Controversial Rickenbacker RFP scheduled for 3 p.m. time certain
The polemic push to privatize and redevelop the Rickenbacker Causeway will be discussed again Tuesday at the Miami-Dade Commission meeting.
The board will probably drop the Venetian Causeway from the request for proposals, as Commissioner Sally Heyman requested, because it’s really all about the Rickenbacker anyway. The Venetian was a last-minute add-on. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has already indicated she is amenable to separating the causeways. But there could also be more changes.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado says any revision by the board gives them a second bite at the apple, an opportunity tweak the RFP further for Key Biscayne residents and leaders who are concerned about both the scope of work and the process by which it has come about. Among other things, she wants the county to give potential proposers more time.
Know more: More changes, chat coming on flawed, rushed Rickenbacker Causeway RFP
This all started over the summer with an unsolicited proposal (read: secret, backroom deal) to makeover the Rickenbacker and add a separate and elevated bicycle lane that is almost as wide as the roadway, an observation deck, a fishing pier, a beachfront park with concessions, a bicycle shop, a banquet hall and all kinds of sports and cultural activities.
You just know there’s a restaurant coming. And souvenir stands.
The $510 million project would hand our Rickenbacker to a private operator for 80 years and will definitely result in higher tolls.
Yeah, it’s a lot to take in.
Key Biscayne residents, who need the Rickenbacker to get in and out of their homes — and who have traffic nightmares when there are tennis matches or music festivals that clog the only road — would rather this be a transportation project judged by engineers and urban planners instead of a real estate deal reviewed by the parks and recreation department. All that really needs to be done is the bicycle lanes and repairs to both bridges, which need to be strengthened against sea level rise and hurricanes. Everything else is gravy.
Thick, expensive gravy.
Gravy with a secret recipe.
Know more: Rickenbacker RFP looks like a done deal set-up for no-bid Plan Z proposal
The project is so controversial that it has been the subject of several town hall meetings and two special meetings by the Key Biscayne Council, which finally voted to urge the county commission to scrap the RFP and begin anew in collaboration with the village.
The item on the agenda is set for a 3 p.m. time certain hearing. But there’s no way to know if that’s to accommodate the large number of public speakers expected to, mostly, speak against it or to accommodate architect Bernard Zyscovich, father of Plan Z. After all, Zyscovich — who has been working on this redevelopment project for about 10 years — somehow got to participate in the virtual town hall organized by La Alcaldesa so that she and staff could talk about the details.
There were lots of people on the Zoom call. Some had their hands raised. But nobody was allowed to speak except county people. And Zyscovich.
What happened to that cone of silence?
He mostly spoke about keeping certain aspects of his proposal secret. “We’ve worked long and hard,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to lose the ability to keep being confidential.”
That confidentiality would be lifted and the details would become public if the solicitation is tossed and the process would start again.
There will likely some push back from Commission Chair Jose “Pepe” Diaz who wrote the unsolicited proposal ordinance that set this RFP in motion to encourage more private public partnerships on major projects.
“We value this type of unsolicited P3 type of project. It’s the ones that bring these major projects you see all over the place that are huge,” Diaz said, adding that the confidentiality clause is important.
“They might have some ideas they don’t want the whole world to see,” he said. “It’s there for a reason.”
Diaz also said he feared that starting the process over would send the wrong message to future P3 partners. “I want to make sure we don’t give people false expectations and we ak them to bring these projects to us and then, all of a sudden, the rules change.”
Well, maybe the rules are unfair.
Know more: Key Biscayne crowed heckles Raquel Regalado on shady Rickenbacker RFP
Key Biscayners have no confidence in the process and feel the project itself is too ambitious, overly focused on cyclists instead of easing traffic and on recreational options rather than transportation solutions. The design criteria in the RFP is too specific and, along with the recreational elements required, basically requires proposers to copy their own Plan Z, which submitted by the team that has been planning it for 10 years, the last few with the help of the former county parks director.
How can anyone legitimately compete? Is the process just theater?
Levine Cava is expected to defend the RFP, just like she did at the virtual town hall. This is her legacy as much as it is Zyscovich’s.
Diaz has a legacy here, too. His unsolicited proposal ordinance. On Tuesday, Diaz wants to tweak it so that the commission has more control over the process, which is in the mayor’s purview. It would require the mayor to share the details of unsolicited proposals and give the commission the opportunity to seek proposals of their own.
It also will require La Alcaldesa to provide monthly rather than quarterly reports of all unsolicited proposals she has elected not to evaluate and gives the commission the power to second guess her.
“Upon a majority vote of the Board members present, the Board may direct the County Mayor to evaluate an unsolicited proposal the County Mayor elected not to evaluate provided the application fee is resubmitted and the unsolicited proposal otherwise meets the requirements of this section,” the Diaz amendment says.
