Miami Today: Week of Thursday, April 6, 2017

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

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TODAY’S NEWS

County police director rejects dashboard cameras buy, pg. 8 GABLES GETS HEADQUARTERS: Spainbased Cosentino Group, which produces and distributes surfaces for architecture and design, is moving its US headquarters from Houston to Coral Gables this summer, bringing in more than 85 high-wage jobs. The company had had its US headquarters in Houston since 1997. “We need our corporate headquarters to be located in a global city, from where we can centralize management for the American continent,” said Eduardo Cosentino, executive vice president of global sales and CEO of Cosentino North America. “Without a doubt this move will help us in our objective of expanding even more in the USA over the coming years.” The company is based in Cantoria, Almeria.

Casino giant’s plan for hotel atop bus terminal waits, pg. 8

The Achiever

By John Charles Robbins

CONSTRUCTION STARTS FALL: South Florida construction starts fell 20% in value in February from February 2016, Dodge Data & Analytics reported, and fell 14% overall for the first two months of the year.

The change was vastly different between residential and nonresidential construction, with residential falling 42% in February and 40% overall for the year while nonresidential construction values rose 31% in February and 49% for the first two months of the year. Total construction starts for the first two months in South Florida were more than $1.4 billion, versus nearly $1.7 billion for the first two months of 2016, Dodge reported.

BRAZILIAN AIRLINE ADDED TO MIA LINE-UP: Avianca Brasil announced Tuesday that it will launch daily passenger service between Miami International Airport and Sao Paulo on June 23. Miami will be the first US destination and only the second outside of Brazil for the airline.

Avianca Brasil will be the airport’s third airline serving Brazil, MIA’s top international market in 2015 with more than 2.1 million total passengers.

CLEANSING CURTIS PARK: Work was to begin Monday at the City of Miami’s Curtis Park, 1901 NW 24th Ave., for environmental remediation and improvements. Curtis was one of several city parks impacted by contaminated soil. The project will consist of soil remediation, removing soil and replacing it with clean fill and protective covering. Construction is expected to take about nine months at a cost of $4,926,879.94. The contractor is Cherokee Enterprises Inc. The park will be closed two to four weeks for required air monitoring analysis. Results will go to the Miami-Dade County Environmental Resources Management to determine if areas in the park can stay open during the work. If so, Cherokee is to work in phases to minimize closure in other park areas. Work will start with the tennis courts. All work is to be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Photo by Cristina Sullivan

Adalnio Senna Ganem

Consul general promotes awareness of ties with Brazil The profile is on Page 4

Growth in room supply squeezes hotel industry

By Camila Cepero

Negative totals in three key performance metrics are squeezing Miami-Dade’s hotel industry, the most recent data from STR reveal.

The national visitor industry data and analytics company’s most recent monthly data show that as of February, year-to-date occupancy here is down to 80.1%, a 2.7% drop from February year-to-date 2016.

The report’s census included 422 hotels and 54,805 rooms in February, up from 404 hotels and 52,203 rooms in February 2016.

The occupancy dip has pushed down average daily rates, said Jan Freitag, senior vice president of Lodging Insights for STR. The average daily rate as of February yearto-date is $223.58, off 8%, down even farther from the 1.8% decrease last year to $243.02.

However, before the 2016 dip, average daily rates in February year-to-date 2015 rose 10.3% to $247.57 from the previous year.

“The room rates increased a healthy amount in 2015 but then declined in 2016 because of the influx of new supply,” Mr. Freitag said, coupled with such other handicaps as the spread of Zika virus and economic and political turmoil in such

Canal to get its pollution restoration

Latin American markets as Brazil, which had been Miami’s largest feeder market abroad.

Nonetheless, average daily rates in the county sit roughly $100 above the national average.

Unsurprisingly, revenue per available room (RevPAR) also took a hit, down to $179.07, off 10.5% from the same time last year. Even last year, when it was down 5.1% from 2015, RevPAR sat at $200.08.

However, supply and demand have both increased in numbers and percentages, the report shows.

Demand has increased 1.9% to 2,584,099 rooms. At the same time last year, demand sat at 2,535,745, up 0.2% from 2015.

“During the last several months, the number of people coming into Miami hasn’t grown as much as it used to, but even in January of 2017 we had 1.1% more visitors than we had in January of 2016,” said Rolando Aedo, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“Room demand has increased – we’re selling more rooms than a year ago – which is good news because it means people are traveling,” Mr. Freitag said.

But, with Miami being a hot market, he said, there has been significant impetus to build new hotels, increasing supply.

Thus, similarly to demand, supply is up to 3,226,396 room nights sold, an increase of 5% in February 2017 alone.

Nonetheless, the rise in supply has all but cancelled out the boost from the rise in demand, leading revenue to drop.

Mr. Aedo said that the “top challenge from the hotels’ perspective is dramatic increases in inventory.”

Following the trend of the 2015 increase in average daily rates, revenues in 2015 shot up 15.6% to $626,359,706 before dropping last year.

As of February year-to-date, total revenues were at $577,755,660, down 6.2% from 615,241,052 in February year-to-date 2016, which was in itself a 1.6% dip from 2015.

