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West Miami pursues grants, Sylvania joint-use agreement and new park activations
Summary
Grants manager updated the advisory board on current grant activity and potential park activations including a joint-use agreement with Sylvania schools, a linear park with public art, an artist-run coffee/art studio and a planned dog park.
City staff reported grant activity and several park-activation projects that would expand public access and amenities across the City of West Miami.
Jenny Hall, grants manager, told the advisory board the city has a limit on the number of open grants and is prioritizing current projects while preparing future applications. "Now with the grants that we applied for that, we can only have 3 open at the before we can apply for another 1," Hall said, and she outlined several funding opportunities the city is considering, including recreational trails funding, a Land and Water Conservation Fund application and potential solar-panel support for future courts.
Hall also briefed the board on a joint-use agreement with Sylvania (a local school). She said the city has adopted a joint-use agreement and is "waiting for the school board for them to adopt it. And what that will do is will allow us to use the Sylvania Open Field, their basketball courts, their playground" on non-school days and after 7 p.m., subject to school security measures such as fencing and cameras.
Other activations discussed included a proposed small commercial container or containers at Cooper Park to host weekend coffee or food vending in an underused corner near existing bathroom and playground facilities; a linear park on a currently unused right-of-way on 20 Second Street that would include a meandering walkway, art sculptures and lighting; and a contract to convert an old city garage into a coffee shop/art studio run by a local artist.
The board also discussed a dog-park plan at the pump station site near Twelfth Street and 66th (adjacent to Garden Park) and a proposal to install dog-waste-bag dispensers in high-foot-traffic residential corridors. Hall said some of these projects would require fencing, cameras and continued coordination with the county and school board.
Next steps: staff will continue grant applications as permitted, follow up with the school board on the joint-use agreement, and return with more detailed proposals and cost estimates for container vendors, the linear park design and dog-park conversion.
