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Minutes 11-10-04 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Brian Miller, Chair Jayne Kupperman, Vice Chair Blanche Girtman Kurt Godfrey Eddie Mitchell Joyce Mura Diane Pacheco Phyllis Stern Brenda Lee Williams Dan DeCarlo, Board Liaison Absent Robert Harper, Alternate I. Pledge of Allegiance/Call to Order Chair Miller In tho ::lbsonco of tho Ch::lir, Vice Ch::lir Kupporm::ln prosidod ::lnd called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chair Miller led the Board in a moment of silence to honor Joseph Bartley, an Alternate member of the Board. Mr. Bartley died of a heart attack on Sunday, November th at the age of 66. Services would be held on Saturday, November 13th from noon to 2:00 p.m. at Babbione-Stevenson Funeral Home, located on South Dixie Highway in Lantana. Ms. Stern would send a sympathy card from the Board. Chair Miller stated that Village Royale on the Green suffered tremendous damage during the hurricanes. Several of the buildings are missing roofs and approximately 150 of its residents are still homeless. II. Roll Call - Regular Members and Alternates The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Recognition of Visitors Chair Miller introduced Commissioner Ensler. Commissioner Ensler updated the Board on various developments that are currently underway within the City, specifically the development along Congress Avenue. the Winchester Property, the Motorola Property, the Downtown initiative, and the Boundless Playground. What makes the Boundless Playground unique is that it is a playground Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 where handicapped children and children of all abilities can come together within a park setting. Commission Ensler was asked to update the Board on the status of the Old High School property. He explained that 3 scenarios are being considered: 1) tear it down completely, 2) leave it and rebuild it to bring in grant money, and 3) take out the back part (where the gym and lunchroom are) and use the remainder for an arts program for children. No decisions have been made to date and it is a subject that is continuing to be discussed. There has been a strong indication that the City would like to move forward with a new civic center and that would be located in the area now known as City Square, which runs from 2nd Avenue by the library to Boynton Beach Boulevard. This type of project surfaces questions such as: . What type of amenities should be placed in the new Civic Center? . What amenities should be placed in the old high school, if it is retained? . How should redundancies between the two buildings be guarded against? An additional study regarding this topic should be completed in January. Commissioner Ensler's intent was to make a decision at the beginning of 2005. Ms. Stern pointed out that the Advisory Board on Children and Youth is in desperate need of a Teen Center and suggested the old high school property would be a good location. Commissioner Ensler clarified the Teen Center's location has been suggested as part of the new building planned for Intracoastal Park. Kurt Bressner, City Manager, is in the process of putting plans together for the Commission to review. He suggested the Board send their suggestions to Mr. Bressner as well as the Commission. The Recreation and Parks Board has endorsed the Boundless Playground to be constructed on the land between WXEL and the Tennis Center. A survey of the site was completed last week and the plans will be presented to Commission for it's formal endorsement in the near future. Once the endorsement has been made, the Boundless Playground organization will be able to initiate fundraising from foundations and large corporations. Consideration would also be given to construction of a building to be occupied by the Cerebral Palsy Camp, a program that runs during the summer months. The Board was encouraged to see the Boundless Playground located within John Prince Park in Lake Worth. Ms. Stern questioned why the storage facility building was built so close to the road on Congress Avenue, commenting that it does nothing to enhance Boynton Beach or the 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 main entrance into the south side of the City. It was explained that the building meets Code. The City has to make its decisions based upon the Code. Chair Miller provided a brief list of the items that the Board was currently working on: 1) a project working with PATCH, a non-profit corporation for a trailer to be housed on the grounds of Forest Park Elementary; 1) a literacy program working in conjunction with the library and; 3) the Pride of Boynton Beach. Drive-Bv Shootinas Chair Miller asked what the City plans to do about the recent drive-by shootings that occurred in the north end of the City. The community is concerned about it and he has received several calls questioning what is being done. Commissioner Ensler stated he hoped that the Board, with its combined intelligence, would begin to take small steps toward a solution. He felt that by taking small steps, the end result would begin to unfold. Sister Cities/Boundless Plavaround Park Ms. Kupperman commended Commissioner Ensler and Chair Miller for their participation at the Sister Cities Committee meeting held at the television station in Boynton Beach. She commented that it was a focused group. Commissioner Ensler said that he proposed that the Sister Cities group work with the people who are coordinating the Boundless Playground project to integrate their efforts in the park. They are working together to integrate something from the Sister Cities program that would reflect the multiple nationalities of the people residing in Boynton Beach in the park where the Boundless Playground would reside. The Sister Cities organization needs recommendations from the City as to what countries should be represented in the park. He suggested the CRB take this on as a project. Season of Peace Event Special Events is hosting the City's Season of Peace event that would be held on Saturday, November 20th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Christmas tree would be lit and Sister Cities would have a booth at the festivities. It would be held on Ocean Avenue in front of the Children's Museum. Diversitv Initiative Mr. Mitchell commented that Delray Beach hired a consultant to work on diversity issues within their community. He felt that Boynton's problems associated with diversity are 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 not as bad as Delray's; however, the community could still use some assistance. He felt that if Delray had success with their diversity initiative, then the City should consider it for Boynton Beach. Chair Miller asked Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Godfrey