Year in Review: Top Cutler Bay News Stories of 2007

In March Cutler Bay held its first Founder's Day event,  The town's inaugural Founder's Day  celebration turned into a full-fledged food fight that ended with elected officials wearing  dessert.
 
The food fight The moment of truth involved a whipped-cream pie to the face -- far less  consequential than a date with an executioner. Still, members of the Cutler Bay Town Council  joked about their fate as they awaited their just desserts, so to speak, at the town's first Founder's Day celebration on a Saturday at the Cutler Ridge Park.

Cutler Bay Council's Vice Mayor Edward MacDougall, Peggy Bell, Mayor Paul Vrooman, Ernest Sochin and Timothy Meerbott unveiled a welcome sign Thursday December 13th at Old Cutler Road and Southwest 224th Street. 

Being just a year old Cutler Bay is exempt from state-mandated tax cuts. Cutler Bay was  among the Miami-Dade municipalities with the highest amount of new construction in 2006, added nearly $264 million to its tax rolls, according to county figures.

In August the council approved an 11 percent raise and one-year bonus for Cutler Bay's top administrator at a workshop. The town clerk also got a raise. In a 3-2 vote, the council approved a 4 percent cost-of-living increase and a 7 percent merit increase for Town Manager Steven Alexander, which raises his base salary from $135,000 to $149,850.

In July the Town Council decided to help pay employees called to active military duty their salaries while they're gone -- but only while the town can afford it.
 
How much should town employees who get called up for war duty be paid when they're gone? The Cutler Bay Town Council, facing a public relations bungle, agreed to pay the difference between military pay and town salaries for employees on active duty -- with one caveat: If the town faces a budget crunch, the contributions may cease. The 4-1 vote followed lengthy debate about Luis Kruger, a town code enforcement officer and Army reservist who was called to active duty.

However Cutler Bay's growing pains were evident at the town's first budget hearing, held on a Monday in September, when a group of citizens who pushed for incorporation criticized the town's proposed budget and even questioned the benefits of incorporating. Around 16 members of the former Cutler Ridge Steering Committee, plus several other residents who supported

the group, said they were unhappy with the proposed $20.5 million budget.

After making minor changes to the budget, which included monies for publishing a monthly newsletter and funds to secure transportation for seniors the 2007-08 budget was adopted by the Council. It also rebuked a resident's proposal to conduct a police overtime audit. The $20.5 million budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, called for a tax rate

of $2.447 for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value.

Residents can expect a pitch for higher taxes from the vice mayor, to purchase land for parks. Cutler Bay Vice Mayor Edward MacDougall wants to raise taxes to buy land for parks. At a community meeting in December, MacDougall, who will be running for reelection starting in January, said the town needs funds to try to purchase a property on Old Cutler Road between Southwest 208th and 212th street.

A decision in September by the South Florida Water Management District prohibiting development in critical restoration areas along Biscayne Bay drew cheers from residents who had been fighting against bayfront residential construction. Close to 6,400 acres of wetlands along Biscayne Bay in South Dade will remain off limits to development, after the South Florida Water Management District decided to deny permits to builders in the area.

In a step towards independence from the county. In April, the town held its first workshop for developing a Comprehensive Development Master Plan, which provides a blueprint for development.

The Cutler Bay Town Council approved its growth management plan in November, making changes to encourage green construction to make buildings more energy efficient. The town will require buildings greater than 18 stories high to be LEED certified, a voluntary distinction from the U.S. Green Building Council. The controversial plan allows buildings up to 25 stories high around Southland mall.
 
The Council this year had proposed an ordinance restricting parking on swales but after swamping council members with e-mails and phone calls, residents poured into the council meeting to fight an anti-parking ordinance -- and they won. Faced with a political hot potato, Cutler Bay Town Council members avoided their most controversial vote by simply erasing the unpopular no-parking ordinance from their meeting agenda in May.

In April the council decided that the once overlooked county rules on boat storage would now be enforced.

