10-13-98SpMtg OCTOBER 13, 1998
A Special Meeting of the City Commission of the City of
Delray Beach, Florida, was called to order by Mayor Jay Alperin
in the First Floor Conference Room at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. on
Tuesday, October 13, 1998.
Roll call showed:
Present - Commissioner Kevin Egan
Commissioner Ken Ellingsworth
Commissioner David Randolph
Commissioner David Schmidt
Mayor Jay Alperin
Absent - None
Also present were City Manager David T. Harden and City
Attorney Susan A. Ruby.
Mayor Alperin called the meeting to order and announced that
it had been called for the purpose of considering the following
items:
(1) Special Event Request/Green Market: Consider a request for
special event approval for the Green Market, including a
temporary use permit for the closure of a portion of N.W. 1st
Avenue between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. (or a portion of N.E. 1st
Avenue as events dictate), together with staff support and use of
the Community Center restrooms.
Robert A. Barcinski, Assistant City Manager, reviewed the
request received from Jayne King, Manager of the Green Market,
for special event approval. The Green Market is scheduled to
begin on November 7, 1998, and run through May 15, 1999. A
temporary use permit is requested for the use and closure of N.W.
1st Avenue from the alley north of Dunkin Donuts to the entrance
of CRA lot #3, from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Staff
support is requested to assist in hanging and removing the Green
Market banners, to provide barricades to block the street off,
and to move the supply trailer to and from the Green Market site.
In addition, authority is requested to use the restrooms at the
Community Center.
Mr. Barcinski explained that the request to set up in the
street is being made in order to provide additional parking for
the vendors and patrons of the market. It is anticipated there
will be more vendor participation than last year. He also noted
that on the weekends of the Historic Society Antique Show and the
Nuveen Tennis Tournament, the green market will move to N.E. 1st
Avenue.
Mr. Schmidt moved to approve the special event request for
the Green Market, seconded by Mr. Randolph. Upon roll call the
Commission voted as follows: Mr. Schmidt - Yes; Mr. Egan - Yes;
Mr. Ellingsworth - Yes; Mr. Randolph - Yes; Mayor Alperin - Yes.
Said motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote.
(2) Use of Pedi-Cabs Durinq October Art & Jazz: Consider a
request to allow pedi-cabs to operate in the vicinity of East
Atlantic Avenue during the October 22nd Art & Jazz on the Avenue.
Robert A. Barcinski, Assistant City Manager, stated the
Joint Venture has requested authorization to allow pedi-cabs to
operate during the October 22nd Art & Jazz. Staff does not have
a problem with the request and recommends approval with the
condition that the required liability insurance be provided.
The City Attorney also requested that a hold harmless
agreement be obtained from the pedi-cab operator.
Mr. Egan moved to approve the use of pedi-cabs during the
October 22nd Art & Jazz, subject to staff's recommendation that
the required liability insurance and a hold harmless agreement be
provided. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ellingsworth. Upon
roll call the Commission voted as follows: Mr. Egan - Yes; Mr.
Ellingsworth - Yes; Mr. Randolph - Yes; Mayor Alperin - Yes; Mr.
Schmidt - Yes. Said motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote.
(3) Downtown Valet Parkinq Services: Consider approval of the
Parking Management Advisory Board's recommendation as to the
ranking of the downtown valet parking services vendors and
authorize staff to commence negotiations with the top ranked
firm.
Robert A. Barcinski, Assistant City Manager, stated the
Commission is being requested to consider the Parking Management
Advisory Board's recommendation to try to negotiate a valet
contract with a valet company to service the Atlantic Avenue
corridor from Swinton Avenue to A1A. Three proposals were
received. A staff committee reviewed the proposals based on the
evaluation criteria and ranked the firms. The firms were ranked
on administration, experience, financial information, and
concepts and plans. Staff ranked Omni Parking slightly ahead of
Gold Star on the basis that Omni rated better in terms of their
plan and financial condition. After presentations were made to
the Parking Management Advisory Board by the three vendors, the
board ranked them as follows:
1 - Gold Star Parking Systems
2 - Omni Parking
3 - Ryan Dantone
Mr. Barcinski reiterated that at this point the Parking Board's
recommendation is just to negotiate a contract. The board
attached no conditions to the recommendation in terms of any
queue locations or lots to be used, although they did feel
strongly that the price ought to start out at about $5.00 per car
and could be adjusted later. Mr. Barcinski stressed that he had
added some recommendations in his memorandum that were based on
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staff input, not the Parking Board's. The board's direction was,
if Commission agreed, that staff try to negotiate a contract and
then bring it back to the board. The Parking Board would then
finalize the details, including queues, parking lots to use,
number of spaces, and make a final recommendation to the City
Commission on a contract. At this time, the basic issue before
the City Commission is whether or not to proceed with negotiating
with one of the firms for valet service for the corridor and
whether or not the Commission wants to add any qualifiers or
conditions.
Mr. Barcinski noted that a great deal of opposition has been
received from the Beach Property Owners' Association, the Ocean
Place condominium, and numerous residents on the beach side who
are recommending that the Sandoway lot or any beach lots that are
closed at night not be considered. A recommendation has also
been received from the Chamber of Commerce in support of using
the Sandoway lot. The Parking Management Advisory Board did not
specify in its recommendation which lots should be considered,
just that staff try to reach some kind of negotiated contract.
