07-18-2019 Regular Workshop Agenda The City ®f CityCommission
venturaAi Workshop Meeting
July 18, 2019
Following the 9:00 a.m. Commission Meeting
" Executive Conference Room
19200 West Country Club Drive Aventura,FL 33180
AGENDA
. Call to Order/Roll Call
2. Discussion to Ban Plastic Straws and Bags (Commissioner Mezrahi)
3. Proposed Creation of a Visitor Center(Commissioner Mezrahi)
4. Discussion of Request for Community Sponsorship From the Pelican
Harbor Seabird Station (City Manager)*
5. Discussion of Commuter Train Stop (Commissioner Weinberg)*
6. Commission Liaison Update on Don Soffer Aventura High School
(Commissioner Dr. Marks)
7. Adjournment
* Back-up Information Exists
** PowerPoint Presentation
This meeting is open to the public. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, all persons who are disabled and who
need special accommodations to participate in this meeting because of that disability should contact the Office of the City Clerk, 305-466-
8901,not later than two days prior to such proceeding. One or more members of the City of Aventura Advisory Boards may be in attendance
and may participate at the meeting.Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the Aventura City Commission with respect to any matter
considered at such meeting or hearing will need a record of the proceedings and,for such purpose,may need to ensure that a verbatim record
of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. Agenda items may be
viewed at the Office of the City Clerk, City of Aventura Government Center, 19200 W. Country Club Drive, Aventura, Florida, 33180, or
online at cityofaventura.com.Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of any agenda item should contact the City Clerk at 305-466-8901.
CITY OF AVENTURA
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
MEMORANDUM
TO: City Commission /
FROM: Ronald J. Wasson, City Man. .er
DATE: July 8, 2019
SUBJECT: Discussion of Request for Community Sponsorship From the Pelican
Harbor Seabird Station (City Manager)
Recently, we were approached by the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station regarding
community sponsorship. They are a wildlife hospital to the Greater Miami area which
supports the environment and local wildlife.
I have placed this item on the Workshop Agenda to obtain consensus to move forward
on this matter.
RJW/act
CC01807-19
Ellisa Horvath
From: Christopher Boykin <christopher@pelicanharbor.org>
Sent: Friday,June 7, 2019 12:18 PM
To: Enid Weisman; (marks; Denise Landman; hweinberg; rshelley; Gladys Mezrahi; Marc
Na rotsky
Subject: Partnering with City of Aventura
Hi, Mayor and Commissioners of Aventura,
The Pelican Harbor Seabird Station is the native wildlife hospital to the Greater Miami area. We've treated more
than 32,000 patients over the past forty years. I'm reaching out as we would love to partner with the City of
Aventura to do a bird release at one of your community events at a local park for a PR opportunity. We would
also be happy to do environmental education through tabling at one of your community events.
We celebrated our 40th Anniversary with our Pelican Party Gala in April and were grateful to have
sponsorships from the following municipalities as well as Williams Island Marina and Williams Island Property
Owners Association among others:
• City Miami Beach
• City of North Miami
• City of South Miami
• Miami Shores Village
• North Bay Village
• Town of Bay Harbor Islands
• Town of Surfside
• Village of Biscayne Park
I invite you down for a behind-the-scenes tour of our facility where we currently have 110 native birds and
other wildlife patients in care. Alternatively, I'd be happy to meet with you in Aventura to briefly review our
programs and discuss ways we could partner. We would love to have the City of Aventura support our mission
by becoming a community sponsor. Benefits of this would include; one or more bird releases, one or more
educational tabling events, logo placement on our website through April of 2020 and tickets/sponsorship
acknowledgment of our next April 2020 gala.
I hope you can take a moment to watch one of our short videos below and will consider dropping by for a tour
or hosting me in your office for a brief meeting on collaborative opportunities. We have been treating sick,
injured and orphaned native wildlife from within the city limits of Aventura for years and would welcome the
opportunity to get to know you better while also familiarizing you with our work to help our dwindling native
wildlife populations.
Happy Friday!
Christopher Boykin, Executive Director
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station
1279 NE 79th Street Causeway, Miami, FL 33138
Pelicanharbor.org 1305.762.7633 I Annual Report I Facebook I Youtube I Instagram
1
CITY OF AVENTURA
OFFICE OF THE CITY COMMISSION
MEMORANDUM
TO: Ronald J. Wasson, City Manager
FROM: Commissioner Howard Weinberg
DATE: July 10, 2019
SUBJECT: Discussion of Commuter Train Stop
Please provide the attached Miami Herald article titled "Next Stop, Hollywood? Virgin
Trains Plans New Stations between Miami and West Palm" and place this item on the
July 18, 2019 Workshop Agenda for discussion.
