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Minutes 05-10-06 MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL ON MAY 10, 2006 AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Brian Miller, Chair Alfred Levy Phyllis Stern Stanley Sorgman Brenda Lee Williams Blanche Hearst-Girtman, Vice Chair Eddie Mitchell Regenia Scott, Neighborhood Services Manager Absent: Joyce Mura Gregg Orenstein I. Call Meeting to Order - Pledge of Allegiance Chair Miller called the meeting to order at 7:09 p.m. and the board acknowledged Ms. Hearst- Girtman who was celebrating her birthday. Ms. Hearst-Girtman led the Pledge to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary took a silent roll call with the above members noted as present. III. Recognition of Visitors There were no visitors present. IV. Approval of Agenda Chair Miller requested adding a thank you to the City Commission for the Board Appreciation Dinner to the agenda. Motion A motion was made by Mr. Sorgman and seconded by Ms. Hearst-Girtman to add a Thank You Letter to the City Commission for the Board Appreciation Dinner, to the agenda. A vote was taken and unanimously carried. Motion A motion was made by Mr. Levy to approve the agenda with the addition previously discussed. Ms. Stern seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 10, 2006 V. Approval of Minutes from April 10, 2006 Meeting Motion A motion was made by Mr. Sorgman to approve the April 10, 2006 meeting minutes. Mr. Levy seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. Announcements A. Community Relations Board (CRB) welcomes Regenia H. Scott, Neighborhood Services Manager for the City of Boynton Beach. Ms. Scott will oversee the Neighborhood Services Division and serve as staff to the CRB. Chair Miller welcomed Ms. Scott, the new Neighborhood Service Manager on behalf of the board. B. CERT will host an organizational meeting on May 24th @ 7:00 p.m. at Fire Station #3 located at Miner Road & North Congress Ave. Chair Miller announced the organizational meeting above for interested individuals. VII. New Business A. Election of new Chairman, and Vice Chairman Chair Miller passed the gavel to Ms. Hearst-Girtman for election of the Chairman. Ms. Hearst- Girtman asked for nominations for Chairman. Motion Mr. Sorgman moved to nominate Brian Miller for another term as Chairman. Mr. Levy seconded the nomination. Mr. Miller accepted the nomination. Ms. Stern nominated Mr. Mitchell for Chairman. Mr. Mitchell declined the position due to scheduling conflicts. He agreed to serve as Vice Chairman. Vote A vote was taken on the motion for Mr. Miller as Chairman. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Hearst-Girtman passed the gavel back to Mr. Miller. Chair Miller announced he was looking forward to another successful year working as a team on special projects. He announced the members support each other and the committee. He reported many interests make the board special, and with board support, the committee can accomplish much more and reach the entire city, not just a portion of it. Chair Miller opened the floor for nominations for Vice Chairman. Ms. Stern nominated Mr. Mitchell who accepted the nomination. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 10, 2006 Mr. Sorgman nominated Mr. Levy who declined. Ms. Hearst-Girtman moved the nominations be closed, seconded by Mr. Mitchell. Vote A vote was taken on the motion to close the nominations and unanimously carried. Since there were no other nominees for the position of Vice Chairman, Mr. Mitchell was duly elected as Vice Chairman. B. Emergency Generator and Ice Machine program and CRB proposed role - Regenia Scott Ms. Scott suggested continuing on with new business and explained the agendas will be sent out in advance of the meetings. She provided a copy of a proposal going before the City Commission on May 16th, which was a Neighborhood Assistance Matching Fund program. This program was created due to Palm Beach County being impacted by three hurricanes and was a proposal for Homeowner Associations, or neighborhood associations to offer assistance in geographic areas of the City. Under the proposal, there would be four districts and three awards given for each district. The program would provide assistance to these organizations to purchase a generator and/or large ice machines to be housed in their clubhouse or common buildings. This action, in turn would relieve congestion at ice distribution centers throughout the City. The provisos of the program were the City would provide up to $5,000 for the organization to match, solely for the purchase of a generator or ice machine. Also, due to public dollars funding the program, the organization must agree that the building which houses the ice/generator must be opened to the public and not just members of the immediate community. CERT will be working with communities on the program. Once purchased, the organization will be responsible for maintenance of the equipment, and a licensed electrician will need to install the equipment. Ms. Scott requested two members of the board be a part of the review team. The application closing date for this year is June 30th. Mr. Sorgman asked if his community applies and receives the grant, since he is on the Community Relations Board if there would be a conflict of interest. It was explained to Mr. Sorgman that his place of worship could apply for the program and there is an entire review board making the determinations, and would not be perceived as a conflict of interest. Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Levy agreed to serve on the review panel. Ms. Scott will provide an update at the next meeting. Once the City Commission approves the proposal, formal advertising to all community organizations will commence. C. Proposed Board Planning Retreat - Regenia Scott Ms. Scott proposed the board engage in a planning retreat to focus on issues for the next year and suggested by having specific projects to focus on, progress can be measured. She recommended reviewing the ordinance as part of the program. The concept, as it is now, is to focus on community complaints and grievances. Ms. Scott expressed the scope of services for 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 10, 2006 the board could be expanded. The issue will need to go back before the City Commission who will amend the ordinance to allow for the additional services or the issues the CRB will address. This could be a first step for outreach. The members were asked to review the ordinance and come back to the next meeting with ideas for a retreat. The CRB brochure needs to be updated and Ms. Scott indicated there could be a neighborhood community website with a link to the CRB. Chair Miller asked for a motion to send a thank you letter to the Mayor and Commission for the Board Appreciation Dinner. Motion A motion was made by Mr. Levy to send a thank you letter. Ms. Hearst-Girtman seconded the motion. There was discussion that the board is thanking the Commission for thanking the board. It was thought sending the letter would be good public relations. Vote A vote was taken on the motion which passed faHeG 4 - 3. with Messrs. Sorgman, Levy and Mitchell, and Ms. Hearst-Girtman voting in tho nog3tivo affirmativelv. VIII. Old Business - None IX. Reports/Updates A. CERT Program Update - Joyce Mura This item was not addressed. B. Great American Clean-up Update - The Great American Clean-up was held on Saturday, April 22nd at the Community Garden located on the corner of NW 6th Avenue and Seacrest. Approximately 100 volunteers participated in this year's event. Many HOA, neighborhood associations, churches, civic groups, and individuals took part in this annual event. Mr. Sorgman reviewed this was a great event and an excellent opportunity for community relations. He thought the City Commission should send a letter of thanks to all the organizations that worked on the project. There was discussion the program works, has great results and shows community pride. He expressed he hoped all the names of the participants were submitted to the City Commission and would receive a letter of appreciation. There was discussion regarding the littering at a store near the Rosemary Scrub area on Seacrest. Chair Miller thought sending a letter to Code Compliance Administrator Scott Blasie, alerting him to the constant littering and to the owner of the store to clean up his property, would be appropriate. Also discussed was the trash and debris at the Sara Sims Park. The wind blows the trash against the fence and there were all kinds of litter. Ms. Scott and Mr. Miller will draft the letters regarding the debris to the Code Enforcement Office. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 10, 2006 The board discussed outreach and what they can do to get the community involved. Ms. Scott is working on updating the brochure about the CRB. Notices in the Boynton Beach Times, or Funfare magazine can help. x. Adjournment There being no further business, a motion was made by Mr. Levy to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Mitchell. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 5