Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-1106 Special City Commission Meeting SUMMARY MINUTES Special City Commission Meeting Friday, November 6, 2009,3:00 p.m. City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida ATTENTION ALL LOBBYISTS: CITY LAW REOUlRES YOUR REGISTRATION PRIOR TO ENGAGING IN LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BEFORE CITY STAFF, BOARDS, COMMITTEES OR THE CITY COMMISSION. PLEASE CONTACT THE CITY CLERK FOR FORMS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS The meeting was called to order by Mayor Edelcup at 3 :00 p.m. with the following officials present: Mayor Norman S. Edelcup Vice Mayor Lewis J. Thaler Comm. Roslyn Brezin Commissioner Gerry Goodman Commissioner George "Bud" Scholl City Manager Rick Conner City Attorney Hans Ottinot City Clerk Jane A. Hines, CMC Assistant City Manager/Services Jorge Vera Assistant City Attorney Fernando Amuchastegui 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Action.' Phyllis Katz led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Mayor Edelcup gave opening remarks noting that this is to resume our discussions from the October 29, 2009 Special Commission meeting on the traffic problem at 183rd Street. He reported on the meeting held yesterday by Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) Committee that decides on variances regarding the City's request for the installation of a traffic light on 182nd Street and Collins Avenue. The Committee denied the City's request and we now need to go on to the next level which is to meet with District Director Gus Pego, where he has the authority to override the decision of the Committee. Ifwe are not successful at his level, we need to carry it to Tallahassee because the light is more of a problem for the City in the future, then what currently exists as it relates to the school and the need to have safety for the kids crossing that street. In looking at the light and the City traffic flow currently and what we are projecting out into the future, it is more important to get that light there for what will happen in the future there including the traveling of ingress and egress out of the Trump building as well as traffic patterns that don't get resolved without having a light there. We need to keep fighting for it because it is not an issue ofMr. Katz's shopping center, or the school, or the Trump individually, it is a collective problem for the City and its traffic flow now and into the future. 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3A. Discussion regarding Traffic Issues related to 183rd Street and Collins Avenue. Action: Mayor EdeIcup said we still have the issue of the current impact right now at 183 rd Street and Collins Avenue where we left off a week ago. Everyone has had an opportunity to see memos that have been distributed by Mr. Katz, and staff, and he opened this discussion for a continuation of the discussion amongst the Commission and Mr. Katz to see if we can come to a resolution until such day as we do have a light at 182nd Street and Collins A venue. Special City Commission Meeling November 6, 2009 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Commissioner Scholl said that this started two years ago when we had a public hearing on a Site Plan Approval and we wanted to close the ingress and egress to that shopping center and compromised with Mr. Katz and agreed to put the bollards up. At the beginning of the summer Mr. Katz came in with an issue and we looked at it pragmatically and Mr. Katz proposed the temporary solution and that was to take the bollards down for the summer until a week before school started and allow Mr. Katz's tenant to come into the shopping center and take occupancy. The bollards did not go up and he assumes it was a staff decision based on Mr. Katz's commercial consideration, and staff felt comfortable because of the presence oflawenforcement. He is concerned that none of the Commission is a seasoned professional in these areas, we are all trying to come up with a solution for something that none of us have the credentials to come up with. He said the Mayor was right to ask staff to come up with a memo and tell us what you think, and he had the memo from the City Manager and it said that the problem is not really a school problem, it is a 24/7 problem because this is a bad intersection. He has heard on occasion that we have three intersections like this and this one is getting singled out, and he does not agree with that, the other one does not have a left turn off Collins Avenue (175th Street), but first and foremost, this intersection is the primary feeder for our school, and so he thinks one thing that they can all agree upon, and that is safety, we are concerned about the safety of the children. It is a bad intersection, we are going to have a car accident there eventually, and the bollards solved that issue, but we are trying to come up with a commercial compromise for Mr. Katz. He falls back on the Chiefs comments at the last meeting, what will alleviate this safety issue, what he hears from the Chief is, whether it is a Police Officer or a Crossing Guard you need somebody there during those hours, and if that is the case, he will modify the position we took at the beginning of the summer by saying we need a Crossing Guard or two because ultimately what we are about is having an authority figure there. It is a health and safety issue and agrees with the City Manager that it is a bad situation no matter what, and what he can gather now is if and when we get a traffic light the bollards can go back up. He doesn't think we need a Police Officer there, as long as we have an authority figure there. Commissioner Brezin said she paid several visits to that site and realizes that yes there is definitely a problem as we indicated, there is always a chance when you have congestion that someone could be hurt but we are seeking a solution before we come to that final conclusion and her feeling is in addressing this that there has been a plan that she believes that Vice Mayor Thaler will address in further detail that seems very appealing to her. Would this definitely be the solution, she does not know, she is not an engineer and upon visiting that site it was obvious that this plan that was presented to us has that possibility of in fact being a solution, or certainly an improvement. Commissioner Goodman said it may take a long time to get the traffic light, and so when the school closes and there is no traffic guard there, what is our course of action, are we going to leave it open or are we going to close it, and this is an interesting question. If you put two traffic guards there during the day when the school is open, he may consider that, but you know that one is not enough because you have Collins A venue, and you have 183 rd Street but he is talking about other times. This to him is important, you don't only talk about the children, you talk about Publix, you talk about the public, the public crosses there. Mr. Katz gave him a map that he would like to close the southern crosswalk only cross the street on the northern side and he doesn't think that is a good idea to close the crosswalk. So there are 2 - Special City Commission Meeling November 6, 2009 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida other things that we have to look at other than just the school children. He said he read the Manager's memorandum and he thought the memo was very clear and to the point that we have these problems there and just to solve the problem with the school children is not the only problem that we have there. Vice Mayor Thaler said he thinks everybody has similar concerns and that is the public. He said in his mind we are here and the concept at this point is really the time that we have while the school is open. Going back to what Commissioner Scholl said, if and when the light gets up and we put the stanchions up and they are up permanently and Mr. Katz has agreed to that in writing, but what we are referring to right now is the timing for the school and not the total public at this point and what this meeting is about. He agrees with Commissioner Goodman with the fact that we should not get involved with closing one of the walkways on Collins Avenue, first of all we don't have the authority to do that, and second he doesn't really believe it would help because he thinks the problem is a traffic problem, not a walking problem. What he would like to propose at this point is that we put up a "No Left Turn" sign effective Monday through Friday on school days only. He also believes that 1) until the sign goes up continue to have the Police Officer there, and 2) he believes that for the first few weeks we should still have a Police Officer there to stop and either give warnings or citations to people who turn into that area. He asked assuming it passes how long will the signs take to get up, and Assistant City Manager Vera said he could rush it and it would be one week and a half to two weeks, and Vice Mayor Thaler said let's put two weeks here, and then he would like two more weeks of a Police Officer there to enforce the sign certainly in the morning and the afternoon. We will follow through as the Mayor has said on the traffic light, and when the light goes up and the stanchions go back. Mayor Edelcup said what he has been hearing basically is that we have two solutions that are temporary in nature that maybe if we combine the best features of both we can have a consensus and what he is hearing is if we can put the "No Left Turn on School Days" signs plus having a Policeman during a transition period, but add some school guards until such time as needed, maybe on a permanent basis. Commissioner Scholl said his question for Vice Mayor Thaler is, is the Policeman there to enforce the no left turn, and Vice Mayor Thaler said yes, and Commissioner Scholl said then that Mr. Katz wouldn't pay for that, that is traffic enforcement. Mayor Edelcup said to compromise, let's have the crossing guards there, let's get the sign up, let's instruct the Police to enforce the signage at the City's cost, and Mr. Katz will pay for the crossing guard for the period oftime its felt necessary that it is working, and we can always come back and say we need one crossing guard or two crossing guards, and the crossing guards at some point may not even be his responsibility because we have hired crossing guards to handle the whole City. Commissioner Scholl said he believes that having a crossing guard at a private ingress and egress is extraordinary, whether it is one or two, that is on the Chief. Vice Mayor Thaler said he believes the Police Officer should be there until the signs are put up, and to continue to be at Mr. Katz cost until the signs are put up, and the Commission agreed. Mayor Edelcup summarized that the consensus of this Commission appears to be that we put the "No Left Turn on School Days" sign up, except for Wednesdays, get that up within a two-week period; during that two-week period Mr. Katz will still pay for the Policeman, after 3 .. Special City Commission Meeling November 6, 2009 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida the two-week period or when the sign gets put up whichever comes first, though no more than two weeks, the City's responsibility will be for the Policeman; as to the crossing guards, at least one crossing guard will continue to be paid for by Mr. Katz that is in front of his shopping center, ifit is deemed that we need to have more crossing guards, then that should not be his responsibility but will be the responsibility of the City under the contract with the crossing guards. Commissioner Scholl said he wanted to make sure we are on the same page with the FDOT application as well, if we get the traffic light the stanchions go back up, he wants to make sure that we are all in agreement with that so when we go to FDOT, if we get the traffic light the bollards go back up on the street. . City Attorney Ottinot recapped the motion: RK Associates will pay for one Police Officer until the installation of the sign; 2) RK Associates will continue to pay for one crossing guard until the traffic light is installed. He said in terms of the City Manager's direction, basically he has determined the cost already, he gave a reduced cost to Mr. Katz and so that issue is out ofthe way in terms of the cost. Commissioner Scholl said that we are mutually agreed to FDOT, and Mr. Katz just added a caveat to that that if we don't get a traffic light, if we get a traffic light or curb cut, the bollards go back up, and he is offthe hook for the crossing guard. Commissioner Brezin said the curb cut is also included in that motion, and City Attorney Ottinot said correct. Vice Mayor Thaler clarified a Police Officer for two weeks, one crossing guard that Mr. Katz will pay for until there is a traffic light or a curb cut. Vice Mayor Thaler moved and Commissioner Scholl seconded a motion to approve the above stated motion. The motion was approved by a roll call vote of 5-0 in favor. V ote: Commissioner Brezin yes Commissioner Goodman yes Commissioner Scholl yes Vice Mayor Thaler yes Mayor Edelcup yes City Attorney Ottinot said that he wants the agreement with Mr. Katz to reflect this motion. Mr. Katz said as a caveat, any time you build a new building you want some kind of art, and ifthey have the curb cut they will do something nice there like brick pavers. Mayor Edelcup thanked the Commission for coming together with a unanimous decision on a very contentious topic and what we have came up with is a fair solution for all sides of this issue. 4. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted by: . - ~ ~ LL..-' :', Jane A. Hines, CMG, City Cler~ . 4 Preview Page 1 of 1 City of Sunny Isles Beach 18070 Collins Avenue Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 (305) 947-0606 City Hall (305) 949-3113 Fax MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Jane A. Hines, CMC, City Clerk DATE: 11/19/2009 RE: Summary Minutes for the November 6, 2009 Special City Commission Meeting RECOMMENDATION: Attached for your consideration are the Summary Minutes for the November 6, 2009 Special City Commission Meeting. REASONS: N/A ATTACHMENTS: . Summary Minutes http://sibagenda.sibfl.net/agenda/Preview.aspx?ItemID= 1 28&MeetingID=0&MeetingDat.. . 11/12/2009