Miami Today: Week of Thursday, May 7, 2015

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

INFRASTRUCTURE

GOLD MEDAL AWARDS

Museums build new facilities, strengthen cultural hub, pg. 9 AIRPORT UPGRADES: Miami International Airport plans to spend $212 million to upgrade its aging Central Terminal. The airport will use the funds for upgrades in Concourse E, one of three concourses in that terminal, “to accommodate projected and airline and passenger needs” with “critical renovations,” said a memo from Deputy Mayor Jack Osterholt to county commissioners. Commissioners were being asked this week to accept $4.6 million from the Florida Department of Transportation to help fund the project. The state department already has $22 million in its five-year work plan ticketed for the project, leaving the county Aviation Department to fund about almost $186 million from its reserve maintenance budgets to complete the job. A long list of items included in the plans for Concourse E and the Concourse E satellite includes four new passenger bridges, nine new passenger elevators, air conditioning replacement and refurbishing, reroofing and installation of efficient LED lighting fixtures.

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00

Six win medals for achievement, Hertz gets lifetime award, pg. 11

THE ACHIEVER

BY LIDIA DINKOVA

OPA-LOCKA EXPANSION: Turnberry Airport Holdings LLC would construct at least 85,000 square feet of aircraft storage and service hangars at Opa-locka Executive Airport under a revised lease agreement with the county that Miami-Dade commissioners were to act on this week.

The company, managed by Jeffrey Soffer, would build two 30,000square-foot hangars and a 25,000-square-foot three-story building for general aviation operations and also eight acres of ramp space at the county-owned airport. The company has already invested $22 million at the site based on a loan from Florida Community Bank, and intends to invest another $17 million for the new facilities, county documents state.

Turnberry would received a revised lease on the site for 40 more years and get a 20-month extension from its earlier lease to complete construction.

WHO COMES NEXT? Mayor Carlos Gimenez would be directed to report to county commissioners within 60 days every senior county position in every department expected to be vacated by retirements in the next three years under a resolution by Juan Zapata that fellow MiamiDade County commissioners were to consider this week. The resolution says that it’s vital that “county departments engage in leadership planning now to ensure quick and smooth transitions later.” All departmental appointments fall within the purview of the mayor and his team.

Commissioners officially have no say in such appointments.

Christina Pappas

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Third generation leader sees realty growth at Keyes The profile is on Page 4

County kicks out soccer stadium bid, tries again Miami-Dade County kicked out the only bid for a long-sought soccer stadium complex on a defunct landfill because the bidder asked the county to kick $30 million into the deal.

The county’s request for proposals had specified that the county would provide nothing but bare land and expected to get back at least $1.33 million yearly from the highest bidder.

Now the county plans to beat the drums for more interest by going out and asking for industry comment on a new proposal before actually asking for anyone to bid. A memo to commissioners said “the county is inquiring as to why industry vendors did not respond…”

Commissioners formally tossed out the sole bid from GoodSports Enterprises Global LLC on April 21 as being non-responsive to the county’s request because GoodSports asked for $30 million after the county had said it wouldn’t put a cent into the complex.

The rejection also was based on failure to submit a required price proposal schedule.

Commissioners were told at that meeting that five groups had been interested and been courted. A new county offering, they

AGENDA

Cities split momentum on Baylink

were told, would have a better chance of succeeding.

GoodSports had proposed a fieldhouse, a hotel and retail on the site of the former “Mount Trashmore,” an infamous 47-acre former landfill at 9000 NW 58th St. Two years ago Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, in whose district the site sits and who for years has been spearheading a soccer complex there, told commissioners that the county staff was “putting out feelers” for a stadium developer and user.

The idea became linked to David Beckham, a former British professional soccer star with global recognition who is fronting a group seeking a Miami site for a professional franchise – but the Beckham group made it clear that it wanted a sparkling waterfront stadium, far from a former inland dump.

Other users were also mentioned. “It could be a team like Barcelona or Real Madrid to come in and put in a training facility or an academy,” Mr. Diaz told Miami Today in June 2013.

Before requesting proposals, he added then, “we want to make sure there is interest there.”

Work on a light-rail system to connect Miami and Miami Beach has been split into three portions. Two segments are to chug forward faster and the connecting third segment is to eventually catch up, merging into one cohesive rail line.

The system, called Baylink, is to connect downtown Miami with the Miami Beach Convention Center via the MacArthur Causeway.

Elected officials spearheading the project voted Monday to let Miami and Miami Beach move forward on the parts of the line within each city.

The decision aims to free the cities from what could be a long federal level environmental impact analysis. Instead, the cities are to do the analysis consistent with state guidelines to try to expedite a light-rail system within the cities.

“We can do our environmental... so we have the ability for us to break out of the full NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] so we are not trapped in the five-year cycle,” said Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.

A federal level NEPA study is usually necessary if planners want a project to have a shot at US funds.

Still, plans are for a full NEPA study for Baylink. If all goes as planners hope, environmental studies that the cities do at the state level could simply be incorporated into the larger federal analysis.

Florida Department of Transportation officials warned the committee that splitting the project into three chunks could jeopardize federal funds. FDOT is to work with the feds to communicate that the project’s pieces are eventually to merge. That’s meant to keep open the option of qualifying for federal funds.

“All the pieces independently are probably a good project,” said Gus Pego of FDOT, “but it’s up to them [the feds] to say if they work well together.”

At that time, he estimated the project cost at $50 million and suggested the county might simply give the land to a firm that would then develop and run the soccer complex.

The site itself was operated as a municipal landfill from 1952 to 1982 and later declared a Superfund environmental cleanup site that was cleansed. Part has since been transformed into a plant and wildlife refuge.

Sarasota-based GoodSports Enterprises Global says on its website that it operates public and private sports operations. It has developed more than 25 GoodSports Villages, it says, places where athletes “can eat, sleep and compete, all in one place.”

