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Minutes 06-08-05 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2005 AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Brian Miller, Chair Blanche Hearst-Girtman, Vice Chair Eddie Mitchell Joyce Mura Stanley Sorgman Brenda Lee Williams Diane Pacheco, Alternate Absent: Alfred Levy Greg Orenstein Phyllis Stern Kurt Godfrey, Alternate I. Pledge of Allegiance Chair Miller called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Doug Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Board introduced themselves for the benefit of the new Recording Secretary and in doing so, called the roll. III. Recognition of Visitors Chair Miller welcomed the evening's guest speaker, Executive Director of the CRA, Doug Hutchinson. IV. Approval of May 11, 2005 Minutes Motion Ms. Pacheco moved to approve the May 11, 2005 minutes as submitted. Ms. Mura seconded the motion. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 Mr. Mitchell offered a clarification to the minutes on page 2 where he made a statement about Roberts Rules of Order. The way the sentence was structured made it confusing. He wanted all the members to know that the Chair could make a motion. The Chair can nominate. But, if the Chair makes a motion then he cannot carry that motion out. He has to give the gavel to the Vice Chair and let the Vice Chair carry the motion out. The May 11 minutes were approved, as amended, unanimously. V. Agenda Approval An item was added to the agenda to allow Mr. Hutchinson to address the Board. Motion Ms. Hearst-Girtman moved to accept the agenda as amended. Mr. Mitchell seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Doug Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Community Redevelopment Agency, spoke of the Façade Grant Program and the Pride in Boynton Beach Program. He noted the CRA and CRB shared an interest in doing things for the common good of the citizens of Boynton Beach. The CRA is interested in a partnership with the Community Relations Board to work with the residents to invest energy and effort in approving the appearance of the properties in Boynton Beach. Community buy-in was important for all the programs and he hoped that the CRB could help facilitate this. Currently, the CRA administers the commercial Façade Grant Program, a program where commercial buildings are improved on the outside with a match of up to $15K for all the money the owner spends to make the improvements. This applies to such properties as businesses, churches, apartment houses, duplexes, or similar properties. This has been a very successful program and it is now being offered to owners of single-family non/rental residences. There is also a Youth Activity Grant Fund where the CRA will give an organization like the Boy Scouts $1,000 and purchase the materials to paint someone's house, for example. If the homeowner and/or the Scouts do the work, that would count towards the match for the funds, leaving the homeowner with no out-of-pocket expense. The CRA will do this up to $15K. The CRA would also help homeowners put in irrigation systems to keep their lawns green and install driveways, on a dollar-for-dollar match with the 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 homeowner. The homeowner's labor would count towards a match. The only thing the CRA would not do was put on roofs, since that was more of a maintenance issue than an upgrading issue. The CRA is trying to get homeowners to invest effort and energy in their properties and wants the CRB to help them get the word out to the residents and elicit their interest and cooperation in doing the improvements. These programs operate throughout the CRA area and are not limited by income. They are meant to help the neighborhoods by helping the owners who can do some work, but have limited means. The CRA was going to work with Dan DeCarlo but with his departure, the communication with the neighborhood associations did not take place. If youth groups want to come in and pick up trash or plant a community garden, the CRA will give them up to $2,000.00 to pay for garbage bags, landscape or sidewalk materials, and arrange for trash trucks to pick up the trash, for example. Mr. Hutchinson advised that anyone wishing to sign up for any of these programs could come to the CRA office. Applications are also available on the CRA Web Site, www.boyntonbeachcra.org. The telephone number at the CRA office is 561-737-3256. The CRA also offers advice and guidance to anyone wishing to do a project. From time to time, various needs come to the attention of the CRA, and the CRA might also call on the CRB for ideas for projects that might be suitable. The applications for these programs have been approved by the CRA Board. The money is literally sitting there, waiting for someone to apply for it. In the MLK-Seacrest area, there had been some trash pickups, but there were still some trees down from the hurricane. Some real clean up work requiring a Bobcat was needed. He envisioned more than a trash pickup, to include leveling up, trimming up, and so forth. A lot of places are not mowable because the ground is uneven, for example. This summer, the CRA wants to make actual improvements in the CRA area that would be beyond just picking up trash. The goal is to make improvements that would be easy to maintain. The CRA would rent the equipment and get some people to run it, but they would need some volunteers. The CRA just approved an allocation of $6.3M for new street beautification programs. