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2003-25117 Reso RESOLUTION NO. 2003-25117 A RESOLUTION APPROVING A SETTLEMENT REGARDING LIENS ON THE PROPERTY AT 1440 ALTON ROAD OWNED BY TSE-DAO CHIEN PROVIDING THAT LIEN IN THE AMOUNT OF $240,946.00 BE SETTLED AND FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE SETTLEMENT. WHEREAS, the property at 1440 Alton Road has liens for City fines and services assessed against the property in the amount of $240,946.00; and WHEREAS, the owner of the property responsible for the fines and various liens associated with the property has recently renovated the entire property; and WHEREAS, Tse-Dao Chien, the owner of the property has entered into settlement discussions with the City regarding the outstanding liens on the property in an effort to provide clear title and pay a fine and provide services to the City. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT DULY RESOLVED by the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, that a settlement for outstanding City liens at the property of 1440 Alton Road in the amount of $240,946.00 is hereby approved (Special Master case JC990729) upon payment of the sum of $5,000.00 by Tse-Dao Chien to the City of Miami Beach and to provide photographic services in an amount not to exceed $20,000 for a total of $2'5,000 for year 2003 and 2004 to the City of Miami Beach by Tropicolor Photo. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 5th , 2003. ~p~ CITY CLERK RD:lm A:debbie.bas ~-Y-&J3 Dale . 1 22-Oct-02 I""" ~ ~ -< , i c' ;0, I " I " I ~~. I -".. I I t ~~ ! UI ~- -.' e- N o " n' ,- --i t :. ,~.. N ;,..... N ri: ..-:- From: Chien T Dao (Tom) and. Troplcolcr Photo 1442 Alto Road .~-:::- .<' Re: i Beach business with Troplcolor P hDtO rT'~ '-2 .-, .c- ~ -.l firld below. summary of the buslnClS8 the Clly doe. wfth r )'Our VlIluBble .38Iltanoe In \hi, metter, City Depertment 'rolli' BuIIIneA ,PeYrntmhJ on aG:iGOWlt Out.f1cii~ beIenoo Clly C1.~ SU1U2 12,123085 1782.77 CIlIluFIII AtU "3&,36 $13Ue SO.OO 'arkS $2.062-~ S1 .3e2.~ lOao.OO Planning '1,'81.57 S201 .. $171.12 , Public WOI'1ll $17,32 '1-7.32 So.oO 6anttatlgn $1.58U5 $1,5t!lUS 10.00 ftKnNdlon 12,564.17 12,348.74 1214.43 . Rbk Management 1381,18 1165.24 S3U2 Tota'" $tO.It104.80 ".114.1~ S2. 700.74 'd , L.S10-2t.9-S0e ...101 o::n Clh~,J.l W~t~:s zooa za ~~O W'd SO:~1 ~O. 81 ADN 960l~l9S0~': 'xe~---'--- NoissiwWOJ'8~ON:lW Re: City of Miami Beach Office of the Special Master Case Number-JC990 729 f0<-3~ ()6~ Address: 1440 Alton Road, Miami Beach To: Date: March 1, 2002 Subject: Mitigation The taxpayer-applicants are the owners of a family-owned retail business doing business on the subject property since 1986. Originally the family leased the retail premises until about ten years ago when it was purchased under the name of one of the business owners, Tse-Dao (Tom) Chien and his Mother, Sui- Meei Chen Wang. Tom's brother, Tse-Shien (John) Chien is the other owner of the retail business and fully authorized to represent and speak on behalf of the actual owners of the real estate property. We are a first generation immigrants, started without capital as entrepreneurs and we not only created work for our own selves but have also created work for other people who work at our store. On Aug. 4,1999 our Miami Beach architect firm, Taylor & Taylor, wrote to the City on our behalf stating that it is engaged to comply with the City code requirements. We thought the city in not contacting us further was satisfied with the architect's letter. It was more than a year later when we received a Last Notice from the City. Knowing nothing about construction ourselves, we relied upon a licensed professional contractor to fully comply with the City of Miami Beach zoning code and laws, Tropicolor Photo Services, Inc., alk/a Tropicolor Photo, contracted on Aug. 2, 2000 with Asian G. F. Enterprises, Inc., a licensed Miami-Dade County contractor firm, license number CGC057579, to cure all violations and to remodel the building structures and expand the size of the Tropicolor business. The contract price was for $120,100 and called for the contractor to "achieve Substantial Completion of the entire work not later than 136 days from the date of commencem~DL s<:b~cjlJlilJgth~ cOIJl~I~Ji()Jl ~~teJ()~~IL__..__________ . ..-..-------..- --..-- in mid-December 2000. The work had to be done in two phases. Phase 1 for the retail store and Phase 2 for the building in the rear lot. By a year later Phase 1 was only partially completed and Phase 2 was not started at all. The contractor proved to be incompetent and unreliable and by one year from the date of commencement the actual work completed was about 50% and the costs were way over budget. We looked to hire other contractors to finish the job and ran into the situation where other contractors quoted higher fees to complete the job than the original contract with Asian. We also learned from the workers Asian sent from time to time that Asian did not pay as promised and they did not want to work for it. Faced with this situation in the middle of a job we realized that we needed to take matters into our own hands and began to work directly with the sub-contractor and paid them with our own funds in order to keep the project moving in the right direction. We spent all of our available funds on this project. When the money ran out we took a 2nd mortgage on John's home and began taking advances from several lines of credit with credit cards. At the present time we have taken additional debt of around $100,000 and are working towards procuring additional debts of about $50,000 to $75,000, which we estimate we still need to fully complete the expansion project we have undertaken. Despite the current economic turmoil, we continue to do our best efforts to complete the project. Not too many small businesses on the beach would make the financial commitment we made in a recession. This shows a tremendous commitment and faith in this city where we have been doing business at the same location for over 15 years. These efforts are beginning to give results. Just before Christmas 2001 we "moved" Tropicolor to the south half of the building and have been doing business there ever since. We are renovating the north half of the building and in a couple