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Minutes 06-25-01 MINUTES oF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM "C", WEST WING, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY JUNE 25, 2001 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Betty Thomas, Chair Wally Majors, Recreation Director Jim McMahon, Vice Chair Ed Harris Elizabeth Pierce Bali Ramnarace Tom Williams Dan Winters Margaret Murphy, Alternate I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Thomas called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. I1. ATTENDANCE Chair Thomas called the roll and all were present. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MAY 14, 2001 AND APRIL 23, 2001 There were no changes to the minutes and Chair Thomas declared they would be accepted as written. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Dog Park The Board discussed the recent denial of the Dog Park by the City Commission, primarily for reasons of cost. The necessity of using recycled water to water the grass for the Dog Park doubled the cost from the original estimate. There was agreement on the Board that the Parks Department's analysis of the potential Dog Park sites had been very comprehensive. The City Commission had turned the issue back over to the Parks and Recreation Board to keep on their agenda and advise the Commission if another suitable site became available. A suitable site would be one that was not in proximity to an existing site or neighbors, and one that could be a permanent location. The Board also generally agreed that there were other matters of higher priority that required attention and funding. There was some mention of the Jaycee Park on Federal Highway south of Woolbright as a potential site. After a lengthy discussion, the following recommendation was made. Motion Mr. Winters moved to recommend that since the Board cannot come to a consensus about a suitable location, it is the recommendation of this Board that we temporarily abandon the idea of a City Dog Park and encourage the citizens of Boynton Beach to use the County facility at Lake Ida Park Meeting Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2001 while we look for another location. Vice Chair McMahon seconded the motion that passed unanimously. B. Hester Center Breezeway Enclosure, Pavilion, PAL Pressbox Mr. Majors reported that the Hester Center improvements were beginning to take recognizable shape and that the project was moving forward steadily. The Pavilion was up, the roof was on and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled for August 15. The ceremony was to be held in the morning so they could involve the children from the youth programs. The Optimist Club, who had contributed $10,000 to the improvements at Hester Center, was being invited to attend. An agreement had been reached with Sprint PCS to erect a monopole at the Hester site in exchange for five years' rent in advance, which the City would use to design and build the Press Box/storage area. Mr. Winters asked Mr. Majors if the City had considered using the lightning warning systems for the City playgrounds and ball fields. They sound an alert to clear the field in case of severe lightning storms and cost about $1,500. Mr. Majors advised that the City had some experience at the beach with a similar system but that it had not proved to be completely reliable. If such systems do not work properly, a false sense of security could arise due to dependence on the system. C. Senior Center Mr. Majors reported that the Senior Center had received a grant from the Lattner Foundation in the amount of $48,000 to fund a gym at the Senior Center. Chair Thomas reported that the Senior Center was pursuing formal accreditation from the National Council of Senior Centers and the National Council on Aging. Only one city in the state of Florida had applied for and received this prestigious accreditation to date. The Board agreed that achieving this accreditation would be helpful in obtaining grants and would create favorable publicity for the Center and the City. Members of the Senior Advisory Board, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, and the public were serving on the Committee and working on a detailed self-appraisal that was key to the process. Chair Thomas called for more people on the Board to become involved. The next meeting will be July 19 at 3:00 p.m. at the Senior Center. Mr. Majors commented that Money magazine had listed Boynton Beach as the second best City in the United States in which to retire. D. Boat Club/Intracoastal Parks Mr. Majors advised that there was nothing significant to report on this topic. Ms. Pierce asked if the City had considered placing a fire station and a police substation on a part of the Intracoastal Park that she had heard might be undeveloped. Mike Fitzpatrick was not in favor of putting a fire station on park land. A second location mentioned was the old Emissions building on High Ridge Road. The discussion of various potential sites for a fire station in the north end of the City concluded with Mr. Majors indicating that the City was seriously looking at that area. Meeting Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2001 E. Special Events 4th of July Mr. Majors reported that the 4th of July festivities would commence at Boat Club Park at 6:00 p.m. with a fireworks display at 9:00 p.m. Parking would be available on the Gandolfo property and at Benvenutos. TNT Concert Mr. Majors mentioned that the name of the TNT Concert had been formally changed to Oceanfront Concert Series to more accurately reflect the location of the performances. F. Greenways As a former Board member who was present, Mike Fitzpatrick was asked to give the Board an update on the Greenways project. Mr. Fitzpatrick spoke regarding a meeting he and Commissioner Ferguson had with Florida State Representative Susan Bucher, a potential sponsor of a local bill for a special Greenways Taxing District. The sponsorship of such a bill would entail such things as the adoption of resolutions by the surrounding towns and the County Commission, a petition indicating Widespread support, appropriate legal language on boundaries by the County Planning & Zoning Department, appointments to a Board for purposes of administration, and a final vote at the State level on the issue. Chair Thomas asked if all the other municipalities had to participate and Mr. Fitzpatrick replied that if the City wanted it to take in a larger area than the City, they did. The boundaries were chosen to encompass the Loxahatchee Refuge on the west with the ocean on the east. If various towns opted out, they could be added later through amendments. Mr. Fitzpatrick hoped to discuss the issue with Reps. Atwater and Andrews also. G. Items for the City Manager's Attention Charter School on Parkland Mr. Fitzpatrick also brought up a newspaper article announcing Boynton's plan to lease some nine acres of unused park land in the Meadows to the owners of a charter school. Chair Thomas stated that the land, which had been set aside and dedicated for recreation, had never been developed due to opposition from the residents. After considerable discussion, the Board drafted this statement for the City Manager: "The Parks & Recreation Board has been led to believe that nine acres of land currently designated as park land is being considered for use by a private school. We are not sure this is well intentioned and the Board would appreciate being advised fully as to what the plans are so that we may provide appropriate input on this project and any projects involving parkland in the future." 3 Meeting Minutes Parks & Recreation Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2001 H. Monthly Report Mr. Majors distributed a report to the Board members. Chair Thomas asked Mr. Majors what kind of floor they planned for the Civic Center and Mr. Majors responded, multi- purpose wood laminate. Mr. Majors reported that the Recreation Department had recently been awarded a grant from the Donner Foundation that will be used to complement the department's youth programs. V. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Pierce expressed concern about the piles of sand on Intracoastal Park and hoped that they would either be used or the area made to look more presentable. Mr. Williams was concerned about a new park for Little League baseball and thought that the City should procure the land for this, preferably in Quantum Park, as soon as possible. Mr. Williams asked about the status of the second bus for the PAL football team. When they have to make trips out of town, it saves them about $900 a week when they use the City's bus. Mr. Majors said they were working out some details about purchasing a surplus Palm Tran bus. Mr. Williams believed that Chief Gage was going to provide a bus '[or the football team with funds from drug forfeitures and said he would be meeting with the City Manager soon and would discuss it. Ms. Murphy asked about a newspaper article in which she read about the City planning a park for its sister city in Qufu, China. Mr. Majors advised that this was a project of Dan DeCarlo, the Neighborhood Specialist in the City. He envisioned something like the Morikami Park in Delray, possibly in conjunction with a multi-purpose center in the southeast part of town. Ms. Murphy asked Chair Thomas what the status of the Girl Scout Park was and Chair Thomas said the City Commission temporarily set this aside. Ms. Murphy was surprised that the Board had not been asked for a vote pro or con on this project. VI. NEXT MEETING - The next meeting will be July 23, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recording Secretary (two tapes) (6/26/01)