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Summary Minutes:Special City Commission Meeting April I.2014 Sunny Isles Beach.Florida <br /> March 20, 2014 City Commission meeting. However, we have not gotten a response from <br /> Porto Bellagio since we made another formal request, and City Attorney Ottinot sent out <br /> another request. <br /> Public Speakers: None <br /> Mayor Edelcup commented that is two formal requests that we have made. City Manager <br /> Russo said right,and he has a stack of communications from his staff, Legal staff,and two of <br /> our Consultants from Calvin Giordano &Associates, who have been the Project Managers. <br /> Vice Mayor Aelion said he is glad for the amended language,we don't go straight to initiate <br /> eminent domain procedures and that we are trying to negotiate with them. But in light of the <br /> non-response he thinks we have gone above and beyond the call for them to come to the table <br /> to talk. If that does not happen then we have no choice but to proceed. <br /> Mayor Edelcup asked if there is any obligation on our part on how long we have to wait for a <br /> voluntary meeting? City Attorney Ottinot said to give them about a week to respond to the <br /> request and if they don't,then we will go through the process. By law we have to issue first <br /> offer, we still can negotiate with them within 30 days. They have had ample time to work <br /> with us. Mayor Edelcup said then within that 30-day period if they do not come to us you <br /> will still go to them with a first offer, we don't want to lose time,but we want to give them <br /> the courtesy of jumping in to settle it. If not, we don't want to delay it. <br /> Commissioner Scholl said we have been working on this for ten (10) years. He is trying to <br /> figure out why we are in eminent domain now,what would have happened if we would have <br /> gotten our permits two years ago? City Attorney Ottinot said with this action and City <br /> Manager Russo, Assistant City Manager Bill Evans, and the two Consultants we are now <br /> truly getting close to getting the permits issued by the reviewing agencies. Based on the <br /> construction of this we need to obtain the additional permanent easement for our <br /> maintenance and construction purposes based on our Consultants recommendations and on <br /> what Assistant City Manager Evans has observed. Commissioner Gatto asked if we are <br /> waiting on the Board of Directors, and City Attorney Ottinot said their Attorney came here <br /> and said that we need to communicate with them and make a formal request to meet which <br /> we did, and he has not had a response. <br /> Vice Mayor Aelion said we have many times designed and redesigned it but the easement <br /> part of it should have been addressed in prior years. Assistant City Manager Evans said <br /> when City Manager Russo was here in 2004 Calvin Giordano was engaged on this project. <br /> They were then disengaged and Marlin Engineering was engaged for a long time,they were <br /> disengaged, and we went back to Calvin Giordano. He said when he came back to the City <br /> in January 2013 we quickly realized that the ability to make the turn for a full service fire <br /> truck was not as exact as we thought it was going to be from a design perspective. The sliver <br /> that we are eluding to tonight was needed to soften that turn so that we could model to make <br /> that turn. He cannot answer Vice Mayor Aelion's question because he was not here at that <br /> time. But as of January 2013 we have been trying to get this 72-square feet that was needed <br /> to soften the turn. <br /> Commissioner Scholl said at some point we have a protocol that one of these experts gave us <br /> 2 <br />