HomeMy Public PortalAbout1998-11-17 Regular Meeting46
COUNCIL MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - NOVEMBER 17. 1998
The Regular Meeting of the Bal Harbour Village Council was held on Tuesday, November
17, 1998, in the Council Chambers at Bal Harbour Village Hall. The meeting was called
to order at 3:00 p.m. by Mayor Spiegel. Those present were:
Also present:
Mayor Estelle Spiegel
Assistant Mayor Andrew R. Hirschl
Councilman James Boggess
Councilman Peg E. Gorson
Councilman Daniel Tantleff
Alfred J. Treppeda, Village Manager
Jeanette Horton, Village Clerk
Richard J. Weiss, Village Attorney
As a quorum was determined to be present, the meeting commenced.
2. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman
Tantleff.
3. Approval of Minutes: A motion was offered by Councilman Boggess and
seconded kv Councilman Tantle,(f to approve the minutes of the October 20. 1998. Regular
Council meeting as submitted. The motion carried unanimously (5-0), and the minutes were
approved as submitted.
4. Presentations - Officer of the Month: Sgt. Charles Merrill:
Chief Larry Freeman announced that the Officer of the Month for October 1998 is Sergeant
Charles Merrill for his fast response and quick action using the Automatic External
Difibrillator (AED) on a drowning victim on October 24, 1998. Chief Freeman presented
Sergeant Merrill with the October Officer of the Month plaque. Mayor Spiegel presented
Sergeant Merrill with a check on behalf of the Council and residents of Bal Harbour.
S. Ordinances Second Reading/Public Hearing: None
6. Ordinances First Reading: None
7. Resolutions: The resolution was read, by title, by the Village Clerk,
opposing new/additional assessments/fees/taxes for funding of public beach maintenance
and erosion control. Mr. Treppeda explained this was given to the Village by the Town of
Surfside. There's a task force that's been meeting to try to come up with a dedicated
funding source for all future beach renourishments and one of the mechanisms involves
beach coastal municipalities being assessed a certain amount of funds that they would
have to pay on their own. Thus far, the Village hasn't had to pay anything for beach
Regular Council Meeting 11/17/98 1
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renourishment. The money has always come from the Federal, State, and County
governments. Mr. Treppeda contacted other communities and reported Key Biscayne
hasn't decided yet and Miami Beach and Surfside are in favor of this resolution. A motion
was offered by Councilman Boegess and seconded byAssistant Mayor Hirschl to approve this
resolution. The motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye- Assistant Mayor
Hirsch! aye: Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Corson aye: Councilman Tantleff aye. Thus
becoming:
RESOLUTION NO. 588
RESOLUTION OF BAL HARBOUR VILLAGE, FLORIDA, IN OPPOSITION OF NEW
AND ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENTS, FEES AND/OR TAXES UPON MUNICIPALITIES
FOR FUNDING OF PUBLIC BEACH MAINTENANCE AND EROSION CONTROL
OPERATIONS.
8. Discussion of Bids for Bus Services - Councilman Tantleff:
Mr. Treppeda stated Surfside will continue their bus service for 90 days. Councilman
Tantleff questioned the residents at the meeting if Surfside's service is working for them.
It was the consensus of the attending Harbour House residents that the service was
working very well. However, the bus service now is just one trip per day and the residents
requested a second trip. Before the Village looks into bids, Councilman Tantleff would like
to continue with Surfside if that's acceptable. Mr. Treppeda stated the Village isn't being
charged by Surfside, a waiver of liability was signed. He would need to contact Surfside
to see how long they would be willing to do the bus service. Councilman Tantleff stated
the survey shows the majority of people interested in the bus service are at the Harbour
House. Mr. Tantleff will have a committee meeting at the Harbour House to see what
schedule, etc. the residents want. Mr. Treppeda reported the results of the survey of
residents interested in bus service are as follows: Sea View Hotel (1-2 people), Harbour
House (5 people), Carlton Terrace (5-8 people), Tiffany (4 people), Plaza (no response),
Kenilworth (1 person), Kenilworth House (no response), BalMoral (no response), Security
District (no response). Charles Brown, resident - 268 Ba/ Bay Drive, reported the
Security District would not be interested in a bus service and is very much against it. Mr.
Treppeda will contact Surfside to see how long they will continue the bus service for and
this issue will be discussed at the next Council meeting. Mayor Spiegel requested Mr.
