LTC 148-2002
CITY of MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. /Yf-- ~J
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FROM:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez \ .....f
City Manager 0 tf'/v D
Date: June 21, 2002
TO:
SUBJECT: WEEKLY UPDATE
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
June 10 and 17, 2002:
Neighborhood Leadership Academy - The Neighborhood Leadership
Academy, the civic and public information program designed for residents of
Miami Beach that provides them with the information and resources to become
more knowledgeable members of our diverse community, completed its final
session with the Police Department presenting. The participant's surveys
completed at the end of each session were extremely positive and the residents
participating keep offering very positive feedback about the sessions. The
Neighborhood Services Department will compile these results and share the
feedback provided with each Department that presented as well as with the
Mayor and Commission. The "graduation" ceremony with the presentation of
certificates and pins took place at the June 19 Commission meeting. The second
offering of the Leadership Neighborhood Academy will begin in late September
and Neighborhood Services is already working to recruit residents to participate.
Art Basel I Art Basel Miami Beach - Representatives from the Commission
and Administration met with representatives and participated in several events at
Art Basel in Switzerland and discussed issues relevant to Art Basel Miami Beach
taking place December 3 - 8, 2002. Ongoing issues discussed for the Art Basel
Miami Beach event included: Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Capital
Improvement Projects, Economic Development, Code Compliance, Collins Park I
Bass Museum, the Tourism Office and the Goodwill Ambassador teams we plan
to deploy during the event.
All-America City Award Representatives from the Commission,
Administration and several residents and business owners attended this award
competition in Kansas City from June 13-15, 2002. The Delegation presented
and discussed our application with a panel of judges. In addition, the Delegates
staffed a booth that provided information about Miami Beach to all the
conference attendees. Although the City of Miami Beach was not named as one
of the winners, the delegation learned a lot from the process involved that will be
helpful to future applications we make for this Award.
Hurricane Preparedness Plans - The Administration has been continuing to
meet to update plans for this year's hurricane season. Teams of each of the
following functional areas have been meeting to further outline and update the
City's plans: (1) Public Safety; (2) Operations; (3) Logistics; (4) Administration
and Finance; and (5) Planning and Information. A Management Team meeting
will be held on July 17 to finalize all plans and an Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) drill will be held on July 23, 2002. Once all our plans are finalized, they will
be communicated to the Mayor and Commission.
Department Budget Reviews - The City Manager and representatives from the
Office of Management and Budget continued to meet with staff from City
Departments to discuss and finalize budget plans and allocations for the 2002-
2003 fiscal-year.
Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) - Representatives
from the Administration met to finalize, via a consensus, the funding
recommendations for the proposed community development and housing
activities for the 2002-2003 fiscal year funded through the Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. CDAC had previously spent
approximately 36 evening hours in twelve public meetings to review applicant
presentations and discuss funding levels for all applications received. There were
a total of 45 applications submitted. Of these, 29 were awarded CDBG funds for
the new year, and of the 29 five were new activities that had not previously been
the recipients of CDBG funds. Funding priorities and commitments include: child
care (a total of $71,500), elderly services and funds for senior centers ( a total of
$198,750), youth programming ($71,678), and the homeless (a total of
$128,343). All proposed activities, with their respective funding levels, are
available for public review and comment, through July 21, 2002, in the draft of
the One-Year Action Plan which is available online at the City's Website
[Community Development Division page], the City Clerk's office, the three Miami
Beach branch libraries, and the office of Community Development. A total of $2,
811, 853 was distributed for eligible community development and housing
activities for the low and moderate income residents of Miami Beach.
South Pointe Public Baywalk and Access Plaza - On June 17, the Mayor cut
the ribbon of a new portion of the Public Baywalk located at the south end of the
Miami Beach Marina. Representatives from the Commission, Administration and
of the local businesses were present at the ceremony. This portion of Public
Baywalk represents one more phase of the master plan proposal to unify the east
I
and west coasts by a longitudinal pedestrian park. The approximately 300 linear
feet of improvements include a Pedestrian Public Access Plaza at the south end
and a connection to a new vehicular road at the north end. The surface
improvements include landscaping, irrigation, street-quality lighting, 25-foot wide
sidewalks with interlocking pavers. The project was completed within the
required 90-day period from the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy of the
new high-end residential Murano Tower.
Grants Management - The City received a grant in the amount of $16,096 from
the Miami-Dade County Capital Development Grant Program for the ongoing
restoration of the Byron Carlyle Theater. In addition, representatives from the
Administration met with representatives from the Florida Inland Navigation
District to discuss funding for Phase I of the shoreline restoration of the City's
seawalls.
Miami-Dade City and County Management Association - Representatives
from the Administration attended a meeting of this professional association
where George Burgess and Alex Panama from Miami-Dade County discussed
issues relating to annexation and incorporation throughout the County. Robert
Myers from the Ethics Commission also made a presentation about ongoing
ethics issues that are relevant to the County and its municipalities.
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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