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Minutes 06-16-03MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Elizabeth Pierce, Chair James McMahon, Vice Chair Margaret Murphy Lisa Peterfreund Bali Ramnarace Betty Thomas Tom Williams William Orlove, Alternate Pamela Winters, Alternate 1. Call to Order Wally Majors, Recreation & Parks Director John Wildner, Deputy Recreation & Parks Director Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Attendance The roll was called and all members were present. Lisa Peterfreund, new member, was welcomed to the Board. Ms. Peterfreund told a little about herself. She has a background in environmental policy and natural resource management. She attended the City's Institute program and was encouraged to join the Board. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 19, 2003 Ms. Murphy referred to page 6 of the minutes. She noted that the letter she sent to the Mayor and Commissioners regarding the funding priorities were her priorities and she did not mean to have it reflect that she was writing on behalf of the Board. The minutes were approved as amended. Mr. Majors introduced Wayne Segal, Director of Media & Public Affairs, to the Board. Mr. Segal thanked the Board for inviting him to their meeting. He presented an overview of Special Events. He explained that these events are tools used for economic development, and there are criteria that each event must have to become a special event. He said that they are trying to raise the bar and increase sponsorship. The ultimate goal is that events would be self- sustaining and not be dependent on the City budget or on taxpayers. He explained that they are trying to highlight the diversity in the City. The Jamaican Bobsled Team was here for the Holiday Parade. This was intended to create a relationship with our Caribbean neighbors and create economic development opportunities. Mr. Segal also informed the Board that it was the decision of the City Commission to move the parade back to Federal Highway. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 He explained that Office Depot is sponsoring the Fourth of July festivities and has donated $10,000 for this event. The celebration will be held on the Motorola grounds from 4:00 to 9:30 p.m. with fireworks at 9:00 p.m. There will be a Wild West Show and the performing band is Burnt Biscuit. The City is also making the special events more community oriented. They are planning events in each Commission district. The first event was in District II and they partnered with HeritageFest. They are now working with Vice Mayor Ferguson's district (District III) on a Medieval Festival and antique fair in October or thereabouts. They have begun working with the businesses on the west side of Commissioner McKoy's district (District IV). Currently, any money donated for these events goes into the General Fund. Ultimately, when the 501(c)3 account is set up, the money would go into this and then donations would become tax deductible. The long-term goal is for the events to be self-sustaining. In the far future, the goal is to make some profit that would go into a community endowment fund. When asked whether the district events were well received, Mr. Segal said that he felt that they were. They just started a volunteer group of people who want to work on special events and were overwhelmed at the number of volunteers. Chair Pierce asked Mr. Segal to keep the Board informed regarding these events so that they could give some input. Mr. Orlove asked if there was any major Citywide event, such as GALA, being planned. Mr. Segal said that there will be another signature event but they are looking for the right event. They are also looking for the developers of the downtown area to assist them. Several Board members felt that the people miss having the GALA downtown. Mr. McMahon suggested having a first-class orchestra on the new beautiful bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. Chair Pierce felt that the Boat Parade should be expanded. The Board members thanked Mr. Segal for attending the meeting. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Work Plan/ Needs Assessment Presentation (moved up on the agenda) Mr. Majors explained that the Recreation & Parks Department conducted a comprehensive Needs Assessment and developed a Work Plan that identified how they would respond to the recommendations that were made through the assessment. He distributed copies of the Work Plan presentation. A copy of this presentation is on file in the Office of the City Clerk. He explained that he was requesting the Board's endorsement and then the plan would be presented to the City Commission at their July 15th meeting. Mr. Majors said that a questionnaire was developed and mailed out to 6,000 residents and neighbors to the west, asking how they felt about recreation and what activities and programs they would like to see. Some of the findings were that the community was interested in special events, performing arts, environmental activities, self-improvement, and outdoor fitness. The top facilities used are Oceanfront Park, neighborhood parks, district/community parks, community centers, and the Kid's Kingdom Playground. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board BQvnton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 The Needs Assessment found that one of the ways people keep informed is through the mailing of the Funfare! Magazine. This is mailed to everyone who requests it. Other ways to keep citizens informed is through brochures, flyers and television ads. There is also information on the Website. The Assessment also showed that people are interested in neighborhood parks, nature trails, picnic areas, bicycle trails, theatre performances, playground areas, festivals, special events, exercise and fitness programs, computer classes, tours of local attractions, and arts and crafts. Concerning opportunities for specific different sectors of our population, the City has a Senior Center that caters to 300-500 patrons. There is also the Castoffs Square Dance Club, the Outlook Club, arts and crafts for all age groups, and youth programs. Mr. Majors explained that a recommendation of the Needs Assessment was for special events and performing arts activities. The City does offer very wide opportunities including `Take A Kid Fishing", a "Big Truck Rally", concerts at the beach, Youth Expo at the Mall, the Bob Roberts Society Orchestra, the Gold Coast Community Band, the Holiday Parade, and the Carolyn Sims Picnic. Another recommendation from the Needs Assessment was that the City provide more environmental activities, self-improvement opportunities, travel and tourism activities, and arts and crafts programming. Recently, the Recreation & Parks Department started providing guided tours of our scrubs. Mr. Majors said that John Wildner has done a great job of turning kids on to the natural habitat of South Florida. Also, the City has been a Tree City USA for many years. In addition, the City provides gardening classes, exercise classes, dancing classes, and computer classes. Mr. Majors stated that one of the things that needed improvement was getting the information out to the people. He said that Ginny Shea would present the Marketing and Communication Plan to the Commission. She has done an outstanding job with this. In response to Ms. Murphy's inquiry regarding whether information is disseminated through the schools, Mr. Majors said that every time there is a youth oriented program, approximately 15,000-16,000 flyers are sent to all the local schools. Regarding the long-range plan for the future, one of the major things that must be done is to update the Comprehensive Plan. This will be a very exhaustive study of existing inventory of facilities, and it is mandated by the State that this Plan be updated every ten years. Mr. Majors stated that Recreation & Parks wants to ensure that we operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. The way we do that in Recreation is through National Accreditation. He explained that this project will take approximately two years and will be extremely intensive for staff. Sherri Claude and Debbie Majors will be team leaders for this project. He said that the Recreation & Parks Department must provide evidence that our standards meet National Accreditation. There are 158 standards to comply with. He said that this accreditation would bring a lot of pride to staff as there are only about 35 departments nationwide that have this accreditation. The accreditation must be renewed every five years. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 Ms. Murphy said that the accreditation is a huge undertaking. She and Ms. Thomas are on the committee for the Senior Center and it has taken almost two years. Mr. McMahon inquired whether there were any other Florida cities that were certified. Mr. Majors replied that Delray Beach and Broward County have accreditation. Commissioner McCray asked who the Funfare! Magazine was mailed to. Mr. Majors responded that they formerly did a Citywide mailing. However, they found that many were returned undeliverable and some people did not want them. Mr. Majors explained that the magazine is now mailed to anyone who registers for a program or to anyone who requests a copy. Commissioner McCray was concerned because citizens in District II have told him that they do not receive the magazine and there are many activities that people in his district do not know about. He suggested getting them to the churches. Mr. Majors said they had tried to do that in the past; however, the churches did not show any interest in that. Commissioner McCray will assist with getting the information to the churches in his district. Mr. Majors also noted that the magazine is distributed to doctors' offices, dentists' offices, and shopping centers. Ms. Peterfreund suggested contacting the Sun-Sentine/to place Boynton Beach activities in the community magazine section. She was pleased to see in the report an interest in outdoor activities. She suggested that when mailing the Funfare! Magazine to the homeowners associations, a cover letter be sent to encourage them to put information in their newsletter telling people that they can request the magazine. Chair Pierce Ms. PeteFffebimd alse mentioned that she spoke to someone from Hunters Run who thought it would be great to have a park or a civic center next to the Tennis Center. Mr. Majors reported that one of the projects endorsed by the Commission was the SW Community Center near the Congress Avenue Park. Commissioner McCray encouraged the Board members to attend the City Commission meeting on June 17th to support the capital improvement projects dealing with recreation. The Board thanked Commissioner McCray for attending the meeting. The Board unanimously supported the Needs Assessment Work Plan IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Greenway/Bikeway Plans - T-21 Program Mr. Wildner reported that the City had applied to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for a Transportation 21st Century (T-21) grant in the amount of $440,000 to extend Palmetto Greens Park. Boynton Beach came in second out of 12 projects. The MPO has up to $500,000 for a project that they can award and it has $1.9 million to work with so it looks very positive. Mr. Wildner explained that the funding would not arrive for three years. However, Greenways is one of the projects that is under proposed funding with the CIP program for $1 million. This could be used to advance construction of Palmetto Greens