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Minutes 02-28-02 MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, cITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2002 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Shanna St. John, Chairperson Steve Waldman, Vice Chairman Hattie Miller Mary Morera Welton Sanders Lori Wilkinson Carlos Masso, Student Phyllis Stern, Alternate Willie Pearl Wilson, Alternate Sherri Claude, Assistant to the Recreation Director Absent Evelyn Geathers I. Call to Order Chair St. John called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. II. Moment of Silent Prayer/Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag A moment of silent prayer was observed, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. Approval of Minutes of January 24, 2002 Meeting Motion Vice Chair Waldman moved to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Masso seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence A. Old Schoolhouse Presentation - Harvey Oyer Harvey E. Oyer, Jr., 511 East Ocean Avenue, Boynton Beach, gave the Board insight into the history of the old Boynton Beach High School. The buildings used to belong to Boynton Beach and were given to the School Board, who eventually returned the buildings to the City.' At that time research was done to put both buildings in the National Historic Register but the City chose to do this one building at a time. They began with the old elementary school, which later became the 1913 School House Children's Museum: Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 28, 2002 The City's Visions 20/20 effort produced a recommendation to develop the old high school for community use, tear down the Civic Center, and replace the Civic Center with a Town Square. About two years ago, the Community Redevelopment Agency reversed this and recommended tearing the old high school down and replacing it with a parking lot. Several members of the community spoke against that idea to the extent that they retained an attorney. The City Commission gave those interested in preserving the building time to gather community support. Mr. Oyer stated that they had engaged one of the major restoration architects in Florida, Rick Gonzales. The construction firm that did CityPlace in West Palm Beach collaborated with him to come up with estimated costs for restoring the building at $4,750,000. This figure was only 60% of what it would cost to have a new building on the site of the same size. They believe that the building is structurally sound and architecturally significant and if restored, could be turned into a cultural center. He had obtained a lot of support for the project from neighboring communities. At the time the school was active, students attended from Gulfstream, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan, Hypoluxo, and Lantana, as well as all of the rural area out past S.R. 441. Mr. Oyer and his supporters feel that people are interested in this project and have the money to donate to it. He also pointed to the State of Florida and its fine record of supporting historical and cultural endeavors, and looked to them for support aS well. Mr. Oyer explained that the City had asked his group to demonstrate community support and that was the purpose of his visit to the Board. He suggested that if the Board felt it was within their prerogatives as an Advisory Board, and wanted to see the school preserved, that it could send a letter of support to the Mayor and the City Commission, endorsing the preservation effort. Chair St. John asked Mr. Oyer whether the Historical Society was a registered non-profit organization and he replied that it was and donations are tax-deductible. They were in the process of setting up a separate account to accommodate the people who might want to contribute to the preservation project but not to the Historical Society in general. Chair St. John asked him if they had someone actively looking into grants. He said they will be applying for a grant from a foundation to help them hire a person to organize the volunteers and be in charge of fundraising. Chair St. John thanked Mr. Oyer for bringing this matter to the Board's attention. B. Boynton Beach Police Department Programs - Chief Marshall Gage Marshall Gage, Chief of Police, Boynton Beach Police Department, inquired how he could be of service. Ms. Wilkinson thought that the request for him to speak to the Board might have come from her suggestion to have Officer Haggerty of the Lantana Police Department speak to the Board about a program he did at Lantana Middle School called Victims, Aggressors, and Bystanders. She wanted to know if Boynton Beach offered the same program. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 28, 2002 Chief Gage stated that he had been asked to talk about the Police Department's youth programs. The Police Department does participate in the Y.E.S. program that replaced the D.A.R.E. program. The D.A.R.E. program had the children for one year and did not track their progress. The Y.E.S. program starts with children in the sixth grade and tracks the children through high school. The County initiated the program and the Boynton Beach Police Department joined in. Since it was so successful, the County extended it to other cities in the County. They now have two officers involved full time. One at Congress Middle School, who also goes to the elementary schools and another officer who works for the Palm Beach County School Board Police on a grant that goes to all the schools in the area, with emphasis on Odyssey Middle School. The Boynton Beach Police Department has four officers assigned full-time to youth programs. Chief Gage was proud of the fact that dozens of employees, both sworn and civilian, work with the youth on their own time. The Police Department makes financial contributions to youth programs also. It contributes to the Police Athletic League (P.A.L.), Y.E.S., the Boynton Beach Police Explorers, the Boy Scouts of America Gulfstream Council, Florida Missing Children's Society, the Jimmy Rice Center, Juvenile Assessment Center, Kids in Distress, Lake Worth High School Criminal Justice Academy, Juvenile Transition Center, We Change Foundation, and the YMCA of Boynton Beach. They also participate in many fundraisers including working with the Make-a-Wish Foundation The P.A.L. program reaches more kids than any other program. P.A.L. offers football, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, and track and field. They work with over 1200 children in the football program, 140 children in the basketball program, and 160 children in the baseball program. There are five cheerleading teams and 50 participants in track and field. Ofc. Bill Tome is the primary officer working with the P.A.L. program but there are dozens of coaches from the community who volunteer their time. The previous year, the County chose Ofc. Bill Tome as Child Advocate Police Officer of the Year. This spring, one of the P.A.L. kids, Mike Rumpf, will graduate from the University of Miami. He is going to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft and this will take place in Boynton Beach at the F.O.P. Lodge. Chief Gage expanded on the Explorer Program, which is designed for youngsters from age 14 to 18, who are taught basic police skills, investigative skills, and are sanctioned under the Boy Scouts of America, even though there are boys and girls. They compete annually and every year come in the top ten in the State. Twice in the last five years the Boynton Beach Police Explorers came out number one in the State - Explorer of the Year. When a juvenile is apprehended for a non-violent crime and it is their first offense, they are eligible for this program. About one hundred kids a year go through this program. They receive counseling sessions that they attend with their parents, go to peer court, maintain minimum grades, go through education programs, and straighten out. In exchange for that, they are not prosecuted. There is a 3% recidivism rate, which is an exceptionally good rate. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 28, 2002 Chief Gage mentioned their work with the Truancy Interdiction Program (TIP), a program where youth who should be in school are picked up by officers and delivered to the TIP center in Delray Beach. This program has a direct impact on the future of the youth in the schools. Ofc. Asim BrOwn teaches a course entitled Victims, Aggressors, and Bystanders at the schools. He also particiPates in two programs on his own time: a Youth Mentoring Program where youth can get community service hours credit and the Police Explorer program. Chief Gage mentioned the In House Suspension Program that he helped to initiate, with the help of David Fellows. Students who were formerly suspended and allowed to leave the school are now staying in the school. As a direct result of this effort, the County is trying the program out countywide. Chief Gage expressed his long-term commitment to the youth of the City and his belief that they were our future. Hattie Miller praised Officer Tome and Chief Gage said he was very proud of him. Chief Gage's talk ended on a note of thanks and applause from the Board. C.) Chair St. John announced that G.A.L.A. would be on March 23-24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and that volUnteers were needed. Interested parties should contact Todd Johnson at 742-6550, D.) The Board Dinner will be on Wednesday, April 3 at the Benvenuto Restaurant and Chair St. John asked the members to RSVP as soon as they receive their invitations. E.) Youth in Government Day will be on April 25, 2002. V. Public Audience None VI. Old Business A. Volunteer Project at Rolling Green - The dateS are set for April 6 and 13. On the 6th the Boy Scouts will prepare the area and the actual project will ~3e done on April 13. A workshop with the Boy Scouts will be held prior to April 6. B. Youth Volunteer Bank - The banquet is scheduled for May 18 at the Civic Center. The account is shod $462.09 and sponsors are needed. Letters of solicitation were sent to the Board members with the last set of minutes and Ms. Claude will