Here’s The Scoop … Is This Time At The “Rodeo” Almost Over? …
April 10, 2011 by Barbara
REDEVELOPING & BRANDING LBTS …. WE SEEM TO ROPING IN THE SAME OLD $TEER …
Dear Readers …this writer has been asked by some why I jumped back in to resume posting after a 3 month lapse which I thought was permanent …They are not alone …. I ask myself everyday if I should have remained off- site especially when facing the mountain of information that has come from this “revision” of the Town’s 2004 Master Plan …For me the impetus to jump back into the fray came from being informed there were loud voices front and center stating it was time to return to the full-blown plans in place pre-McIntee 2006 and go full steam ahead … It hit me below the belt once more after a big change of the majority on the dais that I helped to get into office …. This startling news along with my watching so many disjointed Town meetings over those 3 months away from this site meant to me that we were headed in a direction I certainly did not desire to be going in at this juncture ….
Right after the election was over I did make it my business to contact some of those who were front and center in the disassembled and defunct CRA about what was really on the table when it was quashed and if there was any validity or viability in bringing it back and perhaps picking up where we left off.. Basically I was told by those I conferred with it could be up and running within a year…That point was countered by the Administration when I inquired along with a few other knowledgeable people who were emphatic as they responded our size town in its current condition stood no chance at the present time …
I still believe the original direction from this Commission to the Administration was to simply revise the 2004 Master Plan and work off a report from Walter Keller (former Town Planner and longtime contractor to the Town) and move it forward to the Commission to approve …. When the MPSC veered way off course and began to cover tired old territory ad nauseum (one-lane El Mar Drive etc…) with members clearly uninformed and uninterested in our past history the Commission sent the TM in to save the day and lead them back to being on-point …..Unfortunately that action did not succeed ..in my opinion…. Instead there were a series of “exercises” presented in order to draw the committee into finding common ground that resulted in further expansion of the process to revise the plan with outside sources …consultants and studies … including implementation… Of note the TM agenda item 3h for the Roundtable on 4/12/2011 states “The process of updating the Master Plan clearly illustrated the big gap that had to be filled between simply updating the plan and implementing it.”… It went on to add the recommendations for capital projects (some of which were described fairly specifically, others vaguely defined) and broad, sweeping strategies that sounded wonderful but lacked implementation direction”…
Not only were the Committee and Commission meetings confusing and not particularly fruitful….the same for the most part could be said for the series of speakers brought in to add their expertise… For this writer there was not much new to add to what we already had on the shelves when we began…
The MPSC has now been disbanded with a vote of the Commission last month and a thank you for your service letter to those who served on the committee…The last speaker, Cecelia Ward is set to come before the Commission Tuesday night (April 12, 2011) at 7 pm …The A1A Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk study ( which also now includes downtown Comm. Blvd section by the beach per the TM at the meeting on 4/5/11) ….is a separate issue to include the public mid- May for a 4-day event with RMA’s Development of Cost Estimates and a Finance Plan for Master Plan Projects and Economic Development Activities (set for approval at a special mtg. on Tues. night for $19,900 + various reimbursable costs) is due by June 1, 2011…
The Commission will be on the hot seat big time for making decisions and better be well prepared and well versed in order to direct what will happen in town and when…as well as what if anything will go to the voters in 2012 in order to allow voters to decide if they want “The Whole Enchilada” including parking garages/underground utilities on El Mar Drive + Comm. Blvd. downtown (and perhaps further north and south on El Mar Drive)/Town Hall Complex ..
