2009-0115 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting January 15, 2009 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida electricity above the water main. Commissioner Scholl said normally the switch cabinet is in the building design and end up with conduit running the lines. Mayor Edelcup asked why it is our problem, and Commissioner Scholl said it is really Joe Milton's problem. Mr. Vera said we were going to put it in the corner but Mr. Milton said he is not giving the City the easement right now. Public Works Director Rick Conner said staff is recommending Option B, and Commissioner Scholl agreed, put the conduit in the street and FPL are going to use it because it is going to save them money from shutting down the street and tearing it up. Mayor Edelcup said to put in the undergrounding, pave it, and somebody is going to cave in as to where the box is going to go. Commissioner Brezin asked if we go with Option B will it halt the beautification, and Mr. Vera said we can do everything except the Palm Trees on the south side and the decorative streetlights due to the overheads, until we know where the switch cabinet is going. City Manager Szerlag said staff will proceed with Option B, and Mayor Edelcup said ultimately the conduit has to go in that area no matter what and there is no other place for it. Mr. Vera said FPL will say it is at the City's cost, as normally FPL provides the conduits. City Manager Szerlag said the estimated cost for undergrounding utilities is $140,000. A subset of that would be for the conduit, and Mr. Conner estimated the cost of the conduit at $100,000. Commissioner Scholl asked if FPL uses our conduits will they reimburse us, and City Attorney Ottinot said from the standpoint of FPL it will be problematic for us to get reimbursed from FPL. Under our Code which we amended because we allowed St. Tropez to get through without paying for the undergrounding, in fact we paid for it, any projects west of St. Tropez under the new Code is responsible for paying for undergrounding at the time of development. Commissioner Goodman asked who is dealing with FPL, and Mr. Vera said primarily he is, working with the main people including Aletha Player and Martha, but the delays are due to the design. Mayor Edelcup said to go up higher on the FPL ladder. Mayor Edelcup said to make sure that we don't do anything on the property that is east of the storage facility, and when Mr. Milton wants the lights turned on in his building maybe then he will come up with the 18 -foot pad, but in the interim, all we are doing is permitting him to have free use of that easement area for construction. Commissioner Scholl suggested having Joe Milton at the next public hearing on January 27, and Mayor Edelcup said to wait until the February meeting. It was the consensus of the Commission to go with Option B. Item No. 5. Red Light Program. City Manager Szerlag said that FDOT will not allow us to use their rights -of -way for installation of cameras; it will require easement acquisitions on a number of private properties. He understands that the State of Florida is considering as a revenue generator to allow red light cameras in their rights -of -way, but it may behoove us to try and acquire easements where we can. City Attorney Ottinot said what he thinks FDOT is looking for is if you want to use their property, you have to pay, and either the City or the vendor pays, that is the bottom line. Mayor Edelcup said it is his recommendation to put this program on hold because he doesn't want to ask private property owners for easements, and he doesn't think the Commission will approve something that requires putting poles up on private property after we have gone through all the effort of undergrounding the City. It was the consensus of the Commission to defer the Red Light Program until some future time. 8