Council Continues to Wrestle with Sidewalks

The pesky issue of sidewalks continues to defy any resolution as to who should pay for that infrastructure. The original homeowner was required to install the capital improvement in the city’s right of way when he or she built their home. It is not on their land; they can’t plant in the swale within that same right of way and the city may have in fact damaged many of those sidewalks when the sewer project was done less than a decade ago.  

That potential for damage was done when the city’s contractor installed what is known as laterals from the main pipe in the street into a resident’s yard. A cut across a sidewalk was made to facilitate the placement of that lateral pipe and a new panel poured, unfortunately, the fill under the new pour was never adequately compacted causing the panel to sag and causing a trip hazard which the owner has to now repair. 

That same issues of poor compaction present itself throughout the island causing a washboard effect in those streets, even on some that have been recently repaved.  

Although there is some support on the council for the city assuming responsibility for those sidewalks, the council agreed to wait another 45 days before dealing with the situation. 

A Little Historical Perspective 

The contract for the third year of monitoring of the Hideaway Beach re–nourishment project was pulled off the consent agenda by Councilor Young when it came up. Young questioned why we wouldn’t join with the county to have those expenses shared. “I serve on the Coastal Advisory Committee and work closely with Gary McAlpin the Coastal Zone Manager for the county and he didn’t know anything about this. I just wondered why we couldn’t work with the county,” said Young.  

Chairman Brechnitz explained that this project was several years old now and the monitoring was required by the State of Florida as part of the permitting process. That the city had to apply for that permit for Hideaway, as the county chose not to participate in the funding. That funding was done in whole by the residents of Hideaway Beach. Mr. McAlprin was the Coastal Zone Manager at the time that re–nourishment was performed. 

Chief Frazzano Debuts New Cruiser 

Police Chief Frazzano provided a little levity, for what sometimes is a long and trying evening for councilors when she had one of her staff enter their chambers with a new radio–controlled patrol car which she recently won when attending a state conference. 

She was able to also add another staff member to the department through her recruitment efforts as McGruff the Crime Dog was already sitting behind the wheel of the new patrol vehicle ready to fight crime on Marco. 

The addition should be a positive addition to the Community Policing efforts with children on the island. 

Rios Questions Construction Manager at Risk Contract  

The city is continuing to inch forward with the process which will result in a total bid package, design and estimated cost for the build-out of Veterans Community Park. At their last City Council meeting, Manhattan Construction Company was recommended as the favorable bidder to serve as the Construction Manager at Risk for the project. 

As such, the Construction Manager commits to deliver the project within a Guaranteed Maximum Price to the city. This is based upon construction documents and specifications in place when the contract is signed. 

In this case, they will work with the city staff and the design firm to develop the specifications and design documents for this project. 

As such, the city has agreed to pay the company $168,223 for the first segment of the process. Councilman Rios was opposed to the process. The contract was awarded 6-1 with only Rios objecting. 

MS-4 Amendment 

Councilor Young proposed at the end of the meeting that an amendment to our MS-4 Ordinance which deals with stormwater issues be amended so as single-family homes that are built or substantially renovated adhere to a more stringent control of what is allowed regarding run-off. 

Presently, only commercial properties come under those requirements. The premise in his argument is that single–family homes account for a much larger percentage of the run-off that is created and has the potential for polluting waterways. 

Several members of the Waterways Advisory Committee came forward to support that proposal. The issue was referred to the city staff and attorney for review and to have a clean document forwarded to the Planning Board for their review and recommendations to the council.