County Report on Annexation/Incorporation Finally Released

This important and long-awaited report can be found online at: http://www.miamidade.gov/mayor-memo/2015-10-27-Report-MDC-Incorporation-Annexation.pdf

The most applicable recommendations made are #9 (minimum size of 15,000 makes us just barely "feasible" in PMG's eyes), #14 (no cherry picking - like Aventura did), and #15 (no enclaves means that the county would not allow our area to incorporate without including the Miami Gardens condos, who seem to be dead-set against incorporating, making passage very difficult.

In this first chart, the consultant evaluates the financial impact to the county of various areas incorporating as new cities.  Our area is the first on the list, and if we "left" the county by forming a new city, the county would lose $2,094,498 in revenue.

But if we DON'T leave, and other unincorporated areas DO leave, then our tax bills will go up, and the extent of these increases is reflected in this next table:

The last page of the report that I'll highlight here is PMG's assessment of the viability (to become a city) for several currently unincorporated areas (we are the first one listed: "Northeast"). 

So our area has the apparent blessing of PMG to become a city (and on page 8-11 of the report PMG recommends that the County permit a referendum) but note the "N/A" in the "Public Support" column - this refers to all those "NO to incorporation signs" that have now sat for years on the lawns of our community  

So opposition is strong, and the MAC is playing a dangerous game if it negotiates away rights to Ives Dairy Road and concedes a multi-million dollar mitigation payment to the county that may not even become necessary.  Regardless, the NE MAC already has a budget, it will schedule 2 public meetings very soon (if it hasn't already), and a vote remains possible in 2016.

A New High School West of Aventura?

On a torrentially rainy December 3rd, MDCPS (that's Miami-Dade County Public Schools) held a town hall meeting on "21st Century Schools" which discussed local applications of some of the $1.2B in bonds that were approved by voters in the last general election.

Those of us with children in the local elementary school (including the author) and the local middle school (including the author) will welcome the allocation of monies to those existing institutions.

In the case of the elementary school (Highland Oaks Elementary, a.k.a. Virginia A. Boone Highland Oaks Elementary, a.k.a. VABHOE, a.k.a. "the school with so many names I can never find it on a list"), is to receive $4.7M in funding towards planning and design of an addition that will seat 264 students.  Bond funds have already been spent in 2014/15 at VABHOE to improve HVAC, replace windows and perform general maintenance.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that funds were also used in 2014/15 to erect a series of perplexing chain link fences, ostensively to make the school 'safer', though they seem to have caused far more harm than good (trapping students IN during an emergency), they make the school look like a prison, and as an added bonus: are ugly as hell.


But the real bombshell news in the presentation was the announced (conceptual) 500-seat high school, to be constructed on lands west of the existing middle school (Highland Oaks Middle, or "HOM").  Unlike the other listed improvements, the secondary facility is "in planning," meaning there's little guidance on timetable, and those of us with kids in the pipeline are left to wonder whether action will be taken before the clock runs out, and we have to start schlepping our then-adolescents west of I-95 (which would be "west of west of Aventura"):



One of the most welcome revelations from this site plan is that HOM would, at very long last, have a proper DROP OFF AREA along the south edge of the property.  Currently, HOM parents drop off students by simply stopping their car in the middle of the street, in moving traffic, causing a lot of frustration and endangering motorists and pedestrians alike.  The new plan introduces some sanity to the situation, by creating a second opening into the South lot to allow cars to exit (something the author has been advocating for several years (along with a red-light camera at the intersection)).

As far as the high school itself, it would be an iPrep Academy, limited to students in the current Krop High School boundary (which includes Aventura's K-8 charter school, and Waterways K-8, plus of course HOM).  So demand will likely far outstrip supply.




iPrep is a self-directed, technology-driven instructional format that I've followed for many years.  It's often referred to as "the pet project of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho".  It currently exists at only one location in downtown Miami at 1500 Biscayne.  More information about that existing school at https://sites.google.com/site/iprepacademy/



The 1500 Biscayne school boasts a 100% graduation rate, being an "A" school since opening, and having end of course exam results of 90% or above (not really sure what that last one means).



One criticism of the existing iPrep (1500 Biscayne) school cited by students in their reviews on websites like greatschools.org is the lack of extra-curricular activities and sports.  The proposed school addresses this [or would have] by saying "students may participate in sports at their attendance boundary school - Dr. Michael M. Krop HS".