Mr. Barcinski stated he had recommended conditions in his
memorandum to the City Commission, including that reference
checks are good and that the initial fee be limited to $5.00 per
car (which can be negotiated or changed as we go through the
contract). He felt that private lots as well as public lots
should be secured, and that if the Sandoway lot is going to be
used that it be closed at 11:30 p.m. as opposed to 1:00 a.m.
Mr. Egan commented that he was at the Parking Management
Advisory Board when the presentations were made. He noted that
in looking at the RFP summary sheet, Gold Star was not very
specific about proposed parking queues and lots. However, when
the presentations were made, Gold Star answered most of the
questions very well and Mr. Egan felt that that resulted in Gold
Star being picked number one by the Parking Management Advisory
Board. On the other hand, Omni Parking was very specific on the
summary sheet about where they felt the queuing spots should be
and what lots might be used. Mr. Egan also felt that Omni
Parking, being local, recognizes the sensitivity of using the
Sandoway lot. He also cited a letter distributed earlier in the
meeting by a local resident expressing concern about Gold Star's
valet operation, and noted that the staff recommendation was to
go with Omni Parking as well. Mr. Egan stated that while he does
not generally go against board recommendations, in this case he
is more comfortable trying to negotiate a contract with Omni
Parking as opposed to the Parking Management Advisory Board's
recommendation for Gold Star.
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On question from Mr. Ellingsworth as to the status of
negotiations with the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Barcinski reported
he has had some meetings but it is going to take some time. For
any use of their lot, the church wants a professional parking
management consultant to lay it out and work with staff in
developing a proposal because they have concerns about screening
of the lot and about traffic flow.
Mr. Randolph commented that on the surface valet parking is
perhaps one way to go to help alleviate some of the problems
associated with the downtown's growth. He cautioned, however,
that the service will have to be controlled very carefully or it
could easily get out of hand. In his mind, security is a major
consideration.
On question from Mr. Schmidt as to why staff felt the
concept proposed by Omni was preferable to the others, Mr.
Barcinski stated that Omni proposed the use of both private lots
as well as public lots and was very specific as to where they
felt the queues and parking lots should be located. Gold Star,
on the other hand, said they would use all public lots, did not
specify the number of parking spaces and which lots they would
use nor did they specify exact locations for queues. Staff also
felt the financial information looked at was better on Omni than
Gold Star. However, based on Gold Star's written proposal and
their verbal presentation, they came across as professional with
a great deal of experience and they seemed to know their
business. So there were pros and cons for both companies.
Mr. Egan moved to authorize staff to negotiate a contract
with Omni Parking for valet services. The motion was seconded by
Mr. Schmidt. Upon roll call the Commission voted as follows:
Mr. Ellingsworth - Yes; Mr. Randolph - Yes; Mayor Alperin - Yes;
Mr. Schmidt - Yes; Mr. Egan - Yes. Said motion passed with a 5
to 0 vote.
As to the additional recommendations made by Mr. Barcinski
in his memorandum, it was the consensus of the City Commission to
include the reference check, limit the initial fee to $5.00 per
car, and that private as well as public lots be secured.
Discussion followed on the use of the Sandoway lot.
Mr. Randolph stated he would be opposed to the use of the
Sandoway lot at all.
Mr. Ellingsworth stated he has some concerns about the use
of the Sandoway lot, especially later at night.
Mayor Alperin concurred that he would be reluctant to use
the Sandoway lot because of the noise issue associated with a
valet service. Also, the hours of operation would have to be
considerably shorter. However, he would be hesitant to even
offer that, maybe only on a three month initial basis to see how
it works out. If it doesn't work out, then eliminate the use of
the Sandoway lot altogether.
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Mr. Schmidt suggested that as part of the contract terms,
the City have the final say on whichever lots are proposed to be
used, and if the City is dissatisfied with whatever is happening
at a lot, then the City would have the right to go back to the
vendor and tell them they can't use that lot anymore.
Mayor Alperin suggested the possibility of breaking the
service down into two parts, one part without the beach side and
the other with the beach side.
Mr. Egan felt it was not necessary to get into that kind of
detail at this point. Hopefully, staff can negotiate a contract
with Omni and also come back to the Commission with an agreement
for use of the Presbyterian Church's lot. The church is closer
to the businesses and would probably meet with less resistance in
the neighborhood. The Sandoway lot may need to be used on a very
short term basis, but Mr. Egan felt that staff should try very
hard to negotiate an arrangement with the church.
Upon further discussion, it was the consensus of the City
Commission that they would prefer the church lot or an alternate
lot so the Sandoway lot will not even have to be considered. If
an alternate cannot be found, the matter should be brought back
to the Commission instead of automatically considering the
Sandoway lot.
There being no further business, Mayor Alperin deeclared the
special meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m., at which time the
City Commission convened the regularly scheduled work session.
/City C~rk /
ATTEST: ,/
The ~ndersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach,
Florida, and the information provided herein is the minutes of
the Special Meeting of the City Commission held on October 13,
1998, which minutes were formally approved and adopted by the
City Commission on ~~~69_ ,~ /99F
~Ci~ C~rk - -7
NOTE TO READER: If the minutes you have received are not
completed as indicated above, this means they are not the
official minutes of the City Commission. They will become
official only after review and approval by the City Commission
which may involve amendments, additions or deletions to the
minutes as set forth above.
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