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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPB Minutes 2011-0713 SUi\LMARY MINUTES City of Sunny Isles Beach Historic Preservation Board Meeting 18070 Collins Avenue, First Floor Meeting Room Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 7:00 p.m. 1. Call to Order by Chairperson: Action: Chairperson Joe Masters called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m., and each member introduced themselves. The following Board Members and City Officials were present: Committee Members: City Officials: Joe Masters. Chairperson Mayor Norman S. Edelcup Cassey Gabor, Vice Chairperson Commissioner Isaac Aelion Shari Blank Commissioner Jeanette Gatto Trina Duluc City Manager Alan J. Cohen Mark Glicksman (arrived at 7:04 p.m.) Assistant City Manager/Services Jorge Vera Warren J. Stamm (arrived at 7:03 p.m.) Assistant City Attorney Fernando Amuchastegui Ellen 1. Uguccioni, Consultant City Liaison: City Clerk Jane A. Hines, CMC Richard C. Schulman, City Historian Guest: Absent: Former City Commissioner Roslyn Brezin Janet Cini (excused: ill) 2. Approval of Minutes: February 17, 2011 Historic Preservation Board Meeting. Action: Shari Blank moved and Trina Duluc seconded a motion to approve the February 17, 2011 Board meeting summary minutes. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 6-0-1 (Janet Cini absent) in favor. 3. Update/Report on the Reconstruction, Design, and Permitting of the Sunny Isles Beach/ Newport Pier. Action: Assistant City Manager Jorge Vera reported that the City was able to obtain a permit to work during Turtle Season from the Federal Government [DEP]. This permit will allow us to work continuously, without it we would have had to stop for a period of about 6 months before we would be able to begin work again. We are now in the process of finalizing some details on permitting, etc.. and hope to start demolishing the entire Pier by late July, the beginning of August, and we will start with the piles by the end of August into September which will give us an estimated date of completion of the Pier and the Restaurant by the end of March 2012. Assistant City Manager Vera responded to questions posed by the Board. Richard asked if in the meantime we are looking for a restaurant, and Assistant City Manager Vera said we are looking for a restaurant to see who would fit in there. and we are still talking to Dr. Cornfeld to see what we can do. Warren Stamm asked if we are using the same footprint that was there before, and Assistant City Manager Vera said yes, 5,000 square feet for the restaurant. and the same footprint for the entire Pier as well. Summary Minutes 2011-0713 HPB Mts Page 1 of 4 4. Report on the Condition of the Five (5) Historic Sites. Action: Assistant City Manager Vera noted that there is a report included in the agenda. He reported on the condition of the following five Historic Sites: • Fishing Pier is to be demolished. • Atlantic Isle Entrance Bridge and the Atlantic Lagoon Bridge was looked over by staff and by FDOT and gave us a fair report and still in good standing. He said he would give a copy of the report to City Historian Richard Schulman for the file. • Atlantic Isle Water Court and Villa which is Commissioner Scholl's residence, is in good standing. • Temple B'Nai Zion has no visual inspection of deterioration, and is going through the 40-year recertification inspections. There is some cracking on the Memorial Tower but there is no major structural deterioration. In the bathroom and conference areas,they are still trying to finalize some permits with the Fire Department and once they have that they will finalize permits with the City. The roof is in good shape however, as part of the 40-year inspection, they need to do some repairs to the support beams. Trina Duluc said she went by the Atlantic Isle Water Court and Villa a couple of days ago and noticed on the bottom level toward the west side, there are a lot of windows that are boarded up, and the shrubbery at the entrance by the fencing is not pleasant looking in comparison to the nice gate they have on the east side of the building. Since it is historic, is there a way they can trim the shrubs and take out those boards over the windows to make it more attractive. Assistant City Manager Vera said he went by there today and they had a crew there doing the landscaping. The boarded windows are for protection when the resident is not there but he will look into it. Trina Duluc also noted that there are a lot of properties on Atlantic Isle that are not doing the upkeep on their grounds, is there any way the City can go around and ask them. Assistant City Manager Vera said that we are basically done with construction there and we are now taking a look and going over each home to make sure the upkeep is up especially the paint on the house. Chairperson Joe Masters asked about the current historic status of the Temple, and Mayor Edelcup said there is a court case trying to overturn it but it is still an official historic site. 5. Report on 6 Egyptian Plaques from the Driftwood Motel to Heritage Park. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported that Heritage Park was opened on June 18, 2011 and the Six Egyptian artifacts were placed in the garage leading to the exit and playgrounds of the Park. We decided to take them from the outside area and place them inside so they will last a lot longer. The plaques look very nice and they have received a lot of good comments.and he passed around pictures of them. Cassey Gabor asked how they are fastened to the wall, and City Historian Schulman said they placed them on secured piping because these plaques are made out of concrete and fiberglass and weigh about 100 pounds each. Cassey Gabor asked what the hours are for Heritage Park, and Mayor Edelcup said it is temporarily open from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. because it is still under construction. Eventually it will be open the same hours as the other parks hopefully by Labor Day. Assistant City Manager Vera said that they are installing security cameras in the Park and Garage. Summary Minutes 2011-0713 HPB Mte Page 2 of 4 Trina Duluc asked if you have to show identification that you are a resident in order to use the Park water feature, and Mayor Edelcup said no, right now it is open to everyone as we are a tourist City, and there is no plan at this point to limit it. Chairperson Masters thanked City Historian Schulman for his fine presentation, and he thanked City Clerk Hines and Assistant City Attorney Amuchastegui for all the help they have given to the Committee over the years. 