Treppeda contact Councilman Tantleff after he speaks with Surfside.
9. Reports and Recommendations:
A. MAYOR AND COUNCIL:
Mayor Spiegel commended Mrs. Horton, Chief Freeman, Lt. Smith, and Lt. Carlton during
Tropical Storm Mitch, since Mr. Treppeda was on vacation.
Miami Dade League of Cities Report - Councilman Tantleff:
Councilman Tantleff stated the new President, John Cavalier Jr., of Miami Springs, wanted
to inform the Council that if they had any issues or concerns that the Miami -Dade League
of Cities can handle, they can be discussed at next month's Miami Dade League meeting.
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The Council will advise Mr. Treppeda of any issues.
B. VILLAGE ATTORNEY:
Review of Pension Plan: Mr. Weiss reported about a year ago he
received authorization to have Steve Cypen look at the Village's pension plan to make sure
it was up to date, etc., however, Mr. Cypen has a conflict. The money has already been
allocated, so Mr. Weiss would like permission to have Bob Sugarman's firm review the
pension plan. It was the consensus of the Council to have Bob Sugarman's firm
review the pension plan.
C. VILLAGE MANAGER:
Approval of Proposal for Coastal Engineering for Jogging
Path Repairs/Relocation - Phase I of the Beach Master Plan: Mr. Treppeda
explained the proposal is for repairs to the jogging path, relocation of some of the
segments, and an addition of the missing segment between the BalMoral and the Majestic
Condominium. Harvey Sasso, Coastal Systems International, explained it's a joint
proposal between Coastal Systems International (coastal engineering) and Bradshaw, Gill
& Associates (landscape architecture). The coastal engineering involves processing
permits with the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and
handling some of the civil engineering aspects relating to the surveying. Mr. Sasso
explained Bob Gill's firm did the landscape architecture and the overall conceptual site
plan. The purpose of the proposal is to implement the project and they have proposed two
alternatives. One is to just secure the permits and implement the jogging path relocation.
The second one is to implement the entire project. The question is how much engineering
and landscape architecture the Councils wants to do.
Mr. Sasso explained and reviewed the proposal. Part I is predominately a surveying aerial
photography element which involves collecting basic data. That information will be used
to create a base map, which they will use to make the entire design. The DEP regulations
require a survey that is no more than 6 months old. The survey will be submitted to DEP
for part of the permit application and the base map will become the basis upon which all
of the engineering and landscape architecture is then performed.
Mr. Sasso stated Part II, Design Development, relates to the landscape architecture. Bob
Gill, Bradshaw, Gill & Associates, stated at the last meeting the thought was to not just
patch, but to relocate the entire jogging path and push it further landward against the
existing vegetation and re -vegetate the whole strip. The plans will take the conceptual
design and put in on auto CAD and prepare preliminary landscape plans and grading plans
to be submitted for approval. Mr. Sasso explained this phase would also involve a certain
number of meetings and workshops for public input. Mayor Spiegel stated a representative
from each location should meet with them. Mr. Gill explained at the end of Part II, they
would hope to achieve a design that can be phased and is acceptable to all the property
owners. Councilman Boggess stated they need to include a representative from the
Security District as well as the west side of Collins Avenue at the meetings. Mr. Sasso
stated at that point, they should be ready for discussion with the State.
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Mr. Sasso explained Part III is all of the County and State permit processing. He
anticipates that Mr. Gill will also come to Tallahassee to attend some of the permit area
pre -application meetings so he can hear the issues relating to the objections from the
State. They'll secure the permits, work with Bal Harbour for local permits, work with Dade
County to present this, and get a letter of no objection from Dade County enabling the
Village to put a structure on the beach. Mr. Sasso is unsure if the Village already has all
of the approvals or easements for utilizing the beach, which is seaward of the erosion
control line, and thus, might be on State owned land. If there's any lighting, they'll need
to get approval for issues relating to marine turtles and the impact the lighting may have
on them. The Final Order is the permit, which enables two years to initiate the project. If
the project is not started within two years, an extension can be applied for with an almost
automatic one year extension. The Final Order is based on design development level
drawings. The Notice to Proceed is when final working drawings are presented. At the end
of Phase II, they'll have sufficient information to include with the permit application to
process and secure a permit. To go to construction, full working drawings would have to
be presented, which would be stamped and approved. A letter would then be issued
allowing construction to begin.