“They are in fact negative numbers – RevPAR was down 7.4% [in February 2017], but it was less down than it was in January and December, November and October of 2016,” Mr. Aedo said. “While they’re still technically down, they are trending in the right direction and closing the gap.”

The long-awaited cleanup of Wagner Creek and Seybold Canal is expected to start next month, says Horacio Stuart Aguirre, Miami River Commission chairman.

Cleanup of the long-polluted Miami River tributary comes two years after the city commission approved the Wagner Creek and Seybold Canal Maintenance Dredging and Environmental Cleanup Project.

The city has lined up the permits and money for the $23 million dredging and cleanup, but a start has been delayed as the city procurement department wrangled with bidders. Eventually, the city rejected all bids and started a fresh solicitation last summer.

“The Miami River Commission is appreciative that after the second request for proposals the City of Miami has recommended Sevenson Environmental Services Inc.... to conduct the fully-funded and permitted Wagner Creek and Seybold Canal Maintenance Dredging and Environmental Cleanup Project,” Mr. Aguirre said this week.

He said city officials estimate dredging will begin in May. “The Miami River Commission thanks the City of Miami, Florida Inland Navigation District and the State of Florida for funding the project, which will improve the local economy and remove toxic sediments, including dioxin, from the most polluted waterway in the State of Florida,” he said.

The project aims to remove accumulated sediments and dioxins, a hazardous chemical bound to the sediments, and restore stormwater capacity in Wagner Creek and Seybold Canal.

Dredging is to start where Wagner Creek flows out of a culvert at Northwest 20th Street and continue to where Seybold Canal empties into the river 2.5 miles away. The plan is to excavate accumulated contaminated sediment and truck it to a landfill.

Sevenson says it has done more than 1,400 projects with a total value of more than $4.2 billion, including cleanup at the infamous Love Canal.

MDX AIMS TO EXTEND SR 836 IN GAMECHANGER BELTWAY ...

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BEACH OFFER MAY PRODUCE MILLIONS TO AID HOMELESS ...

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AUTHORITY EYES BUILDING PART OF SMART TRANSIT PLAN ...

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VIRGINIA KEY DOCK, SEAWALL ADVANCE OVER PROTESTS ...

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AIRBNB’S TAX DEAL DOESN’T COVER REGULATORY ISSUES ...

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TRANSPORTATION HUB TO HELP UNCLOG GOLDEN GLADES ...

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VIEWPOINT: MIAMI RULES ON HIRING LAW FIRM NEED HELP ...

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FINAL STATE OF CITY LOOKS AHEAD TO MARINE STADIUM ...

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

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Airbnb’s county tax accord doesn’t cover regulatory issues

By Susan Danseyar

Miami-Dade commissioners on Tuesday approved 10-3 an agreement between the tax collector and Airbnb Inc. for collecting the 2% tourist development room tax, 1% professional sports franchise facility tax and 3% convention development tax and directed the administration to negotiate similar agreements with other short-term room rental services.

Tax revenue is estimated to be $6 million to $8 million yearly, according to Mayor Carlos Giménez.

“Quality of life is paramount to all of us,” he said Tuesday. “I want to work with all of (the commissioners) on the regulations needed to safeguard residents and neighborhoods of this county.”

Speakers who supported the resolution included William D. Talbert III, chief executive officer and president at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau; and Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO at Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association.

“I support the agreement with Airbnb legally operating in the county,” Ms. Kallergis said.

“We strongly support what’s in front of you,” Mr. Talbert said.

“Airbnb is not paying the resort tax.”

According to a memo by Deputy Mayor Edward Marquez, the agreement aims to facilitate the immediate collection and remittance of tourist taxes for Airbnb resulting from booking transactions made on its internet-based platform.

Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service allowing peo-

County votes to aid agencies in airport outages

By Susan Danseyar

County commissioners Tuesday directed the administration to help US Customs and Border Protection prepare for technology interruptions and outages at Miami International Airport.

On Jan. 2, a four-hour outage hit Customs and Border Protection’s processing systems, forcing officials to process international passengers manually. A memo from County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams said although the agency had access to national security-related databases and maintained screening according to security standards, the outage delayed thousands of international travelers up to two hours.

Miami International is the second busiest airport in international passenger traffic, Ms. Price-Williams stated, so the effects of the outage were “rather severe” and hundreds of international travelers there missed connecting flights.

Because efficient processing of travelers is central to the airport’s daily operations, commissioners want the administration to help the agency prevent technology interruptions and outages, she wrote.

The resolution, sponsored by Rebeca Sosa, directs the administration to identify tools for helping US Customs and Border Protection prevent another such event.

ple to lease or rent short-term lodging including vacation and apartment rentals, home-stays, hostel beds or hotel rooms. The company doesn’t own any lodging but is a broker and receives commissions from guests and hosts with every booking.

Several commissioners asked if Airbnb is legal in the county today and allowed in residential areas.

“They are still obligated to pay tourist taxes, even if used illegally in any way,” said a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office.

Mr. Giménez said Tuesday “this resolution does not preclude us from establishing any regulations we want. What it does do is put Airbnb on the same footing as hotels, which is why the hotel industry supports this.”

