Miami Today: Week of Thursday, January 18, 2018

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00

GLOBAL CONTEST TO END MIAMI’S TRANSIT WOES HAS ITS WINNER: EVERYONE SHOULD CARPOOL, PG. 3 POWERFUL TAX CUT: Florida Power & Light said Tuesday that savings from the federal tax overhaul will allow it to avoid billing customers for the $1.3 billion cost of restoring electricity after Hurricane Irma. FPL had initially planned to start billing customers in March for the restoration costs but put those plans on hold after Congress and President Donald Trump last month approved the overhaul, which cut corporate tax rates and made numerous other changes in the federal tax code. FPL said a 2016 agreement that set the utility’s base electric rates allowed it to “leverage” the tax savings to deal with Irma’s costs.

The Achiever

By Gabi Maspons

LET AUTHORITY DO IT: Miami-Dade County wants to hand the MiamiDade Expressway Authority temporary control of Southwest 137th Avenue between Southwest Eighth and 26th streets so that the authority can widen 137th from four lanes to six, aligning it with the avenue’s configurations both north and south of that stretch. The expressway authority has agreed to procure workers and materials, finance the widening, and design and construct the segment, which is a county priority in its 2040 long-range transportation plan that the county has not funded. The project, the county says, “will also correct an operational deficiency at the intersection of Southwest 137th Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street, which causes severe traffic congestion for southbound traffic during peak hours.” The county’s Transportation and Public Workd Committee is to consider the issue this week. CENTRALIZED GROVE VALET: Parking customers now can use a centralized valet program at one of five locations in the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District that opened this week. Parking is $5 daytimes, $8 after 6 p.m. Special event rates will be flexible. Hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. or until the last car leaves Thursday-Saturday. The valet stands are at 3176 Commodore Plaza, 3067 Grand Ave., 2820 McFarlane Road, 1958 Main Highway and 2901 Florida Ave. The Miami Parking Authority “has established the centralized valet parking program in Coconut Grove to support customers, merchants and visitors,” said Authority CEO Art Noriega. Details: (305) 373-6789, Ext. 289, or www.miamiparking.com. RED LIGHT TO GO: The Miami City Commission may have voted to end the red light camera program back on Dec. 14, but the program will remain in effect until at least Feb. 26, according to city officials, and will function as normal. Those who receive a ticket can pay through American Traffic Solutions or appeal through the Hearing Boards process. Details: the Red Light Camera Violation Hearings, (305) 416-1400.

Jack Stephens

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Dreams of Tri-Rail service to Homestead and Aventura The profile is on Page 4

City talks of monetizing its Watson Island land By John Charles Robbins

A request by the Miami Children’s Museum for more city-owned land on Watson Island so it can expand has met with some skepticism and opposition. The museum is asking for 26,599 more square feet on its southwest side to expand program space and provide a new entrance. The city commission would have to approve the land transfer, and the matter might end up on a ballot for residents to decide. This revisiting of the museum’s agreement with the city has led some commissioners to reexamine uses that prior city leaders allowed to gain a foothold on what is arguably the city’s most valuable real estate – and what different uses might bring the city fresh revenue. Newly-elected Joe Carollo suggested a new restaurant could succeed on the island. “We need to start looking for revenue streams,” he said. Newly-elected Manolo Reyes agreed with Mr. Carollo and said the city isn’t getting as much revenue as it should from the barrier island, which it owns. Portions fall under control of the Miami Sports and Exhibition

Bonds save water/sewer $101million

Authority (MSEA), which is appointed by and answers to the city commission. When the matter first came up in September, commissioners considered a resolution urging the city manager to take all steps necessary to amend the agreement between the city and the authority and the sublease agreement between the authority and the museum in order to transfer the 26,599 square feet to the museum. That resolution was deferred and amended to direct the city manager to review the agreement between the city and the authority and the sublease agreement between MSEA and the non-profit museum in order to consider whether the city should transfer the requested land. If approved, the resolution would have required the city manager to return to the commission with an action plan for the property transfer. In the end, no vote was taken but commissioners did direct manager Emilio González to examine the museum lease and all related matters, and a separate request from the museum to clean up an adjacent trashed lawn area and maintain it as a park. Regarding the museum’s request for more

land, Mr. Carollo said, “We’re not doing ourselves any good by giving away a half-acre … for free.” Later he returned to that theme, saying the city has enormous financial responsibilities and “we can no longer give prime property away.” Commission Chairman Keon Hardemon agreed the island is ripe for other moneymaking ventures, saying, “We have to create some revenue.” Later, Mr. Hardemon said, “I want to look at other ways to monetize that space.” Complicating a view of the island’s future are several ‘what if’ clouds looming, including planned improvements to Jungle Island that include a hotel, and redevelopment of a seaplane and heliport business. The biggest unknown with potentially the largest impact is the final result of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that Flagstone Island Gardens LLC filed against the city after the commission found the developer in default of a ground lease of island property, determining little to none of the upland portion of a planned mixed-use mega resort had been built. A deep harbor marina was completed in 2016.

Miami-Dade sold almost $1 billion in water and sewer bonds last month, saving $101 million in debt payment as the department begins its sixth year of a $13.5 billion full system revamp. Issued were $381.4 million in bonds to pay off outstanding taxexempt water and sewer system commercial paper notes and make a deposit to reserves, Fitch Ratings said before the bonds were issued, and $548 million in bonds to pay off part of the outstanding 2010 bonds. After county commissioners authorized the bonds in November, Wells Fargo priced them Dec. 6 and closed the deal Dec. 19. Though the bonds were to be offered a day earlier to retail investors than to institutional investors, they were sold the same day, a mayoral report says, to take advantage of a strong market. The refunding saved $101 million in debt payments over the years, the memo says, valued today at $74 million, or 13%. Fitch rated the new bonds A+ before they were issued, citing the county system’s stable customer base of 2.6 million, strong regulatory compliance and financial performance. The water and sewer department is five years into a 15-year $13.5 billion infrastructure program to comply with a consent decree with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade pump stations and sewers and comply with state law to stop flowing wastewater into the ocean by 2025. “The investments we’re making today have longevity because we take care of our assets,” the department told Miami Today last month. “We have pipes in the system today that are in excess of 80 years old, and these projects could take us into the 22nd century.” Fitch confirms the department’s care of its assets: “The system has been able to defer construction… by reducing water loss and utilizing existing supplies, building new assets only as demand warrants.”

CURRENCY EXCHANGES ALSO COLLECT BIG FOR CHARITY ...

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WARNINGS ON TRANSIT TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PLAN ...

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MANAGER GIVEN 60 DAYS TO CHART HOUSING AUTHORITY ...

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COUNTY ASKED TO LOOK TOWARD CENTER FOR GENETICS ...

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VIEWPOINT: NEW ROUTE FOR BUS DRIVERS: JUST SHOW UP...

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SMALL BUSINESS LENDING, AND INTEREST RATES, ON RISE ...

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FUEL HUB FOR FIRST COUNTY CNG BUS DUE IN FEBRUARY ...

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BID TO FILL BAYWALK GAPS SHELVED FOR BIGGER NEEDS ...

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