Of note…this writer does not want a parking garage(s) anywhere but under a new Town Hall Complex (definitely without a convention hall included as RMA’s Chris Brown suggested on 4/5/11 … Does a convention hall really fit in with our town seaside ambiance?) …The current location might actually grow even larger now with a possible purchase of the apartment building located at 4410 Bougainvilla Drive in order to expand the lot by 33% and provide a bigger footprint for the future retail/parking garage structure (item 3d 0n the 4/12/11 Rtable agenda) as well as adding on approximately a million dollars+ to this parcel that has already cost millions with little return on the investment…
Now to the RMA Redevelopment Implementation Plan presented at the April 5, 2011 Town workshop…
I watched of course hoping to see something different and also to see the presenters from RMA firsthand..This was my first chance since the last time Chris Brown came to the podium in Jarvis Hall after David Sukor spoke it was cut off online with a message that the event was over…I have been updated from time to time on various meetings others had or attended with Mr. Brown and his team as well as googling him and Kim Briesemeister for their participation in various municipalities past and present… This evening of the 5th I was not particularly impressed with either …more so with Mr. Brown …I found some of his candor and name-dropping of a few locals counter productive to the process at hand and to the businesses in town…especially the pier…which is without a doubt our Town’s premier destination selling point…For Mr. Brown to say the Anglin’s Pier was “shoddy” not only in his power-point presentation but at the microphone and expanding on it … was wrongfully “branding” out town!… A lot of money has been put into the pier and it has not only been used extensively to represent the Town for marketing whether on the Town’s site or the Chamber’s site …it has been used for various productions and commercials … especially over the past year… Mr Brown stated he interviewed commissioners…residents…hoteliers…retailers and restaurants…This writer asked the pier owner if they were aware of the pier being deemed “shoddy” and had they met or been contacted by RMA …They said they were not and were quite surprised and dismayed at hearing the news…
Mr Brown began the presentation with stating “plan your work”…interjecting “You gotta agree to some of this stuff” before finishing the motto “work your plan”… and touching on funding… He stated they did the interviews …walked the town “to get a feel for it”… and then dove into the power-point bullet points of the negatives (see previous post…scroll down or backup on Town website) … It was what we have heard before ..a lack of identity …wanting a sense of arrival after coming into town limits …stating coming over the bridge almost looks “blighted”..No more committees and people want to get going…He went on to describe Delray Beach was in much worse shape when he took it on …He added the pier comments also saying the pier was “disappointing” and “lacks appeal” stating he was aware the Town didn’t own it and maybe the Town can “work with the owners to do something in the future”…He touched on the loss of Mack’s Groves … Kim Briesemeister stepped up to discuss “branding” and upgrading signage giving a case study of a town that recently improved their town and tourism dramatically ..She touched upon visuals required as Chris spoke of a female Comm. saying she wanted LBTS to be like Carmel Ca. ..He spoke of design guidelines…Kim spoke of facades and standardized requirements as well…including marketing assistance inside and outside retailers …Chris went on to hotel rehabilitation including the recent shutting down of the former Holiday Inn a few weeks back for multiple violations found by code enforcement and the VFD…He spoke of public-private property expansion used in Delray Beach that led to increased rates for hotels and parking built for the town… There was discussion of the void of proper marketing and the lack of special events downtown …He feels it should be run like a mall and used that concept to hire a woman in 1991 to help Delray Beach… She was so successful she now runs the city’s special events …He went down the path of the “elephant in the room” for many who have not been happy with the marketing done by the Chamber of Commerce and spoke of a Marketing Director hired by the Town for planning and branding …We hear that is set to be a line item in the 2012 budget …He said we would “enjoy the branding process”…Kim spoke more about the process and also shot another “zinger” at the Chamber stating special events were not just hiring a bunch of people with tents to make a lot of noise …(craft fairs)…She went on to discuss the marketing plan “a targeted thoughtful plan”…and the components to bring it together including evaluations ….surveys…demographics …and delving further into merchandising …upgrading …Chris spoke of Delray Beach and the scope of going half and half with the the city-CRA -another taxing district and businesses …He added the businesses need to stay open after 5 pm and 70% of retail sales take place after that 5pm hour… He spoke of only one retailer coming to the Town’s meeting and the lack of interaction with businesses and the Chamber ..He spoke of the difference in businesses east of A1A and west …Same old stuff lack of pedestrian traffic …He spoke of FDOT and approval required to make changes to Comm. Blvd… (This writer has observed the Comp. Plan updates have repeatedly called for hurricane evac. improvements which seem to counter any idea of narrowing Comm. Blvd.)