I. CHAIRS REPORT:

Mr. Parks called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the February meeting.  He stated that there was a quorum present and asked everyone for approval of the January minutes.  Sandy O’Neil made the motion to approve the January minutes.  Gary Winston seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.  Mr. Parks stated that the executive committee decided that they would do more personal visitations with the City and County Commissioners as well as the local legislators.  Dade days is April 2 and 3^rd in Tallahassee^.  Anyone who would like to go is welcome to attend at his or her own expense.  The executive committee did decide that both Brett and David would attend and their expenses would be paid by the MRC.  Mr. Parks introduced Steve Wright the new designee of Commissioner Joe Sanchez and Dana Nottingham, the new Executive Director of the Downtown Development Authority.  Mr. Parks asked Brett to report on Miami Riverday.  Riverday will be on April 5, 2003 at Jose Marti Park from 11 am to 5 pm.  Brett stated that this year the Riverday Committee is looking to expand the sponsorship role to other members of the community outside of the marine industry.  Mr. Parks stated that Brett should give an information packet to Mr. Nottingham and stated that he would like further information on volunteer opportunities.  Sandy O’Neil asked if in-kind sponsorship was being sought out as well.  Brett stated that it was.

II.  Gatehouse/BAME Affordable Housing Development Presentation

            Michael Spetko, Gatehouse Group, and Bill Mauzy, BAME Development Corp. of South Florida Inc., introduced themselves to the group.  Mr. Spetko stated that they are the same group that owns and developed the Miami River Park Apartments.  The housing project that they propose would be developed on the site that was originally being sought after by the Water and Sewer Department for a new storage facility for their trucks and office building at NW 5^th Street and NW 7^th Avenue.  The proposed development, Tuscan Place, would have 199 residential units.  They have received approval for a height variance in order to make the building 13-stories but still keep it under the height limitation of 120 feet.  The building is 37 feet from 5^th Street, which is on the south or riverside of the building.  Mr. Spetko stated that he expected their front yard to be part of the greenway with walking trails, etc.  Mr. Murley passed around the recommendation made by the Urban Infill Working Group in reference to this proposed housing development.  The Urban Infill Working Group unanimously recommended the approval of the proposed project as well as the approval of the height variance.  Mr. Spetko stated that no matter what design is chosen for the new 5^th Street Bridge, that the proposed project will not be affected.  Mr. Spetko stated that the 37-foot setback from 5^th Street could be used as an actual part of the greenway and open to the public at all times.  He made the point that they have decided to put their driveway at the back of the complex so that the area along 5^th Street would be open to pedestrians without them having to worry about any sort of vehicular traffic.  The proposed apartments would rent for about $600 to $650 for a three-bedroom apartment (this is a tax credit affordable community).  Mr. Parks stated that he would take the recommendation of the Urban Infill Working Group as the motion for approval.  The recommendation stated that the MRC support the proposed development and recommended approval of the special exception.  Sandy O’Neil seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.  Construction is expected to start in January of 2004 and building would take 12 to 18 months to complete.

III.  Pinnacle Housing Group Affordable Housing Development Presentation

            Mitchell Friedman introduced himself to the group.  Pinnacle Housing Group has constructed and operated over 16 developments.  Mr. Friedman stated that they like to add something to the community.  The property is located immediately west of 27^th Avenue on North River Drive and has substantial River frontage.  Aqua Clara apartments would be 10-stories with 175 units.  Mr. Friedman stated that this would be a full service development with exercise equipment and computer labs available for the tenants.  He stated that the first floor of the parking garage would be either retail or office space open to the marine community.  They tried to move the development as far back off of the River as possible.  He stated that this would be the nicest and newest development to come into the area in the last 12 to 14 years.  Mr. Friedman introduced Steve Lefton from Kimley-Horn and Associates.  Mr. Lefton stated that they have created an additional portion of greenway in this area of the River where a greenway was never planned due to the heavy industrial use surrounding that area.  The narrowest portion of the greenway would be 12 feet and it would open up to about 30 feet wide in other places.  Mr. Lefton stated that the greenway would be separated from the residence by fencing so that it would be open and available to the public at all times.  Mr. Parks asked what is immediately to the west of this property.  There is a DERM property and some marine terminals.  Mr. Parks then asked how large the parking garage would be and Mr. Friedman responded that it would be 3 or 4-stories.  Sandy O’Neil asked if they had the financing in place.  Mr. Friedman stated that they would be securing financing later this year.  Mr. Winston asked if they have purchased this property yet.  Mr. Friedman stated that they are contract purchasers and they have not bought it yet.  Mr. Bunnell stated that he thought that this property has been under constant use for the past decade.  He further declared that the Urban Infill Plan stated that this property was for marine industrial use.  Mr. Bunnell wanted to know if there was some other property that could be utilized instead.  Mr. Friedman stated that they have looked at other properties but this is the best property for their project.  Sandy O’Neil asked if there was any environmental contamination at the site that would prohibit the residential development. Mr. Friedman stated that there has already been environmental remediation at the site to clean up the contamination and that the property would be suitable for residential development.  Mr. Murley stated that the Urban Infill Working Group recommends the MRC deny the proposed project at this particular property since it goes against the Urban Infill Plan and is the wrong use for this property.  The group recommends the property remain in maritime industrial use.  Jim Murley made the motion which stated that the MRC take appropriate action to encourage involved agencies to maintain the maritime use at this site, and determine the status of the environmental remediation required on the property.  Phil Everingham seconded the motion.  Discussion ensued.  Sandy O’Neil asked Mr. Pastoriza, the attorney for the Pinnacle Housing Group, what type of an impact a negative recommendation from the MRC would have on the project.  He stated that they do need to obtain a special exception for the zoning of the project.  He further stated that he did not know what a negative recommendation would mean for them but they would like a positive recommendation. They have a public hearing set for the 24^th of February to discuss the special exception.  Janet McAliley asked how much the proposed apartments would rent for.  Mr. Friedman stated that they would have 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments for $500 to $700.  Prior to the vote Mr. Friedman told the group that this is an urban infill area. This means the co-existence of people living and working together.  He then stated that his proposed development would be the definition of urban infill.  Mr Parks called for a vote and the motion was passed in a vote of 8 for and 3 against.  Mr. Murley stated for the record that the Urban Infill Working Group was not aware that the developer was seeking a special exception so that is why they did not comment on it in their recommendation to the MRC.

