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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 0922 Regular City Commission Meeting SUMMARY MINUTES Regular City Commission Meeting Wednesday, September 22,2004,7:00 p.m, City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida ATTENTION ALL LOBBYISTS: CITY LAW REQUIRES 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 Ede1cup at 7:02 p.m., with the following officials present: Mayor Norman S. Edelcup Vice Mayor Gerry Goodman Commissioner Roslyn Brezin Commissioner Danny Iglesias Commissioner Lewis J. Thaler City Manager Christopher J, Russo City Attorney Lynn Dannheisser City Clerk Jane A. Hines 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCEIINVOCA TION Action: Commissioner Brezin led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Richard C. Schulman gave an invocation, Mayor Ede1cup gave opening remarks of decorum, 3. APPROV AL OF MINUTES 3A. Special City Commission Meeting/l st Budget Hearing FY 2004/05 - September 9,2004. Action: Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to approve the above-mentioned Summary Minutes. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 3B. Regular City Commission Meeting - September 9,2004. Action: Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Thaler seconded a motion to approve the above-mentioned Summary Minutes. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 4. ORDER OF BUSINESS (Additions/Deletions/Amendments) 4A. Request to Hear Items: Request for an add-on Item lOA a resolution accepting the Education/School Committee report and recommendations; and add-on Item llA confirming an appointment to the Health and Community Activities Committee. Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Action: Mayor Ede1cup noted the above changes. S. SPECIAL PRESENT A TIONS SA. Presentation by the Mayor's Advisory Council: Education/Schools Committee, Action: [City Clerk's Note: See related Resolution Add-on Item 10Al Chairperson Bob Welsh said that the Committee is recommending to the City Commission to go with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system and he handed out documentation and reported. He thanked the Commission and staff for their understanding of the need for a school in Sunny Isles Beach, and he particularly thanked Commissioner Thaler as the liaison for the Education/Schools Committee. He went through the handout which included the Committee's Mission Statement and the steps they went through to get to where they are tonight. He introduced the Committee members in the audience and thanked them for their hard work. He also introduced Enid Weisman, Assistant Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Speakers: Enid Weisman; Marianna Talalaevsky; Ana Rijo-Conde, Facilities Planner for Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Loretta de Vries; Herb Abramson, Chairman ofthe Sunny Isles Beach Beautification Trust; Bud Scholl; Henry Kay Mr. Welsh noted the School Comparison Chart between Public Schools, Charter Schools, and Satellite Schools, and that 1,100 questionnaires were sent out to businesses and 40% responded. The parent's questionnaire was in the newspaper for them to respond to and send out, and only 30-40 responses out of 900 parents were received. Mr. Welsh said they had asked the Miami-Dade Public School System who was going to pay for the school building, what will it look like, and how long will it take to build, and they said they would pay for the school building, they have templates and models to choose from that fits best on that land, and he said that City Manager Russo asked if the City can use its own construction company, and they said yes. He said the second factor is when you have a Charter School the City is responsible for handing over the money, and the teachers are set at a dollar amount; the principal has the authority to choose the staff based upon how qualified they are and how well they may be able to teach. These are the two biggest factors that he saw, City Manager Russo explained that in a Charter School for instance the City of A ventura is ultimately responsible for the budget, subsequent increases, shortfalls, and needs that they may have. Under the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the budget and operation of the school is through the Miami-Dade County School District. He said that the City would have a unique agreement with them from the standpoint that the City is providing the land and that we are entering into a joint cooperative effort to them to build this 2 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida school and to do it expeditiously as compared to some of the problems they have had in their construction division in the past. He noted that the City will own the land and lease it to the School system and make this unique situation work through their Education Oversight Committee for which we will have a good number of representatives on which in essence will serve as the Oversight Board and the financial responsibility will always remain with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He stated that the Public Schools have the power and control of the purse strings and they certainly do have the money and we have been fortunate enough to have a substantial amount of that money designated to get this school built at the highest standards and as much as Bob Welsh has mentioned all the educational benefits to the highest standards, from our perspective those highest standards are exemplified by what happened in this City where we were fortunate to just get the bands from the hurricane that came through. Mayor Edelcup said that what we are doing is entering into an agreement with the County that gives us a little more than what normally has been expected from cities in the past in exchange for which we are donating some land to the County, and the County in return is allowing us to participate in the development of their curriculum. Vice Mayor Goodman asked if this school would be consistent with the other schools in the County, and Enid Weisman said that this is consistent with every national goal of every educational system in the country, and as for autonomy or input, she noted for an example