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Minutes 05-05-97MINUTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MAY 5, 1997 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Gerald "Jerry" Taylor, Mayor Jamie Titcomb Vice Mayor Matthew Bradley. Commissioner Shirley Jaskiewicz, Commissioner Chamber of Commerce Kathy Shabotynskyj, President Mike Bottcher Virginia Farace Herb Kahlert William Martin Stormet Norem Dave Showalter Robert B. Taylor. Jr. Kerry Willis. City Manager Sue Kruse, City Clerk CALL TO ORDER Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m, 1. Introductions Everyone introduced themselves, including the people in the audience. 2. Updates on Prior Discussions A. Visions 20~20 Action Plan Mayor Taylor advised that five teams consisting of City staff worked on five different strategies and came up with an implementation plan for quick victory items. A Commissioner was assigned to each team. Each team presented their plan last Friday and goals were decided on. This wil go before the Commission tomorrow. Approximately $150.000 was allocated to accomplish some of these quick victory items. City Manager Willis advised that the purpose of these quick victory items is to get the momentum going again, involve the neighborhoods, have some highly visible MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 improvements, and create some excitement, involvement, and enthusiasm in the community. Mayor Taylor added ii has been about a year since the ws~oning conference and the purpose of these quick victory items is to do some visible improvements so the comm unity does not think this is another plan that is going to end up on the shelf. We want to continue the enthusiasm because we need the whole community to make all this happen He advised that the City Commission may be dissolving some boards tomorrow, freeing up some board members to serve on various task forces to make our goals a reality and keep the community involved. City Manager Willis announced that on June 9:1997 at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m., a presentation will be made to all the neighborhood associations community groups and organizations, and Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Robert Taylor asked if al the recommendations were accepted in principal for mplementation. Mayor Taylor answered affirmatively. Ms. Shabo,tynskyj inquired about the subcontractors who are writing the overall plan. Mayor Taylor advised that they will be presenting a more detailed plan at the City Commission meeting tomorrow. B. Neighborhood Specialist Mayor Taylor advised that the City Manager has selected a Neighborhood Specialist. City Manager Willis stated that Rev. Hank Ackermann was by far the most qualified and had the best background and contacts. He has been an activist in the community for quite some time. and has agreed to come on board on May 8. 1997, pending contract negotiations which will be approved ~n concept tomorrow. C. Boynton Beach High School Mayor Taylor advised that the next high school that will be built in Palm Beach County is going to be built in Boynton Beach. That is tied to the one cent sales tax and concurrency passing. He doubted that this will be on the ~eferendum in November because the County, the Municipal League, and the School Board cannot seem to agree on what should be put on the ballot. 2 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 If it does not pass. there are other ways to build a high school. However. it will require the School Board to increase their debt. The City met with the School Board and explained how to go about this, but they did not seem excited about doing that. Commissioner Bradley stated that there is a ballot petition underway and they hope to get enough ballot signatures to put this on a referendum; however, that will not happen until November, 1998. The difficulty is working out a plan that is best for everyone. There is a lot of debate about growth restrictions, and the municipalities have to make sure that their ability to continue to have home rule is protected. If they start building schools today, it would take five years to catch up before concurrency would actually kick in. The Municipal League has been asking to see a plan-that shows the schools will be built, how they will be built, and that the coastal communities will be protected if these tax dollars are collected Another issue is whether or not we can get four votes to get the eastern high school on the capital budget. We have three votes (Bill Graham, Dr. Sandra Richmond, and Dorothy Montgomery) and are working on a fourth. If we do. it is a lot more.likely that it could be built even without the penny sales tax: such as a half penny sales tax. charter schools, a partnership with the County, etc. The recently revised seven year plan indicates [hat the Quantum Park High School is the first high school to be built, and the western high school moved from year four to year five. The School District is using the tactic that if they do not build any schools the problem will become worse, then people will get fed up and vote for the penny sales tax. Ms. Farace advised that July 1 is the beginning