A dispute over whether the city previously entered a multi-year holiday-lighting contract prompted debate before the North Miami City Council approved a $250,000 purchase order for the 2025 holiday lighting program.

Kurt Stange, president of Miami Christmas Lights, told the council the city had "unanimously adopted" a three-year proposal last October and that the vendor relied on that action. "City staff has since stated that no contract exists," Stange said, urging the council to confirm the original intent before approving new work.

City staff and the procurement director explained the record: the city issued a purchase order and fulfilled it, but contracting files do not show a signed multi-year contract. The procurement director described the legal difference in the meeting: "A contract requires a meeting of the minds. ... A purchase order ... authoriz[es] the director of purchasing to purchase something," and does not itself create a multi-year contract.

Council members also flagged performance concerns from last season, with one councilmember saying much of the installed lighting had not been operational. After an initial vote produced a 3-1 result, the council moved to reconsider when it was pointed out a supermajority was required to waive procurement; on reconsideration the council approved the item 4-0.

The council’s final approval authorized the city manager to issue purchase orders to the vendor (identified in the agenda as Christmas Palace LLC) for holiday lighting and waived competitive bidding under a city code section cited in the agenda. The council transcript records debate about which locations and design plans would be included in the purchase order and a request that the signed design pages be included in the procurement package.