2014-0220 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting February 20,2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida this at a previous meeting we put a time requirement on the potential development of this property. He is happy to report that there has been a meeting of the minds between the proposed combined development of this property with the property already approved, the Synagogue on the site next door. We have Avra Jain, the proposed developer, and Rabbi Alexander Kaller here and their formal request is to give them time to come in with the proposals since they have had a meeting of the minds and doing a combined development on both sites. Public Speakers: Avra Jain; Rabbi Alexander Kaller Avra Jain said we have been working for several months now with the Rabbi and the development team, in trying to come up with a joint effort project that we think will be a win-win situation not just for the Community Center but for the City and hopefully for the Gateway Park site. She said they do have conceptually an agreement and some of it is contingent on the City's support. At this point they would be looking to the City to help them explore and make sure that the ideas that they think are compatible with the Jewish Community Center, getting the identity and the presence that they are looking for, and the feasibility of an elegant gateway project into the City. They would also like to pursue the extension of the boardwalk with the City's support. Rabbi Alexander Kaller said as Ms. Jain mentioned,we have been in discussion for the past few months and he thinks they are coming to an harmonious concept and their architects are also in contact to see how these two projects can work together. We had certain concerns but he thinks they are on their way to being resolved. Commissioner Scholl noted in the way of disclosure that he and Rabbi Kaller have met a few times and discussed this over the past few months. He has a number of issues with this,first and foremost, if we are going to sell a piece of public property, we have to have a process. He doesn't think the first person that knocks on our door and wants to buy that property we make a deal with. He has been very supportive of the idea of a Jewish Community Center in that area because he felt it was a great use for that property as it was adjacent to a park and it was not that intensive. He personally feels putting another high rise at the bottom under the bridge is 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag for lack of a better analogy. With that in mind, he would like to see a process, and he does not know the developer's credentials or if there is financing,and he does not know for us to consider tying up a piece of City property without a public process that would at least put it out to the highest and best bidder which may or may not benefit the Rabbi. First and foremost that is what we have to be careful of here is that the perception that somebody can walk in and say okay the City has a piece of property and we want to buy it, and we can say okay we will sell it to you. Very much what happened with the Alamo project, we tried to make a deal on the first pass, it fell apart and someone else came in and then we had a series of issues based on competing buyers. And so in this case he thinks we are getting the cart before the horse if we are not careful. Developer Avra Jain said she is involved in the Regalia project, and Commissioner Scholl asked if she is a principle in the Regalia project, and she said she was a principal, and she is still currently a partner in the project,she was the original developer. She also noted that she has had meetings with the City Manager and the Mayor and they knew of her background. 17