Thank you.
/elh
Next stop, Hollywood? Virgin Trains plans new
stations between Miami and West Palm
BY ROB WILE
July 10, 2019 07:00 AM
The new name of downtown Miami's transportation hub, "Virgin MiamiCentral station," is
unveiled by Richard Branson in downtown Miami, Florida, on April 4,2019. CARL JUSTE
CJUSTECM/A MIHERALD.COM
A bit more time may be soon be added on to your Virgin train trip— but for a select
number of cities, access will now be granted to the fastest train in the south.
In a recent filing, Virgin officials said they plan to announce up to three new stations
before the end of the year in an effort to boost ridership. While the company is so far
declining to name its new city stops, Hollywood may well be on the list.
A Hollywood official says the city recently met with Virgin Trains USA, formerly known
as Brightline, about adding a stop in the Broward hamlet. Hollywood communications
manager Joann Hussey said in an interview that a meeting took place in June.
"We've identified an area in downtown...that we're calling University Station that we're
redeveloping, with the thought of having a stop for a commuter rail line," she said. It is
located east of 1-95, at Dixie Highway just north of Hollywood Boulevard.
Hollywood— and 15 other communities are already served by a commuter line:
government-funded and run Tri-Rail. Tri-Rail trains run just to the west of 1-95, stopping
at Hollywood Boulevard just west of I-95.
Virgin is not providing further details on costs or time of travel for the proposed stops.
But they would likely be faster, although more expensive, than Tri-Rail.
Tri-Rail service from Hollywood to Miami takes 39 minutes— slower than Virgin's 30-
minute run to more-distant Fort Lauderdale. A round-trip Tri-Rail ticket between Miami
and Hollywood currently costs $6.25; at peak hours, a Virgin ticket costs $34 roundtrip
for the Fort Lauderdale journey.
In an email, Tri-Rail executive director Steven Abrams said, "We are aware that Virgin is
approaching a limited number of cities along their corridor to explore the possibility of
stations."
Virgin representatives say the company expects the new stations "will significantly
increase ridership once operational," and that it would still consider itself an "intercity
express train"with the new stops.
For the first quarter of 2019, Virgin announced ridership of 244,178 passengers with
revenues of$5.8 million. Virgin has set a goal of approximately 2.1 million passengers
and between $50 million and $100 million in revenues in 2019.
Other potential Virgin stops remain unknown. But officials in Boca Raton confirmed in
an email that they were a candidate.
"Representatives of Brightline will be coordinating through the office staff to set up
meetings in the next two weeks (or as soon as possible) with each of of the City Council
members to discuss the potential for a Brightline Station in Boca Raton on the property
east of the Downtown library,"the city said.
Richard Branson unveiled the first step milestone of"Virgin Trains USA" at the Virgin
MiamiCentral station in downtown Miami, Florida, on April 4, 2019.
A representative for the city of Pompano Beach said in an email that while no meeting
with Virgin had occurred, it believes it is "an ideal location" for the train, citing recent
investments it had made in infrastructure.
The Hollywood and Pompano statements show the eagerness with which some
municipalities are now greeting the prospect of a Virgin stop. Martin County north of
Palm Beach, which had been strongly opposed to Virgin threading its Orlando extension
through its backyard, agreed to a settlement in November that included a promise of at
least one new Treasure Coast stop.
Another Treasure Coast county, Indian River, is continuing litigation against Virgin. A
new rail safety group, the Florida Alliance for Safe Trains, was created earlier this year to
highlight fatalities that have occurred along Florida East Coast tracks since Virgin began
operating last year. It is calling for greater safety measures.
The Orlando extension is now fully funded. Last month, Virgin held an official
groundbreaking ceremony for the $4 billion project, which will run up existing Florida
East Coast tracks in southeastern Florida before turning west along a new set of tracks
that stretch across Orange County and into Orlando International Airport, reaching a top
speed of 125 miles per hour. It is projected to be completed in 2022.
Virgin envisions its Hyperloop One as a safe, energy efficient, and reliable mode of
transportation that will deliver passengers to their destination at speeds of up to 700 mph,
above land or underground.
By
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article232461917.html#storylink=cpy