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Minutes 02-23-93HINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COI414ISSION WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN COI~ISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1993, AT 5:30 P, #. PRESENT Arline Weiner, Mayor Lynne Matson, Vice Mayor Jose Aguila, Commissioner Edward Harmening, Commissioner Robert Walshak, Commissioner J. Scott Miller, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the City Attorney Agustin Hernandez, School Board Ken Blair, School Board CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiner called this Special City Commission Workshop Meeting to order at 5:37 P. M. to review the draft contract on the Poinciana School area land acquisitions. Mr. Hawkins briefly told of interest and efforts of the community, the City Commission, and the School Board during the last year to save Poinciana Elementary School. He introduced two members of the School Board, namely, Agustin Hernandez of the Planning and Real Estate Division and Ken Blair of the Construction Division. Mr. Hawkins stated that the curriculum has a lot to do with how the school is going to be designed. The School Board is looking to institute a math/science technology magnet program at Poinciana Elementary School, for grades pre K through 5. They are seeking a grant from the Magnet School Assistance Program through the Federal Department of Education, which would provide $2,000,000 to start this magnet program. Mr. Hawkins advised that Poinciana Elementary School is presently 97 per cent minority and would have to be integrated in order to have a magnet program. Mr. Blair explained that the School Board is going to apply for a magnet start up grant funds from the Federal Government. The purpose would be to bring the school to a nonminority, isolated situation. The target goal for the County is between 10 and 40 per cent minority students. The start up funds would fund- teacher training, computers, other technological equipment, and curriculum materials. The County School Board would provide the money for any building project that went on the campus, The grant has to be applied for by March 1, 1993. After the grant is applied for, the School Board will be working on the physical plan. The program is oriented towards math and science technology, with an integrated approach, utilizing computers and various other technological apparatus. In addition to math and science, humanities, music, etc., will be taught. Mayor Weiner pointed out that the school is presently not at capacity. Mr. Blair advised that 433 students are presently enrolled in Poinciana Elementary School. It is anticipated that 560 students will be enrolled for the 1993/94 school year, 712 for the 1994/95 school year, and possibly as many as 800 students in the future. -I- #INUTES - SPECIAL CITY COHI4I$SION NORKSHOP HEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 23, 1993 Mr. Hawkins advised that Motorola has made a commitment to work on this project because they are very interested in the future of their employees coming from Boynton Beach. The City hopes to obtain the hardware and software for the curriculum from IBM and Apple Computer. Mr. Blair confirmed for Mayor Weiner that the majority of the students at Poinciana Elementary School are ESOL. Mayor Weiner asked where these children will go. Mr. Blair advised that this has not yet been determined. Commissioner Walshak pointed out that Congressman Alcee Hastings publicly announced that if any specific grants are needed to let him know within the next thirty days because he can probably get it pushed through relatively quickly. Mr. Hawkins advised that he plans on utilizing Congressman Hastings' support. Mr. Hernandez added that the School Board is going to provide a list of contacts to the City Manager's Office and will be looking for the City to promote the program and make the legislators aware of it. Mr. Hawkins said the City Manager's Office will make those contacts available to the City Commission. Mr. Hernandez displayed an aerial and two graphics of Poinciana during his pre- sentation. There are some single family lots on the northeast corner of the school. Not all of them are occupied. One is empty and they would like to acquire it. The school is presently bisected by an east/west road. The School Board would like to eliminate this road and turn the entire area into the Poinciana campus. This would require a partnership between the School Board, the City, and many of the community residents. The School Board prefers not to displace owner occupied residents. A majority of the houses are tenant occupied. The School Board will be looking for cooperation and coordination between the School Board and the City, with the City being the School Board's liaison for property acquisitions. Mayor Weiner asked if Poinciana would be the only elementary school in the County to have a math/science magnet program. Mr. Hernandez answered in the affirmative. However, Mr. Blair noted that there are some in Broward County. Mr. Hernandez believes the Federal Government recognizes that magnet programs are a good way to desegregate and integrate schools. The School Board hopes to have feeder schools in the community so the students can continue with their knowledge of high technology. Motorola already has a working relationship with Congress Middle School. The