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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1998-06-26 Workshop Meeting243 COUNCIL MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING - JUNE 26. 1998 The Workshop Meeting of the Bal Harbour Village Council was held on Friday, June 26, 1998, in the Council Chambers at Bal Harbour Village Hall. The meeting was called to order at 12:18 p.m. by Mayor Spiegel. Those present were: Mayor Estelle Spiegel Assistant Mayor Andrew R. Hirsch! Councilman James E. Boggess Councilman Peg E. Gorson Councilman Daniel S. Tantleff' Also present: Alfred J. Treppeda, Village Manager Jeanette Horton, Village Clerk As a quorum was determined to be present, the meeting commenced. 2. Presentation by Bradshaw. Gill & Associates of Amended Plan and Cost Estimates for Carrying Out Proposed Beach Master Plan - Bob Gill: Mr. Treppeda explained that Bob Gill (Bradshaw, Gill & Associates) and Harvey Sasso (Coastal Systems International) are here to make the presentation to follow up from the last meeting. So far, there have been two plans submitted and they have made the changes from the second meeting. Bob Gill, Landscape Architect with Bradshaw, Gill & Associates, addressed the Council. Mr. Gill stated they re -designed the walkway to reflect the comments from the last meeting. The major change was taking the pavers out of the walkway. He explained there are basically two walkways: a jogging path, which is on the seaward side of the vegetative dune, and a walkway. Both of them will now be made out of crushed shells. The walkway is 15 feet wide and is landward of the existing vegetative dune. It's a very meandering approach with a naturalistic style of design. The vegetation has given them a chance to enhance it. They still have a lot of the same elements they had before as far as elevating certain areas. They've connected areas where the jogging path and the walkway come close together and will raise those areas up. That will give better visibility from the condominiums behind the dune area and from the walkway itself. They will take the existing jogging path and shift it just seaward of the main line of the sea grape trees. Their intent is to have the existing trees trimmed to be 6-8 feet high in most places. The existing scaevola, which blocks the visibility, will be taken out and the existing jogging path will be relocated to those areas. Doing that will open up the vegetation and give "peek-a-boo" views along the walkway. All of the vegetation they're adding, as far as mature trees, are palms with clear trunks, so no visibility is hidden. The palms frame the view, provide shade, and provide a place to put benches. Councilman Tantleff left the meeting during Mr. Gill's explanation of the plans to Mr. Whitman. Council Workshop Meeting 6/26/98 1 244 Mr. Gill stated they would be using less than 5% of the existing jogging path and that percentage is located at the north end. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) stated the walking path meanders until it gets to the Sheraton and then it becomes a straight line. He questioned why it becomes a straight line. Mr. Gill stated on this plan they're showing the existing pavers at the Sheraton as remaining. It is optional if the Council wants the pavers to be taken out and a meandering walkway put there also. Councilman Boggess stated the Sheraton uses the paver area to set up tents for events when they need to. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt the Village to leave the pavers there because the Sheraton is the big income producer of resort tax for the Village. It's the same color as the sand, so it should be left alone. Mayor Spiegel agreed. David Bonneman, Tiffany Condominium, questioned what crushed shells are. Mayor Spiegel responded it's what the existing jogging path is made of. Mr. Bonneman questioned about putting pavers. Mayor Spiegel stated pavers are a lot more expensive. Mr. Bonneman questioned about access for police vehicles. Mayor Spiegel responded there will not be any vehicle access. Mr. Bonneman stated security is a very important matter. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) stated the vehicles can go on the other side of the sand. The super highway that is back there is unacceptable. Councilman Boggess stated the police have four wheel drive vehicles that can go on the sand. Pearl Lieberman, Tiffany Condominium, questioned about access for ambulances. Mayor Spiegel stated they will go to the front of the building. Ms. Lieberman questioned what would be done if something happened on the beach. Mayor Spiegel stated they can get through at 96`" Street or the other end. Councilman Gorson doesn't see where they allowed anything for lighting. Mr. Gill responded it's difficult to show it on this plan; however, it is shown on the section as a low level lighting - 42 inches high. Mayor Spiegel stated it has to be something that doesn't disturb the turtles. Mr. Gill stated it will have a 180 degree shield. Councilman Tantleff questioned if it's going to be easy to get approval from the State to relocate the jogging path. Harvey Sasso, Coastal Systems International, addressed the Council. Mr. Sasso explained they are the consultants working with Mr. Gill for the coastal