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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission Workshop Meeting MINUTES OF WORKSHOP DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2008 — 7:00 P.M. (IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CRA BOARD MEETING) 1. Call to Order Mayor Jones called the Workshop to order at 6:50 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present: Mayor: Albert Jones Vice-Mayor: Anne Castro Commissioners: Bob Anton John Bertino Patricia Flury City Manager: Ivan Pato City Attorney: Thomas Ansbro City Clerk: Louise Stilson 3. Presentation by Scott Backman, Esq.: Proposed 5-story, 127 room hotel located at SW 19`h Court, Leto Park Plat(North of Stirling Road, North of Valguard approved site plan) Corinne Lajoie, AICP, Principal City Planner, explained the location of the property. She advised the request is to construct a new 5-story hotel on a vacant lot. Ms. Lajoie indicated that the applicant would be requesting variances for parking, loading berths, signage and pole sign. The Commission discussed the Library project while Mr. Backman tried to set up his PowerPoint presentation. City Manager Pato advised that a draft of the proposed interlocal agreement for the Library was submitted to Broward County for their consideration. He noted that this item will not be on the County agenda until at least August, mainly due to County staff summer vacation and budget preparation. City Attorney Ansbro explained that the County is suggesting a 50-year lease for the Library, but he will try to reduce the term to a 30-year lease. Commissioner Flury questioned if we could start the RFP process for the building before we finalize the interlocal agreement with the County. Dominic Orlando, Director of Public Services, explained this was not possible because part of the interlocal agreement information and legal requirements would need to be included in the Design-Build package; however City staff is moving as fast as we can. He noted that the County has been very reasonable in accepting our suggestions. Vice-Mayor Castro noted that we should make sure that the CRA funding matter and the Library issues are not placed on the same County agenda. Scott Backman, of the law fine of Siegel, Lipman, et al, representing the applicant Marriott TownePlace Suites, noted there would be three hotels in close proximity. He explained that this would be an extended stay hotel for business travelers. Attorney Backman indicated they would need a variance for parking, although they would provide a complimentary airport shuttle. He noted the Cambria Suites no longer requires a parking variance. There will not be a restaurant or cocktail lounge in the TownePlace Suites. Attorney Backman advised they would also require a variance for the pole sign, building signs, and one for the loading zone. He advised that the three hotels would be connected through a lighted pathway and the roadway would also be shared. Commissioner Bertino asked if they could install solar lighting in the parking lot. Attorney Backman agreed to discuss this matter with the architects and bring a response to the Commission when the project comes back for consideration. Commissioner Flury suggested a shared parking agreement with the other hotels. City Attorney Ansbro advised that he is working on creating a hotel overlay district that would affect the hotels on Stirling Road and Griffin Road. He explained that businesses joining this group would be able to provide 90 percent of their required parking, subject to agreements for shared parking. Commissioner Flury was concerned with the increase of pole signs in our City, and suggested one nice sign for all the hotels. Vice-Mayor Castro noted she would not object to the parking, building signs, or loading zone variances. However, she was concerned with the size of the pole sign and noted that 75 square feet was large for the marker and would like to see it reduced. Commissioner Bertino reiterated that the shared parking agreement would be a good solution to the parking issue. He suggested a sign like the proposed DCOTA monument sign as an alternative to the pole signs. Commissioner Anton had no objection to the project. He noted that a pole sign was a necessary evil when dealing with hotels, visibility, and a major highway. Commissioner Anton agreed with Vice-Mayor Castro regarding the size of the pole sign. He suggested a shared sign which would meet the needs of all the businesses in that area as well as the City requirements. Commissioner Anton confirmed with Attorney Backman that the proposed hotel would not provide conference facilities other than a small conference room to host in-house meetings. Minutes of Workshop 2 Dania Beach City Commission Wednesday,June 4,2008—7:00 p.m. (Immediately following the CRA Board Meeting) Mayor Jones agreed with the rest of the Commission regarding the shared parking and the pole sign and hoped the three hotels would come to an agreement on these issues. The general consensus of the Commission was to move forward with the project. Commissioner Anton noted that he, City Manager Palo and City Attorney Ansbro met with Frank Brogan and other FAU representatives, regarding the Marina property. He noted this would be a discussion item on Tuesday's City Commission agenda. Commissioner Anton explained that we currently have control of the Marina until 2012 at which time the property reverts back to FAU with the City having the first right of refusal until 2046. He further advised that we are attempting to return the Marina to the City so we can proceed with the improvements that we have planned to make it profitable. Commissioner Anton noted that FAU wants scholarship money and the Aragon Group was paying 20% of the net profit to FAU. The City has been operating at a loss. At the request of FAU Attorneys, we obtained an appraisal of $1.5M, as the marina exists today. The buyout, which would include all of the interest of the lease through 2046, with an additional 49 year period, would be $780,000. He pointed out that if we do a one-time lump sum buyout for $780,000 we would never have to be concerned about this issue again. Commissioner Anton advised that we are currently negotiating an agreement with the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND), therefore we would need to make a decision by the end of July. City Attorney Ansbro explained that FAU currently pays the City $32,000 per year and that the net buyout in cash would be $380,000. He advised that if we move forward with this plan for a lump sum, with FAU not making any future payments until 2046, we would recover the Marina immediately. Commissioner Bertino thought it was a very attractive offer and we should proceed with the buyout. City Attorney Ansbro advised that FAU President Brogan agreed with the proposal and indicated that they could bring it to their Board of Trustees for consideration on June 23. Commissioner Anton remarked that this issue could be resolved by July and the Marina would be ours forever. Vice-Mayor Castro noted that we own the Marina land and we would only be suspending their lease payments for the SeaTech portion of the property. She clarified that we would have the Marina land permanently and eventually we would get the SeaTech portion as well. She questioned the funding source for the proposed buyout. Commissioner Anton noted that staff would provide the necessary information for discussion at the June 10 Commission meeting. Vice-Mayor Castro commended Commissioner Anton as well as City Attorney Ansbro and City Manager Palo on their efforts to have this matter resolved. Minutes of Workshop 3 Dania Beach City Commission Wednesday,June 4,2008—7:00 p.m. (Immediately following the CRA Board Meeting) Commissioner Anton clarified that we would no longer provide scholarship money and that there would not be any more changing hands of money until 2046, when they would have to renegotiate with us for the lease of the SeaTech facility. He advised that the City would probably allow them access to the Marina to load/unload their equipment, provided the rest of the Commission agreed with this recommendation. 4. Adiournment Mayor Jones adjourned the Workshop at 7:36 p.m. ATT,�ST: (� ` \1 CITY IF DA�NIA BEACH LOUISE STILSON, CMC ALBERT C. )ONES CITY CLERK OQppARD'S p MAYOR-COMMISSIONER Approved: June 24, 2008 1 arED +9°n Minutes of Workshop 4 Dania Beach City Commission Wednesday,June 4,2008—7:00 p.m. (Immediately following the CRA Board Meeting)