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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-0303 Special City Commission MeetingSUMMARY MINUTES Special City Commission Meeting Wednesday, March 3, 2010,12:00 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 Edelcup at 12:00 p.m. with the following officials present: Mayor Norman S. Edelcup City Manager Rick Conner Vice Mayor Lewis J. Thaler City Attorney Hans Ottinot Comm. Roslyn Brezin Assistant City Manager /Services Jorge Vera Commissioner Gerry Goodman City Clerk Jane A. Hines, CMC Commissioner George "Bud" Scholl Assistant City Attorney Fernando Amuchdstegui 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Action: Administrative Services Director Alyce Hanson led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Mayor Edelcup gave opening remarks. 3. ORDINANCES FOR FIRST READING 3A. An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Authorizing the Issuance of Not Exceeding $15,000,000 of Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida; Providing for a Supplemental Resolution and a Loan Agreement Setting Forth the Details of Said Bonds; Providing for Severability; Providing for Repealer; Providing for an Effective Date. Action: City Cleric Hines read the title, and Assistant City Manager /Finance Doug Haag reported and noted that we are getting a very good rate and that it is not too far off from the bond loan rate that we got back in 2001 -2002 as those bonds went out at 4.5 %. Public Speakers: None Mayor Edelcup said we are locked into this rate and it is guaranteed, and so when we close on March 18, 2010 we are at 4.2 %, and Mr. Haag said yes that we got a 60 -day lock on it. Commissioner Brezin moved and Vice Mayor Thaler seconded a motion to approve the proposed ordinance on first reading. The motion was approved by a roll call vote of 5 -0 in favor. Second reading, public hearing will be held on Thursday, March 18, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. Vote: Commissioner Brezin yes Commissioner Goodman yes Commissioner Scholl -es Vice Mayor Thaler yes Mayor Edelcup yes Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting March 3, 2010 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS 4A. Discussion of Possible Action on Contracts with Marlin Engineering for the Fishing Pier and the Emergency Pedestrian Bridge Projects. Action: Mayor Edelcup said he had asked for this discussion because it seems like all we are hearing is one delay after another as far as the Pier or Bridge Permits. Nothing seems to be moving forward and every time we have asked for an update, the target date for when we are supposed to be getting permits just keeps moving further and further out even though we have had people make commitments, Marlin in particular, that we would have things done on a specific date. It seems like everyone has taken a very lackadaisical approach to getting this done, and he thinks we need to put the pressure on and make sure that everybody understands that we are totally annoyed at this point and want to keep moving forward. City Manager Conner said he met with the Consultants yesterday and had a very frank and honest discussion, and he asked them to create a schedule that must be adhered to which they submitted to him last night, and the crucial date is April 26th showing 90% on the design plan for the Pier. At that point they will be getting feedback from the permitting agencies to say what items are and are not acceptable, they finish the drawings based on that, and then go out to bid when the Permit is issued. He had a discussion last week with Commissioner Scholl about some of these issues and it really helped get a perspective on the processes. Some of the things that we might be able to do moving forward on future contracts is to stipulate that there are deadlines and tie financial rewards to those deadlines with a significant withholding. Also to look at an outside scheduling firm to develop an appropriate schedule up front so that everybody knows what we are walking into, monitor that schedule and let us know if there is any slippage and address it at that point. The Bridge design is done and we are in the permitting process on that. Mayor Edelcup said if people can't live up to schedules, then they don't deserve future contracts with this City and he certainly will impart whatever experiences we have to the other Mayors in the County and to the Miami -Dade League of Cities. City Manager Conner said after the discussions he had yesterday and this morning he thinks we have people on board and they understand what the Commission and staff expects. He said he feels that staff is as much to blame as anyone and we understand the concerns with some of the additional methods and contract approaches and this will not be a repeat performance. Vice Mayor Thaler said he brought it up at every single meeting, and at every single meeting everything was okay and on time. He will personally look at every contract that Marlin Engineering has and unless there is a stipulation that they are on time, they are not going to get the contract as long as he is here. This was supposed to be here February 15, and now it is April, and this is as much fault inside as it is on Marlin for not sitting on them and just taking their word for it. Commissioner Brezin said she shares the same feelings as Vice Mayor Thaler but the point is now from the standpoint of progress, where do we go from here, is it going to be the same stalling that we have had, or do we have an action that we can take to just put a stop to this. Commissioner Goodman asked how many years it takes to move the mangrove trees for the Bridge, we had the same thing with Town Center Park. It shouldn't take that much time, and if there are problems we have people in Miami -Dade County that can help us. W Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting March 3, 2010 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Commissioner Scholl said he had a long talk with staff last week and one of the problems that he has been frustrated about is that the process has been nebulous. They had a meeting last month and he said to go to our vendors and ask them for specificity as far as when we submitted, when we have got replies, and we have gotten a very nebulous answer which showed him that somebody didn't want to be held accountable. When he talks about a scheduler for significant construction projects of his own, even though he can do this, he hired an outside firm that would basically be responsible for setting an initial schedule including dates, parties who are responsible, actions, and everybody signs off on it As the project moves along, that schedule gets updated on a regular