throughout the years. And Andy Phillips, who worked with us at NBC News on a local and national level. Andy was the last person to host a sit-down interview with Don Rice before his passing just a couple years ago. This resolution is more than a name. It is a promise that we will never forget, and that we will continue the work. Thank you for honoring Jimmy, and for keeping his legacy alive. Thank you. Thank you, Shira. Good morning, Madam Mayor, Chairman Rodriguez, and members of this commission. My name is Javier Alban. I'm a Deputy City Attorney with the City of Miami, offices at 444 Southwest 2nd Avenue. I'm also here with John Fernandez, who is here on behalf of Mayor Higgins. We simply want to express our support for Item 5H, the creation of the CDD, and appreciate the Commissioner Emiliano Orbis for her work on this item and for pushing it forward. Thank you. Thank you so much to the two of you. Appreciate it. Thank you for combining the support. All right. With that, that concludes our public hearing list of speakers. So public hearing is now closed. Does any of my colleague wish to bifurcate any of these items? Mr. Chair, I need to bifurcate 5H and substitute and the supplement as well for the attorneys to just make a quick amendment. Okay. Show that bifurcated. Commissioner Steinberg? No, I would like to co-sponsor 5D, please. Which one? 5D. Is that the Jimmy Rice? Same. Okay. And show me co-sponsoring it as well. I would like to co-sponsor it as well. I think we all will. I think everyone? Yeah. Unanimous co-sponsor? Yes. Unanimous co-sponsor for 5D. Perfect. Senator Garcia, you're bifurcating? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Just to vote no, 5K, N, and O. 5K. Through the Chair, 5K was deferred to May 5th. Okay. So 5K has been deferred. So 5N and O. Okay. Garcia. And then Vice Chairman, co-sponsoring 5C. Show the Vice Chair co-sponsoring 5C. Commissioner Hardiman? Remember, I want to pull 5F for an amendment. 5F? Okay. Show 5F pulled by Commissioner Hardiman for an amendment. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to pull 5D, if I can just have 10 seconds to make a brief comment, if that's okay. Let's do it now, yes. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to thank Shira and Mark for coming down and giving public comment. One of my colleagues said something that I wanted to share on the microphone. Jimmy Rice was abducted on September 11th, 1995. The majority of the board was present and remembers this case. And one of my colleagues said, not only do I remember this case, but my parents used to leave me in the car alone before Jimmy Rice and after Jimmy Rice, they no longer did. The world changed as a result of this young man's case. And his parents did everything they could to make children safer afterwards. And I think the public comment that they gave was powerful and a testament to the amazing residents of South Dade in that, in many, many ways, but in this particular instance, how on 162nd Avenue, that memorial remains preserved to this day. You also heard about bloodhounds and that this center has now offered more than 700 of them. That is of critical import because on the day that Jimmy Rice was abducted, there were no bloodhounds that were available to help in his three month arduous search. And so now this center offers bloodhounds because there's such a critical piece in finding missing persons and of course, missing children. So I thank them for their advocacy in our community. And I'm extraordinarily grateful to my colleagues for their co-sponsorship of this important item. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner. With that, any additional? Commissioner Bermudez? Yeah, I wanted to bifurcate. It's already bifurcated, but I want to bifurcate 5H. And on 7B, I think that we had told the attorneys, but I don't know if they mentioned it before or not, 5H and 7B. And obviously, we pulled 8P5. So 5H and which is the other one? 7B. Just for comments. 7B. 7B. And AP5, I think they did mention that. Well, 7B is later. Yes. So 5H. All right. So any additional bifurcations? Seeing none, do I have a motion for the remainder of the items? It's been moved by Commissioner Gilbert, seconded by Commissioner Cohen Higgins. Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Bermudez? Yes. Commissioner Cohen Higgins? Four. Senator Garcia? Aye. Commissioner Gilbert? Commissioner Gonzalez? Four. Commissioner Hardiman? Yes. Commissioner Lopez? Yes. Commissioner Milan Orbis? Yes. Commissioner Regalado? Commissioner Steinberg? Yes. Chairman McGee? Yes. Chairman Rodriguez? Oh, yes. Motion passes unanimously. Madam Attorney, I understand. I was trying to keep track as everything was flying around, but 5C and 5D passed right now with the approval of the remainder. Those were just co-sponsorships that people pulled for. And then is my first one 5F? Yes. It's bifurcated by Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Hardiman, you're recognized for an amendment. Thank you very much. I move to amend this item. I have the motion read by the county attorney's office. Commissioner Hardiman, sorry. Commissioner Hardiman moves to amend item 5F to attach additional resolutions related to the bond issuance that were adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency and the City Commission of the City of Miami after the intergovernmental and economic impact committee met on March 11, 2026. In which such resolutions clarify that all obligations including payment of the performing arts centers debt as set forth in the interlocal cooperation agreement between the county, the city, and the agency will be paid prior to any payment associated with the 2026 agency debt. The proposed amendments and the exhibits are indicated in and attached to the handout that you have received. Okay. Can you, can the attorneys or Commissioner Hardiman, can you explain what this, what that means? So, after the committee met, the city and the CRA adopted additional resolutions to clarify that the payments that are to be made on the bond will be paid after they pay the debts that are listed in the interlocal agreement. So, it would include the Adrian Arts Center. Okay. All right. So, basically, it just adopts clarifying language in our favor. Okay. That's what I was trying to connect the dots on. I figured. All right. With that, Commissioner Hardiman moves it as amended. It's second by Commissioner Gilbert. Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Senator Garcia. Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzalez. Four. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Yes. Commissioner Emiliano Orbis. Yes. Commissioner Regalado. Commissioner Steinberg. Commissioner Bastian. Yes. Commissioner Bermudez. Vice Chairman McGee. Yes. Chairman Rodriguez. I vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. All right. Congratulations. Commissioner Bermudez, you're recognized on 5-H. I just, I'm going to be supportive of it, even though, because the CDD really doesn't impact residents. But the other, the only thing I would ask is if the reports generated by the CDD can be provided to the full board. That's essentially it. Yeah, if I may, Mr. Chair. You're recognized. Thank you. Yes, so that was very important. Commissioner, thank you for that comment. That was important to me as well, and that's why I'm serving as a liaison, and I will make sure that we bring every report that's generated to the board for review and consideration. Thank you. All right, it's been moved. It's been seconded by the Commissioner. I do need the attorneys to make an amendment before we move it. Okay, so the attorneys please read the amendment. Commissioner Milan Orbis moves to amend item 5-H substitute to clarify consistent with chapter 190 of the Florida statutes that no debt or obligation of the district shall constitute a burden upon the city of Miami without the prior approval of the city commission by resolution or ordinance expressly authorizing such burden. I'll move it with the amendment. It's been moved. It's been seconded. Clerk, please call the roll. Senator Garcia. Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzalez. Four. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Commissioner Milan Orbis. Yes. Commissioner Regalado. Commissioner Steinberg. Commissioner Bastien. Yes. Commissioner Bermudez. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Vice Chairman McGee. Yes. Chairman Rodriguez. I vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Senator Garcia, you said it was just to vote no on 5-N and 5-0. All right. So can I have a motion on 5-N and 5-0? It's been moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. All in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed nay. Show those items passed reflecting Senator Garcia's a nay. All right. Is that my last bifurcated public hearing item? Yes. All right. All right, guys. Let's, we have second readings left. All right. Let's do my discussion item on property tax reform. And I'll keep it simple. And then I wanted to recognize Commissioner Lopez here in just a second as, Commissioner Lopez, I have to say I am so relieved since you got on the board because you get to deal with Tallahassee now. And I've actually literally gone much less to Tallahassee since you got on the board in the board in the last several months. But as we all know, there are potential efforts for the elimination or significant reduction of non-school property taxes, particularly those applied to homesteaded properties. This includes expanding exemptions from seniors and adjusting existing homestead protections, all of which are intended to provide tax relief to homeowners. But as we all know, that could have significant implications to our county services, i.e., our budget. So I have many times asked Commissioner Lopez to keep close tabs on the situation. And I know you have been. You've spoken about it at committee at some. You've given some updates here at the full board prior. So, Commissioner Lopez, if you can just give us some short update as to what you're hearing, what you're thinking, and if there's anything, I sure have thoughts, but if there's anything that you think as a county we should be proactively doing at this time. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, just as a point of clarification for everyone, all eight of the proposals that the House had presented during the legislative session, you know, are now dead. There were no companion bills in the Senate. And so what I'm hearing, obviously, is the governor may be calling the legislature back into a special session to address property taxes. Currently, he's called them back in for congressional redistricting and AI bill and some other items. But I do believe there will be a separate session called for dealing with property taxes. And so I think my recommendation to the board is that we start to make some move to estimate or investigate research some proposal. And I guess, for me, the one that polls the highest, it's polling at 80% would be relief to those that are 65 and older, which, quite frankly, are the people that need the relief the most. I know that all of us are very involved in our districts and we probably have been having lots of conversations with people that are 65 and older who find themselves often in fixed incomes and whose property taxes have risen, you know, over the last couple of years. And they simply can't, that's adding to the affordability issue that we have in housing. So, you know, it would be my recommendation that the board direct the mayor to at least analyze what the impact would be to our general revenue funds if, in fact, the legislature were to move to eliminate homestead taxes on those that are 65 and older. And I guess I would say do ask for two things, one that secures school taxes and one that does not. It's interesting that there is a, excuse me, a member of the House, Representative Chamberlain from the southern part, I'm sorry, the central part of Florida, who is actually collecting signatures to put his own item on the ballot. And his would be a total elimination of homestead and non-homestead taxes and not securing school taxes. So his is like the most, I think, in my opinion, it is pretty drastic. If you eliminate all homestead, non-homestead, and you eliminate school taxes. And his comments have been that the legislature should have to figure out how to fund schools once they do that. So there is that movement moving around with Ryan Chamberlain actually leading that charge for a citizen's proposal on the ballot. And he may get enough signatures to do so. But currently, the one I know that polls best with the public is the 