send them out again. Ms. Stern and Ms. Miller both submitted contributions in the amount of $50.00 each. Ms. Claude announced that a DJ had been tentatively booked and is charging $200 for three hours, a big savings over the previous year. Ms. Claude has been sending out postcards to the Youth Volunteers. Chair St. John asked Ms. Claude to send the postcards to all the Board members as well as the volunteers. Vice 4 Meeting Minutes ' Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 28, 2002 Chair Waldman said that in the past, the names of potential sponsors were divided up between the Board members and they each worked on their own list. Ms. Claude said the list was too small to do that. Chair St. John asked each Board member to have at least one new sponsor by the next Board meeting. C. Bob Borovy Award - Two applications have been received to date and the deadline is April 15. Ms. Claude stated that packets were sent to the schools, including Atlantic, Santaluces, School of the Arts, Lake Worth Christian. It has also been advertised in the Boynton Beach Times. Vice Chair Waldman stated that he wanted to ask Mrs. Emily Borovy to be a judge. Chairman St. John felt that at least one member of the Board should be on the judges panel. The applications will be reviewed as Candidate 1, 2, and 3 and the actual names would be "blacked out" on the material given to the judges. Vice Chair Waldman will ask Ofc. Bill Tome to be a judge. Ms. Claude will write a letter to the winners from the previous year, asking them if they would be interested in being judges. D. Visiting Speakers Program - Vice Chair Waldman is still looking for free speakers. The Board thought it would be better not to have two speakers on the same night. Chair St. John suggested that Board members contact Vice Chair Waldman with topics of interest. E. Youth Expo - Ms. Claude recalled the discussion from the previous meeting about whether the Mall would still be an appropriate location. Chair St. John noted that the Mall was already reserved. Vice Chair Waldman stated that he would call them about the arrangements. F. Other Chair St. John emphasized the need for the Board members to solicit contributions for the Youth Volunteer project. Ms. Wilkinson noted that the Chamber of Commerce in Lantana hosts a fishing tournament each year and they give all the money to deserving charities. Ms. Wilkinson spoke to Ron Washam, the leader of the project, and requested consideration for the Advisory Board on Children & Youth. They will require a letter requesting funds. The tournament is May 4 and they meet the week after to give the money away. Chair St. John will draft a letter to Chief Marshall Gage requesting funds for the Advisory Board on Children & Youth projects from their Law Enforcement Trust Fund. VII. Future Meeting Dates March 28, 2002 April 18, 2002 May 23, 2002 After discussion, the Board decided to change their regular meeting from March 28 to March 18 since March 28 is Passover. VIII. New Business 5 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 28, 2002 A) Letter Endorsing the Old High School Preservation ProjeCt The Board discussed whether to issue a letter of endorsement for this project. Motion Vice Chair Waldman moved to send a letter of endorsement to the Mayor and the City Commission expressing the support of the Advisory Board on Children & Youth for the restoration of the old high school and the establishment of a cUltural center in its place. Mr. Masso seconded the motion. Chair St. John wanted a stipulation in the motion that called for youth programming at the cultural center. She was in favor of saving the building, but thought it should be the new Civic Center. She favored tearing down the old Civic Center and replacing it with a parking lot instead. She believed that the old high school could be used by the City for programs for which it was already receiving assistance and that they could seek more grants. Ms. Miller noted that there was no kitchen at the existing Civic Center. Vice Chair Waldman suggested adding a proviso encouraging the use of the building for youth-oriented programs. Ms. Wilkinson wondered if the Board should get involved in the issue. Individual Board members could support it, but she did not believe it was the Board's place to recommend that the City tear down a building. Mr. Sanders was in favor of restoring the building but felt that the Board needed to see more concrete information before making a decision. Ms. Wilkinson did not know whether Mr. Oyer was looking for a statement from this Board that said "don't tear down our building", or "support a cultural center". Mr. Sanders agreed that the request was not detailed enough to make a decision. The Recording Secretary polled the vote and the motion passed 7-2 (Chair St. John and Ms. Wilkinson dissenting). Vice Chair Waldman will draft the letter and bring it with him to the next Board meeting for review by the Board before it was sent out. IX. Adjournment - The meeting was duly adjourned at 8;40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) (03/05/02) 6