of the fiscal year, and the School Board usually adopts their operation budget at this time. However, they usually do nol adopt the capital budget until August or September. With the new administration, she was not sure if they are going to try to adopt both at the same time this year. Ms, Shabotynskyj asked how the Chamber of Commerce can help. Mayor Taylor felt it was important to continue to lobby the School Board members. Commissioner Bradley added' that another letter to them would not hurt. Ms. Farace suggested that at the Chamber of Commerce's Monthly General Membership Breakfast on May 23rd that we talk to the School Board members about this. She has heard that there have been problems with the plans for the HHH high school. Therefore, there is going to be a new set of plans for the Boynton Beach High School. 3 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 3. Major Construction Project A. Federal Highway Mayor Taylor advised that the resurfacing of Federal Highway has commenced and should be completed within 18 months. Ms. Shabotynskyj ~nquired about the plans regarding the landscaping and median cuts. She advised that several months ago, the merchants had expressed concern about losing their median cuts. Al Newbold. Acting Director of Development, advised that the plans are located in the City's Engineering Department. Mayor Taylor advised that staff negotiated with DOT and felt they got the best possible deal they could get; however, they could not please everybody. In addition, DOT has certain requirements. Mr. Kahlert asked if DOT is phasing the construction. Mr. Newbold advised that the project manager will have an office at 1550 Federal Highway. He does not have a telephone yet, but when he gets one. he will provide his telephone number to Mr. Newbold so that people can call him if they have questions. City Manager Willis said she will attempt to have DOT phase the construction. Mayor Taylor believes they are also going to be doing Boynton Beach Boulevard from 1- 95 to U.S. 1, which will include paverbricks at the intersection of Seacrest and Boynton Beach Boulevard and U.S. 1. Commissioner Jaskiewicz asked if DOT is responsible for the landscaping along Boynton E~each Boulevard. Mayor Taylor advised her that the City is responsible for that. Ms. Shabotynskyj wondered if it made more sense to put paverbricks in the sidewalks on Boynton Beach Boulevard to go along with the paverbdcks in the chase instead of planting trees. Commissioner Jaskiewicz advised that the City wanted the medians: however the businesses did not. Ms. Shabotynskyj said they did not want the medians because they interfered with access to their businesses. Sal DeCanio of the Boynton Beach Boulevard Association added that there was also a problem with the plant material because the trees that were chosen would be bare in the winter. Mayor Taylor advised that when we told DOT that we did not want the medians, they took all the money that was dedicated for the medians and the landscaping away from us. We tried to get some of that money to landscape the sides of the streets, but to no avail. Therefore. the City has to pay for that. 4 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, '1997 B. Gateway Boulevard Mayor Taylor advised that the County gave the City the money to have Gateway Boulevard designed and constructed. Mr. Newbold advised that we will be going out for RFPs. This project should be completed by the latter part of 1998 or early part of 1999. C. Ocean Avenue Bridge The capital improvement schedule attached to the agenda indicates that this project should be completed by 2001. Mr. Newbold advised that there is a problem with the eminent domain process. Mr. Kahlert understands that the road is going to be closed when the bddge is replaced. He stated that service issues need to be dealt far in advance of closing the bridge. He pointed o~t that there ~s going to be a tremendous amount of construction downtown. He expressed concern about it being so disruptive that everybody stays out of the downtown He felt it would behoove the City to designate a point person to deal with all the construction issues and come up with a response plan that shows what part of the roads are going to be under construction, when. what kind of work is going to be undertaken and what detours you might have to anticipate so that you can keep the people coming downtown instead of bypassing it. He asked the City to give some thought as to how we can develop a good public relations plan to keep the citizenry and business owners informed. Mayor Taylor felt this is a perfect opportunity for the City and Chamber to work together to help disperse this information. 4. Economic DevelOpment A. Marina Project and Groundbreaking Ms. Shabotynskyj advised that the Chamber of Commerce wants to throw a big party when groundbreaking is begun. Mayor Taylor advised that the developer's agreement will be before the City Commission tomorrow. Mr. Robert Taylor asked if all the outstanding issues have been resolved. Mayor Taylor answered affirmatively, adding that the site plan still has to be submitted. 