In the Spotlight,
- City shuts after-school program building as unsafe.
- Big Hill Park–an historian’s perspective.
- City trash fees capped while budget revenues grow.
The Spotlight‘s veteran journalists look into the unexpected closing of a valued after-care program’s building and offer historic perspective on a city park. You can post your comments and insights following each story on our website. Its search tool excels at finding the news that matters to you.
City-owned building that houses the popular after-school program was shut down days before the start of school, leaving staff scrambling to find – and fund — temporary housing.
by Mary Ann Esquivel-Gibbs
City officials were aware in March of structural damage at the city-owned West Coconut Grove building that houses the Barnyard after-school program but waited until August 9 — just days before the school year began — to inform school staff that the facility was unsafe for use.
The Barnyard, a long-term tenant at the city-owned building, located at 3870 Washington Avenue, has scrambled to find temporary space for its 55 children, ages 5 to 11, who attend elementary schools in the Grove.
“The aftermath of closing the Barnyard was overwhelming,” said Silvia Jordan, director for the Barnyard, which has occupied the space since 1982. “You cannot imagine.”
Opinion
City officials, residents and at least one annoyed neighbor are at odds over the fate of a waterfront park in Coconut Grove. But for the property’s first developers, early records reveal, public access was always the plan.
by Iris Kolaya
As Grovites discuss the future of Big Hill Park – the small waterfront property at the end of Royal Road – and its missing benches, it’s worth considering this tiny sliver of land’s long history. Nearly a century ago, many residents will be happy to know, the property was intended for neighborhood use.
Like many developments in South Florida, the story of this tiny bayfront parcel begins amid the frenzied real estate boom years of the 1920s. In the winter of 1925, real estate investor Morrison B. Page purchased a 21-acre estate along Main Highway and announced plans to subdivide into nearly 100 smaller parcels.
He hired noted realtor Irving J. Thomas to develop “The Royal Gardens,” a new subdivision named for the stately palms lining the path down to the bay. A few of those palms (or their descendants) still remain and the path today is known as Royal Road.
City Commission holds trash rate steady while revenues rise.
The Miami City Commission voted Saturday to set the solid waste fee paid by homeowners at $380 for the fiscal year that begins October 1 – the same rate that homeowners paid this year.
The commission voted in June to cap the fee at $440 – a 16% increase – without committing to the higher fee. The higher fee was advertised on the tax notices sent to property owners in early August, however.
Miami has not raised its solid waste fee in 14 years although the department routinely runs a deficit, now estimated at $20 million a year. In the past, Miami has tapped its general fund to make up the shortfall.
“The biggest problem we have with Solid Waste is that we have the lowest fee by far of any municipality and we provide the greatest service,” District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo told the Spotlight.
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