Loading...
PR 10-25-23 Minutes PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 25, 2023, MEETING VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS/TELEPHONIC 1 Members in Attendance: Sean Smith, David Berger, Jonathan Fryd, Janie Hayes, Joseph Hernandez, Carolina Jones, David Nguah, Joshua Lifshultz, Joelle Gringarten, Shannon Koonin and Donald Goldberg Members not Present: N/A City Staff: Vianca Peron-Sellan (Admin Services Manager, Parks & Recreation), (Elizabeth Estevez (Parks & Recreation Project Coordinator), Pilar Caurin (Parks Projects Supervisor, Parks & Recreation), Jose del Risco (Assistant Director, Parks & Recreation) and David Gomez (Division Director CIP) Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. • Approval of the October 2, 2023 Minutes o The October 2, 2023 minutes were approved. Motion made by: Jonathan Fryd Motion seconded by: Shannon Koonin Motion passes: unanimously • Parks and Recreation Staff Introduction o Administrative Services Manager, Vianca Peron-Sellan, introduced herself and spoke about her duties. • Members with Term ending on 12/31/2023 and Members with Appointer Leaving Office o Discussion ensued on board member terms. Carolina Jones is the only member who is term limited, and cannot be reappointed. o Some board members have terms ending on December 31, 2023. If they want to renew their terms, they were advised to seek reappointment by reaching out to the commissioner that appointed them. Members whose terms are ending are David Berger, Jonathan Fryd, and Sean Smith. o Board members who were appointed by commissioners who are leaving their seats were advised to reach out to newly elected commissioners and express interest in to keeping their seat, even though their terms are not ending. This applies to the following board members: David Nguah, Joelle Gringarten, and Joseph Hernandez. Should newly elected commissioners appoint someone new, instead of reappointing a current member, the current member would need to cede their seat. o Carolina Jones advised that she was the G.O. Bond representative from the parks board, and someone will need to replace her. Discussion ensued on this topic. PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 25, 2023, MEETING VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS/TELEPHONIC 2 • City Attorney’s Office Notification: Advisory Boards Quorum Must be In-Person/Physically Present o The Board discussed the length of meetings and considering whether the meetings should start at 6 p.m. o The Miami Beach Golf Club was discussed as being a central location for meetings moving forward, but the location was not determined at the time. o Vianca Peron-Sellan advised that if a board member failed to attend 33% of meetings in a calendar year, the board member would be removed. o Sean Smith requested inviting a representative from the City Attorney’s Office to clarify rules for attendance. • Selection of Remaining Meeting Dates o Members discussed a meeting date for November and December. It was determined that it would not be necessary to have a November meeting. o December meeting was scheduled for December 12th at 5:30 p.m. The location was not confirmed at the time of this meeting. • GO Bond Project Updates (Parks Capital Team) o Elizabeth Estevez, Parks Capital Projects Coordinator with the Parks and Recreation Department, provided updates on current projects. o The Scott Rakow Youth Center ice rink floors project is on hold. o The Miami Beach Soundscape storage project is currently in permitting, and staff hopes to start construction soon. o The Marjory Stoneman Douglas lighting project is on hold, pending the outcome of another project. o The 82nd Street Skatepark project is on hold because the department is waiting for it to be funded. o The North Shore Playground project is moving forward; it is currently in procurement, and a vendor has been selected. • Parks Related projects in the Arts and Culture GO Bond - including Artistic Playgrounds (Parks Capital Team) o Elizabeth Estevez continued providing updates on park projects. o As for all artistic playgrounds planned out under the G.O. Bond Arts and Culture, the department has 6 slated projects: North Shore Park Playground, South Pointe Park Playground, La Gorce Park Playground, Fisher Park Playground, Palm Island Park Playground, and Tatum Park Playground. PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 25, 2023, MEETING VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS/TELEPHONIC 3 o In addition to moving forward with the North Shore Park Playground project, the department is going to work on tackling the South Pointe Park Playground and La Gorce Playground projects first. o Discussion ensued on projects in the Arts and Culture G.O. Bond. o Jose del Risco, Assistant Director for the Parks Division, spoke about the desire to initially shift the location of the North Shore Park playground, but indicated the area which was considered was not feasible because that area would be used for development of the 72nd street project. He continued to say the department would try to maximize playground space, wherever possible. For example, the department will try to merge the playground space at South Point Park with the splash pad space. o Members asked whether lighting would be added to playground area in Flamingo Park and whether a tree would be replanted at Stillwater Park. o Discussion ensued on the North Shore Park G.O. Bond project. Sean Smith asked Carolina Jones, as the board’s G.O. Bond Advisory Board liaison, whether the group could make a motion to move