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MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION 
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David then asked Carlos Espinosa from Miami-Dade County DERM to provide an updated status of the land and lease acquisitions required to be completed by the project’s local sponsor.  Carlos stated that Roger Hernstadt, who is responsible for the land issues, could not attend today.  However, Roger did brief Carlos on the issues and Carlos reported that the negotiation with the “Meterman” property is moving along favorably.  The County is also discussing land options with the Jai Alai owners.  Carlos reported that all land issues are moving forward and he does not see any land issue problems developing.  David Miller explained that he had discussions with the owner of the Jai Alai and they may be interested in selling their property and relocating to another area.  The Jai Alai owner is aware that Miami-Dade Expressway and Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) will eventually need to obtain a large partial of the Jai Alia property for the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) rail and road connections.  Additionally, the county may need additional parking for the airport construction.  David suggested that the Jai Alai owners might be open to an offer to purchase the property, which could help improve the efficiency of the dredging project.  Discussion ensued. 

Jerry Scarborough advised the group that the Corps would need real estate certification for any property used for the dredging project.  Art Tillberg, MDC, advised that meetings have been held with the Jai Alai owners and the owners of the riverfront property and all negotiations were proceeding in a positive direction.

Jerry Scarborough next reported on the status of the DEP Water Quality Certification (WQC) and stated the application was submitted and the Corps and DEP have met to discuss the WQC issues and the meeting was very positive.  Glenn Schuster, Corps expert in WQC issues, explained that the WQC is going into the agency comment period.  Glenn also reported that since about half of the river is considered Outstanding Florida Waters (OFW) and has a no degradation standard, that the Corps has requested a variance so the entire river would be considered Class 3 waters.  The DEP fully understands the need for the variance and the Corps does not expect any problems, but there are no guarantees.  Jerry advised that the Corps and DEP have weekly conference calls and will keep updated on the progress of the WQC.  The individual responsible for primary review of the WQC is Mr. Kent Edwards of DEP.

Jerry stated that the Corps has had a tremendous response to their Request for Information and received formal responses from 17 different entities.  All were in favor of the open type contract that allowed companies to help design the project using innovative technology.  Jerry was very pleased with the response and the ideas that were presented

Carlos Espinosa reported that the county is requesting $2.25 million from the state for their share of the financial partnership.  Carlos recommended that industry could help by sending letters to their legislators seeking support for the $2.25 million appropriations.  David stated that he and Dr. Fran Bohnsack will be heading to Tallahassee next week to seek support for the state’s dredging appropriations.  Discussion ensued concerning land appropriations and potential credit from the Corps. 

David reported that the Miami River Commission has sent letters to all of Florida’s Congressional Representatives from south Florida and to both Senators requesting their support for federal appropriations for $10 million for the dredging project.  David encouraged industry representatives to contact or write their congressional members requesting support for the federal appropriations.  Dr. Bohnsach suggested we should meet with Senator Nelson, as he is new this year.

Discussion ensued concerning the required presentation by the Corps before the Miami-Dade County Commissioners.  Jerry advised that he would be prepared to discuss the worst case scenario, that is the conventional dredging proposal utilizing the berms and the temporary storage area.  Jerry advised that the winning contractor might be one utilizing an innovative approach that does not utilize the entire temporary storage area.  Carlos suggested that the group be fully prepared with all the answers before we go before the Commissioners.  The Group suggested that we plan for the last Commission meeting in April for the presentation, but we will delay if not fully prepared.

There being no new business, the next meeting was scheduled for 10 am, Tuesday, April 10, 2001 at the Rosenstiel School, and the meeting was adjourned.

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