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016-2007 Communication Policy for Capital Projectsm MIAMIBEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER MEMORANDUM No. 016-2007 TO: Deede Weithorn, Commissioner (") N d FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~ o ~ c-, rY, I~ DATE: December 10, 2007 ~ ~ ~% w "Y`t SUBJECT: Communication Policy for Capital Projects ci> _ ~_ ~t1 This is in response to your recent request regarding how the City, and specifically ttt8 C~ ital~ Improvement Projects Office ("CIP Office"), informs the public about ongoing City cc~trtion projects. Pursuant to previous direction of the City Commission, the City and the CIP Office provide information to residents in accordance with the following protocol. 1. Public information meetings are required at the following points on every project: a. Project Planning Process/Conceptual Design - 2 public meetings are held at the completion of the conceptual design phase to elicit feedback from the public. Adjustments to the design are made between the 1St and 2"d meetings and reported back to the community. If necessary, sometimes additional meetings are held to gain consensus. These meetings are noticed via direct mailing (1St meeting only), a-mail, MBTV, Website, and newspaper ads. b. Finance and Citywide Projects Committee/General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee -Upon gaining consensus of the community, the conceptual design is brought to either the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee of the City Commission, or the General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee. If the project has GO Bond funding, then the proposed project concept is reviewed by the GO Bond Committee. If it does not have GO Bond funding, then the proposed project concept is reviewed by the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee. Both forums are public meetings and residents are notified via a-mail and newspaper ads when a proposed project is coming before either committee. The meeting schedule is also available on the website and on MBTV. c. Design Review Board/Historic Preservation Board - if the proposed project is significant enough in scope and architectural elements, then it must be approved by one of the City's design review boards. If this occurs, then the entire affected neighborhood is notified of the meeting and may attend to voice any concerns and considerations that they may have. These meetings are noticed by direct mail, website, MBTV, and newspaper ads. d. Sixty (60%) Percent Community Design Review Meeting ("CDRM") - A community meeting is held to review the progress of the project at the 60% construction document completion stage. This meeting is noticed through a-mail, direct mail, announcement at GO Bond meetings, MBTV, and the City website. e. Pre-Construction Commencement-A community meeting is held approximately 30 days prior to the commencement of construction activities. This meeting is Commissioner Deede Weithorn December 10, 2007 Page 2 held with the designer of record, the contractor, program manager (if applicable), and CIP Office staff. This meeting is noticed through a-mail, website, MBTV and newspaper ads. Quarterly Meetings by Neighborhood for ROW Projects in Construction - General update community meetings for ROW projects in construction are held when needed. However a request has been made to have these meetings more regularly. In response, CIP intends to have meetings with the Home Owner Associations and others probably every three months. These will be noticed primarily via a-mail and newspaper ads. This effort will begin in January2008 for all ROW projects in construction. g. General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee Meetings - A status on each project is provided to this committee on a quarterly basis. This meeting is advertised primarily by newspaper ads. E-mails are delivered via the City's listserve system to those residents who have signed up to receive periodic updates. h. Meetings between CIP Office staff and any resident and/or homeowners association are scheduled upon request. Project staff meets regularly with residents and with HOA officers and associations (such as Normandy Shores HOA) to discuss project events for projects in construction. This also happens for projects in the planning and design stages, but this happens less frequently due to the nature of the respective activities. CIP Office staff, Program Manager staff, and representatives of the City's contractor also speak with residents on the street throughout the course of the project. 2. Print materials are published and distributed at key points in every neighborhood project. Currently, a newsletter is sent out to each neighborhood for their ROW project several times a year. Feature stories are also provided in MB Magazine periodically, as well as on MBTV. Project schedules and information for each project is also posted on the City website. 3. Recently, the City began a monthly meeting with homeowner associations from the North Beach area of the City. Originally, the concept for these meetings did not include CIP Office staff due to the other communication venues already established and referenced above. However, after two of these meetings, it appears that it would be helpful to have CIP Office staff attend these monthly meetings. CIP Office staff will begin attending these meetings in January. As always, the staff and I are looking for better and more effective ways of communicating with residents. This is especially so with respect to City construction projects that have a direct impact on their lives. We spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and resources trying to keep our residents knowledgeable about the neighborhood projects. Please let me know if you have any ideas regarding how we can improve the effectiveness of our message to the public. I trust this provides you with the initial information that you were seeking. Please let me know if you would like to discuss further. C: Mayor Bower and City Commission F:\CAPI\$all\Chan7and\Commissioner Weithom Communication CIP 12102007.doc We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.