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3- Meeting Minutes 12-14-23 General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee City of Miami Beach MEETING MINUTES No. 44 December 14, 2023 Members Present: Karen Rivo, Chair Jack Glottmann, Vice-Chair Scott Needelman Laura Veitia Susan Askew Dana Martorella Shari Gurkin Non-Voting Members Present: Carolina Jones David Grieser Michael DeFilippi Absent: Jason Koslowe Bruce Carter Dennis Scholl Adam Kravitz Staff and Guests Present: Maria Hernandez, Liaison David Martinez Eric Carpenter Christina Ortega Digna Abello Daniel Alzuri Elizabeth Estevez Elizabeth Miro Eric Garcia Giancarlo Pena Frank Garcia Jose Gonzalez Heather Shaw Joe Gomez Justin Karr Lindsey Precht Lauren Firtel Krystal Dobbins Jani Singer Joseph Centorino Otniel Rodriguez Pilar Caurin Rickelle Williams Roland Aragunde David Phillips Brandi Reddick Casey Steadman Jean Ortega Ximena Caminos Richard Price Meeting Start Time: 4:30 pm General Notes: These meeting minutes are condensed and seek to capture the overall intent of discussions as interpreted by the meeting coordinator. Each paragraph indicates the time on the audio recording where the discussion commenced during the meeting. For more detail on the discussion, please refer to the audio recording in its entirety. All current and past meeting materials including agendas, handouts, minutes, presentations, and audio recordings are available by visiting: www.GOMBInfo.com/OversightCommittee/Meeting Records. G.O. Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes No. 44 December 14, 2023 Page 2 of 6 I. Roll Call and Introductions (Refer to the Meeting Audio Recording and page 1 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond Website.) 0:07 Chair Karen Rivo called the meeting to order. Roll call was completed. II. Committee Business Adoption of Meeting Minutes from 10-26-23 3:58 Chair Karen Rivo asked for a motion to approve the October 26th meeting minutes. Motion: 4:05 Dana Martorella made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. 4:08 Jack Glottmann seconded the motion. Motion passed. Committee Changes 4:20 Chair Karen Rivo reported that this is Susan Askew’s last meeting as a member. She represents the Arts & Culture community. Bruce Carter and Carolina Jones are both term limited. Bruce Carter represents the Cultural Arts Council and Carolina Jones represents the Parks & Recreation Committee. Due to these changes, pending reappointments, and potential lack of quorum, the G.O. Bond Committee will not meet in January. 2024 Meeting Calendar Draft (Refer to page 2 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond website.) 7:09 Maria Hernandez presented the draft 2024 meeting calendar for the Oversight Committee. The meetings will be hybrid. Committee Members must be present physically, but Staff and the public may join via Zoom. Staff is hoping to move the meetings a half hour early, starting at 4:00 pm, and end at 6:00 pm. Maria will be reaching out to the Members individually asking if this time change is acceptable. III. Community Outreach (Refer to pages 3-4 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond website.) Upcoming and Recent Past Public Meetings 11:17 Kevin Pulido discussed the Items Related to G.O. Bond Program Projects, found on pages 3 and 4 of the Agenda and Handouts Packet. He explained how all the items are hyperlinked and you can see the video of each item on the City’s website. 12:53 Maria Hernandez reported the actions of the nine G.O. Bond items that were on the December 13th City Commission Meeting agenda. IV. 2023 Inspector General Report (Refer to pages 5-12 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond website.) G.O. Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes No. 44 December 14, 2023 Page 3 of 6 Role of the Oversight Committee 15:20 Chair Karen Rivo reported that the Inspector General’s Office sends out a quarterly status report on the G.O. Bond Oversight Committee. She discussed the Committee’s Charge, which is found on the bottom section of the agenda. She asked Jani Singer and Inspector General Joseph Centorino to discuss their role as it relates to the Committee. 19:49 Inspector General Joseph Centorino reported that Jani Singer keeps him updated on the G.O. Bond Program because she attends all committee meetings and the monthly internal staff meetings. He explained that the OIG’s function is to conduct investigations, inspections, and audits. Ordinance No. 2019-4239, which established the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) makes a specific reference to the G.O. Bond Program. The OIG has not had any reason to conduct an investigation and/or audit of the program. There hasn’t been any missing funds, corruption, fraud, or serious misconduct of any kind. He believes that this is a testament to the G.O. Bond Director who does a great job, as well as the other City departments involved, such as CIP. The Office is aware of some of the issues that have risen in regard to cost overruns, add-ons to the projects, and delays, which are bureaucratic troubles that probably occur in just about any government anyplace. Discussion continued. 25:14 Jani Singer reported that the OIG has access to any documentation that they may need, as well as access to Staff if they may have any questions and/or concerns on any of the projects. Any time she has reached out to any of the staff members, to date, they have been very forthcoming about the problems and successes. The Committee needs to know that some of the staff members have said that they are getting to a place where, perhaps in the near future, Staff needs to discuss whether there will be some projects that they cannot give to the community as promised, and if so, what if anything can be done to prevent that end result. Staff has been great at explaining why there are delays and why spending has slowed down. Ms. Singer explained that the specific projects she mentioned on the report are the projects that have generated a lot of public interest and are at risk. Ms. Singer emphasized that it would be helpful for the Committee to figure out how to get their voices heard. Committee Discussion 30:15 Jack Glottmann stressed his concerns with Fire Station #1, which has been receiving extensive public input since 2015 and has received many delays. This project, as well as 72nd Street Community Complex, are 2 examples of projects that need to move forward. The potential of losing either grants and/or the money spent so far would be a real shame and a disservice to the community. 