Since May 2016, the Foundation has operated an Adaptive Beach Day program, serving over 600 unique visitors including Miami Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward residents as well as tourists from abroad. Visitors have included persons with physical and cognitive disabilities, including seniors living with disabilities, veterans, and children with special needs. The program has volunteers ranging from high school students, college students, and physical therapy students to locals. Each Beach Day is consistently averaging approximately 100 visitors, with 25-40 disabled participants. In the last year, the Foundation has had over 800 individuals sign-in for an Adaptive Beach Day. More information on the Foundation and its Leadership can be found at: http://sabrinasadaptivebeach.com/.

At the March 22, 2017 City Commission meeting, a discussion on a possible arrangement with the Sabrina Cohen Foundation, Inc., a Florida not-for-profit corporation (the “Foundation”), for the construction and operation of a City-owned adaptive recreation center at a portion of the City’s “P72” surface parking lot located at 53^rd Street and Collins Avenue (the “Facility”), was referred to the Finance & Citywide Projects Committee by Commissioner Joy Malakoff. 

The Foundation’s concept for the Facility, which would be a City-owned building under the aegis of the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, represents the Foundation’s attempt to (1) build on the successful implementation of the adaptive beach days that provide disabled persons with the ability to enjoy the City’s beaches; and (2) respond to the main community concerns and objections raised with respect to an earlier proposed project at a different location, Allison Park. 

There is precedent in the City for similar arrangements involving not-for-profits.  The City partnered with the Boys and Girls Club for the construction of a facility in Flamingo Park to offer programming for children.  The City entered into a Management Agreement with Unidad in connection with the construction and operation of a senior citizen center in Bandshell Park in North Beach.

The Administration conducted its first phase of community outreach inviting the three neighboring condominiums to a public input/informational meeting on April 17, 2017, where City Staff, Sabrina Cohen and Miami Beach Residents discussed the location and operation of the potential Center. One of the top concerns for the residents was available parking at lot P72.  Residents voiced their concern over insufficient parking and that the Center should be built at a different other location. The Parking Department was asked to provide data regarding P72 usage. Parking survey data shows P72 has 139 park spaces and on average 53% of the lot is empty.  

At the April 21, 2017 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (“Finance Committee”), this item was discussed and direction was given for the City to continue to develop an agreement. 

At the July 26, 2017 City Commission meeting, following public input and discussion, the Mayor and City Commission endorsed the concept for the Center, and referred the proposed Agreement to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (“Finance Committee”) for further review and comment.

At the July 28, 2017 Finance Committee meeting, the Finance Committee discussed the terms of the proposed Agreement, provided additional direction to the Administration and City Attorney’s Office with regard to proposed terms for the Agreement, and provided the public with an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed Agreement.

At the July 28, 2017 Finance Committee meeting, the Finance Committee requested additional terms or clarifications to the Agreement, including the following:

1. The Facility shall not be used as a hall for hire, banquet hall or similar venue;

    

2. No alcohol sales shall be permitted at the Facility (provided, however, that the Foundation may serve alcoholic beverages as part of fundraisers that may take place at the Center from time to time);

    

3. Clarifying requirements related to the Foundation’s concept design submittals, which shall be subject to City Commission approval, and which shall specifically include landscaped, vegetative green roof elements for the Facility, and ensure that access to the beach is not blocked;

    

4. Milestones and timeline for the Foundation to conduct its fund-raising for the project, based on the Concept Plan approved by the City Commission, with a fundraising period of three years following the City Commission’s approval of the Concept Plan, and with the City retaining the right to terminate the agreement in the event the milestones are not achieved;

    

5. City to retain the ability to close the Center for up to fourteen (14) days per year to accommodate high impact City-wide events, such as the annual boat show; and

    

6. The City Manager or his or her designee to serve as a voting member on the Foundation’s Board of Directors. 

    

At the September 20, 2017 Finance Committee meeting, the Finance Committee considered a revised draft of the proposed Agreement (incorporating the Finance Committee’s July 28, 2017 comments, as well as other negotiated terms), heard additional public input and comment, and favorably recommended that the City Commission approve this Agreement.  In addition, at the Finance Committee meeting, counsel for an adjacent condominium made certain factual assertions concerning the number of parking spaces at the P72 Lot, and claimed that 35 of the 139 public parking spaces at the P72 lot were reserved for Fire Department personnel and not available to the public.  However, the City’s Parking Department has subsequently confirmed that while there is a parking area behind the Fire Station with 35 spaces for use by the Fire Department, those 35 parking spaces are separate from the 139 parking spaces in the public parking lot available for use by the general public. Further, the parking utilization data referenced in this Memorandum, indicating that the P72 Lot is underutilized, only surveyed utilization of the 139 parking spaces, and did not take into account any utilization of the separate 35 parking spaces reserved for the Fire Department.

