2014-0515 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting May 15,2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida happen to go by on their skateboards and cannot be stopped by the police officer. He really urges that we sit down in a round table discussion and work together and come up with a program that is designed for safety as opposed to penalty and it is his belief that we can do this. He will be the first one in leading the charge in making the contacts and bringing us all together to promote a safe resolution to this issue. Vice Mayor Aelion said based on what was discussed at the Workshop and he was impressed with what we just heard from our youth, he thinks that limiting the use of skateboards is something that becomes an opinion of how to use our sidewalks for the comfort of all concerned. Instruments like skateboards and bicycles, etc. have intended venues. The City built the Skateboard Park for that particular reason and so that should be the use and the place for such purposes. Ironically since the Skateboard Park was built he believes there was an increase not only was there a store opened at the RK Center as a result of this because of the increase of youth. He is more concerned with the education of our children, in other words, the awareness has to be self disciplined and practicing whatever they do especially skateboarding on our streets. To impose an ordinance for no skateboarding on our streets may be, first it may not be enforceable, and if it is, it would only create, like the Chief said, they would catch one and six others will pass by. Instead of concentrating on passing this ordinance preventing the youth,he thinks a regular awareness like we do for drug prevention awareness that we have in the schools, to have programs perhaps in the City's Cultural and Community Services program,basically programs to make our children aware of the dangers of using skateboards. So he is not on board passing this ordinance. Commissioner Gatto said she wishes some of the skaters could have attended last month's Commission meeting when a elderly woman got up and described how she got hit and had black and blue on her leg for a lengthy time, and another woman came up who also experienced something with a bicycle which is not the issue tonight. Collins Avenue is very skinny to begin with and so it is an issue that we have to deal with. The reason we are even having this conversation is for the reason she got hit and she thinks that skateboarding is an exciting sport and we built the Park specifically for kids to skate in the Park and keep them off the streets. It seems now that she is hearing that you are using them to go shopping and as transportation across the City. It has kind of morphed into this gigantic thing that is out of control. That being said, she does not know what the happy medium is. She is somewhat leaning towards the ban on Collins Avenue and on Sunny Isles Boulevard. She thinks enforcing any kind of fine or community service,etc.,is going to be difficult. She wishes the skaters would be more cautious in their activities when you see people in front of you or behind you and you are shooting by because they can have all that fun in the Skate Park which is the reason it was built to begin with. Commissioner Levin said the sidewalks are there for people to walk on, and so we have to put the pedestrians first. Then the sidewalks have to be shared with the bicyclists, the bicyclists can ride in the street, but then putting them on Collins Avenue, there is really no where for them to go if a car is coming along because you have the curb along the right side of the street and they are supposed to ride in the right lane. Then you have the skateboarders and so she thinks if you are going to regulate any of the three,the safest way to regulate it is by regulating the skateboarders. It hasn't happened yet, if you are on a skateboard,you could very easily lose control under your own power or by running into somebody and you could 9