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Minutes 10-25-88 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING HELD AT PRIME BANK PLAZA, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1988 AT 6:00 P. M. PRESENTATIONS BY CONSULTANTS FOR EXPANDED REDEVELOPMENT AREA AND SELECTION OF CONSULTANT PRESENT Ralph Marchese, Mayor Ezell Hester, Jrt, Vice Mayor eonard Mann, Commissioner obert Olenik, Jr., ~ Commissioner ~rline Weiner, Commissioner Johnnetta Broomfield, Director, Community Improvement George Hunt, Assistant City Manager Sue Kruse, Deputy City Clerk Mayor Marchese called the meeting to order at 6:02 P. M. and Istated that the purpose of the meeting was to hear the pre- sentations for the expanded redevelopment area by two con- sultants recommended to the City Commission by the Selection ~ommittee. The Committee had recommended three consultants, ~u~ Urban Design Studio had withdrawn their proposal just ~rlor to this meeting. Ks. Broomfield explained the procedure to be followed for this meeting. The consultant who was selected as first choice by the Selection Committee, Reynolds, Smith and Hill, would have an hour for their presentation. There would be time for questions and answers. At 7:00 P. M. the second choice of the Committee, WRT, would be heard. Ms. Broomfield stated that it was hoped that the City Commission ould make their selection after they had heard both presen- ations. She further suggested that, due to the time onstraints, that the firm selected be allowed to begin work immediately as the contract would not be approved until the ~egular City Commission Meeting to be held on November 1, · 988. The contract would be based on the terms as submitted ~n the proposals. REYNOLDS, SMITH AND HILLS PRESENTATION Todd Deming, AIA, Vice President, Planning, stated that he had experience in the field of community planning and deve- lopment, with particular emphasis on parks and recreation )lanning. If Reynolds, Smith and Hills (RS&H) was selected ~r. Deming would serve as Project Officer and Jeannie Fewell would serve as Project Manager. He further explained that the Commissoners were familiar with Plantec which was owned by RS&H and that Plantec had been consolidated. He explained that at any time during their presentation uestions could be asked. They would make their presen- tation, answer questions and requested a few minutes for a -1- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 summation at the end of the hour. Mr. Deming would not dwell on the qualifications of RS&H but would be attempting t6 tell the Mayor and Commissioners just what his firm could do for the City in regard to this project. They proposed to use senior staff for the project due to the short time frame in which the work was to be accomplished. They understood that in order to qualify for Tax Increment Financing their work would have to be accomplished in a 30 day period of time. They proposed to use from 8 - 12 people to work on the project. Mr. Deming pointed out that their firm has abproximately 1,500 employees and they have urban planners ahd designers, real estate economists, housing specialists, t~ansportation planners, engineers and architects on their s~aff. They proposed to do all the work inhouse. R~&H proposed the following schedule: Task 1 Data and Issues Identification Meeting Task 2 Data Gathering lO/26/88 lO/26/88 - 11/4/88 Task 3 Data Analysis 10/26/88 - 11/18/88 Task 4 Consensus Building Workshop 11/ /s8 Task 5 Technical Preparation of Plan 11/8/88 - 11/18/88 Task 6 Plan Presentation To City Staff Final Plan Submitted 11/21/88 11/28/88 Task 7 Final Presentation to City Commission 11/30/88 s. Fewell explained that they wanted to involve as many ocal businessmen, developers, real estate experts, bankers, ~nd citizens as was possible. It was their feeling that if ~ product is not marketable, it will fail no matter how ~retty the presentation. Mr. Deming gave further information regarding the Consensus ~uilding Workshop meeting proposed for November 7, 1988. He hoted that it would be held at some location away from the City, probably at the Holiday Inn. This could be held in ~he evening if that was a suitable time for the majority of ~he people. -2- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYI~TON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 RS&H stated that they could fulfill the requirements of F~orida Statute 163 and would include an analysis of the market demand, financing alternatives, and an implementation p~an for key redevelopment projects. They are also familiar w~th the housing conditions in the City. RS&H proposed a cost of $40,400 