Commission establishes ‘Beachwalk Fact Finding Committee’
By Bari Auerbach


At the Nov. 18 City Commission meeting, a resolution was approved establishing a “Beachwalk Fact-Finding Committee.”

In a letter written to citizens asked to serve on the Fact-Finding Committee, Mayor Norman Edelcup wrote, “As you may know, the City of Sunny Isles Beach is contemplating the construction of a ten foot wide serpentine path constructed of crushed white shells along with landscaping enhancement treatments (referred to as the beachwalk).

“The City Commission has decided it needs to ascertain additional information before a substantive decision can be made on this initiative.”

The Commission is requesting the Beachwalk Fact-Finding Committee undertake the following tasks to provide information to the City Commission no later than six months from the date of appointments made on Nov. 18, 2004:

• Identify possible funding sources
• Determine whether the City must grapple with any environmental issues before
  constructing the beach walk
• Research permitting requirements for the beachwalk initiative
• Although the proposed construction material is crushed white shells, if the Committee
  can find a comparable or superior material to be used, the Commission is interested in
  learning about it
• Identify the benefits and detriments of lighting the beachwalk
• Identify various alternatives for the location and design of the beachwalk

The letter further states, “The city’s stated objective is to render this project highly aesthetic, viable and most importantly, compatible with oceanside properties. We are constituting this committee as strictly a fact-finding committee. It is not an advisory committee or board. Consequently, you will not be obligated to operate under the Sunshine Laws. Thus, you will have the ability to talk to one another and to travel to whatever sites you wish to explore in your efforts at information gathering and reporting without the need for a public meeting.

“As you are a Fact-Finding Committee, we do not expect you to come to any conclusions or recommendation, but rather to report to the Commission on the information and facts you have gathered. This Commission will then be better able to make decisions with respect to this beachwalk initiative.”

Sunny Isles Beach residents who will be serving on the Beachwalk Fact-Finding Committee include: Henry Kay, Hal Rosenstein, Dr. Kathy Schultz, Anthony LoCastro, Gloria Taft, Alexander Fusco and Casey Gabor. In addition, a Sunny Isles Beach resident with an engineering background will also be joining the Committee per suggestion of Commissioner Danny Iglesias.

At the Nov. 18 City Commission meeting, members of the Sunny Isles Beach Civic, Cultural and Beautification Trust issued a report. Trust chair Herb Abramson noted, “We [feel] a [beachwalk] feasibility study needs to be done…There has been much controversy about this and I am deeply saddened by that. Our city should be united and working together when proposals come up that can enrich the quality of life for all of us.”

Trust member Bob Welsh noted, “Because of beach renourishment, we don’t have hard packed sand anymore…We need a place to walk and we’re only talking about putting some kind of hard packed surface onto the beach.” Trust member Bob Kaplan added, “The city is getting congested and there are no safe walkways for recreational purposes…Governmental agencies [also] want to plant sea grass [and support efforts] to help preserve the beach.”

Mayor Norman Edelcup subsequently thanked the Trust noting, “I think you persevered and got through the process [promoting] something that will ultimately be of benefit to the city when we all agree on the particulars of what [may be put on the beach]. I commend you for making the efforts you’ve brought forth.”

Edlecup also pointed out, “The Trust is not an adjunct of the city - it’s a separate 501c3 organization that has no political connection or administrative connection to the city. It’s a body of people who have gotten together to work on common efforts for beautification and cultural benefit to the city. Now the City Commission has to act on the Trust’s findings. We believe there is some merit in moving forward on this [beachwalk proposal] in a constructive manner by forming a Fact-Finding Committee that will be a sub-committee for this Commission.

“The Fact-Finding Committee will have the responsibility of finding answers to all the questions brought up…They’ll need to identify the various funding sources that may be available; understand various environmental issues; find out what agencies we have to go through; research what the surface of the path will be; if we can have any kind of lighting; look at various conceptual designs and methods of construction.

“We’ll have a group of people from all parts of the city with a common goal…[To create] some area set aside on the beach for walking and whatever that area is - everyone affected by it can live with the end result…We’re trying to improve the quality of life in the city in a manner that least offends any group of citizens but overall enhances the quality of life for all our citizens. That’s the mission of this Fact-Finding Committee.

“I spoke to a number of people I thought were open minded and fair minded and wouldn’t be coming in with any pre-judged notion. Each one indicated a willingness to participate in the Committee under those guidelines.”

Commissioner Danny Iglesias interjected, “Believe it or not, people who live on the east side [of Collins Avenue] are not against the beachwalk…they were against what was first proposed. I think we need to [review] how much we’re willing to spend; how long it’s going to last and look at a ‘test site’ [such as] Samson Park. Why do something that may or may not last? Let’s try it on 200 feet of [existing] beachwalk.”

In response, Mayor Edelcup said, “We can do the [Samson Park] test site or [utilize] a different [location] as a test site.”

Summing up the discussion, Vice Mayor Lewis Thaler noted, “We’re just really starting the second phase of the process to see where we’re going on this and then it will be taken back to the Commission through the Fact-Finding Committee so we can vote on it at that point.”

TOP