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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPB Minutes 2007-0911 SUMMARY MINUTES City of Sunny Isles Beach Historic Preservation Board Meeting Government Center, 18070 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach Tuesday, September 11, 2007, 7:00 p.m. 1. Call To Order By Chairperson: Action: Chairperson Bud Scholl called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. The following Committee Members and City Officials were present: Committee Members: City Officials: Bud Scholl, Chairperson Commissioner Roslyn Brezin Joe Masters, Co-Chair City Manager A. John Szerlag Phillip Chernoff Assistant City Attorney Fernando Amuchastegui Cassey Gabor City Clerk Jane A. Hines, CMC Mark Glicksman City Liaison: Audience: Richard C. Schulman, City Historian Barney Levandor Absent Members: Trina Duluc Bonita Shoki 2. Approval of Minutes for the April 24, 2007 Historic Preservation Board Meeting: Action: Phillip Chemoff moved and Cassey Gabor seconded a motion to approve the April 24,2007 Board meeting summary minutes. The motion was approved by a 5-0-2 [Trina Duluc and Bonita Shoki absent] vote. 3. Resolutions/Discussion: Update on the Newport Fishing Pier. 3A. A Resolution of the Historic Preservation Board of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Expressing Support for the City's Efforts to Enter into a Lease Agreement with the State of Florida in Order to Operate the Newport Fishing Pier Located at 16701 Collins Avenue; Providing for an Effective Date. Action: Chairperson Scholl took this item out of order because the City Manager is here for this item. He gave some background on the Pier noting that it has suffered extensive damage from hurricanes over the years. Dr. Comfeld, who is the owner of the Newport and the Pier, had a perpetual lease from the State on the ground and basically maintained the Pier and collected the revenue under the guise of the lease. He noted that at our last Board Meeting Dr. Comfeld asked for some temporary approvals to get temporary repair to get the Pier open again beyond the restaurant,and right now when you go to the Pier, half of the restaurant is closed because of the damages. After he saw the extent of his repairs, he had a change of heart and he graciously offered to donate the Pier in its present condition to the City. In the context of that,the City has been very careful because technically their lease has expired and it is reverted back to the State, so there is a political situation that may benefit us in that we are looking for a pot of money to repair the Pier which wouldn't necessary come out of our pocket,it could come out of the State, out of some other historic funds, and some could come from us. The City has not officially accepted the Pier from Dr. Comfeld for those reasons because we want to be careful that we don't accept it and assume Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 1 of 6 responsibility for those repairs. He said he has had meetings with staff, and he has been involved in several discussions since our last Board meeting on this issue. He then introduced City Manager A.John Szerlag to talk about the current state of affairs. Richard Schulman presented photos of the Pier. City Manager Szerlag said that the Pier really adds character to Sunny Isles Beach and we would love to have it restored, and we would like to take over the Pier once it is already restored so that at that point it just becomes an operational and maintenance cost for us. The estimated cost to repair the Pier is $3.8 Million Dollars, and we are taking a two-pronged approach, he and Mayor Edelcup sent out letters to various entities, to the County, and to the State, and the response they got is that the State of Florida is claiming that the Pier is not theirs,the submerged land is,and that we would have to look to other entities to repair the Pier. They said there was a company, Five Seas Investors (now Newport Operating Corporation)back in 1936 that built the Pier and we should look to them, and that is the State's position at this time. He said that the City would like to take it over as an historical designation and we will find the funds, and we did get a very good lead from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. There is a program that is called Florida Coastal Partnership Initiative and we are going to be applying for a grant, and we have calls into Miami-Dade County to see if there are any monies left over from Hurricane Wilma. He said additionally we discovered that there is a program called Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds, and normally those funds are allocated for lower-income single family household owners but there are some monies that perhaps can be allocated for infrastructure. Chairperson Scholl said when they met with the City's Lobbyist, Ron Book; a powerful Lobbyist in Tallahassee,and although Mr.Book was cautiously optimistic he kind of cringed over the number as that is a lot of money for a Pier, and we have a lot of good arguments as it is the only Pier left in Miami-Dade County. He said Mr. Book suggested this whole approach of lets divide and conquer, lets go after every pocket of money that we can identify, he came up with some pockets,and he is;going to