COUNCIL MEETING

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our September Council Meeting. Today is Wednesday, September 9. The time is now 10:17 AM. And I hereby call this meeting to order. A reminder to please silence your phones. If you must take a call, we kindly ask that you step outside to maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilwoman Nicole Reinoso? Present. Councilwoman Maureen Porras? Here. Councilman Rafael Pineyro? Present. Vice Mayor Digna Cabral? Present. Mayor Christi Fraga? Present. Mayor, you have quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Councilman Pineyro. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Today we have our invocation, led by Pastor Jonathan Aguero from JTP Church. Pastor, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, Madam Mayor, City Council Members, and beautiful city of this amazing city of Doral. I want to share James 1:6-7 really quick before we pray. It says, "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed away by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." So in the spirit of faith, let's all ask God to bless this meeting. Father God, we thank you so much for your goodness. We thank you that you're our father. And in that, we know that you provide for us. We know that you protect us. Father, we come before you like a child comes before a father, knowing that anything we ask in your name, you will give to us, if it's according to your will. And we pray, Father, that over this amazing city, Father, that we call home, we pray that your kingdom will come and that your will be done here, Lord. We pray that just as there's peace in heaven, Father, that there may be peace here in the city of Doral. Father, in every single home and every single family, we pray, Father, for all the amazing people that you've put, Father, in this place, Father, for our mayor. We pray for our City Council members, Father. We pray for every single person here that you give them wisdom, divine wisdom, Father, so that your will, Father, will be done in this place. We know that your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We know that your ways are better than our ways. And we just pray, Father, today humbly that you would pour out, Father, divine direction over our lives. We also pray, Father, for our nation. We pray for our president, and that you give him wisdom, Father, in these times that we're living. We pray for the people that pass laws. We pray for the senators, the House members, Father. We pray for divine and godly wisdom for their lives. Also we pray, Father, for every single family member, every single person, every citizen, every person that lives in the city of Doral. We pray for those, Father, that are living in fear right now because of everything that's going on with respect to the immigration issue. Father, we know that this is a complex issue, Father, but you know the way out. So that's why we humbly go before you, and we ask that you give us, Father, the discernment, you give us, Father, the ability to be able to hear from you, because we know that you have a solution for us, Father. And we pray all of this in Jesus' name. We declare your blessing over every single person here in this place, every single household in the city of Doral. And we pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you, Pastor, for the beautiful prayer. We have agenda, order of business. Madam Manager, do we have anything from your office? I don't have anything, ma'am. Mr. City Attorney, I believe you do have something you're going to be pulling? Yes. I want to pull the first item on the consent agenda. I believe it's 6A. And to be heard right after the-- right before the presentations. Before the presentations, or after the presentations? I'm sorry. If possible, right before the presentation? Before? Yeah. If that's OK with you, Mayor. Yes. Thank you. OK. Councilman Pineyro? I don't have anything, Mayor. Thank you. Vice Mayor Cabral? No. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes, Mayor, item 6G. 6G. Would you be OK if we hear that after the discussion items? Not a problem. OK. All right, Councilwoman Porras? No, none. OK. All right. All right, we're going to now go into our public comments portion of the meeting. Each speaker will have three minutes to address any item on today's agenda or any other matter that's related to the City of Doral. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record to ensure that you're registered with the city clerk. I'll go ahead and start with those who have first pre-registered, and then anyone else who is a walk-in speaker will be asked if they would like to speak at that time. Please allow for any final comments at the end if you have not registered to speak. As a reminder, in accordance with our city code, we ask that all remarks be made in a respectful, courteous, and orderly manner. Personal attacks, offensive language, and disruptive behavior will not be permitted. Let's work together to keep this a productive atmosphere and meeting for all. I will start with those who have pre-registered, which is Mr. Richard Glugstad. Richard Glugstad. I'm sure my address is on file. Today I'm going to explain to you why I speak at City Hall so much. It boils down to this. I'm a convert to Christianity from Judaism, so I consider myself a Judeo-Christian. I know the Old Testament very well. I've taught the Old Testament. I also know the New Testament very well. When I became a Christian, I also taught the New Testament. I think the Bible is amazing. If you just read it, you'll say, man, everything's in there. And I've been warning you about this MAGA nonsense, and that's really all it is. It's eventually going to go away and be a bad dream. The reason I do it is because I take Christianity seriously. But do you? I don't think you do. Most Christians don't. Most of them don't even go to church except on Easter and Christmas. And they don't know anything about the Bible, because I've taught Christians about the Bible. They're clueless. I know some Christians that I met, they didn't even know Jesus was Jewish. I told one Christian, hey, did you know Jesus was Jewish? He had a panic attack. All of the apostles were Jewish except for one, I think. I think it was Mark. So I'm going to read something today from Ezekiel. This is the reason why I come to City Hall. "So, you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, "You wicked ones, you shall surely die" and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity. But their blood I will require at your hand." I don't want your blood on my hand, so that's why I talk. "But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you shall have saved your life." If you don't turn from your ways, it's going to be bad for you, but my conscience will be clear. I'm going to save my life, "Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, thus you have said, "Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them. How can we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from the ways and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" Thank you, Mr. Glugstad. I have no more pre-registered speakers at this time. Anyone who would like to speak, now would be a reasonable opportunity. Please approach the podium. Being none, public comment is now closed, and we'll go ahead and move on to-- actually, I need a motion on the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, can you please read the items that are pulled from the Consent Agenda? The items that were pulled from the Consent Agenda would be 6A and 6G, so you will be approving all of the remaining items in the consent agenda. OK, I need a motion. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reinoso. Second. Second by Councilman Pineyro. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All right, Madam Clerk, let the record reflect that the Consent Agenda has passed unanimously. All right, I need an approval on the minutes. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reinoso on the minutes. Second by Councilman Pineyro. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Let the record reflect that the minutes have been approved unanimously. We'll go ahead and hear item 6A before we go into presentations as requested by the city attorney. Item 6A, a resolution of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, approving the First Amendment to the Viewpoint Settlement Agreement between the City of Doral and SDE Media LLC relating to gateway spacing requirements, annual fees for certain billboard signs, ratification of existing sign approvals, waiver of certain claims, the "most favored nation" provision, and emergency and public service announcements; authorizing the City Manager to execute the First Amendment on behalf of the City; providing for implementation, incorporation of recitals, and an effective date. Mr. City Attorney? Thank you very much, Mayor, Council. Before us today, we have Ms. Claudia McKenna, who represents SDE Media and Mr. John-- John, I'm going to mess up your last name. So if you could just say it, I'd appreciate it. Kohlhauff. --Kohlhauff, who represents Lamar Inc. As all of you know, the City of Doral has very limited billboards. And those billboards are really owned by the two that are being-- the two representatives before us. The issue lies in the fact that years ago, the city was embroiled in some litigation with regards to the placement of one billboard at the gateway on Northwest 36th. The result was somewhat unsettled. Years have passed, and the city has grown. And we've allowed for other boards, which are not billboards but which FDOT considers and regulates as billboards. And these are the media boards that we have on Northwest 36th. Long story short, SDE Media felt that their rights were being infringed. I disagree, but so be it. And they filed what is called a Bert Harris action. A Bert Harris action is akin to a taking. They served us, and since then, we've been negotiating to try to see if there's a way that we could move forward. And so what you have before you is a settlement agreement with SDE Media. At the same time that we started negotiating with SDE Media, we reached out to Lamar. Lamar is a participant into a settlement agreement that laid out the number of billboards that were allowed in the City of Doral. And under the agreement with that settlement agreement, there was something called a "most favored nations" clause. "Most favored nations" clause means it's basically a "me too." If somebody gets it, one of the parties, the other one receives the same benefit. So what's in the settlement agreement? Well, the settlement agreement is going to allow for the spacing on the gateways to be at 500 feet, particularly at 36th. And what we did is we took a look at the history of the spacing on the gateways. And we noticed that the majority of them, four of them out of the six, allowed for the 500 feet. So in order to be uniform, we're going to allow all of them to be at the spacing of 500 feet. We took a look at the spacing also in between what our multimedia billboards, the ones that are not static, the ones that are digital. We're going to allow them. And again, there's been a trend of allowing them to move from static to dynamic or multimedia, so we're going to allow that. In return, the city is going to be able to use these signs. And they're going to be made available to us to be able to put public safety signs, events, so on and so forth, that will benefit the city. There's also a payment schedule in there, which SDE Media agreed to to pay the city over a period of five years. It amounts to somewhere in the neighborhood of $800,000. And Lamar has agreed to that over a prolonged period of time. So there will be an income stream, a benefit to the city, as part of the settlement agreement. So I think I've captured everything, Claudia and John. If I haven't, please say so. And so what I basically want from you is, since the agreement will be executed shortly after this meeting, is for you to please put into the record that you agree to basically what I've said. And please state your name and address and your affiliation with your representative companies. Thank you, Lorenzo. Good morning. Claudia McKenna, on behalf of Santi Echemendía and SDE Media. I'm from Lake Worth, Florida, and I've been representing SDE for a long time. I'm also a longtime city attorney, so I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Lorenzo on this matter. The only thing that I would add to the record is that in our discussions with Lorenzo, you have a form of the agreement, but what will ultimately be signed is in substantially similar form because we had a few tweaks at the last minute that we need to add into the agreement. Nothing substantive, but certainly to finalize everything. Other than that, I would just put on the record that SDE supports a separate agreement with Lamar, and we appreciate all the efforts that your staff and Lorenzo have done to get us to this point. Claudia, as far as the Bert Harris claim, that will be withdrawn. That is in the agreement that it is waived, along with any other claims that might have arisen out of that specific set of facts. Perfect. Thank you. Go ahead, John. Good morning, City Council, Madam Mayor. Good to see you again. John Kohlhauff. I'm the Vice President and General Manager with Lamar South Florida. We are very happy to be operating in the City of Doral. Our first locations in Miami-Dade County were in the City of Doral, so we are very happy to be partners with the City and continue to be so moving forward. I would echo what Claudia said. Thank you to Lorenzo for making this process very seamless for us. City staff and Lorenzo himself were very responsive in getting this done. We are in full agreement with the resolution before you and the agreements between SDE, Lamar, and the City of Doral. Thank you. Thank you, John. And so, Mayor, that is pretty much our presentation. I'm open to any questions that you may have. And then if you're OK, a motion. OK. Is there any questions for the City Attorney? Otherwise, I need a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Cabral. Second. Second by Councilman Pineyro, and there's a comment from Councilwoman Reinoso, through the mayor. Will we be receiving whatever is the final version that is executed? Yes, of course. I can circulate that. It's going to be pretty much what you see before you. There are just a few sentences, and there's a few typos in there that need to just be cleaned out. That's all. Thank you. All right. No additional comments or questions? Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Cabral, seconded by Councilman Pineyro. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right, thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you. I'm glad we've exhausted this. Madam Mayor, Santi Echemendía. Just wanted to thank you and your city attorney. He's really-- you've been wonderful, and the city attorney is incredibly pragmatic. And wanted to compliment both of you and the entire Council. Thank you so much. Thank you, Santiago. Glad we were able to resolve it. All right, we move on to our presentations. Item 8A, Keep Doral Beautiful Business Award. Mr. Del Toro? Good morning, Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the Council, Madam Manager, Mr. Deputy Manager, Mr. City Attorney, Madam Clerk. Danny Del Toro, Code Compliance Director. This month, we are pleased to recognize Silmar Electronics Inc for their outstanding commitment to keeping Doral beautiful. The property for which they are being recognized is located at 3405 Northwest 113th Court. Silmar Electronics has been in the city of Doral for 32 years. The property is approximately 71,000 total square feet, and the business has 48 employees. Silmar Electronics is one of the largest independent equipment distributors for security systems, fire alarms, CCTV, access control, home automation, and AV systems in the United States. Some of the recent improvements include repairing and repainting the exterior walls, installation of new backlit exterior logo signs, installation of new awnings, and improvements on the site gardens. These improvements coincide with the completion of the Bridgepoint development and the opening of Northwest 112th Avenue, creating a significantly improved and aesthetically pleasing intersection in the city. It is with great pleasure that we name Silmar Electronics for the Keep Doral Beautiful Business Award for their outstanding commitment to keeping Doral beautiful. Madam Mayor and Council, here to accept the award on behalf of the business is COO Carlos Smith and Office Manager Zuleikha Gomez. Welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Would you like to say a few words? Sure. All right, well, thank you very much. Like Danny said, we were on 33rd since the mid '90s. As we've grown, we've moved more west, and we bought this building in 2005. Code of Compliance came earlier this year and said, you guys got to do some stuff, backing up to the new apple of the eye of Doral with that beautiful property that's been built. So we said, all right, let's take this opportunity to paint and do a bunch of upgrades, and Zuleikha led those efforts. So thank you for recognizing us, and glad to be part of the Doral community. Thank you. Would you like to come up for a photo, please? Sure. Thanks. [APPLAUSE] [SIDE CONVERSATIONS] If everyone can take a step this way, please. Thank you. Danny, can you come on this side? Thank you. We look nothing alike. No, not at all. [LAUGHTER] Yes, please. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you, guys. Nice to see you. Thank you. Cheers All right. I believe we have one more presentation. Yes, item 8B, Special Recognition, Officer Christian Llauger. Madam Manager? Yes, good morning, Mayor. I'd like to call up our police chief, Matthew Castillo, who is going to make a recognition. Good morning, Madam Mayor, City Council, and city officials. It's my honor and distinct privilege to go ahead and recognize two officers, two young officers that were able to save a life, especially in times like right now in the city of Doral. We're going through some tough times, and I want the community and the public to know that we are behind our community 100%, and they shouldn't have any worries to call us. We're there to help, and we're there to save lives. And this is a prime example of it. So Officer Delucxon and Officer Llauger, can you please come to the front? So on June 9, at approximately 9:40 PM, the Doral Police Department received a call of a distressed individual who was unresponsive. Officer Llauger was first to arrive on the scene. It was such a stressed and dire situation that the family took it upon themselves to put their loved one in a car to take them to a hospital. Officer Llauger intercepted the vehicle and assessed the situation where their loved one was in the back seat unresponsive. Officer Llauger was able to pull the individual out and started compressions. I want to show the video. Can you please show the video? It was such a tense situation. This is a younger officer. Sometimes we take for granted of our officers saving lives, and we shouldn't. It's someone's loved one, someone's impact to their family. Officer Llauger, after performing compressions on the individual, he set up a corridor so that the rescue could come in expeditedly to go ahead and perform life-saving measures on this individual. When he was doing that, Officer Delucxon stepped right in and started performing compressions on the individual. The individual was ultimately transported to Jackson West Hospital, where they brought him back, and he was in stable condition. And he lived because of these officers' actions. And then something that I was heartfelt about was the family sent me a letter, and they wanted to recognize these two officers. And they wanted to recognize Officer Llauger individually because he went to the hospital to check on that family member. People got to remember that behind this badge, we're humans. We care about people. We care about our community. And this is just my honor and privilege to go ahead and recognize these two officers for saving a life. Thank you all so much. You represent the City of Doral in the utmost. Thank you so much. [APPLAUSE] [SIDE CONVERSATIONS] All right. Thank you very much once again to our officers and our wonderful police department. We'll go ahead and move into our discussion items. Discussion item 9A, a resolution of the mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, adopting the Residential Association Emergency Preparedness and Public Safety Coordination Policy attached hereto as exhibit A; providing for incorporation of recitals, adoption of the policy implementation, and an effective date. All right, Councilwoman Reinoso, this is your item. Thank you, Mayor. Give me one second. So we are officially midway through hurricane season, and I think this is an appropriate time to make some changes to our policy regarding how we work with other communities, residences, in our city. So this policy is to have better coordination between the City and the different HOAs and condominiums that exist within the city when it comes time to an emergency. So what this policy is doing, it is asking for the boards of these different associations to give us the updates of the presidents, the board members, people that the City should communicate with during a time of emergency, essentially building a binder of when there is an emergency, who we can ask to direct information, or who can help us during an emergency. So I think this is a very good policy to have. It just makes getting resources and getting information better streamlined to these communities. So this is what the policy presents. I think it's a great policy, and I hope to have the support of my colleagues. And this will be done through the city manager and her coordination between other departments to gather this information with our