MAY 6, 2016 UPDATE
Though the proposal had the enthusiastic support of Aventura (their city council voted to support the HOM location), the reception was decidedly negative 'west of Aventura.'  The Highland Lake/Skylake HOA voted unanimously (with 2 abstentions) to lobby for the iPrep elsewhere ("not in my backyard"), and formed a committee to oppose it - lawn signs and everything.  

There were some VERY legitimate criticisms of increasing density on Ives dairy road, and when the "traffic study" was conducted without any visible activity, and without community input, I became skeptical of the whole proposal myself.  Reports emerged this week that the iPrep has been steered west of I-95, where it will presumably exist side-by-side with Krop high school, and "not in my backyard."

But all this leaves me to wonder if this was a victory or a loss.  The iPrep @ HOM could have become a 'crown jewel' of the community that would have benefitted school-aged local residents, and had a very positive effect on homeowner property values.  On the other hand, it could have contributed to even worse traffic problems on Ives.

The real victory would have been a new local high school, WITH proper facilities for parking and drop off, but since that was looking increasingly unlikely, it's not all bad news that iPrep is not coming to HOM.

FDOT Public Meeting: Ives Dairy/NE 203rd St. Improvements

On April 24th of this year, I discussed Road Improvements to NE 203rd St: The Biggest Local Issue You've Never Heard Of.

On October 8, a hearing was held to discuss the "Preferred Alternative" selected by the Florida Department of Transportation to upgrade our beloved Ives Dairy Road to accommodate the 100 trains per day that are anticipated to be going by each day in our not-too-distant future (which should come as no surprise to readers of this blog - see http://westofaventura.blogspot.com/2014/04/trains.html).

Here is what the FDOT has in mind:

The "Final Design Phase" won't conclude until 2017, and the Right of Way acquisition runs until 2018, so don't expect construction imminently, but the above representation could be how things look like in 5 years.

The winners in all this are Aventura (who was represented by it's mayor and city manager at the meeting), commuters and business in Aventura.

The losers are the businesses shaded in purple in the above graphic, who will have their land expropriated to construct the extension (no big loss, and I'm sure they will be happy to be "bought out").

The other losers are those of us WoA, because improving traffic flow on Ives Dairy further contributes to it becoming an urban highway through an area with 2 schools at NE 24th Avenue, and another 2 schools at NE 26th Avenue.

FDOT had also considered improvements at the NE 215th intersection with US1, but decided to take "NO ACTION" on that road, which separates Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and which has ZERO schools on it.  Some action to connect NE 215th Street could have alleviated some of the tremendous pressure on Ives Dairy and the increasing danger to commuting students.

More information available at http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/ne203-215pde.html

If you'd like to submit on-the-record comments to the Project Director, you can drop her a line at fabiana.gonzalez@dot.state.fl.us

Nextdoor Polling on Annexation/Incorporation

In April, 2015, a series of polls were conducted on neighborhood social media site "nextdoor.com", and since the questions and results are germaine to the scope of this blog, they are reproduced below:

The first poll generated a lot of discussion, which is expected given that it's a bit of a 'hot button' issue giving rise to lawn signs and the like.  It was also familiar territory for discussion.  The second poll explored more untested possibilities, and the direction was much more decisive:

The third poll matched the second as far as being more untested.  In #3, the community did not show NMB the same love as it did for Aventura.

In the "grand finale," annexation by Aventura proved to be 340% more popular than forming a new city "West of Aventura".  Curious since this (clearly more preferable) option has no known or organized support, like the pro-incorporation movement (CIND) or the anti-incorporation movement.  

The only commentary I offer on all this is: I always suspected Aventura would be preferred to the risks and uncertainties of forming a new city, because Aventura is "the devil you know."  The question is: if they don't want us, can the County force them to swallow us anyway?

197th Street Tri-Rail Station

As noted elsewhere in the blog, trains are coming.  The question is: how many, and when.  But a separate question is "will we suffer all of the negatives of increased rail traffic without the benefits of a local station to use ourselves?"

WoA will stay current on all known developments concerning this important issue, which today includes an excerpt from this month's issue of Biscayne Times.  For the full article, click here.

Here is the concluding portion, which discusses our area specifically, and mirrors some of the concerns expressed on this blog that (i) space to house a future station is quickly evaporating to development, (ii) we have little control over what's going on, and (iii) Aventura seems to know a hell of a lot more.

