246-2000 LTC
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH. FLORIDA 33139
http:\\ci,miami-beach.ft.us
L.T.C. No.246-2tXD
LETTER TO COMMISSION
November 9, 2000
TO: Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and
Members of the City Commission
FROM:
Jorge M. Gonzalez \'A~
City Manager cJ - (]
SUBJECT: BUILDING DEPARTMENT PERMITTING AND STAFFING INITIATIVES
In March 1999, the City Commission authorized the establishment of the Business Resolution Task
Force (BRTF). The Task Force began meeting in April 1999 and presented a report dated November
30, 1999 to the City Commission on January 12,2000. The BRTF report highlighted the following
recommendations:
1. Expedite Permitting
2. Improve Customer Service
3. Simplify Land Use Boards Process
4. Improve Staffing and Hiring
5. Invest in Technology
Attached please find a summary report dated October 3, 2000, presented to the Miami Beach
Chamber of Commerce delineating the BRTF recommendations that have been implemented by the
City of Miami Beach and the actions and accomplishments to date.
With respect to recommendation (I) Expedite Permitting and (4) Improve Staffing and Hiring, the
following initiatives will significantly enhance and improve the level of service provided by the
Building Department. Specifically, these initiatives will improve the plans review process, facilitate
the Building Department's ability to recruit qualified inspection and plans review personnel, reduce
the need for contract services, and further enhance inspection services, as follows:
Initiative HAl: Upgrade the two (2) Building Inspector positions funded in the FY 2001
Budget to Senior Inspector classifications, thereby enabling a dual function of plans examiner
in addition to inspector. These two (2) upgraded positions, combined with the additional
Senior Inspector position funded in FY 2001, will provide three (3) new additional plans
reviewers for the department. Upon hiring the thr~ (3) additional plans reviewers, the walk-
through plans review hours will be extended to 3:00 p.m.
November 9, 2000
Letter to Commission
Staffing Enhancements for the Building Department
Page 2
The City, during the budget process ofFY 00/01, approved five new positions for the Building
Department, which included one (1) Senior Building Inspector, two (2) Building Inspector and two
(2) Data Entry Clerk positions. In order to enhance the levels of service, the two (2) Building
Inspector positions will be upgraded in the Building Department's budget to Senior Inspector
classifications; enabling the department to attract higher-qualified personnel in order to extend the
walk-through plan processing hours. The Senior Inspector classifications require certifications by
the State of Florida and the Miami-Dade County as both plans examiners and Inspector. This will
enable the department to commit the equivalent of one and one half full-time certified plans
examiners per trade category for the extended walk-through hours, providing efficient coverage for
both permitting and plans review. Combined, the three inspector positions will be utilized for the
plans review process; enabling the department to extend the walk-through period by three hours per
day from the current 8:30 A.M.-I2:00 to 8:30 A.M. -3:00 P,M..
Initiative 1(8): Create and hire two (2) new Senior Building Inspector positions to eliminate
need for contract inspector services.
Due to the current vacancies in the department; the additional workload resulting from a 30%
increase in the number of permits issued and in order to maintain an acceptable level of service, the
Building Department currently utilizes the services of four (4) inspectors through a contract with a
consulting engineering firm. The services come at a rate of$67 .00 per hour, as compared to $21.00
per hour for "in-house" staff, In order to maintain the current level of service for inspections
(response within 24-hour), in light of the current recruiting impediments and the cost of contract
services, two (2) additional Senior Building Inspector positions will be funded in the Building
Department. These positions will provide support needed for the additional workload and eliminate
the need for contract inspection services. The contract inspection services will only be utilized for
specialized inspections such as roofing. It is estimated that the replacement of contract service
personnel with "in-house" personnel will result in an annual cost avoidance of more than $150,000.
Initiative 2: Create and hire a Building Inspection Services Coordinator position to
coordinate, schedule and monitor inspection requests.
Considering the large volume of inspection requests and the number of current complex projects
under construction, and in an effort to effectively enhance the inspection services, a position of
Building Inspection Services Coordinator will be established. This positioin will be responsible for
coordinating, scheduling and monitoring efficient and timely responses to all inspection requests.
A coordinated and concerted inspection effort among the various inspection disciplines will improve
construction pace by reducing time delays associated with sequencing of inspections. The position
will be further utilized to investigate complaints associated with inspections, problem-solve and
provide on-site code-related dispute resolutions, resulting in reduction of time delays and ultimately
construction cost savings to the homeowners and business owners.
