124-2001 LTC
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. I~ ~ - cJfJ~ /
to
June 8, 2001
TO:
FROM:
Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez(]t1G
City Manager '/::;:<,11-
SUBJECT: WEEKLY UPDATE
The purpose of this LTC is to provide you with an update describing some of the areas the
Administration focused on during the week of Monday, June 4 - Friday, June 8, 2001.
Fire Station # 4 - A public meeting was held on June 5 to seek the community's input,
discuss the funding status, structural test results, and a discussion of renovation options.
Approximately 25 participants discussed the options and stated their opinions about how
the City should proceed with this issue. Option 1 (Renovation of the existing Fire Station
building and construction of a new Fire Station on the same property, but further to the
West) and Option 4 (lifting and relocating the original structure to the 69th Street street end
and building a new Fire Station further to the west on the existing site) were eliminated.
Option 2 (demolishing the existing building and building a new public safety station to
house both fire and police on the same site) and Option 3 (renovating the existing building
and building a new public safety station to house both fire and police on the south side of
the property or in a different location) were the two options that had the most consensus.
The Administration is looking into both of these options further and will price and compare
them to make further recommendations.
Collins Avenue - The City waterline project remains to be completed. The Administration
has been in discussion with the Collins Avenue contractor (Florida Central Equipment) and
the Florida Department of Transportation on how to best complete this project. We are
tentatively scheduling a Commission workshop for Thursday, June 21 to include the Collins
Avenue Task Force and other interested stakeholders. Bob Middaugh will be in touch with
each of you to further discuss.
Press Conference - Was held to address and clarify some of the issues that arose from
the Memorial Day weekend events and to ensure that accurate facts were shared with the
media. The Administration is continuing to work on developing long- term strategies that
will address the needs of our residents, visitors and merchants.
, .--
Commission Briefing - Representatives from the Finance Department shared a general
and high level status report with the Commission on the general fund budget for the FY
2002. More details will be shared with the Commission within the next few weeks.
71'1 Street Charrette - Outstanding attendance, in excess of 120 people, participated in
the opening session of the 71'1 Street Charrette on June 7 at the Radisson Deauville
Hotel. An all day session was held on June 8 with professional planners, architects and
economic and real estate specialists. The public visioning session results were
incorporated in the group discussions of the project area goals and concept possibilities.
Group discussions centered on urban design, transportation, and economic strategies.
The results of these focus group discussions will be compiled and formulated into
alternative vision plans for a public presentation on June 25, 2001. These alternative
vision plans will be the basis for a consensus building discussion that will be presented to
the Mayor and Commission.
Budget Review - Representatives from OMB and the City Manager's Office continued to
meet with representatives from Departments to review budget requests for FY 2002.
Portofino - Representatives from the Redevelopment Agency staff and City Attorney's
Office met with representatives from Portofino in anticipation of the upcoming future
development, Murano Grande, on the SSDI - North (parking lot north of Miami Beach
Marina). At the next two Commission meetings, the Commission will be considering
several items contemplated by the settlement agreement that are related to said
development.
Tourism - The Office of Tourism is monitoring hotel occupancy, special events, convention
center bookings and working with the Police Department Command Staff on a daily basis
to track unusual developments or circumstances. Although this has been an ongoing
process on a weekly basis, we are now formulating this into a daily program in order to be
better prepared, should the need arise.
Should you desire any additional information about any of these items, please feel free to
contact me.
JMG:RI:ptw
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