Road Improvements to NE 203rd St: The Biggest Local Issue You've Never Heard Of

A public workshop was held in Hallandale on April 21st, and though it was posted here on the blog, it didn't get much attention elsewhere, and it should have.

As noted in an earlier post about incorporation [here], NE 203rd Street (aka "Ives Dairy Road") is our community's artery, lifeline, and the "face" of our community in many ways.  Well, that "face" is going to be having some plastic surgery, and it could be much more than a nose job.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) cites a purpose of "Improving traffic operations and safety conditions at the intersections of NE 203rd street and/or NE 215th street, and the Florida East Coast Rail Corridor", noting that conflicts will increase due to expanding rail activity:

• Florida East Coast Railroad - 20 freight trains daily
• All Aboard Florida - 32 passenger trains daily
• Ti-Rail Coastal Link - 48 commuter trains daily

Oh, did you not know about 100 trains a day passing through our neighborhood?  For shame - you need to stop now and read the 1-year-old pulitzer-prize candidate (not really) post: http://westofaventura.blogspot.com/2014/04/trains.html

So (100 trains a day) + (an already apocalyptic traffic nightmare on Ives Dairy) = HELP!

So a process was initiated, and we just passed the step highlighted in orange in this picture:

The next step in the process is the Public Hearing, and that is scheduled for October 2015.  The study ends in December 2015.

3 concepts are being studied by FDOT:

1.   "No Build" - maintain existing configuration

This is the status-quo option, which looks like this:

2.  "Concept 1" - Northwest Quadrant Concept

This one would cost $25,000,000.  It looks like this:

As you can see, even $25M doesn't buy you any "A" grades for smooth traffic (the majority of "D" grades indicate a delay of greater than 35-55 seconds per vehicle).  FDOT says there would be a 54% improvement in AM rush hour, a 49% improvement in PM rush hour, and a 70% improvement on weekend traffic.

3.  "Concept 2" - Elevate Westbound NE 203rd Street, and lower US-1 to ground level

ICK! - according to the FDOT, those "F" grades represent a 17% greater delay in AM rush hour, and a 10% greater delay in PM rush hour (but on the weekend it is a 71% improvement, so not a total loss - all the weekend shoppers can rush home from the mall with minimal delay).

For NE 215th Street, there are no fewer than FIVE concepts:

 

I don't want to crash this blog by uploading all the pictures, but the alternatives and their projected impact are summarized in this table:

These changes will have a dramatic impact on our community, lifestyle, commuting and safety.  My hope is that the project will improve a terrible traffic situation, and earmark some funds to improve safety at the school crossings, where ignorant drivers (and moms on cell phones) endanger young pedestrians on a daily basis.  

Sign up to receive email updates on the project at http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/ne203-215pde 

Subscribe to this blog (top right of the page) to get updates on this and other local news.

And send any questions or concerns about the project to fabiana.gonzalez@dot.state.fl.us

FDOT Public Workshop

"The NE 203rd Street and NE 215th Street Intersection Improvements between US-1 and West Dixie Highway Project Development & Environment (PD&E) Study will analyze potential improvements to the intersections of NE 203rd Street and NE 215th Street at West Dixie Highway. The objective of the study is to eliminate vehicle conflicts with existing and future freight and passenger trains in the Florida East Coast (FEC) Rail Corridor, while enhancing traffic operations and safety conditions in the area."
[source: http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/ne203-215pde]

The FDOT is holding a workshop on the above improvements, which affect us all.

When: Tuesday, April 21 from 6-8pm
Where: Hallandale Community Center - 410 SE 3rd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009

The Bigger Picture

It's a little bit shameful that this blog focuses only on our tiny community of 18,000 when it comes to its discussion of incorporation and annexation.  But what do you expect from a blog titled "West of Aventura"?

Well, just for today, let's zoom out and get the bigger picture.  In fact it's such a big picture that I would crash the site by putting it on full size. So how about "a small picture of the big picture"?  Here it is:

This is a map that was considered by the County "Annexation and Incorporation Task Force" in 2013/14.  You can find a link to it here (it's the last item under the heading "resources" on the right side of the page).

Our area ("West of Aventura" or "WoA") is the dark blue shape way up on the top right.  You can see that shape on a larger scale in the first post in this blog (here).

Whenever the County government holds a meeting to consider the issue of new city incorporations, the chamber is usually packed with residents from WoA.  It's a little remarkable that only WoA people show up.  After all, there are lots of other colored blotches on the above map (green ones are "dissolved MACs," purple are "Inactive MACs" and blue are, like us, "completed MACs").