In summary, the above initiatives will increase our complement ofinspectors by four (4). In addition,
upgrading to Senior Inspector cIasifications will allow us to be more competitive and recruit higher
November 9, 2000
Letter to Commission
Staffing Enhancements for the Building Department
Page 3
caliber professionals. The cost associated with these enhancements, exclusive of the savings
associated with reduction of contract services is approximately $167,000, and will be funded from
the $329, 462 in FY 2001 unallocated general funds (citywide account). These budget revisions will
be presented in a future budget amendment.
Attached please find copies of the Building Department's new table of organization, Plans / Permit-
Processing Work-Flow Structure and the Inspection Services Work-Flow Structure.
Going forward, the Administration will continue to work with the Business Resolution Task Force,
concentrating on:
. reviewing building permit processes to achieve further efficiencies and streamlining,
. implementing the relocation plan and the reconfiguration of the 2nd floor of City Hall and
further streamline the building permit process,
. addressing salary ranges of City positions making them more competitive with those offered
by neighboring municipalities,
. identifying improvements to the licensing process, and
. identifying improvements to the code enforcement process.
Should you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me.
JMG/c~bJGG/P Alhd P'
F:\CMGR\SALL\RAR\LTClBRTFBLDG.STA
attachments
c: Christina M. Cuervo, Assistant City Manager
Mayra Diaz-Buttacavoli, Assistant City Manager
Ronnie Singer, Executive Assistant to the City Manager
Jorge Gomez, Planning Director
Philip Azan, Building Director
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
City Manager's Office
Interoffice Memorandum
lO
To:
MBCC - Board of Governors
Date: October 3,2000
From:
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
and
Saul Gross, Chair ofBRTF
Subject: Status Report on the Business Resolution Task Force (BRTF)
In March 1999, the City Commission authorized the establishment of the BRTF. The Task Force
began meeting in April 1999 and presented a report dated November 30, 1999 to the City
Commission on January 12,2000. The BRTF report highlighted the following recommendations:
1. Expedite Permitting
2. Improve Customer Service
3. SimplifY Land Use Boards Process
4. Improve Staffing and Hiring
5. Invest in Technology
The following is a summary of what has been accomplished by the City of Miami Beach in
implementing the BRTF recommendations.
1) EXDedite Permittin2
a) The City has implemented various measures to expedite the permitting process such as:
. approved five new positions in FY 2001 budget to add two additional trade inspectors,
two data entry clerks, and one senior building inspector, to extend walk-through hours
from 8:30 - 12:00 to 8:30 - 3:00. This increased staffing of plan review should also free
up some of the inspectors to allow them to make more inspections.
. hired two new fire plans reviewers and co-located them within the Building Department
to facilitate the plans review process,
. empowered staff to make broader decisions during walk-thru,
. have a senior planner available during walk-thru to back-up the counter person,
. implement walk-thru process guidelines for zoning and DRB approval, and allow
applicants to choose what order to get plan review approvals, and
. actively involve the plans router in monitoring the progress of the plans review.
b) The BRTF recommended that all departments involved in the permitting process be located
on the 2nd floor of City Hall. This entails expanding the space on the second floor dedicated
to permitting to accommodate the increased staffing in the Building Department and Fire
Prevention Bureau. This will require the relocation of the Code Enforcement Department.
A relocation plan has been presented to the Land Use Committee that entails the relocation
of the Cultural Arts organizations located at 555 17th Street to Old City Hall and 6th Street
Community Center and allows City offices to expand to 555 17th Street, thereby enabling the
MBce - Board of Governors
BRTF
Page 2
reconfiguration of the 2nd floor of City Hall.
The cost of reconstructing and reconfiguring the 2nd floor is estimated at $100,000 and has
been funded in FY 2001 budget.
2) Imorove Customer Service
The BRTF identified the need to stress the importance of a "can do" attitude and to provide quality
customer service, beginning from the top down. As a direct result, the City Administration has
implemented quality service as a top priority. To this end, the City has hired a Customer Service
Training Specialist and created a Customer Service Task Force (CSTF) The CSTF has held
meetings with various department directors of the City, and conducted an Employee Perception
Survey to help identify how the City can improve customer service. The City created the" At Your
Service" awards program to recognize employees who exemplify customer service, and will also host
a meeting of department and division directors with a nationally recognized motivational speaker on
October 6, 2000. The City is now implementing customer service training for each department at all
levels.
