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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10221996 CITY OF SEBASTIAN CITIZEN ADVISORY TASK FORCE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 22, 1996 MEETING Vice Chairman Dabrowski call the meeting to order at 6:06 P.M. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: V. Chmn Dabrowski Mr. Donini Mr. Krulikowski Mr. Reid EXCUSED: Ms. Sullivan ALSO PRESENT: Bob Massarelli, Community Development Director Dod Bosworth, Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION by Donini/Reid I move that we approve the minutes as read. OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: A. DISCUSS DATE FOR DECEMBER MEETING Mr. Massarelli noted that the last Tuesday of the month happens to be New Years Eve which probably would not be a real good time for a meeting. The week before that is Christmas Eve. He suggested tentatively setting the next meeting for December 17th, and if no items are ready for that time, then it will be scheduled for early in January, 1997 at 7:00 P.M. B. DESIGN OF THE RIVERFRONT PARKING AREA Mr. Massarelli explained that a portion of the Commumty Development Block Grant that the City of Sebastian has applied for has been received. It is a Federal Grant that allows you to do certain activities. In order to do that, you need to come up with a Community Redevelopment Plan which the City has prepared and adopted. The Citizen's Advisory Task Force has been established as one of the requirements, to provide input to City Council as to the activities of the Redevelopment Plan. Any conflicts with the Plan, or any objections, are heard by the Citizen's Advisory Task Force which will go to the City Council for resolution. The total Grant amount is approximately $600,000. This is for work to improve parking at the CAV-CORP CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 1996 property, street lighting along Indian River Drive, landscaping and streetscaping, such as benches. This Grant coincides with money that FDOT is spending in the area on an eight (8) foot wide walkway on the east side of Indian River Drive, from one end of the City to the other. The City has been working with property owners in the area to resolve any problem areas with parking, etc. He noted that the different Grants that we have mesh together to give us more for our dollar. The project we are looking at tonight deals with parking at the CAV-CORP property. The City has had a problem trying to decide what to do with this property. Bob showed some conceptual site plans from 1991 and 1993. The 1991 plan dealt a lot with improving the parking in this riverfront area. In 1993, another conceptual plan was approved for the riverfront area, and included some parking behind the Shell Station, eliminating the section of Fellsmere Road next to Riverview Park to provide a large green area and a raised pavilion. This 1993 plan was approved conceptually by City Council, but never progressed. The issue tonight is - do we use a plan like this or something else to improve the CAV- CORP property? We have approximately $295,000 in the Grant for improvements in the parking at this site. All of this mount need not be spent on parking improvements alone. There are other unfunded needs identified in the Community Development Block Grant, and the above mentioned amount could be reprogrammed to meet some of these other unfunded needs. In summary, we need to come up with a plan that meets the needs of the community, maximizes the use of the property for recreation, parking, green space, and passive uses. Bob noted that there doesn't seem to be anyone advocating a paved parking lot for the entire CAV-CORP property. He then went on to explain various types of paving surfaces and noted that there are many options available. In conjunction with the Block Grant program, the City has hired CRA Consulting Finn out of Tallahassee which is our Grant manager and will oversee that all Grant and reporting requirements are met. CRA Engineering, which is a branch of CRA Consulting, was chosen from Engineering Firms who submitted statements of qualifications for this project. Bob introduced Mike Scibelli of CRA Engineering who will be project manager. He will present some ideas and concepts tonight for consideration, but they are not endorsements from CRA. At this point, Bob suggested that after Mr. Scibelli's presentation, the public attending this meeting should divide into small groups, and sketch or note on paper how they would like to see this property developed. In answer to a question from the public, Bob noted that Grant requirements and design standards necessitate hiring an Engineer, who will be paid according to the final cost of the project and a formula that is used by the Dept. of Commumty Affairs. We do not have in-house capabilities of handling this. He also noted that this property is CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 1996 presently public property and anyone can use it, and the Grant has no influence on that. We do have the ability to place parking meters there. At this point, Mr. Scibelli gave his presentation with several ideas. Traditional parking lot - providing off-street parking and keeping Fellsmere Road. Stormwater must be managed carefully, probably using a retention basin. 