residents, so thank you. OK. Thank you, Councilwoman Reinoso. A motion to approve? Motion. Second. Motion by Vice Mayor Cabral, second by Councilman Pineyro. Any other questions? Comments? I do have an additional one, too. Huh? Something else to add. Go ahead. A few months ago, I did also ask for the City to prepare a meeting that we can have with the presidents of the HOAs to give space to allow for information that may be disseminated to them, updates, help them also through issues that they may be having within their organization. So I think this is also that would be a good time, too, to gather the information that will be needed for this policy, if that could be considered. Yes, Mayor. We will work on that. And also, I think it would be a good time to review not only the contact information that we have for everyone, but agreements that we have to be able to access the communities at that particular time which were once in place about 10 to 12 years ago. And we want to be able to update all of those. So I've already spoken to the police chief. We have one of our executive officers that is already starting to draw up a plan for that, along with Emergency Management. And we will have all that in place hopefully by the next hurricane season so that there is a plan and then there is a policy going forward that every council or manager or everybody else can follow going forward. We're prepared for hurricane seasons to be the moment of emergency, but what if something else happens before? It's always good to have this information and to have the city be able to streamline resources again. So this is part of our emergency management plan. I'm glad the police is also a part of this. So colleagues, thank you. All right, if there's no other comments or questions, Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve made by Vice Mayor Cabral, seconded by Councilman Pineyro. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. OK. Well, we're going to hear item 6G. Item 6-G, a resolution of the City Council of the city of Doral, Florida, approving a special event permit requested by Eduardo Orozco on behalf of Leon Sport Corp to host the Pink Race 2026 special event at 3005 Northwest 22nd Avenue, Doral, Florida, on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM; providing for implementation, incorporation of recitals, and an effective date. This was pulled by Councilwoman Reinoso. OK, this also-- was pulled by Councilwoman Reinoso, sorry. Through the mayor? Yes. So I wanted to pull this item, mainly because I feel that breast cancer, any form of cancer, it's important to bring to light and to advocate for. I believe there has been many steps and advances to cures and better medicines. But what this organization is particularly in support of is what happens after the diagnosis, what happens during recovery, the support groups, maybe the funding that is necessary. So they're really there from beginning to middle. And hopefully the end is always recovery and rebuilding your life after such a terrible disease. So I wanted to give the opportunity for Breasties to come up and talk about what this race is for and the plan around Doral. Good morning. Thank you again for having me here. So, I'm very excited for the race. We've been working months on it. And I have put my heart and soul to it since it's a personal matter to myself. I am a breast cancer survivor. And this passion is really big for me, just because everybody has your back when you're going through it-- your family, your-- everybody's there for you. But eventually life goes on, and everybody goes back to work. The kids go back to school, and you're by yourself. And your brain is going 100 miles per minute, and you're like, now what do I do? You're trying to get to know yourself all over again, a new you. You're sick. And I just want to create this community and the center for somebody to be able to go talk, listen, just basically feel welcomed and that they're not alone. This year, yesterday, was a year of me working on Breasties. And this year I've met so many people that are like, this is so much needed. You feel hopeless. And knowing that people out there feel the same as you, so this race is a big deal. Hopefully it's the first one for many. And it's going to help me finally try to open a center here in Doral. Once again, like I said, I love your community. You guys have been great to me, amazing. The support has been incredible. So hopefully with this race, we can get the funds to finally open the center up. OK. Through the mayor. So thank you, Carrie. And through Breasties, all the support and resources that will be given to the community and women facing breast cancer. So thank you again for putting your heart and soul into this. I hope that this is a successful event and that you will reach out to people that are in need of this resource. For sure. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Councilman Pineyro. Second. Second by Councilwoman Porras. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve by Councilman Pineyro, seconded by Councilwoman Porras. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right, thank you very much. Mayor's Report. Yes. One second. All right, first, I just want to-- I hope everybody had a wonderful Labor Day this weekend. I want to remind everyone that this Friday is September 11. We'll have a remembrance ceremony, which we do every September 11 in the front rotunda. We invite those who would like to commemorate this moment again to come and join us. I'd also like to thank our Public Affairs and Economic Development team for a very, very successful first Doral Seeds. I want to congratulate ROCO 4x4, who won this year's grant, which was overwhelmingly matched by Perry Ellis. And we were able to raise $50,000 total to give this company, so it was a great, great response, a lot of interest. And so I just wanted to commend Public Affairs and Economic Development, particularly Luis Amor, for the work that they did, and Nick, because really everyone spoke wonders of how-- even if they didn't win, how they took something away from the experience. So it was wonderful to be able to be a part of it and watch. And I look forward to seeing it again be a success next year. And hopefully we get more interest from the private sector to have more funds and have more winners. So just wanted to mention those things, and that's pretty much it for the Mayor's Report. Not much more to report. City Manager's report. Madam Manager? Hi. Good morning, Mayor. Well, I need to coordinate with you better on the statements, because I was going to speak about Doral Seeds. I do want to thank our director, Maggie Forster, and also our economic developer, Luis Amor, and Nick, who worked very hard on it. I'm very pleased and would just want to add to everything that you said that Luis has done an amazing job at taking this position and what is going on to the next level. So I just wanted to say that out loud. I also just wanted to take a moment to wish a very happy birthday, even though she's not in chambers, to Cynthia Romero, the executive assistant for our office. She is a September birthday, and I just wanted to let everybody know that and also to happy birthday to everybody else that has a birthday in September coming up. So, thank you. That's all. Thank you, Madam Manager. City Attorney? I have one item, Madam Mayor and Council. Last Council meeting, we heard a bid protest from Canteen Compass related to our vending machines. The time for them to appeal is this week. They've reached out to me, and what they're requesting is, in lieu of filing anything for a return of their deposit-- they gave a $10,000 deposit as part of that bid protest. And so the recommendation from the City Attorney's office is that we accept that, and we return the $10,000, if that's the will of the Mayor and the Council. Yes, I have no problem with that. Yeah, so I just need an affirmative 'yeah' and we'll give them the $10,000. Yes. OK, thank you. All right. Madam City Clerk? I have nothing. All right. OK, that was a pretty easy morning agenda. At this time, we've exhausted the morning agenda. I need a motion to recess, and we'll reconvene at 6:00. Motion. Motion to recess by Councilwoman Reinoso. Second. Second by Councilman Pineyro. All in favor, say aye. Aye. The meeting is recess. We'll see you back here at 6:00 PM or 5:00 PM for protocol. [MUSIC PLAYING] All right. Are we ready, AT? Yes? Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our regular scheduled Council meeting. The time is now 6:22 PM. Today is September 9, 2026. We are re-taking up our afternoon session. I'm now calling this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilwoman Nicole Reinoso? Present. Councilwoman Porras? Here. Councilman Rafael Pineyro? Present. Vice Mayor Cabral? Present. Mayor Christi Fraga? Present. Mayor, you have quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Councilwoman Reinoso. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. OK, I don't believe there's any changes to the agenda/order of business, with the exception of I'm going to be asking right before the public hearings that we do a special recognition. Besides that, there's no changes, so I'll go ahead and move into the public comments portion of our meeting. We will now open the floor for public comments. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak to address any item on today's agenda or any matters related to the City of Doral. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record to ensure that you are registered with the city clerk. We will start with those who have pre-registered, followed by any walk-in speakers. Once you have spoken, I will allow any speakers for any closing public comments. And a reminder, in accordance with the City's code of conduct, we ask that all remarks be made in a respectful, courteous, and orderly manner. Personal attacks, offensive language, or disruptive behavior will not be permitted. We ask that you help us work together to keep a productive and constructive meeting for all. I have no preregistered speakers at this time, Madam Clerk. Anyone who would like to speak, please approach the podium. OK, being none, public comment is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect no one has chosen to speak at this time. All right, we're going to go ahead and do a very quick special presentation. We have today a Key to the City for someone very special. We are recognizing Danny Anthony Perez for his work as the speaker of the House for the past two years. Our former speaker and the next ambassador for Brazil is here with us. We've known each other longer than I'd like to admit. But I wanted to recognize him today on behalf of the City, not just for the work that he's done at the State House over the past eight years, but the work he did the last two years. I'll tell you, I have been in this city for 14 years. Last year was the year that the city received the most amount of funding ever. We received $2.7 million. And that is a testament to your dedication to Miami-Dade County, to the cities that you represented, and to the work of your colleagues in the House. So thank you very much for your unwavering leadership, for your dedication, for standing strong on the things and the principles that you believed in. That is often not seen. And so we wanted to honor you and thank you for the work that you have done in your public service career. And we know that there's much more ahead for you, and a bright future. So thank you very much for your time serving at the Florida legislature, for representing not just the City of Doral, but Miami-Dade County very well, with high principles and values and standards. So thank you very much. We honor you with the Key to the City for the City of Doral. I don't know if any of my colleagues have any words. And then we'd love to hear from you for a second. We'll come down and take a picture. [APPLAUSE] Through the mayor? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes, thank you. So we wish you well on your future endeavors. We hope that you represent the whole United States of America in Brazil. And thank you for your time as the Speaker and everything else that you have done to award this time that you will be spending in Brazil. Of course. Thank you. Well, congratulations to you. And I am glad that you have been able to achieve so much within your career and also as a politician for serving our community and our state, representing all of us. And I also wanted to say that I am glad that I've been able to also support your campaign and work with you through the time that you were running. Thank you. Through the mayor? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for all the great work that you've done. And thank you for always welcoming us to Tallahassee and speaking about all the great important issues for our city and, of course, the county and all of Florida. And again, we wish you the best of luck in your new endeavor and your new role. And I know that you're going to make us proud. Thank you. Councilman Pineyro? Mr. Ambassador, congratulations. You are going to be missed. I just want to, as my colleagues mentioned, I want to thank you for all your help and support to our city, to our community. When we speak about leadership, you're a great example to follow. So once again, congratulations. And you will be missed, but we're going to see you again soon. Yeah. Good luck. Well thank you guys all for those kind words. I appreciate it. And I did have the chance to represent Doral for several years. We had redistricting in the middle of my eight-plus years in the House, and it was an honor. I was mentioning to the mayor, I don't come to Doral often enough. I wish I would have come more, but I kind of don't leave my little bubble of my house whenever I am home. So thank you guys for welcoming me tonight. Thank you for the Key to the City. I've never gotten a key to any city. So I appreciate that. It's one of a personal privilege for me that I have a relationship with. Obviously, I've known the mayor for a very long time. And it's special to me because it's Doral. Not a shot at any other city-- I represented many cities and took care of all of them, but Doral always had a special place in my heart. So thank you guys very much. I plan on leaving at the end of November, at the end of November, to Brazil. And from here until then, I'll be here. So anything that I can do to assist you guys in any way, please let me know. You're in very good hands. The Dade delegation right now in Tallahassee, it's as strong as it's ever been. And that was one of my goals, alongside making sure that we took care of