Directors/Alternates Present
Keith A. Reynolds/Brickell Key One
Herbert J. Bailey/Brickell Forest
Berdie Archer, Ed Archer/One Tequesta Point
Celestino Pena/Brickell Harbor
Florence Mazer/The Imperial
Joseph Vos/One Tequesta Point
Mark Steinberg/Fortune House
Norman Mininberg/Brickell Place I
Janice Jones/The Palace
Philip Bianchino, Wanda Bee/Brickell East
Bruce Cotten/2000 Brickell
T. Sinclair (Tory) Jacobs/Brickell 25
Bryan Hoffman/The Atlantis
Jorge Iglesias/Brickell Mar
Ron Smith, Esq./Villa Regina

Henry H. Taylor, Jr., Esq./General Counsel

Associate Member Present
Megan Kelly/Swire Properties

Also Present
Clark Turner/City of Miami Planning Department
Officer Jeffery Giordano/Miami Police Dept., Coral Way NET
Jennifer Schooley/Communications Plus
Daniel Leibow, Joe Wilkins/Miami Roads Neighborhood Civic Association
Chief Raul Martinez, Major Hector Martinez & Mrs. Martinez, Lt. Hector Mirabile/Miami Police Dept.
Mike Glogower, Luisa Perrino, Stoney Walsh/The Palace
Linda E. Baker, Joseph Bier/Brickell Place I
Christopher Cedeno/Brickell Mar
Patrice Gutentag/Brickell Forest
Harvey L. Young/Alumnus
Richard Conway/Alliance of Condominium Associations
Daniel Ponce/Brickell Key Master Association

A motion to waive the reading of the March meeting minutes was approved unanimously and the minutes were approved as published.

Brickell Bay Village Project. On next Wednesday, April 25, 4 p.m., at Miami City Hall, a special meeting about the Brickell Bay Village development will be held. Tory Jacobs announced he will be at the meeting and encouraged others to be there to show support of the community position passed at the last BHA meeting.

Traffic. The City and County are conducting a major 20-year study of traffic for downtown, covering Omni to Brickell/Rickenbacher Causeway/I-95. Neighbors were invited to give feedback/suggestions at the meeting at which 3 neighborhoods were involved: Downtown, Brickell, Overtown. Only 5 citizens came from these three neighborhoods, even though traffic is cited as number one concern. Possible problem with not enough publicity far enough in advance. Tory Jacobs encouraged participation in the next opportunity to share concerns about traffic congestion in our area.

25th Road Improvement. There is a regular meeting of Miami City Commission on Thurs., April 26, at which time they will consider the request for the City to commit the $50,000 pledged by The Metropolitan toward median enhancement instead of the 25th Road gatehouse that is not being built. Tory Jacobs will be there to support the five condominiums that would be involved on 25th Road and encourages others to attend.

Condo Living Course. Only 2 people signed up. Not enough by deadline. April 28 seminar cancelled, will be rescheduled.

1900 Brickell Ave. The BHA previously passed a resolution that would support the plastic surgeon's request to be relieved of the protective covenants if he would landscape the property more in keeping with the look of the rest of Brickell and have professional sign that only reads his name and profession. He agreed at first, but now he will only drop "spa" from sign. (The Spa sign is now down because someone ran into it.) If agreement can't be reached, BHA will continue to pursue its channels of recourse.

Shuttle Service Report by Megan Kelly
The shuttle service in the northern portion of Brickell is commencing Monday, April 23. Miami-Dade Transit will have a minibus running a route between the Brickell Metrorail Station and Brickell Key to east (goes as far south as SE 12th), on a 20 minute circuit, Mon-Sat., 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It is designed as a commuter service. Megan encouraged residents in north Brickell to use it so that we can demonstrate good ridership for this pilot project. If there is good ridership, it may be possible to extend route to south part of Brickell.

Police Report
Crime. Overall a drop of 27% in burglaries, auto thefts, thefts in general throughout Coral Way and Brickell area. A lot of burglaries going on in 1111 Brickell Bay Drive (George Perez building next to the Mark ­ looks like inside job.) Hard to enforce if it's an inside job.
Traffic. Major operation today of radar/traffic device enforcement, especially on Brickell Key. Speeders on South Miami Avenue also targeted today.
Email report. Neighbors can give police email address and they will send crime report for the area. Also can report suspicious activity, inquiries, questions, complaints, etc. through email.