The county had received the GoodSports proposal and no other by last September, according to a memo from Assistant County Attorney Monica Riso that she wrote Oct. 28 advising that she found the GoodSports proposal non-responsive . It was almost six months later that Michael Spring, senior advisor to Mayor Carlos Gimenez, asked commissioners to reject Will split imperil funding? pg. 10 that proposal, which they did.

MIAMI UNVEILS DATES TO OPEN CONTAMINATED PARKS ...

2

COUNTY EYES HUB DISTRICTS TO FUND TRANSPORTATION ...10

RELATED HANDS CITY A PARK – BUT WILL MAINTAIN IT ...

3

COUNTY SEEKS A FIRM TO ADMINISTER ITS HEALTH CARE ... 19

VIEWPOINT: GET COUNTY OUT OF POTHOLE OPERATIONS ...

6

FILM INDUSTRY SEES THREE WINDOWS FOR INCENTIVES ...

22

ONE-STOP MENTAL HEALTH CENTER GETS FAST TRACK ...

27

AIRPORT SET TO ADD INTERNATIONAL GATES FOR A380S ... 7

2

MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

THE INSIDER GROWING CARGO SERVICE: Venezuelan carrier Transcarga International Airways has launched new scheduled cargo service at Miami International Airport, becoming the 40th all-cargo airline now serving the airport. Transcarga will operate international cargo flights between MIA and Venezuela’s capital Caracas, using Airbus A300-B4 freighter aircraft.

Transcarga will operate six flights per week between Miami and Venezuela, which was among MIA’s top 10 international trade partners in 2014 with 26,700 tons of goods valued at nearly $1.5 billion moving between the two destinations. Transcarga began operation in 1998 and serves destinations in Latin America, the Caribbean and the US with 15 aircraft.

Details: http://www.transcarga.net/ PARK-AND-RIDE PARKING: A new 180-space park-and-ride lot for patrons of the Kendall Cruiser bus service could be open in January 2017. Miami-Dade commissioners this week were to authorize an agreement for the Florida Department of Transportation to pay half the cost of the $1.75 million project on Florida Power & Light-owned property on Southwest 127th Avenue near Kendall Drive. The county would pay its half of the cost with funds from the half percent sales surtax for transportation projects. The county planned to Alina Hudak fund the annual maintenance of the lot, estimated at $208,450, from the Miami-Dade Transit Department’s operating budget.

Deputy Mayor Alina Hudak told commissioners in a memo that construction is expected to begin in January 2016.

Photo by Maxine Usdan

Families are back in Merrie Christmas Park, which had been closed over a year due to contamination.

JOBS IN THE KEYS: A bus that rolls south from Florida City into the Florida Keys will get $850,000 from the state to meet its total annual operating cost of $1.9 million under an agreement that Miami-Dade County commissioners were poised to approve this week. The route carries disadvantaged Miami-Dade residents to jobs in the Keys, where labor is scarce. The state is funding the route under its welfare-to-work program. The Dade-Monroe Express Service, which is operated by Safeguard America Inc. doing business as America :’s Transportation, runs daily from 5:15 a.m. to 1:10 a.m., taking 17 round trips between the BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS Super Wal-Mart in Florida City and Key Largo. Miami-Dade funds all of the cost but the portion that the state pays and the $500,000 a year that Miami residents who live near comes from fares. In the 10 years that the route has been operating, the Merrie Christmas Park are still state has contributed a total of $3.65 million, according to a memo to celebrating the reopening of the county commissioners.

Miami reveals status, reopening plan at four contaminated parks

SURPLUS GROWTH: The anticipated budget surplus for the City of Miami continues to grow. Christopher Rose, Office of Management and Budget director, recently told city commissioners his department is projecting a budget surplus of approximately $18.6 million, about $1.2 million more than the last projection. In his latest status report on the budget, he mentioned that costs associated with health care and workers compensation are less than expected. The commission was told some departments are over budget for this time of year, including police, fire, parks and real estate-asset management. Another note on the budget is that impact fees from developers aren’t coming in at a rate like they had been. Mr. Rose said his department is watchful of the “softening” in impact fees.

ON TRACK FOR GROWTH: Agricultural activity would be permitted in electrical utility easements, railroad rights-of-way and public properties with the consent of the property owner and the utility easement owner under legislation slated for action this week in the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Each agricultural site would have to be at least one acre. The legisJose “Pepe” Diaz Daniella Levine Cava lation by sponsors Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Daniella Levine Cava was amended last month in the county’s Unincorporated Municipal Service Area Committee to include the use of railway rights-of-way.

HISTORIC CHANGES: The Miami Modern/Biscayne Historic District got added protection with adoption of an amendment by city commissioners. The three-part amendment also adds a multiplier to be used in the transfer of development rights, and refines the way a property is nominated to become a designated historic resource. Planning Director Francisco Garcia said limiting uses in MiMo with T4-0 zoning is designed to restrict development, afford proper scaling in the historic neighborhood and make certain that structures are “appropriate with the character and scale of MiMo.” In a transfer of development rights, a property owner sells the rights to another developer who can use them to gain square footage, and the seller can sink the profits into improvements to a historic property. The amendment says for eligible buildings, the zoning administrator “shall calculate the unused development potential (base development rights) that may be transferred to a receiving property at 225% per square foot of the available square feet permitted by the underlying Transect Zone.”

NEW TEAM LEADER: “We have the best law firm in town,” said MiamiDade Commissioner Dennis Moss as the commission appointed Abigail Price-Williams, who had been the first assistant, to replace Robert A. Cuevas Jr. as county attorney as he retires after almost 45 years in the county attorney’s office. Commenting on the way the two have worked together for the past eight years, Commissioner Barbara Jordan said, “You have demonstrated what it means to be a team.”

GAS PRICES RISE: Retail gasoline prices in Mi- Abigail Price-Williams ami-Dade rose eight-tenths of a cent on average last week to reach $2.65 cents a gallon, three cents higher than the national average of $2.62 but more than $1.10 below the price in Miami a year ago, according to GasBuddy price tracking service. The average for Florida as a whole was just over $2.58 a gallon, according to AAA. In a dozen states, GasBuddy said, average prices at the pump rose more than 10 cents last week.

park after contaminated soil was removed and other improvements were made.

