Directors Present
Tory Jacobs/Brickell 25
Al Maloof/The Mark
Berdie Archer/One Tequesta Point
Dr. Bruce Higley/2000 Brickell
Yvonne Hochheiser/25 Bay Tower
Mac Seligman/Brickell Town House
Jay Morton/Bristol Tower
Sheila Zemsky/Brickell Key I
Paul Lewin/Brickell Bay Club
Ralph and Roberta Slonin/Villa Regina
Jorge Iglesias/Anne Rosen/Brickell Mar
Linda Baker/Brickell Place I
Janice Jones/The Palace
Wanda Bee, Joe Frisz/Brickell East
Silvia R. Burgoa/Brickell Park
Henry Taylor, General Counsel
Ron Smith, Deputy General Counsel
Natalie Brown, Communications Director
Associate Members Present
George Giebal/Constructa
Megan Kelly/Brickell Area Association
City of Miami
Ricardo Gonzalez, Director, NET
Eddie Padilla, Downtown NET
Stephanie Grindell, Director, Public Works
Jeffrey Giordano, MPD
Haydee Regueyra, Coral Way NET
Mary Conway, Director, Transportation
Daniel Antonia Davila, Office of Commissioner Joe Sanchez
Chris Morales, Assistant Director NET
Francis Mitchell, Assistant Director Public Works
Others Present
Joseph Bier/Brickell Place Phase I
Alan L. Stein, Darriel Prestegaard/Allied Security
Marilyn Goldaber/Brickell Town House
Julia de la Garzo-Jordan, MD/One Tequesta Point
Daniel G. Miller/Sports Club/LA
Lourdes Castroverde/Point View
Tina Taylor/Brickell 25
The meeting was called to order at 6:20 p.m.
A motion was made and seconded to waive the reading of the October minutes and accept them as published. The motion passed unanimously.
President’s Report
Mary Brickell Village – the keystone of west Brickell development is finally underway.
Brickell Harbour repairs are complete and residents are allowed to move back in after serious structural deterioration problems were discovered last spring that forced residents out during repair work.
BHA’s February Meeting is its Annual Meeting. Bruce Cotten will serve as the Nominating Committee chair. Anyone interested in serving as an officer is asked to contact him…fresh faces welcome!
Special Thanks to the Evening’s Host, Sports Club/LA and Dan Miller, who provided guest passes to all attendees interested in trying out the club.
Governmental Affairs Committee
Al Maloof of The Mark has volunteered to chair the new committee. He detailed his background working with local governmental officials, including the City, County and FDOT, as well as Tallahassee representatives on issues like those critical for BHA. He plans to work with other BHA reps to liaison with officials on matters of concern.
City of Miami
- Several new administrators were introduced:
Richardo Gonzalez, new Director of the NET program, explained that he’s working on improving the quality of life for all citizens, and anything that can be done to “make life more pleasant, to improve security, let [him] know.”
- Haydee Regueyra, Coral Way NET Administrator, and Eddie Padilla, Downtown NET Administrator, gave their overview of their areas
- Public Works Director, Stephanie Grindell and Assistant Director Francis Mitchell were introduced. Among other areas, their office handles areas of focus for Brickell: sidewalk repair requests and permitting of bus benches and bus shelters.
Mary Conway, Director of Transportation
Questions were posed concerning the public improvements needed, especially related to traffic in the Brickell area to support development planned and underway. And further, is the City following HOK’s West Brickell Design Guidelines?
Ms. Conway explained that her office is in the process of pulling together all studies that have been done in the past and compiling the data. They’re working with FDOT and County officials but said the City is in the “driver’s seat” to try to fast-track the progress. In a week, an industry partner will get in touch with BHA about major areas of concern and major issues.
BHA reps explained there are two paramount areas of concern:
1. What’s happening with the Brickell Streetscape Plan for 15th to 25th? The funds were allocated by the Commission, but getting the project underway has been stalled. The BHA hasn’t heard back from FPL on the pedestrian lighting. Ms. Conway said they’ll look into it.
2. The HOK plans for West Brickell that were completed in Feb. 2002 had guidelines for both developers and the city. The City part of that plan from two years ago is still on the shelf and not implemented. Now that Mary Brickell Village is going to open in a year, when will the City do what the guidelines call for? Creating more pedestrian friendly streets, for example, are needed for Mary Brickell Village to be successful.
Ms. Conway said they are studying all aspects of the downtown master transportation plan, including converting one-way streets into two-way.
A question was raised about the South Miami Homeowners sign in the median on 25th Road that restricts traffic visibility. She explained Public Works has done a study on the sign (they hadn’t signed off on the original design), have found it to be unsafe in its present size and location, and they have consequently given the Association three options to correct it within 30 days: Relocate 250 feet away; Remove it; or Cut it lower.
Miami Police Report
Officer Jeff Giordano gave BHA a big stack of thank you letters from the Southside Elementary School kids for the gifts donated by BHA at the holidays.
The MPD made an arrest of the robbers acting in the Coral Way area throughout the holidays – 19 cases against them – a husband and wife have confessed to all of them.
Officer Giordano and Mac Seligman will be organizing a Brickell Homeowners Security Seminar for condo managers and security managers as a joint effort with Allied Security Company.
Goals and Objectives for 2004?
The president asked for any suggestions of new goals and/or objectives for the coming year for BHA. A request was made to continue to pursue aircraft noise abatement.
Next meeting, Wednesday, February 18, 2004, Brickell Key One, 520 Brickell Key Drive.