The operation is here, the mayor said, and needs to pay taxes. “This particular item makes Airbnb less of an attraction because now they have to pay taxes.”

Mr. Marquez wrote that the agreement doesn’t ask for the tourist taxes for accommodations booked in the past but the county reserves the right to collect them from guests, hosts or Airbnb in the future. He said Airbnb will begin collecting and paying tourist taxes no later than the first day of the calendar month “not less than two weeks” after the agreement is fully executed, which is projected to be May 1.

“Collections for the first year (of the agreement) are estimated at $6 million based on reported figures,” Mr. Marquez wrote. “The tourist taxes collected will be deposited into prescribed trust funds and used for eligible expenses (allowed by county

Carlos Giménez: on equal footing.

and state law).”

Tourist taxes are imposed on short-term room rentals (six months or less) on the rental of living quarters or accommodations in a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, rooming house, tourist or trailer camp, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, condominium or timeshare resort, Mr. Marquez wrote.

Commissioner Sally Heyman told Miami Today on Monday that the legislation only addresses taxing the short-term room rental services and not zoning, regulations and enforcement.

Ms. Heyman said she’s supporting future legislation on those two or three areas. “We need comprehensive rules and protections for all involved.”

In 2014, the commission adopted legislation by Dennis Moss (who sponsored Tuesday’s resolution) directing the administration to determine the impact of peer-to-peer room rentals on county revenues

and the county’s hotel industry and recommend steps to minimize negative impacts.

In July 2016, Mr. Marquez wrote, the Strategic Planning and Government Operations committee directed the administration to pursue a contractual arrangement with Airbnb so that tourist taxes can be paid to the county for booking transactions.

“Over the course of several months, the administration with the assistance of the county attorney’s office has negotiated the terms of this understanding with Airbnb.

As reported to (the commission) in October, the county entered into negotiations with the goal of retaining its rights to: begin collection of tourist taxes for transactions on the Airbnb platform; collect back taxes from the party responsible to pay them; audit tax payments; and obtain the identity of host names and addresses either upfront or upon termination of a collection of tourist taxes in Miami-Dade resulting from booking transactions on Airbnb’s platform.”

Mr. Marquez said the agreement provides: ■Airbnb is to register as a “dealer” per state law for the reporting, collection and remittance of tourist taxes on behalf of guest or host when the agreement takes effect.

■Airbnb is to maintain a complete record of each booking transaction and property.

■The county tax collector must be able to auditAirbnb per county code, subject to a modification regarding non-disclosure of host and guest name and address.

The agreement doesn’t require

Airbnb to disclose the name or address of hosts and guest involved in booking transactions. However, Mr. Marquez wrote, the agreement requires Airbnb to disclose this information if it enters into a collection agreement with any other county or municipality in Florida or the state’s Department of Revenue regarding tourist taxes that provide for disclosure of such information.

Mr. Marquez said although the agreement doesn’t address zoning or other regulatory concerns, the county reserves the right to pursue additional agreements or take legal action to enforce any regulations.

“Additionally, the (agreement) does not confer legitimacy, bless or otherwise authorize the operation of any short-term room rental that violates county or municipal regulations. The (agreement) also requires Airbnb to update its website pages for the county to include, under its “regulations hosting” link, information about zoning, building housing standards, business license and taxes within the county and its municipalities.”

Mr. Marquez said the state’s Department of Revenue has a similar agreement with Airbnb for the collection of sales and local tourist taxes on behalf of 24 counties. Eleven other counties have made similar agreements.

Marcus Saiz de la Mora, tax collector division director for the county’s finance department, is to manage the agreement.

Details: http://www.miamidade. gov/govaction/legistarfiles/Matters/Y2017/170822.pdf

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MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

Miami Today is an independent voice of the community, published weekly at 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 100, Miami, Florida 33133. Telephone (305) 358-2663

Miami’s rules on hiring legal help need help of their own

Miami’s rejection of a top law firm to help in one of the city’s biggest waterfront deals ever doesn’t bode well for taxpayers, who in years past watched the city fumble away prime waterfront in ill-fated hand- Michael Lewis offs.

The city manager says the delay in picking a law firm with top-level real estate expertise will keep the deal off the November ballot – and voters must OK city waterfront deals.

But slowdown is the smaller danger as the city deals with an affiliate of the Adler Group, which plans two 36-story residential towers where the city’s riverfront administration building now sits. Adler then would build new offices for the city elsewhere.

The greater danger, as we wrote in December, is that the city will move deeply into negotiations without outside guidance, using just the city attorney’s office for legal advice. While the city attorney has a solid staff, not a single member is a full-time real estate attorney. Adler, a major developer, will have far more firepower on its side of the table.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to be easy

now to find any firm to represent the city.

It cast its net widely already, contacting 70 law firms. Only four of those were interested and one already represented Adler.

Another wasn’t qualified and the third was in Palm Beach.

Fortunately, after all that, the city was left with a great choice, Shutts & Bowen, an old-line and highly reputable firm with great expertise in real estate. But the city commission rejected that firm two weeks ago.

The stated reason for the rejection was that Shutts & Bowen had represented a client in a real estate matter with the city.