Mr. Sasso explained if the Village did not want to do the pedestrian phase of the project
right away, they could delay some of the architecture and engineering associated with that
and just take the architect and engineer through the design development for the entire
project and then secure the permit. Then, they could finalize the plans for just the jogging
path.
Councilman Boggess stated since there is a two to three year window to actually do the
construction, and the restrictions of the DEP and others are not getting any lighter and
might become more restrictive if the Village waits, and if the Village can afford it, he thinks
the Village should go ahead and have all of the planning done now and get it approved and
go through the other stages as it's convenient for the Village. Assistant Mayor Hirsch)
doesn't think the Council has ever finalized the plan. The Village doesn't know what it's
going to cost and he questioned how far in advance the permitting can be done before the
plan. Also, he stated the numbers given on the table for the jogging path and/or pedestrian
walkway have to be looked at. They need to sit down with the Council, Mr. Treppeda, the
Building Official, and Mr. Wheldon to review the proposal more thoroughly. Assistant
Mayor Hirsch) stated the Village doesn't have the money for the project and has to find a
source for this to happen. Councilman Boggess would feel safer if everything was planned
and permitted. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) agreed the whole thing should be permitted when
the Council is ready to go and shouldn't piece meal it. Mr. Sasso stated the ideal scenario
is to go to table two and do Part I, do Part II (Design Development) for the entire project,
and initiate a,b,c,and d of Part III, which is on an hourly basis. The overall objective would
be to get to the end of Part III (d) on table 2. At that point, they could sit down and re-
evaluate and decide how much further of the design work the Village wants to get into.
Councilman Tantleff doesn't understand how Part II, Design Development, can be
proceeded with if the Council hasn't decided what it wants.
Mr. Gill discussed the plan for two individual paths: the jogging path and a pedestrian
walkway. He explained the plan was to maintain the access road. Councilman Boggess
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feels no road is needed there. Mr. Gill stated it's to provide emergency access. Mr. Sasso
believes it's intended to be a pedestrian walkway and if vehicles need to get back there
they can. It's up to the Village to decide on the extent of allowable access. Councilman
Boggess suggested doing one road or jogging path that's wide enough to allow all sorts of
activities. Mr. Sasso stated Part II is intended to go through the meetings, coordination,
and design development. A special meeting was scheduled to discuss this issue on
Monday, November 23, 1998, at 12:00 noon.
FPL Issues - Caesar Seijas: Mr. Treppeda explained Caesar
Seijas, Energy Alternatives Inc., provided a preliminary status report on the outages
affecting the Village and actions taken by FPL to resolve the situation. Mr. Seijas thinks
FPL has reacted to everything that has come out. The biggest concern at the last meeting
was if the FPL budget would be approved to do the changes that were needed for Bal
Harbour's system and Rosa LaRue reported to him that FPL has committed to do the
changes. The report discusses the items that FPL has started to do. Mr. Seijas has met
with the supervisor for the area that's doing the work and the engineer that's doing the
design. They're trying to get some additional equipment so they can improve the system
immediately. The first thing that will be done are a couple of segments of the underground
that are overloaded by pulling in some new cables, new feeders and eliminating the
connection to the bulk at the Shops. A booklet is being prepared for the area so all the
FPL crews coming to Bal Harbour will have the booklet. They're also using technology to
check the underground cable, install equipment, and find out if there are any weak spots
along the cable. If there are many weak spots, they will have to replace the cable. If
there's just one, they'll take some other action. That's going to happen in the next three
weeks or so. The engineer is working on the design. Construction is expected to not start
until the beginning of the year, but there will be some improvements taking place already.
Mr. Seijas reported there was a feeder outage in the Village this weekend and the crews
knew everything about the problem, the supervisors were informed, etc.
