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As Aventura Marketing Council/Chamber of Commerce Chairman Gary Pyott, Association 1st, opened their “City of Aventura Update” Zoom meeting, Zoom Administrator Michael Stern, Stern Bloom, was still giving access to the 80+ businesses that were eager to hear what’s happening in the City of Excellence.
Meeting sponsor Reynaldo Ramirez, Director of Sales for Hilton Aventura, showed a video of the elegant new hotel on schedule to open in early January. “We’re giving hard-hat tours and invite you to call us to see our internal and external spaces, including our 15,000 sq. ft. of event space.”
Mayor Weisman said, “Rey, you’ve become a presence in Aventura…it’s wonderful getting a facility like the Hilton in Aventura…absolutely spectacular…and just as spectacular is your involvement in our community. This has been challenging time, but Aventura is doing very well…our Aventura Mall has opened, parks are open, and we’re trying to get back to a new normal. There is so much good happening in our city in spite of the virus. And all decisions are made with the health and safety of our residents.”
Vice Mayor Weinberg covered a new transportation service. “Freebee is a game-changer for our city—it’s an electric, on-demand ride service. This was an initiative of mine and I want to thank our Mayor and Commission for enthusiastically embracing it. Right now, we have a robust bus circulator system, the Aventura Express, with six routes making 16 – 25 stops each, sometimes as many as 34 stops on a Saturday, with a defined route system. Some routes may take up to an hour. Now, we are on a trial with Freebee, offering nine-passenger, air-conditioned electric vans with an app on demand or phone call, point to point. All free and no tipping allowed. It doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything because we’re using part of the half-cent transportation tax that we use for circulator buses. It’s basically a free Uber. There is also an opportunity for revenue sharing so we may even make money as taxpayers when the van is wrapped as you see on city buses.”
Commissioner Bob Shelley spoke about how the City has worked together. “This has been a tumultuous time for all of us, but our City and community have been working together to get through it all. Unlike so much of what you see all over country, we have not experienced the turmoil and controversy that so many cities have seen. We worked as one unified voice, and in most cities that was not the case. We had the vision and direction as things progressively got worse and started shutting down. We recognized the need to create as much normalcy as possible in the midst of chaos for our residents. We kept as much open as possible, kept restaurants open as best we could. And as things were shut down, people adhered to the rules as we enforced curfews. Two of our Commissioners, myself and Dr. Marks are presidents of our respective associations, so we implemented the exact same protocols that the city did in our residential associations. With 40,00 residents and two schools, it was not an easy task, but we did it together.”
Commissioner Dr. Linda Marks focused on our City’s schools. “Just a note: we have five assisted or skilled living facilities within our community, and our City has taken care of this population, perhaps a segment you may not hear a lot about. Our Commission spent a lot of time, as did employees who work in the schools, to prepare opening documents, so we knew that we could approve opening of schools with safety first. The bottom line for any parent is the enormous decision about whether to send your child back to school. Questions you ask yourselves: Is my child immune compromised? Are members of my family immune compromised so that if my child goes back to school, he or she may bring it back home? Am I taking care of my child ‘s health and my family’s health? How many teachers will be in person and how many will be teaching electronically? A year ago, I found that only 1/3 of Aventura City residents who apply to ACES K-8 are accepted because of lack of space, so I’m working on that with our City Manager. “
Commissioner Gladys Mezrahi spoke about partnerships forged and how everyone benefits.
“I was proud to connect Banesco Bank USA Aventura with Don Soffer Aventura High School not only for a financial donation, but also a program for students who are looking for internships. I am currently working with our City Manager and David McKnight, principal of the high school, on a student internship with Sheba Medical Center in Israel. One of the City’s economic development partnerships is with Miami -Dade County and Brightline… not only ensuring job opportunities but changing the future of transportation. Another City partnership was with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau to have an Aventura Visitors Center… Our best business development partner has been the Aventura Marketing Council/Chamber of Commerce. Finally, Hatzalah has been providing medical emergency services sensitive to religious and cultural needs at no cost to our residents for the past ten years.”
Commissioner Denise Landman spoke about the City’s community programs that have been offered even during the pandemic. “We take pride in the park and recreation facilities we offer…our amazing Community Recreation Center has sports and athletics, aftercare…our City has gone above and beyond trying to create normalcy. We reopened our parks on a limited basis to give our residents an opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy green space and fresh air. We offered a summer care program with meaningful experiences for children in our community, giving parents a little break from the intense family environment created by the quarantine. Summer care had 154 participants through the entire eight-week session, with no incidents. Tennis camp had over 50 participants and our Soccer Drills & Skills and Basketball Skills & Drills are equally successful. People depend and appreciate our services…it’s been a great way to build community.”
For more information, www.hiltonaventura.com www.cityofaventura.com www.aventuramarketingcouncil.com