Commissioners say they won’t take any firm that has been on the other side in legal contentions with the city.

That prohibition, unfortunately, probably bars every decent-size firm around. The city gets involved in numerous zoning issues, lawsuits and more, and each of those involves an attorney. Leave out all of those firms – not just individual attorneys but the firms, the city commission insists – and there are unlikely to be any experienced real estate experts left. It’s a barrier built far too high to be logical.

Maybe that’s why 66 firms that were asked passed up the chance to seek work for the city, which is a solid client. The city should ponder why 66 firms that the city attorney’s office felt were qualified said no.

Many of these firms are large. If any firm member was ever on the other side in any

action against the city, the city’s policy of not doing business with the firm leaves out all of the firm’s attorneys, whether they even knew of the action with the city or whether they were even with the firm at the time.

If you disqualify the biggest firms that way, you rule out most of Miami’s real estate experts.

But the city went farther than that: Ken Russell, who defeated former commissioner Marc Sarnoff’s wife in a race for his commission seat, said Shutts & Bowen should be disqualified because Mr. Sarnoff now works there. “They probably shouldn’t have hired a politician,” Mr. Russell said. That’s disqualification by political belief.

Now the city is in the unenviable position of trying to hire an expert firm that was not among its top 70 choices to begin with to negotiate with Adler’s real estate heavyweights.

Not only is the city beyond the top 70, but it has to find an expert who has never represented anyone in any action against the city. Talk about trying to find a needle in a haystack!

We were concerned last December that the city would go it alone too long in a major, highly complex transaction that’s to result in a 90-year lease of prime city land and create the city’s new office tower. Now that the city has tried to find help, the situation is worse, because it may never find top experts who will meet its questionable criteria.

Remember, the other side is not a law

Finding hidden meanings in tech-NO-logy The use of the word technology has increased exponentially over the last three decades, reaching 3,446 trillion uses in 2016, by Bono alone. When you add the number of times Justin Timberlake gushes about technol- Isaac Prilleltensky ogy, you are talking about a quadrillion.

And yet, despite all the hoopla about technology, it took a little-known person to discover the big NO in the middle of tech-NO-logy: me. I am, to quote James Comey, incredulous.

An etymological exploration of the word tech-NO-logy revealed that its inventor had implanted into the word two secret meanings that only recently have become apparent. The first is that some people who use tech have NO logic, and the second is that there is NO logic in some tech products.

I have incontestable proof of the first meaning. My wife and I are taking an online course. The technology is so simple that even the two of us can get it.

To connect to the course you have to do two things: click on a link embedded in an email, and insert your phone number in an interactive window that screams at you from the screen and almost grabs your iphone from your hand. It is that simple.

Yet, every class there are about 20 people, which is about 50% of the class, who have difficulties connecting. The reason I know this is because there is a chat window where people write their difficulties getting connected. Although the instructors clearly guide folks to use a private chat if they are having technical difficulties, none of the technically challenged get that far, clogging the chat box with inane questions and comments.

The Writer

Isaac Prilleltensky is the author of “The Laughing Guide to Well-Being: Using Humor and Science to Become Happier and Healthier.” You can follow his humor writing at his blog www. thelaughingguide.com The chat box is supposed to be used by students and instructors for Q&A. However, at any point in time during the class, which deals with health and wellness, the chat box on the computer screen looks something like this: Participant 1: Can you elaborate on the relationship between oxytocin and stress regulation in people with depression?

Participant 2: I’m having trouble connecting through my phone. I’m in Timbuktu and the signal is weak. What can I do?

Instructor 1: Oxytocin works differently among various populations….

Participant 3: I don’t understand the connection between early attachment forms and late onset borderline personality disorder.

Participant 4: Is it true that sexual drive increases following a lobotomy? I was thinking of ordering one for my husband.

Participant 5: My phone number is 437-557-0981, can you please merge me?

Instructor 2: Try dialing the local number: 800-367-0943.

Participant 2: I tried it, but the person who answered spoke only Swahili.

Instructor 2: Read the damn instructions in red bold letters on the screen!

In addition to my technologically challenged peers in the online course, I recently came across another group of users with tech difficulties.

It was the first time that I flew Virgin America, and I discovered that you can order drinks and snacks from your screen.

The instructions are idiot-proof, but I witnessed the flight attendants explaining to technically clueless passengers, again and again, how to order a Coke. The flight attendants were doing their very best to keep their cool, but truth be told, I was getting exasperated on their behalf.

Now there is a group of users who get how to use technology, but when they do, there is NO logic to what they say.

Take twitter for example. Some people in this country get up early on Saturdays and start twitting things that are more bizarre than the chat box in my online course.

The second meaning of NO in the word tech-NO-logy has to do with lack of logic in some tech products. A certain financial institution that cannot be named due to fear of lawsuits claims to be the most user friendly in the country. However, its website forgets you if you don’t use the portal often enough, and its telephone system engages you in a Kafkaesque loop designed to increase sales of psychotropic drugs.

