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Minutes 02-23-06 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH HELD IN HUMAN RESOURCES CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2006 AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Steve Waldman, Chair Mary Morera, Vice Chair Hattie Miller Alyssa Ewing (Voting Student) Christine Hogenkamp (Non-Voting Student) Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Absent: Lawrence Rubin Danielle Bonczyk (Voting Student) I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag!Moment of Silent Reflection The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. A moment of silent reflection followed, with special focus on American troops in harms way. III. Approval of Minutes of September 22, 2005 Ms. Claude asked for a change to the minutes on the Teen Center Item, first sentence. The sentence should be changed to read, "Ms. Claude said she would get information from Wally Majors regarding what the plans were for Congress Middle School." Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Miller seconded the motion that passed 4-0. IV. Approval of the Agenda Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Ewing seconded the motion that passed 4-0. V. Announcements! Presentations! Correspondence A. Congress Avenue Community Park/Boundless Playground Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent, informed the Board of plans and progress regarding the referenced playground/park. It would be located on 13 undeveloped acres adjacent to the Tennis Center on Congress Avenue. The City engaged the services of a consultant who was assisting in the providing of master plan for the playground/park. They had held focus group meetings with staff, the community, City boards, the City Commission, and many agencies concerned with those with special needs and disabilities. The park is meant to be an intergenerational park that would be exciting and enjoyable for all age, fitness, and ability levels. There would be no barriers. Several diverse activity areas including interpretive trails, gardens, and water features would characterize the park. Based on the input from the focus groups, the consultant is engaged in preparing three conceptual designs for the park. When these designs are available, Ms. Rivers will see that a copy is forwarded to this Board. It is expected the master plan would be complete by May, construction drawings by December, and ground breaking by January of 2007. The completion of the project was estimated to span 14-16 months from that time. The park is expected to cost $7-8M ultimately. The project would be a cooperative one with assistance from the Children's Museum, !TV (educational tv), grants, and private donations. Boynton Beach's sister city in Qufu, China originally wanted a "friendship garden" in the park. Since that time, the Chinese theme had grown and Chinese elements are now being incorporated throughout the park. Chair Waldman asked how the Advisory Board on Children & Youth could assist in this project. Ms. Rivers indicated that when it came to fundraising, they would need as much support as possible. They had asked the State Legislature for $4.5M for the project, and it was hoped this would pass this year. Mr. Waldman mentioned the teens could possibly assist in fundraising. The Board expressed interest and appreciation for the project. It was acknowledged Ms. Wilkinson is a member of the Boundless Park Steering Committee. Ms. Rivers announced the Recreation & Park Board and Steering Committee would hold a joint meeting in March and this Board was welcome to attend. (The meeting is planned for March 28, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center.) Mr. Bob Brown was in attendance and suggested Recreation & Parks should solicit input from the seniors and area schools. Mr. Brown also suggested the proposed park be scanned for levels of electromagnetic radiation, in light of its proximity to high power lines, for the safety of the park's users. Hand-held units for assessing the levels of radiation were available for about $20. Chair Waldman believed the project engineer would look into this. 2 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 The Board thanked Ms. Rivers for an interesting and informative presentation. VI. Public Audience Bob Brown, local citizen, addressed his concerns for the safety of children in Boynton Beach in regard to traffic, speed limits, and swimming pools. Mr. Brown recalled that in 1991 and 1992, the need for childproofing swimming pools using gates and screens came to the forefront of public attention through a series of drowning deaths. Following the hurricanes of recent years, many pool gates and fences were damaged and remained unfixed, creating a major safety concern for children. Code Compliance had waived violations for repairing fences, roofs and other things, but the danger still existed for children. He wondered if there were any statistics related to drowning deaths in the City for 2004 to 2005. Mr. Brown also commented on the clogging up of storm drains when flowering trees shed flowers that built up in the drains, causing flooding and automobile crashes when storms occur. This led Mr. Brown and friends to drive up to Juno, a town north of Boynton Beach. They noted the speed limit on Federal Highway was 25 mph from Lake Worth to Juno, contrasted to 40 mph on Seacrest Boulevard. They looked at Seacrest Boulevard and the number of school children. The children were being let off at 6:00 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. in the morning and they were surprised to see some children still waiting for buses after 9:00 a.m. Mr. Brown and his friends were concerned for the safety of the children, feeling the big groups of children on Sea crest Boulevard warranted a lower speed limit. They observed when large groups were present, the children tended to edge out into the roadway. He thought signs warning people of the presence of children would be a good idea as well. The speed limit could be lowered between certain hours also. Chair Waldman asked Mr. Brown who he had spoken to about this, and Mr. Brown responded he had spoken to the City Commission about a year ago. The City maintains it has no jurisdiction over Sea crest Boulevard. Mr. Brown's group went to the Department of Transportation, who said a special curb and benches could be put in, but it had to go through Palm Beach County. Chair Waldman asked again what Mr. Brown thought the Board could do about this issue. Mr. Brown responded in the next six months, it would behoove them to get feedback from the hospitals and trauma centers to determine how many handicapped people get run over in their wheelchairs crossing the street. The results might point to at least a "slow down" sign on Sea crest Boulevard, if not a lowering of the speed limit. Chair Waldman offered to gather statistics from the Department of Transportation for the period of the last five years and relay the information to Mr. Brown. 3 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 VII. Old Business A. Teen Center Chair Waldman mentioned the need to get a letter to the principals of the schools preparing them for a Teen Center survey to determine the need for such a center. Once the surveys were back and analyzed, a decision could be made. Ms. Claude thought she might have the draft letter Vice Chair Morera had mailed her in the past, since Vice Chair Morera's computer was out of service. Ms. Claude will type the letters for the Board Chair and/or Vice Chair's signature. Chair Waldman suggested Board members pick up the letters from Ms. Claude by March 20 and let her know which schools they would be visiting. Vice Chair Morera confirmed the letters to the principals would precede the activity of visiting the schools with the surveys. This would require making an appointment with the principals to hand deliver the letter to them. A list of volunteer Board members and the school(s) they would visit would be developed at the next meeting. Vice Chair Morera indicated if she was not there, to simply assign her to a school(s). B. Volunteer Project - Adopt-a-Spot Program The Board discussed whether to leave this item on the agenda. Traditionally, the Board had done a beautification project every two years. However, there was little interest among the teens for this. It was determined after discussion the Board members would individually brainstorm ideas for community service projects teens might enjoy and bring them to a future meeting. Ms. Morera noted the Board needed the assistance of a Boy Scout or Eagle Scout troop for the big projects. Ms. Claude did not think the Board should feel obligated to do a project every two years because they had done so in the past. It would be different if the Board knew of a specific need or were approached for help on a specific project. The Board concurred. Some ideas for community service were: . Nursing homes . Cheerleading clinic for youth . Caridad, migrant worker's clinic . The Lord's Place . Youth basketball assistance . Karate . Gymnastics clinic . Open house to raise money for a cause . Breast cancer walk . Paint Your Heart Out program 4 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 C. Youth Volunteer Bank Banquet May 20, 2006 Ms. Claude announced she had reserved the Civic Center for the affair. She would call different caterers from the year before because there was not enough food last year. The Board brainstormed ideas to improve this event. They suggested bringing in another D-J, a teen band, karaoke, a talent show, a comedian, and having raffles. Ms. Claude asked the Board members to call her if they had some ideas. Vice Chair Morera suggested the idea of having entertainment during dinner. Chair Waldman was wary of comedians because of the age group, but it was felt this was still a possibility. There could be a talent show or showcase of talent for award finalists, for example, possibly before dinner. All agreed kids generally liked karaoke, and it might be possible to rent the necessary equipment. Raffles were popular if the prizes were right. Ms. Ewing knew a D-J with M-3 Studios who was very good. They also made fancy "Shirley Temple" type drinks, had a candy machine, and their own dancers. The cost for this will be researched. Ms. Miller suggested having a CD player for music and others said they could give community service hours if the person playing the CDs doubled as D-J. Ms. Claude called for a volunteer to work on the entertainment for this event. The Board could help, but a pOint person was needed. Ms. Ewing offered to do this. Vice Chair Waldman asked Ms. Ewing to research the entertainment and make a list of the possibilities including a price list. Ms. Ewing mentioned having lots of friends who were DJs, including ones with karaoke setups. D. Bob Borovy Award Ms. Claude distributed a letter from last year's Bob Borovy award winner, Kyle Fishman, who was now at Yale University. He had agreed to be a judge for this year's event. Chair Waldman confirmed the deadline for submission of hours was April 1. Ms. Claude had seen it advertised in the Boynton Times and the Neighborhood Post. Information had gone out to all the schools. It was on Boynton Beach High School's list of scholarships last year and it should be this year also. Chair Waldman felt it might be necessary to go speak to the guidance counselors if no applications came in. Vice Chair Morera was shocked they did not get more applications. Chair Waldman asked Ms. Claude to let him know if they did not get any applications. Ms. Claude did not expect to receive applications until just before the deadline. E. Tennis Carnival April 8, 2006 It was scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Vice Chair Morera said they had a capacity to handle 30 children on three courts. The coordinator was trying to get a big- 5 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 name tennis personality to participate. Ms. Claude noted 25 children had already signed up. It was a very popular event. She would get the roster to Vice Chair Morera closer to the event so she could determine who needed rackcts racquets. The event is advertised in the Fun Fare magazine and the Board would like to host a tennis carnival more often." ~4s. C1audc had bccn askcd to havc largcr cvcnts hcld morc frcqucntly. ~ Vice Chair Morera suggested students could run a tennis clinic at the Boynton Beach Tennis Center in order to have the event more often. Ms. Stern at Hunter's Run was concerned since she wanted it to be more diverse, slanted towards kids who could not afford tennis lessons. This was not possible to control, however. Since there were "no shows" the previous year, Vice Chair Morera suggested allowing 35 kids to sign up. This would be the tf:ttfa fourth year for the event. F. Guest Speakers Already covered by Ms. Rivers' presentation. VIII. New Business A. Fundraising Ideas Ms. Claude recalled they had decided to brainstorm some ideas for fundraising. Chair Waldman's suggestion was to put this on the agenda for the next meeting. B. Youth Expo Ms. Claude reported Janice Phillips, one of the City's Recreation Supervisors, would be lea~ding the team of people working on this event. There was new management at the Mall and it was difficult to get them to agree to the event, since the new management was not familiar with it. She understood the Mall had new requirements where they only did a certain number of community service events a year. The Board had already received a sponsorship commitment of $800 from the Palm Beach Post and according to the Mall, $400 of that would have to be donated to the Simon Youth Foundation, as a condition of having the event at the Mall. The planned date was Tuesday, October 14, 2006. About six people at the City were working on the event. If the Board was interested, the next meeting was on March 14 at 3:00 p.m. at Intracoastal Park. Ms. Claude's role this year was a liaison, bringing the information to the Board and back to the team. She would not be involved to the degree she had been in the past. She was working on accreditation for her department and it was a really big project. Ms. Claude spoke of Target's "Do Something" program, where Target awards grants of $500 to change makers and potential community leaders age 18 and under who identify problems in their communities and create game plans to do something to change their 6 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida February 23, 2006 world. She suggested the members go to www.dosomething.org to get the information. The deadline was May 1. She believed this was an annual event. IX. Future Meeting Dates: March 23, 2006 April 27, 2006 X. Adjournment Since there was no further business, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~~J Susan Collins Recording Secretary (030106) 7