Rosa LaRue, Bel Harbour's Account Representative at FPL, reported the power went
out for 40 minutes. Mr. Treppeda stated it involved the Shops, the Church, Village Hall,
and some houses in the Security District. Assistant Mayor Hirschl reported Bal Bay Drive
was out. Assistant Mayor Hirschl questioned how Mr. Seijas knows the system needs to
be replaced and FPL doesn't know that yet. Mr. Seijas stated the history of the outages
shows cable failures, which means the underground cable is failing. FPL will not just come
out and replace the cable, they'll check it first. There are some sections that they're going
to start replacing and other sections will be checked. He explained there's a circuit serving
certain homes and they're going to split that circuit in half. put in new cable, and install a
new switch cabinet instead of being served off the vault in the Shops. That will improve
the system and take a load off. If within that system there's bad cable, they'll also engineer
that. It has to be followed up to ensure everything that's being proposed is done. Assistant
Mayor Hirschl questioned about going to the Public Service Commission. Mr. Seijas thinks
the Village is getting a very good response from FPL and it has to be followed up to see
what happens. FPL has a budget meeting tomorrow. Ms. LaRue has told him that there's
no constraint on the amount of money that they're going to use on this and they're
committed to fix the problem. He thinks going to the Public Service Commission at this
point is going to distract them from doing their job to a certain extent and the point has
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been made. He has spoken to Manny Rodriguez, Ms. LaRue's Superior, and he's aware
of the situation and he understands the political ramification of not doing anything.
Ms. LaRue stated FPL is diligently doing all they can to get this problem resolved. It's
going to take awhile to engineer, get the proper easements that they need from all the
individual home owners, and probably some time in the beginning of next year is when
they'll finally be in Bal Harbour breaking ground and installing all of the facilities that need
to be installed. The budget has been okayed. They know the situation is a problem and
they need to do whatever it takes to restore it and that's what they're doing. Stanley
Whitman, Bal Harbour Shops, asked if they're correcting "dirty power' and "power spikes"
because the Shops has 22 elevators and escalators and it does $1 million worth of
business every day. If power is cut to the elevators/escalators, there's a substantial loss
in business. Ms. LaRue will contact Mr. Whitman and set up a meeting with the engineers
for the Bal Harbour Shops and some of FPL's power quality specialists to see what the
problem is.
Assistant Mayor Hirschl wants Mr. Seijas to be as vigilant as possible because he has to
answer to the residents every day on this topic. Ms. LaRue stated as soon as they develop
an engineering plan on where the facilities and equipment will be installed they need to set
up a meeting with each individual homeowner that will be affected by this because they will
need private easements from them. Charles Brown, resident - 268 Bal Bay Drive,
attended the last Civic Association meeting and reported the residents are very anxious
to get involved and get this done as quickly as possible.
Mr. Treppeda explained the Council needs to consider the proposal from Mr. Seijas to
continue his work, which is two hours per week for the next 15 weeks to coordinate with
FPL, for $2,700.00. A motion was offered by Assistant Mayor Hirsch! and seconded by
Councilman Tantleff to approve 52.700.00 for Caesar Seijas. The motion carried with the vote
as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor Hirschl aye: Councilman Boggess aye•
Councilman Corson ye: Councilman Tantleff !Rye.
Purchase of Telephone Recorder for Police Department
(Forfeiture Funds/No Cost to Taxpayers): Mr. Treppeda explained Chief Freeman
is making a request to spend forfeiture funds, with no cost to taxpayers, for a telephone
and radio recording system for the police department at the new dispatch area. The
current one is not adequate, is not Year 2000 compliant and would cost a lot to get into
working order again. A motion was offered by Councilman Boggess and seconded by Assistant
Mayor Hirsch! to approve $19.698.08 in forfeiture funds for a telephone recorder for the police
department. The motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor
Hirsch! ave: Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Gorson aye: Councilman Tantl ff aye.
Year 2000 Upgrades for Accounting Software: Mr. Treppeda
explained he would like to get other prices for comparison, but only one company makes
the software and can do the upgrade. Mrs. Horton reported the accounting package was
purchased in 1988. Mr. Treppeda reported it's extremely expensive to get new software.
A motion was offered by Assistant Mayor Hirsch! and seconded by Councilman Boggess to
Regular Council Meeting 11/17/98 6
52
approve $17.541.00for the accountitrg software Year 2000 Pentamation upgrade. The motion
carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel ye: Assistant Mayor Hirsch! aye: Councilman
Boggess 'ye: Councilman Gorson aye: Councilman Tantle f aye.
Year 2000 Upgrade for Police Department Software
Package: Mr. Treppeda explained CF2000 is what the police department uses for all the
police cases, tickets, etc. and their upgrade is $9,970.00. The Village will be reimbursed
75% from a grant for it. A motion was offered by Councilman Boggess and seconded by
Assistant Mayor Hirschl to approve $9.970,00for the police department CrimeFile Year 2000
upgrade. The motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor
Hirschl aye: Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Corson aye: Councilman Tantlef aye.