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is being rebuilt as well as Seacrest 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 from MLK to the Library, and Boynton Beach Boulevard from 1-95 down to the Marina project. There will be landscaped medians, sidewalks and lights like the ones on Ocean Avenue. There is a need for safety and mobility in the CRA area. People need to be able to walk or take the trolley from anywhere in the MLKjdowntown area and have Police protection on hand if they want to walk along Seacrest to the Library and vice versa. Mr. Hutchinson noted the lack of trash receptacles in the CRA area and how this was hampering efforts to achieve a cleaner City. He explained that the City trash trucks were not able to pick up trash from typical on-street receptacles. Also, they had to be situated to be fairly invulnerable to being hit by a car or stepped on. This should be easy, but an efficient pick-up system for trash receptacles was still under review. There were also no trash containers next to bus stops. Ms. Williams stated that her church paid for a trash receptacle and she wondered who would pay for pickup of the trash at the proposed receptacles. Ms. Williams noted that mulch was being applied to the swale area on Federal Highway between Gateway and Boynton Beach Boulevards and there was no place to put trash at any of the bus stops. Soon after the mulch was put down, she began to see papers strewn about on top of it. Mr. Hutchinson stated that the State of Florida had put down the mulch, not the City. Mr. Hutchinson thought that a mini trash truck might be required in order to have the trash from the street receptacles picked up. Chair Miller stated that at the Great American Cleanup done recently at the Rosemary Scrub area north on Sea crest Boulevard, about eighteen bags were filled with trash from in front of a fence that was only three feet away from the sidewalk in front of the convenience store. He noted that there was no trash receptacle there. The owner of the store had two trash receptacles in front of the store. Mr. Livergood of the Public Works/Solid Waste Division found a trash receptacle that met all the standards for his trash pick-up workers and put it in this location. Chair Miller has been checking the container frequently and judging from the very small amount of litter on the ground, it appeared that people were actually using this container. Chair Miller stated that if the Board helped the CRA by knocking on some doors in the area, and possibly by putting in some shrubbery and vegetation on the properties, there would not be room for all the trash. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 Mr. Hutchinson said Mr. Livergood was not only working on trash receptacles, but also on a way-finding sign system with flags. The City had already committed to extend the trolley and WiFi programs beyond the borders of the CRA area if the pilot programs work well. Mr. Mitchell expressed appreciation for some of the things the CRA had already done, especially the two bicycle patrolmen it had put in the Heart of Boynton area. They had done an excellent job to try to alleviate some of the crime there. However, one of the major reasons for formulating CRAs throughout the United States was to address blighted areas. It appeared to many people in the Heart of Boynton that in spite of that perceived CRA mandate, the millions of dollars the CRA had to allocate was being spent on projects such as the one at the east end of Boynton Beach Boulevard. They had not seen very much done yet in the Heart of Boynton, an area with a great deal of blight. The Heart of Boynton residents were hoping that their area would see some of the millions of dollars at the disposal of the CRA in the near future. Mr. Mitchell commented that many of the residents of the Heart of Boynton were very concerned about recent land purchases in the Heart of Boynton area by developers who planned to develop their new properties as commercial enterprises instead of single-family homes as called for in the Heart of Boynton Plan. Mr. Hutchinson explained that the current zoning for the area was C-2 and the land use was Local Retail Commercial and that conflicted with the Heart of Boynton Plan. The zoning had never been changed to match the Plan. The CRA had asked for a moratorium on zoning while the CRA looks at the prospect of acquiring the commercial properties from the buyers or paying them the difference between what they had paid for a commercial property and what it was worth as R-l-A property. The developers bought the properties in accordance with the current zoning. There were willing sellers. The CRA was trying to remedy the situation. This did not involve the Boynton Terrace Apartments. Mr. Mitchell stated that in discussing this with other Heart of Boynton residents, it was thought that the CRA had changed horses in terms of the Heart of Boynton in relation to the Plan. The original plan was to have residential on the west side and commercial on the other side. They were now visualizing commercial on both sides and no residential. Mr. Mitchell asked Mr. Hutchinson if the zoning change to R-l-A would come about. 5 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman stated that homes and land had been sold on MLK Boulevard and 11th and lih Avenues. The people feel they have been misled. This caused a big furor in the area. They did not know about the possible commercial development and had sold their homes for $35K and people were buying them to build big housing complexes on. Mr. Hutchinson stated that the Plan had been passed two years before he had come to the City. He was given a Plan that had what he was told was community input. In the area that the CRA was buying for mixed-use (a higher use than residential), they were setting records on the amount the CRA was paying to the property owners. They were not buying for $35K and turning around and building a mansion on it and selling it for big bucks. They were encouraging people to be educated in what goes on. A lot of commercial is scheduled to go on Seacrest. He understood they were to put the mixed use with stores at intersection nodes. In the mid blocks there would be more residential such as nice townhouses. The townhouses would be affordable since they had an Affordable Housing Program also, but the area was not meant to be lined with stores and office buildings. Mr. Hutchinson stated that the CRA had defended the Heart of Boynton Plan and was prepared to pay money to do so by paying compensation to the developers. The developers are being told that even though they bought in a commercial zone, they could not put commercial on it since it was going to be single-family residential. The CRA had not thrown anyone out of his or her homes. They had bought all properties that were homesteads and lor paid people to buy new properties, paid moving expenses including rentals, and so forth. All the properties the CRA is gathering are vacant or commercial properties. Mr. Mitchell referred to an upcoming CRA agenda item, "Consideration of Interlocal Agreement Between CRA and the City for the MLK Phase 1." He asked Mr. Hutchinson to explain Phase 1. Mr. Hutchinson stated that Phase 1 of the Heart of Boynton Plan was 6 acres and it had 31 properties on it. The area was on Seacrest Boulevard beside Sara Sims Park from 8th up to a block north of MLK on the west side