Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05122010CRACity Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Eugene Wolff 5. NEW BUSINESS COY OF HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA) (CITY COUNCIL) MINUTES WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010 5:00 PM CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN ST, SEBASTIAN, FL 1. Mayor Gillmor called the CRA meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL City Council Member Absent: Council Member Don Wright (excused) Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Public Works Director, Jerry Converse MIS Senior Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 28, 2010 MOTION by Mr. Wolff and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve the April 28, 2010 minutes passed on a voice vote of 4 -0. A. Schulke, Bittle and Stoddard, LLC US 1 Bump Out Concept The City Manager presented the conceptual plan provided by Joe Schulke and discussed budget concerns set out in the transmittal, noting there is an estimated cost of $18,000 per bump out which includes an approximate cost of $5,000 for concrete and landscaping and an unknown high cost for irrigation and mobilization. CRA Minutes May 12, 2010 Page Two He said in conversations with DOT, they said anything beyond use of Bahia sod for landscaping would require irrigation, and each bump out will require a separate irrigation system depending on the location and what is involved. In response to Mayor Gillmor, the City Manager said the irrigation to existing wells is City water but had no other plans on the previous improvement. He said we would typically bore under the road and tap into the existing water lines. He asked Mr. Schulke to come to the podium. Mr. Schulke described the criteria he looked at relating to the bump outs, i.e, making sure new ones wouldn't interfere with u- turns, that they would be not block driveway sight, that there weren't any existing parallel parking spaces by locating striped areas for parking, studied police accident reports finding there was nothing conclusive in the reports. He discussed landscaping line of sight issues, and explained allowable landscaping. Mr. Hill asked if he was considering holly and viburnum and Mr. Schulke responded yes that trunks are smaller and foliage is above eight feet as required by FDOT. He described the hatch patterns on the plan as existing parking, existing bump outs, and proposed bump outs. He said cost estimates are based on 33' long bump outs, with 4' planter 5' wide, broke out quantities based on prices received over the last couple of years. He said there are four pump out stations, but no one has as- builts for what is out there. He said perhaps if there were commercial sites nearby they could contribute to provide irrigation which would save on cost. Mr. Hill noted an existing bump out near the museum and asked if the proposed bump outs would encroach on the bike path and Mr. Schulke said we are not allowed to encroach into any bike path. He then described what the typical bump out would look like. Donna Keys, 1301 U.S. 1, Sebastian, said $18,000 for a bump out seems high and perhaps the cost is closer to $10,000 each. The City Manager reiterated it is $5,000 plus irrigation and mobilization costs. Ms. Keys said the bump outs will show that Sebastian cares about businesses, and it is worth the money. Ed Herlihy, Sebastian, said bump outs need to go with other things to show the district and then displayed photographs on the overhead of New Smyrna Beach gateway, landscaping and banners that show the community feeling, and said we should come up with an entire plan for the district. Lisanne Robinson, Beyond Useless Boutique in the CRA district, said bump outs designate parking, traffic calming, pedestrian safety, noted the cost is exorbitant and asked if the watering can be done by truck. The City Manager said DOT requires irrigation. Ms. Robinson asked if there are other things we can put into the bump out, that this is an integral part of CRA, and she would like to see more investigation into this. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US 1, said we have a CRA master plan, and asked why we are doing this because one business owner wants it. He said we jump around and don't have anything to show for what we did with the CRA money. He questioned maintenance, bike riders, and said we need to reevaluate the CRA master plan. He asked Mr. Schulke if $20,000 was a guaranteed cap. 2 CRA Minutes May 12, 2010 Page Three Mr. Hill called a point of order and asked that Mr. Gilliams address the Council. Mr. Gilliams said we should get three estimates, we are spending money like it is going out of style, things need to be repaired, and we don't need this now. Mr. Hill said beautification of US 1 is important, and he supports US 1 and the businesses but was concerned with going forward with a $250,000 project that is not even listed in the CIP that Council approved this year. He said with an estimate of $18,000 for one bump out, $250,000 for 34 and asked if 35% is a reasonable discount. The City Manager it was and could be found in mobilization costs. Mr. Hill said the CRA plan needs to be looked at and revised and we can have it soon if we get to work on it and then if we find this is a top priority we go to work on it. He said he was concerned with spending this amount and then adding maintenance costs in the general fund, every road in the district needs repaving and we may find the entrances may be more of a priority, and until we know what our priorities are it would be a disservice to spend this money now. He said though not opposed to this he is in favor of a revised master plan first. Mayor Gillmor said the Vice Mayor captured his thoughts, and said he believed we have to look at all options, we have limited funds, and going forward we need to have a plan in place and decide what is going to give the biggest bang for the buck and know what we can afford. Ms. Coy thanked Mr. Schulke for his work, said she was surprised we already had bump outs as she never noticed them and said they needed improvement, and that she had an "Aha" moment with Mr. Herlihy's presentation of New Smyrna, noting the look of the district is going to be a combination of things, the bump outs won't be enough. She said we need to have some workshops and rewrite the CRA documents. Mr. Wolff asked what the current car count is on US 1, noting when he was managing a business in Vero Beach about eight years ago, it was 100,000 a day. He said Mr. Herlihy's pictures are not comparing apples to apples and we won't get the same impact as Flagler Beach. He said the DOT study showed that in excess of 80% of vehicles are obeying the speed limit. Ms. Coy asked if he had the figures and he said he did not. She said the study showed those people are doing 48 mph on average. The City Manager cited there are two speed limits 40 and 45; and DOT allows for five miles over the speed limit; and they said 40 mph is appropriate for the street. Mr. Wolff said DOT wants there to be an enforceable speed limit so there is not an adversarial relationship between the police and residents. He asked how bump outs slow speed because they had no effect on him. He suggested the City put a bump out in front of Ms. Monier's business as a trial for one year and see if it effective. He said he thought the Mayor's idea of striping the parking spaces was a good one and noted we have only six people saying we need bump outs. 3 CRA Minutes May 12, 2010 Page Four MOTION by Ms. Coy to set aside the bump outs and update the CRA master plan as soon as possible. Mr. Hill said he didn't think it necessary to make it a motion. There was no objection from Council. The City Manager said maybe we need to re- landscape the existing bump outs; he noted Frank Watanabe will be bringing the gateway design back; and he said the Florida Redevelopment Agency has not gotten back to him yet on facilitating the master plan revision, and based on the direction Council was moving, he suggested paying the cost to utilize the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council as the facilitator. Ms. Coy she did not want to make any other decisions until we do the master plan. Mayor Gillmor said when we do CRA master planning he would hope Council would have a handle on costs, and would like to restripe the street so might tell people there is parking on the street. Mr. Wolff said he would not want to put the roads on hold and the City Manager fixing the roads will absorb half of the capital funds. Mayor Gillmor asked if someone wanted to put a bump out in front of their business could they could apply for an FSL grant. The City Manager said they could, noting that originally that Ms. Monier was going to do that and he wanted to approach it in bulk but that he would advise her to apply for the grant, and maybe Council could make an exception on the 20% owner cost because it is not on their property. He said maybe Council could authorize this tonight. Mr. Hill said it was completely inappropriate to approve one bump out tonight and we should let anyone apply for an FSL grant. The City Manager said he would bring an update to Council. 6. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the CRA meeting at 6:00 p.m. Approved at the June A TT ar. H. "t r, 'Mayor Sally A. Mai. MMC City Clerk 2010 CRA meeting. 4