2007 1018 Regular City Commission Meeting

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7 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting October 18, 2007 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida going to handle them with 2 or 3 plantings, and Phase II, which actually started back in April, we commissioned Mrs. O'Leary Richards to design the larger areas that include William Lehman Causeway and the area by 163 rd Street. He said we are going to try to introduce more canopy through trees as well as apply for a grant to help defray the cost of that. He said what is important is that we had good reviews on the median between Government Center and Tony Roma's which we will like to expand upon and we would like to make that our signature which is mostly perennials. Additionally, we then have the final Phase, the Collins Avenue Corridor Study, that would take into consideration the promenade as well as sustainable development, particularly on the west side. Commissioner Goodman said he didn't hear 174th Street, and he has been after that for two years since the hurricane and it is about time that we beautify that area, and City Manager Szerlag said he heard Kathy O'Leary Richards indicate that our ground cover and introduction of perennials will include all medians including 174th Street. He said in addition, on a drive-through, again with Vice Mayor Thaler who had another good idea, on 174th Street, where there were many large patchy areas where plantings were lost because of the hurricane, by increasing the area of grass it would help it look better and they can do that at almost no cost. Commissioner Goodman said that there has to be more plantings. Commissioner Iglesias said when we did the bull nose coming into the William Lehman Causeway with all the seasonals, it gave a lot of color but sometimes accents work a little bit more like we saw in Israel, there are a lot of green areas but they accent certain areas with the seasonals, and second if we do the Crotons and Duranta we will have color all year long. Mayor Edelcup said it was the consensus of the Commission to go forward with Alternative 6 and they will look forward to seeing it implemented including 174th Street, with a splash of color. City Manager Szerlag said that we also have the best value bid award methodology and Public Works Director Conner distributed draft bid specifications on Landscape Maintenance Services, and noted that he and his assistant Shaun Gelvez put in a lot of work and effort in putting this document together, of which Commissioner Iglesias said is a very good package. He said they sent the package out to other municipalities for any comments or suggestions they may have, and someone suggested that in the landscaping business it is partly the bid but it is also partly the quality of the people doing the work, it is a bit of an artistic talent. He said that he has used a best value criteria in many different shapes and forms but it is basically to score the bids, not just to open the bid and see what the bottom line is, which would become part of the score. In the example he presented, the low bid is 80% of the scoring but there are other issues such as, are they reputable, have they done well in the past for other municipalities, do they have facilities that are close, do they have the right equipment, those types of issues. He said it is ready to go to bid but this might be one of the cases where best value is appropriate. Mayor Edelcup said he thinks it is a great concept, the cheapest price isn't always the best price, the quality of work should be paramount and the price should probably be second. Public Works Director Conner said that he would put that in the package, finish it up and they will be ready to bid it out. 10