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Minutes 02-11-04MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Ron Washam, Chairperson Anna Marie Noe, Vice Chair Blanche Girtman Brian Miller Howard Solomon Brenda Lee Williams Sarah Dye, Alternate Robert Harper, Alternate Absent Jayne Kupperman Eddie Mitchell Jose Rodriguez I. Pledge of Allegiance Dan DeCarlo, Board Liaison Chair Washam called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Miller led the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. IT. Roll Call of Regular Members and Alternates The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Recognition of Visitors Chair Washam welcomed Assistant City Manager Wilfred Hawkins. IV. .lanuary :t4, 2004 Minutes Approval Iqotion Mr. Miller moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Solomon and carried unanimously. V. Agenda Approval There were no changes to the agenda. Motion Mr. Solomon moved to approve, seconded by Vice Chair Noe, and carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February l:[, 2004 VI. Correspondence and Announcements Mr. DeCarlo distributed a calendar to the Board members of Heritagefest activities for the month of February. Msi Girtman stated that a streetlight was out, and had been out for some time, on the corner of N.W. 6th Avenue and N. Seacrest Boulevard. She asked how the repair could be accomplished. Mr. DeCarlo and others stated that Florida Power & Light would take care of this directly, and if it were not taken care of, it could be brought to the attention of the Public Works Department at the City. Mr. Miller noted that in Village Royale on the Green, the Secretary posts the affected pole number on the FP &L Website and it is usually taken care of in two weeks' time. Vice Chair Noe lives behind Bethesda Hospital and whenever she has called FP &L to fix a light, it is usually taken care of in 48 hours. Ms. Girtman stated that the lighting through her neighborhood was poor, including the area of Ridgewood Hills from Seacrest Boulevard west to 1-95 and Boynton Beach Boulevard to the canal. The Board's consensus was that the City should work with Ms. Girtman on the lighting problems in her neighborhood. Ms. Girtman also mentioned a problem in the vicinity of N.W. 3rd Street, N.W. 6th Avenue and N.W. 10th Avenue, where so many cars were parked alongside the roads that it was difficult to get a vehicle through them safely. Chair Washam announced that volunteers were needed to work on a Habitat for Humanity home west of Seacrest Boulevard on MLK Boulevard on Saturday, February ::[4 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Ms. Girtman announced that Miss Black America had attended the activities at the Catalina Centre on the previous Sunday as part of the Heritagefest event. Miss Black America is an attractive young lady, a college graduate, and is doing very well. General Obliqation (GO) Bond - Assistant City Manager Wilfred Hawkins Chair Washam introduced Assistant City Manager Hawkins, who spoke to the Board about the recent GO Bond referendum and the decisions the City made about the capital improvement projects when the referendum measure failed. Chair Washam thanked Assistant City Manager Hawkins for taking the time to come to address the Board. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February :11, 2004 Mr. Hawkins stated that the current Commission determined that the capital improvement projects had to be completed one way or another, if not through the GO bonds, then through Revenue Bonds. Revenue Bonds do not require voter approval and do not cause any tax increases to the citizens. The Revenue Bond option was always on the table and had been discussed in many public meetings. The City has pledged to pay back the Revenue Bonds through the public service tax. Mr. Hawkins explained the origin of the public service taxes the citizens pay to such entities as FP & L, the telephone company, and the cable television stations. This money eventually goes to the State, the County, and the municipalities for use in upgrading facilities and infrastructure. The City has pledged to use this money to pay back the Revenue Bonds over the next ten years. Mr. Miller inquired where the money from the public service tax goes. Mr. Hawkins stated that it goes into the General Fund, where it is normally used for road repairs, capital improvement projects, and upgrades. Mr. Solomon asked if pledging the public service tax money to repay the Revenue Bonds would take away from projects that had already been planned. Mr. Hawkins stated that it would hinder the City from using the money for anything else, since it was earmarked to repay the Revenue Bonds for the next 10 years. The City had wanted to do the GO Bond option since it would not have tied up this funding source. As a result, there is no more "wiggle" room in the City's budget and the City is tightening its belt. However, there will not be a tax increase to the citizens as there would have been with the GO Bonds. Mr. Miller inquired when the Revenue Bonds would be issued. Mr. Hawkins stated that the City was bringing in bond counsel, negotiating the provisions of a contract, and would probably go out "on the street" to buy the bonds in the next three to four months. ]:n the meantime, many of the projects are being planned. Mr. Hawkins stated that the majority of the projects fell under the purview of the Recreation & Parks Department, which is a department that reports to him. The projects include upgrades at the Wilson Center for the park and pool areas and a new Community Center at Intracoastal Park to replace the old Royal Palm Clubhouse. They would also be purchasing property at Jaycee Park. In response to a question from the Board, Mr. Hawkins indicated that the new Community Center at Intracoastal Park would be larger than the old Royal Palm Clubhouse, probably in the vicinity of 10K square feet and comparable in size to the current Civic Center. Ms. Girtman asked if there were any plans to improve the Civic Center. Hr. Hawkins replied that this was on the list, but the old Commission and the new one had deemed it to be of a lower priority than the projects he had just mentioned. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 11, 2004 Mr. Solomon asked if there were any plans to develop the piece of vacant land in the Meadows, and Mr. Hawkins responded that there were not. Mr. Hawkins stated that the Senior Center would be finished out and the new Library building would be built. The new front entrance to the Senior Center will be what is now the parking lot to the north of the Center. The other entrance will be accessible, but will no longer serve as the main entrance to the facility. Mr. Hawkins commented that the City Commission believed that finishing these projects was important in the redevelopment of the entire City. The City is also spending millions of dollars putting the residents' stormwater fees to work making major utility upgrades of stormwater drainage and new sewer and water lines. It is also spending for major infrastructure improvements, work on East Ocean Avenue, and in the north end of town. Vice Chair Noe thanked Mr. Hawkins for attending this meeting to about the GO Bond issue. She stated that she had felt misled, acquaintance, about the GO Bond issue and the lack of mention option in the literature that was sent to the residents' homes address the concerns as had others of her of the Revenue Bond prior to the vote. appeared as if the City had asked the citizens about increasing their taxes to do the projects and when the citizens turned it down, the City said, "We don't care what you think/say. We are going to do what we want anyway." She said that if there were an alternative to raising taxes in the form of Revenue Bonds, the citizens should have been informed about this up front. Mr. Hawkins responded that the City had spoken about the Revenue Bond option when it spoke about the GO Bonds and that the Revenue Bond alternative had always been in the public record. The previous Commission was not trying to mislead the voters. Both alternatives had been discussed. The press, however, did not write about the Revenue Bond option, possibly because the City was focusing on the preferred method of accomplishing the improvements, the GO Bonds. Vice Chair Noe stated that she did not rely on the press for her information. She read information on utility bills and came to meetings when possible. She reiterated that there had been no mention of the Revenue Bond option in the literature the City sent out to the citizens before the vote took place. She strongly felt that the Revenue Bond option should have been mentioned in this literature since many people used it as their sole source of information on which to make a decision about the GO Bonds. ]:f the literature had said that the City was going to do it one way or another but preferred the GO Bonds, which would call for a slight increase, many more people would have probably voted in favor of it. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February ll, 2004 Mr. Hawkins stated that it was never the City's intent to be deceptive. He could understand what Vice Chair Noe was saying about the pre-vote literature, but stated that hindsight was 20-20. He hoped that the people did not criticize the current Commission for pulling a fast one because that was not the case. He felt that there had always been total disclosure on both options. Chair Washam thanked Mr. Hawkins for his visit to the Board. He commented that there were many different feelings on this topic and a lot of passion involved, but he did not believe there was any deception involved. He thought it was time to come together and follow the path the legislators had chosen. He stated that in the final analysis, the buildings that needed to get done will get done and the projects that they all tried to get done will be done and this was good news. He expressed the sentiment that in the long run, everyone would win. VII. Old Business 1) PATCH Activities Update Mr. DeCarlo said that staff was reviewing the possibility of having a trailer at Bethesda Hospital for PATCH. They were also looking at the cost analysis for the trailer to be located at the Hester Center as a temporary site for PATCH activities. There was a staff meeting today talking about the process and engineering and architectural work that would be required to do this. It will ultimately need to go before the Commission for approval. PATCH will have the responsibility of maintaining the trailer once it is in place. A lot more information should be available at the Board's next meeting. Iris. Girtman asked what was being done towards preventing the trailer from becoming permanent. They had always wanted a permanent building instead of a trailer. The community felt quite let down about this. Mr. DeCarlo said that the sentiment of the City was that it did not see the trailer as a permanent site for PATCH. They see it as a temporary trailer. Even getting a permit for the trailer with the new wind load requirements will be a challenge, although they think that it will be possible. They were hoping to use this as a springboard to develop and build PATCH activities so at some point it could move to a permanent location. The trailer will provide a way to gather the PATCH activities under one roof instead of having them scattered throughout the community. Mr. Hawkins stated that when the package was put together, they clearly intend to have a written document outlining such things as the length of time the trailer can be there and the services that can be provided in it. There are some parking concerns at the Hester Center. It is not the City's intent nor would staff recommend to the Commission that the City do anything other than a temporary site. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 11, 2004 Hr. DeCarlo said that the challenge for PATCH would be to come up with the money for utilities, phone, and maintenance that would be involved with occupying the trailer, since this would not be underwritten by the City. There are some serious discussions to be held even within PATCH about where they will have to look for funding. There have been a number of resource organizations and individuals who have expressed an interest in helping, but they have been waiting for the site to be acquired first. A proposal will have to be made showing funding sources and so forth to actually operate the trailer once it is in place. Mr. Hiller inquired when the Heritagefest event would be held where PATCH would have a booth. Hr. DeCarlo responded that it was on Saturday, February 28. Mr. Hiller volunteered to serve in the booth during this event. 2) CRB Brochure Mr. DeCarlo thought that everyone had seen the brochure and that it was ready to go. With Heritagefest coming up, PATCH will have a booth at the Hester Center and the brochures will be available at this event. Ms. Girtman asked that Mr. DeCarlo send her a copy of the proposed brochure before actually sending it out for printing. 3) CRB Meeting in Different Neighborhoods Hr. DeCarlo was hoping to use the brochure as a promotion, particular in some of the different neighborhoods. They talked about having some of the Community Relation Board meetings in some of the different neighborhoods. A lot of them meet monthly and have nice community rooms. He had spoken to some who would be glad to invite the CRB to one of their meetings to find out more about what the Board does and how this Board impacts the City. Staff is continuing to follow up on this. VIII. New Business l) Youth-in-Government Day The Board discussed this event and came to a decision to hold the event on April 28. Chair Washam explained the event for the benefit of the new Board members. Representatives of area schools spend the day in the City, touring the City, having lunch with City officials, and participating in a mock City Commission meeting in the evening. More details will be available at the Board's next meeting. Ns. Girtman thought that a tour of the West Water Treatment Plant would be very good for the youth. Mr. DeCarlo will look into this, but he thought that the time available during this event was already filled with other activities. It would also depend on how 6 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 11, 2004 many students would be participating since the previous year the event had to be split up and held on two different days. 2) Great American Cleanup Mr. DeCarlo stated that this was a community event held on Saturdays. The City encourages the Board members to work in the neighborhood in which they live and enlist the participation of the residents in the effort. He thought that this was a great way for the Board members to get involved with a neighborhood project. It did not have to be in a person's own area, but it was hoped that the Board members would all help out on this day. Mr. Miller mentioned a conversation he had with George Mantell, the Streets Maintenance Supervisor in Public Works, where Mr. Miller had suggested that Mr. Mantell make a list of the areas that were in need of attention, so that the Board members could try to enlist the aid of community residents in the areas that Mr. Mantell identifies. Mr. Miller felt that obtaining the participation of the neighborhood residents was key to the success of an area getting clean and staying that way. Vice Chair Noe asked that this item be put on the agenda for next month's meeting of the CRB. 3) Fire Station #4 Vice Chair Noe had a question about why the City had chosen the site it had for this facility. She mentioned that the island would have to be opened up and she wondered why Bakers' Furniture was not chosen instead. Mr. Hawkins stated that the Baker Furniture site would have been nice, but it was not possible to arrive at a mutually satisfying agreement with them. The current location was the next best one. There will be an activated light and a restrictive turn-around (''emergency vehicle use only"), and when the fire trucks come out the light will be red, and when they leave, it will return to green. Vice Chair Noe thanked him for this information. 4) Literacy Program Mr. Miller asked about the status of this program that the Board had discussed the previous month. Mr. DeCarlo stated that this project was still in the research phase and that Youth in Government Day and the Great American Cleanup were still the main focus. Chair Washam stated that the Board was working with the Library Director to put together a comprehensive book festival for Boynton Beach where literacy for everyone would play an important role. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February ll, 2004 Ms. Girtman mentioned the very successful book event held at the Library recently in conjunction with the Heritagefest activities. Also, once a month the African American Book Club meets at the Library. Ms. Girtman also mentioned that Mr. DeCarlo had completed a wonderful Chinese pavilion at his home and congratulated him on it. She commented on the very interesting article in the Palm Beach Post and expressed interest in seeing it. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (021203)