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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-02-15 Marine Advisory Board Minutes • City of Dania Beach Marine Advisory Board February 15"',2006 The Marine Advisory Board met in the city hall conference room on Wednesday,February 15'h. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Clive Taylor at 6:00 PM. Members present: Debbie Bradford Mike Grady John Kafoursos Billy Phipps Bernard Swindell Clive Taylor Craig McAdams William Wosenitz Members absent: Mark Latimer Brian Carroll(excused) Charlie McKenna(excused) Carol Stokrocki Louis Webb(excused) Lester McKenny(excused) Ray Lair Others present: Capt.Glenn Morris,Liaison Officer Jason Riddle,BSO Ivan Pato,City Manager Suzanne Witz Following the roll call,Chairman Taylor deviated from the agenda and called on City Manager Pato for his comments. • Mr.Pato said he had come by to bring the board up to date on the Sea Fair Marina situation. Some of the legal documents were signed off on the IYh and the City Attorney had assured him the balance of the paperwork will be completed next week The City will take over the Marina on March 1". Presently he is looking at options on the best way to run the facility short term and long term and plans on going to the site on the 171h to determine the repairs that are needed. Effective March 1"the revenues that come in will be coming to the City and the City is presently in the process of gathering information on who the renters are,what kind of agreement they have,what they are paying and who is doing the collecting. Letters telling the tenants of the change will be sent out. For the short term the present employees will continue as part of the transition until the Commission has an opportunity to examine the situation. So far the cooperation has been very good. Chairman Taylor asked if the Commission has had a chance to look at any of the information submitted by the board. Mr.Pato said no,the information is still in his desk because the details of the transfer were being worked out. If the board doesn't want to make any changes,he will release the suggestions to the commissioners next week He suggested the board a meeting with the Commissioners,perhaps a workshop,so they can have an exchange of opinions with the board. Hopefully sometime in March a workshop could be held and then the board will be able to get some indication of what the Commission wants. First and foremost the improvements should be discussed. Next rates need to be determined. Eventually the improvements and maintenance can be covered by the income with no burden to the taxpayers. Chairman Taylor told Mr.Pato that is exactly what the board bad proposed and it was covered in the information that had been given to him. Mr.Pato pointed out the Commissioners haven't seen any of the board information but he felt sure they will be receptive to any help the board can offer. Mr.Pato then reminded the board there are agreements in place with FAU until 2012 and they will have to be honored until that time. That can't be changed. He said there are a number of things 1. • that have to be taken care of. First,the facility has to be given a name and it will be necessary to do some promoting. Whatever the board feels comfortable recommending to the Commission can be done in March. The budget preparation process begins in April and funds for making the necessary improvements will have to be determined. He said he had not had any input from the Commission about any of the specific things suggested by the board and stated he was clueless as to what the Commission wants to do. Chairman Taylor said that is why the Commission needs to read the report submitted by the board. Mr.Palo said the report will be in the hands of the Commissioners next week. He suggested board members might follow up with phone calls to the Commissioners. Mr.Pato mentioned it's going to be a little while before the pier reopens because of the construction of the restaurant. He also said there has been quite a bit of vandalism in the beach area recently. Before Mr.Pato left,Chairman Taylor said he had another issue on which he might need some political clout,that being a dredging project involving Port Everglades,the Inter Coastal and the Dania Cut Off Canal up to the Federal Highway bridge. He feels it's the perfect opportunity for that contract to include the area under that bridge as well. Mr.Palo suggested this issue should be brought to the attention of the Commissioners for their support. A lengthy discussion followed concerning lack of sea walls or any type of erosion protection along some the canal area. After Mr.Pato left,Chairman Taylor returned to the agenda and asked if everyone had received a copy of the minutes. Capt.Morris said they had been mailed to all the board members. Chairman Taylor asked if there were any additions or corrections. Mr.Wosenitz said the dredging project had been discussed but was not in the minutes. Ms.Bradford called attention to page 2,under new business,Mr.Herhold had announced the January 27t°meeting of the Florida Inland Navigation District and had spoken at length about the dredging project. Since there were no other corrections or additions a motion was made by Mr.McKinney to accept the minutes as written, Motion seconded by Ms.Bradford. Motion carried. Mr.Wosenwitz said he had talked about South Florida • Water Management pumping millions of gallons of dirty water from the highways into the C10 Canal and causing an increase in the current and he wanted the boards objection to be on record. Next item on the agenda was the Liaison report. The Board was shocked and upset to learn that Capt Morris will no longer be serving as Liaison. When he was asked what had happened he said he had received a call from Kristen Jones,Parks&Rec.Director,who told him he was not budgeted money wise. He had formerly been apart of the Fire Department but recently was moved to being under Parks&Recreation. He said he had thought Mr.Pato was going to cover the change.but since he hadn't,it was left up to him to inform the board. He went on to say he had suggested that someone from Code Enforcement might be the best replacement since the board will be dealing with code items. However at the present he isn't exactly sure just what will be happening insofar as his replacement is concerned. He was told that a department head will be present at future board meetings. Kathy,who works in the office, will be doing the mailings and Suzanne will continue transcribing the minutes from the tapes. Capt.Morris said he wanted to take this opportunity to thank the board for all they have achieved but stressed there is still a lot more to be accomplished. He said in the thirty years he has been here, this board has been the most active for volunteers and have saved the City a great deal of money He felt it was exciting to have been part of it. He assured everyone he will continue to help any way he can and the board shouldn't hesitate to call him if there's anything he can do. The board members were unanimous in expressing the fact that they don't understand the logic of this decision and they wanted to know if there wasn't some way to keep Capt.Morris as Liaison. Chairman Taylor said Capt.Morris has been a true asset. He set the agenda and has kept the board informed on the renourishment project,worked closely with the Marine Patrol,secured programs and speakers in addition to always being accessible when anyone needed help or advice. • 2. Capt.Morris said"Your efforts on this board are heard. What this board has accomplished and • what it is going to accomplish is very important., you're the only ones now that are standing between what should be done and what will be done with the marina. A lot of news media liked the idea of the Dania Beach Yacht Club and as soon as the City realizes it's a money maker,it's all there for you. "Thanks again to all of you." A lengthy discussion followed. Some of the board members asked if there wasn't something that could be done and couldn't the Board approach the Commission as a group to request that Capt. Morris continue. Chairman Taylor called the boards attention back to the agenda. He said John Kafouros and the Marina Committee will be talking to the Commissioners regarding the report the Board had prepared The next item listed on the agenda was"Boat Security". Mike Grady said he had discussed this topic with Chief Cowart. Chief Cowart is gathering some statistics on boat thefts and at the next meeting Officer Riddle will have some suggestions for preventing boats from being stolen. Everyone needs to become more aware of any suspicious action taking place in their neighborhood and report it to BSO. The proper number to call is the BSO non-emergency number(954)7654321. There being no additional business to bring to the attention of the board,Chairman Taylor adjourned the meeting at 7:15. Clive Taylor,Chairman Respectfully submitted, • Suzanne Witz 3. •