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MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION 
c/o Rosenstiel School
4600 Rickenbacker Cswy,
Miami, Fl. 33149
305-361-4850
Fax: 305-361-4755
  e-mail: mrc@rsmas.miami.edu

MONDAY,
MAR. 5, 2001
12:00 NOON
(THIS IS A PUBLIC DOCUMENT)

The Miami River Commission meeting was called to order by Robert Parks,  Chairperson, at 12:00 noon on Monday, March 5, 2001, at the Downtown Development Authority, First Union National Bank Building, Suite 1818, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.

• Robert L. Parks, Chairperson, Member at Large, appointed by the Governor

• Phil Everingham, Marine Council, Vice Chairperson

• Cleve Jones, Jr.,Member at Large appointed by City of Miami Commission

• Sandy O'Neil, Miami-Dade Mayor's Office

• Ernest Martin, Neighborhood Representative appointed by City of Miami Comm.

• Janet McAiley, Representative from Environmental or Civic Organization, Gov's        Appointee

• Sallye Jude, Neighborhood Representative appointed by Miami-Dade Commission

• Jerry Fernandez, Designee, Governing Board of South Florida Water Management     District

• Tom Parker, Designee, Member at Large appointed by Miami-Dade Commission

• Gary Winston, Designee, Miami-Dade State Attorney         

• Richard Bunnell, Designee, Miami River Marine Group

• James McDonald, Chair of GMCC, Designee

Ex Officio (non-voting) members: Cdr.  Mike Miles, USCG, MSO Miami , Ellen Roth, representing Sen. Bob Graham
Miami River Commission Staff:
          David Miller,  MRC,  Brett Bibeau, Assistant Managing Director
Others attending interested in the River:

• Scott Mitchell, MRC

• Carlos Espinosa, DERM

• Dianne Johnson, City of Miami/R.E.E.D.

• Mark Sell, Mark Sell Communications

• Susan Markley, Miami Dade DERM

• Alfredo J. Gonzalez, MDC/Comm. Barreiro

• Y. Sal Behar, DDA

• Mike Black, Miami-Dade Co. Commission

• Fran Bohnsack, MRMG

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES.

    With reference to the stadium which is becoming a very hot issue at this point,  they attended the site selection committee final meeting last week and there are now six sites that the City Manager is going to review and make a recommendation to the City Commission on March 15^th.  The River site is prominently mentioned in those sites.  There are three variations of Bicentennial Park.  There is one of the Orange Bowl and one of the Orange Bowl extension.  The two Orange Bowl sites don’t seem to have a lot of support from anyone.  The Bicentennial Park site looks like it is pretty much dead in the water.    Three of the five Commissioners have already taken the position that they are opposed to putting it there.  There is enormous pressure from every group and unbelievable negative pressure coming from the Port of Miami and those people who are involved with the Marine industry there.  They are adamant about it not going in Bicentennial Park.  The Bicentennial A (in the park itself), B (the park where the Boulevard was moved 200 feet into the park and put the state on the other side of the Boulevard).  This has some interest but no one seems to know how much it is going to cost and its impact.  It is not certain that this will solve the shipping industry problem at the port.  The traffic is terrible.  The third Bicentennial Park deal is the one which now leaves the Boulevard in tact, leaves the Park in tack and puts the stadium between 9^th and 11^th Street and 1^st and 2^nd Avenue.  It has some strong supporters, but Mr. Parks doesn’t feel it suffers from the same infirmities that the other Bicentennial Park locations are because of the shipping or traffic problems.  There was an article in the paper giving the site  that the MRC recommended.  There was positive feedback from this.  It appears it will be left up to the City Commission to  decide the place where it is going to be.  Mr. Parks has requested a meeting with the Consultants that the City has hired concerning the River Commission’s position.  Discussion was held.  It would be helpful if the property owners could get involved.  Mr. Miller stated that the original motion basically said that this was the best site for the stadium.  Mr. Parks stated that they have taken a pretty straight forward position that if questions 1 and 2: do we need a new stadium and can the public fund it.  If these questions are answered “yes” and it is going to happened whether the MRC likes it or not, the consensus of the Commission was that the best thing for the River would be to have it on the River.  Mr. Parks would like to keep that.  Sandy O’Neil stated that one of the biggest obstacles is that there is not an overt knowledge that these people might be willing to come together to get the property for a stadium.   Mr. Parks stated that they will follow up on it.   The same design standards will be maintained as with everything else on the River.  It is a 27 story structure with a sliding roof.  The setback is at least 50' and in some areas it was 120' because of the way the River bends.  The Marlins may not get the stadium that they want. 

II. SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Mr. Gastesi was unable to make the meeting.  Mr. Miller advised that the South Florida Water Management District is planning on putting in a large pump and pumping over one million gallons per minute into the Tamiami Canal and the Miami River.  The presentation is hopefully designed to show the MRC what they are going to do, what they plan to have and what impact that million gallon per minute is going to have on the River.  Discussion was held.  Jerry Fernandez said that the pumps are not huge but are used to alleviate the flooding out west.  That is on an emergency situation.  They were sized so they would not have adverse affects on the River. Carlos Espinosa explained they need to be that size in order to be able to pump water across when the structures have to be closed because the tide comes  in.  They have to keep the structures either closed or partly closed because of the tide.  It is only a fraction of the total capacity that you can have in there.  He explained it in further detail why there were overflows.  Mr. Parks asked that someone from that Department come and explain in further detail to the MRC.  

III. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Dredging Working Group - Dick Bunnell stated that a dredging meeting was held March 1^{st .}    The  Corps of Engineers have indicated that they have their permit application into DEP.  They requested a variance and expect to obtain it.    The DEP representative is Kent Edwards.  They expect that the process is going to take 6 to 7 months.  The Corps of Engineers also issued a special notice to contractors and people that are involved in recycling materials and cleaning up dredge spoils.  The project is on schedule.  When the Governor was down he made the statement that Tallahassee is contributing their share of money to the dredging project and he is continuing to honor the commitment that the State has made with reference to their share. 

Public Safety Working Group  -  Cdr.  Mike Miles stated that they had a meeting on February 20^th at the Coast Guard Base.    There was some input from a number of individuals regarding the special  operation that is going on on the River.  They are rolling that into the minutes of the QAT.  Discussion was held.   Mr. Parks asked that David Miller, Britt and Gary Winston make a request to find out what happened.  Mr. Parks stated that the issue is not that it is not a good deal for the River.  There are some concerns about it being done because of the impact on shipping,etc.  The problem is that it is the kind of situation that the MRC has been trying to overcome for three years.  The MRC is never contacted about these plans.  The Governor’s office has to know that this Commission is here.  Mr. Parks will write a letter. 

Greenways and Grant Application - Dr. Martin reported that the Quality of Life and Greenways met.  They spent time with their consultant on the Greenway working on their action plan for next year.  Most have some degree of funding already.    All of the projects in the work program for the first year will have budgets and time tables and they will refine it.  They have not gotten final approvals from the two governments they are seeking approval for.  They went to five different city advisory boards.  They got 4 outright approvals from the Parks Advisory Board of the City of Miami, the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board, The Urban Review Design Board and the Planning and Zoning Advisory Board.  The Waterfront Advisory Board didn’t approve it because of agenda restraints.  The target date is to go before the City of Miami on April 12^th to find out when the presentation will be scheduled.  The language of the Greenway is to approve the Miami River Greenway Action Plan in principle as a guiding tool in the development of Miami River Greenway as defined in the action plan.  This establishes the policy framework but it doesn’t actually endorse any particular alignment at this time.  The reaction so far from the City Advisory Board has been positive.  They hope from this to make a good presentation to the City Commission on the 12^th.  Mr. Parks stated that he and others  met with Commissioner Teale and he is very supportive of the Greenway.  Dr. Martin stated that the City is starting to send to them agenda items prior to their action on them as has been requested.  Dr. Martin stated also that there is something for March 22^nd which is the extension of a consultant who is advising the Brownfield’s program for the City of Miami and one of their target area which is the empowerment zone section of the Miami River.  The Brownfield’s program is a environmental clean up program and the Federal Government can pay for extensive clean up of property that is perceived as environmentally endangered or in some way polluted.  They can even get funding in phase 1 and phase 2 if it is not polluted and this is the consultant that does that.  The name of the firm is Evans Environmental and Geological Scenic and they are scheduled to come before the Commission for $120,000 appropriation  to finish their work.  The Greenway Subcommittee is recommending that the MRC endorse this.  Dr. Martin made the motion which was seconded by Sandy O’Neil ?.  The motion passed unanimously.  David Miller will send a letter in that regard.

Storm water - Sallye Jude did not have anything to report on Stormwater.

Economic Impact Study - Mr. Parks stated that he is always being  asked about the River’s impact statement to see what the River is doing and where it is going.  Mr. Parks feels that is critical with reference to what is going on with every issue.  He asked the Commission  report be read  by the MRC’s members and report back with thoughts or suggestions by Monday, March 12^th.  There will be an Executive Committee meeting on March 12^th or 13^th to approve the report in final.  Mr. Parks would like to have the final report to the City Commission and the Miami Dade Commission before the 15^th.    Discussion was held.  David Miller stated that the report is a summary of what they have on the survey report.  It has been broken down in several different businesses in order to get people to read it.  It is not the total economic report.  More work is required.  They thanked Fran Bohnsack for all of her assistance in this matter.  Mr. Parks wants to get the executive summary portion as soon as possible.  Diane Johnson  stated that there will be a tour of the River on March 4^th, 5^th and 6^th.  They are preparing a packet of information materials and they could include something if Mr. Parks has something prepared.  Mr. Parks requested comments by noon on Monday, March 12^th.

III. NEW BUSINESS

David Miller stated that there is a bridge on the River called the Fifth Street bridge which was built in 1929.  The Army Corps at the time said that it was an illegal bridge because it was not built to the design specifications that they had in 1929.  There is supposed to be a horizontal clearance of 85' but it has only 72'.  It was supposed to have spillways on each side of the bridge, but it doesn’t have it.  Mr. Miller felt the bridge should be looked at because of its problems and damage.  There have been twelve casualties with ships striking the bridge within the last 12 years.  It is now out of service for 6 to 12 months.  Fran and Mr. Miller met with the Coast Guard, Bridge Branch, and also the Department of Transportation to bring some awareness to them about the situation.  They are now aware and have brought someone from Washington to look at the bridge.  The Florida Department of Transportation is the owner of the bridge.  It also impacts  the South Florida Water Management District and drainage and also the local community, the County and the City and the Army Corps and Florida Navigational District.  They are attempting to get a group together of all those entities to find a way to replace that bridge.  They are going to Tallahassee to meet with the Governor’s office to bring it to their attention and find out if they are truly involved in economically improving the River and to see if they can put some dollars in to fix the bridge.  The Coast Guard said that the bridge is a hazard to navigation and one of the options is to remove that bridge from service.  Discussion was held.  Mr. Miller wanted to bring it to the MRC’s attention. 

Mr. Parks asked for the approval of the minutes.  The minutes were approved as read.

IV. Adjournment 

There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting adjourned at  2:00 p.m

_______________________________Recording Secretary

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