The Employee Suggestion program is one of the City’s five Reward and Recognition programs implemented June 16, 2015. This program allows employees to share innovative ideas, which may enhance productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and/or the quality of local government services. Employees whose suggestions and innovations result in monetary savings, increased revenues to the City, improved quality of services, or otherwise benefit the City and its residents are recognized annually, and may receive a monetary award based on program guidelines.
At the end of the year, additional prizes are awarded based on a recommendation from the Procedure team, including intangible recommendations; one award of $1,000 goes to an employee for the suggestion of the year resulting in cost savings/revenues for the City and up to three others go to the runners-up at $500 each.
In Addition, viable and implemented suggestions estimated to result in savings or revenues of more than $5,000, will be evaluated for a trial period of six (6) months. The applicable department(s) will assess the success of the trial and recommend whether the idea should be adopted permanently. If adopted permanently, the employee will receive a special award, based on the savings or increase in revenue generated by a “tangible” idea with awards up to 1% of the estimated net monetary savings or increase in revenue during the first full year of implementation ranging from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $5,000 per suggestion. The cost of capital expenditures shall be amortized over the useful life of the equipment or facility. Direct labor costs and indirect or administrative costs of implementation shall be considered first year costs.
For FY 2017, four suggestions were selected for additional prizes and possible implementation:
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Motion Sensors for lighting in City Buildings
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Vinyl Wrapping of Traffic Control Signs
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Wayfinding Signage on Beachwalk between 6th and 16th street (Serpentine Area)
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Traffic Flow in City Hall Garage
Suggestion 1: Motion Sensors for Lighting in City Buildings
Employee Suggestion submitted as “When I walk by City Hall or the building located at 1755 Meridian on the weekends, the lights are kept on in many departments. Lights are left on by City employees, as well as the cleaning employees. My office does not even have a light switch; all of the lights are kept on 24/7. We should utilize motion sensors in some areas, so at night and on the weekends the lights can be turned off or at least dimmed)”.
BACKGROUND
Currently there are no buildings with motion sensors that control lighting. The Sustainability Committee (SRC) is scheduled to meet October 30th to discuss a proposal from one of the city’s A/E rotational companies, Glavovic Studio, assessing the costs for retrofits to achieve LEED EBOM baseline certification for the three previously selected municipal properties: The Art Deco Welcome Center, South Shore Community Center, and Fire Station No. 3. Motion sensors could count credits (points) towards the LEED EBOM certification.
ANALYSIS
Property Management Department is currently researching device options, device cost, and cost to retrofit an office, with anticipation to pilot the 4th floor in City Hall. Additional information will be provided by the Property Management department, is selected for possible implementation.
The following locations are on a schedule in which the lights turn off via a Lutron panel; therefore these areas would not need occupancy sensors.
- Potential energy cost savings
- May deter criminal activity around City facilities
- Energy Conservation
Concerns:
- Lack of control
- The reliability can be affected by environmental changes and direct sunlight
Suggestion 2: Vinyl Wrapping of Traffic Control Signs
Employee Suggestion submitted as “Let’s get permission from Miami Dade County to wrap or paint the traffic control boxes throughout our City with decorative designs (perhaps tropical designs) to make these unsightly boxes more visible. This will only add to the tropical feeling that CMB is. In other cities they have had artists come and paint these boxes free of charge with a variety of designs. Silhouettes or pictures of police officers on these boxes give the appearance that there is someone standing there thus reducing crime or undesirable activity. This fact has been proven in other locales. I have photos and websites that I can share if the City is interested in endeavoring with project."
BACKGROUND
The City has many traffic control boxes and street light service boxes placed at signalized intersections, which are owned by Miami-Dade County, FPL, and the City of Miami Beach.
ANALYSIS
Based on staff research, in 2015, Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places implemented a series of artist designed vinyl wraps for traffic control boxes located in Miami-Dade County District 11 (The West End) The project was implemented in collaboration with then Miami-Dade County Commissioner Juan C. Zapata and funded entirely by the Commissioner. Image of completed project attached (Exhibit A)
The following information was obtained from Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places regarding the 2015 Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places (AIPP) project scope mentioned above:
- Project Budget: $35,000/ approximately $1750 per box.
- Number of boxes wrapped: 20
- Material: 3M Vinyl adhesive (3-5 year life span). It was determined paint was not feasible or durable for this type of installation.
- Maintenance: Approximately 1 box was replaced every 2-3 months due to vandalism. Please keep in mind, this project is in a residential/suburban part of the County with light pedestrian traffic (if any at all). When the work was commissioned, an overage of vinyl was produced in anticipation of high vandalism.
- Ensure Professional, High Quality Artistic Content: Michelle Weinberg, a well noted and exhibited Miami based artist, was commissioned to create the design for the boxes. She created a geometric pattern that could be replicated on all of the boxes with inversions of the pattern. This was to ensure ease of replacement of vinyl.
- Ownership of Boxes: Various entities have boxes throughout the County, including Miami-Dade County Transit, FPL, Telecom, City of Miami Beach, etc. For this project, it took approximately one year to negotiate a contract with FPL to allow for temporary use of the boxes. The boxes owned by Miami-Dade County were secured through the Transit Department by the Office of the Commissioner.
