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Minutes 04-24-06 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION & PARKS BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, APRIL 24,2006 AT 6:30 P.M. Present: Elizabeth Pierce-Roe, Chair William Orlove, Vice Chair John Allard Patti Hammer Janelle Sloan Betty Thomas John McVey, Alternate Wally Majors, Recreation & Parks Director Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent Absent: Tom Williams Pamela Winters I. Call to Order Chair Pierce-Roe called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. II. Attendance Chair Pierce-Roe called the roll and a quorum was found to be present. III. Approval of Minutes of March 27, 2006 There were no changes, additions, or deletions to the minutes. Motion Ms. Hammer moved to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Mr. Orlove and passed 7-0. IV. Unfinished Business A. Naming Portion of Bikeway in Honor of Pete Firehock. Former City Resident Mr. Majors and Ms. Rivers visited Quantum Park to ascertain the portion of the bikeway that could be dedicated to Mr. Firehock. Concurrently, the Recreation & Parks Department was moving forward with a master plan for the site and three conceptual drawings for the site were distributed. The board has visited the 10+-acre Quantum Park site, also called The Optimist Club site. It is bounded by the C-4 Canal on the west, on the north by Miner Road, and a portion of it is contiguous to Quantum Boulevard. Ms. Rivers noted D.R. Horton was interested in the possibility of using fill from the park. It was important to designate the part of the park from which the fill would be removed because that would become a central lake area. Most of the plans had similar elements. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 24, 2006 Ms. Rivers recalled a recent presentation by Angela Budano expounding on the concept of a community garden area for the park. Having canoe/kayak access to the canal to continue with the greenway/blueway theme had been part of the vision all along. The conceptual drawings were marked in yellow to denote potential walking trails. The main trail that goes from Quantum, through the park, out to Miner Road could be the portion that could potentially be dedicated to Mr. Firehock. The master plan conceptual drawings would be put on the agenda for the following meeting. They were only introduced to show where the Firehock memorial could be placed. Specifics for the memorial were discussed. A suggestion was made for a very large landscape type stone with a plaque surrounded by flowers. Chair Pierce-Roe referred to a project where such a stone was installed at a golf course to honor Joe Lee, who was an architect of world renown and one of the first chairpersons of the Recreation & Parks Board. She offered to investigate the availability of such a stone. Motion Mr. Orlove moved to recommend naming of the bikeway at the planned Quantum Park in honor of Pete Firehock, as discussed. Ms. Hammer seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Mr. Majors will notify Ms. Debbie Lytle, who suggested the memorial, and forward the recommendation in an agenda item to the City Commission. The naming of Intracoastal Park will be discussed at the board's next meeting. Mr. Orlove realized from the minutes that Mr. Wright had contributed a lot to the City, but was not certain whether Mr. Wright had specifically contributed to Intracoastal Park. Ms. Hammer, who was present at Ms. Rahming's nominating speech, indicated Mr. Wright had contributed to the City in general and to parks as well. V. New Business A. Nomination for Naming Nautica Park Site (Knollwood Park) Mr. Majors introduced two visitors, Michael Weiner of Weiner & Aronson, P.A. and Amy Hetzel of D.R. Horton, Inc. who were present to support the naming of Nautica Park as Knollwood Park. This request would be consistent with the published procedures on naming parks and buildings, which state such naming could include an individual or group who contributed a minimum of 50% of land or monetary funding towards the acquisition or development of the individual park facility. Ms. Hetzel explained the park would have a lake with a meandering path around it, with a pavilion, two benches under the pavilion, two benches on the walkway, a garbage can, and a parking lot for six vehicles with an electronic gate that would remain closed at dusk. The board had copies of the letter sent to the City in support of this nomination. Chair Pierce-Roe asked if the plantings would attract birds. Ms. Rivers said the design would encourage a natural habitat and there would be some interpretive signage. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 24, 2006 Mr. Majors indicated this was the second meeting at which the naming was considered. Mr. Orlove asked if the neighborhood was in agreement with the plans for the park. Ms. Hetzel said, absolutely. Mr. Majors praised Mr. Weiner, the developer, and his staff and Ms. Rivers for this great example of a private/public partnership, one that created something with very low impact on the taxpayers. He hoped this could be done many more times in the future. Mr. Orlove hoped it would be possible to acknowledge the history of the park grounds, referring to its having been an orange grove for 50+ years. Mr. Weiner thought they could find a way to at least have a sign that included some history of the area. The members looked back with nostalgia at all that Knollwood Groves had meant to them personally. Motion Ms. Betty Thomas moved to name the Nautica Park site Knollwood Park. Chair Pierce-Roe seconded the motion that passed 7-0. Mr. Orlove suggested this would be a good place to install some art in keeping with the City's Art in Public Places policy. Mr. Majors believed it was time to get the Arts Commission and Recreation & Parks boards together for a dialogue on this and other initiatives. Mr. Majors related that Veterans Park just east of the railroad tracks on Ocean Avenue was under consideration for a