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Minutes 01-08-03MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Ron Washam, Chairman Dan DeCarlo, Board Liaison Anne Centi Blanche Girtman Eddie Mitchell Anna Marie Noe, Vice Chair Clifford A. Royael Howard Solomon Brenda Lee Williams Sara P. Dye, Alternate Absent: Jose Rodriguez Karen E. Loomis, Alternate I. Pledge of Allegiance Chairman Washam called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., and Ms. Girtman led members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. I1. Roll Call - Regular Members and Alternates The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Recognition of Visitors Chairman Washam welcomed Ms. Alice Otis, a member of the Planning and Development Board, to the meeting. IV. November 13, 2002 Minutes Approval Motion Mr. Solomon moved to accept the minutes as presented. Motion seconded by Ms. Girtman and unanimously carried. V. Agenda Approval The following items were added to the Agenda: Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Be=ch, FL January 8, 2003 1. Mr. Solomon requested the addition under New Business of working with the CRA on staging more events downtown. 2. Ms. Girtman requested the addition under New Business of the parking problems that exist on NW 6th, NW 3rd and other areas. 3. Chairman Washam requested the addition under New Business of a discussion on the Board's decorum at Board meetings, as well as at other outside events. Motion Mr. Solomon moved to accept the agenda, as amended. Motion seconded by Ms. Girtman and unanimously carried. VI. Correspondence and Announcements Mr. DeCarlo announced that the Annual Martin Luther King Dinner is scheduled for Sunday, January 19th at the Holiday Inn - Catalina Centre beginning at 6:00 p.m. The price of the tickets is $30 and tickets are still available. Anyone desiring to purchase tickets should contact either Mr. DeCarlo or Ms. Octavia Sherrod at her office in City Hall. Mr. DeCarlo also announced that St. Paul's AME Church is having an event beginning tonight through Friday night. On Friday night, the Reverend Chaney from St. John's Missionary Baptist Church would be speaking and on Thursday night the Reverend Lyons would be speaking. Ms. Girtman announced that St. Paul's AME will be holding its Friends and Family Day on January 19th and there will be services at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. The speaker at the 8:00 a.m. service will be the Principal of Galaxy Elementary School, Ms. Kathy Harris, and at 11:00 a.m. the Reverend Anthony Reed would be speaking. Ms Girtman, who is chairperson of the event, urged everyone to attend. VII. Old Business PATCH Activities Update Mr. DeCarlo reported that the Board is very active and a lot of good activities have been planned for the spring. A new brochure is being prepared for distribution. Also, PATCH will be sponsoring a tent at the HeritageFest activities that will be offering health information. The Board, along with the Reverend Chaney, toured a facility in West Palm Beach that the Boynton PATCH would like to emulate. It was a church facility and Reverend Chaney would also like to see something similar to this at his Church or somewhere else in the community. Consideration is being given to having a 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2003 monthly program at St. John's and Mr. DeCarlo anticipates that a great deal will take place in the City this year by PATCH. Ms. Williams reported that there is a workshop at the Church tonight discussing this issue. Vice Chair Noe inquired if Bethesda Hospital has offered to participate in some of the PATCH Programs. Mr. DeCarlo reported that they have not been successful with this endeavor and acknowledged that it would be beneficial if the Hospital could offer some assistance. Vice Chair Noe thought that the Board should become more vocal in trying to enlist Bethesda's support for the Program. Chairman Washam noted that when the PATCH Program first came onboard, they met with the Hospital to enlist their help at that time and felt that the Board should not abandon those efforts, but to continue to pursue Bethesda to become involved. Motion Vice Chair Noe moved that this Board send a letter through Mr. DeCarlo's office to Bethesda Hospital asking them to become more involved in the PATCH Program in 2003. Motion seconded by Ms. Girtman and unanimously carried. VIII. New Business 1. Downtown Events Mr. Solomon asked the Board if they felt that since some of the events that used to be held downtown are no longer taking place, whether it would be beneficial to pursue new ideas or to try to bring the discontinued events back. He suggested holding smaller, more intimate type events in the downtown area. Vice Chair Noe would not like to have the parade duplicated next year on Congress Avenue. She would like to have