The reason I feel so superior nowadays when it comes to technology is because I trained Siri and my Xfinity remote control to understand my accent. Now I can talk to Siri and she actually gets me. I can say things like “who is Isaac Prilleltensky” and she promptly replies “I found two links to Isaac Prilleltensky.” In the past, the only thing I could get out of Siri was “can you repeat that?” Now I can also issue orders like “start closed caption” and “show Downton Abbey” to my remote control and it obeys every command.

I also learned how to use Waze, which took me, for the first time ever, from Coral Gables to the Health district in downtown Miami, in less than 30 minutes during rush hour.

What’s next for me in tech? I’m helping the CIA with the counterattack on WikiLeaks. There is no telling what I’m doing after that.

firm against the city. Attorneys represent clients. They do what their clients request.

They are not themselves the opponents.

Representing others is how lawyers make their livings. That past action is not a conflict of interest.

The city can probably find out-of-town experts who have never been involved in an action with Miami government, but that carries its own burdens. The lawyers would have to know the city, the players and the geography; be a Florida firm with a great reputation; and travel here for meetings.

But then the city is ruling out doing business with local firms, the kind that spend money here and employ people here – the kind of folks that county government is insisting win county contracts.

Taxpayers deserve experts, and in this case that means local experts. The city manager sees the difficulty in finding such an expert firm in time to finish the deal.

Commissioners would do well to reconsider their ban on any firm in which any attorney has ever represented the other side in a city legal dispute. There is, in sum, no reason for this criterion to exist.

And, of course, there should be no barrier to any firm that takes aboard any political opponent of a sitting commissioner. That’s another criterion that shouldn’t exist.

Commissioners shouldn’t make it allbut-impossible to get expert help in a deal with 90-year ramifications for every Miami taxpayer.

Letters to the Editor

Political climate prevents paying commission fairly Although the idea of paying our mayor and commissioners a “living wage” has merit, I doubt in today’s political climate voters will agree.

Politics has always been a dirty business but now – over the last year especially – it has gotten ugly too. Not a good time to ask voters to hand over more money to their elected officials.

The sad irony here is that because of the politics, these servants of the people may never get a raise because of the stench associated with their kind. Maybe if they cleaned up their act and behaved responsibly and professionally voters might reward them with real salaries for real work.

Maybe.

DC Copeland

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TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

Casino giant’s plan for hotel over bus terminal dealt a delay

By Susan Danseyar

Miami-Dade County commissioners deferred legislation Tuesday to approve a joint development at the county’s Omni Bus terminal and access to theAdrienneArsht Center Metromover station in which Malaysian casino giant Genting plans a 300-room hotel over the bus terminal.

The resolution is to be discussed at the next commission meeting April 18.

The development contract would include air rights over the real property for the Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Awarding the contract would bring the county $54.85 million over the initial 90-year term of the lease.

Miami-Dade’s Transportation and Public Works Committee unanimously approved the concept from Genting subsidiary Resorts World Miami LLC and forwarded it to the full commission on March 23. It was a late addition to the agenda.

Deputy Mayor Alina Hudak wrote in a memo dated April 4 that the project includes a revenue-generating mixed-use development, expected to have a positive

economic impact on the community, that promotes maximum use of the transit system; provides functional and aesthetic integration of the Ar-sht Center station and Omni bus terminal into the overall project; and upgrades or redesigns the Metromover station, including replacement of stairs, elevators, escalators, surveillance systems and flooring.

At the March 21 meeting, Commissioner Sally Heyman said she was reading the analysis for the first time but, speaking as a member of the county commission, emphasized “it doesn’t get better than what we have – a win, win win [for Miami-Dade].”

It’s excellent, Ms. Heyman said, with an agreement that has the developer making payments to the county. “This is exceptional to all the partners and staff that’s been involved.”

The Omni bus terminal and Arsht Center Metromover Station, the development site, consists of seven contiguous parcels totaling 0.987 acres. The negotiated agreements for the development site with Resorts World – which owns the Omni across the street and the old Miami Herald site to the east where it had promoted

what would have been the world’s largest casino – consist of a development and lease agreement as well as an easement.

“The easement is needed for construction-related development site ingress and egress,” Ms. Hudak wrote. “According to the terms of its proposal, Resorts World plans to construct a 300-room hotel and residential service apartments over the expanded bus terminal with retail space at ground level. Resorts World will also make numerous upgrades to the existing transit infrastructure, valued at almost $22 million.”

Under the development agreement, Resorts World would submit all design and construction plans to the Department of Transportation and Public Works for review and approval before starting any work.

In addition to increasing density around the Metromover station, the project would provide substantial long-term revenue for Miami-Dade over the 90-year initial lease, with the developer paying $100,000 minimum rent per year through construction.

Thereafter, Ms. Hudak wrote, the developer would make a one-time $10 million payment

Chief nixes dashboard camera pix

Commission asked to add 25 stimulus plan projects History Miami, playhouse, Underline cited

By Susan Danseyar

By Susan Danseyar

The director of the Miami-Dade Police Department has told county commissioners that they shouldn’t consider dashboard cameras for police cars because body-worn cameras already catch video and duplication would be too costly.

Juan J. Perez’s report for this week’s commission meeting states body-worn cameras allow officers to capture police interaction with the public more effectively than dashboard cameras and the department’s body-worn camera purchase included 1,000 vehicle mounts free of charge.