permits from the State of Florida. They just received approval for a 6,000 foot long beach walk on Miami Beach and it had paver blocks and similar landscaping and lighting. That took nine months to get through the process. So, nine months would not be out of line for approval. David Bonneman, Vice President of the Tiffany Condominium Board and Chair of the Preservation Committee, addressed the Council. The Tiffany Condominium Board would like ten days notice prior to any meetings. He stated that Ms. Silverman, the President of the Tiffany Board, would like to volunteer to participate in the next workshops relating to the beach renovation. The Tiffany has been discussing a project for the area behind their building and before the Master Plan is formally presented for approval, they would like to discuss their ideas. Other condominiums that were consulted in reference to their ideas showed an interesting percentage of approval. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) questioned what their ideas are. Mr. Bonneman stated they would like to work it out together with the Council in a workshop meeting. The Tiffany's plans and the Village's plans are both in the primary stage from what he has heard. Mr. Sasso stated in Miami Beach there were 23 different hotel owners and everyone had their own criteria. So, part of the process in the Council Workshop Meeting 6/26/98 2 245 design was an extensive number of meetings to deal with all the design elements. Their intention is to bring forth a concept and show the Council the general direction. As it progresses through the different stages, there will have to be quite a few meetings. It's simply a beginning conceptual design. Councilman Tantleff stated if the Village is looking at nine months, then maybe Jerry Oren, Oren Development, should be asked how much it would cost to fix the jogging path temporarily. Because nine months of permits, and five months of working on the plans becomes a year and a half until the path is relocated. The Council directed Mr. Treppeda to get a price from Mr. Oren to repair sections of the jogging path since the money is already allocated. Mr. Treppeda stated Mr. Oren no longer has all of his equipment at the Majestic Condominium, but he'll check with Mr. Oren and other sources that can help with doing that. Sheryl Goldberg, resident of the Plaza Condominium, addressed the Council. Ms. Goldberg questioned what the pink area on 96`" Street is on the plans. Mr. Gill responded it's a paver walkway that takes pedestrians to the beginning of the crushed shell walkway. Pearl Lieberman, resident of the Tiffany Condominium, addressed the Council. Ms. Lieberman understands the Majestic Condominium is putting down pavers and questioned if that is going to be removed. Mr. Treppeda responded the Village has never been notified of the Majestic planning to put pavers down and the Village would have to be notified for them to do that. Ms. Lieberman questioned what was going to be done about the Sheraton pavers. Mayor Spiegel responded the pavers are going to remain there for now. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) stated if for some reason the project decides not to include the Sheraton pavers, the Sheraton has to remove them at their expense. Dan Nieda, Building Official, addressed the Council. Mr. Nieda recently met with developers for the Soli Mar project, and they're going to match the curb and gutter that's on the Bal Harbour side and duplicate the sodded areas and the palms. Also, they have an ambitious landscaping project similar to what was done at the Harbour House, where the beach is bermed. Therefore, he recommends speaking to their landscape architect so everything on that corner is consistent. Mayor Spiegel questioned if Soli Mar is going to have an entrance or exit from 96th Street into their building. Mr. Nieda thinks there might be an access to the garage and will check into that. Councilman Boggess questioned Mr. Treppeda what the condition is of the ramp going from 96`" Street onto the beach. Mr. Treppeda stated they fixed it temporarily, but it needs work. Councilman Boggess questioned whose responsibility that is. Robert Wheldon, Public Works Director, stated Bal Harbour is responsible for it. The ramp was put in when they did Bal Harbour's beach, before Surfside had a beach, so consequently, its Bal Harbour's. Bal Harbour needed to have it because there had to be a minimum of two access areas to get onto the beach. It is now beyond repair and really needs to be redone. Councilman Boggess thinks it needs to be part of this project. Mr. Sasso stated if the developers in Surfside are moving forward and they're already proceeding with designs, he thinks it might be beneficial for the Village to present a letter to Surfside noting that Bal Harbour is anticipating some future improvements to 96`h Street and that it is going to be an improved gateway to the beach. A copy of Bal Harbour's plans Council Workshop Meeting 6/26/98 3 246 should be sent to them and they should be asked, as part of their work, to make sure that they're also looking at what Bal Harbour is doing. That would make sure that everyone is working towards a consistent and unified approach. Mr. Treppeda stated that Dan Nieda is the Building Official for both Bal Harbour and Surfside and that can be Bal Harbour's link with Surfside. Mr. Sasso stated as part of the overall implementation it is normal that they would do a survey. In Miami Beach, they did an aerial photograph of the whole site. Stanley Whitman, Bal Harbour Shops, addressed the Council. Mr. Whitman suggested contacting the Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) for funding for 96th Street. Mayor Spiegel stated the Village will work on that. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) questioned the citizens in attendance if there were elements that came to mind for a beach scape that hasn't been talked about. Mr. Bonneman responded it should be elegant and enhance the property when you look out. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) stated that is the intent. Councilman Boggess reminded the citizens that anything done on the beach will come out of resort tax revenues. It's being done for everyone in Bal Harbour and the tourists that come here. Ms. Goldberg questioned when this will go out for bid. Mayor Spiegel stated when a plan is finally decided on. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) questioned what the next step is. Mr. Sasso responded that they are at the end of the scope of services that they had initially committed to, in terms of coming forth with a conceptual design and providing a general outline of what their objectives were. The next step is for the Council to make a decision as to whether they want to move forward and have the same team move forward, or if another team should be considered. After deciding on the team, they would then have to identify the scope of services. The scope of services would then be initiated and the permitting should be started pretty quickly. Once the project is underway, meetings should be held with all of the individual property owners. Assistant Mayor Hirschl questioned what they would need to file the permit tomorrow. Mr. Sasso stated they would need some plans that are not much further along than the ones they have, an application would need to be completed and submitted along with a fee, and the Village would need to look at issues of land ownership. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) questioned based on what they have now, if there is enough to start that process if the Council would decide to do that. Mr. Sasso believes a permit application could be submitted within the next three weeks. Mr. Gill may need to do a few more drawings just to clarify some cross sections in more detail. Then, they would have to communicate with Mr. Treppeda to make sure they have all the paperwork together. Councilman Boggess questioned Mr. Gill how long the construction period would be. Mr. Gill responded four to six months. Mr. Sasso stated the whole project from beginning to end would take about a year and a half. Mr. Treppeda stated at this point Mr. Gill and Mr. Sasso have completed the scope that the Village hired them to do, which was the design phase. There are some State Statutes, the Competitive Negotiations Act, that the Village has to follow, as far as going to the next step, since this is going to be a high price item. Council Workshop Meeting 6/26/98 4 24'7 Councilman Boggess is very pleased with the work that Mr. Gill and Mr. Sasso have done. Mr. Whitman questioned why there are two paths instead of just one. Mr. Gill reviewed the plans and explained the jogging path is strictly for jogging. The new walkway is simply a way of beautifying everything landward of the existing dune and provides a fifteen foot wide walking path. It is not intended for vehicles or construction traffic; however, it gives the Village the ability for emergency vehicle access if needed. Mr. Gill feels the Village might be forced to have access for emergency vehicles by the State. Mr. Treppeda responded the most important thing to think about is the funding for this project. Resort tax funds will pay for it and there will be some balance in that fund, but that was going to be used for the street lights and bus furniture. The only other monies are in the beach renourishment fund, which is $1.4 million that had been set aside for beach renourishment. However, Bal Harbour did just get the beach renourished at no charge, so that money is available. Mr. Treppeda stated a motion can be made at the July Council meeting to proceed, or the Council can make a motion now, which wouldn't be official, but it would direct him on how to proceed. A motion was offered by Assistant Mayor Hirschl and seconded by Councilman Gorson to start the permit process now. The motion carried with the vote as follows. Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor Hirschl aye• Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Gorson aye: Councilman Tantleff absent. Mr. Treppeda stated he will find out what the next step is. 3. Adjourn: There being no further business to come before the Council, a motion was offered by Councilman Boggess and seconded by Assistant Mayor Hirschl to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously(4-0). with Councilman Tantleff absent and the meeting adjourned at 12:59 p.m. Ma or stelle Spie el Attest: „�/� anette Horton, C/AAE Village Clerk /elw Council Workshop Meeting 6/26/98 5