Of the city’s remaining parks that were closed and fenced off after pollution was discovered, environmental remediation plans are in varying stages for four parks, with projected reopening dates ranging from August to February 2016.

The City of Miami reopened Merrie Christmas Park in April.

The small park is at South LeJeune Road and Barbarossa Avenue.

The environmental remediation work began there in August 2014 and included removal of existing structures, sidewalks and other park features in order to excavate 1 to 2 feet of potentially contaminated soil from specified areas of the park, and install 1 to 2 feet of clean fill.

The work included pruning tree roots, installing bonded rubber mulch around the banyan trees, installing new sidewalks, refurbishing playground equipment, and installing rubberized material within the playground surface. A new drinking fountain was part of the project.

The cost of the remediation and improvements was about $1.2 million.

The estimated cost of all remediation at city parks tops $10 million. The environmental remediation at Douglas Park alone has $3.3 million price tag.

This week, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department reported on the status of four other closed parks.

Billy Rolle Park – The remediation plan is approved by the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM). The construction contract is being prepared, with an anticipated start in June and a projected reopening 45 days thereafter.

Southside Park – The remediation plan is under review

Daniel Alfonso cited frustration.

by DERM and routed for permit.

The city has an anticipated start by late June, with a projected reopening 90 days later.

Douglas Park – The remediation design plan and drawings now being drafted will be provided to DERM for review and approval. Following design approval, permitting and construction contracts, the city anticipates a mid-summer startup with a projected re-opening in January 2016 (some portions of the park may reopen sooner).

Curtis Park – The pending remediation design must go to DERM for approval. Following design approval, permitting and construction contracts, the city anticipates a mid-summer startup and reopening in February 2016 (some portions may reopen sooner).

The cost to clean up Miami’s polluted parks keeps rising and in February had several city commissioners asking: when will it all end?

Beyond the growing sting of spending additional tax dollars for remediation at the parks, upset commissioners pointed out that parks remained closed.

The latest debate over the high cleanup cost came Feb. 26, when commissioners were called on to approve a sizeable increase in the money being paid to environmental engineering consultants.

They approved the increases – an additional $2 million for a total of $4.5 million – but not before prolonged discussion on the ne-

cessity, and questioning why it’s taking so long.

Commissioners agreed that all efforts should be made to get the closed parks open so families and residents can enjoy them.

City Manager Daniel Alfonso said: “The administration is just as frustrated and we want to get the parks open.”

In late 2013 and early 2014, the city conducted environmental status evaluations at 112 parks due to contamination discovered at Blanche Park while testing soil within a 1-mile radius of a former city incinerator that operated in Coconut Grove.

Several locations were suspected of former landfill operations prior to conversion into parks. Soil was tested at each park of concern, and eight were confirmed to contain a combination of solid waste debris and heavy metals at levels that exceed the Miami-Dade Cleanup Target Levels for the Residential Threshold.

The state requires the city to remedy environmental hazards on any property it owns.

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

3

County bids to connect two halfs of HistoryMiami, fix plaza

BY SUSAN D ANSEYAR

Miami-Dade commissioners were poised Tuesday to award a $1.65 million contract to M.C. Harry and Associates Inc. to advise on connecting the two HistoryMiami spaces as well as improving the Cultural Center Plaza and its facilities.

A recommendation for the three-year award with two one-year options to extend was prepared by the Department of Cultural Affairs and forwarded to the commission with a unanimous favorable vote by the Metropolitan Service Committee. The funding comes from Building Better Communities Obligation bonds.

The consultant is to study the possibilities for combining HistoryMiami’s north and south buildings at 101 W Flagler St., making it easier for visitors to access both.

The museum’s expanded space became available in mid-January 2014 when the formerly named Miami Art Museum moved to its new home at 1103 Biscayne Blvd. in 2013, becoming the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

By April of last year, HistoryMiami had begun installing major exhibitions in the south building, CEO and President Stuart Chase told Miami Today last month.

He said the building is predominantly an exhibition space but it’s also used

heavily for public programming because there is a small theater as well as in the folk life center. The museum has artists and residents as part of that program, including dancers and various performers.

The expansion into Miami Art Museum’s former building increased HistoryMiami’s public programming spaces by 133% with the ability to now present three to four exhibits concurrently when only one was possible previously, according to a memo Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez sent to commissioners. However, he wrote, the spaces are not physically connected to each other, making it difficult to operate the museum and for its patrons to navigate.

The goals of the project include creating a cohesive and physically-accessible HistoryMiami and addressing the deteriorating plaza, which is shared with the Miami-Dade County Public Library’s main branch.

The consultant, chosen from nine firms that responded to a request for proposals received April 21, 2014, is required to submit three conceptual plans with cost estimates for merging the museum spaces, enhancing accessibility from the ground to the raised plaza level, demolition of part of the raised plaza and design of a new one at ground level with relocation of services and tenants currently housed below the plaza.

Related hands city a park and agrees to maintain it

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

As developer The Related Group is busy putting finishing touches on its waterfront condo tower Icon Bay, work in also progressing on a new adjoining park – a public park.

The developer dedicated a portion of land as a park, and gave it to the City of Miami.

City commissioners recently accepted the land and approved a new plat for the area.

Icon Bay Park is being developed as part of Icon Bay, a 43story residential tower at the end of Northeast 28th Street in Edgewater.

PRH NE 28th Street LLC is listed as owner of property at 455 NE 28th St. On April 23, commissioners authorized acceptance of a special warranty deed, for the donation of a parcel of adjacent land.

PRH agreed to cover all costs associated with the property transfer, including the survey, environmental report, title insur-

ance and closing costs.

