July 19, 2021

Good morning Friends and Neighbors,

Thank you for those that came out to visit on Friday during the Mayor is In! office hours. It was a great opportunity to spend some time with residents in addition to spotting you in and around the Village! My next Mayor is In! will be on Friday, July 30th from 10 am to 1 PM. Shout out to Vernon Moxy and Jim Loretta for taking time from your day to stop by.  My next Mayor is In! office hours will be on Friday June 30th, from 10 am - 1 pm. Click here for more info.

We set our Maximum Millage Rate!- Every July, the Council passes a resolution to set the Maximum Millage Rate for the upcoming year. On June 29th, the Village Manager hosted a Budget Open House. Click here to view the presentations. This was a great introduction to our Regular Council Meeting Millage presentation, where the Manager presented three scenarios to the community. Our current millage at 2.235 would hold services at the 2021 level. A millage rate of 2.4 would provide an additional $527,000 to our budget and allow for special events like our July 4th, picnic and senior programming, summer camp and others. Most importantly, it would allow for an additional police officer and additional personnel in public services and other departments. He also presented a 2.6 scenario which would provide for a Capital Replacement Program, which we currently do not have. The Council voted set the Maximum Rate at 2.4 by a 3-2 vote. We will set the final millage in the early fall. Our next Budget Hearing is on July 27th.

I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to our Manager Nick Marano. Upon his hiring, we tasked him with a very difficult job- to turn around the deficit and present us with a balanced budget. He is hard working, collaborative, and just an overall joy to work with. I am in the process of setting up an Open House this Fall so that you can come and meet Nick. Until then, I encourage you to reach out to him and get to know him. Click here for the Manager's Millage presentation.

Downtown Palmetto Bay Presentation- The first was on our Downtown PB development. Of the projects that are currently in the queue over 50% of them are being designed to meet our code. These won't have to come to the council. What does that mean? It means we did a great job of revising our code and lowering density and height from the previous code. The Manager will provide this presentation every month to update the Council and the community. Click here to view the presentation.

Concessions are coming!- Among the items passed on July 12th, were concession vendors at both Coral Reef Park and Palmetto Bay Park! The resolution gives direction to the Manager to begin to negotiate contracts with the selected vendors- Miami Stingrays Softball at PBP and Juan Pena of Candi Bistro Concessions. The contracts will come back to the Council in September. I know that will be good news for our families and our athletes as baseball softball, soccer, and football return to the parks. Click here to review the log of all items from the July 12th meeting.

136th Street Milling, Repaving and Multi-use Path- The 136th street project has begun! This is a County project being paid for by a mobility grant that was awarded to Pinecrest. The project is one of three separate projects slated for 136th street, including the new replacement bridge at 70th avenue and eventually circles at Old Cutler Road. This project will include milling and repaving of 136th street, an 8-10-foot multi use path (to replace the 5-foot sidewalk currently on the street) and some other enhancements in the commercial area near US1. The project will extend from US1 to 67th court. They have begun in the area of Howard Drive Elementary at the request of our Education Advisory Board, so that that portion is completed before school begins on August 23rd.

Detours- If you have been driving around the Village you know there are a couple of detours during the day. Proceed with caution on 144th street as there is tree trimming and electrical pole replacement. On 82 Ave. and various other areas have sidewalks being replaced and, of course, 136th street. Move in those areas with caution as our police are providing extra enforcement and we want everyone to be safe (and ticket free!).

A big thank you to our Parks Department and places of worship in our Village. We had a very touching candle light vigil in support of Surfside last week with 6 of our local pastors and deacons joining us in prayer. Since that time, we are also offering up our support and prayers for Haiti and Cuba as they struggle in their fight for freedom, justice, and simple basic needs, that we often take for granted.

This evening we will have our Zoning Hearing at 7 pm and tomorrow we have our Committee of the Whole Meeting, where we will be discussing the County's proposed Rapid Transit Zone Ordinance and other items that may be of interest to you. Last month, the Council discussed the County's RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) initiative at our Committee of the Whole Meeting. You can watch the presentation/meeting here. This initiative would preempt Zoning, including in municipalities, along all areas of the SMART Plan. I hosted a meeting of the South Dade Coalition of Mayors. All five Mayors, Managers, and Attorneys from Pinecrest to Homestead were in attendance and are all expressed their opposition to preempting municipal home rule over zoning.  You can click here for the agenda. Click here for the Village calendar and notices. Hope to see you there!

You can click below for a video update and as always, I am here to answer questions or lend a helping hand. I can also be reached at kcunningham@palmettobay-fl.gov or at 305-799-0695.  Together we are making Palmetto Bay a better place to live, work, learn, and play. 

Flower Force coming to SW 168th street and 82nd Avenue

Many have been inquiring about the progress of the AIPP approved artwork on SW 82nd avenue and 168th street. You should see quite a bit of progress in the next few weeks as Flower Force is installed. In the meantime, you can learn more about Village Resident and Artist Xavier Cortada by checking out his website at

Doggy Bags are at three of our Parks!

Where did the dogs come from? For the next three months, local residents will be able to enjoy "Gomer" and "Stanley", two oversized sculptures from Artist Will Kurtz's collection, "Doggy Bags". "Doggy Bags" is a series of seven oversized sculptures created by the New York-artist, Will Kurtz, depicting unique characteristics and

personalities of different breeds. The pieces represent sustainability as most of the pieces are made from recycled materials such as newspapers, single use plastic bags, cellophane balloons, duct tape, and plastic drop cloth. Click here to learn more. Stop by and check them out.

Village of Palmetto Bay,