6. Report on the Horses and Carriage in Senator Gwen Margolis Park. Action: City Historian Richard Schulman reported that the Horses and Carriage are now lit up with two lights and they are very distinct. Since they have been lit up, he has not seen anyone climbing on them. Cassey Gabor noted that she went by them today and they are in very good shape and are painted. 7. Old Business. (None) 8. New Business. Action: • Camels in Front of the Sahara Motel: City Historian Schulman said on Collins Avenue and Commissioner Roslyn Brezin Street(183rd Street)you may have noticed the Sahara Motel, built in the early 1950's, their landmark in front of the Motel are five camels. One of the camels is now headless, it has been broken by vandals who were climbing on it and the head broke off even though they are made of concrete and hard plastic. We have discussed the possibility of taking a donation from the Motel which is actually a Condominium. he had contacted the Manager today and took pictures of the camels, and passed them around to the members. They have an artist that will try to fix it. The City is in negotiation with the officers of the Condominium Association to take the camels as a donation to the City. Otherwise we will try to get an assignment made through our Legal Department and we will try to repair the camels ourselves and maintain them. He will know something next week and he will get that information out to the members. In the future, we will place the camels somewhere in the City. Cassey Gabor said it has been broken for two months and looks bad for tourists to see. She feels we should make it a priority to fix it as it is part of the image of the City. • Declare Artifacts Historic: Cassey Gabor asked if there is a way legally to make the artifacts, like the camels, historic artifacts so that no one can touch them. Consultant Ellen Uguccioni said the Ordinance speaks of historic objects and can be designated as historic. Vice Chair Gabor said we also have the Thunderbird Sign. camels. etc.. and maybe next time we can declare them as historic artifacts. Former Commissioner Roslyn Brezin asked if they were declared historic, can they still be moved, and Ms. Uguccioni said she will review the Ordinance. Warren Stamm suggested to get the objects donated first.declare them historic,and then you can move them. City Historian Schulman said that is correct,once they are donated to the City, we can then place them wherever we want to. Mayor Edelcup said one thing you may want to consider is that the Horse and Carriage. the Pelican. Humpty Dumpty, Summary Minutes 2011-0713 HPB Mtn Page 3 of 4 and the numerous other artifacts that we do have, have never been designated historic. You may want to consider declaring them historic to ensure their safety. Cassey Gabor asked if the Ocean Palm Motel has been sold,and Mayor Edelcup said it is in the process of being sold. She asked City Historian Schulman what remains in the City that we could possibly declare as historic, and he said we have to go into the remaining motels to see what is available or if they are willing to donate artifacts or memorabilia. Right now it seems we are at a standstill because the remaining motels are not being sold at the present time. Mayor Edelcup said the Thunderbird on the wall, and maybe the Whitehouse that was at the Newport, you can't save them when they demolish the building because they are part of the wall. City Historian Schulman said they need to be free-standing. Chairperson Masters said we will discuss these matters at a future meeting. Mayor Edelcup suggested that City Historian Schulman make a list of current artifacts, and others that may be available and bring the list to the next meeting to discuss. and the Board agreed. Mark Glicksman asked if we do designate objects as historic does that incur additional costs from the City to preserve them, and what does it involve if we do something like that, and does the City want us to consider them. Mayor Edelcup said the artifacts that we already own we would need to designate our own as historic so in the future there would not be any question as to maintaining them. As it relates to other owners of items that you are going to choose to maybe make historic, to those people it could be a burden because they are responsible for maintaining them once they are declared historic unless the City volunteers to pay for their maintenance which may or may not be the case. It probably is not significant in cost if we are not talking about anything major in the way of artifacts but certainly there is a somewhat burden on owners. Cassey Gabor noted that they are not only historic artifacts, it is beautification to the City and is also art, and Mayor Edelcup said those artifacts are part of the history of the City to maintain a value that you can't restore to put a dollar value on them 9. Date and Time of Next Meeting. Action: After discussion it was decided to schedule the next meeting on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. [Cite Clerk's Note: The December 7, 2011 meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for February 15, 2012.] 10. Adjournment Action: Shari Blank moved and Warren Stamm seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. and Chairperson Masters adjourned it at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully subniitted, • A February 15. 2012 Jane A. Hines;CMC, City Clerk :.: Date Summary Minutes 2011-0713 HPB Mtg Page 4 of 4