2. Parking by gas station, keeping open space by the river, abandoning Fellsmere Road. 3. Abandoning a portion of the pavement on Fellsmere Road, tying the park properties together, similar to 1993 conceptual plan. Providing 32 boat parking spaces with pull-in, pull-out features, and green spaces by the water. Boat parking spaces equal two (2) regular parking spaces. The Grant calls for 64 parking spaces. In response to several questions from the public, Bob Massarelli noted that the 1993 conceptual plan which was approved and adopted by Sebastian City Council, showed 62 parking spaces. And in working with the Grant application, the City Manager probably pulled this number from those plans. That may be how parking became part of the Grant. He also noted that this property is presently used 100% for parking, and what we are looking at is to maintain open areas during periods of low use, but provide parking during times of high use by combining green space with parking spaces. The Grant required 32 boat spaces or 64 car spaces. Mr. Scibelli noted that the Grant allows some latitude in the types of parking spaces, and that the number of spaces can be increased but not decreased. Mr. Donini commented that if the portion of Fellsmere Road at the Park is torn up and eliminated, the Grant will not pay for that. Bob commented that he is currently having discussions with the Dept. of Environmental Protection to see if they can find some money to help pay for removal of this pavement. EPA is very excited about all the projects that Sebastian has going on in the riverfront area, and is trying to help where they can. In response to several questions, Bob noted that the City is looking into the offer of Dr. Underill to give a piece of property on the north stretch of Indian River Drive to the City, and noted that he didn't think there was enough room to put in a boat ramp on that property on the East side. Nothing definite has been formulated, as yet. The Grant money can not be used on property East of Indian River Drive except for landscaping, street lighting and benches and those types of things. CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 1996 At this point (7:00 P.M.) the audience broke up into five (5) groups. The meeting resumed at 7:38 P.M. and a leader from each group gave a summary of what their group did. Group # 1: This group wanted to close off Fellsmere Road, join the CAV-CORP property to Riverview Park, made Coolidge St. one-way, keeping traffic on Coolidge away from people, and put parking on the Coolidge St. side to accommodate cars and boat trailers. In the future, possibly put in pilings, construct a building to rent out as a possible restaurant with parking underneath. Group #2: This group suggested a car parking area separate from boat-trailer parking, and using Fellsmere Road for parking, and using Cleveland St. for west-bound traffic off Indian River Drive. The parking areas should be broken up with approximately 10 ft. green spaces. Group #3: Three or four people didn't want it changed at all, but didn't like Fellsmere Road being closed off because this would eliminate some parking spaces. They suggested placing parking behind the Shell station, maybe double parking there, and off Coolidge. Have a gazebo at the end and have lots of trees and green spaces and benches. Group #4: This group tried to compromise - dividing the area into thirds. Boat and trailer parking would be by the Shell station; the park area would be by the river; the middle third could be flexible for special occasions - such as extra parking, but mostly a people-park. Car parking could be placed along Coolidge and a section of Fellsmere Road near Rt. 1. The rest of Fellsmere Road would be removed down to Indian River Drive so that boat and trailer parking would be one-way traffic. Group #5: It seemed evident that most people wanted more "park space". This group suggested bringing boat and trailers in on Fellsmere Road near the Shell station driveway to park between Fellsmere Rd. and Coolidge. Remove part of Fellsmere Road closer to Indian River Drive and place park benches along the "park area" in the green spaces. No asphalt would be used, but use either coquina stone or grass and use the "green" area for parking only on special occasions. The subject of traffic flow to prevent unnecessary boat trailer traffic off of U.S. #1 was brought up at this point. Discussion followed on dissenting views. Number of parking spaces, keeping part of Fellsmere Road intact, banning boat traffic on the CAV-CORP property on holidays, building another boat ramp, parking meters, the change in Fellsmere Road west of Rt. # 1, were all suggested. 