If recommended for implementation, funding would need to be identified and commissioning an artist would follow the Art in Public Places Selection Process, which includes review by Historic Preservation Board/Design Review Board, as applicable, and approval of the City Commission. Artworks commissioned by the City of Miami Beach should add value to the City’s public art collection, attract international attention, strengthen economic development and tourism and heighten civic identity. The Art in Public Places program commissions professional visual artists that demonstrate innovative, contemporary and creative approaches in addressing permanent, site specific works. The strength of the artist’s concept, design capabilities and established track record of museum/gallery exhibitions are the program’s highest priorities.
Alternate recommendations would be to partner with Miami Beach schools and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to have designs done by our youth. Additionally, it was recommended to place ads on the boxes to ensure project is self-sustaining. As Art in Public Places works exclusively with professional visual artists, neither of these two options would be implemented through the Art in Public Places program
Benefits to the City of Miami Beach are:
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Visibility for a local artist
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Providing Beautiful Ambiance for Residents and Tourists
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Potential shared cost to implement if used for advertising purposes
Concerns:
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Due to the nature of the boxes, it is not a simple wrap, as ventilation and accessibility is necessary
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Boxes vary greatly in size depending on function of utility
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Vandalism
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Timeframe for negotiations with utility box owners, if applicable
Suggestion 3: Wayfinding Signage on Beachwalk at Lummus Park (Serpentine Area)
Employee Suggestion submitted as “Interior signage of street locations for pedestrians and tourists along Lummus Park interior walkway (beach walk). I noticed this as a concern and know it can be easily remedied. I worked this past Saturday at Lummus Park and was asked numerous times by pedestrians/tourists along the interior hard surface walkway (beach walk), "Where am I?" Location: Lummus Park - From 16th to 6th in general. Reason: This is a high pedestrian/tourist area. Concern: Safety. Street signs are located along Ocean Drive, but when a pedestrian/tourist is inside on the interior hard surface walkway (beach walk) there are no markers as to the street location to inform them of where they are or how far they have walked from their original destination point. I observed in one morning, people strolling away from their belongings to take pictures and then unable to find their way back. I had also found a wallet on a park bench and thought to myself, that it might have been recovered by the person who lost it if they had had a location marker. (It was turned over to PD.) Justification: Other cities have markers along the interior beach walk ways (Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale) to let pedestrians/tourists know where they are at. It provides safety in the most simplest way by allowing visitors to our beautiful parks know where they parked to find their car, where they were dropped off at (by a bus tour), how far they walked away from their original destination, etc... We all have gone somewhere excited to go to our destination point; only to get lost finding our way back.”
BACKGROUND
Currently there are no wayfinding signs on the beach walk/between 6th and 16th street (Serpentine Area). The Wayfinding signage design has already been developed by the Marketing and Communications Department as they are currently working on implementing signage along the entire beach on both the east and west side of the dune.
The larger Beachwalk projects completed by the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) Department include wayfinding markers within the existing design. The Environment & Sustainability Department and Communications Department have been working to implement beach street markers.
Alternatively, this suggested project does not include installing way finding signage in the Serpentine pathway.
ANALYSIS
Recommendation received from the Environmental and Sustainability Department to have the Property Management or Public Work’s Department to complete the installation, since this project is on a smaller scale than the previous project.
If approved by Commission and selected for possible implementation, additional information regarding signage specifications will be provided by the Marketing and Communications Department.
Benefits to include:
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Pedestrian/Tourist Safety
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Easy navigation
Concerns:
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Concrete stenciling that has lasted very long in this environment
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Potential ongoing maintenance problem
Suggestion 4: Flow of Traffic in City Hall Garage
Employee suggestion submitted as “I would like to suggest an idea for our Multi-Purpose Parking Garage (1755 building). I have been using this garage for quite a while, and have seen a few close calls and even some accidents when coming up/down the ramp. When coming up the ramp most drivers make the first right onto the (West Lanes), this traffic flow can get a bit tricky when cars are coming down in the same lane. In order to increase safety in this garage, I recommend we change flow of traffic on each floor. In the “Existing Layout”, All paths (UP/Down) can be used in both directions. I’m suggesting to change the "Non-Ramp" paths to the lanes closer to the ramp (West Lanes) should be for Up traffic only and the lanes farther from the ramp (East Lanes) should be for traffic coming down only. This can be achieved by adding a few ceiling and/or ground signs”.
BACKGROUND
The City Hall Garage has an up/down ramp and 2 (West and East) paths to continue to other floors, on each floor. Several near misses and speeding have been witnessed in this garage. In September 2017, the Parking department has taken preliminary precautions and placed 10 miles per hour speed limit signs throughout the garage.
ANALYSIS
Recommendation received to use one lane (West Lane) to come up and other (East Lane) to come down. The Parking department is currently evaluating the effects of the recently placed speed limit signs and potential traffic flow design changes. Should the Commission choose to implement the suggestion, it is noted by the Parking Director that the parking flow was originally designed by the Engineer of record and any alterations would require approval from a new engineer.
Benefits to the City include:
- Less vehicle accidents/near misses
- Increased pedestrian safety
Concerns:
- Enforcement of designated speed limit and/or traffic flow
- Potential liability if new design causes Acquisition of engineer that opposes the original engineer of record’s design