North Bay Village Commission Meeting of January 8, 2013 Review

North Bay Village Commission Meeting of January 8, 2013

The customary call to order, the Pledge of Allegiance, Roll Call and Mayor Connie Leon Kreps’ usual meeting etiquette warnings, the business of running the village began.

The Business Development Board scheduled to meet on Wednesday, January 16, 2012 and had nothing new to report.

The Youth Services Board reported on the success of the Junior Orange Bowl Parade that was generously funded by private companies and residents of North Bay Village. Mr. Kevin Vericker proposed for the village commission to personally extend gratitude with special thanks for the sponsors. The commissions voted unanimously to expand “The Youth Services Board” to “The Youth and Education Services Board”.  This adds the responsibility of recommending ideas to the commission regarding educational programs and initiative that affect youths in the Village, including those in The Treasure Island Elementary IB Program. Mr. Vericker was also concerned regarding the lack of participation from parents with the Treasure Island Elementary School PTA. Additionally, Mr. Vericker hopes that with the windfall from the private donations of the Jr. Orange Bowl Parade to revise the Bicycle Rodeo for the second Saturday in March.  

Mr. Rey Trujillo reported on the Planning and Zoning Board and credited the P & Z for bringing two new recognized businesses to North Bay Village. It appears that Subway and Captain Joe are in the process of establishing themselves in North Bay Village.

Chief Daniels reported on public safety and the creation of a neighborhood crime watch.  Commissioner Richard Chervony reminded the Chief that we are into the first quarter of 2013 and we need to set goals for obtaining future savings to restart PALs and reduce our police budget.

The Village Manager report included good and bad news. The good news is that the Kennedy Boulevard Causeway Project will include removing the link fence and replacing it with pedestrian rails. The bad news is that our Village Manager dropped the ball and we lost $ 118,000.00 in Federal Funding!!! Nice going!!! They blame everyone under the stars except themselves. 

Commissioner Richard Chervony offered in his report to make 2013 the best ever. He pledged to attempt to have the village business process more green. Commissioner Chervony appears to be ready to the tackle the Police Department Budget issue and has been consistent in voicing his discontent regarding the failure from Chief Daniels in obtaining these goals.  He explained that in 2012 there were many questions asked concerning this issue and we have yet to see any answers. It appears that Chief Robert Daniels and Village Manager Dennis Kelly suffer from the same ailment; both commit themselves in resolving an issue only to shelve it for another meeting.  We are still waiting to see a detailed item by item financial report from our police department.

Vice Mayor Eddie Lim after wishing everyone a happy New Year and welcoming new Commissioner at Large Jorge Gonzalez and North Bay Village Commissioner Wendy Duval offered his report. He expressed his desire to see development on every available lot by stating “I don’t want to see any empty lots”.  Vice Mayor Lim continued pushing for the “Farmers Market” success and encouraged everyone to support the vendors on Fridays.  He spoke about other real estate projects and the unfortunate accident at the Hess Station. He complemented Chief Robert Daniels in the handling of the vehicle accident that went through the Hess Gas Station window.  The Vice Mayor was instrumental in bringing Cars2Go to North Bay Village for a one year trial period.

Commissioner At Large Jorge Gonzalez reported on meeting with the Village Hall Staff and Village Manager and proposed to look into a Village Sponsor Scholarship program. He expressed his views in redefining the current existing boards The Youth and Education Service Board, the Planning and Zoning Board and the Business Development Board.  Zero mention on cutting expenses, reducing crimes and lowering taxes. He touched on the legal challenges regarding the present state of the village supermarket. I got news for Commissioner Gonzalez this is not a “commission matter” it happens to be a private matter between the landlord and the supermarket owner.   

North Bay Village Commissioner Wendy Duval did not have anything to offer for the second time since her young commissionership. When this commission meets in February this would be two wasted months for this commission. North Bay Island Commissioner Richard Chervony was the the only commissioner that spoke about real village problems and is looking for genuine solutions.

Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps on her report thanked the now “The Youth and Education Services Board” on the exceptional job they did with the float for the Junior Orange Bowl Parade. The Mayor commended Chief Robert Daniels for initiating the drive for the Neighborhood Crime Watch.   The Mayor pushed on the idea of spending roughly $ 25,000.00 in a village wide survey. Additionally adding that possibly sending out the survey to half of the village population may not be enough.   This can make the survey cost double, is anyone ever going to be fiscally responsible? The Mayor explained that when she interviews some of the village residents she gets mixed reports. The mayor sampled that some residents say that the police department is doing a good job while others differ. Others say we have too many parks while some say we need more parks. Could this have anything to do with buying the property from the Jonas for roughly a million dollars? I personally invite the Mayor to take a tour of the village with me to indentify major quality of life issues including safety issues being ignored by our police department; thus saving $ 25,000.00 to $50,000.00 on the survey. The residents that I have interviewed most express frustration distrust on the commission and an overall feeling of “why bother”.  I walk the streets of our village on a daily basis. I have seen Commissioner Chervony do his rounds. Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps is only seen around Treasure Island during elections.

Vice Mayor Eddie Lim, Commissioner At Large Jorge Gonzalez and Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps expressed their disappointment that continuously the same residents show up at the meetings and expressed their view on the problems at hand; insinuating that they have grown tired of these residents and their complaints; often turning a deaf ear to these residents.  I agree that we can use more participation from our residents. However it is shameful of these village officials when they ignore, or worst ridicule the opinions and views of any resident. Yes, Ethics and etiquette should be part of educational workshop offered to our village officials as Mayor Leon-Kreps suggested on her report and Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez agreed.     

 

No “brainer ordinances” regarding additional homestead exemption for residents 65 and over, that have lived in their homes for 25 years or longer and their property values are $ 250,000.00 or less. 2) Ordinance that seek to ensure that all elected officials and advisory board/ committee members receive ethics education. 3) Resolution that would allow the Village to pay postage for mailing absentee ballots 4) The settlement with Valley Crest & Southeast to finish the Kennedy Boulevard Causeway Project   were all approve  with 5/5 votes.

A Subways store will be coming to North Bay Village and will be established on the empty store front located at the Mini Storage on Kennedy Boulevard Causeway  

However Captain Joe’s aspiration for a Boat, Jet Ski, and Kayak rental business hit a snag regarding the fifteen parking spots required. Mr. Al Coletta was fuming, and rightly so because the Village Manager Dennis Kelly has dragged his feet in confirming that in fact Al Coletta is free to assign these parking spaces. So much for attracting new businesses to the village, Mr. Joaquin Ramirez was gracious enough to allow the Village to solve the problem by next Tuesday otherwise Captain Joe will dock someplace else.   I certainly hope that all hands on deck from the village elected officials, village manager and his staff find a solution. 

 

RFQ for Legal Services continued from December 11, 2012 finally came for a vote.  It was decided to choose a first pick and the second pick in each of the three categories Labor, General Government, Land Use and Zoning in order for Norman Powell and Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez to attempt to negotiate a contract to bring back to the commission for approval.

 

By unanimous choice of 5-0 Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole Boniske was chosen as first pick for General Counsel and Land Use/Zoning. Second choice was

Rosen, Switkes.

 

Labor was split with 3 first place votes and being declared first pick to Bryant, Miller, Olive with Jim Crossland as the City Attorney for this practice. The Second pick went to Weiss Serota with two first place votes and three second picks. The three votes for Bryant, Miller Olive were: Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps, Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez and Commissioner Wendy Duval. Vice Mayor Eddie Lim and Commissioner Richards Chervony chose Weiss Serota.

 

The Village Manager Performance Evaluation Status was a big item. Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps listed all the disappointments and lack of communications from our Village Manager Dennis Kelly. The Mayor basically awarded the Village Manager a grade of D and recommended no raise or bonus for a poor job performance. The Mayor was grateful for the hiring of our Finance Director Mr. Bert Wreins.  Commissioner Richard Chervony for the second time in one year gave Mr. Dennis Kelly a minus D grade at best. Vice Mayor Lim did not have the courage to verbalize his evaluation and stated it was not completed. Commissioners Gonzalez and Duval were unable to offer an evaluation citing their short time as commissioners.

 

Other Items on the agenda were painting of the Village Hall by Mayor Connie Leon-Kreps. The Village coffers must have endless pockets or maybe we can get volunteers to do it.  Wait there is a better idea, start planning for a multi-purpose village hall and stop paying $ 18,000.00 a month rent. Get out of the lot that is used to park the police cars and save another $1700.00 per month; FISCAL RESPONSIBILTY!!!!!!!!!

 

Welcome signs introduced by Commissioner Richard Chervony, we are probably the only village in Miami without a welcome sign; where is the pride?

 

“Humbly opinionating and “PUTTING NORTH BAY VILLAGE FIRST”

 

Mario Garcia