“To date, seven mounts have been issued to the special patrol bureau for use with their traffic enforcement details,” he wrote.

Dashboard cameras offer potential advantages in keeping police safe by allowing situational awareness, improving community relations and accountability, and providing evidence for successful prosecution, Mr. Perez wrote.

The operating costs vary, depending on the vendor picked by the police department. “Some [dashboard camera] systems provide cloud-based storage which is estimated to cost about $3.60 a year per gigabyte while other systems allow storage of data on a server,” he wrote.

Mr. Perez’s report states police

to the county and then the greater of 50% of gross revenues from the retail portion or $300,000 per year.

The project in construction is forecasted to create 1,871 jobs and, once completed, 171 direct jobs. “It will also stimulate the creation of 100 additional indirect jobs and provide significant revenue to the county and City of Miami in the form of taxes and impact fees,” Ms. Hudak wrote.

Transportation and Public Works Committee Chairman Bruno Barreiro asked March 23 when the project would be completed, as he likes to “go to ribbon cuttings, not groundbreakings.”

Transit Chief Alive Bravo explained the developer would have four years to begin and the department would be receiving funds right away that would be put back into the transit system.

Commissioner Dennis Moss asked if commissioners could see conceptual drawings to get an idea of what’s happening.

Ms. Bravo showed a drawing. She explained that the bus facility is currently outside. Under the plan, she said, Resorts World would build an air-conditioned terminal.

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Body-worn cameras are good enough, said police head Juan Perez.

staff have widely explored the use of dashboard cameras for patrol vehicles.

In October 2015, commissioners directed the administration to study equipping Miami-Dade police vehicles with dashboard cameras and provide a written report.

Mr. Perez said the department has a fleet of about 3,000 vehicles, including marked, unmarked sedans, trucks, motorcycles and specialty vehicles. About 1,800 of them are marked police vehicles normally used for traffic enforcement, responding to calls for service and conducting “proactive patrol.”

Mr. Perez said there were quotes for 1,800 dashboard cameras from two county vendors. “The [dashboard cameras] are costly, averaging $4,300 to $4,700 per vehicle with a potential fiscal impact of $8.5 million,” he wrote. The cost excludes installation, warranty, equipment replacement and video storage.

According to the county’s Information Technology department, if

the police department maintains the system, it would cost $8.40 a year per gigabyte, and a server that would hold about 96,000 gigabytes would cost about $100,000.

One of the main advantages of having a cloud-based storage system, the memo said, is it includes several back-up systems to ensure the data is available. “The purchase of a server would bring on additional costs for backing up the data somewhere else,” Mr. Perez wrote. “However, body-worn cameras have an average cost of $780 each per year, totaling an estimated cost of $1.4 million for 1,800 police officers.” The cost includes warranty, maintenance, equipment replacement and video storage.

In a March 2016 profile interview with Miami Today, Mr. Perez said the department was in the process of procuring the body cameras and was probably set for about 1,000.

“Our goal is to get about 1,000 cameras out before the fiscal year is up,” Mr. Perez said then. “We’ve been looking at this since 2013.”

convention development tax and Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond funds; ■Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Station 18 in North Miami to construct a 12,000-square-foot, three-bay fire station for $5 million from fire impact fees; ■Hialeah Gardens branch library for construction of a 12,000-square-foot branch library in Hialeah Gardens for $8.5 million from Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond funds; ■The Underline (formally known as Brickell Promenade) to develop a 10-mile linear park for increasing connectivity and mobility for $4.5 million from road impact fees, Florida Department of Transportation funds, and capital outlay reserve funds; ■Widen roads countywide for West Dixie Highway from Northeast 163rd to 173rd streets from two to five lanes for $8,006,000 from road impact fees.

In 2008, commissioners established the procedure for expediting projects under the ESP for the capital development they specifically identified. The ordinance allowed commissioners to add or delete projects from the list.

Miami-Dade commissioners have been asked to add 25 capital projects to the county’s approved list for the economic stimulus plan.

According to a memo from Deputy Mayor Edward Marquez, the addition to the county’s economic stimulus plan (ESP) approved list allows the projects to benefit from the accelerated process currently in place. Each of the 25 projects is funded in the fiscal 2016-2017 proposed budget and multi-year capital plan.

Mr. Marquez explained that the projects are in different stages of development and in all cases the appropriate selection process or invitation to bid will be conducted to acquire the services of consultants and contractors. “The ESP continues to allow projects to be processes at an accelerated pace and tracks the number of jobs each project is expected to create,” Mr. Marquez wrote.

The projects include: ■History Miami restoration to expand and consolidate the current space and upgrade the cultural center plaza for $10 million from the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond funds; Details:http://www.miami■Coconut Grove Playhouse to dade.gov/govaction/legistarfiles/ re-establish the regional theater property for $20 million from Matters/Y2016/162928.pdf

County orders competitive selections, not expanded contracts

By Susan Danseyar

Miami-Dade commissioners Tuesday directed the administration to conduct competitive selections whenever practical instead of expanding the term or services under existing contracts, and include any recommendation for their expansion with a written justification of why a competitive process isn’t reasonable to the maximum extent.