that they are working with Miami Beach where they are building a new high school, and that the cities are involved in the construction end and have formed committees and that the County has met with them and they have tremendous input. She said with all the involvement that the School Board wants, she was asked why a parent cannot be on the selection process for a principal, and at the current time their Board rules do not allow for that part of community participation. Commissioner Iglesias said perhaps the City in partnership with the School or perhaps a developer, can build an auditorium that could be used not only for the school but also for the City as well, and put their name on it. Mr. Welsh said they would like to see that as well but they would also like to see as City Manager Russo put in his letter to Ms, Weisman, a 300-400 seat auditorium but if we have a 1,500-seat school and we invite performers in, you have to do it three or four times for the school students to see it, but if you want to use that as a multi-use facility for the community for any kind of performing arts, you will need to have 700-800 seats, City Manager Russo said that we are going to look at adding an auditorium to this and that was a good suggestion to get a developer involved in this because that is something that the School District cannot fund as it is not in their allocation for the construction of the building. He said that the City would like to put in an auditorium at the largest capacity possible but the reality that we are dealing with is a slightly over two-acre site where we are putting in a 150,000 square foot four- story school building of which there are technical requirements for on this site so we will be somewhat constrained in the size of this facility. Commissioner Brezin asked if we go with the public school will we be permitted to use the facility for the community, and City Manager Russo and Mr. Welsh said yes. Ms. Weisman said that all of their schools 3 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny isles Beach, Florida are used as public buildings and communities use their schools every day of the week and the only real requirement that they have is a one-time form that when any group is using the building that they have the insurance. Mayor Edelcup said that one of the things they covered was being able to use it for adult education, etc. Commissioner Thaler said one question that comes up is the criteria of other children that do not live in Sunny Isles Beach coming into this school, Ms. Weisman said that right now Sunny Isles Beach does not have enough children to fill the school, and so what they do is block by block, the parent group goes and tries to do boundaries, She said that it is a year-long process to set boundaries, and we can go back for attendance boundaries every year. Mayor Ede1cup said we start the school with children from other areas because we haven't got enough of our own but gradually over the years we populate the City with more children, what happens to children that have started in our school that came from other areas, do we allow them to stay? Ms. Weisman said once a child is in a school, we make it an option if there is a place for them to go to. Mayor Ede1cup said that they are aware that some Broward County children come over here because we are on that border, and Ms. Weisman said they are aware of it and are trying to control this. City Attorney Dannheisser said that we recently found out that a huge development is going into Gulfstream Race Track, it is a DRI, and is in Broward County, and we were trying to determine if that would have any impact on the City, whether we needed to participate in the process, and we asked the question as to schools and we were told that they may in fact be allowed to attend schools here. Ms, Weisman said that the general policy is "no", however, the Nickerbee No Child Left Behind Federal Law, says that any child has a right, if their school is a low performing school for two years or longer, to transfer to any other school regardless of County. Mr. Welsh asked if the school is at its maximum and parents move into Sunny Isles Beach in November, December and January with children, can they come into our school even though it is at its maximum, and Ms. Weisman said yes they can, She said that Bal Harbour Schools were capped for a very short period of time last year, and Ojus Elementary is currently capped. Marianna Talalaevsky, a subcommittee member, asked about overcrowding and capping the schools, because of the new guidelines. Ms, Weisman said that the boundaries are reviewed each year, and that our class size amendment becomes fully implemented by the year 2010, it is 18 in the primary grades and then it goes up to 25 in high school and that they are building the City's school to meet those guidelines. She said if there are at some point in time where there are well over 1,600 K-8 students in Sunny Isles Beach, from our demographic studies, it is going to be a long time and by then we will have at least two more schools built. She said in terms of their own policy of transfers, once a school reaches 115% capacity they would be closed to any transfers they would give, there would be none, there would only be the children within the attendance boundaries. She said that they can't go over that class size reduction because they would lose money, and are working very hard to get into compliance right now, She stated that they would leave some space and she will see how they are doing with the building of QQl the K-8 they are building on FIU, she said that she doesn't think they will open it with 7th and 8th 4 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny isles Beach, Florida grades, because the kids are not going to leave the schools they are in, so there will be some space. Ana Rijo-Conde, Facilities Planner for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said they intend to build as much as possible, and presently their class size is at 750 square feet and it meets class size amendment, and based on that square footage they will want to provide as many classrooms in this school facility as possible, there may be a mix of spaces because of certain program requirements. Mayor Ede1cup and the Commission commended the Committee members and those involved in this process. Mayor Ede1cup passed the gavel and moved and Commissioner Brezin seconded a motion to hear item lOA after SA. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 6. ZONING: ZONING HEARINGS ARE QUASI-JUDICIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS. None 7. ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING None 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS (Other than Ordinances for Second Reading) None 9. ORDINANCES FOR SECOND READING (Public Hearings) 9A. An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Amending the Historic Preservation Ordinance No. 2004-197 to Include Two Additional Members to the Historic Preservation Board and to Provide a Process to Appeal Decisions Made by the Board; Providing for a Repealer; Providing for Inclusion in the Code; Providing for Severability; and Providing for an Effective Date. (First Reading 9/9/04) Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and Mayor Ede1cup noted that Phillip Chernoff and Hassida (Cassey) Gabor are being added. City Attorney Dannheisser reported that ten days after the passage of the Ordinance is final, we will bring back a resolution on October 14, 2004 appointing the two members to the Board. Public Speakers: none 5 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to adopt the ordinance. Ordinance No. 2004-214 was adopted by a roll call vote of 5-0 in favor. Vote: Commissioner Brezin Commissioner Iglesias Commissioner Thaler Vice Mayor Goodman Mayor Ede1cup yes yes yes yes yes Sitting in as the Local Planning Agency and the City Commission, to Consider an Ordinance Amending the Land Development Regulations (LDRs) 9B.1 A Resolution of the Local Planning Agency of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Recommending to the City Commission of Sunny Isles Beach, the Ordinance Amending Section 265-5 of the Land Development Regulations to Include Submerged Lands as Property to be Counted for Density and Intensity Purposes, Attached Hereto as Exhibit "A"; Providing for an Effective Date, Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and Mayor Ede1cup reported. Public Speakers: none Commissioner Brezin moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded the motion. LP A Resolution No. 2004-21 was adopted by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 9B.2 An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Amending Section 265-5 of the Land Development Regulations to Include Submerged Lands as Property to be Counted for Density and Intensity Purposes; Providing for Inclusion into the Code; Providing for Severability; Providing for an Effective Date. Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and Mayor Ede1cup reported. Public Speakers: Joe Milton Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to adopt the ordinance. Ordinance No. 2004-215 was adopted by a roll call vote of 5-0 in favor. Vote: Commissioner Brezin Commissioner Iglesias Commissioner Thaler Vice Mayor Goodman Mayor Ede1cup yes yes yes yes yes 6 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny isles Beach, Florida 10. RESOLUTIONS lOA. Add-On: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Accepting the Recommendation of the Education/Schools Committee to Establish a K-8 Public School Within the Boundaries of the City; Authorizing the City Manager and the City Attorney to Negotiate with Miami-Dade County School Board to Facilitate the Construction of the Public School Within the City; Providing for an Effective Date. Action: [City Clerk's Note: See related Item 5A] City Clerk Hines read the title and Mayor Edelcup reported. Public Speakers: none Mayor Ede1cup passed the gavel and moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to approve the resolution, with the understanding that the final agreement comes back before the Commission. Resolution No. 2004-722 was adopted by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 11. MOTIONS 11A. Add-On: Call for a Motion to accept the confirmation of the following appointment to the Mayor's Advisory Council (MAC): . Commissioner Thaler's Appointment of Joseph J. Ades to the Health & Community Activities Committee. Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and Mayor Edelcup reported that we are also approving the change of name for the Health and Welfare Committee to the "Health and Community Activities Committee". Public Speakers: none Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to approve the appointment of Joseph J. Ades to the Health & Community Activities Committee. The motion was approved by a voice vote of 5-0 in favor. 12. DISCUSSION ITEMS 12A. Add-On Mayor Ede1cup said that he would like to schedule Town Hall Meetings in October to discuss the proposed Charter amendment changes and he asked the City Manager to do 7 Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 22, 2004 City of Sunny isles Beach, Florida his Capital Improvements Report. He suggested that they be held at three locations, in the north (Ocean View Apartments), in the middle (Winston Towers), and in the south (Arlen House). City Manager Russo said that he would not be able to do the presentation on the Capital Improvement Projects before mid-November because he is away a lot in October and the beginning of November. After discussion it was decided to contact the condo associations and schedule the meetings on Monday, November 1, or Tuesday, October 19 as a fall back date at Ocean View; Monday, October 25,2004 at Winston Towers; and Tuesday, October 26,2004 Arlen House. [City Clerk's Note: Subsequently the meetings were scheduled asfoUows: Monday, October 25,2004 at Winston Towers 400; Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at Arlen House; and Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at Ocean View Apartment Homes] 13. CITIZENS' FORUM: REQUESTS, PETITIONS & OTHER COMMUNICATIONS 14. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Goodman moved and Commissioner Iglesias seconded a motion to adjourn .t~e meeting, and Mayor Ede1cup adjourned it at 8:45 p.m, :~ ... 1>. , . . ,) .Respectfully s~bmitted by: ~. '~~A~ . Jane A". Hines,~City Clerk " .. 8