5 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 n response to Mr. Kahlert, Mayor Taylor advised that Mr. Garcia is ready to break ground immediately upon approval of this project, and the project should be completed within two to two and a half years. 5: New Ideas/Issues A. City Charter Ms. Shabotynskyj asked if the City ~s considering forming a committee to review the C barter. City Manager Willis advised that a lot of work has been done on this already. Mayor Taylor assured the Chamber of Commeme that this will be pursued. At this point. City Manager Willis mentioned that she felt an annual election is the ~gest waste of government dollars. By the time Commissioner gets familiar with their d~ties and adopt a plan of action, they are running for office again and we may have new elected officials and the plan is never implemented. Mr. Kahlert suggested that the City hire contract staff to deal with the Charter amendments, and set up a short time frame. Vice Mayor Titcomb suggested looking at other mumcl palities' documents and dovetail them into our own. City Manager Willis felt Delray Beach would be a good place to start because they recently did this. B. Advisory Board Changes Mayor Taylor explained the reasons for consolidating some boards, to wit: to eliminate duplication, be more effective, and cut down on staff time and costs. There is an item on the City Commission agenda for tomorrow to abolish the COmmunity Redevelopment Advisory Board and Board of Zoning Appeals and give the Planning and Development Board additional power and duties. The Planning and Developmenl Board wil be quasi-judicial; however, an applicant will be able to appeal to the City Commission before proceeding to Court. Also, the City Commission will have the authority to call any issue before them if they are not ~n agreement with the Planning and Development Board's decision. The City Commission is also considering sunsetting the Visions 20~20 Task Force because they have done their job. One or two members of that Task Force will p~obably be chosen to follow up with the consulting team. MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 The Association is working with the City with regard to banners and signage, and may be receiving some funding in this regard. The Association focuses on Federal Highway to ~-95 both sides of the street. The Association would like to extend the permitted business uses. They would also like the boundaries of the CBD extended on Boynton Beach Boulevard from west of the railroad tracks to 1-95. Ms. Shabotynskyj advised that the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board was supportive of extending the boundaries of the CBD. Mike Rumpf, Senior Planner. advised that the Central Business District is a zoning district in and of itself and the City Commission can change the boundaries. Mayor Taylor said he read the m~nutes of the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board meeting and recalled that they wanted to extend the boundaries to Woolbright Road and all the way north on Federal Highway. Mr. Showalter stated that that was part of the discussion for the purposes of making businesses eligible for the facade program that is restricted to the CBD. City Manager Willis advised that there is a better way to do that than by expanding the CBD. Mr. DeCanio stated that Association would also like the zoning to be expanded at least another block deep so that businesses can expand their business use and get the best use of their property along the Boulevard. Ms. Shabotynskyj felt the neighborhoods need to be blocked off for security purposes. She also felt a consistent parking plan for that area is needed. Dr. DeCanio advised that the Association has raised $1,150 and plans to use that money for special projects in the future. He thanked the Chamber of Commerce for hel ping with administrative expenses, such as postage, etc. Dr. Decanio advised that Chuck Mucciolo has offered his services to the businesses. There is going to be a landscape demonstration project to show what can be done with an empty lot. There ~s a lot on the west side of Seacrest Boulevard by /he Texaco station that could use some sprucing up. Dr. Decanio advised that the Association has general meetings every other month and a board meeting every month, and appreciated any support they can get. Commissioner Jaskiewicz inquired about the laundromat strip mall. advised that the owner was concerned about security and had the removed. Dr. DeCanio pay phones 9 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORDIA MAY 5, 1997 City Manager Willis asked Mr. Bottcher to let her know exactly what he needs. She suggested the City and Chamber of Commerce work together to design programs relative to their common areas of interest, and combine our resources and manpower. Mayor Taylor felt these quarterly meetings are valuable and stated that by working together, the Chamber of Commerce and the City can be a very strong tool in any community. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Commission and the Chamber .of Commerce, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. ClTY OFBOYNTON BEACH ATTEST: City Clerk Recording Secretary (Three Tapes) Mayor Commissioner Commissioner 11