Additionally, the administration is to report to the commission which requirements were adopted and rejected.

According to a report by County Attorney Abigail Price Williams, it’s county policy that goods and services be acquired through competitive processes except where competition isn’t in the county’s best interests. “Competition allows more firms more opportunities to participate in Miami-Dade contracts,” she wrote. “Contracts typically provide for a limited duration and for a limited scope of services.”

Often, Ms. Price-Williams said, county staff seeks to have contracts extended beyond the original duration, which “frustrates the

purposes of competition.” Miami-Dade defines the scope of projects “expansively,” she said, and following the award of the contract seeks to expand the range of services provided under the agreement instead of competitive bidding for the additional ones. For example, Ms. Price-Williams said, this could be authorizing services at new locations, adding new goods or services, or allowing concessionaires to operate locations for which they hadn’t competed.

Existing contracts may not include legislative requirements passed by the

commission after they were entered into such as relating to labor peace, employee wages or local hiring and “additional services in such agreements without requiring the contractor to abide by the legislative requirements now in effect frustrates the purposes of (the commission),” Ms. PriceWilliams concluded.

Barbara Jordan sponsored the resolution.

Details: http://www.miamidade. gov/govaction/legistarfiles/Matters/ Y2017/170534.pdf

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In his final state of Miami address, Regalado points to Marine Stadium

By John Charles Robbins

When Tomás Regalado ran for mayor of the City of Miami eight years ago he promised to work hard to restore long-idled Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key. It took much of his two terms as mayor to get a solid renovation plan in motion, but it finally happened late last year and the mayor proudly touted the accomplishment in his last State of City address March 24.

Mr. Regalado mentioned the waterfront stadium in comments related to investing in the city’s future.

“I am proud to say that over the last eight years we have seen great growth that has allowed us to maintain our property taxes low while increasing services and investing in infrastructure. It has also allowed us to prove that government can work well when it wants to,” he said.

“So I must begin by reporting that the Miami Marine Stadium, abandoned since 1992 and neglected by several administrations, will see the completion of Phase One of its renovation very soon. It hasn’t been easy but we made it a priority and in the end we have a solid plan that will renovate and reopen one of Miami’s crown jewels. I look forward to enjoying it alongside other residents when the next mayor cuts the ribbon,” said Mr. Regalado.

The city closed the unique concrete stadium in 1992 in the wake of Hurricane Andrew.

In November 2016, the city commission approved borrowing $45 million by issuing bonds to fund sta-

Tomás Regalado cites low taxes.

dium renovation and improvements, along with other work on the barrier island, most of which the city owns.

In January, commissioners approved a contract with R.J. HeisenbottleArchitects for architecture and engineering for Marine Stadium, effectively kick-starting the restoration.

Reaching a formal determination that it can be restored, and exactly how the stadium can be shored up is what’s called for in the professional services agreement approved Jan. 12.

Phase One is described as predesign planning and study to include a building assessment and recommendations, building programming, budget cost estimates and documentation of the stadium’s existing conditions.

Phase One costs are not to exceed $1,295,624.81.

As he has in several recent State of the City addresses, Mayor Regalado reminded everyone of the city’s rocky financial path.

“As the 33rd mayor of our Magic City I am humbled to say that I have presided over the worst and the best of times over the past eight years.

Since the first time I walked into this building as an elected official 22 years ago [as a commissioner] one thing has remained constant, my commitment to serve the residents of the City of Miami,” he said.

Mr. Regalado said he’s proud to say that for 22 years he has done what is best for the residents with total disregard for what was best politically.

“Today I stand before you to report that the state of the City of Miami is great and that if we stay the course will remain great as we continue to tackle and resolve the constant challenges that come with growth and success,” he said.

The mayor thanked each commissioner by name for the “extraordinary time” they put into working as a team for the betterment of the city.

He had a special thank-you for City Manager Daniel Alfonso for his service, for building a team, and for considering the implications of decisions many years down the road.

“You have a keen understanding that the decisions we make today will impact our city for years to come and so we never kick the can and for that I thank you…,” the mayor said.

The mayor said public safety has been and continues to be a top priority.

“We always said that ‘when we could, we would,’ and today I can report that we have allocated extraordinary resources to our police and fire departments and currently sworn staffing is the highest in the history of the City of Miami,” Mr. Regalado said.

Wolfsonian markets two properties as its first step toward an expansion

By Marilyn Bowden

TheWolfsonian-FIU has issued an Invitation to Negotiate, or ITN, for the ground lease of two Miami Beach properties – TheAnnex, 1538 Lenox Ave., and a nearby surface parking lot at 1500 Lenox Ave. The posting represents the first step in long-awaited plans to expand the museum and research facility’s exhibition space, said Director Tim Rodgers.

The county granted the Wolfsonian $10 million in bond money in 2004 to increase public access to the collection as part of a $2.9 billion general obligation bonds program.

“Our hope,” Mr. Rodgers said, “is that this ground lease will generate enough revenue to provide us with new space and also help with funding the expansion.

“Currently we use The Annex for the storage of our collections.

We would like to move our storage to the mainland into a larger, newer and hopefully more secure building.

The museum will of course remain on Miami Beach.

