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Minutes 04-28-03MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDAf ON MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Elizabeth Pierce, Chairperson .]ames McMahon, Vice Chair Margaret Murphy Bali Ramnarace Betty Thomas Tom Williams William Orlove, Alternate Wally Majors, Recreation Director John Wildner, Deputy Recreation and Parks Director Absent Pamela Winters, Alternate Call to Order Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Attendance Chair Pierce called the roll and noted that all members were present except the new alternate, Ms. Pamela Winters. III. Approval of Minutes- March 24, 2003 The minutes were approved as written. Orientation Manual (addressed out of agenda order) Ms. Murphy asked whether the Recreation & Parks Department continued to seek grants and Mr. Majors assured her that the work was ongoing. Mr. Majors noted that the Orientation Manual was much improved, due in large part to the efforts of Ms. Sherri Claude. The Ordinances governing the Board and additional description of the facilities and programs had been added as requested by the Board. Staff was considering adding information from the City Parks brochure to the Manual and more information about athletics. More information about each park could also be added including the number of picnic Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 tables, the availability of restrooms, a map, and a picture. Some Board members suggested putting similar information in the FunFare magazine. Mr. Ramnarace suggested that names and contact numbers for each facility be added to the IVlanual. The Board liked the Orientation IVlanual and a suggestion was made that it be shared with the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. IVlajors commented that the Manual would be brought back to the Board on an annual basis for review and comment. Pioneer Park Ms. Thomas asked whether the City was expanding Pioneer Canal Park and Mr. Wildner remarked that the vacant lot to the east was being converted to open playground. A resident adjacent to that area is building a home and objected to some Australian pine trees bordering his property and the playground. The City has begun to remove the trees and will replace them with landscaping to buffer this individual's property. IV. Unfinished Business A. Greenway/Bikeway Plans Mr. Wildner reported that three meetings were scheduled for the Greenway/Bikeway planning effort. The Board members were invited to attend the sessions, which will begin on Wednesday, April 30, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Hester Center on Seacrest Boulevard. Subsequent meetings will be on the fourth Wednesday in May and the fourth Wednesday in .lune at the same place and time. The participants will start defining potential Greenway/Bikeway routes in the area, make comments, and air their concerns. The City will consider the areas it wants to preserve, the routes chosen by the participants, all comments and concerns, and craft an overall plan for Greenways and Bikeways. The plan will then be presented to the City Commission later in the summer. A report will be posted on the City's Web page, which may be found at http://www.boynton-beach.org. B. Intracoastal Park Mr. Wildner reported that roofs were going up, grading was taking place, and a wall had been erected on the south side of the site. The project is nearly on schedule and should be completed by the middle of the summer. This project 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 will be followed up by a Request for Proposal and Request for Qualifications to design and build a water playground. The Board was pleased that this major milestone had been achieved, since it had been in the planning stages for at least ten years. Southeast Neighborhood Park - FRDAP Grant and LWCF Grant IVlr. Wildner reported that they expected to hear the results of their application to FRDAP in June for $200K towards the $575K that will be required to complete Phase i of this project. The Land and Water Conservation grant application has been submitted for the Phase 2 portion of the project. A recent appraisal of the property showed a value of $340K against an asking price of $350K and it was thought that this had improved the prospects for negotiating with the property owner. D. Senior Center IVlr. Majors reported that the installation of the sprinklers would commence in the near future. A local Foundation might provide money for a state-of-the-art video surveillance system that would allow much-needed visual monitoring of the facility, parking lot, and grounds. This monitoring would be useful at all times, but especially when there is only one staff person in the building. Camp Wrinkle Ranch, a day camp for seniors, is scheduled for three two-week sessions during the summer. There will be arts and crafts, shuffleboard, movies, field trips to [max, pool parties, bingo, and cookouts. Diplomas will be presented to the participants at the conclusion of each program. Each two-week session costs $30.00 for residents and $38.00 for non-residents and includes lunch, transportation, and field trips. Mr. Majors complimented staff for their creativity in planning this program. There will be a Mother's Day show and ice cream social on May 9 at the Center. E. Orientation Manual (already addressed) F. Old High School Mr. Orlove reported that the Task Force had met three times, toured the building, and were issuing a Request for Quotation for a new engineering and environmental assessment. They were not sure about the reliability of the Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 previous studies, which showed that it would cost approximately $5M to renovate the building. The Director of the CRA believes that renovation would cost much less than this. They needed to be able to say that it was a building that was viable and something that could be cleaned up and fixed up for a reasonable amount of money. The flooring appears to be in pretty good shape. There is some water damage but there are metal trusses that support the second floor that appear to be very stable. Mr. Orlove believed that there was a lot of potential in the building. Mr. Williams expressed his opinion that the high school was fine but that the Kids Kingdom playground should have been put over by the Civic Center on the vacant lot so the City would have more