Loading...
Minutes 03-27-06 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION & PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEmNG HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2006 AT 6:30 P.M. Present: Patti Hammer Pam Winters Janelle Sloan Betty Thomas John McVey, Alternate Wally Majors, Recreation Director Jody Rivers, Park Superintendent Absent: Betty Pierce-Roe, Chair William Orlove, Vice Chair Tom Williams James McMahon Also Present: Chris Francois, Sister Cities Janelle Sloan, Recreation & Parks Board member and member of the Boundless Park Steering Committee I. Call to Order I Attendance Wally Majors chaired the meeting in the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair, by Board consensus. Mr. Majors called the roll and declared a quorum was present. II. Approval of Minutes of February 27, 2006 The following corrections were noted: · Page 2, second paragraph, the Submarine Memorial will probably not be moved to the new location. · Page 3, second paragraph, Aaronson · Page 3, second paragraph, C~loosa Park vs. CaJusa Park · Page 3, second paragraph, the County developed in-line hockey courts. · Page 4, second paragraph, second line, substitute Lytle for Liettle Motion Ms. Hammer moved to approve the February 27, 2006 minutes as amended. Mr. McVey seconded the motion that passed 5-0. III. Unfinished Business A. Nominations for Naming Intracoastal Park Clubhouse in Honor of Sam Wright Lena Rahming, Director of the Palm Beach County Head Start facility in Boynton Beach, spoke in favor of naming the Intracoastal Park Clubhouse after former Boynton Beach Commissioner, Sam Wright. Mr. Wright was the first African American elected to the City Commission. Although Meeting Minutes Recreation &. Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 27, 2006 Mr. Wright served the black community, he worked on behalf of the entire community. He was known and loved for voting in favor of his convictions, even when he was in the minority. Mr. Wright was born and raised in Boynton Beach, along with his parents, grandparents, and other relatives. He was the Palm Beach County Head Start Director and served on many boards in Palm Beach County. Mr. Wright is now helping children from Boynton Beach to get scholarships to go to the University of South Florida. Ms. Rahming characterized Mr. Wright as a loving brother, cousin, and friend of everyone in the City of Boynton Beach. Before the City and County bought the property to expand the Intracoastal Park, Mr. Wright, Ms. Rahming, Ms. Hammer and others picked up trash near the former Morey's Bar near the Park and tried to improve the appearance of the area. Ms. Rahming felt people should be honored in their lifetime and not after they were dead and declared the Board and the City would never regret naming the Intracoastal Park Clubhouse after Sam Wright. Mr. Majors thanked Ms. Wright and her friend, Ms. Enid Taylor, for coming to the meeting to demonstrate community support for Mr. Wright. Mr. Majors explained the Board would consider the information, along with other nominations, and make a recommendation to the City Commission. B. Naming Portion of Bikeway in Honor of Pete Firehock Debbie Lytle, former City employee, spoke in favor of naming a portion of the bikeway at Quantum Park in honor of her friend, Pete Firehock. Ms. Lytle sent a letter of recommendation to the Board and to the City of Boynton Beach, and it is attached to the minutes in the City Clerk's Office. Mr. Firehock served as a paramedic/firefighter for the City of Delray Beach for 23 years and was a Fire Training instructor at South Tech Fire Academy in Boynton Beach. He also made his home in Boynton Beach and was active in community affairs. Mr. Firehock was killed in December of 2001 while riding his bike in the currently undeveloped Quantum Park area. To honor his memory, Ms. Lytle believed it would be fitting to name a portion of the Bikeway after him. She offered to work with the Board to do whatever was necessary if the Board decided to grant this request. Mr. Majors believed having the naming take place on land adjacent to the City-owned land would avoid possible permitting issues with Quantum Park. A suggestion was made to have a photo on the memorial plaque explaining a little bit about Mr. Firehock's life so future generations would know why he had been honored in this way. The Board members were in favor of the request. Recreation & Parks Department staff will get more information and bring this forward at the Board's next meeting, when the Board can make a formal recommendation to the City Commission. The Board will consider the establishment of a policy pertaining to naming of City facilities at another meeting. D. Skate Park (heard out of order) Mr. Majors updated the Board on the status of this project. He had spoken to the School District between this meeting and the last, but had not heard back from Ms. Ready. He would try again. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation &. Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 27, 2006 C. Presentation of Boundless Park Conceptual Plans (heard out of order) David Barth, the consultant helping to develop a Master Plan for the Boundless Park, showed three conceptual drawings that were based on the input from the Steering Committee and many public meetings. Mr. Barth explained the differences between the conceptual drawings and the participants offered feedback. In the end, Concept #3 was favored with the addition of moving the playground configuration from Concept #1 to Concept #3. This configuration clusters the playground areas in a way that parents can sit in shaded areas and watch their children at play. They liked the idea of Concept #3 having a wetlands area that would attract birds. Concept #3 replaced the splash pad idea with mist coming out of the trees in an area to be known as "The Tree Spray Processional." Concept #3 was the closest in design to Morikami Park in Delray Beach. All views from the building looked into green spaces from porches surrounding the building. Vehicular access to the Park was discussed. Ms. Hammer and Ms. Sloan, who live in the area, especially noted the current traffic congestion on Charter Drive. The only proposed access was off Congress Avenue through the WXEL site. It was felt vehicular access could be provided from Charter Drive, with the addition of another right-hand turn lane to help the stacking problem, with one used for the entrance to the Park. A traffic study including trip generation estimates would help shed more light on the issue of vehicular access to the Park. Mr. Barth reported they had limited access to the Park based on the input from the visioning sessions, where people believed it would be advantageous to have a garden like atmosphere, excluding the intrusion of vehicles. The visioning sessions also called for pedestrian only access along Congress Avenue. They were able to add vehicular access if requested. There was some concern about moving people into and out of the Park during special events without vehicular access in addition to that offered through the WXEL site. Mr. Barth suggested the City enter into a joint use agreement with WXEL concerning use of the WXEL parking lot, especially on weekends. The parking at WXEL's parking lot was considered to be adequate for use of the Park visitors. The consultant will consider all feedback and generate a detailed Master Plan. Fundraising efforts will follow, possibly with the assistance of a professional fundraiser. Marketing brochures could feature a picture of the Master Plan and list donation possibilities such as: A donation of $250 would provide a canopy for the Park and so forth. v. New Business A. Departmental Administrative Policy Manual Ms. Rivers explained the manual was created as part of the ongoing accreditation effort and a lot of hard work had gone into producing it. Having this was one of the 158 components of accreditation. In addition to the Department's policies, there was a guide to all the Park facilities and their uses. The manual was passed around to the Board members, who would vote regarding endorsement at the end of the meeting. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation It Park Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 27, 2006 B. Great American Clean-Up Locations (Earth Day - April 28) Ms. Rivers mentioned this would be held on April 21 in Boynton Beach. If anyone wished to be part of the cleanup, she invited them to telephone her office for more details. C. Monthly Report The skate park issue was raised again and Mr. Majors reiterated his discussion from earlier in the meeting. Ms. Sloan offered to call the School District and see if she could move the effort along. Ms. Rivers brought up another naming item. The developer of the Knollwood project was gifting the City with development of a park on this site. Since a private corporation was developing a park the City desired but could not afford to develop, the attorneys for the project, Weiner & Aronson, suggested the park should be called Knollwood Park. It is a small, 300K sq. ft. park with a lake, walking path, and opportunities for environmental education. There was general consensus this would be acceptable, but Mr. Majors said it would be put on the agenda for discussion at a subsequent meeting. D. Items for City Manger's Attention Ms. Winters noted the wonderful job Ms. Rivers had done presenting the Park Strategic Plan at the last City Commission meeting. Mr. Majors echoed that praise, saying Ms. Rivers had been instrumental in saving the Department thousands of dollars by taking on the preparation of a Strategic Plan that would guide the Department for the next ten years. This was a truly significant achievement on the part of Ms. Rivers. VI. Discussion Mr. McVey made one correction to the Administrative Policy Manual. The East Boynton Little League team had attained national, not world, championship status. Motion Ms. Hammer moved to endorse the Administrative Policy Manual for the Recreation & Parks Department. Ms. Thomas seconded the motion that passed unanimously. VII. Next Meeting _ April 24, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center VIII. Adjournment The meeting was duly adjourned at 7:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~~ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (032706) 4