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221-2001 LTC . , CITY OF MIAMI BEACH Office of the City Manager Letter to Commission No. '?-'2-//200 , lQ September 28, 2001 TO: Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and Members of the City Commission Jorge M. Gonzalez \~ City Manager U WEEKLY UPDATE FROM: 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 weeks of September 17 and 24, 2001. Police Chief Appointment - Don De Lucca was appointed the City's new Police Chief effective October 1, 2001. This decision was made after extensive focus group discussions, an assessment of what the City and the Police Department require of our next Chief of Police, and feedback from the Community. An LTC with additional information about this appointment was sent on September 18. Anthony Marten and Ray Martinez have been named Assistant Police Chiefs and a number of other promotions within the Department have also occurred. An LTC announcing those promotions will be sent shortly. Collins Avenue - The installation of the water line service laterals to the hotels and along the corridor continues and should be completed by the end of next week. Once this portion of the work is completed, then the Florida Department of Transportation will continue with all construction. Representatives from the Administration continue to meet weekly with the Collins Avenue Task Force (comprised of representatives from the hotels, businesses and community on Collins Avenue) to update them on the status of the construction. Bass Museum - Representatives from the Administration briefed the Bass Museum Board on several building related issues, including the roof, the heating ventilation air conditioning system and skylight. We are working with URS on the review and design work to have these issues resolved by the end of November, 2001 to make the building temporarily usable fOf some Art Basel related events, We plan to provide the Commission with an update at the October 17 Commission meeting. . . , Sunset Island - Representatives from the Administration met with residents to continue discussing the kiosk entryway to Sunset Island I and II and reached a conceptual agreement on the physical improvements. 17th Street Site Commission Workshop - Was held on September 20 to discuss the 17th Street site. Zyscovich, Inc. presented the master plan concept and discussed the undertaking of Phase I, including the site study, utilization analysis and development of preliminary concept designs. The Administration was directed to prepare a resolution to the Mayor and Commission outlining the appropriate next steps. Candlelight Vigil - Was held on September 23, on the sand of 46th Street and the Ocean to commemorate the recent events experienced by our nation. Approximately 200 people attended. Publix Supermarket's donated candles and the City displayed 10 American flags. Mayor Kasdin welcomed everyone, State Representative Daniel Gelber and Commissioner Luis R. Garcia, Jr. spoke, the Miami Beach Senior High School presented the colors and a student sang the Star Spangled Banners. Economic Generation and Recovery Issues - Representatives from the Administration have been attending various meetings with representatives from Miami-Dade County, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association over the past two weeks to discuss issues related to the economy and tourism stemming from the September 11 terrorists attacks. We have scheduled a meeting on October 1, 2001 at 5:00 p.m. with representatives from these organizations to continue discussing these issues and formulate a plan for dealing with them. Star, Palm and Hibiscus Islands - Representatives from the Administration met with over 100 residents on September 25 to discuss the streetscape improvement program for the Islands. Consensus was reached by a majority of the residents present on how to proceed with this project. Planning Board Meeting - Was held on September 25 to discuss a number of items including a review of the nnd Street site construction of a mixed-use development consisting of approximately 300 residential units and approximately 40,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment uses. An after action report and minutes of this meeting will be forwarded to the Commission soon. Community Affairs Meeting - was held on September 25 to discuss a number of items including the creation of a Public Safety Committee which the Community Affairs Committee voted unanimously for the Administration and Commissioner Garcia to meet with other cities and counties to discuss this issue further. An after action report and minutes of this meeting will be forwarded to the Commission soon.