The resolution states that PRH agreed to dedicate to the city the adjacent land, “to be solely used and enjoyed as a park,” and has agreed to maintain the park in perpetuity. In addition, PRH has agreed to contribute to the maintenance of the inlet adjacent to the city’s property.

The waterfront park is expected to one day be connected to a miles-long public walkway called the Biscayne Line. Related has promised funding to help construct the baywalk along Biscayne Bay. Commissioners also approved the plat of Garden Park On The Bay, located between Northeast 27th Street Alley and 29th Street. They accepted the plat from PRH. The specific intent of this plat is to close the right-of-way of Northeast 28th Street and North Bayshore Drive within the plat, “and to create two (2) tracts of land for the construction of a residential development and a

Photo by Maxine Usdan

Miami commissioners accepted the donated land from The Related Group at waterfront condo Icon Bay.

public park,” says the resolution.

“This is the first new park in Edgewater in a long time,” said Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.

He said the developer deserves credit for not only giving the land for the park to the city, but promising to always maintain the park.

Commissioner Francis Suarez commended the developer’s initiative and said it could serve as a challenge to the city’s own parks department. He said it will be interesting to see whether the new Icon Bay Park is maintained better than most city parks.

Mr. Suarez said it’s important

that these public spaces look good. “We need to step it up on our beautification efforts,” he said.

And it’s not just the parks that need attention. “Beautification for all neighborhoods must be a priority,” said Mr. Suarez.

Commission Chairman Wifredo “Willy” Gort also praised the deal that gave the city a new public park.

“I want to see more” developers making public contributions as part of their projects, he said.

As for overall beautification, Mr. Gort said the message of how important it is to keep your

neighborhood clean must start in the schools. “Show the kids why it’s important… and the kids tell the parents,” he said.

“Developers are not evil,” Mr. Sarnoff said.

This development illustrates how when the city “works with them instead of against them, you can accomplish a lot,” he said.

Mr. Sarnoff said Related recognized how this area of Edgewater is becoming a dense neighborhood and understood the need for the relief the public space will offer.

5030 Davis Rd, Ponce/Davis Offered at $5,495,000 An amazing collaboration of glass and light. 7BR, Arclinea kitchen, Ipe floors, guest house. 8,921 ASF, 39,204 SF lot.

11205 SW 93 Ct, Miami Offered at $1,099,000 Wonderful home near Baptist Hospital. 4,200+ ASF, 5BR/ 4BA, updated kitchen and baths, great master suite. Large covered terrace, gorgeous acre.

Val Byrne

305.323.6231 cell

val@valbyrnerealtor.com MiamiRealEstateWorks.com

181 Leucadendra Dr, Gables Estates Offered at $22,500,000 Most magnificent home in Gables Estates, inspired by the Vanderbilt mansion. Main house, 2-room guest house, 2BR service house, 2 carriage houses. 270' of waterfront, 14,946 ASF, 48,274 SF lot.

841 Columbus Blvd, Coral Gables Offered at $495,000 Gables under $500K! Fantastic 3BR/2BA on quiet street in N. Gables. Wood floors, updated kitchen, front and back porches.

Chicago brick driveway, 1-car garage.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

7

Airport fuels up to add international gates for A380 flights Miami International Airport is preparing gates to handle the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the A380, which depending on configuration can handle up to 544 passengers.

County commissioners were being asked this week to accept an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation that would pave the way for renovated gates to handle more A380 international flights.

Miami International got its first A380 flight from abroad in 2011 when, to much fanfare, German airline Lufthansa linked with the airport on seasonal flights that ended in March 2012, with plans to return. Air France last winter linked with A380 flights from Paris, and last November British Airways announced that A380 flights linking Miami and Heathrow are to begin in October.

But with 156 of the doubledecked Airbus planes in global airline fleets as of March and 161 more on order, the airport is preparing for a future growth in international flights that now carry almost half of the airport’s total passengers.

The plan is to renovate the end of Concourse H for the giant planes. The first phase of renovation of that concourse was completed in 1998, seven years before the first flight of any A380 and nine years before a single A380 was placed into service.

The A380, world’s largest passenger plane, can handle up to 544 people, depending on its configuration.

The airport 17 years ago deferred renovation of the end of that concourse, but now money from the state, federal government and the airport itself is available to do the work, county commissioners were told in preparation for this week’s meeting.

The work would convert that end of the concourse from a facility for domestic flights to an international site geared to

handle the A380 aircraft, which are so big that they need two gates apiece to land and depart, The work will add elevators and stairs to take passengers to the concourse’s third level and construct access points to the existing concourse sterile areas and the Federal Inspection Service facilities in the South Concourse for Customs and Immigration checkpoints.

Gates H15 and H17 are to be

modified so that Airbus A380 planes can use them. Gate H15 is also to get a new high passenger loading bridge to allow international passengers to reach the upper deck of the A380s.

In the work at that location, the airport will renovate holding rooms to make way for more passengers, relocate and expand concession areas and extend the existing third-level corridor to convert it to a sterile corridor

where the arriving A380 international passengers won’t mingle with general airport foot traffic.

The total cost of the upgrades to handle the A380s at that point will be $63 million, the county estimates.

This week commissioners are being asked to accept $7.4 million from the Florida Department of Transportation to fund part of the cost. Along with more already allocated under that department’s work plan, the total is $13.3 million from the state. The county’s Aviation Department will apply to the Federal Aviation Administration for 75% of the project’s total cost.

If the requested federal and planned state funding is received in full, the Aviation Department would be responsible for about $2.4 million of the project – money that would come from airport receipts and not general tax funds.

That money would make both gates a landing and departure point for one A380 aircraft and then pay for conversion of another pair of nearby gates within five years of this upgrade.

International traffic is a large part of the airport’s business. In March, 16,455 international flights either landed at or departed from Miami International Airport, accounting for 1,764,388 of the airport’s 3,808,259 passengers that month.

Doral data center up and running for large content providers

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

EdgeConneX finished work converting its Doral warehouse into a data center a few weeks ago and is now up and running, serving large content providers.