…Chris talked further of aiding businesses and marketing and then went on to Town Hall and El Prado Park stating it should be the center of Town…It’s underutilized…(The TM later stated it was the largest property in town) …He added it would “raise the hair on some people’s necks” adding the worse part was the parking lot across from Town Hall… (Perhaps he did not know that Minto swapped land with the Town to place it there and the park where the old parking lot was.) …For some reason he spoke of Aruba showing a photo of the lot they own or lease and the astounding cost to them…He used that as a segway to stating “It may be time to build a parking garage and allow Aruba and others to lease” spots… Then it was Minto and a meeting he had to see if they had interest in using their undeveloped two properties to be hotels rather than condos or townhomes… An attorney for Minto came to the podium later on to state they would continue on to build residential in the future …This is where Chris spoke of Town Hall including a conference center and a museum …(we are a town of 7,000) … There were renderings included showing the connectivity of Town Hall and the downtown… as well as structured parking on the ground floor or possibly where the last misuse of public funds went to…the McIntee Public Safety Center…Chris added with the “connection” shown in the rendering every hotel will be bought and redeveloped… He spoke of Dave Gadsby’s purchase of the Rainbow Inn being one of the”bright stars” as well as Ocean 101’s Mike Batt “Mr. Hotel Industry” …”indicating he might be interested in getting into that fray” …He addressed briefly the conflict of hotels and residential properties on El Mar and spoke of someone buying the (former) Holiday Inn and (former ) Clarion…He touched on the incentives for hotels and the need for a hotel association …reviewing zoning and making the process not so “onerous”…He spoke of Delray Beach increases in rates for hotels after improvements were made…Kim added more to the impact on rehabbing…He spoke of El Mar Drive…same as we heard prior … pedestrians…sidewalks and parking..which brought forth the CIC-hotel-timeshare contingency to counter any idea of parking on El Mar Drive by medians at certain times …(see prev. post)… He spoke of A1A crossing from west to east…covered as well at previous meetings…He offered no solution …He added the costs and the underwiring addressed at prior meetings…and spoke Delray Beach and getting land “de-certified” (Hmmm…code for eminent domain?) along with a $21.5 million bond issue …stating “that’s when redevelopment began”… He said sidewalks can never be less than 12 feet…and again went back to parking and parking garages (2) …stating cities should be in the parking business ….”It takes 5 years to build a garage. Start now.”… Buy a hotel for a parking garage (see item 3d 4/12/11) …”Buy Aruba’s lot for a parking garage”…signage…El Prado parking lot’s need to be completely changed …a Marketing Director… A1A (Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk study set to be voted on and approved) .. …From there it went to funding and bond issues…lobbyists..economic development director…marketing person….and who should be on new committees… It concluded there with public comment up next…
Public Comments ranged from an out- of- the gate Ken Kugler who was on the MPSC stating emphatically “Outstanding, do it!”…to those opposed to much of what was presented beginning with Cristie Furth (see previous post..Hibernation over?) …. and others who made it their business to speak out at this point in the process..Two “regulars” questioned their timing…(see Hibernation over post ) … If this writer had been among them I would have been siding for the most part with those asking for caution…and costs … and may have had to cross the aisle for a while…
The Commission took a break and the Mayor thanked the presenters and stated what “stuck out” for her in the presentation were the words “enhance and protect” …She went on to say they (Comm.) were a “team” and “the audience are the alumni” …she spoke of being fiscally responsible and transparent …adding they tried before and didn’t get off the ground speaking of past redevelopment …She stated they did not want to hit “your pocketbooks” addressing the residents and businesses …She ended by saying to the Comms. to “ask as many questions as possible”saying this was the time to do so… unfortunately she later cut off Comm. Sasser saying she was giving each Comm. 5 minutes…Hmmm…
The Commission ranged from Comm. Clottey in her “I’m a marketer too” mode taking on to a certain extent Kim and her marketing skills as well as the lack of cost benefit analysis being addressed…She was concerned as well with disruption “collateral damage” …for properties…Kim was not getting where Clottey was coming from (welcome to my world)…seeing no disruption besides the obvious short term mess streetscape causes…Clottey went further talking of damage to “quality of life” and “urban renewal” …people being displaced…HUH?… Clottey spoke of Mainstreet and its failure with landlords…property owners and business owners…Kim responded about a “partnership” being required …
Comm. Vincent spoke out of both sides of his mouth concerning re-investing ..businesses being excited and taxes going up either way investing or not…”There’s a reaction…reaction from no action….crystal ball”…He was wrong on El Mar Parking (see previous Hibernation over post) ….