do some further digging at the State, Federal and the Local level, and so the angle being to try)to mitigate the size of the check that we would have to write as a community. Everybody is also very committed to the fact that the Pier is a very important part of this City. This process will be slow, and if we see the first check in 18 months we will be very lucky. Cassey Gabor asked about the restaurant, that it can be fixed and bring revenue to the City, and Chairperson Scholl said it is such a big number to repair it compared to what the restaurant makes, the revenues from the restaurant are not that significant; City Historian Richard Schulman said the restaurant is called the Pelican Restaurant and the first 2001feet are gated off/locked off the Pier, which is another 700-800 feet of poor flooring and undercarriage and pillars and deterioration and that is the major part of the Pier where people have fished for years, which they can't any longer because people swim out that way and they can get caught and it is very dangerous. City Manager Szerlag said that we did a very preliminary pro forma Economic Analysis and we do believe that we can add some money to our Capital expenses but that we would have potential revenue from the restaurant and gift shop of about$135,000 per year, it would pay for it as a Capital expenditure for the Pier but that is a long time for a return on an investment. ■ Chairperson Scholl said that the restaurant owner does not have a lease,he would be given notice to move out in 30 days. It was suggested to get private investors and donations. Chairperson Scholl said the first thing we may want to do is to look outside the City for funds, and noted that Mayor Edelcup had mentioned in the newspaper article that we were looking for alternatives. The deterioration of the Pier is from the waterline out, sitting on the beach underneath the Pier is okay,just beyond the waterline is Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 2 of 6 where the damage occurs but it is blocked,and right now it is in the hands of the City Manager and staff. Chairperson Scholl read the Resolution into the record. He said it is pretty safe because we support the City doing it but we also support the staff being very deft of about how to do it because we don't want to get stuck with the bill if we exercise this at the wrong time because technically if we enter into a lease tomorrow,the State could come back to us and say you have got to fix it because it is an unsafe structure at this point and it is hazardous. Chairperson Scholl asked for a motion to accept the resolution. Cassey Gabor moved and Phillip Chemoff seconded a motion to adopt the Resolution expressing support for the City's Efforts to enter into a Lease Agreement with the State of Florida in order to operate the Newport Fishing Pier located at 16701 Collins Avenue. HPB Resolution No. 2007-06 was adopted by a voice vote of 5-0-2 [Trina Duluc and Bonita Shoki absent[ in favor. 3B. A Resolution of the Historic Preservation Board of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Recommending to the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, that the Newport Fishing Pier Located at 16701 Collins Avenue be Designated by The National Register of Historic Places as an Individual Historic Site; Providing for an Effective Date. Action: Chairperson Scholl read the Resolution into the record. City Historian Richard Schulman said this will leave us open by designating as an official designee to the National Historic Board, and the same thing would apply through the State or the County and we are just going up the ladder and going to the highest point. He said he feels it is to our benefit as a Preservation Board to designate which we have done already and re-designated as an historic site,and getting on the books of the National Register would be very important. Assistant City Attorney Fernando Amuchastegui said that one of the reasons to apply for historic designation through the National Register of Historic Places is that it would allow the City of Sunny Isles Beach to become eligible for Federal Grants as far as preservation. Chairperson Scholl said this scares him because of the standard that they may hold us to. Right now if we got the Pier and one of the things that Dr. Comfeld said at the last meeting was that he was very nervous about the character of the repairs to the Pier,these are the original structures,and if you think about it,if they try to hold us to a standard, if they say we can be in the National Register of Historic Places but you have to rebuild it and they want to see the original plans from 1936, etc., that is going to be a significant increase in cost, if they pay for it and we get grants. City Historian Schulman said the building materials in 1936 were not the same as they are today and that'would be taken into consideration as to how it would be built and the type of pillars and materials'used,when he was out there to take a look at it,it looked like your standard treated plywood that would be used today,and he thinks the majority of the construction money would be used for the pillars. Chairperson Scholl said that there is a very rigorous criteria for the National Registry,and if this were approved,there is a significant pot of money