Dog Leash/Pooping Rules
It's a problem on Brickell Key where off-duty officers have been hired. A motion was suggested that for all Brickell condo associations that allow pets, managers should send out notices to owners/renters saying that we would enforce dog "pooping" controls. The motion did not pass, but instead, a letter for managers will be drafted discussing the statutes on the books and the health concerns, for BHA review. Janice Jones and Berdie Archer agreed to chair this committee.

Traffic
Miami Today article stated that the Brickell area is adding 4,000 new rental units while everyone in the area is already complaining about traffic. Baseball stadium north side of river also will impact traffic. Two speakers invited to talk about traffic ­ Chief Raul Martinez, City of Miami, to discuss what can police do now to improve flow. Also county/state/federal/coast guard involved. Many jurisdictions to deal with. Signals and signage controlled by county. Question? What can city police do? No program to take into account special events to re-time lights/signals. Suggestion for cameras on buildings to monitor and adjust lights ­ not there yet. Also invited, Clark Turner, City of Miami Planning Department, who is focusing on traffic.

Chief Martinez (accompanied by Major Hector Martinez who manages this division.)
Q. Signage/ smart signs/ synchronize lights?
A. All these together will make life more bearable.
Q. What about police enforcement for infractions such as blocking intersections as there are no clear signs saying don't block intersection?
A. The chief stated he's not sure that would make it any better. An officer is there from 12 noon to 1:30 to write tickets, but not many written.
Q. How come at construction sites we often see an officer just sitting there, not doing anything? Who hires them?
A. They're off-duty, so what are their specific instructions? Depends on whether the officer is hired for security or traffic control.
Q. What about the Second Avenue bridge reconstruction that is slated soon that will take the bridge out of commission for three years, making for only two ways to cross river.
A. Not going to get any better soon ­ no quick solution.
Q. What about restricting bridge openings during rush hours/lunch?
A. It's the Coast Guard's responsibility. Dredging the river will allow more boat traffic. The Coast Guard position is that they are willing to work with everyone and be part of solution, but bridge closings will not be the only solution.

Clark Turner/City of Miami Planning Department
Mr. Turner presented the bad news first: Our metropolitan area has saturation traffic ­ too many people for all of the facilitiesall hours, not just peak hours. The side streets are pressed into service because people are trying to find alternate routessystem is full. Doesn't make difference if you add lanes, etc.will be filled. This means things that used to improve traffic don't work anymore. We have a long way to go before we utilize other means of travel besides personal cars.

In the meantime, we can try to improve the efficiency of system using the science of traffic engineering to make it work better. Technology, informational systems, enforcement, accidents handled expeditiously, capacity improvements, carpooling, fewer vehicles, etc.

Things we can do:

• Traveling by ourselves in automobiles is BAD and this usually occurs most during "business" hours. Biggest resource for increased capacity is the empty seats in our private vehicles. We should think of incentives to get people to use that capacity, and education.
• As far as alternate means of transportation, Americans have no use for mass transit and Miami is among the worst for public transportation.
• SW 8th Street can become two-way, which is starting to happen. The City is about to sign contract to do the first piece of it which means you won't have to wait for Brickell Bridge to close when coming from Brickell Key and can go west on 8th Street (approximately one year).
• Rest of way to I-95 two-way is next project (4-5 years.)
• One-way streets? Problem are they serving those living here, or those commuting? Usually aimed at commuters. We're now changing policy to serve citizens of Miami, not suburbanites.
• City has very little jurisdiction of its own; must plead with county/state. Miami Avenue bridge is underutilized because of traffic flow when going northbound and getting stuck in maze of downtown traffic and can't get right onto I-95. Will restore this lane when 2nd Avenue bridge is under construction.
• Also looking at SW 8th Street through little Havanato make that two-way again as it used to be. Would be good for businesses on 8th Street.
• Downtown master traffic study calling for a tunnel under the Miami River is still a possibility. It would be located where Henry Flagler put his railroad ­ West First Avenue ­ and would connect two pieces that are now unconnected. The Marlins' proposed ballpark will go on top of where tunnel would be. Miami Ave. would also become two-way again and 7th Street remain one-way.
• Anything that can done with bus system? More efficient/accessible? Our bus system is underfunded, poorly operated and managed and conceived. It is next to impossible to improve except over very long time. A bond issue could improve the bus system and extend Metrorail, but most people don't even want to use bus. It is the service of last resort (serving the poor and incapacitated­those without any political clout.

Next meeting, Wednesday, May 16, 2001, at the Imperial.

Meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.