room for the residents to park when they come to the City to pay their bills. Mr. Orlove had seen some plans for a parking structure to be built on the north side of the high school and if the high school were renovated, this would help to alleviate some of the congestion. Mr. Williams believed the City should buy the properties east of the Fire Department from Boynton Beach Boulevard to Ocean Avenue. Since they were buying properties in the MLK area, he felt they could buy these properties as well and provide more room for parking. Mr. Wildner remarked that this was well within the realm of possibility. Ms. Murphy asked about opportunities to influence the makeup of the various areas of the building if the high school were to be renovated. Mr. Orlove indicated that he was on the committee to be certain that the interests of the Recreation & Parks Board were well represented. The CRA has a preliminary vision plan and they want to create an atrium in the middle, turn it into classrooms and build something on the third level. He personally thought that there was a lot of potential for an open area, keeping the stage the way it was. There are many entities that would want space in the building such as the City, the Children's Museum, the Historical Society, and others. The Children's Museum specifically needs to have a certain amount of additional space in order to pursue accreditation. G. Civic Center (Old Plan Available) Mr. Wildner remarked that the expansion/renovation of the Civic Center was under discussion. An old plan showing details about the replacement of the Civic Center is available for viewing in the Recreation & Parks office at any time. They were thinking of replacing the Center in its current location and providing a satellite of it elsewhere. 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 The City is discussing some potential bond issues for several Capital Improvement projects and the Civic Center is in a "rising" position on the C.I.P. priority list. H. Items for the City Manager's Attention None. T. Monthly Report Ms. Murphy mentioned that the work on the Self-Assessment portion of the accreditation process for the Senior Center was arduous and ongoing. The absence of a sprinkler system and electronic doors were obstacles to be overcome. IVlr. Majors responded that the budget for fiscal year 2003-2004 included the electronic doors for the front of the Senior Center. IVlr. Majors stated that the Recreation & Parks Department would soon be undertaking a Self-Assessment also. [t will identify any deficiencies that might exist and once completed, will ensure that the Recreation & Parks Department meets all pertinent standards and criteria. V. New Business Am Board members take ownership of individual programs and act as the focal point for information and comments about them Chair Pierce suggested that Board members indicate which programs they would like to "adopt." She also suggested that backup representation be arranged so that if a person were not able to attend a certain meeting, the issue would still be covered. The selections were as follows: Intracoastal Park & Boat Club Park Woman's Club and Senior Center Rolling Green Park/Grounds/Coaching Arts Center Oceanfront Park Senior Center Chair Pierce Vice Chair McMahon Bali Ramnarace Betty Thomas William Orlove Margaret Murphy 5 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 VI. Public Audience Bruce Black, 656 Manor Drive, Boynton Beach, stated that he had gotten started in politics through membership in the Recreation & Parks Board and he still felt a kinship with its topics and issues. He was very much in favor of "adopting" a particular park or project and described the maze he built near the Arts Center and a butterfly garden he created at the Children's Museum. Mr. Black stated that the City Commission would be making decisions in the next couple of weeks about which of the C.I.P. (Capital Improvement Projects) projects to move forward and he impressed on the Board the importance of communicating the Recreation & Park Board's priorities to the Commissioners. He encouraged the Board members to make calls to the Mayor and Commissioners themselves and to ask their friends and neighbors to make calls also. Mr. Orlove indicated that finishing the Senior Center was this Board's number one priority and that a Board member should carry that message forward to the City Commission, if all were in agreement. The Board discussed framing a letter from the Board to the Mayor and City Commission giving the Board's priorities for C.T.P. projects. The Board also agreed to have Chair Pierce invite Mr. Bressner to their May meeting. The Board discussed their priorities and came up with the following list: 1) 2) 3) Senior Center Expansion Wilson Center Intracoastal Park Recreation Building l~n light of the short timeframe involved, calls will be made to each member to gather consensus about the contents of the letter. B. Nominations to name parks Mr. Majors distributed copies of a new Administrative Policy regarding the naming of parks and recreation facilities. The policy puts this Board in a gatekeeper role since the Board will review any nominations that are made and make formal recommendations to the City Commission based on their review. 6 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 28, 2003 Mr. Black commented that he had stood before the City Commission recently about the topic of naming parks and the response was that there was no policy concerning this. The City Manager offered to come up with a plan and this Administrative Policy represents that plan. Mr. Black stated that he would be coming to the Board in May with a nomination for the Board's review and recommendation. Mr. Ramnarace asked what had happened to the Board's recommendation to name the Press Box at the Ezell Hester Center after Board member Tom Williams. Mr. Wildner stated that a new recommendation would probably have to be made following the procedures in the new Administrative Policy. VII. Next Meeting: May 19, 2003 - Arts Center Chair Pierce asked for consensus on the idea of inviting Mr. Bressner to the May meeting and having the meeting at Boat Club Park, ( The Board was in favor of inviting Hr. Bressner but after the fact, the meeting was set for the Arts Center instead.) VIII. Adjournment Since there was no further business, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (042903)