annexation, with reservations

Is there ANY evidence that the warehouses out there are currently being used to house drugs? Has there been any arrests out there for drug warehousing? Is there ANY evidence that the patrons of the sex clubs, strip shows, an adult video stores out there are actually endangering our streets? Are we REALLY wanting the reputation for strippers, peep shows and free sex? Can hookers be far behind? Is THAT the reputation we want for Miami Springs? Its bad enough as it is out there, but if we dont control the zoning it could get MUCH worse! Until the pollution, mitigation fees, current and accurate property values, and zoning issues are resolved, and turn out to be beneficial to US, it makes it very difficult to vote for annexation in its current form. If these issues were to be successfully resolved for our benefit, then I would be in favor of annexation, but not until then. Dr. Mel P. Johnson

commentary

As I said before, I am not sure the FOP has thought all of the annexation issues thru completely before they made their opinions known. They had an issue with one of the candidates- fine. All I have heard from them is that annexation will provide more career oppurtunities for them. That much is true, but those are not ALL the issues involved in annexation. What about the possibilities of annexing polluted properties? WHY would we do that? They cant be built on, so we cant tax them, PLUS we could get hit with a big cleanup bill. Billing TEN bankrupt businesses back 40 years will NOT result in ANYBODY to pay for a cleanup! The County says there are currently 27 openly polluted sights that they are remediating or monitoring. Until the County signs a contract saying THEY will be responsible for cleaning up any more pollution in the proposed areas to be annexed, I am NOT comfortable for US to take that risk. One million-dollar cleanup could wreck us. What about mitigation fees? Zoning? Accurate and current tax revenue information? To take a stand on a major issue without doing the research, homework, and due diligence required to be well-informed about ANY major move could easily be seen as hasty, woefully unprepared, uninformed, and self-serving, if not irresponsible. While it may very well be the result of a LOT of political pressure from above, only having one reason for being for annexation is hard to comprehend and justify. This has shoot-from-the-hip feel to it that may be justified in an emergency, but this isnt an emergency and there has been sufficient time to study all aspects of this potential action for months. It is hard to point a finger at the FOP for not doing due diligence however, when the Mayor and Council havent done due diligence either. Dr. Mel P. Johnson

annexation meeting

There will be an annexation workshop Teusday, March 3rd to hear a DERM presentation regarding annexation and look at the final numbers from Corradino. Gym has admitted that Corradinos numbers were much lower than the numbers Gym had, but somehow, shows the same 2.3 million in surplus taxes we could collect. if the taxable values of the proposed annexation areas are down considerably, how is THAT possible? What about the zoning problem? Mitigation fees? The FEC property? If the County agrees in writing that THEY will be responsible for ANY needed cleanups, I would be okay with that part of the annexation question. The rest needs to be negotiated with the County to show a definite benefit to MS before it would be palatable to me. I see NO reason to rush into these discussions and make ANY agreements before debating the issues thoroughly. This is a part of doing ones DUE DILIGENCE, another alien term to this Mayor and Council. Dr. Mel P. Johnson

Big IFs

Dotson ALSO went on the record last night as being in favor of annexation IF IF IF, and ONLY IF, the issues of mitigation fees, possible pollution, zoning, the annexed owners, and the FEC properties can be resolved in a way that is favorable to the City of Miami Springs. There was supposed to be a pollution report from a guy at DERM- that hasnt happened. Unless the County signs a contract which agrees to clean up any possible polluted areas at THEIR expense, annexation wont work, as some cleanups can cost a million and more. Why would we want to annex polluted properties and expose ourselves to that liability? Mitigation fees of $336,000 a year forever is just unacceptable. Lawsuits are entirely possible when the owners of those commercial properties become aware that their tax rates are going up two points overnight. It would be sheer senseless stupidity to annex properties where we do NOT have control over the zoning, as we would NOT be able to control the quantity or quality of the businesses there. Dotson made that point a long time ago. So there are a LOT of issues to be resolved BEFORE annexation can be considered a viable prospect for Miami Springs! IF, after those issues have been discussed and debated thoroughly, and it is determined that annexation is a good thing for us, then we should vote.

patience is a virtue

If we hadnt rushed into the gym financing at what, 5.4%, like Dotson suggested, we could be getting a 3.25% rate right now. Its 2.25% for ten year bonds now too. We will have wasted TENS of THOUSANDS of taxpayer dollars by the time this is done by not listening to Mr Dotson, and having a little patience! The only donors who will have any money to donate will be the contractors we will be overpaying at the new gym. Has the City NO fiscal sense? To borrow 2.5 million in the middle of the steepest recession since the Thirties is insanity! Sure, it keeps the contractors well-paid but with property values dropping like a rock and property taxes with them, where will we get the money to pay that back? Oh, right, just raise the peoples taxes and fees AGAIN. Or annex some polluted land, pay outrageous mitigation fees, give up any control to the County regarding zoning, and HOPE it will all be okay. Occasionally the Mayor and Council should LISTEN to the voice of reason, no? Nah, it'll NEVER happen because it might get in the way of the timetables their personal legacies.