veteran's memorial, pursuant to the board's earlier discussion. B. Nomination for Naming Reconstructed Wilson Pool after John Denson (former Lifeguard at Wilson Pool) In keeping with the naming policy, this meeting is the first of two occasions on which the item is presented for discussion. Mr. Majors commented that Commissioner Mack McCray had nominated Mr. Denson, the original lifeguard at Wilson Pool. Mr. Denson had taught three or four generations of children in the northeast quadrant of the City to swim and was, at the very least, an icon in that community. C. Mission Statement We exist to engage Boynton Beach citizens in diverse recreational experiences and to cultivate parks and open spaces. Mr. Majors indicated this was something that had to be done for the accreditation effort now underway. He sought the board's endorsement of the mission statement. Motion Chair Pierce-Roe moved to endorse the mission statement, "We exist to engage Boynton Beach citizens in diverse recreational experiences and to cultivate parks and open spaces." Mr. Orlove seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 24, 2006 D. Monthlv Report Mr. Majors reported they were very close to finishing the requirements for accreditation. Ms. Rivers noted this accreditation had only been attained by 3% .03% of the recreation and parks facilities in the entire country to date. Out of 5.000 Parks and Recreation agencies. less than 50 had been accredited. Florida leads the nation with 11 agencies, including Delray Beach, Broward County, Coral Gables, Gainesville, Daytona, Tampa, and Largo among others. Chair Pierce-Roe inquired about the status of various parks. Laurel Hills Park. Ms. Rivers said the playground equipment should be mostly in place with the exception of the footprint, and they had to buy some more border for the landscaping. Jaycee Park. Ms. Rivers said all the construction drawings had to be changed since the mitigation area outgrew its footprint. Now they were back on track and had about 95% of the construction drawings. A complete review would be held and they would, hopefully, be in permitting next month. Congress Avenue Community Park. Ms. Rivers said a master plan should be completed by the end of this month and it would be presented to the board next month. They would then begin to develop the graphics for the marketing/fundraising campaign. Some of the thinking on fundraising was examined. Mr. Majors said they would definitely get grants and there was one in the pipeline at the State now. They also planned to solicit support from foundations. They were thinking of bringing in a professional fundraiser, at some point. A lot of the work could be done in house. Mr. Orlove suggested that since several board members lived in the vicinity of the project, perhaps they should be part of the fundraising effort also. The Steering Committee will be meeting with the board for the presentation of the finished master plan for the site. Mr. Orlove thought the project could also be brought to some of the associations in the area with a view towards seeking contributions. Other ideas such as corporate sponsorships, pay for pickets/bricks, silent auctions, etc. were discussed. It was felt since this would be a park with a regional draw, the fundraising could extend considerably beyond the borders of Boynton Beach. A suggestion was made to have a fundraiser on the grounds of the park site itself. Ms. Rivers believed these and many other ideas would eventually come into play when the fundraising efforts were kicked off in earnest. The board would definitely be a part of this. Little League Park. Mr. McVey asked whether gates were going to be put up on Field One. Kids were getting through the chain gate at night and onto the fields. They wanted to keep the fields undisturbed until play resumed in June. Ms. Rivers said it would be taken care of. Tennis Center. Mr. Majors indicated this project was pretty much complete. They were still trying to replace awnings. Ms. Rivers was working on a landscape plan for it. They were slowly getting back on their feet. Hurricane Preparedness. Mr. Majors reported work had already begun on hurricane preparations for this season. They hoped to be able to set up transfer switches in the Arts 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Boynton Beach, Florida April 24, 2006 Center and the Senior Center before the season so they could run generators after they were used at the lift stations. Nextel merged with Spring and it may allow for some extra resources in a hurricane. There were a few satellite phones in the City, but not many. S. E Neighborhood Park. Ms. Thomas asked for status. Mr. Majors reported it was in the latter stages of permitting and they were trying to get someone to clear and grub the site. Skate Park. Mr. Majors indicated the School Board had not returned his calls. He was also trying to discuss an interlocal agreement with the same result. E. Items for the City Managers Attention An announcement was made the annual Board Dinner was scheduled for Wednesday evening, April 26. VI. Discussion The members discussed the amazing tenure of exiting board member Betty Thomas, who had been involved with the board for 25 years. She had been a teacher in the area for many years also. She had also been a member of the Senior Advisory Board. An invitation to continue her participation in board matters was issued. Mr. Majors believed she could play an active role in the Boundless Playground project, among others. Just as in the Schoolhouse Museum project, the Boundless Playground involves people of all ages. Ms. Thomas was congratulated on her achievements and thanked for her participation, which she graciously accepted. VII. Next Meeting: May 22, 2006, 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center VIII. Adjournment It was moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was adopted and the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, SwtUt. CIlfu ~ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (042706) 5