there. Assistant City Attorney Amuchastegui said that he had handed out a memo that listed a 7-step procedure that we must follow to obtain a National Historic designation, and that the City would work with the State Historic Preservation Officer who is Dr. Carl Shiver and he would be coordinating the City's efforts to get historic designation with the Federal government. He said at this stage we don't know what type of Federal finance would be available if the Pier were designated as an historic site,but it would take approximately 90-days for the State to evaluate the Newport Fishing Pier as an historic designated site but then once the State is finished Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 3 of 6 with its evaluation,it would formally submit the City's nomination to the National Registry and that would take another 45-days to make a final decision. Chairperson Scholl said we are talking about designating something and they will hold us up to a standard, and we may create a burden for ourselves which we don't necessarily need, and that is why we must be cautious, and he said that he will follow up with Dr. Shiver. He said he would rather quantify our possibility of getting Federal funding if we got this designation before we pass this Resolution. He said he is not against the Resolution in its present form but his concern is that we can be creating an additional burden for ourselves in the reconstruction without any benefit from the Federal government, we could take on that burden if the government would write us checks but if they are not willing to write checks, he doesn't see any benefit of taking on this burden. He said he thinks the State is a lot less onerous than the Federal government. City Manager Szerlag said if we had Federal historic designation and a rebuilt of a part or all of the Pier would we be allowed to replicate what is there or do we have to replace what is there in terms of manner of construction materials. He said if we can replicate, it won't be that bad but if we have to duplicate, that is the issue. Chairperson Scholl said what standards will we be held up to if we are designated, and if funds are available. He suggested deferring it for now until Assistant City Attorney Amuchastegui can get more facts together and we will take it up agairi at our next meeting. Joe Masters moved and Cassey Gabor seconded a motion to defer to the next meeting. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0-2 [Trina Duluc and Bonita Shoki absent] in favor. 4. Recap: 10`" Anniversary Celebration —City of Sunny Isles Beach, June 14, 15, & 16, 2007. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported on the festivities of the successful 10th Anniversary Celebration Event and presented photos of the event, and noted that over 4,000 people attended. 5. Recap: Historic Dedication of Harvey Baker Graves Mangrove Reserve, June 16,.2007, Great Granddaughter Susan Lipp Attending Ceremonies. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported on the dedication of the Harvey Baker Graves Mangrove Reserve, and presented photos of the monument. 6. Discussion: Update on the"Pelican Community Park",Including Placement of Pelican from Driftwood Motel. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported on Pelican Community Park and presented photos of the Pelican from the Driftwood Motel. The historic Pelican will be restored in its original colors along with a plaque and placed in the Park. 7. Viewing of"Artifact"Photos of Egyptian Images,Six Plaques. Discussion on Placement of Plaques from the Dunes Motel. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported on the Egyptian Images and Plaques from the Dunes Motel and presented photos. The Board will discuss the best place to place them in a park or in the Cultural Center. Cassey Gabor said she would like to combine it with a future museum as the appropriate place would be in a museum. Chairperson Scholl suggested a room in the new Cultural Center, and Commissioner Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 4 of 6 Brezin said that we will have to look into having it in the Cultural Center or in another place. Cassey Gabor said it would be best in the Cultural Center,and Commissioner Brezin said it has been designated as an Activity Center. Phillip Chemoff said that the museum should be housed in one place, one entity. Chairperson Scholl asked Cassey Gabor to talk to City Manager Szerlag and find out what the plan is for the Cultural Center and report back to the Board at the next meeting. He said if something fits well in the Cultural Center he is not against it as more people may pass through the Cultural Center than a museum. 8. Review/Update on Sunny Isles Beach Historic Preservation Board Second Annual Report to Miami- Dade County. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported that the Annual Report is completed up to this meeting, and will include today's minutes and Resolution which will be part of the Second Annual Report. He said it will go to the Secretary of State, Miami-Dade County Historic Board, and County Clerk Harvey Ruvin. He also attached a listing of all the members including'our newest member Mark Glicksman,and the articles that appeared in the newspaper about the author and the book"From Sandbar to Sophistication: The Story of Sunny Isles Beach". He said that the Report will be completed and signed by the City Attorney and Chairperson Scholl within the next two weeks. 