and would provide 50 copies of their report. CQmmissioner Weiner asked if this firm met all the require- m~nts as Ms. Broomfield saw them. Ms. Broomfield answered that they did. There was further discussion regarding the tiime frame and whether it was too restrictive. Ms. Fewell ekplained that they proposed to start work on the 26th and she felt that the time was not too short for the product t~ey were proposing. There was further discussion regarding the cost proposed and the number of people. Ms. Fewell ~xplained that due to the time constraints, only senior people were being used and that from 8 - 12 people would be ~orking almost full time on the project. There was also ~ome discussion regarding bonding. After some discussion ~egarding the date for the Consensus Workshop meeting, Mr. Deming stated that they were flexible in regard to that date ~nd the time for the meeting. ~here was also discussion regarding input from the Police Department about the high crime areas, etc. It was the feeling of all that this was a good idea to get their input. ~s. Fewell and Mr. Deming had not seen the plans for Boynton ~each Boulevard, but Ms. Broomfield would furnish a copy of ~hose plans for them. They agreed to work with that plan in as much as it was possible and would still provide a market- ~ble product. pRESENTATION BY WRT (WALLACE ROBERTS & TODD) John Fernsler, President of WRT, Inc. came forward to make ~he presentation for WRT. He noted that all three firms Selected by the Selection Committee were outstanding firms. ~e noted that WRT had more experience in preparing community ~edevelopment plans in Florida as they had done approxima- tely 50 percent of those plans for Florida. They had also ~one a large percentage of those nationally. He felt they ~ere knowledgeable about what would work and what would not ~ork. He felt that the time constraints would not allow ~hem to do all that they would like, but he felt that the ~ity would not really have adequate time to deal with the marketing and financing for the project in order to make firm decisions. Mr. Fernsler then listed some of the staff ~e has available to work on the project and noted their ~ields of experience. Mr. Fernsler is director of the Florida office and has over 12 years experience preparing Community redevelopment plans for various cities in Florida. -3- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 Gregg Barrett has experience in documenting conditions in redevelopment areas. Catherine Timko is an economic deve- lopment specialist and has nearly 10 years experience in public agencies involved in community revitalization. Mr. Fernsler then gave a slide presentation which consisted of various projects throughout Florida and other states which they had successfully designed. He showed projects in M~ami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Hollywood, Homestead, and Ft. Lauderdale in Florida and a project in Camden, New Jersey. There were also projects in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach which had been very successful. ~RT proposed to perform the following tasks: Task 1 Kick Off Technical Workshop (Would include citizen input as well as technical input) Task 2 DoCumentation of Deficiencies (needs identified in Task 1) Task 3 Community Workshop (open to the community to go through the needs identified and come up with a prioritized list of needs) Task 4 Draft Plan (plan to meet minimum FS163 require- ments and to be presented to the City Commission in a public hearing) Task 5 Completed Redevelopment Plan Task 6 Final Presentation ;RT proposed a cost of $15,000 which included all direct ~xpenses and 25 copies of the plan report. The cost excluded technical, economic or engineering analysis, as well as data gathering or surveying which they proposed to be ~rovided by the City as necessary. Their proposal was pre- iented as a skeletal effort to be followed immediately by nother phase of plan refinement and elaboration. n answer to Commissioner Weiner's question, Ms. Broomfield 3tated that she did not feel the presentation included ~nough information to take it to the bank for financing and :o come up with projects. This consultant proposed to pro- ~ide that type information in another step which would ~ollow the initial process. Mayor Marchese clarified that 4s. Broomfield was saying they would provide information about the area without telling the City where they can go to -4- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 get developers or financing. Ms. Broomfield agreed this was the case as they proposed to provide this information in another phase. As there were no further