The salmon-pink colored patch in the above map shows areas that are currently cities (incorporated).  Those areas include 56% of the population of the county.

The remaining unincorporated area (the grey, blue, green, etc. areas on the map) hold 44% of the population.  And according to Jennifer Moon (the Director of Office of Management and Budget), the unincorporated area (also referred to as "UMSA") contributes about 27% of the county's revenues.  So 44% of the people pay just 27% of the taxes - not much to complain about for those in UMSA.

Later this month there will be public meetings held by a consultant hired by the County to consider what to do with the ENTIRE UMSA, not just our tiny piece of it (see the March 5 blog post).

As you can see in the map above, that it a pretty big assignment for the consultant (PMG Associates).  We can barely figure out to do with our tiny piece, after all.

In the bottom-left corner of the map, you can see some dissolved MACs that are sizable: West Kendall, East Kendall, Redlands, etc.  For those areas, the geographical size and population likely support formation of a city.

What about the small blotches in the top right corner, including ours?  I've never heard it proposed publicly, and I don't know if it would be popular, but it makes sense visually for Aventura to absorb not only WoA, but also the unincorporated area "west of west of Aventura" too!

In the 1990s, Aventura was allowed to 'cherry-pick' itself a small geographical parcel with so much tax revenue, it doesn't even know what to do with it - other than becoming a massive target for lawsuits, including this 2015 one from a developer, and this one where the former charter school principal was awarded $155M by a jury (last reported to be tied up in the Appeals court).

In short, the "haves" should be forced by the county to take some of the "have nots" in order to produce larger, healthier cities that possess "economies of scale" that will lead to better management and policing.  Aventura should even include Miami Gardens - putting the area's largest police force to work in the nation's 5th most dangerous suburb [source].

Given all the corruption we see in all the tiny cities in Miami Dade county, I wonder if the consultant would ever conceive of the ultimate solution: amalgamation (where the county annexes ALL the existing cities).  I suppose not: something that obvious will take a few more decades of study.

NE MAC is renewed

A March 10 meeting of the "Miami Dade Unincorporated Municipal Service Area Committee" offered a fresh opportunity for our area's residents to butt heads over the issue of incorporation.  There is a link to the March 10 webcast at http://miamidade.gov/wps/portal/Main/webcasting.  You can see all the local celebrities in the "public comment" portion of the webcast.

Appearing to appeal to the Committee to renew the NE MAC were MAC members Kenneth Friedman and Jonathan Morton, along with MAC finance committee member Alan Hecht.  Their position was basically "let the people vote" (which is only possible after the MAC first decides there is something to vote ON).

Appearing to torpedo the MAC were Brian and Alica Rook, and the usual gang of people who put those "no to incorporation" signs on their lawns.  Their position was generally "we like things the way they are, so we don't want a MAC to even put the issue to a vote."  They kind of need to address the anti-democratic aspect of their platform.

Although everyone in attendance was focused on the merits for or against incorporating, their points were largely off-topic.  The resolution being considered was not a referendum on the issue of incorporation, but rather a decision on allowing a MAC to continue its study.

Rook did have a valid point that the MAC was not representative of the full geographic spectrum of the NE study area, and that it seemed to be stacked with "pro-city" members.  But later in the meeting Commissioner Sally Heyman directly responded to that accusation by noting that she had invited Rook herself to sit on the MAC.  This was a bit of a bombshell, because taking the top "just say no" agitator, and making her a member of the MAC could be an interesting development.

Another interesting point made was "why wasn't the MAC formed after petition by 20% of the area residents?"  It seems like much of the acrimony would evaporate if the "Committee to Incorporate Northeast Dade" or "CIND" would just go out and get a petition signed.  This would give legitimacy to the MAC, albeit retroactively.

After discussion, a vote was held which appeared unanimous: allowing the MAC to continue its deliberations, but without the need to conclude its process without first reviewing the study conducted by PMG discussed earlier in this blog.  Hyman indicated this report would be delivered in JULY (so that's also news).

WoA is "For the Birds"

"West Aventura" has some things the City of Excellence doesn't.  For example, this time of year we have vultures, and not just the kind that want cheap properties.  Here are 3 bird varieties, all with approximate 6-foot wingspans, actually sighted in the past week:

This appears to be a leucistic Turkey Vulture. The typical Turkey Vulture is an all-black bird. This one (clearly a vulture given it's bald head) probably lacks the normal level of melanin, causing this very unusual color pattern.