to monitor Delray's initiative and keep the Board apprised to its progress. IV. Minutes Approval of October 13, 2004 Ms. Williams proposed a change as follows: in the Correspondence and Announcements section, 5th paragraph, Ms. Blanche Williams should be changed to Ms. Blanche Girtman. Motion Mr. Godfrey moved to approve the October 13, 2004 minutes, as amended. The motion was seconded by Ms. Pacheco and passed unanimously. V. Agenda Approval Motion Ms. Stern added the following: Williams added the following: Relations Board Meeting. New Business, Item B, Youth Tennis Carnival. Mr. New Business, Item C, December 8th, Community Motion Ms. Pacheco moved to approve the agenda, as amended. The motion was seconded by Vice Chair Kupperman and passed unanimously. VI. Correspondence and Announcements Mr. Mitchell informed the Board about the Veterans' Celebration at St. John Missionary Baptist Church on Thursday, November 11th. The ROTC from Atlantic High School will be in attendance. The festivities will begin at 1 :00 p.m. VII. Old Business A) PATCH Update Mr. DeCarlo provided an update on the PATCH trailer. A meeting would be held on Tuesday, November 16th with all the parties involved at the School Board to iron out the costs for setting up the trailer and how much monetary responsibility the School Board will take on for the maintenance of the trailer. The School Board initially quoted $15,000 - $20,000 for hooking up the trailer 20-30 feet away from where the utilities are located. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 The cost should be no more than $3,000, which was the cost for setting up the same trailer at the Hester Center. The PATCH board has been very anxious to know how much money they need to raise for this project. There are enough resources coming from different sources of funding such as grants, individuals, and corporations. However, they would rather spend the money in programs, not initial setup. The School Board is responsible for utility connection because it would be located on their property and they already have a built-in mechanism for setting up trailers because there are portable classrooms on most of the school properties in the County. The Principal at the school has been a very big advocate for moving the trailer to the school. The school has become a focal point in the minority and Haitian communities and he sees the trailer providing health facilities at the trailer on Saturdays as well as activities relating to health education in the evenings. Once the School Board meeting has taken place and the costs are mapped out, it would be helpful for the Board to meet with both the Commission and the PATCH Board to discuss the future of the trailer. Pride in Bovnton Beach Chair Miller stated that due to the hurricanes, the Pride in Boynton Beach initiative will begin again after the Holidays. VIII. New Business A) Literacy Program Mr. DeCarlo explained that he has been unable to speak with Ms. Virginia Farace, the Library Director. She is aware of this Board's interest in the Literacy Program. He feels that the way to proceed would be to make an appointment with her and two or three members of this Board. Once the members meet with her, then they can bring the information back to the Board. Once there is a more concrete sense of what role the Board would like to play and how we can fit into the process, then she can be invited to attend a Board meeting. Ms. Farace is excited about the Board finding a role in the community literacy initiatives that have surfaced with the new library construction. Ms. Pacheco asked to participate in the meeting with Ms. Farace. Ms. Pacheco stated that the Board has talked about completing a needs assessment to find out what is lacking in the community. She had a running tally of some items that 5 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 the Board had mentioned are needs: childcare centers, family care homes, centers bringing children to the library to get library cards, teen mothers being able to read to their children, and organizing volunteers for a reading club. She suggested working with PATCH to train people who work with low level English proficiency or adults who do not have English proficiency. Chair Miller asked for Ms. Pacheco and Mr. DeCarlo to schedule an appointment with Ms. Farace and present a report back at the January Board meeting. Ms. Kupperman asked that a workshop be set up with someone from the City to help the Board get focused on some concrete projects that we would like to accomplish. There had been a lot of change and it would be a good time to have a facilitator from the City work with the Board to assist them in becoming more goal oriented. Chair Miller and Ms. Kupperman and Mr. DeCarlo to coordinate the workshop. Commissioner Ensler suggested providing assistance to the families of servicemena dn service women within the community. The Board could enlist the power of the VFW and the American Legion to help identify the families. Mr. DeCarlo provided a signed copy of his book that was recently published in China. Tennis Carnival Ms. Stern asked the Board to participate, along with the Advisory Board on Children and Youth, in the Tennis Carnival at Hunters Run. The tennis pros at Hunters Run provide lessons to 30 elementary and middle school children. Ms. Stern explained that she started the event several years ago when she was a member of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth. She is no longer a member of that Board and wanted to provide the CRB with an opportunity to participate. The topic will be added to the next agenda. Mr. DeCarlo will speak with the liaison of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth to find out the Community Relations Board's role in the event. Christmas Parade The Board will not participate in the Christmas Parade that will be held on Sunday, December 5th. They would consider participating in next year's event closer to that time. IX. Next Meeting: December 8, 2004, Commission Chambers Motion 6 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Bovnton Beach. Florida November 10. 2004 Mr. Mitchell moved to cancel the meeting scheduled for December 8, 2004. If there is an emergency that requires the Board to meet, Chair Miller and Mr. DeCarlo will contact the members to schedule. Mr. Godfrey seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Ms. Williams requested that the Board meetings be limited to one hour. Members requesting an addition to the agenda should contact Mr. DeCarlo prior to the meeting. Chair Miller commented that it is not a feasible request. Mr. DeCarlo stated Staff would widen the scheduled time frame for the meeting provided the business on the Agenda warrants. X. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, D~~ Recording Secretary (120204) 7