According to Phill LawsonShanks, architect and the company’s chief technology officer, the 32,000-square foot warehouse at 2132 NW 114th Ave. is aesthetically pleasing and looks like a large warehouse office.

Typically, he said, Virginiabased EdgeConneX purchases Class A warehouse facilities and puts in $5 million to $10 million to create data centers that are designed and deployed in collaboration with their customers for efficient placement of content delivery infrastructures.

The company, which purchased the new warehouse last fall, went through the process of changing the half-constructed building to industrial use and then spent about $8 million to transform it into a data center.

Now, Mr. Lawson-Shanks said, the free-standing property in Dolphin Commerce Center has a 30-inch raised floor and self-

Photo by Maxine Usdan

Work continued last week on the exterior of just-finished EdgeConneX data center at 2132 NW 14th Ave.

contained rooms that are environmentally controlled for heating, cooling and humidity.

Hidden from view, however, is some of the necessary infrastructure for a rigorous security system.

“All of our centers have dual entry for the Internet,” Mr.

Lawson-Shanks said. “We build vaults [hidden holes in the ground] for Internet providers to bring their cable into the building.”

Man traps have been installed so there’s no clear path to the building. Mr. Lawson-Shanks said the facility has a series of

locked corridors.

“The internal structure is maintained regularly,’ he said. “We have remote sensors so we know everything that’s going on inside.”

Before purchasing the warehouse from PFR Investments LLC, EdgeConneX had been

searching for the right property for almost a year. The company, established in 2009, began with a focus on creating wireless solutions to enable connectivity at the edge of the Internet. It added data centers to its portfolio of services in 2013.

The Internet, originally designed for email, has become increasingly used for “rich media content” such as movies and Facebook, said Mr. LawsonShanks. When someone watches a movie on Netflix, for example, he said it can be a complicated process. The television or other device has to request the movie to start playing from another state to the host server.

With EdgeConneX now located in South Florida, he said, the content is delivered locally so the buffering is mitigated.

“The primary importance of this location is it is helping to extend Internet beyond primary points,” Mr. Lawson-Shanks said. He said Miami has a large technology base and EdgeConneX hosts big content providers with enough bandwidth to get a strong amount of data.

8

MIAMI TODAY

INFRASTRUC TURE

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

Grow America Act could fuel highway, transit development

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

By all accounts, the economic success of South Florida depends in large part on the efficiency of its transportation infrastructure and needs adequate funding for maintenance as well as new projects, which the proposed Grow America Act promises to ensure through steady funding.

The White House’s highway funding plan for a six-year, $478 billion transportation reauthorization package ups the length and price from last year’s more moderate Grow America Act, which lawmakers largely disregarded and instead opted for a temporary extension of highway spending that will expire at the end of this month.

The Grow America Act, in front of Congress now, would mostly be paid for with revenue from taxing corporate overseas profit. Know as repatriation, the proposal would require companies to bring back earnings to the US at a 14% tax rate.

According to the US Department of Transportation, should Congress pass the Grow America Act, Florida would have substantially more resources for its highway and transit systems than continued short-term patches at flat funding levels.

A state-by-state fact sheet states the fiscal 2016 FederalAid Highway distribution to Florida under extensions with flat funding would be $1,846,456,138 compared with an estimated $2,263,126,511 with the proposed Grow America Act; and Federal Transit Administration allocation to Florida under extensions with flat funding would be

All Aboard Florida’s downtown Miami station and operations are unrelated to government programs.

$348,874,799 compared with an estimated $537,932,499 with the Grow America Act. The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a document that includes all transportation projects programmed for Miami-Dade County for the next five years. The adopted TIP shows, for fiscal year 20142015, $244.7 million allocated for highways and $108.5 million for transit, according to Paul Chance, public involvement officer for the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

He said the state and MiamiDade County have programmed their infrastructure projects within the fiscal years 20152019 TIP, no matter the action taken by Congress. If the proposal submitted by President Obama passes Congress, the TIP will be updated based on the new allocations. If the proposal doesn’t pass, Mr. Chance said, the TIP continues, as adopted by the MPO Governing Board and the state.

Congress has until May 31 to pass the bill or come up with another plan to support the Highway Trust Fund.

The Grow America Act may very well pass, said Mitchell Bierman, partner-in-charge of the Miami office of Weiss Serota

Helfman Cole & Bierman and vice chair of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s transportation and infrastructure committee.

“There is definite pressure on Congress to do something positive now that both houses are under Republican control,” he said. “Our House delegation from Florida does not see this as a partisan issue and are uniformly committed to federal funding of transportation infrastructure in the state.”

While that does not guarantee all will vote in favor of the Grow America Act, Mr. Bierman said the delegates are all looking for a path to ensure that our state’s transportation infrastructure catches up with our growth and that the economic prosperity of our cities, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, will not be held back by an inability to move people efficiently from place to place.

But the Grow America Act is a fantasy that won’t be passed, predicted Maurice Ferré, a member of the Florida Transportation Commission, Miami-Dade MPO and vice chairman of the Miami Expressway Authority.

“It’s tragic because we desperately need federal funds,” he said. “The president’s proposal is spot on but he does not have

funding, Mr. Ferré said, all projects in Miami-Dade stand to suffer. Therefore, he said, the county must look at alternative solutions, including innovative financing. That might mean bringing in the private sector for projects, Mr. Ferré said, as long as the risk to the taxpayer is well negotiated and fairly distributed.

He also said we need to use technology and points as an example to bus rapid transit, in which buses usually run within a designated lane to avoid traffic. The shift from rail to rubber tires reflects a push to ease traffic quickly and more affordably, Mr. Ferré said.

It bodes badly for us, Mr. Bierman said, should Congress not pass a bill and federal highway funding dries up at the end of the month. “Even if our local leaders figure out a path forward that relies less on federal money, we cannot get where we need to be with zero help,” he said.

