Water Works
The underground pipes renovation project has been a dusty nuisance for those Surfsiders on the southern end of Town.
The good news is that a supervisor for Ric-Man, the company contracted by the Town to get the job done, says "Phase One"
of the work should be completed by "Noche Buena" of this year (Christmas Eve for our non-Latino readers). The streets
included in Phase One are the ones where work has already begun. The bad news is that the 16 million dollar project does not
cover new water pipes for Harding Avenue, nor for the west side of Collins. And, after they broke ground they have found areas
where things are worse than expected, according to the plans they were given by the Town, such as the sewer pipes on Garland
Avenue between 88th and 89th streets. Whenever the company finds such a situation, they usually give the Town a "Change
Order" requesting more money.
The company plans to give the Town
an estimate of the costs for new water pipes for west Collins and Harding Avenues, which the supervisor said could be quite
high, but declined to specify an amount.
So, for those of us Surfsiders who
believed the 16 million dollars had bought us a whole new sewer and water pipe system, we are hereby
notified we were mistaken. The contract is for a partial job, where they take out the worst parts and leave in what they can.
The contract does not even cover, according to the construction supervisor, repairs to all the storm drains found on our street
corners throughout Town, many of which are not in good condition, and are a potential problem in the event of heavy rainfall.
The Heroism of Solo Flying
American culture is deeply ingrained with the image of the solo hero, both real and fictional:
John Wayne riding his horse, guns drawn, into a town full of thieves; Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh flying alone in
their airplanes, setting human records in the process. And, often in the news we hear of the solo hero: the pilot who lands a plane on the Hudson river, or the previously normal, common person that without a moment to think, runs into a neighbor's burning house to
save them, or pulls a stranger out of a car wreckage -- only later stopping to wonder where they got the strength or the courage.
We are both drawn to and intimidated by these solo acts of courage and strength. We love
the "chutzpah", yet we are left a bit insecure, wondering, "Could I have those nerves of steel if I was in
that position?"
Here in Surfside, over the last year and a half, we have
witnessed a hero flying solo, sitting every month in what often appears to be enemy territory. Sometimes the verbal attacks
from his collegues are so blistering and intense that you can watch our local hero's hands shake. But, then he speaks up,
in a calm tone of voice, and states his position and casts his solo vote against whatever the latest small-town-destroying
scheme is.
Vice-Mayor Joe Graubart flies solo, with his compass firmly set at
his "true north". He has "the courage of his convictions", as the old saying goes.
We at SaveSurfside have criticized him, as we have all our politicians (it is the ethical duty of journalists everywhere
to question elected officials, and a right enshrined by our First Amendment). But, he stood up to our critique, as he stands
up against his fellow Commissioners and Mayor, and wrote us a strongly worded letter (which we published).
Vice-Mayor Joe Graubart has shown the true grit of the American solo hero. Alone, up there
on the Commission dais. Whether you agreed with his dissenting votes, or not, we can all agree that what he's done takes courage.
Letters keep flying into the Herald's "in-box"
Surfsiders, both in office and just plain citizens, keep flooding the Miami Herald with letters
concerning our Town. Vice-Mayor Graubart sent in one, see letter here. Then Mayor Dietch sent another one, see letter here. We at SaveSurfside received a number of emails that were also sent to the Herald and we were cc'd on them. Below are a couple
we picked out. We'll publish more later. Just one word from us before the letters below: the Mayor says the hotels approved
in the past year could have been built under the previous zoning code. He is not correct for many reasons, but we'll just
point out a small, but obvious one. Smack in the middle of the site for the 92nd street hotel there was a parcel zoned strictly
for "residential use". So, without a re-zoning the 92nd street hotel could not have been built. See assessment letter,
previously published here.
Below are just two of the letters written to
the Herald responding to the Mayor's last letter to the Herald (for those of you whose email we left out, we'll try to get
to you in the next post).
Sent to the Miami Herald:
Surfside's Mayor Dietch's response
to the Vice Mayor's Letter to the Editor
only proves
the point that zoning can be negotiated in Surfside.
