LTC 182-2002 CITY of MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No.
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez
City Manager
WEEKLY UPDATE
Date: July 29, 2002
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
July 22, 2002:
Proposed FY 2003 Budget - The City Manger and representatives from the
Finance Department and the Office of Management and Budget continued to
meet throughout the week to finalize budget plans and allocations for the FY
2003 budget. A Commission workshop focusing on the budget took place on
July 24 where several issues relating to the budget were discussed.
Emergency Preparedness Plans - Representatives from all City Departments
participated in a hurricane recovery drill on July 23 organized with assistance
from the Miami-Dade County's Office of Emergency Management. This exercise
gave the Administration an opportunity to review plans and make updates to the
City's Emergency Preparedness Plans. Staff leads for the Operations, Logistics,
Administration, Information and Planning, Police, and Fire functional areas will
continue to meet to update and finalize the City's plan.
sth Street Site - Representatives from the Administration met with a
representative of the 5th Street site owned by the Potamkin family to review the
site plan which contemplates 226,339 square feet of a five-level retail complex,
including over 900 parking spaces. Publix Supermarkets has issued a letter of
intent to lease a ground floor area in this proposed complex. Additional details
about this issue will be shared with the Commission.
Art Basel Miami Beach - Representatives from the Administration met this
week to continue planning for Art Basel Miami Beach scheduled for December
2002. Items discussed included CIP, Public Works, Parking, Parks and
Recreation, and Code Compliance related issues. Additional meetings will take
place throughout the coming months to finalize plans for this event.
Bad Boys II Filming - A community meeting was held on July 25 to share
information about the upcoming filming and closure of the MacArthur Causeway
from August 5 - 8, 2002. About 15 residents from the City of Miami Beach
attended the meeting and had an opportunity to hear from the film's producers
and other representatives about their plans. The production company will
continue with their extensive outreach campaign to inform residents about the
film schedule so that they can prepare accordingly.
800 MHz Public Safety Radio System Internal Review Committee - Technical
staff from the Police, Fire, and IT Departments conducted site visits to West Palm
Beach, the City of Sarasota and Hillsborough County to learn first hand from
those users about the systems that have been proposed to the City of Miami
Beach. The Internal Review Committee will meet again on August 7, 2002 to
hear reports from the site visit teams, RCC ConsUltants and the two vendors,
MA/COM and Motorola. The Committee will provide the City Manager with a
report in mid-August of their findings that includes the pros and cons of each
system.
MTV Latin Music Awards - Several meetings took place this week to continue
with preparations for the MTV Latin Music Awards scheduled to be broadcast live
from the Jackie Gleason Theater of Performing Arts on October 24, 2002. The
projected worldwide audience for this first time event is 380 million. A Major
Events Planning meeting will be scheduled shortly to begin to coordinate and
allocate resources accordingly.
Parks and Recreation Department's Playground Revue - Representatives
from the Administration planned and attended the 59th Annual Playground
Revue, "Miami Beach Salutes America", which took place on July 25 with almost
2000 campers in attendance and who performed in 32 different skits.
Representatives from the Commission, Recreation and Parks Facilities Board,
the Youth Center Advisory Board, and the Parks and Recreation Blue Ribbon
Committee were in attendance.
Miami Tropical Marathon - Representatives from the Administration have been
meeting with representatives from Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami to
plan for this marathon race taking place throughout various parts of Miami Beach
and Miami on February 2, 2003. The Ocean Drive Association has already
reviewed the event application and has endorsed the event. The South Pointe
Advisory Board has also endorsed the event. Upcoming community meetings
include the Mid Beach Homeowners Association and the Venetian Causeway
Homeowners Association. The Mayor and representatives from the
Administration attended a press conference convened by County Mayor Penelas
to announce plans for the event.
Miami-Dade County Library Advisory Board - City Manager met with Dr. Jeff
Donnelly, a resident who chairs the Miami-Dade County Library Advisory Board
to discuss issues related to libraries in the City and County. An item nominating
Dr. Donnelly and Zoila DaTorre to be reappointed to the Board will be presented
to the Commission at the July 31 meeting.
North Shore Open Space Park - Representatives from the Administration met
with Commissioner Smith and toured the North Shore Open Space Park and
discussed several issues including the proposed enhancements to the Park and
the Miami-Dade County Beach maintenance facility.
Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau - The Executive Committee
met on July 26. Among other issues, an update was provided on the nomination
process to the fill Board of Directors appointments and a summary of the
Advertising Agency Selection Committee meeting held last week was provided.
Bass Museum - Representatives from the Administration met with the Bass
Board of Trustees and representatives of the Friends of the Bass to discuss
several issues, including the construction and finances of the Friends. At this
point, we believe that the HVAC system is operating as prescribed and we are
generally receiving readings on humidity and temperature within the tolerance
levels.
If you have any questions or need any additional information about any of these
items, please feel free to contact me.
JMG/ri
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