comments, the consultant was d~smissed and a short break was taken. The meeting resumed at 7:30 P. M. for a discussion and s!election by the City Commission. COMMENTS BY MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Weiner dommissioner Weiner stated that she had tried to give the ~irector of Community Improvement a chance to say that she was satisfied with the result of the work done by the two ~irms, especially RS&H as that was Ms. Broomfield's first ~hoice. Commissioner Weiner felt that RS&H would work with ~he community for the success of that area and she recom- mended that RS&H be selected for the project. Vice Mayor Hester Vice Mayor Hester had read all the information provided and had listened to the presentations. He noted that RS&H was Billing to include the marketing and financial suggestions ~s part of their product. He preferred Reynolds, Smith and Hills. ~ Commissioner Mann Commissioner Mann found both firms to be well qualified. ; Commissioner Olenik ~ommissioner Olenik was concerned about whether or not the ~ommission would be able to evaluate all the information ghat RS&H would provide in the few days available to them. e felt that both firms were qualified and it was a toss up as far as he was concerned. He felt that RS&H had done a letter job with their presentation. He was concerned about he difference in the costs for the two firms (RS&H at 40,000 and WRT at $15,000). Vice Mayor Hester reminded the ommission that the $15,000 excluded some areas, and RS&H had included all areas of expertise in their cost. Mayor Marchese Mayor Marchese felt that both firms are good. He felt that lif the additional costs were added to WRT's proposal, they -5- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 might be as much as that proposed by RS&H. He stated that he was leaning toward selection of RS&H. Commissioner Olenik (further comments) Commissioner Olenik was concerned that RS&H talked about a project in Jacksonville Beach which they had done. WRT stated that they had to take over a project in Jacksonville Beach which had to be thrown out as it did not work. After ~urther discussion, comments were made that these could have been projects in different areas of Jacksonville Beach. There were further comments about the costs proposed by the ~wo firms. Mayor Marchese pointed out that Ms. Broomfield ~ad met with all three firms and had provided good reasons for going with RS&H. Comments by Ms. Broomfield Ms. Broomfield stated that she had spoken with City Manager Cheney by telephone. RS&H was his number one choice and Urban Design was his second choice. WRT was his third choice due to the unknown factors and also they did not pro- pose to provide as much information as the others. Commissioner Olenik asked if the Selection Committee had voted unanimously and Ms. Broomfield answered that for the number one choice the vote was unanimous. MOTION Commissioner Weiner moved that Reynolds, Smith and Hills be selected as the consultant for the Expanded Redevelopment Area plan. Motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Hester and ~arried 3-2. Commissioner Olenik and Commissioner Mann Toted against the motion. Commissioner Olenik explained that he did not vote for the motion due to the cost stand- point only. lin answer to Ms. Broomfield's question, Mayor Marchese istated that the Commission was in favor of the firm ~eginning immediately and the contract would be officially lapproved at the November 1st meeting of the City Commission. iCommissioner Olenik stated that he would like to see the !workshop meeting held in the evening (after 4:00 P. M.) as iit would be difficult for him to attend during the day. :After some discussion, it was felt that an evening meeting would be better attended by the citizens as well. Some names of people the Commissioners wished to be invited to attend the workshop were mentioned: Craig Livingston -6- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 25, 1988 from the Chamber of Commerce, Reverend Joseph Dye, Reverend D~vis, Barnett Bank representatives, Motorola represen- tatives, George Ireland, Tom Walsh from Ocean Properties, riepresentatives from Holiday Innt and all developers in the airea as well as real estate personnel. Robert Brown was present in the audience and stated that he Would be glad to assist with a list of developers in the dounty. ~DJOURNMENT ~s there was no further business to come before the City Commission, the meeting properly adjourned at 7:45 P. M. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH Vice Commi s s loner Commissionez ATTEST: Deput~.~ity Clerk Re coati'Ag Secretary (Two Tapes) -7-