31:33 Scott Needelman explained how Staff in the past has reported that Tranche 2 funds will only become available if a certain percentage has been spent in each category. One of his concerns with the report is that it encourages Staff to spend more money quickly. He understands that the Administration is trying to move projects along, but he doesn’t want to waste any taxpayer money either. He explained that if a project is expected to not happen, it needs to be discussed as soon as possible. G.O. Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes No. 44 December 14, 2023 Page 4 of 6 Discussion continued. 36:10 David Grieser thanked Joseph Centorino and Jani Singer for their report. He explained that there seems to be a general theme when going through these projects. They all have substantial community involvement and approvals that extend over a long period of time, where a new commission comes in, and the process begins again. The smallest project highlighted in the report is the 34th Street Shared Use Path, which was referred to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee at the December 13th City Commission Meeting. This Committee currently doesn’t have anyone appointed to the board, so it is unknown when this item will even be heard. He noted that the Committee Members have written multiple Letters to the Commission and it seems as though those letters aren’t being read or reflected upon. He feels like we are at a point where we are losing these projects. 39:21 Susan Askew explained that she would like to understand the fiscal impacts of delays of these projects. This information can be used to only benefit the projects moving forward. 42:11 Chair Karen Rivo expressed that Fire Station #1 is stuck again and she was shocked at what happened at the December 13th City Commission Meeting. 43:35 Jack Glottmann stressed that Fire Station #1 is a life safety matter and if it doesn’t get built soon, it can have a serious impact on the City in the future. He explained that the Committee needs to do whatever they can to get these projects moving forward. 44:45 Chair Karen Rivo agreed with Jack Glottmann. 45:00 Laura Veitia agreed with everything the Committee Members mentioned. She noted that since the 2018 G.O. Bond Program began, we have seen the biggest increase in inflationary costs. She stressed the importance of the 72nd Street Community Complex being a world class project that represents Miami Beach, and she believes that the bids that had been received are much more realistic in price for the concept and are in line with providing a world class facility. As a Committee, we should express to the Commission the importance of having Fire Station #1 because it is a life safety issue. There is no need for further delay of this project. 46:52 Chair Karen Rivo asked Staff if it would be helpful and/or effective to issue a Letter to Commission expressing the Committee’s deep concerns about the delays of projects. 47:27 Maria Hernandez responded that the Committee Members, as is customary, make a motion so that Staff can transmit their motion via a Letter to Commission. Motion: 48:30 Jack Glottmann said he would make a motion. He stressed the importance of making it clear to the Commission the fact that many of these projects have been vetted and gone through years of public meetings and feedback. To continue to delay these projects would be unreasonable. 50:51 Dana Martorella seconded the motion. Motion passed 7-0. G.O. Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes No. 44 December 14, 2023 Page 5 of 6 50:58 David Grieser agreed with Jack Glottmann’s motion. He suggested for Staff to go through the OIG in order to get these projects moving. 52:13 Scott Needleman emphasized the importance of mentioning all of the projects that have a delay in the motion. He agreed with David Grieser’s suggestion of going through the OIG. 53:33 Inspector General Joseph Centorino stressed the importance of getting this information out to the public. He suggested that they can work with an auditor and the media in order to spread the word of what the financial impacts may be if these delays continue to occur. 56:10 Chair Karen Rivo said that she supports Joseph Centorino’s suggestion. 56:20 Chair Karen Rivo stated that she believes all the Members understand the gist of the motion. She asked Maria Hernandez to work on the language. 56:27 Susan Askew suggested attaching the OIG Report to the LTC to let the City Commission know that the Members are noticing trends in the delays of projects. V. Public Comment 58:48 Chair Karen Rivo asked if anyone from the public would like to speak. 59:00 Matthew Gultanoff explained that he was surprised at the December 13th City Commission Meeting with 34th Street Shared Use Path project being deferred back to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee when it originally came from that Committee to the Commission. VI. Arts & Culture Bond Program General Status (Refer to pages 13-19 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond website.) 1:00:34 Maria Hernandez reported that 2.7% of Tranche 1 funds have been spent and/or encumbered. There are currently 14 active projects out of the total 21 projects. Out of the 46 total subprojects, 37 of them are complete and/or active. The Canopy Projection Mapping at the Miami Beach Bandshell is the first subproject to be completed. VII. 2018 Bond Program General Status (Refer to pages 20-27 of the Agenda & Handouts Packet on the G.O. Bond website.) 1:07:30 Maria Hernandez reported that 72% of Tranche 1 funds have been spent and/or encumbered. There are 43 completed and/or active projects out of the total 57 projects. Out of the 89 total subprojects, 85 subprojects are complete and/or active. There was a total of $24.9 million worth of projects which construction commenced in 2023. Staff is projecting a total of $47.4 million in 2024 construction commencements. G.O. Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes No. 44 December 14, 2023 Page 6 of 6 VIII. Final Review of 2023 1:18:45 Chair Karen Rivo thanked the Staff for everything they do. IX. Adjournment 1:20:27 Meeting adjourned.