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Minutes 10-13-04 MI'NUTES OF THE COMMUNI'TY RELATI'ONS BOARD MEETI'NG HELD I'N THE COMMI'SS1'ON CHAMBERS, CI'TY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORI'DA, ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1.3, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Jayne Kupperman, Vice Chair Dan DeCarlo, Board Liaison Blanche Girtman Kurt Godfrey Eddie Mitchell Joyce Mura Diane Pacheco Phyllis Stern Brenda Lee Williams Robert Harper, Alternate Absent Brian Hiller, Chair Joseph Bartley, Alternate I. Pledge of Allegiance/Call to Order In the absence of the Chair, Vice Chair Kupperman presided and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call - Regular Members and Alternates The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Recognition of Visitors There were no visitors. IV. Minutes Approval of July 14, 2004 Motion Ms. Williams moved to approve the July 14, 2004 minutes, seconded by Ms. Mura and unanimously carried. V. Agenda Approval The agenda was approved with no changes. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 13, 2004 VI. Correspondence and Announcements Hurricane Discussion Vice Chair Kupperman initiated a discussion of the recent hurricanes and various Board members gave an accounting of their experiences. No one suffered any significant damage and all expressed thankfulness that this was so. They also expressed sympathy for Boynton Beach's neighbors to the north who had received a great deal of damage through the storm(s). Several Board members expressed gratitude and admiration for the efforts of the City's Water Department, because the City water was not interrupted and there were no "boil water" orders. One or two small neighborhoods had some difficulties but the majority of the City enjoyed clean, clear water throughout the storm emergencies. A negative comment was made about the decision of Adelphia cable television to cease activities before the last storm because this made it more difficult to get news of the hurricane. Another complaint was that FPL concentrated its activities in Broward and Dade Counties when they had not received as much damage as farther north. The widespread tree loss was mentioned, with Mr. DeCarlo saying that many homeowners associations had made assessments to the residents for help with the cleanup effort. For the most part, the City was looking good and most of the garbage had been picked up. Ms. Blanche W!!!!cmc Girtman noted that there were still some areas in the north end that had not been totally cleared of trash. VII. Old Business A) PATCH Update Mr. DeCarlo gave an update of the PATCH trailer. A meeting was to be held with the parties on the week following this meeting. Forest Park Elementary School was still the site targeted to receive the PATCH trailer that was donated by Bethesda Hospital. Mr. DeCarlo assured the Board members that Bethesda Hospital was willing to be patient about the efforts to resolve the location for the trailer and would not rescind their offer. The ownership of the trailer would probably fall to the School Board for insurance reasons, with the School Board leasing it to PATCH on an annual basis. One of the members expressed concern about the importance of having a contract that would preclude the School District from taking the trailer back at some point in the future. Mr. DeCado mentioned that as a Beacon School that had evening classes, the Board might wish to allow some use of the trailer by Forest Park for parenting classes and so forth, even though PATCH would be given priority in the use of it. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 13, 2004 Forest Park was pleased at the idea of having the trailer on its grounds since the school had such a high percentage of Haitians, one of the groups most in need of the services provided by PATCH. The ability of the Assistant Principal to speak Creole was another plus in having the trailer located on the grounds of Forest Park Elementary since he would be able to encourage the children to pursue appropriate health care. Vice Chair Kupperman noted that the Beacon Center's mission included health care and the location of the trailer at the Center was a perfect fit. Vice Chair Kupperman works for the School District in Community and Adult Education and she offered assistance if any difficulties were encountered in the insurance part of the issue. PATCH programs continue to be held at the Treasure Chest on an almost weekly basis. B) Pride in Boynton Beach This program is an amplification of the clean-up and beautification programs and getting people to clean up their neighborhoods. The City is working on ways to work with the neighborhoods to help them take better care of them. It was all still a work-in-progress. Mr. DeCarlo will report back to the Board when the program was more focused and the Board could decide how it could play a part in it. VIII. New Business A) Literacy Program Mr. DeCarlo explained that Ms. Virginia Farace, the Library Director, had been unable to attend this meeting but wanted to either meet with the Board or with a Literacy Subcommittee. She would give an overview of the literacy efforts in the City from her broad perspective of involvement in this issue. Although the Board's role was not yet clear in this, Vice Chair Kupperman believed that there were already comprehensive and widespread literacy efforts taking place in the community at present and that it was more a matter of finding out from the community what needs were present and linking those needs with the programs being offered. The Board would determine the need, become aware of all existing resources, and find ways to bring literacy services to the population of Boynton Beach in need of it. The Board directed Mr. DeCarlo to arrange for Ms. Farace to present an overview of Literacy in Boynton Beach at the earliest opportunity. The Board also wished to hear from some of the leaders of the Haitian and other communities who might be able to express their wants and needs in regard to increasing literacy for their respective groups. From this information, a Literacy Subcommittee could be formed to proceed with the Community Relations Board's role in literacy in this community. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 13, 2004 The point was made that Boynton Beach was a tri-lingual community: English, Creole, and Spanish. School readiness was an important issue. Vice Chair Kupperman commented that literacy programs aimed at adults were being broadcast 24/7 at the present time. Most immigrant families in need of literacy training were busy during the day and could only avail themselves of this opportunity at odd hours. She also mentioned the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition, to which she belonged. Mr. DeCarlo mentioned that the City was involved in a Workplace Literacy program where employees gave up work time to teach people how to speak English. All agreed that the need for literacy training was huge and that it was increasing on a daily basis. The Board was eager to begin its work in this area. IX. Next Meeting: November 10, 2004, Commission Chambers X. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (101404) 4