Park if the City Commission desires and then the City could get reimbursed with the $440,000. n Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 He explained that at the Capital Improvement Project Workshop held by the City Commission, a number of projects were recommended to be included in two different funding sources. One funding source was a revenue bond issue (revenue from franchise fees, etc.) and this would include the Wilson Center, Wilson Park, SW Community Center, the Greenways program, and Nautica Park. The other projects for a general obligation bond issue, which needs voter approval, are the Library, the completion of the Senior Center, the Art Center second floor, and the Wilson Pool. The thinking was that each project would appeal to a different segment of the community. B. Intracoastal Park Mr. Wildner reported that there has been good progress made on this park. It probably will be completed in August or September. C. Southeast Neighborhood Park - status FRDAP grant and LWCF grant Mr. Wildner said that they expect the FRDAP grant to be announced in July to learn whether the City received the $200,000 grant that was applied for. The City currently owns 2.3 acres of property known as the Zill property and is negotiating with Mr. Zill for an additional 2.7 acres. He explained that negotiations are going well. He also reported that the City is hopeful that they will receive another $200,000 grant from the Land & Water Conservation Fund. D. Senior Center Mr. Majors explained that they completed the self -appraisal portion of the self-assessment and are ready to apply for formal accreditation of this facility. Ms. Murphy asked about the sprinkler system. Mr. Majors wished that it were moving along more quickly. He will contact the City Engineer to determine the status. E. Orientation Manual Mr. Majors distributed copies of the final version of the Orientation Manual. This will be updated once a year. A copy of this manual is on file in the Office of the City Clerk. F. Old High School Mr. Orlove reported that bids were due on June 27th for the environmental and structural studies. There will be a meeting on July 91h and the Task Force will look at the proposals and choose two vendors - one for engineering and one for the environmental study. G. Items for the City Manager's Attention Mr. Majors explained that City staff was told that their expenses for next fiscal year could not be increased from this budget year. This limits adding additional staff at Boat Club Park. Staff is working on a plan to install parking meters at the beach and at Boat Club Park. They are considering placing meters on all the lower parking spaces at the beach. Mr. Majors said that presently non-residents of the City must pay a $10 fee to park at the beach. Staff believes that k, Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 the parking meters would eliminate the need for a parking attendant to remain at the guard shack to collect money. He would then be free to monitor the top lot and the lower parking spaces. Also, it was felt that people do not want to spend $10 a day to come to the beach for an hour or two. This would allow them to use the parking meters. Only one parking attendant rather than two would be needed during the peak hours. These meters will take about three years as it is an expensive project. However, we should be able to recover costs in 4 or 5 years. At Boat Club Park, they believe that it would be best to install one parking meter at the front of the park so that if someone does not have a yearly decal and wants to pay a daily pass, they can put their money in a machine and receive a ticket to display on their vehicle. The parking attendant would know that they paid and this would allow the attendant to be free to go around the park and focus on the area around the ramps. This may be able to be implemented fairly soon. Mr. Majors explained that the intent is to allow attendants not to collect money and an opportunity for them to monitor the park. Mr. Majors reported that in next year's budget, they will include a reconfiguration of the traffic flow at the Senior Center. This would be for safety reasons. The plan would be to make 10th Avenue one-way going west. Mr. Orlove asked whether this Board would be involved in the naming of all facilities within the City. Mr. Majors said that the majority of buildings deal with recreation and parks. Municipal buildings would not generally lend themselves to be named. Mr. Orlove was looking for clarification on what facilities the Board would be involved with naming. Mr. Majors said that there were two nominations submitted by Bruce Black. The policy says the Recreation & Parks Board will meet to consider the nomination at least 30 days following the meeting in which the nomination was introduced. Mr. Wildner felt that the purpose of the 30 days was to give the Board an opportunity to get community support. Then they would vote on whether they wanted to forward it to the City Commission. After discussion, it was the consensus of the Board that they were not comfortable making a decision regarding naming a facility on the recommendation from one person. They wanted to have community support for the nomination. Mr. Orlove pointed out that the policy states that nominations should include evidence of community support for the proposed name. This evidence is the responsibility of the person making the nomination. It was felt that this should be brought to Mr. Black's attention. This item will be placed on the agenda for the Board's next meeting. H. Monthly Report No comments. VI. NEXT MEETING: July 28 at the Senior Center 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 16, 2003 VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, CIL- Deputy City Clerk (June 25, 2002)