PINE BAY ESTATES Q&A
Question 1:
Could you please explain your role with Pine Bay Estates in Coral Gables, FL? I am a resident, and your name has come up several times in conversations regarding the community.
I would also like your CV/resume. In terms of contracts between you and Pine Bay Estates and/or between you and the City of Coral Gables can you provide me with copies of these contracts?
Any other documents which you believe would assist me to have a clear understanding of your role to clear my own confusion as to who you are, what you do, and how you represent me and my family and the residents of Pine Bay Estates would be helpful.
Answer:
Thank you for your inquiry and per your request I have attached the Professional Services Agreement, amendment, and resolution hiring our firm, Governmental Management Services in 2018.
Our firm founded its “Municipal” branch of our services around this time which relates to your form of governed special taxing Districts and direct municipal contracts. Having a municipal management and special district background beginning in 1989 and simultaneous Military Security and Law Enforcement services from 1987.
I am on LinkedIn should you want some more of the details on my background. Sorry I have not done a CV update in over 20 years so I am not able to supply that request.
Our firm details can be found at www.govmgtsvc.com
I am a Coral Gables resident and accepted this role really to “give back” to the City essentially “at cost” for my expertise. I have developed a lean list of contractors and practices to operate the districts for the city and far exceed a 30% savings in overhead and proudly produce swift and economical solutions across the communities. This is the basis of my representation to the residents.
The information in and around chat groups, I am gathering, probably well intended, but as you might guess, incomplete. I presume that is what prompted your email?
The Process:
The coordination with residents is essential and a bit of an “art” to gather feedback balanced with my understanding of the services required and serves as a benefit to the property owners. Benefits for security are largely subjective and we strive to be practical as well as effective in any plans. Presently, the community is discussing adding cameras and the potential budget increases which would not be in effect until after October 1, 2026 at the earliest. It is still early in the process.
At this stage we gather the costs, scope, and degree of support between now and late February. If there is solid support for a major project we then present a first draft to Commission in June and a second adoption in September. In both meetings residents may present their views directly to the Commission. I would like to have a sense well before that and so far an initial meeting was held last week with 30 residents in favor of a camera project. Since that meeting I am also getting contacted by residents that are against this and in some cases any projects.
Presently, I am leaning toward the option of conducting a formal community petition process to confirm resident wishes. I have advised the city attorney as such. I would never want an item to be adopted by a community that was not well supported. I believe the intent of the District expansion was to go in this direction and confirming the present desires of the residents is still needed. With a majority of property owner signatures the Commission policy is to adopt large changes and projects as part of the budget approval. I also recognize some residents can be loudly opposed to initiatives, but that does not mean it is bad for the community and never done.
Why Cameras:
Cameras do serve to supplement and complement your patrol. It is a better investment than adding patrol hours. Officers will have live access which is a force multiplier. Secondly, deterrence is significantly enhanced to those looking for soft targets and evidence from camaras (license plate, car, date and time data) achieves better conviction rates. Our Police department will have access and can instantly act and conduct investigations as desired.
Brief overview of your District:
Your community was originally a County managed patrol district transferred to the city in 2018. It had a sorted past for sure suspending patrol for some period due to shortages of funds at the county. With the transfer and support of residents we were able to start 2019 with a 100k+ credit from the county. Eventually, the Community recognized the issues with maintenance and improvements to security were limited via the partially funded voluntary Association approach, a petition for expansion was successful and approved by the City Commission. This amendment allowed us to use a large reserve of over $90k to perform the repairs and upgrades to the monuments in a 2-3 phase plan. While contracting the phase 2 of the monument the economy of scale presented a big savings and a business decision was made to front approximately $45k to complete the entry monuments and landscaping in 2024-25. Your 2026 assessment refunds this advance. Now we are exploring the next list of options as well as maintaining the improvements.
Please feel free to share my response with anyone you feel is of benefit and I hope you find this reply responsive and helpful. Your email and this response will be available on our website below.
Should you need any additional information my personal cell I 786-271-9208 and some helpful budget and financial information can be found under your community tab at https://www.coralgablestaxdistricts.com
Paul
Attachments
GMS Scope of Work - Special Taxing District (1) (1)
PSA 2018-003 Special Taxing District Services Amendment _1