You can see in this picture of the FEC slip, the 16 NEW bollards (right side) that cost the City of Miami $1.7 million dollars. Also look at the beautiful new sea wall around the slip that cost the city over $10 million dollars. Well Dennis Moss sponsored a resolution to look into filling in this slip. It passed in Committee with no discussion. Yep, lets throw almost 12 million dollars down the drain. Much of the money was secured from Florida Inland Navigation District funds that the City of Miami would have to repay if the County fills in the slip.
This is totally insane. The City doesn't want to fill it in and they own the bay bottom. Why is the County using our hard earned tax dollars to look into the feasibility of filling in the slip if the City doesn't want to do it? The County resolution says they want to make more park space and link the museums to the American Airlines Arena. Meanwhile the City put in bollards so tall ship could safely anchor in the slip. Almost 9,000 people visited the Eagle tall ship when it was in the slip. If the county thought we needed more park space in downtown, why did they give all that bond money to put 2 museums in Bicentennial Park and why did they let the city put a shopping mall in Bayfront Park? We are getting fed a bunch of bullshit if you ask me. They never cared about parks in downtown before, always eager to jam buildings into them, why now? I believe they want to build the port tunnel and dig the port channel deeper and they don't know what do do with the dredge material (see the box below). This is their stupid solution.
Commissioner Moss: Let us walk along the water for a spell and see sailing ships. We have seen enough land. We have very little waterfront to view our beautiful Biscayne Bay. This slip is great. Stop looking for ways to waste our money. If you don't have a place for dredge spoil, make a ski slope in your district.
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It could be he & his BCC buddy's want to help out Cemex expand their rock mining operations into our Agricultural, areas West of Krome, just south of Kendall Drive (new application being heard on June 28th) to dig up over 400 acres of productive Ag land. Or, maybe, to help Krome Gold move all that fill from dredging the lakes. By the way, what is happening with Krome Gold? I went by there, it's desolate. If they dredge, the BCC will help them find a sucker to buy the fill from them. Of course, at inflated (what government always does) prices.
Actually, the City of Miami doesn't care about park land either, having giving away Bicentennial Park to the museum and sold the FEC land next door to Miami Dade County so they could build the AA Arena.
The City of Miami was the one that allowed taking Bayfront Park land to be used for the Bayside Shopping Center.
The Port of Miami tunnel contractor has already applied for a permit from the State to put the excavation materials on Virginia Key. And the Port of Miami deep dredge project presented by the Army Corps also has plans to use Virginia Key as a deposit site for dredge materials, just like they did in the past.
The North Point on Virginia Key, the site of earlier dredge material from the Port, is now open to the public as a park with a mountain bike trail.
While the County has a good ordinance to protect parks in the unincorporated areas of the county, it has a terrible record in the City of Miami.
If County leaders cared about green space in the City limits, they would tear down the gates between AA Area and waterfront Parcel B so residents and visitors could get to the water. Then protect it from any future ridiculous development. The only times over the last 12 years the gates have been open is when
some business will pay big bucks to rent it or some connected organization wants to use it. The past month there have media trailers parked there to accommodate the NBA Finals coverage.
Chairman Moss, Lets see a resolution to open up Parcel B!!!
This should be a quick study. The inlet is in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve and these are sovereign submerged lands of the State of Florida. Neither the City nor the County should have any say in filling it in.
Hate to tell you bub -- the State is doing away with aquatic preserves. Thank you Rick Scot.
In addition to the Tall Ships and other significant water-craft that visit Miami attracting visitors, the slip has been and will be the home to only North American stop/layover for The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race, a yacht race around the world, held every three years} scheduled for the month of May, 2012. There will be a Sailing Village with music and entertainment, food, exhibits, and educational programs for the youth of Miami. Volvo and other corporate sponsors are organizing these events at stops around the world.
It also is a logical site for a future boat ferry stop given its protected, central location adjacent to the Arena, Museums and residential condos along Biscayne Boulevard.
Biggest mistake was allowing the AA Arena to be built in this area. Creates a problem for future residential developments and business sites which cannot deal with the roads being closed for every event. Makes this area a black hole of no progress forever.
Moss was already a dunce; this just proved it once again.
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