November 5, 2021
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Thanks to the many folks that have reached out since Monday to inquire about the Village Council's vote on Item 14A. At Monday’s meeting, the Village Council voted to terminate negotiations with Miami-Dade County regarding the Village’s procedural challenge to the Board of County Commissioners. If you recall, the County Commission approved the 87th Avenue bridge project earlier this year. I subsequently called a Special Council Meeting and the Council voted to initiate the Florida statute known as the “Florida Governmental Conflict Resolution Act”.
The process began with the passage of the Council Resolution which specified the issues of conflict with the County’s action. Those issues were the County’s use of an emergency COVID 19 procedure to pass the measure and its use of a resolution rather than an ordinance. Before litigation could commence, certain procedures had to occur. There was an initial meeting between the County and the Village to discuss the issues and attempt a resolution. No agreement was reached, so the parties proceeded to mediation to try to resolve the case efficiently. A mediator – a well-respected former Judge – oversaw the initial round of mediation. That led to months of negotiations between the County and the Village, culminating in a proposed Interlocal Agreement, which was intended to provide some mitigation of the effects of the proposed Bridge. That Interlocal Agreement was voted down at the Council meeting this past Monday. Click here to view the entire meeting. Here is the Village recap with links. You can also click the video below.
The next step in the process will be a Joint Public Meeting between the Board of County Commissioners and the Village Council. The date of that meeting will be set and will be held at the Commission chambers. Should that joint meeting not result in a resolution, litigation will be the final step in the process.
In addition, because the County continues to state that the Transportation Planning Organization is essential to this process, the Village has commenced a conflict resolution process with that body and will carry out the same procedures with the TPO in order to fulfill any requirements necessary to add the TPO to any litigation.
As I said on Monday, I am a strong advocate for process. We embarked on a process that was voted unanimously by the Council back in March. But I am also a realist, and this process to bring forward a meaningful Interlocal Agreement was not working. The County was aware that the item would be discussed at our November 1 meeting, but did not send us their counter proposal. It was disrespectful of our residents, our legal team, and our Council. The good thing that came of it was having the opportunity to discuss the merits of the interlocal itself and having another opportunity to hear from the impacted residents.
We all have access to a lot of information from social media, newspapers, blogs, political emails, etc. Some of it is accurate, some of it is not. As I always do, I have provided many links to information in this email. I hope this brings some clarity on the steps moving forward. I encourage each of you to sign up for the Village newsletter so that you will be informed of upcoming meetings and know of the things we are discussing, and most importantly, receive accurate information. If you have friends or neighbors that you forward these emails to, they can subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here.
Have a safe weekend (better weather is just a day away!) As always, I am here to answer questions or lend a helping hand. I can also be reached at kcunningham@palmettobay-fl.gov or at 305-799-0695.
Warm regards,