PROPOSED AGREEMENT TERMS

The proposed Agreement, as revised to incorporate the comments provided by the Finance Committee on July 28, 2017 and September 20, 2017, includes the following key terms, among other negotiated revisions:

• The Foundation, as a public charity, will raise 100% of the funding required for the design, development and construction of a City-owned Facility, with no City funds used for the development of the Facility. 

   

• The City would not proceed with the design and construction of the Facility until the Foundation has raised sufficient funds for design and construction, and has transferred such funds to the City.  Within six months following the execution of the Agreement, the Foundation shall submit a draft concept plan, including a proposed operating plan with sufficient detail to enable the City to accurately estimate the construction costs, the costs of FF&E, and the operation and maintenance costs of the Facility.

   

• The City would be the owner of the Facility, with the primary purpose of providing the general public and specifically, persons with physical and cognitive disabilities, including seniors living with disabilities, and able-bodied individuals with temporary injuries, with an accessible access point to the beach and related beach programming. In the event the Foundation is unable to operate the Center, the City will exercise good faith efforts to identify another qualified vendor to assume the maintenance and programming obligations for the Center, and in the event the City is unable to secure an agreement with another qualified vendor, the Center shall be used for the most closely related Parks Department purposes, which may include general wellness programming, in combination with beach accessibility programming.

   

• The Foundation’s proposed concept design (“Concept Plan”) shall be subject to City Commission approval (in addition to approvals required by applicable regulatory boards).  At a minimum, the Concept Plan shall include landscaped, vegetative “green” roof elements, and shall ensure public access to the beach is not blocked.  The Foundation will submit a draft of its concept plan, and a proposed operating plan, within six (6) months following the execution of the Agreement.

   

• Following City Commission approval of the Concept Plan, the Foundation agrees to a schedule of fundraising thresholds and deadlines based upon the cost estimates associated with the Concept Plan (i.e. 25% of funds raised by end of year one following City Commission’s approval of the Concept Plan; 50% by end of year two following City Commission’s approval of the Concept Plan; and 100% by end of year three following City Commission’s approval of the Concept Plan).  The City may terminate the agreement if any of the foregoing deliverables and deadlines are not met, following a notice and thirty (30) day cure period.

   

• The Facility would be located on a portion of the P72 surface parking lot adjacent to Beach View Park, with a footprint of approximately 5,000 square feet, and a maximum of two stories (for a total of approximately 10,000 square feet).  The final location of the Facility within the P72 Lot shall be determined by the City Commission as part of the design development process. 

   

• The Facility would not impact any greenspace, and would be designed and developed with the intent of minimizing impacts to parking spaces.  The City shall further have the right to close the Facility for up to fourteen (14) days per year to accommodate high impact City-wide special events (such as the boat show).

   

• In no event shall the Facility be used as a hall for hire, banquet hall, or similar third-party venue rental, or for the sale of alcoholic beverages. 

   

• If the Foundation raises the funding and the Facility is built, the Foundation would also manage and operate the Center on the City’s behalf, for a term of nine (9) years.  (The Foundation has offered a nine (9) year term for its management of the Center, reduced from the original proposal of a term of nine years and 364 days).

   

• All operational and maintenance costs would be the responsibility of the Foundation (except for capital repairs, if any, which shall be the responsibility of the City, in the same manner as the City would ordinarily provide for other City-owned facilities, and comparable to terms of other City management agreements with non-profit organizations, such as City’s agreement with Unidad or the Miami Design Preservation League).     

   

• The City retains broad rights to terminate the Agreement for its convenience, including, without limitation, if the Foundation fails to achieve its fundraising milestones within the time specified in the Agreement.

   

• The City Manager or his or her designee shall be a voting member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

   

If the City Commission decides to accept the Foundation’s proposal, then the City Manager recommends the waiver of the formal competitive bidding requirements with respect to the Foundation’s management of the Facility, for a term of nine (9) years.  Specifically, if the Facility is constructed, it would be in the best interest of the City to permit the Foundation to manage and operate the Facility for a term of nine (9) years, in view of (i) the Foundation’s successful implementation of adaptive beach programming in Miami Beach, and (ii) the financial commitments the Foundation is undertaking to raise all of the funds for the design and construction of the project, as well as the maintenance and operation of the Facility (other than capital repairs, which will be the City’s responsibility as the owner of the Facility). 

Finally, it must be noted that the proposed Agreement does not guarantee a project.  Rather, the Agreement outlines the framework for the City and Foundation to further develop the project, and specifically, for the Foundation to conduct the fund-raising that will be required for the project, with initial milestones for progress and funding of the project.