Loading...
Minutes 01-27-03MZNUTES OF THE RECREATZON AND PARKS BOARD MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, 1021 SOUTH FEDERAL HIGHWAY, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORZDA, ON MONDAY, 3ANUARY 27, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Elizabeth Pierce, Chair .]ames MclVlahon, Vice Chair Margaret Murphy Bali Ramnarace Betty Thomas Tom Williams Bill Orlove, Alternate Absent Dan Winters John Wildner, Deputy Recreation & Parks Director Call to Order Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. She welcomed Mike Fitzpatrick, former Board member and current member of the Planning & Development Board, and Stephen Leach, a local citizen interested in obtaining the Board's support for keeping a particular property "green." Roll The roll was taken and a quorum was present. Mr. Wildner indicated that IVlr. Majors would be unable to attend the meeting. III. Approval of Minutes of November 25, 2002 Motion Mr. Orlove moved to approve the minutes as presented. Vice Chair McMahon seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Unfinished Business A. Greenway/Bikeway Plans Mr. Wildner reported that 50 people, including representatives from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Lantana, had attended the first public meeting that was held on September 4, 2002. The goal of the meeting was to find out how people felt about the idea of having a Greenways and Bikeways Plan and some very positive feedback was received. A Iow-key level of concern was expressed about safety Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 27, 2003 and security behind the homes of the citizensi A consultant from a large engineering and landscape architect firm, URS, has been engaged to prepare a Greenways/Bikeways plan using all available information including the input received at this meeting and three other public focus meetings to be held in the near future. The Plan will be presented to the City Commission for approval. Mr. Wildner advised that a Greenways Web page could be accessed through "Parks" on the City of Boynton Beach's Web site. Mike Fitzpatrick was disturbed about the proliferation of apartment houses and residential buildings in Boynton Beach and the continuing loss of green space and wildlife habitat. He decried the City Commission's choice to favor further development at the expense of green space and quality of life issues. For example, on South Congress Avenue, a 36-acre site was sacrificed for apartments. Also, the land next to Caloosa Park was approved for 172 housing units. Mr. Fitzpatrick referred to a letter from Palm Beach County where they expressed a desire to acquire five or six acres for additional soccer fields - now there will be 600 more people and no extra recreational facilities. A gas station was approved by the City Commission on High Ridge Road between Gateway Boulevard and the Tri-Rail station, in spite of opposition from the Quantum developers, the Director of Operations at Tri-Rail, and the entire Planning & Development Board in a 7-0 vote. Across from the Tri-Rail site, ten acres of Class A scrub is going to be lost to light industrial development that could have been prevented (a zoning variance was required to approve the bay doors facing High Ridge Road). Of the ten acres, the developer will save only two. Mr. Fitzpatrick feared that by the time the Greenways/Bikeway Plan was finalized, there would not be any green space left to save. Mr. Fitzpatrick understood that the City wanted to increase its tax base but felt that the drain on services would offset any gains from the taxes. He felt that quality of life issues such as convenience at traffic lights and waiting in lines at supermarkets were being exacerbated by development. He encouraged the Board members to make their feelings about green space known to the Commissioners. There was general agreement that everyone wanted to leave a legacy of green space and wildlife to their children and that it was incumbent upon those who had the interest to use their influence to further that end. Vice Mayor Ferguson is still the strongest proponent of this cause and suggested setting up a Boca-type Greenways and Parks District and operating it the same way the sewer plant is operated, i.e. Commissioners from each City sit on a Board, collect the money from the sewer plant, and decide how to spend it. Mr. Fitzpatrick has obtained the enabling legislation for the sewer plant "model" and is reviewing it. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida January 27, 2003 Railroad rights-of-way were discussed and Mr. Wildner stated that the City owns a twenty-five foot buffer on either side of the railroad tracks and has a landscape lease with the F.E.C. Railroad. The City is looking into the possibility of expanding that lease to allow a bikeway along that railroad right-of-way. Individual pockets of preservation land on either side could be linked. Mr. Fitzpatrick spoke of Villa del Sol and Kensington Place where promises were made to allow 25 feet of green space on the Villa del Sol site and l0 feet on the Kensington Place site for Greenways. A Development Order was written for both projects but the designated space was not clearly called out and the language was not enforceable. Mr. Hallahan is trying to work with the developers to salvage some of this space for Greenways but it is clear that the specifications and the Development Orders have to be much more concrete and specific in the future. Mr. Wildner noted that the Greenways Consultant was looking into legislation in other communities in an attempt to determine the particular requirements that they were imposing on developers considering the purchase of land near Greenways. The use of a particular Greenway area is another factor such as pedestrian access, biking, or the movement of animals from green space to green space. A set of Standards could be developed for the movement of wildlife from green space to green space and the satisfaction of the Standard requirements could be made a condition of purchase of the land. It was hoped that the Greenways/Bikeways Study would produce a set of specific standards that could be applied to any future developments. In answer to a question from the Board about animals, Mr. Wildner noted that the foxes, rabbits, tortoises, burrowing ground owls, and other wildlife must be allowed access to green space and be able to travel from "green node to green node" in order to survive and perpetuate their kind. Mr. Wildner spoke of the upcoming residential development on the Motorola property and the C-16 and E-4 Canals. A rezoning request resulted in a request to the developer to work with the City to determine where they could get property for Greenways beside the two canals. In a preliminary meeting with the developer, the developer was interested in giving land for Greenways but they wanted to develop the canal rights-of-way as part of the Greenways. The Lake Worth Drainage District (LWDD) actually owns the easements along both canals and is opposed to using canal easements as Greenways. Mr. Fitzpatrick explained the ways that this land could link up with other green spaces in the City. Mr. Fitzpatrick stressed the importance of action on the part of the Board members if they wished to stem the tide of development and loss of natural green spaces. He mentioned 90 acres in Hypoluxo on the Overlook Road where 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida January27, 2003 the last known remaining Scrub .lays south of .lupiter were known to exist. They used to be prevalent in green spaces that connected from Central Florida all the way down to Miami but are now all but gone from the area. The Scrub .lays in .lupiter can fly down this way but need "islands of green" along the way and those green areas are disappearing quickly. Mr. Wildner stated that it would be possible to run a Greenways/Bikeways path along the railroad track from Gulfstream Boulevard on the City's southern border all the way up to the Overlook Scrub and passing through the Seacrest Scrub. it would also pass right next to the Southeast Neighborhood Park and Pence Park. Vice Chair McMahon remarked about Doug Hutchinson's visit to the Board recently where he indicated that when new developers come to the area, the Recreation and Parks Board should sit down with them and advise them what land they wanted in exchange for the right to build in this City. Mr. Wildner agreed but said that the developers were focusing on the downtown area at the moment. Still, Mr. Wildner felt that the Board should be doing what it could to have the developers leave some pockets of green space. Marina in response to a question from the Board, Mr. Wildner responded that the area was becoming a mixed-use area and had been sold to the people who developed CityPlace in West Palm Beach. The Plan is for increased residential in the area. Chair Pierce asked if they were talking about extending the boardwalk from Mangrove Park and Mr. Wildner stated that Mr. Hutchinson wanted to do this. Mr. Wildner sent him some grant applications for FIND, the Florida :Inland Navigation District organization. Preservation of Property at 215 S.E. 3rd Street, Boynton Beach Steven Leach, 203 N.W. 3rd Street, Boynton Beach, spoke of a lot at 215 S.E. 3rd Street that is about three acres in size and currently for sale. He and several other residents in that neighborhood wish to preserve that land as green space in some way and do not want to see it used for residential development. He had spoken to Mr. Dan DeCarlo in Neighborhood Services about this and Mr. DeCarlo directed him to come to this Board. Mr. Leach hoped that the City would consider the purchase of this land for the purpose of green space preservation, gardening, walking paths, and similar "green" type uses. He thought that the Historical Society could use the house and that the grounds could be left a natural state for a bird sanctuary, for example. Mr. Leach