The Aventura City Commission looked at the stack of free federal stimulus money, swallowed hard and signed on the dotted line.

At stake Oct. 15 was $296,000, enough to build two bus shelters along Country Club Drive. That’s the net from a $312,000 federal grant that shrank as it passed through the hand of Miami-Dade County, which is acting as administrator on the project.

Mayor Susan Gottlieb didn’t mince words. “Taking 5 percent is an outrage,” she said. The subject of excessive handling fees on stimulus money has been well vented by commissioners at previous meetings. Even the county calls it a “skimming fee,” Commissioner Zev Auerbach volunteered.

In the end, commissioners agreed paying the fee was a necessary evil and approved the interagency contract on a unanimous vote.

Gottlieb still wasn’t satisfied. That’s a lot of money for a couple of bus shelters, she opined. City Manager Eric Soroka agreed, but explained engineering costs and more federal regulations are driving the cost higher. And the money is free to the city – no matching funds are required. Gottlieb indicated she understood but still wasn’t a happy camper.

The bus shelters will be located on the northbound side of East Country Club Drive south of Porto Vita and on the southbound side of West Country Club Drive between Spoke Road and the Lehman Causeway.

During a workshop session that followed the official commission meeting, a staff recommendation for a 15 percent hike in building permit fees drew a mixed reaction. The fee hike would be the first since 2000, Soroka explained. And the 15 percent mirrors hikes instituted by the county, Planning Director Joanne Carr added.

This wasn’t the day to suggest following the county’s lead. Commissioners reached no consensus on whether the fee hike was a good idea, much less whether the proposed fee schedule was appropriate.

In other matters, Soroka showed off the one-foot-square paving brick that will be used in the courtyard of the new performing arts center. Up to 4,000 bricks will be sold at $150 each to donors who will have their names engraved on the pavers.

Commissioner Billy Joel received permission from the commission to ask officials from the Miami-Dade School Board to appear and explain the rationale behind boundaries that exclude Aventura students from the new Mourning High School.