On the other hand, Mr. Bierman said, we will see significant improvement with All Aboard Florida’s new passenger rail service. “That will happen completely independent of government funding,” he said.

“Perhaps other private investors will be able to see commercial opportunities in the challenges that our community faces.”

As for contingency plans, Mr. Bierman said our elected county officials have stated publicly that Miami-Dade County is committed to undertaking a major transportation enhancement irrespective of how much federal funding is available.

He said they have talked about public-private partnership scenarios in which the private sector is invited to propose designing, building, financing and operating transportation amenities on a concession basis with the county to make availability payments to the vendor to help offset the cost of the service and make it commercially viable.

“Regardless of what happens at the federal level, the consequences of doing nothing about our transportation needs are dire,” Mr. Bierman said. “Miami can be one of the great cities of the world. But for us to continue to attract and retain talented young people, investors and entrepreneurs, and visitors, we must be able to get them from place to place without having to sit in traffic for hours.”

Increasingly, Mr. Bierman said, younger professionals don’t want to drive at all. “We will not enjoy the robust economic and cultural development that appears to be at our fingertips right now if we lose these people to cities with better transportation, and almost every big city has better transportation or is developing it now.”

He said the federal government should definitely help us as it has so many other cities, but Miami-Dade cannot allow the lack of federal help to deter the community from accomplishing something now.

the clout to get it passed.”

Mr. Ferré said there’s disagreement between Republicans and Democrats as to the tax reform necessary to fund the proposal but this is hardly the first time there’s been an impasse in Congress pertaining to infrastructure funding. He predicts the lawmakers will extend a funding bill for transportation on a temporary basis for six months or a year, which he said happens year after year.

Should Congress not pass the Grow America Act, Mr. Bierman said other federal transportation monies are available, but there is huge demand for them from around the country.

He said Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican who represents the 26th district, has been speaking with local elected officials regarding identifying federal dollars to kick-start infrastructure enhancements in his district; and Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, a Republican representing the 25th district, has managed to find money for Miami-Dade County over the years.

Will it be sufficient to actually meet all of our needs? Probably not, Mr. Bierman said.

“At this point, with or without the Grow America Act, the transportation needs of Miami-Dade and the other densely populated areas of Florida are simply immense, and our local elected leaders are committed to finding solutions that do not depend on the US government funding all or even most of the cost of the needed infrastructure,” Mr. Bierman said, adding that he has heard Mayor Carlos Gimenez and County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr., who chairs the commission’s transportation committee, state as much.

Mr. Ferré said transportation is a complex issue and the average major project takes, from start to finish, about 10 years to get built. He said the Florida Department of Transportation has $10 billion in its annual budget, which is appropriated into the districts.

Some 75% of all funding in Florida comes from the state, he said. “That’s good, because the state is able to continue projects when they’re not federally funded, but bad because when you’re finished, there’s not a lot of money left.”

Right now, Mr. Ferré said, the entire country is underfunded in the hundreds of billions of dollars for road infrastructure.

“In the next five years, District 6 is getting $1.5 billion from the state and federal government but needs $20 billion for all our Details: www.dot.gov/ necessary projects.” grow-america Without adequate federal

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

INFRASTRUC TURE

MIAMI TODAY

9

Museums provide new facilities, strengthening cultural hub

BY SUSAN D ANSEYAR

Miami’s reputation as an emerging world-class cultural hub is gaining strength as museums and galleries work on new facilities for even better display of their collections.

On the horizon is the Cuban Museum, scheduled to open Nov. 20 at 1200 Coral Way with an inaugural exhibit once the complete overhaul of its building is done.

The building, which was shut down for several years while the museum waited for its funding, had to be gutted due to deterioration, cultural consultant Ileana Fuentes told Miami Today in March. “All that was left were its columns,” she said.

“When we open in November, it will be totally renovated and furnished.”

The building’s purchase and reconstruction is funded through a $10 million bond administered by the Building Better Communities Bond program, a voter-approved $2.9 billion countywide initiative to improve infrastructure.

The 15,000-square-foot museum is to include a 5,340square-foot gallery space, a sculpture garden, museum shop, roof space for outdoor concerts and a 110-seat theater on the second floor for live plays, lectures, performances and films.

The Cuban Museum now has a five-member board of directors and is currently collecting donations of “anything and everything” related to the Cuban émigré community. Designated the Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, Ms. Fuentes said the collection will document developments in the history of the exile community.

The newly named Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science is looking ahead to its new home at 1101 Biscayne Blvd., sharing the city’s 40-acre Museum Park with Perez Art Museum Miami. Formerly called Miami Museum of Science, now

Photos by Maxine Usdan

The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science downtown is expected to open in the summer of 2016.

located at 3280 S Miami Ave., Frost Science – for short – does not have an opening date set but officials are aiming for the summer of 2016.

According to Frank Steslow, chief operating officer, the 250,000-square-foot complex will have four separate buildings: a state-of-the-art, fully digital ultra high-resolution planetarium; the exploration center, containing the permanent exhibits of “Feathers to the Stars” and “River of Grass” as well as a 10,000-square-foot special exhibit hall; an entrepreneurial innovation center; and a living core with four South Florida ecosystems, including a threestory Gulf Stream aquarium.

The complex, which will cost $300 million, took two years to design and will be two years in construction, Mr. Steslow said.

Most of the building is in architectural concrete, he said, so extreme care was taken with its pouring. The aquarium will use natural seawater in exhibits for which a sea water intake was installed into Biscayne Bay.

Fredric Snitzer in gallery at 1540 NE Miami Court. Art by Terrence Hill.

Moreover, Mr. Steslow said, the building is flood-proof up to 20 feet above sea level and has a robust set of emergency generators to handle a storm surge.

The Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (ICA), now in the Moore Building at 4040 NE Second Ave., opened to the public free of charge starting in December 2014.