If
the same exact hotel projects that were approved could have been built under
the 2004 zoning code, there would have been no need for 60 meetings . Why
would any hotel project applicant pay attorneys to attend 60 zoning meetings
unless
they were trying to change a code
to benefit their project?
Because the Mayor and Surfside's
hired professionals give their opinion that
actions
taken by the Commission are legal, they CAN NOT and DO NOT MAKE IT SO.
Other prominent attorneys and planners think that the 2004 Charter Amendment
was violated and attempts to allow residents to vote on the matter was shut
down. As is evident by the Mayor's letter, public
dissent is not welcome in
Surfside.
Town planners, town managers and town attorneys come and go. They do not live
in Surfside and will not have to live with the consequences
of their opinions
and actions that
many in Surfside disagree with.
Dorie Lurie
Sent
to the Miami Herald:
Dear Editor,
In March, the voters of Surfside will again have a chance to voice their opinions. While the
current Commission has been less acrimonious than mine was, they've also been very busy changing things in Surfside.
On a very positive note, the Commission and Manager have completed the (I'm glad we did not go into debt) Community Center,
which I and my family and lots of others, now enjoy! On the other hand, this Commission, mostly with objections by Joe
Graubart, has undertaken decisions and projects which I believe are misguided and shortsighted;
1) After my Commission decreased property taxes by almost
25%, this Commission has increased them by almost 20% (in this economic environment), then this year offered an inconsequential
reduction of 1.7% - while giving pay raises in the Town.
2) They've ignored a petition drive, with more than 600 voter signatures (enough to elect anyone who
runs in Town), that objected to weakening our zoning code - in spite of a charter amendment that over 90% of Surfsider's supported.
This amendment was designed to stop just such a thing.
3) Appropriately supporting an Oceanfront hotel on 95th and Collins, but naively caving into
pressure to reduce parking requirements all hotel sites, thus re-creating the kinds of parking problems we've
already seen with existing buildings on the ocean with not enough parking.
4) Appropriately supporting high pressure sewer line replacement on Collins Avenue,
but then getting persuaded by lobbyists to tear up all of our residential streets. While I know that there are areas
that need repair, I also know that many do not. In undertaking this project, our Commission has placed our Town
into "unprecedented" massive debt.
These types of decisions will not keep Surfside the small Town gem we all treasure, but could quickly make
our Town exactly like many others around us, which we've worked so hard to be, "unlike."
Charles W. Burkett
Former Mayor, Town
of Surfside
Should We
Cry Over Spilt Milk?
For those Surfsiders who are not quite content
with the new Community Center (we've read your emails) -- what can we say? It's done and we are stuck with it, for better
or for worse. The old Community Center and it's historic Mimo facade are not coming back. Those strange, steel barriers blocking
the entrance have been questioned. "Why did they design it so open, so that it requires those ugly things?", was
one email we got. We have no answers to why they designed those specific plans. Neither do we have an answer as to why they
designed the pool so that it is sited in a manner in which it is shaded by early afternoon (see pictures sent in to us below
--note times). Such a design will surely add to heating costs in winter, and potentially decrease usability. Note the photos were taken in October. As we head towards the winter solstice and days get shorter, the shade will
come onto the pool even earlier. Perhaps these design issues are the reason the Community Center
is so relatively empty nowadays, as opposed to the bustling nature of our torn-down Center. But, why cry over spilt milk --
or wasted money? It's done. Although, there are some who are still crying over it, and they are not even Surfsiders. One of
us was recently at a dinner in a college town in the Mid-West when we mentioned we were from Surfside, Florida. An architect
from out West, who was sitting at the table, gasped. "Oh, the Town that demolished the Mimo building near Miami Beach?!",
he said. Mimo architecture is quite revered in other parts of the country (see Palm Beach, California and the Frank Sinatra
home, among many others).