IV.    Greenway’s Report to City Commission   

            Mr. Parks asked Ernie Martin to speak about the Greenway’s Report.  Mr. Martin provided a document titled – Miami River Greenways-Priority Capital Improvement Projects and stated that this document is a work in progress and contains all of the projects that they are aware of.  This document will serve as a base document, which they can then use to monitor the progress of these projects in the future.  He asked Dianne Johnson to walk the group through the report.  Dianne stated that there are 11 site-specific greenway projects, which do require public funding of some sort.  There is a timeline associated with some of the projects, which require Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) funding.  This funding will not come online until sometime in the future.  The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is trying to get the design and construction details in process for these projects.  She stated that the handout that the committee members received is pretty self-explanatory; the numbers on the map coordinate with the numbered projects outlined on the next page.  Mr. Martin stated that there are some resolutions pertaining to some of the projects in the report that will have to be made at the next greenways subcommittee meeting.  Lavinia Freeman stated that TPL, KHA, Dianne Johnson, etc. would be meeting this Thursday to review some projects that are already underway.  The greenways subcommittee is meeting next Monday.  The bar has been raised from our own Greenway Plan.  Projects that were going to cost a certain amount of money in the plan are going to in fact cost a lot more because the road needs to be fixed as well as the stormwater system, etc.  The handout is organized in the following manner: white is projects in the future, blue is projects under design and yellow is projects fully underway.  Karen McGuire from FDOT asked what was the status of the Miami Circle Greenway.  Brett stated that the Miami Circle Greenway has been fully funded through a Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Recreational Trail Program Grant for $100,000 and through a local $25,000 match from the city of Miami’s Homeland Defense and Improvement Bond Issue.  The MRC has sent a letter to Dr. Janet Snyder Matthews at the Department of State requesting her to convene a meeting of the Miami Circle Planning Group of which David Miller is a member.  In 2001 the Miami Circle Planning Group did approve the concept of a greenway at the Miami Circle site.  It was decided that the MRC would bring back to the group a site construction location for their approval.  This is where we are now.  When the Planning Group approves the location then the MRC will get construction documents ready for approval by the group so that the Request for Proposals (RFP) can be released and construction can proceed.

V.   Committee Reports

a.    Dredging Working Group 

In December the Dredged Materials Management Plan (DMMP) and the Project Cooperation Agreement (PCA) were submitted to Corps Headquarters in D.C.  These documents will not be returned to the Jacksonville District until sometime in February.  The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be released upon final approval from Washington and is expected in late February.  The Draft RFP is on the Corps’ website now.  Roman Gastesi said that the required local sponsor (Miami-Dade County) land certification was not submitted to the Corps by the January 30^th deadline due to some equipment errors.  The land certification needs to be submitted to the Corps before they can issue the RFP.  Roman stated that he hoped the land certification would be finished today. 

b.   Public Safety and Security

No Report.

c.   Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan

No Report.

d.   Greenways Subcommittee

No report, other than the above presentation.

e.  Stormwater Subcommittee

No Report.

f.     Economic Development & Commerce

Cleve Jones stated that Carmen Sanchez, with the Department of Economic Development at the City of Miami, made a presentation to the subcommittee about tax waivers for the next 5 years for businesses in the area.  If you would like more information you can reach her at (305) 416-1417.

VI.       New Business

            Brett reported that the MRC was awarded an $8000 grant from the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs for Riverday.