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Minutes 02-09-05 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2005 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Brian Miller, Chair Blanche Girtman Kurt Godfrey Eddie Mitchell Joyce Mura Diane Pacheco Stanley Sorgman Phyllis Stern Brenda Lee Williams Dan DeCarlo, Board Liaison I. Pledge of Allegiance/Call to Order Chair Miller called the meeting to order at 7:03 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. Chair Miller introduced new member Stanley Sorgman to the Board. Recognition of Visitors III. None. IV. Minutes Approval of January 12, 2005 Motion Mr. Godfrey moved to approve the minutes from the January 12, 2005 meeting. The motion was seconded by Ms. Williams and passed unanimously. V. Agenda Approval Chair Miller added the following: New Business, Item C, Heart of Boynton Beach Redevelopment Program and Item D, Announcement of New Vice Chair. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2005 Motion Mr. Godfrey moved to approve the agenda, as amended. The motion was seconded by Vice Chair Girtman and passed unanimously. VI. Correspondence and Announcements Vice Chair Girtman requested that the Board express its' sympathies to Kurt Bressner, City Manager, and Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant City Manager during their time of illness. The Board concurred and commented about concerns. VIII. New Business a) Announcement of New Vice Chair Chair Miller asked for nominations for the position of Vice Chair. Mr. Mitchell nominated Ms. Girtman. Chair Miller asked for further nominations. Motion Mr. Godfrey moved to close the floor to nominations for position of Vice Chair of the Community Relations Board. Ms. Williams seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Chair Miller congratulated Vice Chair Girtman on her appointment to Vice Chair. VII. Old Business a) PATCH Update Mr. DeCarlo updated the Board on a meeting that took place on February 2nd with the Principal of Forest Park Elementary, PATCH representatives, and members from the School district. Mr. DeCarlo commented that the tone of the meeting was not whether the project should be done but instead, what has to be done in order to make it work. Forest Palm Elementary has been designated as the site for the trailer, which will house the wellness center. It was determined that there would be room on the southern end of the campus, in the current playground area, to deed a portion of the land to PATCH and possibly FAU; provided FAU wants to partner with PATCH on this program. Deeding the property is for the purpose of having an entity take on the liability of placing the trailer on the site and having the wellness center function in the trailer. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2005 One of the advantages of the site is that it is a Beacon Center, which is a community school the school district promotes. This school also boasts the largest percentage of Haitians in the community. There are a number of evening programs for the community because the Beacon Center is located there. The school district recently approved a wellness center at another elementary school approximately one and one-half years ago and they are now more seasoned in getting the program up and running. Because the school will soon be remodeled, there might be another trailer available that could be used for the wellness center instead of the one Bethesda Hospital offered. The school's trailer is a double-wide and Bethesda's is a triple-wide with restrooms already inside. The next step in the process is to determine if PATCH would be the sole owner of the property and run the program as a non-profit organization or own the property in partnership with FAU. Currently, discussions are between PATCH and FAU and focus on PATCH bringing FAU on board. It would make the City's efforts much easier and the school district would have a higher level of comfort if FAU was a partner in the wellness center. Mr. Godfrey asked if there was anything that the Board should be doing to assist in the project at this time and was informed by Staff that once the project is further along with site preparation and the school district is ready to move forward, it would be a time for the Board to inform the Commission a workshop is needed. The workshop would define what each entity's role would be to make this initiative work. Mr. DeCarlo suggested this could happen as soon as 3-4 months. Mr. DeCarlo recommended the Board send an appreciation letter to the Principal of Forest Park Elementary for his help and ongoing support of this program. He commented that this would further solidify his role and involvement in the program and reminded the Board the Principal put himself out on a limb by saying he wanted the wellness center at his school. His commitment to the program has been instrumental in gaining the support of the school district. The letter should be addressed to the school district and placed in a packet that would go from the school to the school district showing the City's support of the PATCH program to be located at Forest Park. Vice Chair Girtman was pleased to hear about the project moving forward. She was involved with a similar project 1974/1975 when the City was working with the Block Grant Program and there was a need for a location where citizens could go for healthcare. The need arose because there was no public transportation at that time and the community was a relatively small block area. She commented because of the Haitian community located around Forest Park, it is a very important amenity that the City was assisting with. She commended Mr. DeCarlo for his efforts in pulling all the parties together to make this project happen. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2005 Motion Mr. Godfrey moved that Staff prepare a letter addressed to the school board commending the efforts of the Principal at Forest Palm Elementary on the PATCH project. The letter should be reviewed by the Board and signed by each member at the next Community Relations Board meeting. The Principal at Forest Park Elementary, Bethesda Hospital, City Manager, and City Commission would be copied on the letter. Vice Chair Girtman seconded the motion that passed unanimously. b) Pride in Boynton Beach Chair Miller attended an organizational meeting in which Jeff Livergood, Public Works Director; Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent; Scott Blasie, Code Compliance Administrator; Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. DeCarlo were in attendance. The intent of the meeting was to find out if the program initiative was feasible. It was determined that it was and another meeting was scheduled for February 14, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. in