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Minutes 07-28-03MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY JULY 28 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 Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. and welcomed a visitor, Ms. Yoshanna McCarthy. Ms. McCarthy is new to the area and wanted to sit in to get an idea of the Board's activities. II. Attendance The roll was called and all members were present. Mr. Majors commented that Mr. John Wildner was on assignment in Bahrain for the Naval Reserves. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Of JUNE 16, 2003 Ms. Peterfreund stated that on page 4, in the fifth paragraph, Ms. Peterfreund's name should be replaced with Chair Pierce's name. Also, on page 6, Ms. Peterfreund stated that she wished to correct a statement made by Mr. Wildner, even though it did not necessarily involve a change to the minutes. He stated that the 30 days following a meeting in which a nomination for naming a park is introduced was to give the Board time to get community support. Actually, this is not the Board's role. Providing evidence of community support is incumbent upon the nominator. Motion Ms. Peterfreund moved to approve the minutes of June 16, 2003 as amended. Ms. Murphy seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS D. Naming of Parks Procedures (Community Supportt Chair Pierce ascertained that the Board wished to discuss Item IV.D, Naming of Parks Procedures, first. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida July 28, 2003 Ms. Peterfreund mentioned Mr. Black's nomination of two individuals who he believed to be deserving of having the Intracoastal Park named after them.1-Mr. Black actuallv nominated Mr. Charlie Fredericks for Intracoastal Park and Mr. Tom Williams for the Hester Center) He submitted supporting documentation for the nominations; however, she thought more discussion had to take place about what constituted significant community support for a nomination. Was it sufficient to indicate that a person was nice and put that in a letter to the Board? Should there be letters from community organizations such as neighborhood associations, athletic leagues, environmental groups, church groups, and individuals? Ms. Peterfreund believed that the Board should contact Mr. Black and ask that he submit evidence of community support for his nominations so that the Board could discuss it, vote on it, and make a recommendation to the City Commission. After discussion, the Board decided that the item did not require clarification in the Administrative Policy statement. Later in the meeting the Board passed a motion asking Mr. Majors to draft a letter to Mr. Black asking for evidence of community support. Mr. Majors read a letter into the record from Mr. Dan Winters, former member of the Recreation and Parks Board, detailing the Board's actions regarding naming the football field at Ezell Hester Park after Tom Williams and stating the reasons for his support. Mr. Winters noted the consensus of the Board on this issue and their determination to forward the recommendation to the City Manager. The item was included in the minutes of the July 23, 2001 meeting by discussion and by inclusion in Items for the City Manager's Attention. Motion Mr. Orlove moved that the Board recommend that the stadium portion of the football field at Ezell Hester be named in honor of Mr. Tom Williams. The Board requests that the City Manager expedite this recommendation to the City Commission for review, since this Board recommended this action two years ago, prior to the institution of the new Administrative Policy on the subject. Ms. Murphy seconded the motion that carried 8-1, Ms. Betty Thomas dissenting. Ms Thomas explained that she dissented because she did not believe that such a MOM was necessary, She felt that it was sufficient to simply put the Boards recommendation in the first item of Items for the City Managers Attention. The next item under this topic was the nomination Bruce Black had made for naming the park now known as the Intracoastal Park. There are many possibilities and the Board discussed this at length. The Board felt that the community should be made aware of the opportunity to select a name for Intracoastal Park. One option would be for the name to remain 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida 2003 support, in line with the new Administrative Policy, section A.3. The Board will consider all input, take a vote, and make a recommendation to the City Commission. In the meantime, it was decided that Mr. Majors would draft a letter for the Board Chair's signature, addressed to Mr. Black, thanking him for his nomination and asking him to provide evidence of community support for his nominations, as called for in the new Administrative Policy. This item will be put on the agenda for the Board's next meeting. The Board will discuss ways to generate community involvement. A. Tennis Center Con ress CDMM MLty Park Mr. Majors distributed a matrix to the Board showing a comparison of the tennis fees charged in the cities of Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Wellington. He noted that Boynton Beach's fees have traditionally been much lower than those in the surrounding communities. With two years of requests from the City Manager to bring in flat budgets and provide the same services, it was deemed best to put the Tennis Center on a self-sustaining footing as soon as possible. The proposed fee in 2003-04 for a single resident is $290, an increase of $90 over the current fee. The proposed family resident fee is $430, an increase of $130 over the current fee. The proposed fee for single non-resident is $490, an increase of $130 over the current fee. The proposed fee for family non-resident is $680, an increase of $180 over the current fee. The cost to run the Tennis Center is between $225K to $230K. The proposed fees would cover all but $10-15K of that. Staff has been challenged to seek sponsorships and find alternative funding sources so that the Program Revenue Fund can break even on the recreation side. Motion Ms. Thomas moved to endorse the increased fees at the Tennis Center. Ms. Peterfreund seconded the motion that passed unanimously. B. Senior Center Ms. Murphy reported that half of the sprinkler system had been installed at the Senior Center. Ms. Murphy asked if there would be an automatic door in the addition and Mr. Majors responded affirmatively. Mr. Majors stated that in the November election, the citizens would have an opportunity to vote on the second phase of the Senior Center improvements. If the bond referendum goes