Miami, which I believe we accomplished. And hopefully it just gets stronger over the next four, six, and eight years. Thank you guys for the time. I love you all. I appreciate it and God bless you. Thank you. All right. We're going to come down for a picture with the speaker. [APPLAUSE] [SIDE CONVERSATIONS] All right, thank you all very much for your indulgence in that very well-deserved recognition for our former Speaker. We'll go ahead and move into the public hearing items at this time. Madam Clerk? May I please swear in the witnesses, Mayor? Yes, ma'am. If you will be presenting testimony in any of the public hearing items, please stand up, raise your right hand, and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear that the information I'm about to present shall be the truth and nothing but the truth. Thank you very much. Item 19A, Ordinance Number 2026-22, "LDC Text Amendment Chapter 53 Zoning Improvement Permit." An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, amending Chapter 53, "Administration," Article III, "Development Procedures," Division 2, "Development Order and Development Permit," of the City's Land Development Code; amending Section 53-183, "Requirements; Exceptions," to provide for limited development approval for certain development activities that do not require a building permit; amending section 53-184, "Approval of Development Plans," to establish limited development as a streamlined administrative development approval and to provide for applicability, application requirements, review, and approval; providing for enforcement, conflicts, severability, incorporation into the code, and an effective date. All right, thank you very much. I'm going to go ahead open a public hearing. Public hearing is now open for item 19A, also known as 26-6737. Anyone would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. All right, seeing none, public hearing is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect no one has chosen to speak at this time. And we will hear from the planning and zoning director. Good evening, Mayor, Council, Madam Manager. So this is an amendment to your current code. The Florida Legislature recently enacted House Bill 803 that went into effect July 1. That specific bill sets forth that certain things that are done in residential homes that are improvements under $7,500 are now exempt from building permits. Typically when they come in for a building permit, it would initiate a zoning review. But now that they don't have to come in for those specific improvements, there will be no zoning review that's initiated. So we are creating a new improvement permit that they can come in, we can do a quick review, and issue what we're calling a "zoning improvement permit" for the things under $7,500, such as pavers, gravel, fences, and things like that, artificial turf, that we can review for setbacks, requirements of impervious and pervious area. So we're just creating a new permit process. Happy to answer any questions that you may have. OK. Thank you very much, Mr. Magrisso. Is there any comments, questions, concerns for our Planning and Zoning Director or administration? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Cabral. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reinoso. If there's no additional questions, Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve Ordinance Number 2026-22 on first reading made by Vice Mayor Cabral, seconded by Councilwoman Reinoso. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. OK. Move on to item 19B. 19B, Ordinance Number 2026-23, "LDC Text Amendment to Chapter 53 Medical Use." An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the city of Doral, Florida, amending Section 53-128, "Use Compatibility Table," of the City of Doral Land Development Code, to revise the definition of "medical use" to include the treatment and care of domesticated animals; providing for incorporation of recitals, incorporation into the code, severability, conflicts, and an effective date. All right. We're going to go ahead and open up public hearing item for 19B, also known as 26-6742. Anyone would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none, public comment is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect no one has chosen to speak at this time. Mr. Magrisso? So currently your Use Compatibility Table has veterinarian and animal hospitals listed under the classification of retail. We felt that that was not an appropriate classification, mainly because under retail, it would only allow veterinarian services in very limited areas of the city. And within those areas of the city, it would limit the specific square footage being used to even a smaller square footage of what is available. So we were going to move the use from retail to medical uses, but by doing that, we had to amend the definition of "medical uses" as well, because currently the definition of "medical uses" only includes the care of human beings. So we are amending the definition of "medical uses" to also include the care of domesticated animals so it matches with your Use Compatibility Table. If you have any questions, I'm available. Thank you, Mr. Magrisso. Any questions for our zoning director? I just want to say thank you for reaching out for the existing already clinics that we have in the city. Sure, and we're going to look into-- we're going to look into any existing clinics that have a BTR, and we'll let them know about the change. Thank you so much. Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Cabral. Through the mayor? Second. Yes? So I thought this one was particularly interesting. It was the first time that I ever heard that vet services wouldn't be medical. It makes to me perfect sense in comparison to retail. Correct. Correct? And I do appreciate, too, that the other businesses have been notified. And from what I was advised is that this is the first city to do this. There are other cities that have it in retail. I checked, and I don't know why, but I think that's probably why Doral took that route, because the code was adopted through other cities. So, I don't know that other cities have changed this, but I know it is a limited area that are allowed in other cities as well. Yeah, well, this makes perfect sense to me, so second. OK. We have a motion by Vice Mayor Cabral, second by Councilwoman Reinoso. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve Ordinance Number 2026-23 on first reading made by Vice Mayor Cabral, seconded by Councilwoman Reinoso. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right, we go on to item 19B-- C, sorry. 19C, Ordinance Number 2026-24, "Capital Improvement Element Update." An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the city of Doral, Florida, adopting the annual update to the Capital Improvements Element of the city's comprehensive plan for 2026 and the Five-Year Schedule of Capital Improvements for fiscal years '26/'27, 2030/2031, pursuant to Section 163.3177(3)(B), Florida Statutes, and providing for an effective date. All right, I'm going to go ahead and open a public hearing for item 19C, also known as 26-6743. Anyone would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none, public comment is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect no one is chosen to speak at this time. Mr. Magrisso? So this is just an update, a yearly update, to your Capital Improvement Element within the Comprehensive Plan. It shows a five-year projection of current and future growth and development and infrastructure. We work with-- I say "we--" it's Guillermo, really. This is Guillermo's. Guillermo worked with Public Works, with Streets, to get numbers and figures from them. And it's just included in your Comprehensive Plan on a yearly basis for a five-year outlook. All right, thank you very much. Any questions for our planning and zoning director? Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reinoso. Second. Second by Vice Mayor Cabral. Is there any other questions or comments? All right, Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Motion to approve Ordinance Number 2026-24 on first reading made by Councilwoman Reinoso, seconded by Vice Mayor Cabral. Councilwoman Reinoso? Yes. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Councilwoman Porras? Yes. Councilman Pineyro? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right, we move on to the next item. Item 19D, Ordinance Number 2026-26, "Amendment to Micromobility Devices." An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, amending Chapter 44, Article VII, entitled "Micro-Mobility Devices" of the City's Code of Ordinances, by amending Section 44-401, "Definitions," section 44-402, "Use on City Rights-of-Way," section 44-404, "Minimum Age Requirements," and section 44-405, "Enforcement and Penalties," to revise definitions, restrict sidewalk operation in designated areas, revise identification requirements, establish a registration fee schedule, and establish a progressive civil penalty schedule for violations; providing for the incorporation of recitals, conflicts, severability, incorporation into the code, and an effective date. All right, we're going to open up a public hearing for item 19D, also known as 26-6761. Anyone would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. All right, being none, public hearing is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect no one has chosen to speak at this time. And I'm turning this over to our city attorney. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council. Yes. So, Mayor, first we have Public Works that prepared just a quick three slides to explain the item to Council and the public. OK. Carlos Arroyo, Director. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of City Council, City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk. Carlos Arroyo, Public Works Director. We have Mr. Jose Leon, who's going to lead us in a brief presentation. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council, City Manager and City officials. So we're looking to amend the current ordinance for micromobility with the assistance from Police, Parks, Code, and other departments. We've noticed that since its initial rollout, it needs a little updating. Some of the language is a little vague. Right now, there currently is a registration process required, but there really is no framework behind it. And that's kind of what we plan to do. And then just clear up some language. So currently, the primary focus of the ordinance, the one we currently have established, just focuses on devices that can operate, what the safety equipments are, the age requirement, and then just a very general, vague, $250 max penalty. So we put together a more comprehensive registration program, added a little bit more restriction, and elaborated on the enforcement of the devices. So currently, the way that we plan to roll this out is residents would register. We'd issue them a decal. Then they're free to ride. And then if they abuse the program, enforcement, code enforcement or police, can address it accordingly. So these are the four key updates or changes that we plan to make. So right now, the language on a micromobility device is a little vague. We outlined what entails a micromobility device. And then we added also clarification that it only up to 750 watts, because anything after that, it'd be an e-motorcycle. It wouldn't classify it as an e-bike. There's also a more comprehensive registration program. We're looking to take it online. And people can register from the comfort of their home. We'll mail them the decal if necessary so they don't-- just out of convenience, or they can pick it up here at City Hall. There will be a small fee associated because with the uncertainty in Tallahassee, this requires verification and time and the decals itself. It's kind of a tangible object. So there is a small expense. We're not looking to make any money off of this, but it's just to help the City. And then we also plan to roll this out with a 90-day grace period at no charge for any resident that applies. They have almost three months to register their device. Basically it's a free cost. And then we'll start the $15 annual registration after that time. Then also, we added a kind of a progressive enforcement fee schedule, where code enforcement or police are entitled at their discretion to either issue anything from a warning to impoundment, based on the severity. Right now, it just reads up to $250. So we kind of mirrored what other municipalities are doing in this similar realm. And this, I think, is the most just solution. And then we just added some language on where to prohibit or restrict the micromobility devices, which wasn't clear on the current version. Basically the downtown core, anything with high pedestrian use and city parks, based on signage. So with that, if you guys have any questions. OK. Any questions for the City Attorney, the Director? Councilman Pineyro, you have comments? No, I just want to make a quick comment. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, to thank our City Attorney, our Public Works department, because since this ordinance was approved last year, I know we have been all working together, too. I think to make it what it is right now, I think it's way better than the first time that it got approved. But not only that, it's an ordinance that it really is setting an example to other municipalities. So it's very unique. I think we're the only one in Miami-Dade County with this type of ordinance. So I'm proud to see the result of what started with an idea, where we are right now. So thank you to our Public Works department, to our City Attorney, to our police department, because they have been around communities explaining about the ordinance and the importance about-- because at the end of the day, it's about our children, our children's safety. So you guys are doing a great job as well, our police department. And I think it's a great, great work that we're going to continue to be doing as a city. The police department has a great, great responsibility in this, and they're doing it. Every time that they stop one of these minors on a e-model, for example. Because again, it's not only for our safety as drivers, but it's mostly about their safety. So I want to thank everybody that is involved. And again, we're proud to say we're the only city to have something as this type of ordinance to protect our children, so thank you so much. Anyone else? Through the mayor? Yes. Councilwoman Reinoso? I just want to clarify the age that you'll be able to drive a golf cart. So, Councilwoman, this item is not for the golf cart. This item is just