the Park and Recreation Department Conference Room. Everyone was invited to attend. Chair Miller and Mr. DeCarlo also met with Wayne Segal, Director of Media/Public Communication, and found out that the City does not have an information packet that they distribute to new residents. The only information that could be located regarding the City's services was a brochure that is produced and distributed by the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber's brochure is not widely distributed and it was felt that before the Board drafted and produced something different, it would make more sense to determine if the City was going to either update the information housed in the Chamber's material or create something else. Chair Miller stated that the City would be producing a Guide to City Services booklet. This booklet would be a foundation for a packet of information that would be distributed to neighborhood associations and made available at City Hall for residents to pick up. Included in the packet would be a Warning Notice flyer from the Code Compliance Division regarding garbage collection/pickup and refuse container etiquette, and the Community Relations Board flyer. Ms. Williams suggested the packet be mailed with the City's water bills. Mr. Sorgman commented that the Code Compliance Division's Warning flyer is great information for new residents to receive and it was a good idea to have it translated in Spanish and Creole. Mr. DeCarlo suggested the Board include a cover letter in the packet that introduces the Board and it's mission. He explained that the Board would take the lead in compiling and distributing this helpful information packet to new residents. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2005 Mr. Godfrey, Ms. Mura, Vice Chair Girtman, Chair Miller, and Mr. DeCarlo will participate on a subcommittee to develop the packet and determine how it should be distributed. Ms. Pacheco noted an error on the map included within the Guide to City Services booklet and also provided corrections to Mr. DeCarlo on grammatical errors found within the Community Relations Board flyer. The Heritage Fest, to be held through February 27th, would be a good place to distribute the Board's flyers as well. The Board would have a booth at this event and requires that at least 2 members participate to work in the booth. The members would provide information about the Board and inform visitors about the Board's projects. The event would be held from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. and 4 members could work in the booth for 2 hours each. Motion Ms. Stern moved that the Community Relations Board represent itself at the Heritage Festival to be held on February 28th from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Vice Chair Girtman seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Mr. Sorgman mentioned that his appointment should expire in 2008, not in 2006 as referenced in his appointment letter. He stated that Commissioner Ferguson brought this to the Commission's attention and Mr. Sorgman was informed that it would expire in 2008. Mr. DeCarlo stated that he would confirm Mr. Sorgman's expiration date with the City Clerk's Office. c) Youth Tennis Carnival Ms. Stern provided an update on the Youth Tennis Carnival, She notified the Advisory Board on Children and Youth of the Board's decision for each member to contribute a voluntary monetary donation towards the event. It was anticipated that approximately $25.00 would be collected. She received a return email thanking the Board for their participation. Contributions would be placed in an envelope and given to Ms. Stern at the next Board meeting. VIII. New Business b) Literacy Program (Read Boynton Program) Mr. DeCarlo mentioned that a flyer was attached to the Agenda that referenced the Library's Read Boynton program. The program would be held at the City Library on the th 2"d and 4th Thursdays in February, April and May 2005 beginning February 10 . The program would not be held in March due to FCAT testing. Essentially, the program utilizes high school students to mentor/tutor Middle and Elementary students after school in the City's Library. 5 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2005 The meeting February 10th is an introduction to the program and all members were encouraged to attend. Participation is not required at every meeting, although it is something that is strived for. Members can participate by attending any meeting. This program will allow the Board to find out what type of role it would like to play with regard to literacy within the community. Once this program ends, the Board can decide if they would like to continue with a literacy initiative. Vice Chair Girtman suggested that some of the times be changed to the afternoon in order to accommodate children that are in daycare programs whose parent work during the day and cannot get their children to the meetings by 6:00 p.m. The daycare should be able to deliver the children to the library for participation in the event if the time were changed to the afternoon. c) Youth in Government Day - April 14th The Youth in Government Day would be held on April 14th. Juice and donuts are provided to the students when they arrive in the morning. Staff provides lunch and Board members were encouraged to attend. Generally, there are 5 students from 4 or 5 different schools within the City who participate in this program. Each student is assigned to a Department Head at the City and they work with that Department Head throughout the day. The students hold a mock Commission meeting in the Commission Chambers that evening and present any information that the Department Head would bring before the Commission. The Department Head students make their cases before the Commission students as to why the Commission should support their program. Chair Miller informed the Board he attended the breakfast, lunch, and student commission session last year and found it to be a very rewarding experience. The students were very timid in the morning, a little more vocal at lunch, and very lively at the Commission session. d) Heart of Boynton Beach Redevelopment Program For lack of time, it was determined the Heart of Boynton Beach Redevelopment Program would be discussed at the March Board meeting. Mr. DeCarlo would provide everyone with a copy of the Redevelopment Plan prior to the next meeting so Board members could familiarize themselves with it. This topic ties into the Board's Pride in Boynton Beach initiative. 6 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida Februa~ 9,2005 IX. Next Meeting: March 9, 2005 - Commission Chambers X. Adjournment Since thers was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Deanna Ewing Recording Secretary (021605) 7