DERM

It is only at Mr Dotson's insistence that the DERM representative will be coming to address the pollution issues in the areas under consideration for annexation. Nobody else has said a WORD about this concern. NOBODY. The County has said they have cleaned up some of the areas but has NOT said how much more needs to be done. There were some SIGNIFICANTLY polluted areas out there and we need to know how much pollution remains, as it could entail considerable financial risks to us if we annex polluted properties. This is, hopefully, a part of the process of DUE DILIGENCE if the DERM info is accurate and timely. To say that bankrupt businesses that have not been viable or are extinct for the past 20 years are responsible for the cleanups, is preposterous, of course. They went out of business for a reason. Some current or past businesses wont clean up a mess they didnt make, and really shouldnt be held responsible. Others may simply refuse, or dont have the financial means to do a cleanup. Some cleanups have run into the millions of dollars. THEN what do we do? Aerodex has been defunct for over 20 years, likewise Miami Drum. ALL of these issues need to be addressed, discussed and debated before any intelligent decision can be made. The same process needs to happen with mitigation fees, boundaries, FEC, and zoning, not to mention taking a hard look at the basic numbers that the City Manager suggested.

protesters petition to vote on annexation

1371 protesters yesterday turned in a petition at City Hall to demand their American rights to vote on any issue of significance that would alter the entire nature of their community for years; in this case, annexation. This is a multi-million dollar decision that requires careful scrutiny, debate, and sound decision-making from substantiated facts. The MS Council, like VG, has done little and NO due diligence in this instance. They have blindly accepted numbers from a City Manager that has a horrible track record of getting anywhere CLOSE to the actual numbers involved. LOOK at the CC addition, and the bathrooms. His numbers werent EVEN close to being accurate; not in the same galaxy. Why would we believe his estimates NOW? How did he derive his numbers? From what sources? Are THOSE sources and numbers posted online so they can be examined? If not, why not? When does the Mayor and Council plan to address any pollution issues? FEC? Boundaries? mitigation fees? ZONING? It IS possible that after due diligence is finally done, that annexation will be beneficial to MS, but until ALL the issues are addressed and resolved we are just rolling the dice and hoping. Wishing and hoping are not really sound business priciples on which to make a multi-million dollar decision that will effect us for the next century, are they?

annexation issues

While its not difficult to outperform the Springs Council at almost anything, neither they nor VG has really done anything close to due diligence on this annexation issue. There has been little or no mention of zoning, possible pollution, or mitigation fees so far by either entity. If the County at some point in the future decides to dump all their peep shows,sex motels, and/or low income housing into these unincorporated areas because they are out of the way, what redress will the municipalities have if they have NO control over zoning? If the County is sure the pollution concerns are minimal, they should put it in writing that THEY will be responsible for any cleanups necessary, or take out a multimillion-dollar insurance policy against that possibility. Equitable boundaries are still an issue and the development potentials, and lack of same, are concerns that need to be addressed still. What about the 100+ million dollars in infrastructure needed and planned for by the County from 36 st to 58 st? Are there similar plans for South of 36 street? Area 9? What about the MIA developments? For anybody to compare themselves with the MS Council and management is not setting the bar very high as they have a LONG history of VERY expensive projects, fiscal irresponsibility, disorganization, waste, lack of transparency,questionable numbers, and mismanagement throughout the city administration. While they are surely not the only ones with these issues, this ineptitude and incompetency affects us directly and comes out of our pocket, at the end of the day. Larry, Moe,and Curly make a lot of people look smart.

one small step...

The special meeting tonight was an important step towards the possibility of actually doing due diligence about the annexation issues. The posible tax revenues of each potential parcel of annexable land were discussed in some detail, although they were not complete or completely current. What was NOT discussed is perhaps JUST as important as what was discussed- there was little discussion of possible mitigation fees and NO talk of potential pollution problems or zoning concerns. The numbers required for the policing of area 9 seemed to be low. Somehow VG has become the entity that is setting the tone and making demands. For example, VG seems to believe that if we get area 9 they should get 6 plum parcels of property on the North side of 36 st where Milam dairy meets 72nd ave. They seem to think that is a fair trade. If that IS a fair trade then we should cede the rights to area 9 to them and just take the 6 parcels for MS. We can, and will, support their rights to annex area 9 in exchange for those 6 parcels! Fair enough! That would equal it out some, because at this point VG is wanting some 55 million dollars in taxable revenues more than MS. Garcia has taken the " a-little-of-the-pie-is better-than-NO pie", "lets be grateful for any little crumb thrown our way" approach. It is right to take the current tax value of all the land because it allows the comparison of apples-to-apples, for the most part. Youngs was the best informed of the lot and offerred some helpful summaries of these complicated proceedings. They agreed to look further into this annexation process. After all is said and done, its a productive first step in this process of finally, perhaps, doing real, rational, concrete due diligence. The revenue issues are relatively straightforward. It is the other issues that further complicate the process.

annexation issues

The City Manager isnt telling us ALL the truth. One example, when he says that state law says that whoever made the mess has to clean it up, he is half-right. What he DOESNT say is that if the owners are no longer in business- Aerodex, or unable or unwilling to pay for the cleanup, who DOES pay for it? It appears that the county and the municipality split the costs 50/50. This could cost us MILLIONS. Also, when he says that the Council has no intent of changing the zoning to make it residential that may be true BUT has ZERO, NONE, ZIP impact on whether it will happen if the county maintains the zoning powers. The County will have the powers to decide whether any zoning changes are to be made there, NOT MS Council. If the wants and needs of the County come into conflict with those of MS, who do you think will win THAT battle? If the County decides to put up high-rises, condos, or low-income housing there there will be NOTHING MS can do about it. Add to it that NINE of the County Commisioners arent in favor of allowing any more annexing at this time, the 41st street vs 36 street boundary dispute, mitigation fees, the terminal ordinance, and other pollution cleanup concerns and annexation doesnt work for MS. DERM is not to be trusted to decide on the pollution concerns and the potential costs as they have regularly sided with the County in the past. We need an independent, experienced, and knowledgable consultant with NO ties to the County or any municipality.