Miami Lakes United Soccer Club has won many tournaments and championships throughout Florida and outside the Sunshine state.
But the community oriented organization scored perhaps its biggest victory in its 20-year history last week when the Town of Miami Lakes rejected an unsolicited bid from another soccer club to run the recreational and travel team programs at Royal Oaks Park, and in return pay the town about $53,000 a year for maintenance of the large play area.
At the March 1 regular Town Council meeting, members of the United Soccer Club, coaches and parents, urged lawmakers to keep their word and draft a long-term agreement to allow the boys and girls soccer teams to remain in Miami Lakes, a deal that would include using the field at Royal Oaks Park.
The teams were forced to use a park facility in Palm Springs North for their practices after fitness experts and their clients occupied most of the space at Royal Oaks Park without an agreement with the town.
Town Manager, Alex Rey, and his staff were wirking on a five-year deal for lawmakers' approval in May when Soccer Development Group *SDG) submitted and unsolicited bid to bring its Boca Soccer Schools to Miami Lakes, conceivably pushing the Miami Lakes program out of town.
To sweeten a potential deal, SDG offered Miami Lakes $53,000 to pay for maintenance of the park and background checks for coaches and volunteers, a town policy to keep kids safe while playing organized sports in the city’s parks.
For maintenance, the town has to absorb about $400,000 a year from the municipal budget, Rey said.
The Miami Lakes Soccer Club, a non-profit organization, pays the town about $6,000 a year.
Rey broached SDG’s unsolicited bid at the council meeting for lawmakers to decide on which direction his staff should take. “Option A is tell them ‘thank you very much for this proposal but we are not interested’ and continue with what we have started,” Rey said. “Or option B, the proposal looks interesting enough that we open it and see if anybody else is interested on what they can contribute financially and how to run the program that best serve the interests of residents.”
Councilmembers chose option A.
“We made a commitment to support the soccer club in the long term as long as they are taking care of our children in the community,” said Mayor Michael Pizzi. “I will not pull the rug out from underneath the children and coaches the soccer club because someone wants to write a big check.”
Councilmember Manny Cid, whose two sons play at the soccer club, said competitive bidding is good but decided to support an agreement with the Miami Lakes-based organization.
“Competition is good but I going with option A,” said Cid, who coached a team last season. “Thank you very much for the proposal but I am not interested.”
Councilmember Tim Daubert said the Miami Lakes United Soccer Club can pitch in and clean up Royal Oaks Park to help save the town money for the park’s maintenance.
He said it can be a similar project to the Young Marines adopting Miami Lakes Drive as part of the group’s clean-up efforts.
“Maybe it’s something the soccer club can do to help the town,” said Daubert, a former U.S. Marine.
In other Town Council news:
• Council members gave their final approval on an irdinance changing the town's land development code for alternative roofing materials attached to single-family and two-family properties where that material simulates barrel tile or flat tile.
• Council members approved a resolution to award Sign and Graphic Solutions a contract to make bus stop and street signage for the town in an amount not to exceed $63,227.
• Council members approved a resolution to urge the Miami-Dade County School Board to refrain from having students living west of I-75 attending Bob Graham Education Center in an effort to alleviate overcrowding at the facility.
• Lawmakers approved an resolution to create a Miami Lakes Sports Hall of Fame Committee.
The committee will be put in charge of reviewing the nominations of inductees and recommending the finalists consistent with the town’s criteria of who should be enshrined at the new Miami Lakes Optimist Park Clubhouse.
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He said the two entities verbally agreed on installing a traffic device to solve the problem, including a system alerting drivers they are speeding.
• Rey said he and his staff visited a site at N.W. 151 Street and 153 Street between 57 Avenue and Miami Lakeway North and the area needs some improvement to bring it up to par.
He said there is illegal signage in the area and it is lacking bike and pedestrian infrastructure and missing some trees. He also said there are no sidewalks in the vicinity and pedestrians must walk in the street to go from one business to the other.
He said the area needs to be addressed.
Rey said once the town completes the physical infrastructure to the area, they can focus on property maintenance for some of the businesses located in the area.
“Some businesses are maintaining it and some are not,” he said. “It drags down the look for the entire street.”