2014-0401 Special City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Special City Commission Meeting April I,2014 Sunny Isles Beach,Florida the fence at Town Center Park is six-feet. Commissioner Scholl said at Intracoastal Park,he thinks a low rise fence would be more appropriate. We are just trying to keep kids from running out into the street. The playground is geared toward kids but that does not mean you won't get others. City Manager Russo said there is a concern on each of these items. Mayor Edelcup said while we are talking about the gate,he would like a gate up front too at the Samson Oceanfront Park. City Manager Russo said yes, that was the other thing. We need to consider if we want to put a gate through there also. Mayor Edelcup said it is just at the front end because the three sides are already covered. City Manager Russo said yes, on that it would not be as significant as if you were fencing in the whole thing. Commissioner Scholl said his question is, these Parks in the south end don't have any parking, and so it is clearly just folks walking there. They are not going to attract folks walking from the north end or the central. The central Parks attracts people from all over because they are a little fatter and denser. No doubt that they are going to get used but he wants to be careful, he never anticipated putting a fence up,he understands why,he gets it but at the same time,a lot of the ambiance of the Park is you are driving down Collins Avenue and there it is nice and inviting, and now we are going to turn it into an area that looks cordoned off. He thought a lot of the ambiance of the Park was as you are coming down the sidewalk, you would be more inclined to meander through the Park as opposed to walking along the sidewalk. When you put a fence up, it kills a lot of that ambiance, it makes it more like a destination spot as opposed to a community kind of flow through. But health and safety comes first. His point was that we want to be careful that we see the kind of usage that we are talking about before we front run that conclusion. Vice Mayor Aelion said the colony and also we have the white sculpture there, maybe a lighter fence would be better. Mayor Edelcup said or black, and City Manager Russo said yes, he is thinking about the Streetscape. Commissioner Levin asked if you are thinking about having attendants at the passive Parks as well? City Manager Russo said we will probably be going to need an attendant in every park except for Golden Shores and Pier Park. Commissioner Scholl said that Pier Park has kind of got one anyway. Mayor Edelcup said all the Parks except for Golden Shores are so busy these days and looking at what is happening,we have 1,500 new apartments coming in, that is 3,000 more people and that is probably 600 more kids,and so the Parks are not going to get less use, they are going to grow. Commissioner Levin asked what happened to the statue at Town Center Park? City Manager pp h' g Russo said it was vandalized. Someone knocked it over and broke the connection of the hands which made it lean over in a barrel shape. It is made from metal but is not heavy. He has been in contact with an artist who worked with the artist that did the sculptures for us, and he does a lot of their metal work. The artist actually gave him a proposal to totally rehab the sculpture that is there but now he is going to have him look at the other one as well to repair it. The pricing may not be outrageous when you consider an overhaul of all the sculptures. Mayor Edelcup said we will probably have the same problem with the statues in Intracoastal Park. City Manager Russo said he already talked to the artist about putting a coating on them. 9