160-2001 LTC
.
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City /ana~er
Letter to Commission No. (tJ U - CkpW I
lQ
July 13,2001
TO:
Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and
Members of the City Commission
SUBJECT:
Jorge M. Gonzalez .d d~
City Manager JVV U
WEEKLY UPDAT
FROM:
The purpose of this LTC is to provide tIie Mayor and Commission with an update
describing some of the areas the Administration focused on during the week of Monday,
July 9th - Friday, July 13th.
Budget Briefings - On July 10th and 12th, the Finance Department and Office of
Management and Budget held budget briefings to provide the Commission with
expenditure overviews for all City Departments and discuss budget related issues. An
LTC with copies of the budget presentations made at these briefings was sent to the
Mayor and Commission on July 13th.
Collins Avenue - The contractor has continued to accelerate construction activity. Work
on the waterline began this week with the "leak sealing" team working on the north end
of the waterline. Weare still expecting to be paving from Lincoln Road to 18th Street
beginning late next week. Representatives from the Administration plan to meet with
hoteliers and area businesses on July 16th to identify and discuss access routes for
pedestrians and vehicles.
Upcoming Holiday / Event Weekends - The Administration has continued to work to
assure that planning and resources are appropriately allocated for all upcoming holiday
weekends as well as events associated with the Source Hip Hop Music Awards. The
Administration is finalizing our Major Events Plan and is monitoring hotel occupancy;
monitoring special and nightclub events; assessing the impact of City permitted special
events; developing and maintaining ongoing community contact, including with
nightclub and hotel owners; researching internet information and websites; limiting off-
duty police available for those weekends to maximize the number of officers available;
developing appropriate transportation plans, and the initial establishment of the City's
Goodwill Ambassadors Program (a memorandum describing this initiative was sent on
Ju\lll th). Representatives from the Administration attended a press conference on July
12 at Miami-Dade County held by County Mayor Alex Penelas, which addressed the
'"
community-based youth programs the foundation affiliated with the Source Magazine
will be sponsoring this summer in Miami-Dade County. In a subsequent meeting with
Mayor Penelas and the County's Director of Public Safety, Mayor Kasdin and
representatives of the Administration discussed several ways the County could assist the
City of Miami Beach during the upcoming Source Awards weekend, Labor Day weekend
and future holiday weekends. The Administration plans to continue meeting with
representatives from the County to work out the details.
Microsoft Convention - The Microsoft Global Briefing began Saturday evening, July 7th
with a "welcome" reception and has continued with a variety of activities throughout this
week. Conference attendance peaked to about 12,000 this week and is expected to taper
down to about 2,500 by the end of the conference on July 17th. Weekly meetings of
Department representatives have been held and will continue through the end of the
conference. The purpose of these meetings is to address specific items related to
conference activities and events as well as to ensure that the overall City looks its best
and functions properly during the conference.
Finance and Citywide Project Committee - Meeting was held on July 11th and the
following agenda items were discussed: Equipment lease and loan program; Possible
financial relief to the property owners and tenants affected by construction on Collins
A venue; Historic tax credit for qualifying renovations to single family residential
properties; Proposed FY 2001-2002 funding for Miami Beach Garden Conservancy
Management of the Miami Beach Botanical Garden; and facility user fees for Parks.
Minutes of this meeting will be sent early next week.
Orchard Park - Representatives from the Administration met with residents regarding
the 42nd Street Streetscape project and discussed options relating to the one-way versus
the two-way streetscape. The group came to consensus that the City should proceed with
the current westbound one-way configuration.
Art Basel - Representatives from the Administration met to discuss preparations for Art
Basel, Miami Beach taking place from December 13th - 16th, 2001. Among the issues
discussed were the following: Sculpture Garden at Collins Park; the Collins Avenue
Reconstruction Project; the Electrowave; the Convention Center booking policy; the
Cultural Arts Council; and Media Relations for this event.
Capital Improvement Program Commission Workshop - As a reminder, this
workshop will be held on Monday, July 23'd, beginning at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the
funding levels for neighborhood and parks projects and resident's expectations of these
projects.
Should you desire any additional information about any of these items, please feel free to
contact me.
JMG:RI
F:/cmgr/$all/ltc.O l/weekupd.july9