Coming and Goings -- Firings and Hirings
Some of you may have noticed at last nights Commission meeting that there was a mention of
some Town employees having been let go. We received emails asking what has happened to a person
many of us knew at Town Hall, Cathy Liguori. So, prompted by the emails, one of us contacted the relatively new Town Clerk,
Sandra Novoa (yes, Debra Eastman left, also, a while ago). We asked to see any new applications that have been filed to replace
Cathy. This is the response received:
Catherine Liquori’s position was eliminated in a complete reorganization
of the “front office” function. Therefore there is no replacement and no way to provide the information requested.
So, there has been a "complete re-organization" at Town Hall's front office. Which may, or may not, be
related to statements at last nights Commission meeting that people had been involuntarily dismissed. Why
have people been "dismissed"? Is any of this related to the "Water Works" article above? We shall endeavor
to inform you, as they endeavor to be less than transparent.
We then made the
request below, but are still awaiting a reply. We will update the site as soon as we receive some
concrete information from Town Hall, something more substantial than a Kafkaesque reply.
Email request sent to Town Hall:
Thank you Ms. Novoa,
How many other
positions were eliminated in this complete reorganization of the front office? Are there any other applications for other
positions at Town Hall recently received?
Bonuses
We have made an editorial decision to have this topic down towards the bottom of the page,
in order to not further inflame the ire of many residents, nor the pain of those Surfsiders who are currently unemployed.
We heard from a huge number of you when we last emailed about the topic of the Town Manager's bonus. As we said in that email,
he was going to be given a bonus of $20,000, but the Commission decided to postpone the decision. See Miami Herald article here. Well, yesterday he was given a bonus of $7,200. As we said in one of our emails, sadly there were unemployed Surfsiders who contacted us saying they would be willing to work for a yearly salary of $20,000 (the initial proposed
bonus). But, since it is our tax dollars that the Commission is giving out in bonuses, it's not like it's coming out of their
own pockets. It's easy to be generous with other people's money... even in these hard economic times, when states, towns and
municipalities are cutting down on all non-essential expenses. Perhaps Surfside is behaving more like Wall Street than Main
Street?
Who Controls Surfside Blog and
Swampstyle blog
Some readers have enquired about the "Who
Controls Surfside" blog, since many cannot find it now. We assure you that it is still up and blasting out some amazing
info, and posting documents not found anywhere else. We tried to place a link here to the site, but have found that some of
us are blocked from entering. Ask your neighbors how to get in, some of them know.
As
for the other wonderful Surfside blog, Swampstyle.blogspot.com, they recently posted a very interesting comment, click here to read.
Questions Posed to the Grand Hotel Representatives
Representatives for the Commission-approved Grand Hotel, on the site of the former Beach
House, when contacted in the past said they were open to "transparency" in their process. So, taking them on their
word, we have posed the following questions to them in an email. As soon as they answer we will post.
1) Have you settled your "disagreements" with your immediate
neighbor buildings, The Waves and The Azure? If so, what concessions did you give them?
2) Have there been any changes to your building plans, or any other
plans, since approval by the Commission?
3) As you are aware, there has been much controversy in Miami Beach concerning noise levels from rooftop pools/bars/restaurants.
What steps will you take to guarantee that Surfsiders will not be plagued by similar problems from your rooftop venues?
4) Surfsiders are worried that your plans
may not contain enough parking spots, especially for your many employees who may not make enough money to pay for parking
fees, and thus may go inland and park among the streets with houses. How are you addressing this very important issue?
5) Surfsiders value the quiet, uncluttered
beach they now have. It is inevitable that a hotel with the number of rooms you plan to have, both east and west of Collins,
will impact the number of people on the beach, the noise level on the beach and potentially garbage on the beach. We understand
that since the Commission approved the number of rooms, nothing can be done about that now, but you do have control over both
the noise level at the beach and garbage left behind by visitors to your hotel. What plans do you have to employ sufficient
beach attendants to monitor both noise and garbage clean-up?
Stories we are still working
on for future posts:
Troubles at Surfside's oldest land-mark;
the Young Israel lawsuit; The Price of Selling-Out; "Pledge Agreements" from electoral candidates, and other
topics, coming soon.
Photos of Shaded Community Center Swimming Pool
First photo taken: 10/13/2011 at 12:15 PM
Second photo
taken: 10/06/2011
at 12:33
PM
