LTC 247-2006 Emergency Department Relocations
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MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 247-2006
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROM:
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manag2e ~
October 18, 2006 ~ ()
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT LOCATIONS
DATE:
SUBJECT:
As a result of construction related issues at Old City Hall, several fire safety related concems
have been raised by the Fire Marshall. The Administration was notified by the Fire Marshall
on Thursday, October 12'h to relocate all of the remaining City personnel from space
occupied at Old City Hall. While the notice was to be effective on Friday, October 13'h no
later than 5:00 p.m.,Property Management personnel were able to institute temporary
emergency measures to address the most pressing concems and allow a slightly longer time
for transition of personnel.
Beyond the appropriate concerns raised by the Fire Marshall, the City staff in Old City Hall
have also been negatively affected by water intrusion, construction noise and dust.
The relocations from Old City Hall, while temporary, will likely span an eight (8) to ten (10)
month period of time.
In a previous LTC, the City Commission had been advised that the entire Parking
Department had been relocated from Old City Hall in order to facilitate construction activities
and housed in rental space on 23rd Avenue near the Miami City Ballet Building. Likewise,
the entire County Clerk and County Court operations from Old City were relocated both to
mainland County facilities and to the Old Library on Washington Avenue.
In assessing available space opportunities, each of the impacted departments presented
certain unique operating conditions that limited the already limited options available to the
City. In the case of the Internal Affairs (IA) Division of the Police Department, they could not
relocate into the main Police Department Building as IA is required to maintain separation
from regular operating activities and to respect the privacy of individuals either reporting or
involved in Internal Affairs investigations. In the case of the Information Technology
Programming Division, as a programming unit on a full time basis, they had a high level of
need for both computer connectivity to the main City systems and electrical power. To
further complicate the space allocation decisions, two potentially usable areas in the City,
the Police Department Community Room, as well as the First Floor Conference Room in the
Old City Hall, are being used as Election Precincts until approximately the third week in
November.
At very little expense, the Police Department agreed to relocate the Internal Affairs Division
to the North Beach Police Substation. All of the operating needs of the Internal Affairs
Division were able to be met in this location, including the security of their documents and
files, as well as the protection of officers either involved in investigations or wishing to initiate
investigations. Operationally, the Internal Affairs Division will need to occupy most of the
space at the North Beach Police Substation.
In order to maintain a concentrated area presence, as well as to address any public
perceptions of any lack of Police presence, North District Police Officers will be working out
of the North Shore Youth Center as a place to write reports and/or to hold meetings as
necessary. A further advantage of the North Shore Youth Center presence will be both the
opportunity and expectation that Police Officers will be able to interact with youth at the
facility in a positive and informal manner.
In relocating the Information Technology Division, it has been necessary to temporarily move
the approximately fifteen (15) persons and their computer workstations into the Police
Department Training Room. This has presented a whole range of operating issues
associated with rescheduling or relocating activities already established in that area which
will very likely spill into and potentially disrupt some of the activities scheduled for the Police
Community Room. While the Information Technology personnel are temporarily located in
the Police Department building, the Property Management staff is making the power and
connectivity upgrades to facilitate the relocation ofthe information Technology staff into the
First Floor Conference Room of City Hall. Once the election is completed, the Information
Technology staff will be able to locate to that area for the duration of the eight (8) to ten (10)
months associated with the construction of Old City Hall.
As space within the main Police building is severely limited, it has also been necessary to
relocate officers working in the RDA to offices on Terminal Island. The current space
occupied by the Sanitation Administrative personnel will be used by the Police staff as soon
as the hurricane damage repairs make the former Sanitation spaces available for re-
occupancy by Sanitation.
The emergency relocations were unanticipated and given the short time with which to
accomplish the relocations, less than ideal circumstances have been created for many of our
operating divisions. In all cases, services to the public or to other City departments have
and will be maintained, while at the same time respecting and securing appropriate and safe
work spaces for our impacted employees. The relocations have also been accomplished
with the intent to minimize the expense to the City and without having to rent additional
privately owned office space.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Assistant City Manager, Robert C.
Middaugh or me.
JM ~am
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