Ospreys are pretty common in our area.  Their high-pitched calls (like "peeps") make you think it's coming from a much smaller bird, but if you search for the source, you may find one of these massive birds near the area's lakes and streams.  It is said to be the only bird able to take off vertically from water.  This one was photographed with a large bluegill fish.

Finally, a truly rare sight, hidden among all the turkey vultures circling the area was this American Bald Eagle.  Seen only once before in 15 years, this is the first successful photographing.

So it's not all raccoons and possums.  There are many varieties of herons, we have Egrets, Ibis, Kingfishers, Moorhens and Coots, Muscovy and Mallard Ducks and (very noisy) Egyptian Geese.  Still waiting to see a flamingo though.

Save the Date: County Consultant Holds Public Meetings this month

In 2013 the County formed a Task Force (the "Annexation and Incorporation Task Force" or "AITF").  Don't be ashamed to admit that you don't remember, and to refresh your memory, here is a link with all the details: http://www.miamidade.gov/incorporationandannexation/2013-task-force.asp

They held lots of meetings on the subject of "what to do with the parts of Miami-Dade County that are currently unincorporated" and delivered a well-reasoned and comprehensive final report that you can find at the above link.

What did the County do with the report?  Well, you can read the post on this blog from March 2014 (yes, it's anniversary time) here.  The short answer is that the County did nothing with the AITF recommendations.  It might have had something to do with the fact that the chairperson and one other member of the AITF had been arrested (unrelated to the AITF, but these developments rendered the AITF report "politically toxic"). 

So the County Commission kicked the can down the road by directing the Mayor to hire a university or other consultant to examine the issues, again, and deliver a report.  To me this seems like it would have been an excellent project for a University "Urban Planning" department or program, but I guess there was no interest.  In the end there were only 2 applications for the job, both private consulting companies.  The winner got a $200,000 contract to re-invent the wheel, as described in the last post.

Like the AITF, the consultant will be holding public meetings soliciting input from the community, and the public notice (for those of us that don't read the Miami Herald ... i.e. "all of us") follows. 

Long Thaw on "West Aventura" Incorporation Begins (Again)

Since this Blog is focused mainly on the annexation and incorporation issues facing the "west Aventura" community, and since the committee appointed to study and make recommendations on incorporation (the NE MAC) was suspended in 2014, there hasn't been much to report on.

But in these, the coldest days of the year in Miami, preparations are underway to un-thaw the process.

On January 21 the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (the "BCC") held an official meeting, the agenda for which is at this link.

Agenda item 4(A) relates to the NE MAC.  Don't let other people tell you what this proposed ordinance says, read it yourself, which you can do here (it's only 4 pages - you can do it).

My first reaction when I learned of this agenda item was: "why bother?"  Recall that in 2014, the BCC had declined to act on threshold issues related to annexation and incorporations, and without acting on these threshold issues (including the central issue of "mitigation payments," discussed here), the MAC was being compelled to 'put the cart before the horse.'

But this is why you have to read the full proposed ordinance.  On page 2, one of the introductory clauses reads:

WHEREAS, prior to completing its updated report, the [MAC] should review the study being conducted by PMG Associates, Inc., concerning annexations and incorporations, pursuant to its contract with Miami-Dade County (the "Study").

The significance of this, is that one of the issues the MAC asked Jorge Fernandez about repeatedly was "when will the County make a determination on the threshold issues" relating to incorporation (including mitigation).  And it looks like the County finally got around to hiring a consultant to study the issue.  So perhaps the MAC will at last be allowed to consider the issue of mitigation BEFORE making any recommendations on the viability of creating a new city by incorporation.

On page 3 of the proposed ordinance, Section 4 says that the MAC "shall review and consider the Study, prior to completing its updated report", and Section 5 says the MAC "shall complete its updated report within six months of the date that the [BCC] accepts the Study."

So for those in the community who were hoping for an up-or-down vote on the issue of a new city in 2015, it appears you will have to wait until far into 2016 (since the consultant hired to create the Study has one year to do so, and the MAC has another 6 months after that to create its updated report).

The proposed ordinance (resuscitating the MAC) will be heard and voted on next month: March 10, at 2pm, at the government building (111 NW 1st Street, 2nd Floor).