School Board hopes the new high school in Boynton Beach will be a high tech high school to correlate with this magnet program. Mr. Hernandez stated that after acquisition, design and construction of new facilities will commence. The School Board has been putting all their efforts into obtaining the grant and has made a commitment to have a magnet program at Poinciana whether or not they get the grant. Mr. Hernandez stated that the magnitude of the commencement of the program will depend on the grant being obtained. In response to Mayor Weiner, Mr. Hernandez advised that the School Board should know by July or August if they are going to receive the grant or not. Whether -2- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 23, 1993 or not the grant is received, a part of the magnet program will be in place at Poinciana'by the 1994 school year. Mr. Blair stated that if the School Board does not get the grant, they will seek monies from other sources. Mr. Hernandez added that there is more than one grant program available. Mr. Blair said they are mostly private foundation grants. Mayor asked for a list of these grants. Mr. Hernandez advised that the School Board is going to be looking at an inter- local agreement that outlines the process of acquisition of the properties to bring the Poinciana campus into more of a standard size. The acreage of the campus is presently undersized. Therefore, the School Board has to ask the Department of Education for waivers on site size. With the acquisition of the additional properties, the campus will be more along the sizes of the Department of Education standards and, hopefully, waivers will not be needed in the future. The School Board is also in the process of drafting another interlocal agreement regarding joint use of educational/recreational facilities adjacent to the existing Poinciana Elementary School boundaries to eliminate repetition of facilities. The School Board wants this school to serve as a community anchor and would like to have a joint use agreement so that: if there is a need for the School Board.to use the park facilities, they have the right to do so. Conversely, the School Board would like to make their recreational school facilities available to the City. Mr. Hawkins distributed a draft of an interlocal agreement between the School Board and the City for the Poinciana Elementary School site and a document titled "Information Summary by Street". The summary shows the number of lots needed to be purchased, relocations, and assessed values. Mr. Hawkins reviewed the draft interlocal agreement, paragraph by paragraph, with the Commission. With regard to paragraph number I on page 2, Mr. Cherof stated that Mr. Hawkins gave a couple of examples of what the lead liaison would do; however, that should be delineated in the contract itself. The Commission had no objections to paragraph number 1. With regard to paragraph number 2, Mr. Cherof commented that the City is under- taking an obligation to acquire property by purchase or eminent domain and before this point, the amount of appropriation should be discussed. Mayor Weiner added that she thought it was made very clear that there would be no use of eminent domain. Mr. Hawkins stated that appraisals based upon market value will have to be done and that hopefully appropriation will not exceed 5 per cent above assessed values. He felt that the School Board will look very strongly at the City's unwillingness to use eminent domain, and he pointed out that the Department of Education has specific acreage requirements for schools. Mr. Hawkins advised that all the property owners in the areas involved were con- tacted and the majority of them are willing to sell. However, two of them are vacillating as to their willingness to sell. Mayor Weiner agreed to leave emi- nent domain in. Commissioner Walshak preferred to address eminent domain speci- fically to 12th Avenue Northwest. Mr. Hawkins did not think the School Board would be comfortable with that. He advised that eventually the property on 13th Avenue Northwest will be needed to finish the project. Mr. Hernandez advised that the abandonment of 12th Avenue Northwest is critical and that the acquisi- -3- #INUTES - SPECIAL CITY CONNISSION WORKSHOP HEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 23, 1993 tion of the properties on 13th Avenue Northwest may be needed in the future for parking and traffic circulation. The Commission had no objection to paragraph number 2. With regard to paragraph number 4, Mr. Hawkins explained that the City is going to acquire the necessary properties in clusters of four, which would allow some time to acquire the properties without halting the progress of the project. The Commission had no objections to paragraph number 4. Mr. Hawkins explained paragraph number 5. He said the City would purchase the properties and then convey them to the School Board. The School Board would then reimburse the City. Mr. Cherof inquired why the property is not being directly acquired by the School Board. Mr. Hernandez explained that the School Board wants the City to act as liaison. The School Board does not mind if the contract itself is between the School Board and the property owner; however, they want to make sure the City informs the citizens that this is being done to benefit the City. Mr. Cherof stated that this would save a lot of cost asso- ciated with the