241-2001 LTC
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. 21/-- '2001
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October 29, 2001
TO:
FROM:
Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez J . ~
City Manager ~v U
WEEKLY UPDATE
SUBJECT:
The purpose of this LTC is to provide the Mayor and Commission with an update
describing some of the areas the Administration focused on during the week of October
22, 2001.
Veteran's Day Weekend - Representatives from the Administration continued to meet
and plan for the Veteran's Day weekend parade and concert featuring 'NSYNC and
various other artists taking place on Sunday, November 11, 2001. The Major Events
Plan is being implementing including, enhanced security and traffic measures; the
Goodwill Ambassador program that will use City employees as well as members from
community boards, committees, and organizations; and working with representatives
from the County, local business and our residential community. Notices to residents will
be sent to inform them of traffic and other issues associated with this event. In addition,
welcome brochures with important safety and other information will be distributed to
area hotels, businesses and to visitors attending the events on November 11, Police,
Fire and the Special Events area finalized the site plan for the concert at Lummus Park
designed to ensure the safety of all who attend.
Star, Palm, and Hibiscus Neighborhood Meeting - Representatives from the
Administration held a final design workshop with the residents of the Palm, Star and
Hibiscus Islands and gained consensus from the residents regarding the Neighborhood
Master Plan. As a result of this, a Basis of Design Report (BOOR) will be presented to
the Commission in January 2002 that includes all design concepts for the
neighborhoods,
South Pointe - Representatives from the Administration met with several
representatives from the South Pointe Advisory Board to continue discussing various
design and construction related issues as well as to inform them that the City is
pursuing all options with contractors and that we have hired an outside attorney for legal
advice regarding the various issues affecting South Pointe.
. .
North Beach Development Corporation - As a follow up to a meeting that was held
last week with the North Beach Development Corporation Board, a town meeting has
been scheduled for Wednesday, November 14, 2001 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss plans for
the 72nd Street site.
Miami Beach Convention Center - The Convention Center Advisory Board and the
Convention Center Capital Oversight Committee met jointly on October 23 and passed
the following two motions after hearing presentations from Zyscovich and Bill Talbert of
the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau: (1) Conceptually approving the
preliminary proposed Master Plan and (2) approving a study that endorses expanding
the Convention Center with multipurpose room (approximately 50,000 square feet)
subject to concurrently developing a plan to provide for an alternative staging area.
Nightlife Industry Task Force - Representatives from the nightlife industry met for the
first time as members of the City's Nightlife Industry Task Force to review, formulate
and coordinate information, proposals, and issues raised by the Administration,
Members of the Commission, representatives from the nightlife industry, and other
concerned citizens. The Task Force is charged with preparing recommendations on
how to improve the City's interaction with the nightlife industry. Steve Polisar was
selected by the members to chair the Task Force.
5th Street Corridor Workshop - On October 23, the first 5th Street Corridor
Revitalization workshop was held at Monty's Seafood House. The South Florida
Regional Planning Council's Institute for Community Collaboration organized, designed
agendas for and facilitated this workshop and a number of representatives from the
Administration spoke. The objectives of the meeting were: (1) To demonstrate City of
Miami Beach Commitment to the process; (2) To begin to explore how citizens can be
kept involved; (3) To hear about the current state of economic development; (4) To hear
about the current state of public safety; (5) To identify and categorize issues relating to
Economic Revitalization and Public Safety; (6) To identify the top five Values for each of
the two subject areas; and (7) To develop an action plan to meet the goals identified
Florida Lottery - On October 26, the Administration, along with representatives of the
VCA, MBCC, ODA, and GMCVB met with Florida Lottery Secretary David Griffin and
Assistant Secretary for Marketing Waymond King, The purpose of the meeting was to
discuss short and long-term opportunities between the CMB and the Florida Lottery to
help revive the struggling tourist economy. The participants agreed to pursue three
projects: (1) The potential involvement of the Florida Lottery as a sponsor in the
Veterans Day Free Benefit Concert; (2) The City's participation in the Lottery's statewide
"Stay Here, Play Here" promotional campaign, which is scheduled to begin in
approximately 40-60 days; and (3) Creation of a thematic scratch off game featuring
Miami Beach, similar to projects the Lottery has done with Key West and Universal
Studios. Further details will be shared with the Commission soon.
Should you desire any additional information about any of these items, please feel free
to contact me.
JMG:RI
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