Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
March 22, 2017 2:12 p.m.
After listening to presentations from the three top-ranked responses to the city’s RFQ seeking a waterfront master plan consultant, Fernandina Beach City Commissioners (FBCC) during their Regular Meeting on March 21, 2017, selected Dix.Hite+Partners as their first choice to help the city engage the citizenry in designing and implementing strategies to overcome years of conflict and inertia over waterfront/downtown redevelopment—and to find ways to pay for the improvements.
Commissioners instructed the City Manager and the City Attorney to enter into negotiations with the firm of Dix.Hite+Partners over terms for a professional services contract. The top 3 firms—Dix.Hite, TSW and GAI–were identified by a committee consisting of city staff and local citizens from 12 responses to the RFQ.
All three firms questioned the wisdom of the original waterfront planners in placing parking lots at the foot of Centre Street.
Dix.Hite+Partners stresses transparency in working with communities. They brought to fruition waterfront projects in both Jacksonville Beach and Daytona Beach. Members of their team have been attending various city meetings for months both in anticipation of bidding on the project and better understanding the issues and positions of commissioners and the public. A major part of their presentation involved their process of gaining consensus in the community.
Through what they termed a “6D approach” that has worked well in other communities, the consultant emphasized the importance of bringing people together to solve problems and address complex issues. Their community engagement techniques involve surveys, social media, workshops, walkabouts, “idea dinners,” online boards and focus groups.
Throughout their presentation they stressed that their job is to present a community supported plan, find ways to pay for it, and implement the plan.
Project spokesman Greg Bryla, the Principal in Charge, said that Fernandina Beach has an “enviable downtown”, and that it is a great coastal town—without a coast. He said that the consultant’s job is to improve the waterfront experience by continually validating and redefining the waterfront through public input as mapping and design phases are developed. In the final analysis, it is the public’s plan, not the consultant’s plan, he said.
Vice Mayor Len Kreger told the consultants, “We don’t need a table top study.” He reminded them that many studies have already been done. Bryla acknowledged that and stressed that their goal is implementation. Team member Beth Lemke, who has worked previously for the city, told commissioners that concerns about money can be addressed, because there is money “out there” in the form of grants. Rather, she said, the hardest part is defining the project, and that’s why public input is so critical to the success of any plan.
Commissioner Tim Poynter emphasized the importance of involving a wide spectrum of the citizenry to get public buy-in on the project. He said that failure to involve enough of the citizens in a meaningful way bogged down previous attempts to advance waterfront redevelopment.
Commissioner Roy Smith also asked whether the consultants intended to consider challenges related to sea level rise and storm surge, and they said they did. They also acknowledged the need to address concerns over traffic circulation and the railroad.
Lemke said, “This project excites me. I was supposed to be meeting with the Governor in Tallahassee today, but I chose to be here instead.” She also added that the state wants to see Fernandina Beach do a waterfront stormwater project.
The project will be conducted during a relatively short time period, with public input to begin soon and a final product back to the FBCC by mid August.
The selected firm received first place votes from Commissioners John Miller and Tim Poynter and second place votes from the remaining three commissioners. The firm TSW received the second highest number of votes with first place rankings from Mayor Robin Lentz and Vice Mayor Len Kreger, but no second place votes. Commissioner Roy Smith ranked GAI first, while Miller and Poynter put them in second place.
To learn more about Dix.Hite+Partners, visit their website http://www.dixhite.com.
Slides below were also part of their presentation.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.
“All three firms questioned the wisdom of the original waterfront planners in placing parking lots at the foot of Centre Street.” Throughout the planning process there was the consistent agreement that parking along the waterfront was the worst possible use of that property; BUT it was members of the City Commissions during that time that gave the direct instructions that there would be no loss of parking spaces along the waterfront and that severely impacted the design. Another requirement was that the boat ramp had to be maintained. The City has heard over the years that “there is grant money available” so the proof will be in the pudding so to speak. Let’s look at other waterfront projects that have been done and see if there have been grant monies provided. The City has a top notch grants administration person that is constantly scouring public and private grant sources and I am sure if there were such easily available funds, she would have identified them.
Finally had a chance to review the video replay of the presentations and I do believe that Dix.Hite+Partners had a comprehensive presentation and was impressed by Ms. Lemke’s passion for her work and collaborating with their team partners. I also appreciated VM Kreger’s comment of making sure that previous work is not overlooked as I truly believe that the vision expressed by the various interest groups back then will largely foot with the current desires of the community. I certainly endorse Comm. Poynter’s wish to get many, many more people involved in the input process and hope that DHP is successful in using a variety of techniques and communication channels to achieve that goal.
On a final note, I sure was disappointed to hear the “coastal town without a coast” tagline. Did the team not drive 1.5 miles to the east to find Main Beach and understand all the significant effort the City has taken over the decades to make the true coastal area accessible and attractive to residents and visitors alike.
Once again, Dave Lott has a brilliant and logical argument. His points need to be answered by the City to the residents PRIOR to moving forward with yet another consultant paid for by taxpayer dollars.
Did any of the honored presenters mention that a marina needs water? City owned marinas are debt traps for tax payers. The faster it can be privatized the better. Some people say “the city must run it because it can’t stand on its own.” Well that’s an opinion that answers itself.
This project is not about the marina. Marina plans are being developed.
As Susan noted, while the scope of the project has to be finalized, the plan is only for the uplands portion although access and traffic flow related to the marina’s needs will have to be considered as part of the uplands vehicular and pedestrian traffic flow study.
One key is that the Commission has to decide what are the “non-negotiable” aspects of the plan. Is the Commission willing to spend $3 – $4 million to purchase the private property north of the marina if the current owners are willing to sell. What are the absolute minimum parking requirements along the waterfront? Will the boat ramp stay open and in its current location (previous studies have shown there is no real feasible alternative location)?