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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

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The Miami River Commission Executive Committee was called to order at 8:00 a.m. at Greenstreets Café located at 3468 Main Highway, Coconut Grove.

    The first item discussed was the current status of the Urban Infill Plan.  David stated that he wanted to clear up the confusion surrounding the implementation of the Plan.  At present the MRC has had one meeting with the City of Miami Commissioners and they have approved three or four implementation steps.  The County has not done anything yet.  The County has been undergoing some reorganization lately and they have not yet decided which committee will be reviewing the implementation steps for the Urban Infill Plan.  Once the committee has been set, they will review the plan and make their recommendations.  David stated that people have been confused about the City Commission meeting.  Many people thought that more items were approved than just a few of the implementation steps.  One good issue to come out of the meeting was an inquiry made by Commissioner Teele.  He wanted a full report on the status of the Greenway.  He asked Dianne Johnson, Brenda Marshall and Ernie Martin to make a presentation in front of the Commission either by the end of January or the beginning of February.  Commissioner Teele seems to be forcing the City administration to move forward on the Greenway development. 

David stated that the Urban Infill Working Group should add several agencies to the membership and start seeking additional approvals from the city.  Jim stated that he felt that the working group should have representatives from the City and the County serving as Co-Chair with him or in some type of supervisory role so that everyone can come together to help implement this plan in a timely manner.  Bob stated that he felt that reorganizing the committee would not accomplish anything if we were solely waiting on the City Commission to approve the implementation steps.  Discussion ensued.  David stated that it seems as though the City Commissioners are behind the Plan but it is the administration that seems to be stalling the approval process.  Bob asked the group to recommend a MRC member who is not politically involved to co-chair the Urban Infill Working Group with Jim.  Bob asked Jim to develop a list of people who could chair or co-chair the newly constituted Urban Infill Working Group.  Bob then recommended that the MRC write a letter to follow-up on what Commissioner Teele was talking about.  The letter should be directed to the City and County Mayors and Commissioners with a one-paragraph summary on the current status of all of our major projects.  Bob asked David to write up a draft letter and he stated that he would do the same so that the letter could be mailed off as soon as possible.  The gist of the letter would be that the MRC has done all that it could possibly do and it is now time for action by the city and county to help implement the River improvement projects.

            Bob explained to those present that he made a unilateral decision to make the fundraising committee part of the 501(c)3 corporation rather than the MRC.  He then asked David what the hold up was.  David stated we need to decide what we want the professionals we hire to do for us; aside from raise funds (i.e. do we want to have a gala dinner or party of some kind or do we want to have river boat tours, etc).  David explained to the group that the staff is putting together a Request for Proposals (RFP) to send to fund raising entities.  Brett stated that he was looking for experienced fund raising firms to bid to set up a turnkey operation.  Bob wanted to make sure that whomever we hire has a good relationship with the City and the County, so they can also assist keeping public officials apprised of the MRC’s accomplishments.  Brett suggested that the MRC hire a full time employee to oversee the fundraising coordination.  David needs to talk to someone who has a background in fundraising to help him develop a satisfactory RFP.  The draft RFP will be sent to executive members for comment.

            David advised the group that the agenda for the next MRC meeting needs to be set.  The first item on the agenda will be a Gatehouse/Bame Housing Development.  The group has a contract to develop affordable housing by the 5^th Street Bridge.  This is the same site that the Water and Sewer Department had originally chosen for development but they have since decided that there are too many political and resident problems associated with the site for their use.  The Gatehouse/Bame group would like to make a presentation in front of the MRC explaining their development proposal.  The second issue was the Miami River Tunnel Study Report.  David stated that he would like to hold off on this issue until a presentation is made before the Economic Development and Commerce Subcommittee.  He explained that staff would attempt to get the One Miami people to come before the MRC to present their $4.5 million greenway plan.  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has stated that they believe that One Riverview Square is in violation of their permit.  If they are found in violation of the permit, they will probably be fined rather than relocating their building.  Brett stated that the money received from this fine might be applicable for use within the Miami River Corridor.  David stated that One Riverview Square is in compliance with the Miami-Dade Department of Resource Management (DERM) permit but not the FDEP permit.  The two permits did not match, so this issue may take a while to resolve.  Dade Days is April 2 & 3, 2003.  The MRC needs to decide if they want to get a booth and if anybody would like to go up there.  It was decided that Dade Days would be mentioned during new business.  The MRC is going to pay for David and Brett to attend.  Everyone is encouraged to attend this year, although they will have to pay their own way. Fran stated that some members from the Dade Delegation are coming down the last Wednesday in February for a Miami River Marine Group breakfast meeting.  David suggested getting them together with other elected officials for a river tour.  The next item for the agenda is the Pinnacle Group.  They have proposed riverfront affordable housing west of 27^th Avenue.  They will be making a presentation at the MRC meeting and at the Urban Infill Subcommittee.  Fran stated that this is in the heart of the marine industrial area.  Discussion ensued.  The last item for the agenda will be an update from Brenda Marshall and Dianne Johnson about the Greenway Report that they will be presenting before the City Commission.  Bob thought that we should start having Riverday reports at the MRC meeting, this way everyone will be aware that the event is approaching and can plan accordingly.  David stated that he received the draft study “Feasibility of Utilizing Miami-Dade County Waterways for Urban Commuter Travel” and that this report was very extensive.

            David stated that he met with the auditor, Kaufman, Rossin & Co., that we used last year.  He received their proposal, which was for $12,500.  This year, the MRC must undergo an additional level of review.  Bob stated that unless someone knew of another company that could do it for a lower cost, the MRC should just accept that proposal.  Sally Jude made a motion to accept the proposal from last year’s auditor.  Dick Bunnell seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.  David stated that the MRC has not yet received the $200,000 appropriated by the FDEP last year, although our request was submitted in August2002.  FDEP has rewritten the MRC’s scope of work and would also like the MRC to revisit the Attorney General’s opinion concerning lobbying issues.

The MRC has received $10,000 from the SFWMD to initiate operation of the clean up vessel for the Miami River. 

            The meeting was adjourned.

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