9. Old Business. None • 10. New Business: • Discussion regarding Atlantic Isle Lagoon Bridge Lighting. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman presented a picture of the Atlantic Isle Lagoon Bridge which was built in the 1920's, along with the entrance bridge to Atlantic Isle. He said what this bridge doesn't have is lighting,and noted that Commissioner Iglesias had said that he thinks we should have it lit up. He said that there was discussion on how much lighting should we have on this bridge which probably doesn't get a lot of use. Chairperson Scholl said that the bridge has settled so;the County made it one- lane, so you can only drive over it from west to east and he thinks eventually they will stop driving on it altogether and just have it as a pedestrian bridge. He said the bridge is truly historic, it is the original bridge and it has been maintained over the years, and that the bridge originally had lanterns on it. City Historian Richard Schulman said another effective way would be a spotlight from the north end looking southeast as it would be effective and cost less than having lamp posts. Chairperson Scholl said it would all have to be approved by an engineer and/or the appropriate agency. Cassey Gabor felt that this is a landmark and antique lighting would be more appropriate. Phillip Chernoff moved and Cassey Gabor seconded a motion to look into the possibilities of lighting for the Atlantic Isle Lagoon Bridge. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0-2 [Trina Duluc and Bonita Shoki absent] in favor. • Discussion regarding Museum Possibilities. [Note: See discussion under Item 7.] • Discussion regarding Public Awareness. Action: Chairperson Scholl said that we have talked a lot about public awareness and that it is part of our Mission Statement. He said the 10th Anniversary Celebration created a lot of public awareness as people didn't realize we have structures dating back to the 1920's. He asked if anyone had any other ideas,and Cassey Gabor suggested creating a"Historic Trail"which would be points of history of the Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 5 of 6 City in Town Center Park as a continuation of the pathway that will go through the Harvey Baker Graves Mangrove Reserve,and we could furnish electricity to light up the plaques of history artifacts, and the Board agreed it was an excellent idea as the parks are well utilized. Chairperson Scholl suggested floating it by the City Manager who will think of an appropriate place for it, and it would be up to the Board to come up with materials for it. Phillip Chemoff suggested color brochures similar to what City Historian Richard Schulman did years ago and give to hotels, and Mr. Schulman said he is updating it now. Commissioner Brezin said there is an organization of registered tour guides that could come here and we could take small groups through City Hall. City Historian Richard Schulman noted that the Tour Guide Association of South Florida was here last week and we entertained them in the Commission Chambers, there were about 25 Tour Guides, and Seth Bramson gave a lecture on the history of Sunny Isles Beach. He said that they took them on a tour starting with the Library and then to the History Hall,and up to the 4th Floor, and they were very impressed. He said there will be a number of groups within the next year coming to Sunny Isles Beach. Philip Chemoffnoted that he volunteered to be a tour guide as a member of the City's Fashion,Film, Entertainment&Production Council,and had taken a group all around the City in a tour bus including Atlantic Isle. Cassey Gabor said there is no information on the City's intemet about the old motels, and Chairperson Scholl suggested getting with the City Manager and having the IT Department, Alyce Hanson, and Seth Bramson put together a history and put on the website Cassey Gabor also noted yellow grass in the park and that they didn't put back the fence, and Commissioner Brezin asked her to send her a note on this,and Chairperson Scholl suggested sending an email to the City Manager as he is very responsive to emails. Cassey Gabor said she was walking in the new park at 163`d Street under the bridge by Lagoon Restaurant and that we should save the Restaurant and have it as an Historic Station for the Water Taxi, with memorabilia from the Lagoon Restaurant. Chairperson Scholll said it would be a costly issue as the Lagoon has development rights and they would be lost, and he noted that the City had made them an offer. Cassey Gabor also asked about the camels, and City Historian Richard.Schulman said that Dezer owns them but they will give them to the City once the building is demolished. 11. Date and Time of Next Meeting. Action: Chairperson Scholl said we should meet in about four months. After discussion it was decided to have the next meeting on Tuesday,January 15, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. 12. Adjournment Action: Chairperson Scholl adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, January 15. 2008 Jane A. Hines, CMC Date City Clerk Summary Minutes 2007-0911 HPB Mtg Page 6 of 6