Comm. Sasser stated we have to get real and “find balance” …”We are not New York City …”not even Ft. Lauderdale”….”What we want to do”…”What we can afford”…He went on to say about the $21 million bond issue Chris Brown alluded to …that this town is not ready for it…He spoke of the costs and “government keeps spending to see what we can and cannot afford” …He read out the list of “hires” included in the RMA report …speaking of fiscal responsibility and asked “How do we avoid build it and they will come and build it as they come”… Chris Brown answered him with talking about the package …the strong marketing program and the need to have parking ready …He again spoke of Delray and how they took over the city parking lots…then “they came”…”Be ahead of the curve”… Chris spoke of a 2-story restaurant at Wings location and how it would “suck up the parking overnight” …”150 spaces overnight” …”Build the infrastructure or they won’t come”… (Did RMA or staff pull out the Wings plans from a few years back and how many spaces they would need for the 2 restaurants they wanted… Walter Keller advised they could cover one but not two with the parking restrictions in place at that time)…He addressed the A1A crossing and “a beautiful town parking lot, amazing”… HUH? … Comm. Sasser asked “When do we cross the line for government?” …He spoke of building big government and the impact that has on free market…Comm. Sasser held true to his stance when he was running for office … He implored the dais to “focus on what we can do over what we we can’t do”…He touched on the Marina area and whether improvements there should be done by the public or private sector… Chris Brown surprisingly responded that he had not looked into it… Comm. Sasser spoke about the hotel re-incentive program asking who would regulate it and the cost to implement it…Kim Briesemeister spoke of a draft where the hotel would put forth $5,000 and the Town $15,000 adding it would be the marketing manager in charge and one-by-one in helping hotels would bring up room rates with improvements made… Comm. Sasser asked about the how much residential should taxed for these programs asking if there were different programs that tax the businesses rather than residents and the diminishing return of residential dollars… Kim spoke of Naples Fl. and creating a business tax district (this has been discussed in the past as well)… She said to get the plans…no implementation…a template…and decide internally what amount of revenue to dedicate to bonds…grants (the 5 year plan) …She stated it was easy to estimate streetscapes in linear feet…as well as speaking on revenue sources…costs…funding…She caught the TM off guard (and seemingly continued to do so when addressing the UM A1A study later on with her first remarks back to Comm. Clottey’s questioning)… when she addressed priorities not needing architects…we could do it by our self…
Vice Mayor Dodd thanked them for the report and asked if they had been in receipt of all previous reports done (Mainstreet/Goodkin/Master Plan etc…) …Kim responded “yes”… VM Dodd stated we are facing what other towns are going through and that this report was an update of previous reports and the need he keeps pressing for the actual estimates such for projects such as the undergrounding )El Mar Drive/Commercial Blvd downtown …going out for RFP)…He again reminded all undergrounding would be for aesthetics only so they needed to see the realistic costs to implement it…He went on to ask the difference between a merchant association recommended by RMA and the Chamber of Commerce… Chris Brown being quite candid once again sent a shot to the bow of the LBTS Chamber by stating “Merchants don’t like to join the chamber”… He recounted his role in merging the chamber in Delray Beach with a merchant assoc. and that it worked for a while before it fell apart due to the difference in how merchants and business “think differently”…VM Dodd stated he was pleased on keeping El Mar Drive 4 lanes and as far as the parking garage on A1A he initially liked the idea ) of purchasing the apartment building to add to the lot…see above)…but now sees the need being 5-10 years away …That along with the Deerfield Beach garage owner stating he would not invest his money in it changed his stance…He felt there were many other opportunities available at less than $20,000 per space…VM Dodd went on to speak of El Mar Drive being used on a “restrictive” level as well as Bougainvilla and Sun Trust ( conditional use just passed for “shared parking”) … and the redevelopment of Town Hall …He asked staff to provide how many more spaces would be created with these avenues… VM Dodd asked about the need for a lobbyist especially after we removed the use some 6+ years back seeing it cost more than it brought in to the town…Chris Brown said this was a “lobbyist-grant writer”…different than the lobbyist going to Tallahassee …He went on to speak of good grant writers working with the federal government…Here was a kicker of a response from Chris Brown for this writer …He recalled going to FDOT for Federal Highway in 1999 for a change…FDOT said ok…The city hired a grant writer -lobbyist who got it for them..”It’s gonna happen one day”…HA!…A grant writer-lobbyist got it in 1999 and it’s gonna happen “ONE DAY”…It’s 2011….12 years later!…YIKES!… Besides as one person attending later stated to this writer …what do we have that meets the criteria for federal funding at this time in town after Chris Brown spoke of monies available for roadways and environmental?…(akin to our shovel ready El Mar Dr. project that was a ruse at best)…VM Dodd asked about the funding factor and asked that the bond issue be put on the next Roundtable for discussion to get the dates required to put it on the ballot at the next election to ask the taxpayers…He reminded all the time table problem we had at putting referendum items on for the last election (none went on)…