of ! i 'I ~ .. months we will have the entire building for Tropicolor. When Phase 2 is done we intend to rent it. Eventually the rental income plus most of the profits from Tropicolor will be usE3d to ,. pay offthe extra debts we took on. We had a lousy contractor whose poor performance cost us a lot of money we did not expect to have to spend and a lot of time wasted on promises that were not delivered, resulting in a six-figure fine, which we are requesting mitigation for. Our property is and will be much improved from what it was 18 months ago, well beyond what Code Compliance asked for. We believe that when taking the unusual circumstances into account the fines should be abated in their entirety. The City has not been affected by any damages, physical or otherwise, by our improvements to our property. To be fair, we recognize the City would want to be reimbursed for its costs and expenses incurred in this case for $3,000, which in our current financial situation is a high amount for us to pay. We are both in our early thirties; our youth and inexperience in this matter compounded the problems created by the incompetent contractor. Nonetheless, we are proud of our accomplishment and deserve recognition and consideration instead of punishment. Respectfully submitted, Under penalties of perjury each of the undersigned affirms the declarations in this document to their true positions and beliefs regarding this case. Tse-Dao Chien ~~(j!-u[- Tse-Shien Chien CITY OF MIAMI BEACH COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY m - Condensed Title: A Resolution approving a settlement regarding liens on the property at 1440 Alton Road owned by Mr. Tse- Daa Chien providing that the lien in the amount of $240,946,00, be settled in consideration of payment and services valued at $25,000 and further authorizing the City Manager and City Clerk to execute any and all documents necessarv to effectuate the settlement. Issue: Shall the City of Miami Beach approve a settlement regarding liens on the property at 1440 Alton Road, Miami Beach, owned by Mr. Tse-Dao Chein providing a lien in the amount of $240,946.00 be settled for $25,000,00, Item Summa IRecommendation: In 1999, the property owner was issued notices of violation for exterior property maintenance violations, Due to non-compliance, the case was forwarded to the Special Master in June of 1999. At that time and in order to correct the violations, the owners decided to completely renovate the interior and exterior of the property, During the renovation, the owners learned that the general contractor was not paying the sub- contractors, thus the construction work was delayed. The owners fired the general contractor and commenced completion of the project on their own with additional expenses in excess of $100,000,00. This action further delayed the completion of the renovation. The owners became aware of the daily fine that was accruing at $450,00 per day and were able to petition the Special Master to cease the daily fine, The project was completed and all violations were corrected in January of 2002. In addressing the violations the ro e has been substantiall renovated and is now full com Iiant. Advisory Board Recommendation: I N/A Financial Information: Source of Amount Account Approved Funds: 1 D 2 3 4 Finance Dept. Total Ci Clerk's Office Le Islative Trackin Vivian P. Guzman 5i n"()ffs: Department Director City Manager AGENDA ITEM C 7 I DATE ~.S-~3 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139 www.ci.miami-beach.fl.us COMMISSION MEMORANDUM Subject: Mayor David Dermer and Date: February 5, 2003 Members of the City Commission Jorge M. Gonzalez t\ . A/ City Manager '0 - 0 A RESOLUTION APPROVING A SETTLEMENT REGARDING LIENS ON THE PROPERTY AT 1440 ALTON ROAD, MIAMI BEACH, FL OWNED BY TSE-DAO CHEIN PROVIDING A LIEN IN THE AMOUNT OF $240,946.00 BE SETTLED AND FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE SETTLEMENT. To: From: ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION Adopt the Resolution. ANALYSIS As of 1986, Mr. Tse-Dao Chein and his family have been operating Tropicolbr Photo Service Inc., at 1440 Alton Road. Mr. Tse-Dao Chein purchased the property in April 1991. In 1999, the property owner was issued notices of violation for exterior property maintenance violations. Due to non-compliance, the case was forwarded to the Special Master in June of 1999. At that time and in order to correct the violations, the owners decided to completely renovate the interior and exterior of the property. The renovation was well beyond what was necessary to address the property maintenance violations cited. The owners contracted the services of an architect from the firm Taylor & Taylor to correct the violation and commence plans to renovate the property. In August of 2000, the property owners contracted with Asian G.P. Enterprises, Inc., a state licensed general contractor to begin the work. During the renovation, the owners learned that the general contractor was not paying the sub-contractors, thus the construction work was delayed. The owners fired the general contractor and commenced completion of the project on their own with additional expenses in excess of $100,000.00. This action further delayed the completion of the renovation. The owners became aware of the daily fine that was accruing at $450.00 per day and were able to petition the Special Master to cease the daily fine. The project was completed and all violations were corrected in January of 2002. Tropicolor Photo Service Inc. is a City vendor that provides photographic services for the following departments/divisions: City Clerk Office, Cultural Arts, Parks, Planning, Public Works, Sanitation, Recreation and Risk Management. February 5, 2003 Commission Memorandum Page 2 of 2 In order to settle the outstanding liens, the owners have agreed to pay a fine of $5,000.00, and to provide the City of Miami Beach with photographic services for an amount not to exceed $20,000.00 for a grand total settlement amount of $25,000.00. The $20,000 in services can be used at the discretion of the City and with no time limit. Attached is the mitigation request from the owner and a list from Tropicolor Photo Service Inc. representing the total ount billed by City department in the past year.