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Minutes 08-23-04MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2004 AT 6:30 P.M. Present Betty Pierce, Chair Wally Majors, Recreation & Parks Director William Orlove, Vice Chair John Wildner, Deputy Recreation & Parks Director Betty Thomas Tom Williams John McVey, Alternate John Spannuth, Alternate Absent Margaret Murphy Lisa Peterfreund Pamela Winters 1. Call to Order Chair Pierce called the meeting to order at 6:49 p.m. ]3:. Attendance The Recording Secretary took attendance and declared that a quorum was present. :]::1]:. Approval of Minutes of ]uly 26, 2004 Mr. Spannuth commented that he was not receiving minutes sent to his home at 601 21st Circle and asked that they be sent to P.O. Box 3279, Boynton Beach, Florida 33424. Notion Vice Chair Orlove moved to approve the minutes of July 26, 2004 as submitted. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion that passed 6-0. ]:V. Unfinished Business A. Senior Center Mr. Majors announced a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of Phase 2 on August 24, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 Construction bids for Phase 3 were scheduled to go out soon. B. Congress Avenue Community Park - Boundless Playground At the Board's previous meeting, the concept of the Boundless Playground was endorsed so that staff could look into funding for it. Also, the Board moved that it supported the Boundless Playground as one aspect of the total development of the Park along with other recreational opportunities for that Park. Mr. Majors believed that Chair Pierce should take on the role of clearly articulating what the Board wanted to see in this Park, after discussion with the Board. Vice Chair Orlove could also put together a summation of his findings from the meetings with the homeowner associations. Mr. Orlove had contacted all the homeowner associations in the District in which the Park would be located, and had met with the four who had responded to his invitation. Vice Chair Orlove reported that a lot of the homeowners' associations seemed to support having a small water or sprinkler park area for the children, a park with walking paths, a fishing pier for the small lake, and the Boundless Playground. They also favored having a recreation center and small amphitheater abutting the recreation building. Other suggestions were a dog park, an area for small radio-controlled cars or airplanes, small fountains, and a community butterfly or flower garden. ~[n addition, Golfview Harbour felt that the amenities at Caloosa Park and Congress Avenue Community Park should complement each other and offer a variety of activities. They wanted the City to be sure it was not duplicating the County's efforts. Chair Pierce mentioned that if some of the people using the Park were blind, some accommodations might have to be made for their Seeing-Eye dogs. She commented that the Sister Cities Friendship Program wanted to have a small pavilion where the pond is with some flowers and/or gardens. They spoke also of having the entrance to the Park lined with some kind of tall bamboo because children like to hear the sounds of the bamboo in the breeze. They suggested having a walk throughout the entire Park, with small fountains and occasional benches where people could rest before going on around the Park. ]:t should also be made accessible for people with wheelchairs because the seniors lived right next door. One of the County's suggestions was that if swings were in the plan, a swing set was available where the child would not have to get out of the wheel chair since it was attached to the swing. Ms. Thomas said that adult swings were also mentioned. Vice Chair Orlove said that the majority of the homeowners' associations liked the Boundless Playground and a small water park. The County Parks are very large with rapids, but he saw a small park in Palm Springs that was just a couple of little sprinklers and things that filled up with water and come splashing down. ]:t was very small but the Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 kids loved it and it did not require a lot of maintenance. The residents of the area where the park would be located were not as much in favor of having a recreation building and some felt very strongly about not having a recreation building. Vice Chair Orlove asked Mr. Majors if it were time for the Board to work with staff on a site plan and Mr. Majors thought it was a little premature. :If the Board felt some consensus on this, he suggested letting Chair Pierce come before the Commission and express that interest or write a letter to them articulating what the Board really wanted to see at that Park. Based on that, staff would be empowered to go forward in a more formal manner. Mr. Majors commented that Chair Pierce attended a meeting with staff recently with people representing Palm Beach County, Commissioner Ensler, Ms. Lori Wilkinson and a variety of City staff. They discussed the Boundless Playground concept and the amount of interest in the community for it. This meeting also provided an opportunity to get some feedback on the conceptual drawings prepared by Commissioner Ensler's friend. The meeting was enlightening. They got a good sense that not only could they have a nice playground but also the opportunity for a recreation facility that could function as a multi-purpose type of facility. Chair Pierce distributed an article Mr. Wildner had found about Boundless Playgrounds. The County was able to give staff some idea of how much such a playground would cost. The County asked if the Board would support the Boundless Park/Playground and Chair Pierce wanted to touch base with the Board before confirming that. She told them that the Board supported it but not necessarily to the diagram that was set up at this time. She told them that the Boundless Playground was a good idea and that it should be instituted wherever possible, but the Board still wanted a recreation building and some other amenities on this site and did not envision the Boundless Playground taking up the entire 15 acres. Chair Pierce commented that Commissioner Ensler was very excited about the Boundless Playground and how large it was going to be. She was concerned because then the County was saying things like, "Make sure you have room for plenty of parking and large buses, especially during the summer." She knew that many of the homeowners in the area did not want a really large Park because they were afraid it would become too congested. She asked the Board what it thought about the size of the Playground. Mr. Majors said that from the City's perspective, busloads of kids such as they had at the Kids Kingdom Playground was not a problem, because the Playground was big enough to accommodate that. ]~t was generally thought that although people might be concerned about traffic, one bus was better than 25 cars, for example. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 Chair Pierce asked if the Board could review a copy of the rough plans at its next meeting, so the Board could have an opportunity to make a few more suggestions before presenting it to the City Commission. Mr. Majors agreed that the drawings would be brought to the next meeting. V. New Business A. Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (Winchester Property) Mr. Wildner gave an overview of the plans for the property. Because this property was considered a Development of Regional ~Impact (DR]]), the plans had to be reviewed by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC). The City Commission approved zoning for the area called Suburban Mixed Use and referred the developer to the TCRPC for submission of his plans for review. The TCRPC had put a number of stipulations on the project and when its review was completed, the developer was to bring a Site Plan to the City for review and approval. The property would be subject to the City's impact fee for recreation and parks and according to the current Ordinance, this requirement could be met with about $800K or two acres of land. With the new zoning, the land in that area is valued at nearly $400K per acre. At the City Commission meeting at which the special zoning was approved, there was some discussion about the City trying to get additional land as part of its negotiations that surrounded the zoning. ]]n the past, the City projected that there could be about 700 units at this site, which would have netted the City about 16 acres of land. Now the developer is planning to have 1100 units. The consensus on the Board was to have more land over the option of the money and it favored asking the developer for 20 acres of land. ]]t was felt that the value of the land might be $400K per acre now but in a few months time, it could be much higher than that. Mr. McVey mentioned that when the Cemetery expansion was considered, an architect came up with a plan for a new Little League Park. The architect approached the developer for the Winchester property with a request to donate 16 acres to build this Park. The developer's position was that he would consider donating 3 or 4 acres, but 16 acres would be worth about $8M and he was not interested in giving that up. Mr. Majors stated that during the Recreation & Open Space Element of the Comprehensive Plan meeting in the near future, there would be an opportunity to ask the consultant to do an analysis of the City's impact fee requirements. The Board considered other locations for a district park in the City and the area around the United Way building was brought up as a possible location. 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 Mr. Orlove felt it was premature to begin discussing what the Recreation & Parks Board might want at the Winchester property since what was going to actually be put there was still up in the air. If there were a strip mall, for example, that would definitely affect what recreational facilities could be placed on that property. The Board decided to begin with a letter to the City Manager expressing the Board's position on the matter. B. Little League Park Mr. McVey distributed a list of Items of Concern at Little League Park to the Board members. The items were new dugouts for Fields 1 and 2, field maintenance, staffing, and the standard of work being provided by the private contractor who cleaned the restrooms. The dugouts (2 for each field or 4 total) would cost $10-12K each. The Little League was willing to help by deconstructing and removing the existing dugouts, which would cut down that cost somewhat. Mr. McVey felt that the correct maintenance of baseball fields required special education. And, the current contractor for cleaning the restrooms was not doing a good job. The bathrooms were not being cleaned or sanitized properly. The Board suggested enlisting the assistance of Vice Mayor Ferguson, since the ball field was in his district. Also, he might be willing to provide some discretionary funding. Another suggestion was for the Little League group to appear en masse at a City Commission meeting to present its case. Mr. Orlove offered his support to speak if they let him know when they planned to attend. The Board speculated that Little League Park might have "fallen off the City's radar screen," when the Cemetery expansion and the land at Quantum were under discussion. Now that it was certain that the Cemetery was not going to expand into the ball fields, it seemed that the issue could and should be resurrected. The Board requested that the City Manager include funds from the Capital Improvement Projects budget for the needed items at Little League Park. The price tag was estimated at $40-48K to completely bring the facility up to the standards one would expect from the home of the National Little League Champions. The Board also wanted to include recommendations to 1) increase the level of maintenance staff at the Park, and 2) examine the cleaning contractor's duties and monitor for performance. Chair Pierce will work with staff to produce the letter to the City Manager. There was discussion about having a better sign for Little League Park as well, perhaps one saying, "Home of the National Champions." Some cities make signs saying, "You are entering Boynton Beach, Home of the Little League Champions for "X" Year." The Board felt strongly that since Little League Park had not been upgraded since the 1970s, it was time to do so. Mr. McVey planned to attend the next City Commission meeting with a delegation of parents and concerned persons to discuss this. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 C. Monthly Report. Hr. Orlove asked about the status of the Greenways P/an. Mr. Wildner stated that the City Commission had approved the Greenways Plan in concept. This would help because several grants were pending that would get additional competitive points if a Greenways Plan were in effect and if the particular project were mentioned in that Plan. A final report from the Consultant was expected in the next two months and the City Commission would review it and possibly give final approval. Mr. Spannuth introduced the topic of Aquatics and distributed a paper entitled "Item for the City Manager." The report called for another aquatics facility in another part of the City that, if carefully planned, could cost half as much as the planned facility at the Wilson Center and produce twice the revenue as would be realized by the Wilson Center. Mr. Spannuth has 45 years of experience in the field of aquatics. He started a program of aquatics in Normal, Oklahoma and within two years, 2500 persons were doing "water walking." There were a lot of seniors and others in this area who could benefit from such a facility. Mr. Spannuth noted that a lot of the things in his write-up were things that the Quantum Foundation was very excited about. Chair Pierce hoped that the Wilson Pool would use its zero depth pool for rehabilitation or therapy. Lifts could be provided to help handicapped people into and out of the pool, for example. D. Items for the City Manager's Attention 1) The Board is interested in more land at the Winchester Property than can be provided under the current impact Ordinance and hoped that the City Commission could negotiate with the developer to achieve this. The Chair will draft a letter to the City Manager detailing the Board's requests/concerns. 2) The Board is interested in supporting the Little League Park's request for four new dugouts, increased staffing for maintenance at the Park, and a re-examination of the contract for the contractor doing the cleaning, including monitoring for performance. The Board requested that an upgrade of the Little League ball field be put on the Capital Improvement Project list and funded from Capital Improvement funds. VI. Next Meeting: September 27, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. VII. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 7:57 p.m. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2004 Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (082704)