3) Desie:n ReviewIHistoric PreservationlLand Use Boards
The recommendations of the Business Resolution Task Force have resulted in the adoption of three
(3) separate Ordinances which cover the following issues:
Ordinance No. I: Streamlines the Joint Design ReviewIHistoric Preservation Board and Historic
Preservation Board process by reducing the membership of the Historic Preservation Board from 9
to 7, combining the functions and responsibilities of the Joint Board and Historic Preservation Board
so that the Historic Preservation Board is now the sole board that reviews the design of all proposed
projects within the City's locally designated historic districts; and
Ordinance NO.2: Establishes a two (2) step process to help reduce the uncertainty and lack of
predictability for applicants by giving the Design Review and Historic Preservation Boards the power
to grant preliminary concept approval on the issues of urbanism, massing and siting with the design
details being subsequently approved by the Boards, subject to the following conditions:
a) that the Historic Preservation and Design Review Boards shall have the sole
discretion, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to decide which development projects
may utilize this two (2) step approval process; and
b) providing for a maximum of 120 days from the date of preliminary concept
approval on the issues of urbanism, massing and siting, to bring back to the Boards
the design details for final approval, with a maximum of one year to obtain final
approval for the remaining design details.
Ordinance NO.3: Expands the authority of Design and Preservation staff and reduces the number of
MBCC - Board of Governors
BRTF
Page 3
projects which must go to the Design Review and Historic Preservation Boards, Additional expanded
authority is under consideration for expanded staff level approvals, based upon design guidelines yet
to be written.
4) Fundine for Stamne
The BRTF identified 16 additional positions to achieve the stated recommendations of which six (6)
were funded in the approved FY 2000 budget and ten (10) were funded in the approved FY 2001
budget. The recruitment process still presents a challenge due to uncompetitive salary ranges and
benefits that are precluded as a result of union contracts.
5) Fundine for Investment in Tecbnolol!V
The issue of investing in technology as part of the effort to expedite the development process
concentrates on three issues: access to permits and licenses through the City web site, providing
inspectors with handheld computers, and providing all City employees with e-mail. Implementation
of access to permits and licenses over the internet is in process. Funded as part of the FY 2001
budget process were $50,800 to purchase the "Permits Net" program module, $217,441 to purchase
the "Permits Connect" module and $19,200 for internet access charges. The implementation of the
hand held computers has been funded for $180,000 in FY 2001. E-mail communication between City
employees and the public will not be available until further upgrades of the City's computer
infrastructure are completed and the e-mail server is brought in-house.
Conclusion
In summary, the BRTF was successful in achieving the City Commission's full support to fund the
BRTF recommendations as part of the FY 2000 and 2001 budget, specifically outlined as follows:
Staffing-BRTF Recommendations
Hand Held Computers for Inspectors
"Permits Net" Module
"Permits Connect" Module
Internet Access
Reconstruction 2nd Floor City Hall
TOTAL
$410,907
$180,000
$ 50,800
$217,441
$ 19,200
$100.000
$978,348
Going forward, the BRTF will concentrate on working with the City of Miami Beach to:
. implement the relocation plan and the reconfiguration of the 2nd floor of City Hall and further
streamline the building permit process,
. improvements to the licensing process,
. make salaries of City positions competitive with that offered by other municipalities so
positions that are funded can actually be filled, and
MBte - Board of Governors
BRTF
Page 4
. improvements to code enforcement process.
The BRTF members are as follows:
Citizen
Citizen
Citizen
Preservationist
Finance/Banking
Entertainment Industry
Small BusinessIRetailer
Hospitality Industry
Chamber of Commerce
Healthcare
Attorney
Real Estate
Developer
Budget Advisory Committee
JMG/CMC/rar
F:\BUlL\D1R\HAMID\BRTFMBCC.OCT
attachment
Ira Giller
Saul Gross, Chairman
Ted Burman
Marlo Courtney
Eva Barreto, Co-Chair
Eugene Rodriguez
Carlos Marin
Robert Todak
Gerald K. Schwartz
Amy Perry
Steven 1. Pardo
Ricardo Olivieri
Michael Comras
Larry Herrup
Middle Beach
South Beach
North Beach
Goldman Properties
Ocean Bank
Big Time Productions
MARS
Delano Hotel
Beloff and Schwartz
Mount Sinai Hospital
Zarco and Pardo
BOVDevelopment Corp.
Comras Co.
Ex-Officio