I.  Discussion of MRC Marine Industrial Symposium - Brett Bibeau , Assistant Managing Director, MRC, reported the Marine Industries Association of South Florida (MIASF) had pledged a $5,000 sponsorship for the Marine Industrial Summit, bringing the total available funding to $10,000.  The EDC set a goal to raise an additional $15,000 for widespread marketing of the event.  Captain Beau Payne, P & L Towing, offered to provide copies of the Marine Industrial publications to advertise in.  The EDC agreed to discuss sponsorships with the Miami-Dade County Office of Community and Economic Development, the Propellor Club and Coastal.  MRC staff will attend the MIASF Marine Industrial Summit, focused on Fort Lauderdale , on October 15, 2003 .  Dr. Fran Bohnsack, Executive Director of the Miami River Marine Group, stated the Army Corps of Engineers consultant, Kevin Horn, will have completed the Miami River Dredging Project’s economic analysis before the Marine Industrial Summit, which is scheduled in March 2004.  Mr. Phil Everingham, Merrill-Stevens, stated Tom Murray recently completed a Mega Yacht Study for the MIASF.  The EDC discussed potential speakers, including Kevin Horn, Tom Murray, Dr. Pam Dana, Governor Bush’s MRC designee and Director of the Office of Tourism and Economic Development, and Frank Nero, Beacon Council Director.  The EDC discussed the Miami River Corridor Urban infill Plan recommended centralized freight forwarding center concept, and identified the Miami-Dade County owned site, which will be used as a staging area for the upcoming Miami River Dredging project, as a potential future location for the center.

II.   Discussion of the City of Miami Noise Ordinance – David Miller, Managing Director, MRC, stated the MRC chair had submitted a letter to the City Commission regarding the second reading of a new “noise ordinance”, which prohibited dredging between the hours of 6 pm and 7 am.  The letter noted that the pending ordinance would double the cost of the upcoming Miami River Dredging project, and the City Commission deferred the second reading to October 23, 2003 .  Miller stated that earlier on October 14, 2003 , he had attended a meeting with Bibeau, Dr. Bohnsack, and the City Attorney, regarding the pending ordinance.  Although the October 23 City Commission agenda will have the ordinance that was approved on first reading, a copy of a revised ordinance was provided with an exemption for the Marine Industry, which had been requested by the MRMG.  In addition to the dredging impacts, the EDC agreed to support the proposed marine industrial business exemption, noting the “ Working River ” requires 24-hour shipping operations.      

III.   New Business  - Miller, Everingham and Bibeau reported to the EDC on the October 7, 2003 Florida Department of Transportation’s public hearing on the NW 12 Ave Bridge replacement plans.

The following problems were identified with the planned NW 12 Ave Bridge bascule bridge design:  

1) unlike the new SW 2^nd Ave Bridge, the proposed NW 12 Ave bridge does not have a riverwalk, rather a greenway tunneled behind and beneath the bridge

2) the Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan recommends allowing a left hand turn on NW 7 ST when traveling south over the bridge, which the new design does not provide

3) a business, Long’s Motorcycle, would have to be removed to create space for a drainage pond.

The EDC discussed the Miami River Corridor Urban Infill Plan’s recommended tunnels and the MRC consultants study, “Comparing Costs of Options for Reconstructing the NW 12 Ave and NW 27 Ave Bridges Over The Miami River”.  The study notes the large traffic counts at the NW 12 Ave Bridge, including emergency vehicles servicing the adjacent civic center’s Jackson Memorial and Cedars Hospitals .  The report concluded that over a 70-year life span, tunnels would be $1.46 million less expensive than bascule bridges.  The EDC noted the 7,000 planned residential units on the Miami River and the necessity for improved transportation corridors.  The EDC unanimously agreed send a letter to the FDOT supporting a tunnel, rather than a bascule bridge, to replace the NW 12 Ave Bridge.  Bibeau noted the NW 5 ST Bridge design and the NW 12 Ave Bridge design are scheduled for presentations at the MRC’s November 3, 2003 meeting.  The EDC unanimously recommended to the MRC that since designing a Tunnel to replace the 12 Ave Bridge crossing will require a delay to design the tunnel, the NW 5 ST Bridge, which was deemed a hazard to navigation in 1924, should be replaced before the 12 Ave project.  The EDC stated they would contact Johnny Martinez, FDOT District 6 Secretary, regarding the EDC’s recommendations, prior the November 3, 2003 MRC meeting.

The meeting adjourned.