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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2010-03-02 Workshop Meeting405 BAL HARBOUR VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING - MARCH 2, 2010 A Workshop Meeting of the Bal Harbour Village Council was held on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at the Bal Harbour Village Hall Council Chambers (655 — 96th Street, Bal Harbour, Florida). 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. by Mayor Rosenfield. The following were present: Mayor Jean Rosenfield Assistant Mayor Joni D. Blachari Councilman Martin Packer Councilman Jaime M. Sanz Alfred J. Treppeda, Village Manager Ellisa Horvath, MMC, Village Clerk Matthew Pearl, Village Attorney Absent: Councilwoman Patricia Cohen As a quorum was determined to be present, the meeting commenced. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge was led by Village resident Paul Pruess. 3. DISCUSSION OF THE CURRENT COUNCIL DISTRICTS AND THE POSSIBILITY OF AMENDING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE DISTRICTS - DR. RONALD R. SCHULTZ, URBAN GEOGRAPHER: Mayor Rosenfield reviewed Dr. Schultz's resume, who is an expert is redistricting. Dr. Ronald Schultz reviewed his resume and discussed his involvement in local community redistricting. He reviewed a PowerPoint presentation and discussed alternatives for the Council's consideration. Paul Pruess, 10101 Collins Avenue, questioned if the information is based on voting population or total population. Dr. Schultz reported that it's based on the residency population. He explained that seasonal residents would not be counted and only those that list Bal Harbour as their residence would be counted. Betsy Bystock, 34 Bal Bay Drive (address later corrected to 80 Park Drive), questioned the reason the Council is considering the issue. Mayor Rosenfield noted that the Council was requested by several residents to look into it, but clarified that there isn't a time mandate to change the districts. Mr. Pearl agreed. Neil Alter, 9801 Collins Avenue, questioned the number of official residents. Dr. Schultz 1 Assistant Mayor Blachar arrived after the Pledge. Bal Harbour Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes 03/02/2010 1 406 reported it to be 3,414, subject to additional analysis. Mr. Alter questioned the number of registered voters. Dr. Schultz did not know and explained that it was not a determining factor for redistricting. Don Omer, 10245 Collins Avenue, questioned the cost for the redistricting proposal. Dr. Schultz reported the cost to be $140 per hour, with a maximum amount of $8,000. Dina Cellini, 211 Bal Cross Drive, discussed the Charter mandating the districts to be a certain size or population and noted that it was being looked into because the numbers have become lopsided. Mr. Pearl clarified that there was no mandate in the Charter for the Village to review that. Ms. Cellini thinks that the Charter mandated that the districts be an equal number. Dr. Schultz continued his presentation. Babak Raheb, 128 Balfour Drive, suggested that the Bal Harbour Club property be considered for future condos, etc. Dr. Schultz explained that a projection could not be made for that. Don Orner, 10245 Collins Avenue, questioned a resolution passed restricting building height. Mayor Rosenfield explained that any project for the Club property would have to meet the Code regulations. Mr. Treppeda clarified that the property could qualify for the PD district. Dina Cellini, 211 Bal Cross Drive, questioned if the number of residents for the St. Regis project was considered. Dr. Schultz .reported that it was (a little over a hundred). Brian Mulheren, 10245 Collins Avenue, questioned the need for districts. He spoke of holding the Village elections as part of the General Election in November. He suggested that the Mayor seat be elected as Mayor, with the other four members being the top vote getters and the one with the most votes being the Assistant Mayor. Assistant Mayor Blachar discussed different interests in the different districts. She also pointed out that the lack of districts may result in all five Councilmembers being elected from a single area (the homes), which may leave the other areas (oceanfront) feeling that they are not represented properly/fairly. She spoke in favor of having districts. Mr. Mulheren explained that his interest is for the entire Village. He discussed difficulty in getting people to run for office and thinks that all options should be looked at. Assistant Mayor Blachar requested Dr. Schultz's opinion. Dr. Schultz discussed the Village's voting at large, with the five Councilmembers having representation by district. He reported that some cities have both representation and voting by district. He noted that if Councilmembers are only voted on by people in their district, then they may have a blinder on to only make the people in their district happy. He clarified that when Councilmembers are elected at large, like the Village, then Councilmembers need to make everyone happy. Mayor Rosenfield discussed Bal Harbour's concept of having staggered terms. She Bal Harbour Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes 03/02/2010 2 407 questioned if anyone was opposed to having districts. Marjorie Schell, 9801 Collins Avenue, spoke in favor of Mr. Mulheren's suggestion. Dave Orner, Carlton Terrace, suggested a more equal division, amongst the different properties. Mayor Rosenfield doesn't think there has ever been a homes versus condos attitude. Betsy Bystock, 80 Park Drive, discussed physical reasons that District 5 is separated. She noted that most people in that district would not want to be combined, split up, or joined with other districts. Babak Raheb, 128 Balfour Drive, spoke in favor of the districts, but changing the current divisions for equal representation. He spoke in favor of District 5 being behind the gates. Dr. Schultz explained that it all depended on the number of population balance for the districts. He clarified that districting was a way of spreading out representation. He spoke against mixing the different types of communities. Lynne Bloch -Mullen, 10150 Collins Avenue, questioned the necessity of having five districts and suggesting having two districts, with the water front as one district. Dan Holder, 24 Bal Bay Drive, suggested that the common interest be focused on more than the population numbers. He discussed an alternative to increase the numbers in District 5 and not including the ONE Bal Harbour in District.4. He questioned if other alternatives would be provided. Mr. Holder spoke in favor of the current districts and voting at -large. Paul Pruess, 10101 Collins Avenue, spoke in favor of Alternative #1 having the minimal impact, but suggested that the lines be drawn straight across Collins Avenue. Dr. Schultz reported that could be looked at, but noted that it would change the numbers. Dina Cellini, 211 Bal Cross Drive, spoke in favor of doing something and suggested exploring doing away with the districts. She doesn't think that issues comes up that are particular to one specific district. She discussed three Councilmembers representing the oceanfront, one on the west side, and one for the homes. She noted that if the different areas have different needs, then the alternatives would take away representation from the low-rise apartments. Ms. Cellini thinks that a decision needs to be made on whether or not the oceanfront has different issues than the homes, etc. Assistant Mayor Blachar thinks .that all Councilmembers are concerned with the entire Village; however, she discussed the possibility of at -large elections (without districts) resulting in all Councilmembers from one area or building, which could create a problem. She spoke in favor of having districts. Mayor Rosenfield agreed that the Councilmembers are all concerned about the entirety of the Village, not just one particular district. Bal Harbour Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes 03/02/2010 3 408 Dr. Schultz was directed to review the comments and speak with Mr. Treppeda about the possibility of another workshop or bringing it to the Council meeting. 4. ADJOURN: There being no further business, a motion was offered by Councilman Sanz and seconded by Councilman Packer to adjourn. The motion carried (4-0) and the meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m. Attest: Ellisa L. Horvath, j! fr , ; illage Clerk Bal Harbour Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes 03/02/2010 4