The Miami River Commission’s (MRC) Economic Development and Commerce (EDC) Working Group met as regularly scheduled on the second Tuesday of the month, April 9, 3:00 PM, at the Rosenstiel School, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Dean’s Conference Room.  Cleve Jones, Jr. and Megan Kelly co-chaired the meeting.  The sign in sheets are enclosed.

The EDC opened the meeting with discussion of the draft Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan.  Brett Bibeau, MRC, stated a revised draft Urban Infill plan will be provided to the Miami River Marine Group prior to their Infill Plan presentation on April 30, 2002.  The MRC will review the draft on May 6, and the EDC will review the draft on May 8.  The final Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan will be presented to the MRC for approval on June 3, 2002.  Bibeau stated the EDC’s input for the plan collected during the March EDC meeting was forwarded to the Infill Planning consultants.  Cleve Jones Jr. stated he is willing to sell his portion of Palmer Lake, which would provide the necessary access to the Lake for a recreational boating facility, with ancillary uses such as a restaurant.  The EDC recommended this Palmer Lake proposal be recommended in the Urban Infill Plan, as a catalytic redevelopment project. The Urban Infill Working Group needs to meet with the MIC planners to coordinate this proposal.  In addition, the EDC recommended the Urban Infill Plan recommend a state of the art shipping warehouse with container storage and customs inspections, as another catalytic redevelopment project.    Furthermore, the EDC recommended Water Taxi’s for the Miami River, connecting to Bayside, downtown, the Port of Miami, South Beach, etc.  The goals of the EDC will be provided to the Infill consultants, for inclusion in the Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan.

Bibeau stated the MRC worked during the legislative session with Governor Bush’s Office, Senator Kendrick Meek, and Representative Randy Ball, on a bill to expand the existing state Enterprise Zone to include the entire Miami River Urban Infill boundary.  House Bill 1906 passed, and the Urban Infill Plan will depict the expanded Enterprise zone boundary.  Dianne Johnson, City of Miami, stated the City of Miami unanimously passed the first hearing of an ordinance providing Tax abatement for new and expanding businesses within the Enterprise zone.  Johnson stated the City Commission requested a committee be appointed to review the process of issuing the tax abatements, before the item comes back to the Commission for second reading.  Johnson stated she did not believe the committee has been created yet, and expects the ordinance to come back to the City Commission in a few months.  The EDC recommended a River business owner be appointed to the Committee, since the entire Miami River Urban Infill boundary is within the Enterprise Zone.

MRC staff reported the Small Business Administration (SBA) confirmed the MRC’s belief that census tract 48 qualifies for designation as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone.  In addition, the SBA stated they are in the process of updating their web site, depicting the inclusion of census tract 48 within the existing HUB zone along the Miami River.

The EDC reviewed the MRC’s letter to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) requesting the replacement of the 5^th Street Bridge, due to the Coast Guard’s determination that it is an obstruction to navigation and an “illegal” bridge.  Miller provided the EDC with a summary of the April 9 FDOT meeting, regarding the 5^th Street Bridge.  A vote of the attendees resulted in the following prioritized options:

Option 1: Build a new bridge to current standards.

Option 2: Eliminate the bridge and provide additional transportation modes, such as shuttles, etc. Option 3: remove the bridge and put a tunnel at 12^th Ave. Option 4: replace the bridge with a two lane pedestrian and emergency vehicles only bridge. Option 5: eliminate the bridge.

EDC reviewed and discussed the MRC’s letters to the Florida Department of Transportation, requesting a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC).  The letter quotes the EDC resolution on the issue.  At the EDC’s request, MRC staff stated they would continue to work towards effectuating the supplemental MIC EIS.

The EDC reviewed their goals and objectives.  The EDC recommended seawall repairs be included for TIF funding.  Under the “Major Projects” goal, the Marlins Ballpark is deleted and replaced with catalytic projects such as a recreational boating facility in Palmer Lake, the Florida Yacht Basin as a mega-yacht facility, and a state of the art shipping terminal and container storage facility in the upper river.  Under “Economic Development Incentives and Programs, the EDC added the Historically Underutilized Business Zone.

The EDC unanimously recommended the MRC accept the Miami River Commission’s 2001 Miami River Economic Report, and recommended that the report be updated one year after completion of the Miami River dredging project.

The next regularly scheduled EDC meeting is the second Tuesday of the month, May 14, 3 pm, Rosenstiel School, 4600 Rickenbacker Cswy., Dean’s Conference Room.

The meeting was adjourned.