Update on Multi-Paths for Palmetto Bay - the request was for $1 Million for a project with a projected total cost of $6,195,345. The Palmetto Bay taxpayers would put up the $5,195,345 match.

When we will be put in the loop? Only careful readers of Village Council business would have a hint that the current Mayor and Village Council are hell-bent on wrapping Palmetto Bay in 10 feet of sidewalk. Where are the meaningful public hearings, updates, or town hall meetings? Whose voice(es) matter?

What is mindboggling is how the current mayor and some members of the village council are deflecting responsibility through alleging that the shared path now under construction on SW 136th Street is a County Project (it is not, it was started under Palmetto Bay as a bike lanes project and morphed under a JPA CLICK HERE for background). 

Watch out! The shared path lightning bolt may strike twice in Palmetto Bay! Keep an eye out. I am the one who is actually keeping you in the loop. That a look at a SW 184th Street project that the current mayor and 2019 Village Council pitched to the TPO under the name "SW 184 St Intermodal/Intercity Connectivity Pathway".

The TAP request was for funding in the amount of $1 Million for a project with a projected total cost of $6,195,345. The Palmetto Bay taxpayers would put up the $5,195,345 match. And best of all, this $6,195,345 is the Village spending municipal (and grant money) for a COUNTY road.  Yes, that's right, there is no County partnership, this is not Palmetto Bay sweetening the pot to obtain some control or enhancements; this is 100% Palmetto Bay taxpayer dollars ($$$) mitigated by a mere 20% contribution by a TPO Grant.

But, but but: I know what you are thinking, but our current elects keep referencing 136th Street shared path as a COUNTY PROJECT - surely they would have no more influence over 184 than they had over 136th.

The reality: Apparently they have less influence over 184 than 136. Palmetto Bay did submit an application for a TPO grant for the Multi-Path along 184th Street from US1 to Old Cutler Road. (CLICK HERE) to view this detailed application (21 pages). This item was placed on the February 4, 2019, Regular Village Council Meeting agenda as item 10N (CLICK HERE) to view this item that I obtained and saved to my Google Drive. You can also view the approved resolution, Resolution 2019-32, where the current mayor and 2019 village council approved moving forward on seeking this grant by a 4-0 vote (CLICK HERE).

The application was not funded by the Miami-Dade TPO. The TPO received 21 applications for TAP funding in the 2019 cycle. 

The list of the 21 applications for TAP funding in the 2019 cycle

MEASURING SUCCESS: The 2019 Palmetto Bay mayor and council were limited in their "success" on 136th Street, merely redesigning a bike lane project worked out by a prior Palmetto Bay administration to a shared path (placed solely onto the Palmetto Bay side), but this mayor and council have been unable to date to get a 184th Street shared path moving forward.