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Minutes 11-17-03MINUTES OF THE RECREATZON AND PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETZNG HELD AT THE ART CENTER, 125 SE 2nd AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Elizabeth Pierce, Chair William Orlove, Vice Chair Margaret Murphy Lisa Peterfreund Bali Ramnarace Betty Thomas Tom Williams .lack McVey, Alternate Absent Wally Majors, Recreation & Parks Director Pamela Winters, Alternate I. Call to Order Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Attendance Chair Pierce called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes of October 27, 2003 There were no changes, additions, or deletions to the minutes, which were approved as presented. IV. Unfinished Business A. Senior Center Mr. Majors reported that the previously funded projects were ongoing, even though the bond did not pass. The computer lab and gym are in the bidding stage and once the bids are awarded and approved by the City Commission, the work will take approximately :~20 days to complete. Also, the electronic doors for the front of the Senior Center will be completed during this fiscal year. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 17, 2003 Chair Pierce will attend the City Commission meeting on November 18 and give a brief report from the Board. She will mention: l) the availability of the Board for a workshop on the recreation and park bond projects, 2) the Park Ranger program, 3) the Board's desire for the Commission to keep the Senior Center expansion at the top of the priority list, and 4) the Adopt-a-Park program. She will stress the Board's strong backing for the Senior Center Expansion and its desire to proceed with the expansion through whatever means might be available. Mr. Williams asked if the $1M allocated by County Commissioner Addie Greene for the Wilson Center was still available, and Mr. Majors stated that it was. Mr. Majors stated that the Commission would be evaluating and prioritizing the bond projects in the near future. The Board expressed interest in having a workshop with the City Commission to discuss the future of the recreation and park projects. Vice Chair Orlove thought it was important for the Board to take the first step and either invite the Commissioners to have a dialogue with the Recreation & Park Board or have a couple of the members visit with Mr. Bressner before the next Board meeting to discuss the Board's priorities and ideas about the projects. He offered to do this, along with Chair Pierce. Ms. Peterfreund suggested that the Board issue a definite invitation to the Commissioners to have a workshop to discuss the projects. B. Southeast Neighborhood Park Mr. Majors deferred to Mr. Wildner, who was not present. C. Old High School Vice Chair Orlove reported that the CRA had a meeting on November ::[3 to discuss the report received from Bender & Associates, who did the structural and environmental analysis on the building. They concluded that the building is sound but that some things needed to be done fairly quickly if the building was to be deemed salvageable. The pigeon and rat droppings can be fixed. The entire roof, however, needs to be replaced and the air conditioning system needs an overhaul. The Task Force will be presenting three motions to the City Commission at its December 2 meeting. The Task Force unanimously agreed to keep the building based on the environmental and structural analysis and will ask the Commission to spend $250K to stabilize the building by redoing the roof and cleaning it up. The Task Force will come up with a master plan for the project, a budget and possible funding sources, and will determine who will use the building if the Commission decides it should be saved. Ms. Thomas stated that meeting spaces were needed. Vice Chair Orlove stated that if the Children's Museum does not get the storage and exhibition space, they cannot be given accreditation as a museum. Another possible user is the Recreation & Parks 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 17, 2003 Department, since the Art Center will not be getting a second floor. People could park at this building and walk across the street to the Art Center. The historical society also wants to have space there. The trailer would be moved and the City would take some space. Chair Pierce stated that the Veterans also wanted to use the building. Ms. Murphy stated that it was going to cost $3.4M to completely renovate the building, and Vice Chair Orlove agreed. He went on to say that it would cost more than double that to replace the building at today's costs. Even though the City planners do not feel that there is any architectural value to the building, it does have some very nice space in it. Someone brought up the idea of using the space as a possible addition to the library, if its expansion does not get funded. The Task Force would create a master plan for the area that would connect the old school with the Children's Museum and City Hall. At the moment, the building is being used to store the City's holiday decorations. Vice Chair Orlove stated that the first priority would be to convince the City Commission to move forward with the project to the point that a useful center could result. Tn response to discussion among the Board members about parking, Vice Chair Orlove responded that if a five-story parking garage were to be built behind the building, there would be plenty of room for parking. D. Jaycee Park Mr. Majors deferred to Mr. Wildner, who was not present. V. New Business A. Automated Parking Fee Collection Mr. Majors advised the Board of a project under consideration by Recreation and Parks staff to install automated parking fee collection units at Oceanfront and Boat Club Parks. This would only affect the non-residents who do not have a parking decal. No changes were contemplated to the resident decal system. The units would accept cash, credit, or debit cards and after receiving it, would print out a decal to be affixed to the dashboard of the vehicle. Mr. Majors stated that at Oceanfront Park, he was able to bring in a parking attendant to check passes and collect non-resident parking fees in the middle of each day but he could not afford to pay for two attendants all day. There is a security issue about having a person alone and collecting money. At Boat Club Park, Mr. Majors wants to put a unit by the entrance and another by the ramps. People with decals will not be affected at all. Ms. Peterfreund commented that the decal issued by the machine would have to be large enough to be read through the windshield of a vehicle, and everyone agreed that this was a good point. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 17, 2003 The amount to be charged was discussed. Right now, a person without a decal pays $10 per day or $50 a year. Mr. Majors will keep the Board abreast of developments, as they transpire. Mr. Majors stated that if the City did not have to have parking attendants, those performing that task now could be transitioned into a more mobile role as Park Rangers, something that the Board has wanted to have for a long time. Tt would also relieve the City of the liability of having people collect money. The Park Rangers could patrol the parking lot and the ramps at Tntracoastal, Oceanfront, and Boat Club Parks. The units cost $30K to $35K each and there would be a need for four units. Mr. Majors will try to get them included in the Capital ~[mprovement Plan for the next fiscal year. B. Bond Projects Vice Chair Orlove commented that the Commission would be considering this. C. Parade and Other Holiday Events Review Mr. Majors reported that A Season of Peace would be held on Saturday, November 22, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the grounds of the Schoolhouse Children's Museum. There will be a tree lighting ceremony to light up the holidays and a showcase of holiday trees and ornaments. The 33rd Annual Holiday Parade will take place on Sunday, December 7, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. on Federal Highway between the Senior Center and the Amoco gas station. The streets will close at 12:00 p.m. There will be pre-parade entertainment at the Reviewing Stand at :L:30 p.m. The Community Redevelopment Agency is hosting a Nulticultural Festival on Ocean Avenue on December 6. There will be a ,lazzfest from :L:00 to 3:00 p.m. on December 4 and December I:L at the Senior Center. The Bob Roberts Society Band will play on December 5 at the Civic Center. Dinner with Santa will be held at the Civic Center on December :LO. There will be a Tour of Holiday Lights from December 8-17. Call Teresa Zabik at 742-6222 to arrange to go on this tour. A Holiday Concert will be held at the Beach on December 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 17, 2003 D. Oceanfront Park Chair Pierce stated that she had spoken to Ms. Winters about Oceanfront Park and that one of the employees there was interested in attending a Recreation & Park Board meeting. Chair Pierce stated that Boynton Beach was one of the few cities that did not give certain pay raises based on certifications. Mr. Majors, and the rest of the Board, seemed to feel that this was a borderline administrative matter and should be so handled. Mr. Majors will discuss the matter with the lifeguards. Chair Pierce stated that they had two other concerns also: 1) their Youth program, and 2) the need for encouragement to become lifeguards. E. Park Program Chair Pierce spoke with the director of Public Works in Riviera Beach, who started the Adopt-a-Park program there, and is getting more details about the program from him. She hoped to have more instructions and information by the Board's next meeting. She also spoke to the County about the program. Also, she discovered that the Advisory Board on Children & Youth is also interested in participating in this program and adopting Rolling Green Park, specifically. F. Water Parks Ms. Murphy mentioned an article about water parks or playgrounds she had read in the Parks and Recreation magazine, which stated that these parks were becoming very popular. Mr. Majors stated that the builder of :[ntracoastal Park had experience in building water playgrounds but had not yet given the City a proposal on the project. If the bid is not offered soon, the City will seek alternative means to have the water playground built. G. Other Mr. Williams commented that at the new Intracoastal Park, children try to get into the pond in the middle. He suggested putting nets or some other safety device around it. He thought that people might go to sleep and their children might fall into the pond. Chair Pierce thought that small "stay out of the water" signs might be in order. Mr. Majors said that they hoped to put a nice modular unit over by the water that could be used for meetings, summer camps, and so forth. Mr. Williams said this was another area that the Park Rangers could assist, when that program comes into being. Chair Pierce noticed that the ramp for the non-motorized boats was disintegrating. Also, the ramp is very steep and she suggested putting a hand railing on it to avoid accidents. Another suggestion was to orient some benches or chairs towards the Meeting Minutes Recreation & Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 17, 2003 Intracoastal in order to allow visitors to enjoy the view. Mr. Majors said that the benches could easily be reoriented. H. Items for City Manager's Attention Mr. Williams would like to see the Recreation Department get another large bus, like a school bus. VT. Next Meeting The Board decided to skip the December 22 meeting unless something critically important comes up, such as an opportunity to meet with the Commission or Mr. Bressner about the bond improvements, in which case the Board members will be given notice. VIL Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (111803) 6