through, property will have to be acquired for parking. The Board hoped that the lot to the south of the Center would be available for this purpose. C. Old High School Mr. Orlove reported that the committee had met and received three proposals for the engineering and environmental studies. They chose Bender & Associates from 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida 111 28, 2003 Key West. A letter has been sent to them to initiate contract negotiations and in about two months, they will examine the building and give a report. Bender & Associates presented the Task Force with a list of tasks that they would do, including an historical study, which the Task Force eliminated, along with seven other items on their list. The Task Force deadline to report the results of the studies to the City Commission is in December. D. Naming of Parks Procedures (heard earlier) E. Items for the City Manager's Attention 1. The Board stated that on July 23, 2001, they had forwarded a recommendation to the City Manager via the minutes of the Recreation & Parks Board meeting to name the football stadium portion of the Ezell Hester Center after Mr. Tom Williams. By consensus at that meeting and by motion at this one, the Board requests that this recommendation be forwarded to the City Commission for review. This action was taken prior to the institution of the new Administrative Policy. 2. Ms. Murphy asked that the Administrative Policy be amended in section A.8 to read: "Outstanding community leaders that are deceased and living." F. Monthly Report Vice Chair McMahon asked about the status of the Woman's Club negotiations. Mr. Majors reported that finding an architect to assess an historical building had proved to be more difficult and more expensive than expected. The Commission granted $12K for this effort and staff will be requesting a total of $30K at the August 19 meeting. Since 2003-04 is a very lean budget year, the idea of entering into a lease agreement with the Woman's Club had to be tabled for consideration next year. The Woman's Club ratified the agreement, but the City will wait for the report on the condition of the building before proceeding with ratification. Ms. Thomas noted that since the Woman's Club had paid off its debt to the City, the City would now have to pay to use the facilities. Ms. Peterfreund made a few comments about the Orientation Manual as follows: 1) Add a facility locator map, 2) clarify the map in the Table of Contents, 3) add staff's telephone numbers to list of Board members, and 4 ead map descriptions for typos and misspellings. Mr. Majors stated that he f would be sending out an inventory, a map, and an annual table of events. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida July 28, 2003 Mr. Williams announced that he wanted to attend the next Florida Recreation and Parks Association meeting in Innsbruck, Florida and Mr. Majors will give him the information. In future years, money will be included in the budget for Board member attendance at this annual convention. In response to a question from the Board, Mr. Majors stated that the Intracoastal Park was due to be completed in mid-September, at which time there will be an exciting groundbreaking ceremony. The Board members will be invited and given VIP seating. Ms. Murphy suggested having events at Mangrove Park at the Marina occasionally and Mr. Majors responded that this was a possibility for the winter months. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Undatin4 Park Assignments Ms. Peterfreund was encouraged to choose a particular park or recreational facility and act as spokesman to the Board about it. Ms. Murphy had chosen the Senior Center, for example. B. Other Ms. Peterfreund mentioned that there was approximately 10 acres of land dedicated to recreation between Nautica and the Meadows. She is president of the homeowners' association at Lawrence Grove and the homeowners were concerned that there was no place for the children to play and no room to build basketball courts. She was trying to hold discussions with the other homeowners' association presidents to get feedback and ideas about this issue. Ms. Peterfreund will call Mr. Majors to discuss this. Mr. Williams asked about when work would begin on the Wilson Center. Mr. Majors responded that it would begin in the early part of 2004. Ms. Peterfreund spoke about the development of the Motorola property and how a requested 40 -foot `green belt" had been reduced to 25 feet by the developer. She spoke of the importance of Greenways and wanted to find a way for the input of the Recreation and Parks Board to be considered in the earliest stages of development. She was particularly concerned about the Winchester property. Chair Pierce plans to work with the Planning & Zoning Division to include the Recreation and Parks Board in the process. Mr. Majors indicated that the plans were already being forwarded to almost all the departments in the City now, including the Recreation and Parks office, for comments and approval. Also, the Planning & Development Board, the Community Redevelopment Agency, and the E Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida July 28, 2003 City Commission all held public meetings and that Board members could fill out a card and speak on any topic. Also, the Board can make recommendations to the City Commission concerning their wishes about Greenways and other issues via a formal letter, or by speaking at the Commission meetings as individuals or on behalf of the Board. Mr. Orlove did not believe that the Planning & Zoning Division should take the initiative, believing instead that the individual Board members had to take the initiative. Ms. Peterfreund asked Mr. Majors whether the Planning & Zoning Division had discussed the Motorola development with the Recreation & Parks Department prior to the meeting at which it was approved. She said that someone had decided that the habitat for the burrowing owls was not important enough to save. Yet, she said, owls are an indicator of the environmental health of an area. Mr. Majors reiterated that all development plans were funneled through their office and that Mr. Wildner was on the Technical Review Board. At one time, they applied a park impact fee but now there was just a fee, based on the number of residential units. Ms. Peterfreund mentioned a grass roots movement to amend the state constitution to add land growth by referendum. It would mandate that new development be subject to restrictions and more public input. VI. NEXT MEETING: August 25 at the Senior Center VII. ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (072903) 9