the project up in the priority list. o Carolina Jones noted that when the park first came up, it was slated to go from 2 fields to 4 fields. Further analysis determined that wasn’t an option because that would mean there would be no space for trees or the parking lot. She expressed concern that the project was approved on a referendum vote that was originally written up for 4 fields, and she wants to make sure the funding instead goes to improving the two fields that are already there. She said the board should have a conversation about this, and there should be a separate conversation with the G.O. Bond program director, Maria, to clarify the scope. o David Gomez said the project’s deliverables were defined by the referendum and typically cannot be changed. Carolina Jones said this project had a footnote and that may be the “out” they need. Discussion ensued on the scope of this project. o Jose del Risco said that this isn’t the only project with these concerns, and city administration has been having conversations about this. Staff was directed to follow through with the spirit and intent of the bond, but the City Attorney’s Office has indicated there is some flexibility, particularly as long as projects are not “mixing buckets”. For example, Public Safety bonds is one bucket, Infrastructure bonds is another bucket, and Parks and Beaches bonds is another bucket. Jose del Risco indicated that we can open the conversation and have some dialogue particularly as it pertains to the scope of the fields. o Sean Smith requested to explore this topic and revisit this at an upcoming meeting. o The Board congratulated David Nguah on a successful Miami Beach Pull-up Jam event. PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 25, 2023, MEETING VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS/TELEPHONIC 4 • Update and discussion on the new park breaking ground at Ocean Terrace (CIP) o David Gomez, Division Director for the Office of Capital Improvement Projects, reminded the board that the ribbon cutting for the opening of North Beach Oceanside Park would take place the following day at 10 a.m. o Sean Smith followed up and reminded the board that the groundbreaking event for the new park at Ocean Terrace would take place after that North Beach Oceanside Park ribbon cutting, at 11:15 a.m. o David Gomez presented renderings for the Ocean Terrace Park and Streetscape project, which would entail the pedestrianization of Ocean Terrace between 73rd and 75th streets. It would not be the full pedestrianization because the city still needs to provide driveway access on 73rd street. For the time being, there will be no fencing between 74th and 75th street until after elections, at which time construction will commence at full speed. o There is a water feature planned for what is currently the intersection of 74th street and Ocean Terrace. The landscape architect for this project is Raymond Jungles, and they follow native landscaping design principles. The construction duration is expected to last 12 months, and beach walk access is expected to remain open throughout construction. o Discussion ensued on the logistics for the Ocean Terrace Park and Streetscape project, including the loss of parking caused by it. o David Gomez confirmed that the developer is paying for the Ocean Terrace Park and Streetscape project at no cost to the city, but it is remaining a public easement and public access will remain. o Discussion ensued on the beach walk path, from 1st street to 88th street. o David Gomez said the developer could not pull a permit for their project until the Ocean Terrace Project started, to guarantee the Ocean Terrace Park and Streetscape project would get done. o Sean Smith switched topics and asked about construction debris at the playground located at Canopy Park, since the developer for that project is in the midst of construction now. Jose del Risco indicated there were no issues. • Quick Discussion on Parks Board Motion on June 27, 2023 regarding Golf Course Repurposing o Sean Smith reminded the board that this item was about the motion the board passed requesting that the city commission not repurpose the golf course for any additional uses. o Vianca Peron-Sellan informed the board that this commission item was sponsored by Commissioner Ricky Arriola, and that if a new commissioner does not sponsor this item, the item will not move forward. She further noted that the commission item has PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 25, 2023, MEETING VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS/TELEPHONIC 5 not been reached at any commission meeting, so the item has continued to rollover at every meeting and has not been heard yet. o Discussion ensued on how to ensure this item remains on the agenda and gets picked up by another elected official. o Vianca said the board could revisit the conversation once the December agenda is printed. She will let the board know whether the motion was picked up by a commissioner at the December 12th meeting. • Public Input / Open Discussion o Sean Smith reminded the board that the Mark G. Samuelian Scholastic Chess Tournament would be taking place on November 5th at Scott Rakow Youth Center and shared that Shannon Koonin’s son would be partaking in the tournament. Attachments Submitted with Agenda: o Upcoming City Commission Meetings & Committee/Board Meeting Parks and Recreation Items o Parks and Recreation Updates and Upcoming Events o Parks and Recreation Capital Project Updates Meeting Adjourned at 7:04 p.m. UPCOMING 2023 MEETING DATES December 12, 2023