Approval of Gutters for Village Hall: Mr. Treppeda explained
Village Hall needs gutters before the landscaping can be put in and he is asking for
approval of up to $7,500.00. The funds are budgeted for this item. A motion was offered
by Councilman Boggess and seconded by Councilman Tantlef to approve up to $7.500.00 for
gutters for Village Hall. The motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye•
Assistant Mayor Hirschl aye: Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Gorson aye; Councilman
Tantlefaye.
Approval of Window Coverings for Village Hall: Mr. Treppeda
explained there are funds budgeted for window coverings for Village Hall and he would like
approval for up to the amount that was budgeted. Roberto Beltran, Project Manager -
Middlebrooks & Associates, stated they will come back to the Council once the actual
covering is selected. A motion was offered by Councilman Boggess and seconded by
Councilman Tantleff to approve p to the budgeted amount for window coverings for Village
Hall. The motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor Hirschl
aye: Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Gorson aye: Councilman Tantlef aye.
Recommendations of Resort Tax Committee: Mr. Treppeda
explained the following item was approved at the Resort Tax Committee meeting this
morning:
1) SOUTH FLORIDA BUSINESS JOURNAL LUNCH - JODI RODGERS ($71.94)
A motion was offered by Councilman Tantl& and seconded by Councilman Corson to approve
$71.94 for the item approved by the Resort Tax Committee. The motion carried with the vote as
follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor Hirschl aye: Councilman Boggess aye • Councilman
Gorson aye: Councilman Tantlefaye.
1 O. Other Business:
Assistant Mayor Hirschl updated the Council that Dan Nieda, Village Building Official, and
Mike Miller, Village Engineer - Craig A. Smith & Associates, and he met with the Civic
Association twice and Mr. Nieda went to the Architectural Review Board regarding the
Regular Council Meeting 11/17/98 7
53
updating of the ordinances and some zoning codes for predominantly district five. As soon
as those are fine tuned, perhaps next month, they will come to the Council for first reading.
Councilman Boggess stated in September the Council unanimously disapproved the bus
shelter designs and commercially produced designs were then provided by Mr. O'Leary
and nothing more is being done. The Village also paid for a design for the entrance to the
Village which was not at all suitable. He questioned what could be done and suggested
finding someone else to design a proper entrance. Councilman Boggess is not at all
pleased with the work Bill O'Leary is performing. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) would like to see
Taft Bradshaw come in and do it. Councilman Boggess thinks Taft Bradshaw would be the
logical one to do it. Mayor Spiegel asked Mr. Treppeda to contact Taft Bradshaw to get
a proposal for him to do the bus shelters, signs, etc. Stan Whitman, Bal Harbour Shops,
suggests hiring Taft Bradshaw and nobody else from his firm. Mr. Whitman discussed the
land area between the north side of Founders Circle and 96th Street, of which the SunTrust
Bank is a part, and the idea of a fountain in there. Councilman Boggess stated Taft
Bradshaw was approved to do the design work on the beach. Mr. Treppeda explained the
Village can use him for study or design activities under $15,000.00, but if the Village wants
to use him for other things, a procedure would have to be followed. Bill O'Leary was the
architect selected through the Competitive Negotiations Act. Assistant Mayor Hirsch) would
like to set the negotiations up again. Mr. Whitman stated the Village can hire Taft
Bradshaw for a design concept for under $15,000.
A motion was offered by Assistant Mayor Hirsch) and seconded by Councilman Boggess to
approve up to $15 O .40 to have Taft Bradshaw in particular give the Village a design concept
for what has been discussed with the bus shelters. signage, lightin.g. and trash receptacles and to
also eo out to competitive bidding for either a newgroup of providers or another individual. The
motion carried with the vote as follows: Mayor Spiegel aye: Assistant Mayor Hirsch! aye:
Councilman Boggess aye: Councilman Gorson aye: Councilman Tantleff aye.
1 1. Adjourn: There being no further business to come before the Council, a
motion was offered by Assistant Mayor Hirsch) and seconded by Councilman Bogeess to adjourn.
The motion carried unanimously (5-0). and the meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
May Estelle pieg
Attest:
Lz
, anette Horton, CMC/AAE
Village Clerk
/elw
Regular Council Meeting 11/17/98
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