Venetian Causeway Streetscape Improvements Meeting Notes

Irene Sperber's Notes From:

VENETIAN CAUSEWAY STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS
MEETING FEB 1, 2007 @ 1000 VENETIAN WAY

The Venetian Causeway Beautification Project is in it's final stages.
Bidding is to go out March "08 and Construction should start September "08
on this one year project.

The Miami-Dade County Public Works Department Community kick-off meeting was
held at 1000 Venetian Way on the evening of February 1st. Ms Lana Moorey
Project Manager was in attendance along with Mr. Leandro Ona, Assistant
Chief, Highway Division.

The project boundaries for the Master Plan are from Bayshore Drive in Miami
to Alton Road in Miami Beach. The project limits for design include
Venetian Causeway from Biscayne Island in Miami to Belle Isle except the
bridges. This area is approximately two miles. Expanded sidewalks, curb &
gutter, raised landscaped median, continuous bike lanes, parallel parking,
drainage improvements, pavement markings and signing, traffic mast arms,
decorative roadway lighting, tree planting, entrance features, and
decorative crosswalks are some of the improvements the city has targeted.
Many alternatives were discussed.


Traffic calming devices were a big topic with city planners and concern
among residents.
Bike lanes are to be generally 4' wide and sidewalks 6' wide. One island
may have a bike lane in the middle of the street. All streets will be
narrow: 11' instead of the usual 12'. There is concern about street
narrowing as a traffic calming plan as it could also create a dangerous
situation because the Causeway has such an active population: walkers,
joggers, bladers & bikers.

1) The Median strip plantings to be placed in the center of the street were
not received well, as they would create a barrier to left turn lanes and eat
up much needed space that could be better utilized.
2) Sidewalks would have plantings between the street and the sidewalk in
many instances.
3) Guardrails would be eliminated except where necessary near bridges.
Bridge revamping is another project.
4) Round-a-bouts for street calming were brought up. Pine Tree Drive
currently has them in place.

There was talk of making left hand turns into only one of the east/west
circle entrances to island streets to stop people from pleasure-cruising
around one half of each island, crossing the street, then continuing around
the second ½ of the circle.

They discussed taking away parking on the grass (swales) across from 1000
Venetian Way. There was a lot of objection, as this would severely cut down
the number of accessible parking places for that neighborhood.

Attendance and participation in future planning meetings are imperative as
most of these issues were not warmly received by residents. Let's make sure
we make our voices heard before the plans are finalized.

Minutes of 2/13/07 Meeting

MINUTES of
BELLE ISLE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION (BIRA)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
February 13, 2007
Community Room at 3 Island Avenue

Board Members Present

Scott Diffenderfer
Josh Fisher
Howard Farber
Barbara Frank
Herb Frank
Barbara Gillman
Keith Hark
Sandra Money
Irene Sperber

Guests Present
Fererika Leser - 3 Island
Kay Maunsbach - 9 Island
Pat Farber - 16 Island

Herb called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.

Approval of Minutes of the December 19, 2006 Board Meeting
Irene made a motion to approve the Minutes of the December 19, 2006 Board meeting as distributed. Howard seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

New Business
Election of Officers
Sandy made a motion that the following be elected as officers of BIRA:
Herb Frank - President
Josh Fisher - Vice President
Keith Hark - Treasurer
Irene made a motion that Sandy Money be elected Secretary.
Hearing no other nominations, Barbara Frank made a motion to elect those nominated. Howard seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Process to Become a Board Member
Discussion of the propose Board Member Selection Process included a notation that two announcements would be posted every year for residents and also posted on the website continuously. Applications must be submitted to the Nominating Committee two weeks before the January Membership Meeting. Scott agreed to draft an announcement for the City Public Information Officer and Josh agreed to draft a paragraph for the By-Laws indicating that the BIRA Board is an Internet- and e-mail-based organization. Sandy made a motion that the document, as revised be approved. Howard seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board then discussed the Criteria For the Selection of Board Members. Sandy made a motion that the document be approved. Irene seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board then reviewed the Application for Candidates to the Board of Directors of BIRA. Herb was complimented on the draft and Irene made a motion for its approval Howard seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Irene agreed to Chair the Nominating Committee and it was agreed that only those individuals approved by the Nominating Committee would come before the Board for approval.

Other
There was no other New Business.

On Going Business
Park/Street Renovations
Herb reported that he is waiting for a meeting with Jeff Cohen to discuss getting the 5 feet walkway area back. Howard noted that there were a number of dead trees and agreed to contact Carla Dixon at the CIP office to be certain that the number of trees and heights on the current plan will be maintained.
Herb reported that, at a meeting with representatives of the Public Works Departments of both Miami-Dade and Miami Beach, it was stated that they will build up the wall along the Collins Canal from Purdy Avenue toward Alton, starting on March 7. The wall will be 3 to 4 feet higher, reaching the same level as the street. The area between the two will be filled with dirt and plantings.

Traffic Light and Crosswalk at Purdy
Barbara Gillman reported that the lights still need to be synchronized. Herb was not sure that this is possible as the light has pedestrian control and that might eliminate synchronization. There are problems with the stripes painted in the street and this will be looked into,. Since that is the responsibility of Jeff Cohen’s office, it is hoped that it can be discussed at the upcoming meeting with him.

Bridges on Venetian Causeway
Herb reported that the date of switching to hourly and half hourly bridge openings has still not been determined (Nancy Liebman was to contact Barbara Bisnos about the date, but she was not in attendance at this meeting). It was noted that the Causeway from Purdy over the bridge had been re-surfaced, but now is full of holes. Herb was urged to report this to the appropriate agencies.

Beautification of Venetian Causeway
Irene reported on the February 1, 2007 public meeting with the Miami-Dade County Public Works Department, at which most of their suggestions for traffic control and other items were met with opposition from the attendees. Irene agreed to prepare a summary of the meeting for the BIRA website. It is attached to these Minutes.

Renovation along Dade Blvd./Canal
Herb noted that this was discussed under the Park/Street Renovations item.

Other
It was noted that there are an increasing number of hits on the website. In order to have the site appear current, it was suggested that the current date appear at the top of the page every day. It was also noted that items on the site are dated and appear in chronological order, with the most recent item first

Set Time and Day for the Next BIRA Board Meeting
It was agreed that the next Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 in the 3 Island Avenue Community Room at 6 p.m.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:12 p.m.

Prepared by:

Sandra K. Money, Secretary