of Sea crest There were 7 properties: a convenience store, church and vacant lots. It goes from one half block north of MLK down to 9th and down to St. Johns Church eastward, to a point behind the church, and north one half block up across MLK 6 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 and west, back to Seacrest. This was about six acres and made up Phase 1 of the Heart of Boynton Plan. The CRA was assembling this to start the momentum. This would show people that property owners did not end up losing their properties for under value. A right-of-way would go from beside St. Johns Church to the City Maintenance Yard. When the City relocates from there, it will be redeveloped. The CRA had already started buying properties in there and that was Phase 2. The CRA would underwrite a Real Estate Land Trust as another way to make sure to get a blended neighborhood with low to moderate, low/low, and workforce housing with multiple units and multiple projects, and single family homes for first time home buyers. Chair Miller said that Mr. Hutchinson and the CRA Board and staff were to be commended on their actions. Mr. Hutchinson was proud of the Plan and what they were doing in the CRA area. WiFi (free Internet service) was being planned for this area. This was not low-end dialup, but a high-speed connection that normally costs about $40 per month. The CRA put the money up for this because all children need to have the same access to computers, regardless of income level. The CRA was approaching the computer companies for laptops for everybody in Galaxy School and in the neighborhoods. This can happen with WiFi in place. Mr. Hutchinson stated the CRA was not talking to developers and plotting about how to come in and take properties. It was trying to hold the line and see that the Plan is followed. Community buy-in was important as well as education. He invited anyone with a question about his or her property to call the CRA office. If a person has to have his or her property appraised to figure out what they can do with it, they should call the CRA office for assistance. If rumors were going around, he asked that a call be placed to the CRA office to find out the truth. The CRA books were open and they would be happy to show them to anyone who cared to see them. The CRA wanted to work with the community on the programs and would "roll its sleeves up. " Mr. Hutchinson assured the residents in the Heart of Boynton that the tools were in place to put significant dollars into that area in the very near future. The funds were already in place in the CRA budget. The direct incentives given to the project going in at the eastern end of Boynton Beach Boulevard would also be given to developers in the Heart of Boynton. 7 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 Mr. Hutchinson commented that he needed help in regard to the Heritage Fest project and asked that the appropriate individual(s) come to see him. In response to questions about the Boynton Terrace project, Mr. Hutchinson stated that Mr. Scott Blasie in the Code Compliance Division was overseeing the demolition, after which a new owner would take possession of the property. Eventually a developer would bring a Site Plan to the City for review and approval. This would take place only after extensive public input and discussion to insure that those housing units were not lost to the area. Chair Miller asked if the upgrading of the streets in the CRA would include brighter lighting. Mr. Hutchinson offered to discuss this with Chair Miller to see what could be done. In regard to the streetscapes in the area, Mr. Hutchinson said that Seacrest Boulevard belonged to the County and as such, extensive permits were required in order to change anything. If it were possible, he would have the design done and the permits pulled now. By August, there would be "30% drawings" of the streetscapes and then people could see what the streets will actually look like. In response to a question, Mr. Hutchinson stated that the Sara Simms Cemetery was going to be enlarged. Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman asked what the plans were for both sides (northeast and northwest) of 11th, lth, and 13th Avenues regarding beautification. Mr. Hutchinson said that the City was in charge of the single-family neighborhood programs. The CRA had its hands full with the area under its jurisdiction. Ms. Octavia Sherrod and/or Quintus Greene would be the people to contact in the City about this issue. The Board expressed its thanks to Mr. Hutchinson for a very informative presentation. They all had a much better picture of what the CRA had been doing and planned to do. Herman Brunson, 2300 N.W. 1st Street, Boynton Beach, came to the podium to speak. The City cited him for his pool and he only had it for a couple of days and they say he had to get a permit because it was supposedly over 18 feet and had to have a permit. The pool was only 18 feet wide and four feet deep. Chair Miller said he would have to go down to Code Compliance and discuss it with them. This was the wrong venue. Scott Blasie is in charge of Code Compliance. Mr. Brunson thought he was at the Code Compliance Board meeting. 8 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 Ms. Williams left the meeting at 8:17 pm. Mr. Sorgman thanked the Board for the card they sent him while he was recuperating from surgery. It was greatly appreciated. The Board generally agreed that it wanted to devote the next meeting to brainstorming and settling on a project or projects that it wanted to actually commit to and undertake. It was hoped that by the next meeting, the Staff Report could be provided to the members. With the CRA participating, the CRB's scope of action had been increased. VI. Correspondence and Announcements None VII. Old Business 1) Pride in Boynton Beach Discussed extensively during Mr. Hutchinson's presentation. 2) Literacy The literacy program was inactive for the summer months. VIII. New Business 1) Discuss Board meetings for July and August Motion Mr. Mitchell moved to skip the CRB meeting in August 2005. Vice Chair Hearst- Girtman seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 9 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 8, 2005 IX. Adjournment The meeting was duly adjourned at 8:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recorded by: Catherine Wharton Transcribed from CD by: ~~~.~ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (July 1, 2005) 10