Cutler Bay residents trying to sell their homes got a little help from the town council at a busy August meeting, when council members loosened restrictions on open-house signs. The council also continued its fight against billboards, gave final approval to giving the town manager and clerk a raise, and hired a lobbying firm. Homeowners will be allowed to place

five signs advertising an open house on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Fridays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A new Publix is coming to Cutler Bay, along with five other buildings for office and commercial space, after the town council approved the final site plan for the Vista Del Lago Town Center in October.

on Saturday, November 3, 2007 Cutler Bay had its first  Hometown Harvest Ride, a bicycle tour through the Town.

In October Whigham School organized its first ART NIGHT EXTRAVAGANZA.  There was variety of entertainment, an art show, raffles, and refreshments.  Local talent from the school and  community showcased their talents at this special event.

Build a skate park. Beef up security around Southland Mall, plant more trees and light more streets. And, did we mention a skate park? That's what about 40 young people told council members, staff and police officers at Cutler Bay's first youth summit in December  at Cutler Ridge Middle School.

In December Cutler Bay cleared another hurdle in its quest to receive funds for much-needed improvements on Caribbean Boulevard and Old Cutler Road. The transit committee of the Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously agreed Wednesday to award the town $20 million from the Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust -- known as CITT -- for projects on both roads.

After months of contentious debate, a new Commerce Bank is coming to Cutler Bay after the town council approved plans at its December meeting. The bank has wanted to build at 19199 S. Dixie Hwy., the site of a former gas station, since before the town incorporated in 2005, but town staff and bank representatives could not agree on design standards and other requirements. The approved version consists of a 3,960-square-foot building abutting the sidewalk of U.S. 1 and Marlin Road.

South Miami-Dade soon might be getting a fire station on the border of Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, pending approval. County fire department officials hope construction will begin in the spring or early summer for the station.

In an attempt to better oversee annexation movements, Miami-Dade County has asked 12 cities if they are interested in taking in one of eight unincorporated neighborhoods that have been pursuing cityhood for years. The County asked Cutler Bay to annex Goulds but in its December meeting the Council decided not to.

Rising rent takes toll on owners,  OC's Bar and Grill, a landmark in two Cutler Bay locations since before Hurricane Andrew, closed in July. Another popular hangout, the ShipWreck Tavern & Grill, also closed.
 
The reopenings were short-lived for OC's Bar and Grill and ShipWreck Tavern & Grill, two reincarnated versions of longtime hangouts across the street from each other in Cutler Bay. OC's, a fixture in the community since before Hurricane Andrew, had reopened in October at its original location in the Old Cutler Towne Center, 20537 Old Cutler Rd. After Andrew, OC's had operated as the Old Cutler Oyster Company Raw Bar and Grill on U.S. 1.

A new hangout replaced the old home of the ShipWreck Tavern & Grill: the Cutler Bay Sports Bar opened Sept. 23

Cutler Bay has been plagued recently by high restaurant turnover, two eateries -- both trying to appeal to a more upscale crowd than a typical food chain -- opened their doors this year. Rumors and Thunder Island Seafood Bar & Grill took the spots of restaurants that closed earlier in 2007.

Maj. Richard Pichardo, commander of the Cutler Bay police unit, has been temporarily reassigned to the Miami-Dade police communications department, according to a police spokesman. Pichardo was arrested on Nov. 17 for a misdemeanor battery on his wife and relieved of duty with pay. He is working out of the communications department, which handles 911 calls and police dispatches, for an undetermined period of time.

The November battery charge against the police unit commander was dropped, but it is still unclear when he will return to the job. 

A misdemeanor battery charge against Cutler Bay police unit commander Maj. Richard Pichardo was dropped after his wife signed an affidavit saying he did not hurt her. In the affidavit, signed Dec. 10, Martha Pichardo asked to drop all charges, stay-away orders and an injunction against her husband, as well as to stop divorce proceedings