Mayor Minnet sounding very “McIntee”- like said “Lets’ cut to the chase.” ..”we heard it before.” …”What can we do right now.”… Chris Brown responded… ” a particular project? …not knowing where the Mayor was headed …The Mayor went on to ask about “the catalyst”..”to get the ball rolling”… Kim Briesemeister said “money for El Mar”…The Mayor said “No, branding “…”identity”… suddenly seeming a little caught off guard the Mayor asked Kim “You think El Mar?”…and Kim responded “We think you can start on all these now.”.. (WOW!) …The Mayor addressed the funding right now and being put on the Roundtable …Kim responded that they (RMA) had supplied the finance plan (see prev. post or on Town website)…” fill it in” and “identify funds”… The Mayor said it means deciding “which to do”..not being “stagnant”…”fiscal move forward”…and stated “people don’t want to cross A1A”… asking RMA for some answers on that and the relocation of parking …At this point Kim Briesemeister did offer up some ideas not heard previously on A1A and pedestrian vs vehicle with citing elements used such as raised sidewalks at a 15 ft. back from pedestrian to make the vehicles realize the change and be more aware of the pedestrians…the reverse has been used as well…Mayor Minnet spoke of ongoing changes for ordinances and zoning and if we should look into TIF programs for businesses… Kim said we don’t “want to go down TIF path”…but could form a similar type program… The Mayor turned to the TM to ask about “staff providing these things”…TM Hoffmann responded “No”…there is not enough staff and not enough experience…We don’t have a Finance Director and we can’t do it in-house right now….(The Finance Dir. position is in process for a decision from responses to advertising for the position… Lack of staff and experience at this juncture is troubling to this writer as prev. posted …The TM addresses this issue further in item 3h in the backup for the 4/12/11 Rtable on priorities stating she was waiting to make changes until these reports were made..Hmmm… It comes down to the need for both growing staff and consultants-contractors to “implement” all that is on the Town’s plate …Not exactly keeping the “bottom line” the same $ -wise …The TM is fully putting the decision in the Commissioners lap as she should!)… The TM went on to state “out of many discussions” they contracted out …(must have been behind the scenes …due to the consultant list ultimately supplied after a Rtable and Comms. stating they did not know …an updated $ amt. has not been put out since then)… She stated the next step was a finance plan…rough estimates…the need for price tags …TM Hoffmann spoke of her time in Ft. Lauderdale and the tax base of 20 years with the redevelopment that took place along the beach… Chris Brown reiterated the 5 year plan …rough numbers…sources such as bond money…soft projects …general revenue.. ending with cities looking into the taxing issue concerning business improvement districts and taxing themselves …He added “if Connie wants us around any longer we’ll stick around.”… (Surprise..surprise!) …
Comm. Sasser asked that it be put on the Rtable the cost to provided costs to us “costs for costs”… He also spoke of utilizing Broward Chamber…Kim Briesemeister responded the Chamber has different visions …He asked about the business improvement district and Chris Brown stated the commission can create a BID… Comm. Sasser went on to address the Town Hall-El Prado issue and RMA’s presentation point of it being the “most prime spot” …Chris went on to speak of the “beautiful views” and under utilization…making it green (El Prado parking lot…see above)…and people gathering there… This is when the TM added it was the largest property in town (3+ acres) …Chris spoke of “joint ventures” with properties …Comm. Sasser also addressed A1A and Chris Brown added the “suicide lane” quotient …stating slow is good…He also spoke of a promenade on A1A…being well lit../. Comm. Sasser asked about the public bathrooms and Chris said when they make the Town Hall- El Prado lot green we will figure it out …Comm. Sasser asked about Minto after the Minto lawyer said no to the hotel idea…Again, Chris Brown was overly candid perhaps in stating Minto would be rentals…although hi-end luxury rentals rather … (How’s that fit in to the recent action seen statewide for vacation rentals being allowed?)… At this point Mayor Minnet cut Comm. Sasser off…despite her opening call for this being the time for asking all the questions the Comms. have for the presenters…
Comm. Vincent put forth the idea that came from the resident input meeting a few weeks back of stopping traffic in all 4 ways for pedestrians (at least he didn’t do a McIntee ..I had a dream taking credit for the idea!)… Some response over the pros and cons came in response from Chris Brown…