basis, and if there is slippage, it gets reflected and the responsible party is shown on the schedule. At least that way we can hold these guys accountable and we can see when it is an outside agency, when it is internal when we are not turning things around, etc. Hopefully going forward, if we put the right types of mechanisms in place we can get specificity and at a meeting we will be looking at a chart with details instead of it is on time, we are close, etc. He prefers an outside scheduler, the cost is not significant, but the outcome is very significant. Mayor Edelcup said we are all frustrated and totally agitated about the whole project. In the future we need contracts that have severe penalties for missing deadlines and that we don't have contracts that are open- ended. When they are being reviewed by staff or legal, don't even present them to the Commission unless there is a clause protecting us for deliveries. Mayor Edelcup said as to the two projects in hand, we are where we are at and all we can do at this point is to deal with a situation that we are all totally unhappy with. Is there any way to pick up the gap on the Pier, to start getting the bid packages ready and tighten up the bid procedure so that we don't have to wait for that last permit. If everybody is fully expecting the permit is going to come can we get the bids out before the last permit is there, is there a procedure to shorten up that scheduling of putting out the bid package, reviewing it, awarding the bid, and finally get somebody out there. On the Bridge area, and Commissioner Goodman had touched upon the mitigation problems, we have heard about the mitigation problems late in the proceedings and there may be alternatives in solving mitigation problems. He knows that staff and our consultants are out there trying to get it at the lowest cost to the City and maybe the lowest cost isn't necessarily the best approach, it may be we spend a little more in dollars in getting the mitigation done sooner than trying to argue about the last dollar of savings. The Commission needs to be more brought up to date as to delays and whether or not there are alternatives that the Commission can say either yea or nay on to speed up the process and hopefully get us into a better position sooner. Vice Mayor Thaler said that the Commission has different channels to go to than staff does, and we went through this before with the Fire Station and the Commission was able to resolve it. City Manager Conner said that the Mayor did hit on a very important issue regarding time vs. money, and it is our nature to always worry about the money and sometimes it is not the best investment of money if it causes a great deal of time, and he thinks we are more keen to that than we may have been in the past and so we are looking at that as we move forward. Mayor Edelcup said that hopefully the schedule that is being presented today is not going to be another disappointment, if it is not met than he will start commenting to his fellow Mayors and Commissioners as to our experience because that is the only way to hold people accountable. Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting March 3, 2010 4B. Add -On: Discussion regarding the Bid Process on the Lagoon Property. Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Action: Mayor Edelcup said that Commissioner Scholl requested that we discuss this today. Commissioner Scholl said that as we are all aware of, we have a deal pending with Regions Bank for the old Lagoon property, and the property is going to foreclosure auction on Monday. The final judgment amount, if Regions Bank got the property back and our contract was enforced, is $1.372 Million. It has come to our attention that there is a Synagogue that is intending to bid on the property up to $1.5 Million. We paid significantly more for an adjacent property, and his concern is that if a commercial use were to go on that small piece of property, our park is going to get stepped on. Do we want to consider a level above the $1.372 Million to buy that property, and if we do, what is that number? After considerable discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission to leave our bid at $1.372 Million. 4C. Add -On: Discussion of a "Residential Parking in Central Area" Brochure. Action: [City Clerk's Note: Brochure handed out prior to meeting.] Mayor Edelcup said that City Manager Conner had asked to discuss this Brochure. Community Development Manager Helena Forbes said now that we have all the parking signs installed in the central area of the City, we made this very informative flyer for residents, and they will put a brochure on each vehicle so that they know exactly what they are going to have to do to apply for a permit. City Manager Conner thanked Ms. Forbes and her staff, and Administrative Services Director Hanson and her staff for putting this brochure together. City Attorney Ottinot said the parking fee would be waived for 100% disabled veteran and that the proposed Ordinance would be on the March 18 agenda, and asked Ms. Forbes to approve the application if someone applies for it. City Manager Conner said that they would update the brochures. Mayor Edelcup said that there have been a couple of people calling about having disabled parking spots and that the City Manager pointed out that they can park in any spot, and that we were going to put up some signs regarding this. City Manager Conner said yes, all of the parking spaces on North Bay Road and Atlantic Boulevard are handicapped accessible. We will put signs up with phrasing that states "All of the Spaces are Available for Handicapped Parking ". The signs are ordered and we will have them up in about 30 days, and they will match the existing black back decorative signs. Mayor Edelcup asked if that could be incorporated in these brochures and the point that the City Attorney brought forth as well, and City Manager Conner said yes we will take care of it. 5. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Edelcup adjourned the meeting at 12:44 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: App Jane A. Hines, CMC, City Clerk No 4 by the City Commission on March 18, 2010 S. Ede Fro Cyr' 0, IVO ^�O TO: FROM: DATE: RE: City of Sunny Isles Beach 18070 Collins Avenue Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 (305) 947 -0606 City Hall (305) 949 -3113 Fax MEMORANDUM The Honorable Mayor and City Commission Jane A. Hines, CMC, City Clerk 3/18/2010 Summary Minutes for the March 3, 2010 City Commission Meeting RECOMMENDATION: Attached for your consideration are the Summary Minutes for the March 3, 2010 Special City Commission Meeting. REASONS: N/A ATTACHMENTS: . Summary Minutes Agenda Item No.313 Date 3/18/2010