4 CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 22, 1996 Bob summarized the information obtained so far: A general consensus of the desirability of: 1. closing at least a portion of Fellsmere Road and increasing the "green area" there. 2. locating the parking areas behind the Shell station, and additional parking along Coolidge, either on the street or interior along Coolidge. 3. maximizing "park" space by the riverfront area, overflow parking or "park" in center, and vehicle parking near Shell station Bob commented that the suggestions obtained tonight will be given to the engineer, who can take them back, study them and draw up some concepts to be brought back before the Task Force. Vice Chmn. Dabrowski commented that the river is a true asset for Sebastian, and it is there for boaters as well as for people on land in the Parks. Mr. Krulikowski asked if the report on tonight's meeting could be ready for the Dec. 17th meeting. Bob responded that he would work with the Engineer and try to have it ready for the December meeting. Mr. Reid noted that there are many people who come to Sebastian to look at the river, and pointed out Oyster Point as one area that this is common. He suggested not over- emphasizing boat-trailer parking. He emphatically remarked that the CAV-CORP was not purchased for boat-trailer parking. Another resident mentioned that the 8 foot walkway to be installed on the east side of Indian River Drive is for people who like to look at the river. Vice Chin. Dabrowski closed the public input part of the meeting. Bob Massarelli announced that there has been a request from Public Works Department to put up a sign at Riverview Park that would list the fines for speeding along Indian River Drive at various speeds. The proposed sign is 60 inches by 30 inches, to be placed 3 feet or more above the ground. The Public Works Director asked that this request be presented to the CATF and asked for your input as to whether or not this is desirable to be located on the riverfront area, particularly at Riverview Park. The unanimous consensus of the CATF was against having the sign for speeding fines. The meeting was adjourned at 8:11 P.M. CITIZEN ADVISORY TASK FORCE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD APPROVED AT MEETING HELD RUTH SULLIVAN, CHAIRPERSON ANN BRACK, RECORDING SECRETARY GERRY KUBES, SECRETARY CATFMIN.DOC City of Sebastian 1225 MAIN STREET n SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958 TELEPHONE (407) 589-5330 [] FAX (407) 589-5570 AGENDA CITIZEN ADVISORY TASK FORCE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1996 6:00 P.M. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. MINUTES: SEPTEMBER 24, 1996 MEETING 4. OLD BUSINESS: 5. NEW BUSINESS: A. DISCUSS DATE FOR DECEMBER MEETING B. DESIGN OF THE RIVERFRONT PARKING AREA 6. PUBLIC INPUT: 7. CHAIRMAN'S MATTERS: 8. MEMBERS' MATTERS: 9. STAFF MATTERS: 10. ADJOURN: NOTE: IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), ANYONE WHO NEEDS A SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR THIS MEETING SHOULD CONTACT THE CITY'S ADA COORDINATOR AT 589-5330 AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. CATF.DOC City of Sebastian 1225 MAIN STREET [] SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 32958 TELEPHONE (407) 589-5330 n FAX (407) 589-5570 PUBLIC MEETING CITY OF SEBASTIAN 1225 MAIN STREET INDIAN RIVER COUNTY FLORIDA THE CITIZEN ADVISORY TASK FORCE OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, WILL HOLD THEIR REGULAR MEETING ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1996, AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS. GERRY KU~, SECRETARY CITIZEN ADVISORY TASK FORCE NOTE: IF ANY PERSON DECIDES TO APPEAL ANY DECISION MADE ON THE ABOVE MATTERS, HE/SHE WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS, AND FOR SUCH PURPOSES, HE/SHE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY IN EVIDENCE ON WHICH THE APPEAL IS BASED. NOTE: IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), ANYONE WHO NEEDS A SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION FOR THIS MEETING SHOULD CONTACT THE CITY'S ADA COORDINATOR AT 589-5330 AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING.