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Minutes 02-08-06 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006, AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Blanche Hearst-Girtman, Vice Chair Alfred Levy Eddie Mitchell Joyce Mura Gregg Orenstein Stanley Sorgman Phyllis Stern Diane Pacheco, Alternate Thelma Lyons, Neighborhood Specialist Liaison Absent: Brian Miller, Chair Brenda Lee Williams Kurt Godfrey, Alternate I. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. In the absence of the Chair, Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. III. Recognition of Visitors There were no visitors. IV. January 11, 2006 Minutes Approval Motion Ms. Mura moved to approve the January 11, 2006 minutes as presented. Mr. Levy seconded the motion that passed unanimously. V. Agenda Approval Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman introduced three agenda items: 1) What can the Community Relations Board do to help the people who are still trying to get help from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) now that FEMA has closed down? 2) Could the Faith-Based group speak to the residents about eminent domain? Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2006 3) What can the Board do about the lack of affordable housing in Boynton Beach for its firefighters, nurses, policemen and others? A considerable discussion ensued about the three topics prior to agenda approval. Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman expanded upon her concerns. Now that FEMA had left town, did the City have any funding for the people left without help in the wake of the hurricanes. If not, how can they get help? Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman believed more education was needed on the topic of eminent domain. Many homeowners in the Heart of Boynton were still worried about it. Ms. Hearst- Girtman mentioned people whose properties were being acquired through eminent domain and later sold to others for highly inflated prices. The people whose homes were acquired through eminent domain were not getting enough money for their homes. Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman did not believe firefighters, nurses, policeman and others could afford the $250-400K prices of the new development in the Heart of Boynton. All agreed the proposed topics were of importance to the community. Ms. Lyons advised Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman that the topics she suggested were covered at monthly meetings held between City staff members and residents of the Heart of Boynton neighborhoods. Recently, the Community Redevelopment Agency had come to the meeting to explain in great detail the ways in which eminent domain affected everyone. Quintus Greene of the Development Department attends the meetings along with Wilfred Hawkins, the Assistant City Manager. Commissioner McCray attends when needed. The meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month except this month, when the meeting will be on February 27 at 7 p.m. at St. John's Missionary Baptist Church. Ms. Lyons commented that all residents of the Heart of Boynton neighborhoods were sent flyers notifying them of these meetings. She had sent out 1,000 flyers the previous month herself. In answer to questions from Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman, Ms. Lyons detailed meeting membership as consisting of presidents of different neighborhood groups such as Doris Jackson from Poinciana Heights, Elizabeth Jenkins from Boynton Hill, and Gertrude Sullivan from Boynton Terrace, as well as citizens from all neighborhoods. The average turnout for the meetings has been 20 to 50 persons. A suggestion was made that the City could heavily advertise the telephone numbers to call for the people still needing assistance if they had not gotten satisfaction from FEMA. A City telephone number should be provided also. Some felt the Board should issue a position statement on these items instead of attending neighborhood meetings. The position statement would display what the Board would like to see happen. Others felt it was important to become more knowledgeable about the topics before issuing a position statement. Others felt these topics were in the purview of the City Commission and the Community Redevelopment Agency and not appropriate for the Community Relations Board to address. All agreed the Board had to come to agreement on an issue and present its position to the Commission articulately and with purpose. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 8, 2006 It appeared Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman was satisfied that all but the affordable housing issue was being covered through the neighborhood meetings, of which she had been unaware. The Board agreed to add the affordable housing item to the agenda. Motion Mr. Levy moved to put the issue of affordable housing in the Heart of Boynton area on the agenda. Ms. Stern seconded the motion that passed unanimously. A discussion ensued about affordable housing. It was felt the City should require developers to include a certain amount of affordable housing with their developments and deny approval if they did not do so. Ms. Lyons mentioned the First Time Buyer program and the subsidies from the City for persons with certain incomes in relation to the new development on Seacrest Boulevard. All agreed the minutes were a good vehicle for communicating the concerns of the EAB to the Commissioners. It was also felt that representation at the City Commission meetings, even to give a three-minute talk about something of interest, would be very valuable. Problems in bringing this about were discussed. Logistical details, phone calls not returned, and so forth were given as reasons this representation had not yet taken place. Everyone agreed face-to- face opportunities to speak with the Commissioners were important and should be pursued. Just about everyone seemed to agree the Board should take on an issue and accomplish something. It was frustrating not to do so. Mr. Sorgman felt it was important to let the people know that the Community Relations Board cared about people and their outcomes. That was an important issue. The Board had to let the residents know it was there for them and some believed this had been missing from the Board for a long time. Mr. Mitchell asked to move on with the balance of the agenda, as the hour was late. VI. Correspondence and Announcements There were none. VII. Old Business A) Pride in Boynton Beach Mr. Sorgman mentioned a City cleanup usually took place in April and asked to be sent information about it. He was very interested in working on this effort. Vice Chair Hearst-Girtman inquired about Youth in Government Day. Ms. Lyons responded it was in planning for April 20. Earth Day was April 22 and all presidents of Homeowner Associations would receive flyers. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 8,2006 VIII. New Business A) Community Relations Board Report: Advisory Boards Update Joyce Mura referred to the subcommittee who met 'Nith the Fire Department Jbout interested in the Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. She asked Deputy Fire Chief Ness what the Board could do to help the Fire Department promote the program. He advised Ms. Mura he was in the process of setting up a meeting with Hunters Run in mid February. He asked for names and telephone numbers of the individuals willing to work with him and based on previous conversations, she gave him that information for Mr. Levy, Ms. Sterns, Mr. Sorgman, and herself. She will keep the Board informed of progress. B) Tennis Program Ms. Stern had offered to attend a meeting of the Advisory Board on Children & Youth and she did so. Hunters Run would be resuming its tennis program, just as it had for the previous five years. Mr. Sorgman and others complimented Ms. Sterns and thanked her for acting as lead on this program. C) Citizens Police Academy Ms. Stern and Mr. Levy were participating in the Citizens Police Academy that was interrupted due to the hurricane last September. Ms. Stern hoped it would be worthwhile for them and for the Community Relations Board. IX. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. Motion Mr. Levy moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Mr. Sorgman seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, 5:', . "'-,' l/--:?ciVlA ~11J Susan Collins Recording Secretary (020906) 4