The ICA aims to build a new, permanent home in Miami’s Design District on land donated

by Miami Design District Associates. Located on Northeast 41st Street, the new 37,500-squarefoot building is being designed

by Spanish firm Aranguren & Gallegos Arquitectos, marking its first US project.

Museum officials did not respond to interview requests, but

the website states the new facility will feature more than 20,000 square feet of exhibition galleries and a 15,000-squarefoot public sculpture garden.

A number of galleries are cropping up, including Frederic Snitner’s at 1540 NE Miami Court. Originally located in Wynwood, the Frederic Snitzer Gallery, well-known across the nation since its start in the 1970s, relocated downtown.

Mr. Snitzer said the gallery opened in summer 2014 after work was completed on its warehouse. It’s an old building so the renovation was a complicated and often difficult process that took about five months, he said.

Now, however, Mr. Snitzer said the gallery has an additional 1,000 square feet with a large,

walled-in exterior space that has potential for events and a sculpture garden.

“With an expanded space, we now have the option to hold two exhibits at once and make use of our roomy storage area,” he said.

For anyone who has a hankering to see exhibits at Perez Art Museum Miami or enjoy an interactive family day at the Miami Children’s Museum, May is the time to do so. It’s International Museum Day on the 18th but Greater Miami and the Beaches are celebrating for the entire month.

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Miami Museum Month, sponsored by MasterCard Priceless Miami, will offers special deals and discounts at 25 participating museums.

Visitors will receive “Buy One Get One Free” admission at select Miami museums including the Bass Museum of Art, which features major European paintings, and the Miami Auto Museum at the Dezer Collection, which has over 1,200 vehicles on display from some of Hollywood’s most celebrated films and television shows.

Museum visitors who sign up for membership at participating “Join One Museum See Them All” museums will receive free admission at other partner properties. Participating museums include the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami Children’s Museum and the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University.

Details: www.MiamiMuseum Month.com and interactive Pinterest board, https://www. pinterest.com/miamiand beaches/

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

11

Gold Medal Awards 2015 6 Gold Medal winners, lifetime achiever Hertz honored Three accomplished individuals and three prominent organizations accepted Gold Medal honors highlighting their outstanding contributions to Greater Miami at Miami Today’s Gold Medal Awards dinner Thursday evening.

Long-time executive and leader Arthur Hertz accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in the community.

Eight judges selected the Gold Medal Awards winners from among victors in local and national competitions that were held last year – only top-level award recipients were eligible for consideration for the Gold Medals. Miami Today and dinner sponsor BNY Mellon Wealth Management chose Mr. Hertz for the Lifetime Achievement honor.

In balloting for the top organization, the judges selected Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and its Fairchild Challenge for the Gold Medal. The Fairchild Challenge, an environmental science initiative, includes in its program 273 public and private schools and 130,000 students across South Florida.

Thaddeus Foote, Fairchild’s magnet school program coordinator, made the acceptance speech, joined by Diana Peña, the challenge’s elementary coordinator, and Amanda Noble, the challenge’s school program coordinator. Louis Wolfson III, partner in sponsor Pinnacle Housing Group, presented the award.

Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, received the Gold Medal for an individual based on multiple honors received last year and shortly afterward planned to board a plane for Washington, DC, to receive yet another national honor. Mr. Carvalho accepted his Gold Medal from Christopher Gandolfo, senior vice president of sponsoring Swire Properties.

InterContinental Miami Hotel won the Silver Medal for an organization based on an array of community involvement, including being the largest purchaser of renewable energy credits in the state and using its Green Engage System to focus on sustainability. General Manager Robert Hill accepted the award from Marie Bertot of sponsoring Florida Power & Light, noting that while he was receiving the award, 600 employees of the hotel had earned it.

The Silver Medal for an indi-

Photo by Maxine Usdan

Individual winner Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade County Public Schools superintendent , addresses the Gold Medal Awards dinner audience.

vidual went to Dr. Rosany Alvarez, a 24-year Miami Dade College veteran who is a professor of mathematics at its Inter-American campus. She is a two-time winner of the college’s highest faculty honor, the MDC Endowed Teaching Chair.

In presenting the Silver award, Thomas Julin of sponsoring Hunton & Williams law firm noted that he had done his homework and checked on Dr. Alvarez’s ratings by her students, learning that they were top level. Her sister, Ana Cueto, accepted the award in her behalf, joined by other members of the family.

The Bronze Medal for an organization went to Healthy West Kendall, launched in 2013 as a community-wide initiative at West Kendall Baptist Hospital to address the needs of the area’s 300,000 residents – a figure underscored by William Holly, president of Patton Commercial Real Estate, as he presented the award to Michelle Mejia and other team members.

The Bronze Medal for an individual was presented to Karelia Martinez Carbonell, who last year received the Junior League of Miami Foundation’s inaugural Visionary Award that recognized contributions of vision and leadership. She was presented the award by Ana-Marie Codina Barlick, CEO of sponsoring Codina Partners.

Mr. Hertz, in accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, used his appearance at the podium to asked the audience to work toward solutions to traffic and transportation problems that increasingly bedevil the region.

He was recognized for longtime service on the county’s Public Health Trust, the University of Miami’s Board of Trustees, the Jackson Memorial Foundation Board, Miami’s Off-Street Parking Board, the direction of the Mitchell S. Wolfson Sr. Foundation and a long list of public roles and awards that he has received. He is currently chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder of Wometco Enterprises.

Joe Fernandez, Florida president of sponsoring BNY Mellon Wealth Management, presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Hertz.

Judges who selected the Gold Medal Awards were Donna Abood, chairman of the Beacon Council and managing director of Avison Young, Miami; Tony Argiz, chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Morrison Brown Argiz and Farra; Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Florida Memorial University; Matt Haggman, cochairman of One Community One Goal and Miami program director of the Knight Foundation; Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association; Bruce Orosz, chairman of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and president of ACT Productions; Mark Trowbridge, president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce; and J. Antonio Villamil, founder and principal of the Washing-

ton Economics Group.