Comm. Clottey spoke of the change in retail over the last years (Her marketing cap still on) …the change of demographics and online shopping…She asked what type of retail RMA was proposing…Kim Briesemeister spoke of the “interns” used and speaking with current merchants…She went on to what you go after to come to town and it “can’t be a guess”… Comm. Clottey spoke of “targeting tourists and visitors” …Chris Brown spoke of “targeting” local residents then tourists…He spoke of woman’s boutiques rebounding…( Good thing VM Dodd re-addressed and got the Commission to reverse their stance on boutique hi-end consignment woman’s shops for allowable businesses in-town)… This was the point in the meeting Comm. Clottey called Comm. Vincent out on his statement of no change being put forth for parking use on El Mar Drive when he spoke earlier…(she did not name him …see Hibernation over? post) )… Chris Brown did some backtracking on the idea of restrictive night parking by the medians after public comment and the break speaking to people who are against it)… and spoke of stages in working it out… He added that if he was Paul Novak (owner of High Noon) he would want parking on El Mar for hotel visitors of guests….This writer believes parking should be allowed with restrictive times …not beyond the cut-off time for special events 10 pm and parking should be readily available in current spaces and lots after that for those who stay late …Weekend parking could be addressed as well… Comm. Clottey spoke of the dangers of a raised inside lane to drivers…TM Hoffmann stated our traffic engineer (another consultant hired) said there was no problem and such a multi-purpose lane was safe and doable…It was put forth by the MPSC…(This writer is opposed …4-lanes let walkers walk and bikers bike where they want!)…
It was at this point in the meeting the Town Manager put a question to the Commission who she stated had a “strong desire for costs” and financing plans to retain the services of RMA which would require a vote due to her $15,000 TM limit being used up with RMA’s report tonight…
The Mayor asked about implementing drainage and TM Hoffmann responded yes…The Mayor stated “projects moving forward”…and “costs for getting costs”… Comm. Clottey wanted the RMA issue to retain to be tabled to the Roundtable to get input from the people and the cost of the next step,… Comm. Vincent didn’t want to delay and asked RMA for an “estimate for cost of costs”…before the Rtable…The Mayor asked the TM for an estimate…The Town Manager didn’t have one…(Item 5a 4/12/11 Rtable cost $19,900 fro RMA )The Mayor said it should be at the Rtable then…Comm. Sasser agreed and asked “what are those costs we won’t have to incur using RMA?”…The VM said he was happy to have it all on the Rtable and the TM reminded them a special meeting would need to be injected yet again in order to vote…(VM Dodd has put on an agenda item for 4/12/11 to return to 2 Comm. mtgs. due to the need for special meetings in order to vote)… Comm. Clottey then asked about the next item on the agenda …the A1A study and how that would effect the process…The TM said that it would help move forward to implementation… The Mayor stated they were two separate issues …
The Commission went on to item 3b and the A1A UM study for $15,000-$18,000…(it came in a t $16,500 on agenda item 4a) …The TM spoke of the difference between the UM students and professionals (30+) and the AI students used for the pavilion+ El Mar Dr. medians… the time frame and public input… The Mayor asked if this would help save costs… Kim Briesemeister first said no and parameters were needed as well as a civil engineering and landscape architects to work with FDOT…She must have seen the TM’s face for she backtracked to say it could save money in the end saving the cost on hiring individuals…The TM added if they were not included we could do it internally… Comm. Clottey asked if we would see an end to A1A backout parking in our lifetime and Chris Brown emphatically responded”No”… VM Dodd asked about the impact of using Jarvis Hall for days as has been the result in the past…The TM said it could be done in a large storefront as well but saw no impact problem… VM Dodd asked if this was the last study and the TM responded this was design work and she hoped it was the last study…Comm. Sasser picking up on the additional requirements Kim Briesemeister stated were needed asked for costs which was it $15,000 or $18,000 …TM Hoffmann replied $15,000 (final amt. $16,500…now including traffic engineer costs)…Comm. Sasser asked about what had not been designed yet and the TM responded A1A north…Comm. Blvd. …Chris Brown spoke of Aruba Beach Cafe and the need to “break the log jam” with them …stating it would be “tricky”…. This writer hears the log jam is closing off traffic to the restaurant vs. one lane of traffic cutting back the median and wider sidewalks…My take include Aruba Beach Cafe from the start they along with the pier are the very reason locals …visitors and tourists come to LBTS!…The TM stated that area was included in the UM study and Chris Brown said “Go for it!”…
The Commissioners/TM/RMA summed up the components discussed above .. the Mayor asked for a motion…The TAtty. informed her it was “actually a workshop” they were conducting allowing for no votes…but there was consensus…
The next Roundtable/Special Meeting is on Tuesday night 4/12/11 at 7pm in Jarvis Hall…The full backup is online as of Friday night… http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/
Time for the stakeholder…taxpayers and businesses to attend and make phone calls and email their elected officials….
This writer will post sometime after …
More to come….