65 and older. So my recommendation is that we prepare for something like that and see what the fiscal impact would be on the county. All right, Commissioner Lopez. And I think your ask to the mayor is fitting. And I know that when we, actually you were, I believe, in the legislature at the time, when we held a panel that we actually held it in the Westchester Library, I know that they had prepared some figures then. And on the one that you just mentioned, the 65 and older, I know that it was somewhere in the vicinity. And I have it with me of like in excess of $350 million impact annually to the county. But I think now if that is the, if that is what you feel is, whether it's based on your conversations with legislators or whether it's just polling. But if you feel that that's what what's maybe has the highest chances, I think then then maybe you're right. Maybe the administration should maybe just focus more on that and amplify on that. And I know that they've already done some of these analysis. And I see the mayor nodding her head yes. But I think that the idea is there is certainly, like you said, a movement, right, of some sort. And rightfully so, rightfully so. I mean, people are struggling. But we also understand we have services to comply with, which are responsibilities that we have, not necessarily our choices. But we've got to make sure that the grass gets cut. We've got to make sure that our roads get paved. So we have to make sure that we're still involved with with public housing and low income housing. I mean, the list goes on and on. So, you know, I don't I don't know that it requires an initial an actual motion or not if you want to do that. But I think, you know, Madam Mayor is just if that's what's kind of polling the highest, we should certainly expand on that and and dive a little deeper. Yes, through the chair. Yep. Thank you. So Ray Baker, our director of office management and budget, has been keeping close tabs on these different proposals. And we've looked through various scenarios. And I believe you're looking at a paper that was produced. We certainly can share that with the full board and go into further depth. This has been requested. If you want to ask Director Baker any questions now, he's available as well. Yeah. Director Baker, I'm sure that there might be some some questions for you. You know, you know, and folks, I think something that's not necessarily being spoken about as much is it doesn't just impact us directly, but it also ricochets or flows into our public health hospital system, which is Jackson. And Jackson will be immensely impacted by by some of these cuts if they come to fruition as well. And that ultimately fall back on us. Right. It's our responsibility as well. And a state always helps. But but I think that's important. I just want to clarify that, you know, we don't have any idea. We know what the house was capable of doing and what they were advancing. We did not know at all what the Senate was doing and we still have not heard from the governor what his plan is. What we do know is that he called for the elimination of homestead property taxes right across the board. So, you know, I think we're sort of in a little bit of a guessing game and sort of trying to read the tea leaves. What's polling? What's not? But but in essence, there is no way to predict what will happen. I mean, I think the next step is to find out what the governor's thinking when he calls the special session if he calls it. But it will it will significantly impact us and it could impact us in other ways as well. So we have 34 municipalities within the county and some of them have no commercial base. And I'll give you the example of a obviously a municipality I used to represent when I was a state rep, which is the village of Key Biscayne. At 30% reduction, they've run their numbers. At 30% reduction, they would have to fold back into the county, right? That that's going to mean more services we have to provide for people we currently don't provide services for, right? So there is there is a ripple effect across the board for municipalities, particularly the small ones that would be most impacted because most of their revenue comes from homestead properties. So I know it's like you have to start looking at places where we will have to pick up the slack, if you will, if if municipalities have to roll back into the county. So, you know, I just I have I'm not getting a good read for what the governor's thinking just yet because he's more focused now on the new special session that he's called for next week. But I believe it's coming. And I think we should be prepared at least to to lead as opposed to follow. Thank you for that. And I appreciate you taking the role and leadership on this topic. Commissioner Gilbert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner Lopez. Just a point when you all are doing your research, you put together numbers. We use terms all the time, like fixed income and over 65. Some people who are over 65 and in fact are on fixed incomes aren't actually on low incomes. And some homes that are owned by people who are over 65 are multimillion dollar properties. So I just want us to be mindful that when you say someone's over 65 and on a fixed income, they could be 65 and their fixed income could be $2 million a year. I mean, so I'm all for looking at how if we get to a point where we're going to actually take a position on something. So if we get to that point, let's make sure we have the information about how that actually breaks down, because for folks who can't afford to pay, we want to be mindful of that. But when we cast a big net, you know, the unintended consequences of generalizations can be very, very, very perilous if you're Miami-Dade County and we still have the responsibility to provide services out of the same general fund. So the folks who are over 65, we're still going to provide the golden passport. We're still going to provide the meals. We're still going to provide the things that we we're still going to be responsible for those things. So I think that because we're going to be responsible for those things, we should be mindful of how we how we couch our response in our statements, because it could very well the unintended consequences of trying to help people who don't have a lot could be helping people who have a lot more than enough. So I think we want to be mindful of that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner Gilbert. I have quite a few now. Bermudez, Bastian, Regalado, the vice chair. Bermudez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Commissioner Lopez, for taking the time to go to Tallahassee and to follow all this. There's only two things that I wanted to point out. One is just a question to the commissioner, maybe to you too, Mr. Chair. Or those of you that have been in Tallahassee, vice chair also. But the only thing I would ask Ray is, you know, when you do come up with the numbers as commission, and I do agree with Commissioner Lopez that we need to have that in front of us to be able to make whatever decisions we need to make if and when the time comes. Could you get that to all of us? So, you know, we have enough time to review it, look at it, and make sure. That would be my one request to you and the administration. And then the, I don't know this gentleman, State Representative Chamberlain. I assume some of you do. But, you know, I got to channel my inner Teddy Roosevelt, I guess. But how are we going to pay for things in a democracy if we do not have taxes? And I understand Commissioner Gilbert rightly points out that not every person over 65 on a fixed income is necessarily a person who needs it. But regardless, can anybody enlighten me? I've never met Mr. Chamberlain. I guess I know what to say to him when I meet him. They won't be too kind. How are we going to pay for this? I mean, somebody's got, there's no free lunches in the democracy. So can you enlighten me, Commissioner Lopez, since you or maybe you're the chair or the vice chair know this gentleman? You know, because it's, and I'll remind you, and I use Teddy Roosevelt because Teddy Roosevelt, like myself, is also a Republican. But, you know, it doesn't matter what party you're in. How do you, there's no free lunch. How are we going to pay for services anywhere in this state if this thing that apparently is polling, you know, which scares the heck out of me because I don't like to live by polls. But those things are, how does this gentleman, Mr. Chamberlain, explain what is his argument that we're going to pay nothing and how we're going to run governments in a, what is a democracy? Or are we going to make the state of Florida into the dictatorship? Mr. Sherman. You recognize. So I do know Representative Chamberlain very well when I was the chair of the property tax committee in the House. He was on the committee, and he has a philosophical issue with taxes. I mean, imagine that his proposal requires the legislature to try to figure out ways to fund public schools because he would be eliminating those taxes as well. So his philosophical perspective follows somewhat with what the governor has been saying, that this is a tax people should not have to pay, you know, on properties that they own. So I think it's purely philosophical. He's a real conservative. And he just really believes that government has to find the money to provide the services but not on the backs of those that own properties. And so that's his position. Look, I don't know if he will collect all the signatures, and I don't know if that type of proposal would pass, you know, quite frankly. So, I mean, I tell you this only because it is an effort that is out there, and he has actively got a campaign going on to collect these signatures. So that's just something to be aware of, I would say. But there are others in the legislature that share that same philosophical approach that Representative Chamberlain does. So, I mean, I don't know that that will be successful. I think we have to kind of be prepared. And to Commissioner Gilbert's comment on those over 65, as the chair of that committee, I asked my tax ways and means staff if we could only give relief to those that were 65 and older that made a certain income. And that was proven to be unconstitutional in court cases. So they said it's all or none. So you're either giving relief to everybody who's over 65 or nobody. Because I, like Commissioner Gilbert, thought, well, I know a lot of people that are over 65 that aren't in need of relief. But that has proven not to be a possible approach. So you're right, Commissioner Gilbert, you know, giving relief to everyone over 65 means you're lumping in people who, you know, don't need the relief as much as others. Thank you, Commissioner. Good? No, yeah, yeah. Thank you. The only other thing, we'll talk about it later on, the 250 years. Maybe we need to have a part of the administration's efforts there. Commissioner Roberts is leading it for us to teach what a federal republic is, not just what a democracy is. So some of our friends that are elected can also have an understanding of how this country was founded and how government is run in a federal republic. This is the, this is what it is, speaking on an item that's not the one we're on right now. That is a federal republic. But we have to include the funding part. Commissioner Bastian. Commissioner Regalado, I know you're, you're in queue. It's like, you're like the kid in school that just like, the teacher sees you. The class teacher sees your hand up. Commissioner Bastian. Thank you, Chairman Rodriguez. Actually, I was going to make the comment that you just made about Commissioner Gilbert's statement about the fact that we should not put all the elderlies on fixed income in the same bracket. However, in my case, and based on our discussion recently during our housing committee, I would think in your case too, the majority of the, you know, elderlies are on fixed income ranging from $500 to $1,000. And imagine from that amount, they have to pay taxes, they have to pay insurance for their homes. Most of them call my district on a regular basis to ask me, and I know you shared some of the same thoughts recently. Commissioner, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? So I agree with Commissioner Gilbert, but however, in my district, the majority would fall on the bracket. And there is something that I mentioned during committee recently. a lot of residents of District 2 are coming with letters, including my own parents. One of them used to receive, for example, $799, and then suddenly he received a letter saying that the amount is reduced to $500. So a lot of them are receiving this type of letter. So I do agree, but in my case, in my district, and I know in your district too, the majority will fall on that bracket. But I agree with Commissioner Gilbert. We have to find a way to determine that, right? Because there is no way that the county will have, you know, the resources to help everyone. Stating that, I also wanted to commend you, Commissioner Lopez, and I agree with Mr. Chair. Having you with this expertise for being in the legislature really brings a lot of value to the commission. So I wanted to thank you for all the work that you're doing to bring clarity to measures that oftentimes are so clouded and then you bring clarity to that. I really want to thank you for that. And then lastly, and I agree with you too on the fact that, you know, with Commissioner Bermudez. I mean, how we, how, and I don't know, is it Representative Chamberlain? I don't know him. And I don't know, I don't understand where he's coming from. But all I see is that Miami-Dade County and how taxed we are right now. We just went through a very difficult budget process. Imagine, imagine GMH suddenly, the county suddenly not able to support GMH. We were, you and I were, and other commissioners were, I think Senator Garcia was also there, at the Children's Trust luncheon last week. This issue, this possibility of not being able to support this agency, GMH and Children's Trust, who since inception have made such an impact to protect our children. And then thank you, Commissioner Gwen Higgins, we just named the street after a young man, I remember 30 years ago, how this news, how we were praying for a good resolution. And then when we found, when the, the, the, the, the, the, the, we found what happened to him, the impact it was made. But the Children's Trust, since the inception of the Children's Trust, it made such an impact of protecting our children. And then when we look at the news every day, I mean, if we were, when you have 10-year-old committing suicide, we have children being victims of, of trafficking, we need to do more. So you can imagine an entity like the Children's Trust now, wondering what in the world will happen if the, we, we, and it's totally tax-based. We voted for it. We voted for it twice. For inception, I was, I was a volunteer doing both campaigns. Congresswoman Ming and I, we were responsible for community outreach during the Children's Trust campaign. The first campaign, the first one and the second one, when we voted amassed over 60%, I believe, to keep it at perpetuity. And now, suddenly, if Representative Chamberlain prevails, God forbid, what will happen? So, and then I said, lastly, but I have one more thought. And I, I, I so agree with you that we have to be proactive, and I know Mayor Kava is on it. I know Budget is on it, because it would be stupid, forgive me for saying that, not to be proactive in this. It's a process for, and then for those of you watching at home, be ready, because your voices, every voice in this situation, of what may occur, every voice should be heard. This is not a time where we have some members. We have, uh, our, our colleagues here. We have community-based organizations there. This is an, an issue that should get every voice engaged to say, you know, to, to, to, to make our, our thoughts heard about this. Because it's about the county, it's about local government being taxed to the limit, and it's about, uh, even the, the cities, the small cities, but it's about people, the people that we were elected to serve. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner, uh, Commissioner Regalado. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I just wanted to point something out. I think I agree with my colleagues that we should be proactive. What that proactivity looks like, um, I'm in a, a bit of a disagreement. I think we have an opportunity here with the delay in hearing this. I think the fact that we don't know what the Senate is going to do and we're waiting on the governor is an opportunity for us to proffer a solution. There's been this national and state conversation about putting property tax relief on the ballot. But in Florida, all we need to do is amend existing statute. We don't need to put it on the ballot. So what Commissioner Gilbert mentioned, we can do. If we put it on the ballot, we have to eliminate for everyone. But if we amend title 14 Florida statute one ninety six point zero seven five, then we have the opportunity to offer it to residents that are over 65 that have a fixed income. And the issue has been the amount, the property value amount. This statute was passed a long time ago. It's capped at properties that are valued at 250,000. And the AMI is capped at 38,686. The AMI moves, but the property value does not move. If you look at when the statute was passed, that 250,000 is now around 850,000. And all we have to do is change that number. And the property owners who are in peril of losing their homes would get immediate relief, not relief in two years, not relief if people put it on the ballot, not relief after an inaction, immediate relief the minute that the governor signs it. So I think when we talk about being proactive, what we should do is lobby the governor and the Senate to do this, to start here, to give residents that have owned their homes for more than 20 years that have homestead that are over 65 that are on a fixed income. This exemption right now in Miami-Dade County, they cannot access this exemption because there is no property that's worth less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars. So instead of saying, I mean, and we have the numbers and I think it's great and we should look at the numbers and of course we're going to forecast. But I don't think we sit idly by and we let someone else make the decision. I say that we proffer a solution, a solution that I think would, it would not only just fit us, I think it would fit the rest of the state. Because it allows a gradual shift in something that already has parameters and that we can clearly identify. I think the problem that we're having with property tax reform as a general Florida question is every city and county is doing the same math and they're trying to figure out, well, what happens if A, B and C? We know exactly who is 65, who has this AMI. Once you change the property values, we could tell you without a doubt how many people would not pay taxes and the impact that that would have. And it wouldn't be a forecast. So I think if we're going to be proactive and take advantage of the space that has been left open for us, we move with an actual proposal. Not with saying we don't want it and not with saying we're going to sit here and wait. Thank you. Thank you. Senator Garcia, you recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Look, this shouldn't be this complicated. The reality is that people in our community need help. And I think seniors, in particular seniors, are the ones that need help. And we just have to be intellectually honest with them. I think it's important for us to let the seniors know exactly what's happening in our community and make sure that we find some relief for them, especially those low-income seniors that we have. You know, I see a lot of cities and a lot of municipalities have passed rebate programs that are extremely important. I think within their confines and their budgets, we're able to find some resources to make sure they bring some relief. But I think it's quite important, and I want to take a different perspective on this, that we are being truthful with our residents. I see what's happened in some of our jurisdictions where we have been selling tax abatements, and it really has been tax rebates. And what I'm saying is in the city of Hialeah recently, they sold the residents of Hialeah that they were eliminating property taxes. And we all know very well that we cannot eliminate property taxes. It's a function of the state legislature that removes the property taxes. What the city of Hialeah did was follow a tradition of different municipalities who have given rebates to their residents. And I commend them for that. But let's just make sure that we're honest with the residents and remind them that we should try to bring some relief. And the legislature is the only one that can do that. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I look forward to continuing to have a conversation. I do think that we should proffer solutions to make sure that we help those that need the help the most. And make sure that those that don't, don't benefit from these exemptions that will otherwise take away from those that do need the help. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator. All right. Thank you again, Commissioner Lopez, for the update. All right. Next discussion item is 61. Commissioner Orbis, you're recognized on your discussion item. Thank you so much. So we have, I just wanted to give some updates on the America 250 committee. And I know that the mayor also wanted to add some remarks. Yes. Well, yes. First of all, Chairman, I appreciate your appointment to the commission and we have been making great progress. I will turn it over to the mayor for a second. Did you want to speak, Madam Mayor? Thank you so much. Through the chair. And then I will continue the update. Very good. Recognize. So this is a group that I initiated and asked you, Mr. Chair, to make an appointment. And I'm so very happy that you appointed Commissioner Mian Orbis, who is very engaged. And so we talked about the importance of bringing an update to this board. She, in fact, is now serving as chair of the group, which draws from different of the organizations that are already engaged in planning for our 250th nation's birthday. So we wanted to be sure that everybody in our community is aware that it's our 250th. We wanted to share the good news. We wanted to celebrate. And we also wanted to bring together all the efforts because there are quite a number of diverse efforts. There's a national effort. There's a state effort. There's a Miami Dade College, a public schools effort, and so on. And by the way, I bring to you, Commissioner Mian Orbis, a record from the London Symphony Orchestra. We had a visit from the national chair of the 250th celebration. And I have a copy for you of a special symphony that was composed by our local resident, Karen Lefrac. So that is going to be for you. I wanted to just showcase a few things. Commissioner Orbis is leading a particular effort called Flags Across Miami Dade. And so she can tell you more about that. That's something that she invented and I think is very creative. We also are going to have our big celebration at Tropical Park. But this year it will be a little bit different. It will include not only fireworks but vendor, community participation, student-led performances, music and entertainment. Special guests like Miss USA, Senator Garcia. Where are you? Because he's very involved in Miss USA, Miss Teen USA. And a time capsule working with the American Revolution, daughters of the American Revolution. We are also having the History Miami is very active. And they are going to be one of only eight museums in the country to host original documents from our nation's founding. There's a high school speech competition. There is something called the MDC Quest, a digital scavenger hunt that everybody can participate in. We're having fireside chats across our library system. So stay tuned for that in your area libraries as well. We are launching shortly the Miami-Dade 250 merchandise store. So we're going through an independent vendor. So you can order on demand some merch for 250. That will include tote bags, hats, stickers, mugs, pins and challenge coins. And our website is live. So you can learn all about these efforts plus the other efforts around the county. Miami-Dade 250 website. So please check it out. And we've launched our first monthly newsletter. And they'll be expanded digital outreach across all of our platforms. So in closing, I want to thank everyone who's participated, you, Mr. Chair, for giving us a great representative partner. And now I turn it to our Madam Chairwoman of the 250 committee. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. I will be quick. So since the committee began, we have met four times here downtown in the TPO office. The mayor already mentioned some of the events, but we have been working diligently with her staff. And we have quite a robust list of events that will be occurring, not just for July 4th, but throughout the year, including the tropical 4th July 4th celebration, the Freedom Plain National Tour with History Miami, fireside chat series, days of service, and other civic and educational programs for the community. To highlight the flags across Dade County, it was a program that our team, we came up with and we launched recently. And the idea is that this is, you know, we're incredibly blessed to be serving in this time where our nation turns 250 years. And it is a huge, momentous occasion, and it should be highlighted. So the idea is that every household in Dade County has an American flag, a big, beautiful American flag in front of their house as we celebrate July 4th and this anniversary. So we came up with a program through fundraising where we are giving away American flags to our residents. And we have in just under two weeks, we've received over 1,000 requests for District 6 residents. And we are hopeful to continue expanding. As we fulfill the request, we will continue expanding to the rest of the community. And of course, I welcome fundraising from anyone who wants to donate into that because it's a beautiful thing to get to a gift on American flag. And it's a full kit made in the USA that we give to every single resident, single family homes. So I will keep you updated on that. And of course, as we expand the program, I can share with everyone how their residents can get a kit. Additionally, we have been doing a lot of fundraising through the Parks Foundation for the July 4th and other activities of the America 250. And so far, I'm happy to announce that we've raised over $185,000 for the July 4th celebration. But we do need your help. So any help is appreciated from my colleagues for this effort. Lastly, I will be putting together with my team a countywide calendar of the events that you all are hosting in your districts. And also, I know a lot of you have municipalities like I do. So if you would like to share with us the July 4th events, I know that everybody has July 4th events going on. And we certainly want to highlight every single community and every single municipality. So if you would send it over to my team, we're happy to put together a countywide calendar that we will then share with our community. As well as the events that we have already prepared from the America 250 Task Force. So like the mayor said, there is a web page where you can get merchandise. And I'm sure that we will be bringing something as July 4th approaches to give to all of you. So we welcome your ideas, support, participation, collaboration, donations, appreciate everything. And thank you, Mr. Chair, again, for letting me do the presentation and for appointing me. Mr. Chair, I've got a question. Well, hold on. Hold on. One second. And I'll recognize you in a second. Commissioner Regalero. Thank you. I actually, and great job, but I pulled 15B2 because some of my residents are members of this committee. And as a result of being members of this committee, they're being tagged with not taking the sexual harassment training. So can we, why do they, why does this committee need to take that training? I mean, we have some very important people that have volunteered to be on this committee. So I was hoping that this would be like an opportunity for us to exempt them because I just don't see why if you're planning a July 4th event, you have to take our sexual harassment training. So you want to exempt the very important people from sexual harassment training? No, I just don't think that this board has anything to do with sexual harassment training. I mean, the people on here, I just don't, and if, and if that's the case, if we want them to have it, are we going to tell them when they join these boards that they have to do these trainings? I think we do. Yeah, I think we do tell them. I mean, quickly, I'm not, I'm not going to answer for the clerk's office, but I know that that's a requirement of county advisory boards and it's a county advisory board. So, but they, they were told that they need to take it. Yeah. I would not get into the habit of like picking and choosing what boards have to take it and which don't. Um, I, I agree with the concept of like, this is a quick and this will sunset after this year. So I get it, but I don't know that we'll pick and choose like which one, like, I mean, yeah. All right. Were you done? Yeah. I wanted to add that, um, the committee was very excited to continue meeting and we, we will be meeting beyond July 4th because we feel like the celebration for 250 is, is the whole year should be celebrated. So we invite you to join us. I'm sure we can send the notifications over. Um, we can, we can have, uh, the clerk's office or the chair's office send the notification. We would love to have you all to, to, um, join our meetings. And of course we invite you to all of our celebration. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner. Commissioner Bermudez. Yeah, I, I just have a comment and a question, but thank you so much, commissioner Orbis. Also the administration for a great job on something that's so important to all of us as Americans, which I, is super, and that, that thing about the flags is fantastic. Great, great idea. Um, my, my only question would be, and I don't know if commissioner Orbis or the administration, or maybe there's no answer yet. Piggybacking on my prior comments on, uh, commit, uh, what commissioner Lopez talked about happening at the, at the state level. Is there any, any educational component being considered for those who kind of can benefit from civic education or even if they do it voluntarily. To be able to learn about what is, you know, how we founded this country is the federal republic. It was the greatest experiment ever. I believe in government that survived the longest. And I think it merits. And just today, what I find is that a lot of people, apparently a lot of people across state don't have, uh, an understanding of that history. Uh, so is there an educational component you guys are considering? Yes. Um, I, the mayor can, uh, can cover that question, but I do believe history Miami, right. Is doing a historical component. They're going to have a display about that. And I know that we're also, um, we're celebrating citizenship classes as part of, of this effort as well, but I'll let the mayor speak to that. Uh, through the chair, you recognize it'd be nice if we can go into schools actually. So the, the public school system is very involved. We have a school board member Alonzo as part of the group, and they do have a student, uh, essay competition and some scholarships. And so there's a range of things, but, uh, we also have a reading list, which we've been promoting through our libraries on history. Uh, I just want to emphasize, this is a, a zero budget item for, for us. My staff is double duty staffing. Fortunately, commissioner or me on Orbis is also contributing staff time. So, uh, we, we didn't allocate, you know, for printing. That's why we're doing the merchandise through a, an independent vendor and so on. But we have these fireside chats, which are also on different aspects of history. And we would welcome your, your thoughts. What more, and you could host, you could host meetings and trainings. I know you are a great historian, uh, commissioner, and we would welcome David Lawrence is also a very active participant. You can imagine he's very interested in education about our history as well. Well, I'll do what I can to help you guys. Uh, I'm excited about the opening of the new library in our district. That might be the perfect place to actually do something with an author or someone, more knowledge, not me, somebody with much more knowledge of, uh, what makes our country great and our, our, our form of government, which would be fantastic to have. Make our country great again. Commissioner Orbis. I just wanted to add through the chair, thank you to Commissioner Ramirez's comment that we have representation from the Miami-Dade Public School Board on the committee as well. And they are doing a tremendous effort in the education component at the school level. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Okay, I'm going to add you to it, but I've got Steinberg, Gonzalez, Bastien. I'll be, I'll be quick. So, Commissioner Milian Orbis, thank you so much for being on this committee. Um, and also I know you mentioned about the flags for the single family homes. That's fantastic. If you guys also have something for those who live in apartments, that would be great for their balconies. Don't forget them. And secondly, um, I think it would be really great. I think it would be really great if we had things that were, you know, like 250 is a big number. And so like, for instance, when, um, in my former life in Miami Beach, right, we had our centennial. So we did different creative things. And one of them was like, we officiated a hundred people, you know, wedding of a hundred. Right. So we could do that for 250 here. Maybe the, the mayor could officiate, um, you know, but, you know, like really fun, great things to tie in 250. And I think, you know, thinking outside the box, so that, that would be one, one avenue. So, you know, brush up mayor. And then, um, and then, um, you know, thinking about different wonderful ways to engage the community in that manner. That was my suggestion. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Gonzalez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, you know, first of all, I want to thank, uh, Commissioner Miliana Orbis for her leadership on this. I think this is extremely important. Also, I'd like to thank the mayor for working so diligently. This is, this is a big deal, uh, for the nation, for Miami-Dade County and for every citizen and resident and immigrant that comes to this country. Um, piggybacking off what, um, Commissioner Bermuda said for the education component. And I know that Commissioner Orbis is already familiar with this, but, so I don't have any municipalities in my district, but I have something that's like a municipality. Uh, one of the greatest institutions in America, Florida International University. And they are actually doing a couple of education components. Commissioner Bermudez, they're doing, um, they just unveiled the Ronald Reagan statute at FIU's Reagan Presidential House. And that's going to have an education component, um, with, with a series. Uh, President Nunez hosted FIU's inaugural Presidential 5K. But what I think everybody should be very excited about is, um, President Nunez is hosting a Presidential Speaker Series. Specifically with some historians, uh, public officials, and world leaders, um, that is centered around the connection with, uh, America 250. It's going to be open to the public, um, and I think it's a great conversation with, you know, probably one of the only think tanks that we have in Miami-Dade County, which is the Adam Smith Center. Commissioner Bastien, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree. Commissioner Gonzalez. This is, uh, and then Mayor and, uh, Commissioner Robes. Thank you for your leadership. Uh, this is going to be, um, an exciting moment. Um, and I agree with most of the things that were said. I concur that, uh, we should, um, um, and, and include the schools. Uh, we should include the libraries, um, the, the academia, of course, the universities. And then I'm also from FIU, Commissioner Gonzalez. So, so I'm excited about that too. Uh, but, um, we also, uh, could take advantage of this grand, uh, celebration to learn more about the different, these different cities. For example, uh, uh, reach out to pioneers, community pioneers, uh, uh, in their influence in, in building Coconut Grove. Like the Bahamians who came here, you know, over a hundred years ago. Uh, uh, immigrants from all across the world that enrich, uh, Miami-Dade County. I think it will be a very, uh, grand opportunity to also, uh, break the imaginary walls among, uh, immigrant communities. To create spaces for them to learn about, about them and their influence. You know, in, uh, making, um, Miami-Dade County, uh, the state of Florida. And this great nation, one of the most important, the richest, uh, culturally and, and, and financially. Because of this, the Indians, for example. I mean, we're, we're here first. Uh, it was really a time to reach out to these different leaders and get them engaged, uh, in a way to bring information to, to us. Because how many people, you know, don't even know about the Bahamians influence in Miami-Dade County? How many didn't even know about Haitians influence in the U.S.? How many did, how many, how, how much do we need to learn? I think this is a great, great opportunity. I'm excited about this. Uh, I spoke to the mayor this morning. Um, we need to get, you know, as much, uh, we need to create as many opportunities as possible to learn more. To break the imaginary walls and bring us together in this grand celebration. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Bassett. And again, thank you, Commissioner Orbis, for, for the update, uh, and to our mayor. This is, uh, great that our county has taken a leadership role in, in recognizing our 250 year birthday. Uh, with that, Madam Attorney, can you please read, or Mr. Attorney, you see why I need to look before I say this? Clearly, I have, uh, preferred the Madam Attorney there than, I'm just kidding. Uh, please read all of our second reading items. Second reading item 7A, ordinance relating to local business taxes, deleting section 88-179 and 88227.5 of the code. Uh, repealing requirement to display local business tax receipt. Providing several inclusion code effective date. Item 7B, ordinance relating to Miami International Airport. Creating advisory board related to the consumer experience and operations at MIA. Providing for purpose composition and duties of the board and other related matters. Providing severability inclusion in the code and an effective date. And item 7C is an ordinance relating to environmental protection. Creating section 24-48.27 of the code. Providing guidelines for the protection of sea turtle nesting. Providing severability inclusion in the code and effective date. Mr. Chair, those are your second readings. Thank you, uh, so much. Are there any bifurcations? I know that, uh, is there any bifurcations on second reading items? I just have a comment, I'm voting for you. Can I make a comment just on- On 7B, right? Yeah, 7B. Yes, absolutely, you're recognized on 7B. Just to make sure that whenever they do the report, can we get a copy, everybody get a copy of the report, that's it. A thousand percent, I agree, yes. So, any bifurcations? Seeing none, do I have a motion on all the items? Vice Chair moves the second reading item, seconded by Commissioner Orbis. Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzales. Four. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Yes. Commissioner Millian Orbis. Yes. Commissioner Regalado. Commissioner Steinberg. Commissioner Bastion. Yes. Commissioner Bermudez. Commissioner Quinn Higgins. Four. Senator Garcia. Vice Chairman McGee. Chairman Rodriguez. I vote yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And on that item, Commissioner Bermudez that you've mentioned, I will be bringing on for the May 5th meeting, putting the ballot. One of the things we added, I believe it was maybe a committee, was for Cinco de Mayo. We're definitely going to have some breakfast burritos for sure. I don't know, Commissioner Steinberg lately has been all about Cinco de Mayo. So, she asked for us to have Mexican food at the next BCC meeting. But no, but in all seriousness, with tequila aside, Commissioner Steinberg is not going to be drinking tequila. With tequila aside, I will bring the ballot for us to vote on. We added a board-appointed member to that airport committee. So, if you have names that you want to submit, submit them to my office ahead of time so that I can add them to the ballot, and we can officially take a vote on who we'll be appointing. To our commission auditor as well, I'm going to ask that you conduct the background checks and provide your findings to the clerk no later than noon on Thursday, April 30th as well. So, and to the clerk, I'm asking that you prepare the ballot and provide it to the board in time for the vote to take place on May 5th BCC meeting. Mr. Chair? Commissioner Regalado. Thank you. A point of personal privilege. I know it was mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, and I noticed that given the time, this is a rough time that everyone gets a little hangry. So, one of the things that we're doing this year for April, which is Autism Acceptance Month, is we partnered with Misha's Cupcakes that has several locations in my item. And we have an Autism Acceptance Cupcake, which I am passing out. It is pink and blue because autism does not know gender. I know everyone likes to light it up blue, but we got girls and boys. Neurodiversity is not interested in gender. So, I hope you enjoy your Misha's Cupcakes proceeds from the cupcakes. Go to support Crystal Academy, which is a lovely school in Cory Gables that really helps a lot of families. So, happy Autism Acceptance Month. Thank you for that, and I will be enjoying it because I am no longer in Lent. I had given up dessert for Lent, but I can now have my cupcake and eat it too. Pun intended, guys. All right. Thank God my kids don't watch these meetings because total dad jokes that they do not think are funny at all. At all. All right. Let's move into the pool list. I don't think they're funny either. I.E. why they're called dad jokes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, the vice chair laughs at them all the time. All right. She's the chair. The sympathy laugh. Probably. Probably. Probably. She's the chair. I'll catch you on Friday, my man. Commissioner Bastien. How do you know they don't watch? What is it? How do you know your children do not watch? Well, maybe they do. You're right. You're right. But I'd venture to say they don't because my eldest just called me. I said, I'm chairing a meeting. Is everything okay, Bobby? Yes. I'm sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I'll call you back. All right. So we do have a very lengthy pool list. I think these are all very important items, but I do welcome some releases to those that are feeling a little generously release-y. Mr. Attorney, I imagine you're going to point out some releases. Yeah. I've got one. Commissioner Regalato would like to release item 15B2. 15B2. Release. Okay. I'll move it. So it's been moved by Commissioner Regalato, 15B2, seconded by Commissioner Gilbert. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right. Show that passed. And also, Mr. Chair, no one pulled 14A2, so move that. 14A2, I'll entertain a motion now. It's been moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right. And I'll release 802. 802 is released by the last pulling commissioner, which is Senator Garcia. And it's moved by Senator Garcia. Yes, sir. Seconded by Commissioner Gilbert. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Show that 802 passed. Mr. Chair, I have releases, I release AP4, 8P3, and 8M1. 8P3 and 8M1. Okay. 8M1 still has another pulling commissioner, which is District 13. Senator Garcia, do you still want to keep it on the pull list? Which one? 8M1. It was just released by Commissioner Orbis. It's okay to keep it. It's just. Yeah, I'll keep it. I released that one. Okay. So, quick comment, Commissioner Steinberg? Yes. Since you're releasing AP4, really quickly, I know it's put on here as a waiver of competitive bidding, but as I dug in further and spoke to the attorney's office, and I just wanted for the record, we were told that this is the only entity that is actually TSA approved. So, it really should be a sole source and not a waiver. So, I want to just put that on the record. Thank you. All right. Thank you. And then, Senator Garcia, are you looking to? I will release 8M1, I will. Okay. And then, 8P3 and 8P4 are being released. Do I entertain a motion on those three? One more, Mr. Chairman. Oh. And Senator Garcia? I have 10A1. If I can just make sure that, my question was on the AMI. Okay. I want to make sure that, instead of putting percentages of AMI, that we start including the actual numbers. We've talked about this a while back. Just, that's all it is, so. I don't have a problem with that. Move it. Okay. Is that 10A1? Yes, sir. All right. So, we're going to move now by Commissioner Regalado and seconded by Commissioner Orbis. We're going to do 8M1, 8P3. We're going to skip 8P4 because we actually need to take that one up separately. And 10A1. So, there's a motion. There's a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Chair. I'll oppose nay. Chair, I've got a question. I pulled 8P5. I pulled 8P5. 8P5 is still on the pull list. Okay. Yeah. 8P4, I'm just going out of order, but I'll get back on track in a second. 8P4, I understand we need to take separately. Mr. Attorney, can I entertain a motion to move it though? Yes. All right. A motion by Commissioner Gilbert, seconded by Commissioner, by the Vice Chair. All in favor signify by saying aye. All oppose nay. All right. Show 8P4 also approved. All right. Can we go to the mayoral reports approvals, which is 2B2, 2B3, and 2B6. I've got Commissioner Steinberg and Commissioner Orbis as pulling commissioners on those three items. One on one, and then the other two is by Commissioner Orbis. But Commissioner Steinberg, you recognize our 2B2. Thank you. Yeah, I pulled this item just to kind of make a few comments. So I just want to remind everybody that these reimbursements that we're looking at are from Hurricane Irma, which happened in 2017. So, you know, not a couple years ago at this point. My concern is, and I'd like to get an update from the administration, I know that FEMA and I know the federal government was looking at changing that floor of what we would be able to recoup in terms of dollars for future, you know, acts of God, let's say, like a hurricane or something of that nature. Sure. Do we have an update on that as where we are in the process? Do we know what the new proposed floor is so that we can? Yeah, please. Through the chair, Ray Baker will respond. Yeah. You're recognized, Director. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Commissioner, we do not have an update on that yet, but we will certainly update as soon as we have an answer on that. So I just don't have new information there yet. Okay, because as I understand it, they were raising that floor for what we could actually recoup, which could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, respectively, as a negative to us if we wanted to recoup. Like, I need to just make it clear that these are very important issues that when we try to recoup for these types of events or a hurricane, it's why I pound that we need to make sure we're always putting money into our reserves for these types of, quote, rainy days. And I'd like us to please watch that. And as soon as you have an update to please send it to the entire body through a memo. Thank you. And I'll move the item. Yes, ma'am. All right. So that's on 2B2. It's been moved. It's been seconded by Commissioner Gilbert. All in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed nay. So that report passed. Commissioner Orobus, you're recognized on 2B3 and 2B6 jointly. Thank you. Yes, yes. Okay, on 2B3, I just have a question because looking at the quarterly, the reports of the impact fees, this is to the administration. District 6 generates over $2 million in these impact fees. And we keep getting told that certain projects, roadway improvements and so forth, crosswalks, are not funded anymore. Projects that are going back to 24 and 25 when these impact fees were generated. So I wanted to get a better understanding of what's going on with those impact fees and why they can't be applied to these projects. And perhaps it's a conversation we can have at a later time with staff. But I wanted to highlight that because it's very disheartening to hear that. Okay. Yes. Madam Mayor. Yes, through the Chair. So thank you, Commissioner, for the question. Obviously, we never have enough for all the repairs that are needed. And it is a prioritization process that the Department of Transportation and Public Works, I think, addresses. So we certainly can meet with you and go through the ordering and how these funds are allocated. Thank you. I would love to meet with staff because I know that certain things are prioritized and have been promised to the community. And then we see that the impact fees were there were generated. So I just want to know how they're prioritized and what gets selected to move forward or basically be taken off of the list of improvements. Very good. Thank you. Okay, sounds good. And did you address both? On 2B6, it's concerning pretrial, if I may. So I wanted to ask on this, do we send automatic text message reminders to people who have pretrial so they do not miss the court? Because I know that now text and cell phone use is the most useful way to communicate. I'm so sorry, Commissioner. I'm trying to understand exactly. This is in the citizen's right to know, 2B6? Yes. Yeah. Okay. I'm not sure which, Barry Atkins, are you able to answer that? Oh, here. Very good. Okay, our corrections department is going to answer the question. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. Good morning, Executive Officer John Johnson. Through the Chair. No, Madam Commissioner. We do not send text messages. We have communications with the individuals that are on the program by way of the supervision and case managers that we have in place. Okay. Would it be something that can be implemented? We definitely can take a look at it and see if that makes it more efficient, yes. Okay. Thank you. I don't have any other questions. Thank you so much. Would you move the two reports? Yes. I'll move it. All right. So 2B3 and 2B6, seconded by Commissioner Cohen Higgins. All in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed nay. Show at this point all reports approved 2B2, 2B3, and 2B6. 8F1, Senator Garcia, it's the courthouse project. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. I do have a question on this. I see that we're moving some money around from the contingency fund or replenishing the contingency fund. I do have some concerns as to why, what is happening here, because when you have a contingency fund, you have a contingency fund. It's there for that. Why are we replenishing that from the actual same monies that are coming from the actual contract itself? Because to me, it may seem like we're increasing the value of the contract without coming to the county commission. If I can get some clarification on that, I would truly appreciate that. The administration is recognized. Yes. Through the Chair, Alejandro Martinez Esteve, our Director of Real Estate, will address the question. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Alejandro Martinez Esteve, Director, Office of Real Estate and Development. Through the Chair, Commissioner, the monies identified to replenish the contingency on this particular contract that come from the budget of the overall courthouse project. So it's not additional funds to the overall project. Senator? Okay, so then why, can you give me a little bit more detail then? Because we see that we're using $885,000. It's coming from one side of the project to the other. What was it that happened? Why are we using that? Because usually when we have a contingency, it's for contingencies. Why are we taking that from other parts of the project? And what parts of the project are we taking that from? So this particular contract, the contingency that was already built into the contract, we've utilized based on additional requests that came from the authorities having jurisdiction. So the City of Miami Police Department and the Miami-Dade County Police Department, they've asked for additional equipment to be installed to the courthouse that wasn't originally contemplated. So we utilize the contingency to address those needs. So what we're asking the board to do is to go ahead and replenish the contingency for any additional needs that may come up as we're still dealing with issues with project closeout. So we're still dealing with the fire departments. Should they ask for additional devices or equipment or other installations within the facility, these monies would allow us to go ahead and implement those changes. All right, so then my question to the fire department is why were they not asked from the forefront? Why are they now, where is the miscommunication between two of our departments where they're saying, you're coming back now saying we need to do more. So then is this what happens to other projects in our community that this is why they get delayed? So one, and two, I still don't understand exactly the contingency issue where we're going from one part of the budget, one part of the project to another part of the project for $800,000 and we're, it just is not making that much sense to me. So the monies come through the overall umbrella of the contract. So we're not asking to increase the project's budget through this item. So when the project was let, when the contract that is in front of you, it came with plans and provisions. Since then, code changes required updates to those plans and additional equipment that the fire departments, both the city and the county, requested for the project. So it wasn't originally contemplated. All right. I think we'll, we'll get together and have that conversation and I'll, I'll, but there's something that just doesn't sit right for me on this and your explanation, which I understand and respect. I think that there's just something for me is not adding up. So we'll have a meeting afterwards and we'll, we'll go through it. I will move the item. Mr. Chairman. It's been moved. It's been seconded by the center, seconded by commissioner Gilbert, all in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed nay. Nay. Nay. No. Show that item passed reflecting Senator Garcia as a, as a no vote. Commissioner from district two, you're recognized on 8K1. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I pulled the item for floor amendment that I'd like to, Madam Attorney to read. Madam Attorney, if you can read the floor amendment. Commissioner Bastian moves to amend item 8K1 to one, increase the amount of documentary stamp surtax funds awarded to Mary Alice Brown Family Villas LLC pursuant to the FY 2025 request for applications. For its Mary Alice Brown Family Villas Project located at 2888 Northwest 132nd Street and 13105 Northwest 30th Avenue and Commission District 2 from $2,500,000 to $5,000,000. Two, increase the total amount of documentary stamp surtax funds being awarded from $81,396,700 to $83,896,700 to reflect the increased allocation to Mary Alice Brown Villas. And three, make conforming changes to the item reflecting such amendment. Thank you, Madam Attorney. With that, I'd like to move the item. Move as amended by Commissioner Bastian, seconded by Commissioner Lopez. Madam. Commissioner Gilbert also has an amendment to the item. Commissioner Gilbert, could you go ahead and read that? Commissioner Gilbert moves to amend 8K1 to award $5 million of documentary stamp surtax funds to Acruva Community Florida 12 LLC. For its project located at 3501 Northwest 27th Avenue. And increase the total amount of documentary stamp surtax funds being awarded accordingly. Yes. Okay, show it. Gilbert as amended. Okay, show Gilbert moving it as amended. As amended. Double amendments. Seconded by Commissioner Lopez. Seeing no questions or concerns, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed nay. May show the surtax awards being approved. All right. Commissioner from District 7, you're recognized on AP1. AP1, if I could just have staff give us the differences in pricing. You know, we keep seeing these things lumped together. And as I've mentioned before, obviously we subsidize all transit, but the mover is completely free. So as we move forward redoing the infrastructure, I just want to, I want the board to be able to see what we're investing in Metro Rail and what we're investing in mover. Because as we've discussed, we have to have that conversation about no free transit. So the item, I know that the contract lumps them all together. But just when it comes back to us, or can you give us the two numbers separately as we move into the budget? Through the Chair? Yes, you may. Dacey Miller, Director of Department of Transportation and Public Works. In response, we can definitely distribute those moving forward. We did get a breakdown. So the total contract amount is six point, I'm doing a little averaged here, but $6,254,385. Of that, $168,651.35 is attributed to Metro mover. The majority of the work associated is with Metro Rail, not Metro mover. Thank you. Thank you very much. Happy to move it. All right, with that, show it moved by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Lopez. On favor, signify by saying aye? Aye. Opposed, nay? All right. AP2, Commissioner from District 6 on the ITD item. Thank you. So this item highlights that we have more than 34,000 landlines, and if the department can clarify of those landlines, which ones are actually landlines, and which ones are connected to cell phones and others. I mean, obviously, landlines are outdated, and I wanted to ask, you know, is there actually a need for them? Are we spending unnecessarily on landlines? And, you know, how many are in use today? Are we planning to reduce those landlines or disconnect them as we transition into, you know, more cell phone use and computer use? Through the Chair. Yep. You're recognized. George Olazabal, our Director of Communications and Information Technology. You're recognized for response. Good morning. Through the Chair. George Olazabal, CITD Director. So, ma'am, we have embarked on a three-phased approach to eliminate duplicity across the county and any of the services, whether it be communications across the county that we don't need. We are on phase two of that three-phased approach. This particular phase right now focuses on voice and communication services as a whole. The first one was predominantly on data. So this phase actually leverages this tool, which helps us consolidate and reconciliate invoices across the county. It integrates, the tool integrates within forms, and it also integrates with our ticket-taking system, so that there is a system that we've created, right, that has a continuous flow of communication across that board, and it eliminates a lot of the labor that used to be involved in that process that was manual before. So to answer your question, I know I gave you a much deeper response, but, yes, we are looking at eliminating duplicity, eliminating lines that we don't need. We've embarked on that, and we have a three-phased approach for it over the next three years total. Thank you. The item also states that switching vendors could cost us up to $3 million. So are we, you know, being proactive at seeking to avoid that, maybe finding other vendors that can accomplish what the county does to save ourselves that cost? Right. So part of the integrations that we embarked on throughout the first five years was that integration with InForms and the integration that occurs with our ticket-taking system. So if we were to leave this particular vendor, we'd have to repeat that over again. So it would be wasted dollars for the county. Okay. Can I ask you something on InForms? On where? Have we looked on InForms? Oh, okay. InForms is something that's used. I know what InForms is because I was a county employee, so I've used it myself. But is that something that's used by other municipal governments? Is it something that is the system a long-term? Because I feel like technology, things phase out sometimes quicker than we can even learn the entire system. So are we looking into making sure that that's a system that will serve us? Because I know it is a very costly system to update and train our staff and all that. So are we looking into best practices when it comes to that, to InForms? I'm going to have to defer that one. If I could. InForms is no longer under CIT. Yes, through the chair. Yep. I, as county commissioner, was involved at the time that that program was being brought forward, which took many years, right, to bring it forward. And then it's taken a few years to make sure that it was working properly. That was 40 years after the previous system. So this is certainly in keeping. Of course, it's a system that is used, we call it InForms, but it's a PeopleSoft program, and it is being used across the country. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much for addressing the questions. Thank you. And with that, Commissioner Robertses moves the item. Seconded by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. On favor, signify by saying aye. All opposed, nay. Show item 8, P2, approved. Senator Garcia on both 11A6 and 11A8. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 11A6, Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. I'm seeing that this is a study, but then we are asking the county to fund the results from the study. Should not we have the developers be funding this? Actually, through the chair, if I might. Madam Mayor, you may step in for a second, yes. Thank you so much. So, Senator Garcia, we have on our planning staff, I think it's six planners who are available to you all for doing neighborhood-specific initiatives. And we're actually very pleased that Commissioner Cohen-Higgins is utilizing our internal capacity. Lourdes Gomez is here as our director of RER, if you want to talk to her more about it. But basically, we didn't want to only be reactive to outside development ideas. We wanted to be available to you all as the leaders in your districts. So that was the process that was initiated in conjunction with the commissioner, as I understand it. Mr. Chairman, if I may, so then what is this going to cost us? Well, it's using existing staff, so it doesn't have an outside cost. It'll be net zero. That's not going to be... Well, the staff that are spending their time on it, obviously, but that's their job, is to be available to you for your desired deep dives. Okay. I'll move the item, but within the item, it says wherever funds were available. That's why the item said that's why the question was being put. Okay. Thank you. So we'll look at whether that language should be presented in a different way in the future. Thank you for that. I'm asking for the clarification. All right. Before we take the motion on that, do you want to go ahead and address 1188 at this time? Yeah. Mr. Chairman, I just want clarification on that. I think I want to make sure that there's consumer protections in here. I think I know what they're trying to accomplish to help the residents of our community that fall under that threshold. But I just want to make sure if someone could clarify for us that we're not going to see tax liens going out after the fact. If someone reaches that $60 mark and they don't pay it. I want to make sure that our seniors are not going to be affected. I don't think they are, but I want to make sure it's on the record. Certainly not the intent, but if you can address that on behalf of the tax collector, it would be great. Through the Chair, Gerardo Gomez, Chief Deputy Tax Collector. Absolutely, we're not going to be billing. This won't be on the tax roll. No liens or certificates will be sold on these properties. So the chance of any property being at risk as a result of not mailing a bill under $30 will not happen. If you have $30, then next year it's $60. So what is the threshold? So the taxes, each year stands on its own. It's one of our tenants. Okay. Each tax year stands on its own. So if the subsequent tax year the bill is over $30, they will get a bill mailed. I'll co-sponsor the item and I appreciate the consumer protections you have in there. I appreciate you. Our pleasure. Thank you so much. And I think in the same neighborhood of Senator Garcia's, and I won't get into like what if this scenario, what if that scenario, but I would caution you all to make sure that there's no, not unintended consequences, but just nothing being left out when we do this to the extent that Senator Garcia was mentioning. And I realize that every year it stands on its own, but let's just caution that there's nothing, and I don't understand your system or how it operates, but just make sure that there's not any surprises that then we have, and of course we'll come and fix it if we have to, but just make sure that it's intended to do what I know the goodwill of the tax collector's idea was. And we do enjoy a very good relationship with the property appraiser's office. It's Sharada Knight. She was former chief deputy in Polk County and actually is very well versed on the implementation of the under threshold amount. Is she sitting up here? No. Because you were pointing over here. I don't know. No, I just saw her raising. Commissioner Regalado, you're recognized. Thank you. I think it's a great idea, and I had some questions for the attorneys too regarding the authority. So just for clarity's sake, you know, obviously the tax collector and the PA have their statutory ministerial-like obligations, but my understanding is that what we're doing is forgiving the taxes. So we're saying these taxes are not owed. Because I think that's like where everybody was a little confused, right? Are we not going through the procedural aspect of it because that's what the item speaks to, but in essence it is a forgiveness of those taxes because the collecting of them is more expensive than actually receiving them. So it is a tax abatement of sorts. Of sorts. The authority is specifically within the statute, but yes, it does act as a forgiveness abatement of the tax at the direction of the board. Right. Which is why we're involved. So I think you need all three pieces, right? You need the board to agree to the abatement. You need the PA to take it off his radar and then you are not going to send the bill. So the three combined have the end result of the abatement. Correct. No single office has the authority. The tax collector asks, the board directs. Perfect. Very clarifying. Thank you very much. Senator Garcia moves it. Seconded by Commissioner Regalado. All in favor, this is, and show 11A8 co-sponsoring by Senator Garcia, and this is moving both 11A6 and 11A8. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Show 11A6 and 8 both passed. Clerk, do you have the results for 15D1? The ballot, go ahead and read the results please. Good afternoon. Agenda item 15D1 substitute pertains to the nominees being considered for appointment to the Children's Trust. The ballot consisted of 17 candidates from which the board was asked to select a minimum of six nominees to fill two vacancies. Responses to the ballot were tallied and the top nominees selected are as follows. Norman Gernstein with 13 votes. Lourdes Jimenez with 12 votes. Dr. Jessica Hudson with 8 votes. Dr. Judith Oriental Peer with 8 votes. Jalila Clark with 5 votes. And Dr. Sandy Ruiz Kaye, Isabella Del Oca, and Brent Latham with 3 votes each. Okay, so who are the winners? I'm sorry. I constantly have staff speaking to me in every little gap throughout these meetings. We will be forwarding Norman Gernstein, Lourdes Jimenez, Dr. Jessica Hudson, Dr. Judith Oriental Peer, Jalila Clark, Dr. Sandy Ruiz Kaye, Isabella Del Oca, and Brent Latham. There's eight ties. The last three were ties. Do we have one? There are two vacancies, and we have to forward a minimum of six nominees for the two vacancies. Okay, so we're good. No, there's eight, though. Oh, a minimum. All right, we're good. We're sending them all. All right, we're good, right? That covers what we need to do? Yes? I see a big smile saying yes. All right, that concludes 15-D-1. Do we need to move it? Do we need to move those names? Yes, a vote, please. Commissioner Gilbert moves the 372 names that have been selected, seconded by anyone but Commissioner Steinberg right now. How about it? All right, seconded by Commissioner Steinberg. All in favor of forwarding those eight names signified by saying aye. I'll oppose nay. Show that pass. And I believe I may have, did I skip 8-P-5, Commissioner Bermudez? Was that you that had pulled it? And I skipped that, right? Yeah. You're recognized on 8-P-5. Okay. I was going to talk about two issues here. I'm going to let the other one go, which is the last time we got a report on the New Airport Hotel was August 2025 at the Get Committee. But I don't want to talk about that. I've got a question. Look, the airport's been there forever. There's been some changes to it. This operator could be awarded, is being awarded or in a contract for a lengthy time period. And I have concerns about this existing hotel. It's supposed to operate in an efficient manner and provide services necessary to minimize the cost and expenditures while developing and implementing strategies to maximize sales and optimize net income, as well as a marketing plan. My questions are, do we have a marketing plan? Do these people have a marketing plan? What strategies are they going to implement? And I know, and the director and his staff have indicated that there have been some improvements to this airport. But, and I don't know if, like, the airport's like the place where we send everybody who's disenfranchised, apparently, in the county. But this airport hotel is important, certainly in lieu of the fact of the second issue, which I've agreed with Ralph not to talk about here today, but we'll be talking about, which is the vote that we took almost four years ago. But I would like to get an idea. Do we have a marketing plan? Do we have metrics for this vendor? We're giving an award to an entity for a lengthy time period. So those are, you know, I've got grave concerns, and I think I'd like to get some answers. Director, you may approach. Fair point. And you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Commissioner, to sway some of your concerns. So, the hotel is comprised of 259 rooms, five suites. We talked about that before. Back in 2024, we completed a complete internal renovation of all the rooms. That includes painting, flooring, carpet, walls, et cetera. So, that's been done. The current operator, as far as the length of the agreement, this is a five-year agreement with a five-year option to renew at our discretion, number one. The hotel employs about 81 employees currently. And we have two staff at MDAD dedicated, as far as metrics, two staff dedicated to oversee the management of the hotel. By the way, the actual operators here, if you have any questions, the marketing of the hotel, their marketing plan, they are responsible for marketing the hotel. I can tell you that we don't get any complaints from tenants that stay in the hotel. We haven't. You know, we have weekly meetings with the general manager that our two staff members have. We closely monitor all the other hotels in the area. The 80% occupancy rate that we have in the hotel at the airport is considerably higher than all the other hotels in the area. So, that's one metric for success that we have. And like it says in the item, we're projecting about $90.2 million in revenue for the first five years of the contract and then $104 million if we were to choose to extend the next five years in the OTR. So, we do have metrics there. There are also guardrails in the contract for standards for cleanliness, operations, and customer service that the operator is held to by our staff. And those guidelines are reinforced at those weekly meetings with the general manager. So, we do have metrics that we follow in the contract. And most importantly, we have a termination clause in the contract. So, if there's ever a performance issue with the operator, we have the option to terminate at our convenience and go out and get another operator. So, I hope that assuages some of your concerns regarding the quality of the hotel and the amount of revenue generated, et cetera. It does, Mr. Director. And I always thank you for your clarity and kindness in trying to answer some of my concerns. But that doesn't take away the fact that, at least my concern, that to be competitive as an airport, we also need to have the best possible across the board. Which is one of the reasons why we talked about item number two that I promised not to talk about, which is the new airport hotel. Many, many questions on that. But my, you know, the airport continues to concern me from concessions to this across the board. I have a lot of questions. And it is a county, it is of countywide importance. It's not just one district, not either six or, which is Commissioner Orbis' district. And she does a great job working with the airport. Or me. That's right on the outside of it, 12. It's everybody's concern. And, you know, I'm going to take your word that things are improving. But I can tell you this. I have spoken to individuals who have used this hotel. And they have not had the same response. Maybe they just don't take the time to fill out whatever forms you're giving them or whatever. But they certainly have not had the same response that maybe some of the individuals that Driftwood or you guys have been able to get answers from. And I know nobody wants to talk about this, but I'm going to start talking about it because I'm having a lot of concerns across the board. And it really is, you yourself said it and I agreed with you, that to be competitive we need to be really consistent with some of the other airports that are competing with us, even at the international level. Not just the national level. And having been visited this hotel, and I'm taking your word for it, that it's really a lot better. I'm going to go out. Maybe I'll be like the secret shopper. Sure. So, but then the cameras will catch me. So I'll go with Jess so he can be in, he gets in trouble. So, but the, you know, I just want to make sure because these are things that are very important. I mean, one of the first, the first thing everybody sees is our airport when they fly into us, even when they're going on a cruise, many of our visitors. First thing many of the residents here see, and I've told you before that a lot of them have concerns. And I know that it doesn't help that sometimes the coverage is always, in other words, they don't cover the things that you're actually doing well, but cover the things that sometimes maybe make the whatever that is only in date or whatever the heck it is or whatever. But the, but