second transfer. Mr. Blair added that conveyance is preferred this way because of the limitation on eminent domain. Commissioner Walshak asked if the property would revert back to the City if the School Board acquires the properties under normal circumstances without eminent domain, and something happens by October 3, 1993. Mr. Cherof advised that it would not. Mr. Hawkins advised that paragraph number 6 will be changed. The Commission had no objection to paragraph number 8. Commissioner Harmening felt paragraph number 9 should contain a reverter clause and pointed out that when the School Board conveys a piece of property to the City, they normally put in a reverter clause saying that the property can only be used for municipal purposes. Mr. Hernandez felt that since the School Board is paying for it, they should be able to determine what is done with the site, have the opportunity to give it to another civic organization within the com- munity {as long as it still serves the community}, or dispose of the property through the other processes allotted the School Board by the Statutes. Commissioner Harmening clarified that he was not talking about the existing pro- perty that the school is sitting on. He was talking about the lots that the City may buy and.the street that the City may abandon. Mr. Hernandez felt the School Board would be shortchanged if there were a reverter clause because they would have acquired unimproved land and brought the value up by constructing a building on it. Commissioner Harmening pointed out that in the event the School Board were to totally abandon the property forty years from now, the school would probably be deteriorated. Carrie Parker, Assistant City Manager, suggested omitting the reverter clause from the other agreement. Mr. Blair had concerns about how the Legal Department of the Department of Education may view this. Commissioner Harmening pointed out that the reverter clause would be spe- cific and that in the event the School Board totally abandons the site, the City should get the land back. Mayor Weiner pointed out that the City felt it was -4- HINUTE$ - SPECIAL CITY CONNI$$ION WORKSHOP HEETING BOYHTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 23, 1993 faced with the abandonment of the property by the School Board, that the City would have had no control over that property and it would deteriorate in the middle of a community the City is trying to restore. Commmissioner Walshak voiced a concern regarding paragraph number 10. He pointed out that'because of joint use, the property would be used tremendously more and the buildings would wear out.. The Commission had no objections to paragraph number 10. With regard to paragraph number 11, Mr. Hawkins advised that the park land con- sists of the ball field, the pool, the basketball courts, and the Wilson Center. The Commission had no objections to this paragraph. Mr. Blair stated that the community center in the park will eventually have to be brought up to ADA stan- dards. The Commission informed him that this is presently being done. Mr. Blair suggested the City and the School Board work on this together since the School Board's code is slightly different than the Southern Standard Building Code. With regard to paragraph number 12, Mr. Hawkins advised that the $350,000 figure will be increased. The Commission had no objections to this paragraph. The Commission had no objections to paragraph number 13. With regard to paragraph number 14, Mr. Hawkins advised that the October 1, 1993 date will be changed to January i, i994. The Commission had no objections to paragraph t4. With regard to paragraph number 15, Commissioner Harmening felt the School Board should reimburse the City for half the cost of relocating the utilities. Mr, Hernandez stated that the School Board has not had the opportunity to meet with the utilities departments to determine the extent of the utilities. If the lines are small enough, they may be able to be tapped off instead of relo- cated. Paragraph number 15 was left open until more information is received. Mr. Hawkins advised that Palm Beach County Community Development has been con- tacted and the City will be working with them on relocating individuals. City residential property and two nonprofit organizations are also available to help with relocation. On behalf of the community and City Commission, Mayor Weiner thanked the School Board of Palm Beach County for all the work, effort, and enthusiasm they have shown with regard to this project. She asked Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Blair to extend her thanks to their superiors. Commissioner Walshak felt it was necessary for the City Commission to discuss the budget for the property acquisition and determine where the money is going to come from so that the attorneys can work on the contract. Mr. Hawkins advised that this matter is being worked on and the final agreement will contain firm numbers when presented to the City Commission. -5- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP NEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 23, 1993 ADOOURNMENT There being no further business to come before this Commission, the meeting properly adjourned at 6:48 P. M. THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH ATTEST: 'ti i~ ~erk Recordi ng Secretary (Two Tapes) Mayor Vi ce Mayor /ommi ssi oner Commissioner ommissioner -6-