Miami-Dade Commission to discuss controversial baggage-wrap contract for airport

Feb. 21--In July 2010, Miami-Dade County hired a new firm to wrap baggage in plastic at Miami International Airport. Sinapsis Trading USA won the coveted contract by guaranteeing to pay a minimum of $11.1 million a year to the county-owned airport.

Now the company is asking for a break on that minimum guarantee, saying it can't pay what it promised because a competitor that previously held the contract, Secure Wrap, has been undermining Sinapsis' business by wrapping baggage in plastic -- mostly for passengers on charter flights to Cuba -- for a lower fee outside of the airport.

At their meeting Tuesday, Miami-Dade commissioners will consider lowering Sinapsis' minimum payment to $8.7 million a year and allowing them to wrap bags at off-airport sites, sharing some of that revenue with the airport.

But under the compromise, the county would also cut Sinapsis' five-year contract to one more year, or until Miami-Dade can put out a new bid for the baggage-wrap concession.

Sinapsis has been seeking the break in its minimum payment since last year, with the backing of the administration of Mayor Carlos Gimenez. The mayor's aviation director, Jose Abreu, says he would prefer to have the company pay some money to the county rather than not pay at all, especially since the $8.7 million compromise payment would still be far greater than what the airport received before.

But Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, who is running for mayor against Gimenez, has been reluctant to bring the politically charged item before the commission, saying any proposal to reduce a money-making contract requires thorough review.

The commission meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the commission chambers in the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, 111 NW First St.

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