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Minutes 10-19-05 MINUTES OF THE VETERANS ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING ] HELD IN THE LIBRARY TRAINING ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH CITY LIBRARY, ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2005 AT 6:30 P.M. Present: Thomas Kaiser Karl Washington William Kull Morris Boruck Greg Emery Lester McKinzie Stuart Preston, Alternate Rick DeWitt, Assistant City Attorney Carisse Lejeune, Board Liaison Also Present: Commissioner Bob Ensler Absent: Robert Zimmerman Stanley Gavlick, Alternate I. Call to Order Assistant City Attorney Rick DeWitt called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. Attendance The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. IV. Briefing of Commission Duties and Responsibilities- Rick DeWitt Assistant City Attorney DeWitt instructed the board members in the requirements of the: 1) Florida Sunshine Law, and 2) Public Meeting and Records Law. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt fielded questions from the board about when they could and could not speak to each other about matters coming before the board. He also briefed them on the civil and criminal penalties that could ensue from breach of these laws. He invited the board members to contact his office in Fort Lauderdale or the City Attorney's office at City Hall if questions arose as to the applicability of the laws. V. Election of Chairperson Assistant City Attorney DeWitt entertained nominating motions from the floor for the position of board Chairperson. Mr. Kaiser nominated Bob Zimmerman, seconded by Mr. Liebensohn. It was noted that Mr. Zimmerman still held membership in another City board and would not be allowed to serve on two City boards at the same time. Mr. Kaiser had spoken to him and mentioned Mr. Zimmerman's intention to resign from the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals in favor of the Veterans Advisory Commission. Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, Florida October 19, 2005 Mr. Kull nominated Tom Kaiser, seconded by Mr. Boruck There were no other nominations. The vote was ~3-2 in favor of electing Tom Kaiser as Chairperson. Mr. Kaiser and Mr. McKinzie cast their votes for Mr. Zimmerman. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt then turned the meeting over to the new Chairperson, Tom Kaiser. VI. Election of Vice Chairperson Chair Kaiser entertained nominating motions from the floor for the position of Vice Chairperson. Mr. Boruck nominated Bob Zimmerman for Vice Chairperson, seconded by Mr. Kull. There were no other nominations. The vote to elect Bob Zimmeran as Vice Chairperson was unanimous. Chair Kaiser will inform Mr. Zimmerman of his election as Vice Chairperson and the need for him to resign from the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals in accord with the City policy of not allowing service on more than one City board at one time. VII. Agenda Approval Chair Kaiser asked to add an item to the New Business portion of the agenda pertaining to increasing the number of honorary members allowed on the board. Chair Kaiser also distributed a press release for Veterans Day on November 6, 2005 and asked that this be put on the agenda as well under New Business. An item concerning stationery, the placement of items on the agenda, and various housekeeping items would be added also. There were no further additions to the agenda. VIII. Approval of Minutes Since this was the first meeting for the Veterans Advisory Commission, there were no minutes. The Recording Secretary explained that the City Clerk's office would be mailing minutes to the members and asked everyone to verify the addresses on the board list she distributed. There were no changes to the list. Any changes to the minutes will be brought up at the meeting when the minutes are presented for approval. IX. Public Audience Jerry Jones, involved in veterans affairs for a long time and a volunteer for Paralyzed Vets in Ft. Lauderdale, stated he was happy to learn of an opportunity to volunteer closer to home. Peter Milano stated he was the father of Joseph Milano who was killed in the Beirut bombing in 1983. This was one of the first of the terrorist attacks against the United States. Chair Kaiser commented that Mr. Milano's wife, Angelina, had been ill but he knew she'd be present at the meetings in future. X. Unfinished Business There was no unfinished business. 2 Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, Florida October 19, 2005 XII. New Business 1) Veterans Dav Chair Kaiser encouraged everyone to get the word out to maximize attendance at this event. There will be a tent on the grounds of Intracoastal Park on Federal Highway just south of Gateway Boulevard, on Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 p.m. A light meal will be served at the VFW Post 5335 just across the road from the Intracoastal Park following the event. Ms. Lejeune stated the Veterans Day Proclamation was scheduled for the November 1 City Commission meeting. She inquired whether the veterans wished to have recognition for anything else at the same time. Chair Kaiser indicated that it would be appreciated if the theme of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Treaty at TOkoyo Bay were retained until the end of the year. Chair Kaiser announced that the Veterans Council normally initiated three main ceremonies a year: Memorial Day at the Cemetery, Veterans Day at the Intracoastal Park, and an event at a church or synagogue. As ever, the City will be invited to all of its ceremonies. 2) Board "Housekeeoina" Items Chair Kaiser asked that future agendas have Minutes Approval following or preceding Agenda Approval. The board consensus was to have an Invocation at the start of the meetings and a Benediction at the end. Assistant Attorney DeWitt acknowledged this could be done if the prayers were neutral in nature. Chair Kaiser asked Ms. Lejeune to investigate the possibility of stationery for the Veterans Advisory Commission, including the City logo. Ms. Lejeune will research this and report her findings to the board at a subsequent meeting. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 14, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. and Ms. Lejeune will communicate the place to each board member prior to the meeting. The question was raised about whether it was mandatory to meet each month. Based on the precedent set by the Senior Advisory Board who has quarterly meetings, Ms. LeJeune advised a monthly meeting was not mandatory. The setting of the permanent schedule will be done after discussion at the next meeting when the entire board is present. Chair Kaiser asked to put two items on the December 14 agenda: 1) Four Chaplains event and 2) Proposals for the Veterans memorial monument. Board attendance was discussed. The members will telephone the Board Liaison, Carisse Lejeune, if they are unable to attend a meeting. Ms. Lejeune will mention the calls at the meeting so it will become part of the record. Although board members may be removed from the board after the fourth absence, upon application and at the decision of the City Commission, they are sometimes reinstated. 3) Increasina the Number of Honorarv Members Chair Kaiser declared that there were more people who should be included in the list of honorary members. He believed that the current number of five honorary members was an arbitrary designation, and with respect, asked for a motion to increase that number to ten. He was especially desirous of including Rear Admiral Thomas Morris, in charge of the Battle Monuments Commission for the U.S., and General Albin Irzyk, Ret., and Tom Baddeley in addition to the five previously selected. It was noted that this would mean requesting that the ordinance be amended to that effect. Chair Kaiser distributed a list of the individuals he believed should be honorary members. 3 Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, Florida October 19, 2005 Motion Mr. Kull moved to recommend that the City Commission amend the ordinance to allow for ten honorary members instead of the five now allowed. Mr. Preston seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Chair Kaiser will provide a letter to accompany the agenda request justifying increasing the number of honorary members from five to ten. He will include the entire list of proposed honorary members with their organizations and the reasons why they should serve as honorary board members. The first request will be to amend the ordinance to increase the number of honorary board members. If approved, at a subsequent meeting the proposed list of ten honorary members will be submitted to the Commission for ratification. If not approved, a list of five proposed honorary members will proceed to the Commission for ratification. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt advised the honorary members would have to meet the requirements set forth in the ordinance for membership and would have to apply for membership in the same way as the other board members. He reiterated that honorary memberships had to be ratified by the City Commission. 4) Veterans Monument/Memorial Commissioner Ensler asked Chair Kaiser for an opportunity to speak about the proposed veterans memorial to honor veterans who died in action. Commissioner Ensler commented that the City Commission had voted to contribute $30K towards this memorial and he had pledged another $5K out of the Commissioner's Discretionary Fund account. This had been discussed extensively with the Arts Commission, who was ready to do a Call to Artists for the project. The responses to that request will produce proposals depicting artist's renditions of what the memorial would look like. The Veterans Advisory Commission would make a selection from among the proposals and forward their recommendation to the City Commission for consideration. Commissioner Ensler and Tom Kaiser had also discussed Veteran's Park and how it would soon become the focal point of a thriving downtown area with a twelve-story building, shops, and restaurants. This is where people would come to congregate and walk. Commissioner Ensler was at a function in Denver, Colorado recently where developers for the downtown were talking about the importance of downtowns. While there, he saw a street on which there was no traffic with lots of people walking up and down the street. The only vehicle on the street was a City trolley, bringing people from one end of the street to the other and it was nice to see. He had spoken to some people on the CRA and some were already thinking of this. If it came about, and there was a good chance it might, the Veterans Park could be right in the middle of the new downtown in Boynton Beach. The park is now small and he had discussed expanding it with the City Manager. Commissioner Ensler had an architect draw up some tentative plans and Mr. Kaiser has them. He said there was an opportunity to do something about making Veteran's Park a much nicer park. There could be memorials to individuals there with water and granite walls, memorials for the various services, and so forth. The immediate task before the Veterans Advisory Commission was to decide what it wanted in the form of a memorial monument and to forward its selection to the City Commission so it could actually happen. This had to be on the agenda to drive the City to go out and get the designs. This would leave a lasting memory for all veterans. Mr. McKenzie stated he had originally come up with the idea for a memorial and wanted to have it at the American Legion Post 164. He did not have a problem with having it at Veteran's Park, but wanted to see it "improved" before a decision was made. Mr. McKenzie had wanted to have something on the island in front of the American Legion Post. Chair Kaiser stated they would not leave the American Legion Post 4 Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, Florida October 19, 2005 out in any future plans. They had started collecting money on their own and with a little help, could handle two monuments: one for the Veteran's Park and one for in front of the American Legion. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt pointed out to Chair Kaiser that this type of discussion belonged in the Public Audience portion of the meeting and not in the New Business section. Commissioner Ensler said, with respect, he believed the Chair had the option to allow anybody to speak at any time and he had requested to be recognized before speaking. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt said they had been discussing New Business as it pertained to the members. In the future, if recognized by the Chair, the public may speak during the Public Audience section of the meeting. XII. Other None XIII. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~t4t~-J Susan Collins Recording Secretary ( 102005) 5