FYI Miami: November 17, 2016

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

MAKING A GOOD ENTRANCE: North Bay Village officials want to beautify and maintain part of the 79th Street Causeway but need to annex the right-of-way to make that happen. Miami city commissioners are onboard with their approval of a resolution supporting the municipal boundary change application to Miami-Dade County by North Bay Village. The annexation is of the 79th Street Causeway right-of-way up to the mean high tide mark, from the current westernmost boundary of North Bay Village to Pelican Harbor Drive, Pelican Island. The land would be annexed out of the City of Miami into North Bay Village. The resolution says the annexation won’t cut into Miami’s tax revenue. Village leaders told the city they plan to turn the area into a grand entrance by making improvements including landscaping and lighting.

CHARTER REVIEW: County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava’s proposed legislation creating a charter review task force was tabled Nov. 10 when the Economic Prosperity Committee adjourned without voting on the measure. Ms. Levine Cava said this week she intends to bring the item back once she has a Sunshine meeting with committee Chair Xavier Suarez. Her proposed legislation would fulfill the commission’s obligation to review the county charter every five years by creating a community panel that would recommend changes.

QUIET NEGOTIATIONS: Viacom, the principal tenant at the Screens Gems/EUE studio at 50 NW 14th St., has quietly put out the word that it is seeking to renegotiate some of its local contracts and is holding an invitation-only event Nov. 21. Only 25 spots exist, Viacom said in a release that went out on the letterhead of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, which owns the studio.

LET THE RIVER FLOW: The City of Miami has agreed to a new contract with Water Management Technologies Inc. to help clean waterways. The Miami-based company employs its Scavenger 2000 Decontamination Boat to remove trash and debris from the Miami River and parts of Biscayne Bay. The city commission has determined the company to be the sole source provider for the continued clean-up, approving a new $250,000 one-year contract with an option to extend for two added one-year periods, funded from the Public Works Operations Budget. The movable arms of the company’s Y-shape decontamination vessels open to corral trash and debris in the water and direct it to a collection machine in the boat’s belly. Nearly daily clean-up runs have collected debris that includes foam cups, automobile tires, plastic jugs and grass clippings.