micromobility. There will be an item that will be coming to you in the next-- probably next month-- dealing with golf carts. But the age for the micromobility, which is the scooters? Is 15, 15. Thank you. Any other questions? OK, I do have a question very quickly on the registration. What's the purpose of having them register the scooters? And I know it's anything that has a motor. What's the purpose behind the registration? Sure. So it's an amenity, if you will. So this will create a database where if minors are riding, they get involved in an accident, they lose it, it gets tossed in a bush, whatever the case, PD, Code, anybody can come with the decal, the decal number. They can look up the owner's information and reach out to the parents, reach out to a guardian. And that's just one use case. They try to sell it in a black market, we kind of have registration of the serial numbers if that's the case. So this database-- also if we get 300 registrations all of a sudden in a month, we can use that data to know that we have to do something outside. We have to enforce this program. We have to grow in micromobility. And this ultimately solves that last-mile solution for a lot of people in this community so they're less reliant on vehicles or parking or whatever the case. So there's a lot that comes with this. To register the device, they'll need to bring it here? No. So, the idea is online. It's just a simple checklist. It has to qualify. It has to have whatever safety standards we set-- lights, a horn, a brake, whatever checklist we put together. They'll take a picture basically showing us, and then they'll upload that, along with the proof of ownership, maybe a proof of purchase or receipt, something along those lines. And that's enough. And then with that, an attestation that they understand the ordinance and they understand our rules. And that's it. This is only to be able to ride it on our public roads, not inside your community? No, right. Private is private, yeah. OK. And the registration is required yearly or just once? So you just register the first time, and then you're going to get a reminder after the year, basically, if you need to update any information. And that's the idea behind it. Maybe you sold the scooter and you no longer have it, and you just didn't update and you want to cancel it, something like that. So yeah, the point is an annual registration. Or renewal, if you will. Not register every year, just kind of hit a checkbox saying I still have it, OK. I'm completely in favor of obviously having the policy. And I think that it does need enforcement. And we've seen unfortunate accidents with the micromobility devices and obviously the students riding it, or the young adults, riding it without really understanding the rules of the road, puts themselves in danger, puts vehicles and their drivers in danger, obviously having protective gear. All those things are important. For me, the registration, I'm having a hard time with it. I just think that it's a nuance that is creating another barrier or burden for our residents. They'll forget that it's a registry we haven't kept up with. I know the fee's minimal, and I'm OK with that. I just want to really understand the purpose behind the registration and if it really does have a valid use for us. So that was really my only-- I've mentioned it. I'm not necessarily super thrilled with the idea of a registration. I think it's going to be hard to get people to do it. Honestly, those scooters, the battery life is super short. They die pretty fast. I know, because we have one, and we don't use it as much. But at one point, my husband did use it a lot, and within a couple of months, the battery died. We would have to get a new one or get it replaced. So I just don't know if that's going to create more-- If I can-- --efficiencies. The current ordinance reads you have to register regardless with PD specifically. That's how it currently reads. It does-- say again? That it currently reads that they have to be registered with-- No, I know. We just weren't enforcing it. But now that we have the opportunity-- and again, it was brought up, and we talked about it after-- obviously we adopted it the first time around in an effort to create policy, because we knew the concerns around the micromobility devices. And I'm totally in favor of having that. But now after really thinking about it and knowing, I was concerned with the registration, that we have the opportunity to fix the ordinance. I was like, do we really need to have the registration process? Because every time I mention to somebody, oh, you have to go register it, it was not necessarily a welcoming response to it. And I get it. Sometimes we need these processes, because it creates more work for our staff and all these things. But really, the idea is just to enforce it on our streets so people respect the rules of the road. And we have a safer environment for these devices. But I don't really want to create another burden for our residents. So I don't know. Is legally, Mr. City Attorney-- Councilman, I know this was originally your-- really your project. Are you OK with. If we were to think about maybe between the first and second reading to think about the registration process again? I just-- Through the mayor? I have a comment before. Can I have them respond? then I'll turn it over to Councilwoman Reinoso, too. OK. Mayor, it's not required. This is a policy that we're creating for ourselves. Florida Statute allows us to create our own ordinances, and it all falls under Chapter 316. The most important thing here-- you hit the nail on the head-- is the issue of regulation and the penalties. And I think that that's something here that we were able to really enhance. And now the police have an arm by which they can go ahead and give citations if necessary. They have the right to impound the micromobility devices. They have the right to differentiate between devices that are not micromobility and that are motorcycles. So this has a lot more teeth. Now, I will say that this ordinance was done with a lot of thought. I think-- how many times did we meet, Jose? Maybe three or four times with police, with staff. And it was really collaborative. And a lot of the ideas with the registration came really from our police department, in the sense that with the QR code, they would be able to find them and locate them if somebody would lose them, be able to track them down-- Who's going to keep-- --and use that information. Who's going to keep that data? What department is responsible for the data? public works was going to overlook the database. OK. What was the reception of the registration part of it at the workshop? I wasn't able to go. Unfortunately, I had something else. We didn't receive any feedback. Nobody really blinked an eye about it, yeah. I think for certain devices, like golf carts, it should actually-- it should be, because it's a larger small vehicle on the road. For the e-bikes and the scooters, I'm hesitant. But I know Councilwoman Reinoso-- did you have something you wanted to add? Yeah, I just wanted to say real quick. That's kind of why we fought so hard through this registration process to keep it at the comfort of their home, on their phone kind of thing, instead of having them other places do the register, having to come to City Hall and then a ph