“Also, The Annex is just below Lincoln Road, so it’s a valued location and storage is not the best use for it.”

Built in the 1920s, The Annex is a four-story, approximately 28,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival commercial structure constructed of stucco-faced

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Tim Rodgers hopes lease will provide revenue for expansion space.

concrete block with the original decorative ornamentation.

“It’s an historic building,” Mr. Rodgers said, “so there will be rules and regulations associated with it due to its age. The historic façade is beautiful, with multi-colored raised tile work around the windows that will have to be preserved.”

The interior, he said, features double-height space on the first floor with very big windows in the front.

“It’s kind of a New York space, and would be really impressive as a restaurant – especially with the owner controlling parking nearby.”

The parking lot currently has 34 marked spaces, though the ITN states that a multi-level parking garage would be a better use of the

site. Some restrictions would apply due to a perpetual, non-exclusive access easement.

The two properties, acquired

by Wolfsonian founder Mitchell “Micky” Wolfson Jr. in 1986, are now owned by Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, an entity of the State of Florida, for the benefit of The Wolfsonian.

“We’re hoping to get a variety of proposals we can review,” Mr. Rodgers said. “There is a state process we must follow, but we hope to complete it by the end of June. That will get us that much closer to starting the expansion of our building on the Beach and tapping into the $10 million of bond money.”

Details: Kenia Junco, kjunco@ fiu.edu

MIAMI TODAY

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T he L ast W ord JOINING FIU GOVERNORS: The Florida Board of Governors has appointed Dean Colson, a former chairman of the Florida Board of Governors, to the Florida International University Board of Trustees, an appointment subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. Mr. Colson is a partner at Coral Gables-based law firm Colson Hicks Eidson. Mr. Colson chaired the University of Miami’s Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Colson succeeds Albert Maury, who served on the FIU board from 2007 to 2017.

Dean Colson

TRAFFIC BACKUP BATTLE: The City of Miami Beach continues to fight traffic woes by passing an ordinance that places additional restrictions and increased fees for developers closing major Miami Beach thoroughfares during morning and afternoon rush hour. “We are committed to improving mobility in any way we can,” said Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán. “This ordinance provides an incentive for construction companies to perform work outside of peak travel times when our residents are trying to get to work and school. It also aims to move lane closures to side streets versus heavily used right-of-ways,” she said. The new restrictions for road closures along major thoroughfares will now be in effect from 7 to 10 a.m. and from 3:30 to 7 p.m. No lane closures are permitted during these hours with the exception of emergency projects of an engineering nature. It also increases fees starting at $100 and ranging up to $1,000 for lane closures along major arteries, including Alton Road, Collins Avenue, 17th Street, 41st Street, Pine Tree Drive and 63rd Street, among many others.

KNIGHT ARTS CHALLENGE OPEN: A project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Knight Arts Challenge is accepting ideas through April 28 and offers a share of $2.5 million for local arts ideas. The grant is awarded to anyone with an idea that brings South Florida together through the arts. The 150-word initial application is available at knightarts.org.

PARKS SPACE NEEDED: The annual Public Space Challenge is asking Miami-Dade residents to submit their best ideas for creating, activating and improving local gathering places like parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, basketball courts and plazas in Greater Miami. The project is a partnership between the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, in partnership with the Miami Foundation. Each year, the foundation invests $305,000 to make the top ideas a reality. This year, Target will contribute $30,000 for ideas that encourage healthy eating and active play for youth and their families. Ideas can be submitted to the Public Space Challenge contest at ideas.ourmiami.org by April 6. Nationally, the parks department says, there is one park for every 2,277 residents, while in Miami-Dade it’s one park per 5,200. The department’s goal is to have park space within a five-minute walk of every resident.

AIRPORT ENERGY SAVINGS: The installation of $32 million in air conditioning and ventilation upgrades, water conservation retrofits, energyefficient lighting and other upgrades that will save Miami International Airport more than $40 million in utility costs over 40 years last week brought the airport high honors. The Airports Council International-North America gave the airport its Environmental Achievement Award for energy management for the project, which is saving the airport more than 35 million kilowatts of power per year. The project is “one of the largest projects Miami-Dade County has ever undertaken to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint,” said Mayor Carlos Gimenez in congratulating the airport on the award.

FAIR EXECUTIVES VISIT: Executives from more than 40 fairs and expositions, all members of the Mid-West Fairs Association, are in Miami through April 8 for the association’s spring meeting scheduled around the 2017 Miami-Dade County Youth Fair & Exposition at the Tamiami Park Fairgrounds. Meetings will be at the Doubletree Hotel by Hilton at Miami International Airport. “All of us in the fair and exposition business can learn from each other, and we are especially proud to show off our Miami-Dade County’s Youth Fair & Exposition to so many guests from such distinguished county, Robert Hohenstein regional and state fairs across America,” said Robert Hohenstein, president and CEO. SEEKING APPLICANTS: County Commissioner Joe A. Martinez is seeking applicants to fill vacancies for representing his district and MiamiDade. If interested, submit a resume via the district office email (district11@ miamidade.gov) by April 17. Details: district11@miamidade.gov, (305) 552-1155.

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