The judges were asked to base their selections on: The importance of achievements for which nominees had received awards in the past year and the stature of the recognizing organizations.

The long-term impact of the honorees’ achievements on this community.

Miami Today 16 years ago established the Gold Medal Awards to honor The Best of the Best, choosing among those that already had received from peers top honors in a vital category in the prior year.

Trophies were presented after an invitation-only reception and dinner for 100 guests on the 19th floor of the JW Marriott Marquis downtown, which has been the home of the past four dinners.

Past Gold Medal Award winners, competition judges and leaders in business and education, as well as an international delegation of consuls general, attended to salute the honorees.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

19

County wants firm to administer employee group healthcare

BY SUSAN D ANSEYAR

Miami-Dade County commissioners approved Tuesday a request for contract proposals to administer the county’s selffunded employee group healthcare program but extended the time between issuance and due date as well as the rating system in an effort to get the best plans.

Now, companies have at least six weeks to respond to the request, two additional weeks from the original timeline proposed by the administration. Commissioner Rebeca Sosa recommended the extension for what she said was a necessary step to allow companies to present their best offer. She disagreed with county officials who said adding the additional weeks would take time away from staff’s education on a new plan.

“Things get done quickly when they need to be,” Ms. Sosa said, adding there will still be enough time for staff to bring back a quality proposal for commissioners to review and vote on awarding it.

Commissioner Barbara Jordan proposed amending the motion to approve the request for proposals so that any alternative plan options that companies propose are no longer included in the evaluation.

She said the county doesn’t

‘Things get done ‘Any changes to the... quickly when they need to plan would have to be be.’ negotiated.’

The county doesn’t have a standard for alternative plans

Rebeca Sosa

Edward Marquez

Barbara Jordan

have a standard for alternative plans so, while the request for proposals still asks for them, any that are suggested by companies should not count in the evaluation process.

The county says it is seeking “a plan design that mirrors the county’s existing benefit options, with the inclusion of robust wellness and disease management programs,” according to a memo to county commissioners this week signed by Deputy Mayor Edward Marquez.

Additionally, Mr. Marquez told commissioners, “proposers are highly encouraged to propose up to two alternative plan options

that target cost savings for the county and its employees. Any changes to the county’s current plan would have to be negotiated with our labor unions.”

The proposed request that went to commissioners this week included details on performance standards for the wellness and disease management programs. Four unions that represent county workers provided input in those standards, Mr. Marquez wrote, and all unions representing county staff were notified in advance about the posting of the request for proposals.

However, a number of union members claimed Tuesday they

were not given advance notice nor do they feel their concerns are heard during discussions with the administration about their health plans.

Five of 10 unions are not under contract with the county’s current plan. Representatives from the unions who are not on board accused the county’s administration of employing “dictatorship methods” and expressing “it’s our way or the highway.”

A number of commissioners said they were concerned to hear union members call the administration “disingenuous” and said they no longer trust county government to look out

for their best interests.

The program would be large, as the county has about 25,000 employees. Commissioners will have the final say on any contract award offered by administrators.

Mr. Marquez explained the administration, working with Gallagher & Co. consultants, is not changing the plan but, rather, seeking additional ones that will be shown to the unions and negotiated to see if members are interested.

He said the expectation of what the county hopes to save is about $26 million, based on the five unions interested in a re-designed plan. Had all 10 unions gone along with the plan and Jackson Health not left the program, the administration said the savings were projected to be $60 million.

Last year, the county spent $400 million in health care, a figure soon be $500 million, Mr. Marquez said. The premise of the proposed request for proposals was to look at ways to save health care costs.

The commission held a policy discussion on the request for proposals two weeks ago, asking to see the final request for proposals this week.

The draft was also posted four times from February to April for comment from the industry.

45 of 700 chosen for first FIU physician assistant program

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Only 45 were chosen out of nearly 700 who applied for Florida International University’s inaugural graduate physician assistant (PA) program, which is set to begin this fall.

The 27-month master’s program conducted by the university’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine is critically needed, said Pete A. Gutierrez, associate dean and founding chair of the program.

“There are not enough doctors to go around right now, and physician assistants are their right hands,” said Dr. Gutierrez said. “That’s why this program is so important.”

Numerous factors combine to increase the demand for healthcare practitioners, he said.

They include an aging population, an increase in chronic diseases requiring more treatment, and the ongoing shortage of primary-care physicians.

Seven out of 10 doctors in Florida are specialists, and, though some experts say the number of primary-care doctors is inching up, it doesn’t meet the population’s needs,

predicts a 38.4% rise in the need for physician assistants by 2022, the university release continued.

Students will spend the first 15 months in the classroom at the Modesto Maidique campus at 11200 SW Eighth St. in western Miami-Dade, and then rotate through hands-on, supervised practice in family medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, and emergency medicine at local healthcare facilities.

If the program is a success, which the university anticipates, the number of students could grow from 45 to 60 after five years, according to its accreditation charter, Dr. Gutierrez said.

Requirements include a bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university with a minimum upper division grade point average of 3.0 and a science grade point average of 3.3, a score of 152 or higher on the Graduate Photo by Maxine Usdan Record Exam, a successful perThe program seeks to fill a need by training culturally sensitive professionals, said Dr. Pete A. Gutierrez. sonal interview and letters of especially those of the unin- alleviate need, particularly in our fessionals,” said Dr. Gutierrez recommendation. Healthcare experience is preferred but not community, by educating cul- in a university release. sured and underinsured.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics mandatory.

“Our program seeks to help turally sensitive medical pro-

28

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

Gold Medal Awards

2015

Congratulations

to our 2015 Honorees

GOLD: Alberto M. Calvalho GOLD: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden SILVER: Dr. Rosany Alvarez SILVER: InterContinental Miami Hotel BRONZE: Karelia Martinez Carbonell BRONZE: Healthy West Kendall, West Kendall Baptist

Lifetime Achievement Award Arthur H. Hertz

Thank you to our sponsors