WEEK OF THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016
A Singular Voice in an Evolving City
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TODAY’S NEWS
Zika war hammers businesses in epicenter Wynwood, pg. 3 COMPENSATION COSTS RISE: Total compensation costs for private industry workers rose 2.5% in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan area from June 2015 to June 2016, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month. Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of compensation costs, increased 2.9%. The tri-county figures outpaced the national increases of 2.4% for total compensation costs and 2.6% for wages and salaries. Regional commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted in a statement that one year ago, Miami’s compensation costs showed a 2.6% annual gain.
184-room Hilton checks in, joins Baptist Health, pg. 12
THE ACHIEVER
BY SUSAN D ANSEYAR
COSTS RISE IN PARK UPGRADE: Miami city commissioners increased the expenditure ceiling for the Kinloch Park Building Addition Project by $230,000, due to the costs of a new security system and new fencing requested by the Capital Improvements and Transportation Program and the fire department. On Sept. 29, 2014, the commission approved a contract with Grace & Naeem Uddin Inc. of up to $1,699,336.10, including for $154,485.10 contingencies. However, as security measures were added, the original contract amount was deemed insufficient. Commissioners increased the contract ceiling to $1,929,336.10, including $154,485.10 for contingencies. LOWER ELECTRIC CHARGES: Miami households paid 22.3% less for electricity in July than the national average of 13.9 cents, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. Area households paid 10.8 cents per kilowatt hour in July, compared with 11.6 cents in July of 2015, when Miamians were paying 18.3% less than the national average, the bureau said. GROVE BAY EASEMENTS: Miami city commissioners have granted easements clearing the way for utilities on city-owned land. One resolution authorizes an underground easement with Peoples Gas System, a division of Tampa Electric Co. It allows a non-exclusive perpetual underground easement about 10 feet wide by 709 feet long to city-owned property at 3377 Charthouse Drive for construction, operation and maintenance of natural gas utility facilities. This to part of the Grove Bay project, bringing redevelopment to the waterfront in Coconut Grove. The other easement is with Florida Power & Light Co. for an underground easement of about 10 feet wide and 202 feet long at the same address for electric utility facilities.
James Davidson
Photo by Marlene Quaroni
President and Chairman of Coral Gables Trust Co. The profile is on Page 4
Airport trade zone process faces long flight time BY CAMILA CEPERO
Miami-Dade’s Aviation Department is working to set up a foreign trade zone magnet site on Miami International Airport property, which officials say will attract new business opportunities and better utilize vacant cargo and non-terminal areas. “It’s a long application,” Aviation Director Emilio González told Miami Today. “We have submitted our foreign trade zone magnet site application to the Port of Miami; they are the grantee for the foreign trade zone.” With a projected launch date of early 2017, the foreign trade zone has the potential to generate $7.7 million a year in lease revenue and create an estimated 1,500 jobs at the airport. Foreign trade zones lure businesses because the sites allow goods to be unloaded, manufactured, reassembled, tested, sampled, processed, repacked and re-exported without intervention by US Customs authorities. Zone users benefit from duty exemptions and face no duties or quota changes on reexports; duty deferrals where customs duties and federal excise taxes are deferred on
AGENDA
Metrorail’s car test site 2 years late
imports; inverted tariff duty rates; logistical benefits such as streamlined customs efficiencies including direct delivery and weekly entry; and elimination of duties on waste, scrap and rejected or defective parts. By reducing these costs, businesses can compete better globally. “Once the Port of Miami approves [the trade zone application], then it goes before the board of county commissioners for approval,” Mr. González said. Afterward, the process flows into the hands of the US Foreign-Trade Zones Board, he said. “The department has not received a foreign trade zone application related to Miami International Airport at this time,” a US Department of Commerce official told Miami Today. “Once the application is submitted, the department generally has 10 months to adjudicate the request. During this time, there will be an opportunity for public comment and information about the application will be publicly available throughout the process.” Aside from the Commerce Department, foreign trade zones are also approved in part by US Customs and Border Protection,
because the areas are in or near ports of entry. Officially, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board grants authority for establishing the foreign trade zones under the ForeignTrade Zones Act of 1934. About 250 general-purpose zones and over 500 subzones now operate in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, according to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board. Miami-Dade County is home to four foreign trade zones, including one run by PortMiami, which has a major geographic trade advantage. Three phases govern the application process to become a magnet site: Application approval from PortMiami (Foreign Trade Zone No. 281’s Grantee). Approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board and Site Operator Agreement. Activation from US Customs and Border Protection and Grantee Approval. A magnet site application costs $10,000. The airport hopes to attract usage-driven site clients through a strategic marketing plan designed to draw new industries and businesses into the airport.
Miami-Dade still awaits a twoyear-late testing track and expanded yard for 132 replacement Metrorail cars, the impact of which transit officials and the contractor have been analyzing. Munilla Construction Management (MCM) has a $25 million county design-build contract for the Lehman Center Test Track and first phase of the Lehman Yard Rehabilitation expansion that was due to be done Aug. 5, 2014. A July report states the Department of Transportation and Public Works seeks an extension to the construction engineering and inspection services contract with consultant Parsons Transportation Group, which is helping oversee and review these project phases. According to the report, MCM began work Feb. 13, 2013. Through Nov. 30, 2015, 97.82% of the construction was completed and invoiced, with $23 million invoiced and $21 million paid to date. The contractor maintains the main delays include more than a fourmonth hold-up to complete most of the design elements, procurement of materials and equipment, as well as setbacks in construction of the test track service and inspection building. Additionally, MCM claims, delays were caused by late track and contact rail installation, mainly because of “failures relating to track alignment, gauge, geometry, clearances and fouling points.” Track integration testing and the safety certification and verification report were also over 20 months late as of late June. Contract days totaled 1,225 on June 22, 687 days over what was allowed, the report states, with damages specified by contract at $3,083.52 per day – totaling at that point more than $2.1 million. A transportation spokesperson said the delay hasn’t affected transit plans because the county devised alternatives to continue rail car tests.
MANA’S PARKING-LESS DOWNTOWN TOWER PRAISED ...
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DESIGN DISTRICT 433 JOBS VOW GRANTED $2 MILLION ...
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VIEWPOINT: FLOATING PLANS TO COMMUTE BY BOAT ...
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EX-WYNWOOD OWNERS FIND ALLAPATTAH BARGAINS ...
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ESTEFANS ADD TO HOME-GROWN AIRPORT EATERIES ...
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VOTERS TO RULE ON HERITAGE TRUST’S CITY LEASE ...
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WORLDCENTER 67% RETAIL TRIM VEXES CITY BOARD ...
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DOWNTOWN STREET CLOSING FOR ALL ABOARD RAIL ...
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