Makes one wonder how many more secret, backroom deals are being cooked.
Plan Z for causeways is back to county commission for change requests added by Ladra on
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Plan Z is just another land grab. The project was created to make a few rich promoters even richer. By fleecing taxpayers.
Good afternoon everyone!
We just wanted to take a moment and “Thank You” all for your support in helping us
reach another project milestone.
Your passion, persistence and perseverance made a huge impact in today’s successful
outcome.
Tuesday afternoon, the Board of County Commissioners met and made a decision to
remove the Venetian Causeway from the current RFP. Additional RFP amendments
were considered including the removal of certain language like “iconic” and “state-of-the-
art” along with prioritizing Bear Cut Bridge replacement over bike and pedestrian
facilities and possible reductions in the park development scope, including cutting out
the resiliency center and other amenities.
However, in the end, NONE of these amendments passed and the Board voted
unanimously to simply extend the RFP deadline to March 2022 and supported the
mayor’s financial analysis and public report for the end of October.
What helped carry the day was your voice supporting Plan Z and the Rickenbacker RFP
and improvements! We hope you will take the time to thank your elected officials for
their vote of confidence in making the causeway a safer and more accessible public
space. We also hope you will stay engaged and help us to continue our efforts to deliver
to you and the entire community the greatest possible public infrastructure project ever
built for Miami-Dade residents!
Thank you and congratulations to all! This was truly a team effort and your engagement
was invaluable!
Sincerely,
Bernard and Jack
Plan Z Consortium
Great post .
‘Don’t fix what aint broke’.
But then how would these crooks line their pockets if not for inventing one scam / con after another ?
These are my remarks at the public input forum.
My name is Stephan Linn, Thank you for this opportunity.
I am here to speak about bike safety on the Rickenbacker Causeway. I have been biking this route most every day since my retirement 7 years ago , so i have reason to comment. I have no conflicting interests other than wanting safety for my children and grandchildren.
At considerable cost, Plan-Z would duplicate the existing infrastructure on the Rickenbacker causeway, while solving few safety problems. There are already two bike lanes in both directions from the toll booth to Key Biscayne. By any measure, the bike lanes along the causeway are the safest in the county. In fact, the location of the fatal cycling accidents have been fixed with the introduction of wider bike lanes on the Bear Cut bridge and Crandon Boulevard – since then (6 years) there have been no fatal crashes involving cyclists. The few small remaining safety issues can be addressed incrementally by professional engineers for far less cost than the architect’s costly project. The money saved could be spent on the less photogenic yet dangerous streets of Miami where ten times more fatalities occur every year to people that use bikes for school, work, and shopping.
Finally, where will the construction funds come from? History shows us that bait-and-switch tactics are often employed. That is, the public is convinced that they need a project, then it is announced the only way to finance it is to sell development rights. In short, we need a Plan-A that separately addresses safety, bridge repairs, environmental concerns , and ALL with transparent financing.
In closing, I would prefer to see the efforts of our leaders directed at real problems like safety on the the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways which ARE very dangerous. In the case of Rickenbacker and Venetian causeways, ‘Don’t fix what aint broke’.
Marlins Scam 2.0. Miami-Dade officials have short memories. $3 Billion stolen in Marlins Scam 1.0.
Currently the tolls generate about $12 mil/year. The planZ will need about $65 mil a year in improvements. Clearly they will need money. But where can they get the money the county can’t? Raise tolls, put in concessions, charge bikes, sell bonds, get grants? Of course not. Z has no magic beans which grow bridges or bike lanes. He offers nothing the county can’t do itself. In fact, under the economies of scale and low interest tax free borrowing available only to the county, Z offers the county nothing except some nice drawings which he’s been peddling around for years.
So why privatize? It’s the way to impose the will of the few over the wishes of the many. It it limits public debate of the process and keeps the decision in the hands of a simple majority of those present at a single BCC commission meeting. It allows the controlling private partnership to avoid of direct accountability to the users for generations to come
Plan Z adds approximately $200 million in “gravy” costs to be past on to the residents of Miami-Dade County.
Plan Z is Marlins Stadium Scam 2.0. Elected officials diverted over $3 Billion, with debt service, to the Marlins Stadium. Only Marlins owner got any benefit. Plan Z is another scam.
Actually the exact term used by assorted companies to pay them is Consultation fee not Advisor fee ..
I am often surprised when the average voter is unaware that Commissioners are paid as ” Advisors ” , rewarded in one way or another by these construction , corporate , etc companies .
EVERYTHING they are involved in under the umbrella , the con job of ” it’s for you Miami ” is in reality for them .
Commissioner is a self serving disaster of a position for Miami but all are reelected and all treated like Celebs .