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HomeMy WebLinkAbout256058 - MINUTES - CRA MINUTES OF MEETING CITY OF DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 - 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Chairman Flury called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Present: Chairman: Patricia A. Flury Vice-Chairman: Bobbie Grace Board Members: Anne Castro Walter Duke CRA Executive Director: Jeremy Earle City Attorney: Thomas Ansbro CRA Secretary: Louise Stilson Absent: Board Member: C. K. "Mac"McElyea Board Member Castro motioned to excuse the absence of Board Member McElyea; seconded by Chairman Flury. The motion carried unanimously. 2. Presentations 2.1 Presentation by CRA Special Counsel Mike Moskowitz Mike Moskowitz, CRA Special Counsel, provided the history of the funding from the County. He explained that of the $1 M Redevelopment Capital Program (RCP) funds that we originally had, the County finally approved giving the City $700,000.00. Attorney Moskowitz noted that a contract for the construction of the roadway needs to be entered into by June 1, 2011. He indicated that this is now in the developer's hands. If this does not occur by the set date, the funds will be forfeited. Attorney Moskowitz further advised that if this is accomplished, the construction needs to be completed by May 31, 2012. He remarked that if we get to use $6M from the $6.3M originally allocated to the City, this would be the only CRA to have utilized 90% of the funds and to have completed the projects. Board Member Duke questioned the developer's commitment to proceed with the construction of the roadway. Director Earle noted that he told Hank Thomas we will not expend $700,000.00 if the hotel is not being built. 3. Consent Agenda Items pulled from Consent Agenda: #3.1, #3.2, #3.3 3.1 Minutes Approve minutes of January 25, 2011 Special CRA Board Meeting Approve minutes of February 8, 2011 Special CRA Board Meeting Approve minutes of February 16, 2011 Special CRA Board Meeting Approve minutes of February 2, 2011 Regular CRA Board Meeting Board Member Duke motioned to approve the minutes; seconded by Vice-Chairman Grace. The motion carried unanimously. 3.2 Travel Requests Anne Castro Travel Approval for trip to Washington, DC (February 28, 2011 - March 1, 2011) to meet with Congressional Delegation Request of Jeremy Earle to attend the American Planning Association Conference from April 9- 11, 2011, in Boston, MA, for educational purposes Board Member Castro provided an update on her trip to Washington DC. She noted the goal was to try to obtain funds for the bridge projects. Board Member Castro commended Alcalde & Fay for their expertise and for arranging meetings with the right people. She briefed the board on her meeting with the Economic Development Agency, a part of the Department of Commerce, which was probably the most productive meeting they had. Board Member Castro stated that everyone on the Congressional Delegation committed to submitting letters of support with our application. She advised that we will probably know within the next three to six months how fruitful the trip was. Chairman Flury questioned if we had looked into the railroad tracks. Director Earle responded we will need to speak to the higher level FEC representatives in order to move the rail project forward. Chairman Flury said she would not want us to spend a lot of money on the bridge if the railroad track does not get done. Director Earle noted our preference is the bastion bridge option which would allow us to go a little bit north of Griffin Road. He commented there may be a chance of getting both the FEC and US1 bridges in one Project Development and Environment Study (PD & E), which would take into account several important factors. Board Member Castro indicated that there may be a second track installed for light rail trains. Minutes of Regular Meeting 2 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, April 6,2011 —6:00 p.m. Board Member Castro motioned to approve the travel requests; seconded by Board Member Duke. The motion carried unanimously. 3.3 Request to increase encumbrance for Moskowitz Mandell Salim & Simowitz P.A., and Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske to $40,000.00 Director Earle advised that the requested funds are currently available in the CRA budget. Board Member Castro motioned to approve the increase in encumbrance for the two firms; seconded by Vice-Chairman Grace. The motion carried unanimously. 4. CRA Updates Director Earle noted the cul-de-sac project should be completed for the Library grand opening on Saturday, April 9. He further reported on the status of the CRA neighborhood projects. Chairman Flury requested a project schedule for the CRA to include funding and balance. Board Member Duke noted the CIP workshop would be a good opportunity to discuss all of our projects. Director Earle spoke about the US 1 Landscape project. He noted there are some issues as to how the contractor interpreted certain things. Director Earle further said that the contractor has come back with additional amounts for both phase 1 and 2. He wanted the Board to have the option to decide whether to cancel the project or proceed. Vice-Chairman Grace asked if we could break the project down in phases, as opposed to doing the complete project. Director Earle responded it could be done, but the City would have to bring the system up to speed. He added we could cancel one half of the project and do phase 1 only. Board Member Castro confirmed with Director Earle that phase 1 of the project includes Stirling Road north to Old Griffin Road. Board Member Duke remarked that this project needs to be done because it is very important for our City. He said he wants to have the exact numbers from Director Earle so we can make a good decision. Board Member Duke suggested adding this project as an agenda item for our upcoming CIP workshop. Director Earle noted that the contract is for the entire project, but broken down by phases. Discussion followed between the Board and Director Earle regarding the additional costs and possible savings involved in the project. Minutes of Regular Meeting 3 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday,April 6,2011 —6:00 p.m. Board Member Duke noted we should get the benefit of the $150,000.00 discount that the contractor gave us if we continue with phase 2. He pointed out that the additional cost for the water main in phase 1 would have been paid by the City anyway. Director Earle noted that we could add a condition for phase 2 if we approve the contract for construction. Board Member Castro questioned the funding sources. Chairman Flury noted that something is wrong with a company that underbid a project by fifty percent. She stated that if we move forward with phase 1, we should create a very tight contract including all of our concerns. Colin Donnelly, Assistant City Manager, noted the City submitted a CDBG application for phase 2 of this project and Broward County approved it in the amount of$219,000.00. He advised that in order to utilize these funds for phase 2 we would need to enter into a contract with Broward County and rebid the project with specific language. Board Member Castro suggested we get a complete cost of each of the phases and place it as a discussion item on the April 12 Commission agenda. Assistant City Manager Donnelly advised that the funds for this project were originally to come from reserves. Board Member Duke noted we should ask Finance Director Bates where the money will come from and report back to the Commission. Director Earle advised that we have hired the Economic Development Manager who begins on Monday, May 2, 2011. He noted her name is Ana Zeineih and added that she comes highly recommended and is also very well connected in the economic development circles of Broward County. Chairman Flury noted that she looked at the job description for this position and noticed contradictions and lack of clarity. She asked Director Earle to review the job description in order to make life easier for the new hire. 5. Proposals and Bids There were no proposals on this agenda. 6. Discussion and Possible Action 6.1 Discussion to change regular meeting dates Minutes of Regular Meeting 4 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, April 6,2011 —6:00 p.m. Chairman Flury suggested combining the CRA Board meeting with Commission meeting dates. Board Member Duke noted he prefers a stand alone meeting. Vice-Chairman Grace said she also prefers a stand alone meeting. It was the consensus of the Board to keep the meetings as is. 7. Adjournment Chairman Flury adjourned the meeting at 6:45 p.m. ATTEST: COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY LOUISE STILSON, CMC PATRICIA A. FLURY CRA SECRETARY CHAIRMAN—CRA Approved: June 1, 2011 DANIA BEACH f�OMM�fI11T1111E0NYtlO�NT AOtpCr Minutes of Regular Meeting 5 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday,April 6,2011 —6:00 p.m.