offered his assistance in the matter and Mr. Wildner will contact him. The Board agreed with Mr. Leach's proposal and asked that the Board's request for the City to 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 27, 2003 investigate this issue be forwarded to the City Manager via the "items for the City Manager's Attention" portion of the minutes. B. Intracoastal Park Mr. Wildner remarked that the issue of excess fill had been satisfactorily addressed with the contractor and that Phase I (primarily landscaping and a picnic shelter) should be completed by September 2003. Mr. Hutchinson of the Community Redevelopment Agency is looking into the idea of having a raised pedestrian walkway across Federal Highway, though not necessarily at this particular place. Mr. Ramnarace was in favor of putting a walkway at this location since it was so unsafe to cross the road. C. Southeast Neighborhood Park Grants are in process from FRDAP (Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program) and LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) to develop this park. the grants are received, construction could begin in October of 2003. Mr. Wildner will keep the Board informed about this project and advise them of any opportunities they might have to support it. Mr. Zill is considering the sale of more property at this location and staff is hopeful that it can be obtained so that it can add to the green space in the City. This Park would be one of the "green nodes" in the linkage of the Greenways/Bikeways program. D. Senior Center Since there was no further funding in process for the completion of the Senior Center, Mr. Wiidner noted that it might be necessary to enlist the financial support of the City to complete the building. The Center itself is doing fundraisers, but a lot more money is required. E. Orientation Manual Mr. Majors will address this at the next meeting. F. :Items for the City Manager's Attention :~) The Board requests that the City investigate the purchase of the property for sale at 215 S.E. 3rd Street. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida January 27, 2003 The Board members were packets. Vi New Business Monthly Report appreciative of the fine report included in their Cricket Pitch at Rollinq Green Elementary School - Bali Ramnarace Mr. Ramnarace complimented John Wildner and Tom Balfe on the appearance of the cricket pitch at Rolling Green and distributed some pictures of it to the Board. He stated that the cricket pitch was finished and was starting to look good. He remarked that the sprinklers needed to be turned on and asked Mr. Wildner to show him where they were so that he could do the watering. He asked about the light that had been out for nine months and Mr. Wildner explained the efforts he had made to have it fixed. Mr. Ramnarace then asked that Mr. Wildner send someone out to see about some landscaping for the area. V:[. Other Ms. Murphy noted that Palm Beach Gardens had installed a skate park for $275K and that Jupiter was going to put one in also. Mr. Wildner stated that staff had suggested putting a skate park at the Quantum Park site due to its separation from neighborhoods. Mr. Ramnarace noted that the lake at Quantum Park needed cleaning and Mr. Wildner stated that it was the responsibility of the Quantum Taxing District. Ms. Murphy asked for a breakdown on the $1M that was received for Wilson Center renovations and Mr. Wildner offered to bring the new plan to the next meeting. Mr. Ramnarace voiced his opinion that the last Parade was the worst one that Boynton Beach ever had. Mr. Wildner stated that the City Commission was investigating the Holiday Parade to see whether it should be held on Congress Avenue or downtown. There are pros and cons to having it at both areas. Vice Chair McMahon suggested putting this question on CSNBC and letting the citizens speak: "Do you want the Parade to be downtown or on Congress Avenue?" Chair Pierce gave Mr. Wildner a request that she had received from Mr. Paul Gordon, Aquatics Supervisor for the City. The letter contained a wish list for the Junior Lifeguard Program. They need such things as whistles, lanyards to put the 6 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 27, 2003 whistles on, and fanny packs. They asked if the Board could help or point them in the direction of someone that could. Ms. Murphy felt that if the .lunior Lifeguards represented Boynton Beach, that Boynton Beach should support them. Mr. Wildner will pass the request on to Wally Majors who will investigate and discuss it with the Board at its next meeting. Msi Murphy inquired about the status of the Woman's Club. Mri Wildner responded that the Woman's Club had approached the City again about a possible partnership since they had determined that they could not manage it alone. VII. Next Meeting The next meeting will be on February 24, 2003 at the Senior Center at 7:00 p.m. VIII. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (one tape) (012703)