Village Council OKs two big projects tonight
As expected, the Village Council voted unanimously tonight in favor of phase one of the Pointe Group Advisors' Grove Village on Grand Avenue.And then, as expected, chairman Michelle Niemeyer gushed over the plans for the Waterfront Master Plan just as she did at the meeting last week. She spent time explaining the plans to her fellow council members. Apparently the park planners, Sasaki Associates, weren't able to be paid, so they were not there to explain the plans.
Council member Felice Dubin (shown left) seemed to be the only person who made any sense. She was concerned about the budget for the project. According to Michelle, bay bottom leases paid by two of the yacht clubs after Hurricane Wilma (for permission to rebuild docks) totals $1.2 million. This was designated for the Waterfront Master Plan. Also Dinner Key Marina leases also bring in about $2 million. That is such a small fraction of the cost, I'm not sure how that makes sense.
But this project could take 10 to 20 years to get through all the phases according to Michelle. While that sounds crazy, the whole purpose of the Master Plan is to keep the City from touching the land. If the project is approved, the City cannot do anything other than keep the area as parkland. So even if it does drag out, the main goal will be completed -- preserving the land from development.
Felice had some good concerns. If the project is drawn out for years, she wanted to be sure there are no eyesores for 10 to 20 years. Would each phase be completed totally and landscaped totally or would the whole thing be a mess for all those years? You know, in bits and pieces.
She also is concerned about the Expo Center being torn down while Burn Notice is using it.
One citizen from a Quality of Life group in Coconut Grove suggested that Burn Notice blow up the Expo Center as part of the last episode of the third season (they are currently filming the second season). It is already being talked about with the producers. Also, the City is working on finding Burn Notice another home (film studio). The show seems to be a huge hit and getting bigger, and it may go on for years.
"I don't think a television show is worth slowing down our waterfront park," said David Collins, council member.
Council member Lilliana Dones is in favor of allowing Burn Notice to stay for another season (their third). She felt the Village Council could be flexible in light of the fact that Burn Notice was a fluke and everyone is surprised by the success.
Basically it came down to this: TV watchers were in favor of keeping the Expo Center for a bit longer, those who don't watch TV are indifferent.
In the end the plan was approved unanimously, as-is, with the current phasing schedule in place. A motion was also passed to have the City give consideration to Burn Notice and the Expo Center and try to work with them and their schedule and not be so fast to obliterate the whole thing.
I didn't care for the fact that they wanted to avoid the issue and come back and discuss it, but Felice kept them there until they made the motion to deal with the Burn Notice/Expo Center issue. She only had voted for the first phase as-is, because they told her there would be a motion to try and save the Expo Center right after, but then they tried to put off the vote for another time. Luckily Dave Collins stepped in and made the motion happen.
Ironically as they discussed this into the night, Burn Notice was actually on tv at that very moment, delighting millions of fans.
This goes to the City Commission for a vote on Thursday, July 24.
Council member Felice Dubin (shown left) seemed to be the only person who made any sense. She was concerned about the budget for the project. According to Michelle, bay bottom leases paid by two of the yacht clubs after Hurricane Wilma (for permission to rebuild docks) totals $1.2 million. This was designated for the Waterfront Master Plan. Also Dinner Key Marina leases also bring in about $2 million. That is such a small fraction of the cost, I'm not sure how that makes sense.But this project could take 10 to 20 years to get through all the phases according to Michelle. While that sounds crazy, the whole purpose of the Master Plan is to keep the City from touching the land. If the project is approved, the City cannot do anything other than keep the area as parkland. So even if it does drag out, the main goal will be completed -- preserving the land from development.
Felice had some good concerns. If the project is drawn out for years, she wanted to be sure there are no eyesores for 10 to 20 years. Would each phase be completed totally and landscaped totally or would the whole thing be a mess for all those years? You know, in bits and pieces.
She also is concerned about the Expo Center being torn down while Burn Notice is using it.
One citizen from a Quality of Life group in Coconut Grove suggested that Burn Notice blow up the Expo Center as part of the last episode of the third season (they are currently filming the second season). It is already being talked about with the producers. Also, the City is working on finding Burn Notice another home (film studio). The show seems to be a huge hit and getting bigger, and it may go on for years.
"I don't think a television show is worth slowing down our waterfront park," said David Collins, council member.
Council member Lilliana Dones is in favor of allowing Burn Notice to stay for another season (their third). She felt the Village Council could be flexible in light of the fact that Burn Notice was a fluke and everyone is surprised by the success.
Basically it came down to this: TV watchers were in favor of keeping the Expo Center for a bit longer, those who don't watch TV are indifferent.
In the end the plan was approved unanimously, as-is, with the current phasing schedule in place. A motion was also passed to have the City give consideration to Burn Notice and the Expo Center and try to work with them and their schedule and not be so fast to obliterate the whole thing.
I didn't care for the fact that they wanted to avoid the issue and come back and discuss it, but Felice kept them there until they made the motion to deal with the Burn Notice/Expo Center issue. She only had voted for the first phase as-is, because they told her there would be a motion to try and save the Expo Center right after, but then they tried to put off the vote for another time. Luckily Dave Collins stepped in and made the motion happen.
Ironically as they discussed this into the night, Burn Notice was actually on tv at that very moment, delighting millions of fans.
This goes to the City Commission for a vote on Thursday, July 24.
posted by Tom Falco at 10:29 PM
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6 Comments:
The only answer I heard as I watched was that the City was in a hurry to tear down the Expo Center to show the residents they were "doing something." Well, if they have to tear down buildings to let us know they are "doing something" at the same time they are trying to BUILD stadiums, that is more than absurd. Nothing is funded. There is no money out there. They admitted they can't even afford to fly Sasaki to Miami again.
I dont watch Burn Notice at all but its bad business to run them out of town for a project that wont be completed for another 10-20 years. Revenue for the EC and pub for the Grove. Win, win.
I saw it on tv last night. Totally absurd. They want to knock down the Expo center so it looks like work has started, but if this is drawn out for a decade or more, they could knock down the Expo Center and just have open space ther for years without the first phase even started.
Why spite Burn Notice to make a point? The point being that they are "doing something". What they are doing is kicking out a good clean business in hard economic times. They may not pay a lot for rent, but all the residuals around town and the publicity more than make up for it.
Leave the Expo Center up until the end of phase one which could actually take years to happen. This is public consensus, why do a few people call the shots when the public doesn't agree? I think Sarnoff, David Collins and Michelle Neimeyer are the only ones in such a rush. Why? What are they hiding?
The main thing is to get the city to agree to the plan, we save the parkland and go from there. But don't kill the Expo Center just to make a point.
All I have heard when asked why the City would demo the Expo Center is because "we can" - the same way Mothers answer their children. Have we gone from City Fathers to City Mothers?
Although I might agree with all sentiment and economic reasons to let the Expo center be, it is my memory that tells me that there was/is an external expert report of 2-3 years ago that deemded the center a hazard and public safty problem, which could be a real liability to the city (= us). The fact that Burn Naotice got an permit in the first place surprised me. Further to save a hazardous building that is a liability and a risk, without spending the money (because there is none) to guarantee safty, is a stupid and irreponsible behaviour, no matter what waterfront plans there are in how manny phases.
"Manny" phases. You got that part of it right! If it is so unsafe then why does the City have offices in that building? The City let it run down on purpose. Hey you know if we demolished the Coconut Grove Library and the Women's Club we would have a better view of the waterfront also. Is that what we do to old buildings?
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