it back on Federal Highway. She felt that holding the parade on Congress Avenue was detrimental to what the CRA is trying to do downtown. Further, she too would like to see more events held downtown. Ms. Girtman agreed with Vice Chair Noe's assessment of the parade and she felt that the parade was too early and prevented many people from attending. Motion Vice Chair Noe moved that the parade be held in downtown Boynton Beach next year and not on Congress Avenue. Members discussed various methods on how to attract people to the downtown area. Mr. Solomon suggested working with the local merchants and the CRA in order to accomplish this. Ms. Williams pointed out that there is no more GALA 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL January 8, 2003 and noted the success of the green markets that are held in other municipalities. Vice Chair Noe thought that staging a green market on Saturdays would be a good way to get people downtown. Mr. Royael also thought that holding block parties and offering music might also help. Mr. DeCarlo noted that Wayne Segal is now responsible for special events in the City. In the past, this was done through the Recreation Department. Mr. DeCarlo reported that at the prior Commission meeting there was considerable discussion regarding the parade being held on Congress Avenue. Vice Chair Noe suggested inviting Mr. Segal to a Board meeting to discuss the issues. Mr. Mitchell, who attended the Commission meeting, noted that everything that was reported was positive. However, he heard from many people who were not in favor of the parade being held on Congress Avenue. Chairman Washam pointed out that putting on the parade, regardless of where it is held, is a tremendous undertaking, and Mr. Segal and his staff should be commended for their efforts. At the meeting, there was discussion about having citizen input for the next parade. Chairman Washam also offered this Board's assistance as well. Ms. Williams would like to see the parade take place later in the day, rather than at 9:00 a.m. Chairman Washam suggested asking Mr. Segal to attend next month's Board meeting. Ms. Centi pointed out that there was a motion on the floor. Vice Chair Noe amended her motion as follows: Motion Vice Chair Noe moved that Mr. Segal and his staff be invited to the next meeting to meet with the Community Relations Board to discuss the parade and other events in the City. Motion seconded by Ms. Girtman and unanimously carried. 2. Parking Problems Ms. Girtman noted that with the influx of so many people into the City, there is insufficient parking to accommodate all the vehicles, since so many homes have more than one vehicle. As a result, many of these vehicles are being parked on both sides of the street, making the streets impassable and unsafe because they are not wide enough to accommodate the moving traffic. She also pointed out that this poses a life safety issue if a fire truck or police vehicle had to get down the street. She would like to have overnight parking prohibited on the streets. Chairman Washam thought that this issue needed to be brought to the attention of the Police and Fire Departments and that they should contact Ms. Girtman personally to address her concerns. Ms. Williams also said that this was a 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL January8,2003 problem on her street as well. Mr. DeCarlo will add this as an item to next month's agenda for further discussion. 3. Board Decorum Chairman Washam reminded members that the Community Relations Board is an advisory Board and everything that the Board does or becomes involved in is important. Anyone who serves on a Board becomes a public person and should conduct himself or herself accordingly, as a public servant. Chairman Washam also noted that politics, personalities, and personal opinions should not influence a Board member's judgment nor prevent a member from performing his or her duties without bias. Ms. Centi pointed out that this Board is a conduit to the people and members should be honest and courteous to the citizens. Vice Chair Noe echoed that the Board members are representatives of the community and even if a member does not agree with something, members should be cognizant of how the community feels. Ms. Girtman brought up the issue of Congress Middle School and Chairman Washam pointed out that this was not an agenda item and would be discussed at a future meeting. Vice Chair Noe stated that what happens at Congress Middle School should not be a reflection on the City of Boynton Beach. The Palm Beach County School Board runs the schools and these are issues that should be dealt with by the School Board. IX. Adjournment Next Meeting will be Wednesday, February 12, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submiffed, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) (Janua~ 9,2003) 5