I still think your words, which is, this is the entry and the gateway to Miami-Dade County Board. And, you know, I want to make sure that those metrics and that we're really doing yourself, you yourself the other day on the 100th anniversary of American Airlines said this is a city within a city, which it is. And if it is, that's really the city that everybody sees first. Correct. Before they even see our county. So, look, I just hope that some of these things that are being tracked, and I don't know the driftwood representatives from Adam, are available to us to review. And I want to make sure that happens because I am no longer going to take just a sit back scenario on the airport. It concerns me because there's just, we keep on, you know, you've done a fantastic job. We've started with elevators, at least when I got here. Maybe some of you were here before and had other issues. But, and I know you're trying to make up for a lot of time that maybe things were not, we were not as proactive. But we started with escalators, elevators, et cetera. Those things are important. And to get the information is important. It shouldn't be shared with just one individual in the administration. It should be shared with the whole commission. So, I want to go on the record as making that clear. It's no inference on the job you or your team are doing. But in August of 2025 is the last time I got a report on the other second thing which we're not going to talk about. I hope that you can update us as we move forward. You don't have to do it today, but I do think we need to, and sometimes, you know, it's better to face your fears than, you know, run the other way. Sure. Well, Commissioner, one thing, on today's agenda, we did have an infrastructure report which provides an update quarterly on all the progress we're making on the modernization program, et cetera. So, we do do that, but I will be, we'd be happy to bring you in and walk you through everything we're doing, both on the concession side, on the modernization side, on the capital side. Please go with Commissioner Bermudez to make sure that he's. Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Gilbert, please keep it brief. We have a few more things before we adjourn. Thank you. I don't know what he agreed not to bring up, but I didn't agree not to bring up anything. So, I need a better understanding about what we're doing here. And is this five years, we can get out, we can terminate, we can terminate for convenience or cause? Yes. And what's the termination provisions for convenience? The termination for convenience is at our convenience. I know, but would we have to pay penalties or anything like that? What are the terms associated with that? It's just 90 days notice, and there is no penalties or lost profits or anything else, Commissioner. Okay. Because I'm just curious. I know we, the old hotels that we, I guess, the RFP we did, what, three or four years ago? That was supposed to take the place of this hotel, right? Well, not right away. The plan is to continue to keep this hotel open for, I mean, because, I mean, it's the only show in town we have right now. So, the plan is to continue with this hotel, and we still haven't decided whether we're going to do away with this hotel yet or not. Well, no, I remember when you came before us, it wasn't, you didn't have two hotels at the airport. You had us putting the new hotel in, and this old hotel going out. I remember that plan distinctively. And because I questioned it, and I didn't necessarily agree with it. So, what we're saying now is, you're re-upping with them for five years, and we're still going ahead with the other hotel? That's correct. So, they're building it right now? No, no, no. We're still working through some design issues related to an FAA finding regarding a radar blind spot that came up last year. So, we're working through those issues with the current developer. Let me suggest that radar blind spots don't come up. Those are things that you can actually check beforehand. Well. Let me just suggest that that could be checked beforehand. So, we had that big drawn out thing. We did, what was it, JC? Four or five years? When was it? Almost four years ago. Almost four years ago. It was almost four years ago. And so, I don't have a problem with this operator. I don't know them. If you say they're good, I'll go with it. But, well, I didn't mean to get Hardiman. No, please, Hardiman, don't say anything. The chairman said, I'm going to let you speak, but don't spice it up. And so, don't say anything. Please. But, Ralph, this is, so when we had the people before us before, one of the arguments for the team that was number two was that the hotel that they were proposing couldn't be built. That it couldn't be built. Now we're four years later, and it hasn't been even started. Commissioner, if I can give you a little bit of history. So, all of the designs that were submitted by the developer had to be submitted to the FAA for their review by probably 25, 30 departments, including their tech ops folks. So, regarding the issue of us that we should have known about that radar blind spot, that came up as part of the FAA's required review of the new hotel. So then, as soon as we became aware of that, we submitted a potential alternative option, which would be picking up radar signal from Homestead, which the FAA rejected. That type of solution has been used in other airports around the country, but in this particular case, they did not approve it. So then that required redesigning of the current hotel, high number of rooms, and that's what we're working through right now. Okay. Then my response is absolutely not. That was a contentious vote on this board. It was predicated on this one hotel and the design, and it's going to be this immaculate thing, and this other hotel wasn't. And now you're saying the design that was the immaculate thing can't be the design anymore. So absolutely not. I disagree with the fact that we need to have more conversation about that because in the real world, the basis of our decision has changed now. And it changed not on new information. It was information that was actually before us at the time. And while this might have come up in an FAA review, those standards are not secret standards. Because the other people, the other team was saying it couldn't be done at the time. That's what they said to us. And now the thing they said couldn't be done, can't actually done, and we have a redesign and we haven't broken ground on anything. So I'll move this item to approve this right now. But I don't think that we should just be, the administration without any other input from this board should be actually agreeing to any redesigns of a hotel that we made our decision on. We gave them the bid. The board gave them the bid based on the design they put in front of us. We deserve to see the new design before it is approved. And I agree with that. With that, Commissioner Gilbert moves it. It's been seconded by Commissioner Orbis. All in favor, signify by saying aye. I'll oppose nay. Damn it. I was so looking forward to a spicy rigatoni. All right. Madam, Madam Lawyer, Madam Attorney, or Mr. Attorney, whichever one's going to read my motions. I know I have two motions that need to be read. Mr. Chair, should I also read the remaining motions from the other commissioners? I think you should. I think you should. I think you should do them all. Do them quickly. Who's a really fast reader? We have a really fast attorney. All right. Chairman Rodriguez moves to amend the 2026 calendar of the Board of County Commissioners to cancel the board's May 21st, 2026 CDMP and zoning meeting. Additionally, Chairman Rodriguez moves to authorize the county mayor, county mayor's designee, to opt into settlement agreements in or relating to, in ray national prescription opioid litigation, MDL number 2804, Northern District of Ohio, opioid MDL, and execute releases and other documents necessary to effectuate the releases. And to discharge and to discharge and settle the county's claims against the defendant's following review and approval, performing legal sufficiency by the county attorney's office. And to authorize the county attorney or the county attorney's designate to execute and file any documents necessary to effectuate releases and to discharge and release the county's claims against the defendant in or relating to the opioid MDL. And further direct the county mayor, county mayors as a need to seek ratification of any releases and any other documents executed in advance with this motion. Commissioner Gilbert moves to extend the due diligence period of the amended and restated lease and development agreement between Miami-Dade County and Landmark QOZB Construction LLC approved by the board through resolution number R-974-24. From April 30th, 2026 to May 30th, 2026 and directs the county mayor, county mayors as a need to execute any amendments necessary to extend the due diligence period subject to review for form and legal sufficiency by the county attorney's office. Commissioner Bastien moves to appoint Allison Aristide to the Parks and Recreation Citizens Advisory Committee. Commissioner Lopez moves to reappoint Mr. Guillermo Diaz Roselet to the Miami-Dade County Industrial Development Authority. And Senator Garcia moves to appoint Lauren R Masuso to the Small Business Enterprise Goods and Services Advisory Board. Dr. Robert Malone Jr. to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board. Christopher Monzon to the Neat Streets Miami. And to reappoint David G. Marin to the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust. Those are all your motions. All right, and then one more by the Vice Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is to appoint Sheree Green to the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women. All right. Mr. Chair, I also have an appointment. All right, go ahead. If it's appropriate. Okay. I move to appoint Michelle Pradere Noriega to the Small Business Enterprise Goods and Services Advisory Board. And as we're doing our CITT re-nominations, I move to reappoint Carolina Vester to the CITT as well. Okay. Any other appointments? All right, so it is moved by Commissioner Orbis. All of those motions and appointments. Seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. All in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed nay. No. Hold on a second. I have a question though. Because I understand that maybe he's waiting on me. But Commissioner. Commissioner. Milo. You don't have any items. But you're just hanging out. And I know you're a very busy man. Is there something that you'd like to say? Would you like to come up to the podium? And do you have an issue that you want to bring up or no? Milo's an old school guy. He just studies the room. You have to understand that from time to time. He studies the room. I feel like you have something to say though. I mean, I'm just saying. This is your opportunity. And I'm being honest. I'm not trying to call you out. If there's something that we need to do. Because I feel like you're just waiting around because there's an issue. No. Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, we had a few items today. And thank you for the board for approving several projects for us. But we are working on with the administration and the team on the negotiations of the government center items. So that is something that hopefully eventually will come to the board. But we're actively working with the team to try to get through that. It's a little bit of a complex project. And we're looking for hopefully the ability to get some flexibility to continue those negotiations in there with some of the criteria that the board has established and that the RFP has there. So look for that. The administration will work closely with you. Commissioner Gonzalez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just want to formally invite all of my colleagues and the mayor to our Faith and Family Festival, which is going to be held on May 9th. There's going to be food, rides, music, entertainment for the entire family. But this year, we're actually going to be trying to break the world record with the Lord's Prayer. So hope that you can all make it. And since we're getting to allocations, Mr. Chair, would love if all of my colleagues can consider allocating $5,000 each to the event. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will allocate $5,000 to Commissioner. Thank you, and add me to that as well. I will also allocate $5,000 to the event. All right, so it's been moved by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Guys, show us adjourned.