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Minutes 07-12-06 MINUTES OF THE VETERANS ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2006, AT 10:00 A.M. AT THE BOYNTON BEACH LIBRARY, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Thomas Kaiser, Chairman Morris Boruck David Buckner William Kull Lester McKinzie Karl Washington Stuart Preston, Alternate Absent: Robert Zimmerman, Vice Chair Stanley Gavlick, Alternate Cramer Hegeman, Alternate Harvey Oyer, Alternate I. Call to Order Chair Kaiser called the meeting to order at 10:00 A.M. II. Pledge of Allegiance The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. Invocation Chair Kaiser gave the Invocation. IV Roll Call of Members The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. Commissioner Ensler was also present. V. Agenda Approval There were no changes to the agenda, which was approved by consensus. VI. Approval of Minutes The minutes were approved by consensus. Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2006 VII. Comments by Chair Chair Kaiser thanked all for the Memorial Day turnout. He requested, going forward, the speeches be kept short. He also recognized Mr. Buckner who gave a great speech. Ms. William's son, Corporal Reid, who recently returned from Iraq was well received. Chair Kaiser announced he spoke with Mr. Kovacs regarding having the Boy Scouts at the Sunday Memorial Day activities. The Flag Ceremony would be on Friday morning and the actual ceremony on Sunday. Chair Kaiser announced he had thought he had clearly communicated the request for the Boy Scouts to participate in the activities, and apologized the Boy Scouts were not in attendance. Chair Kaiser's Post manned the barbeque and otherwise, all went well with the event. VIII. Comments from Visitors Commissioner Ensler indicated he would speak under Business Items. There were no other comments received. IX. Business Items: a. POW/MIA Highway Signs Chair Kaiser reported the signs had a delivery date of July 1, 2006, and were 11 days late so far. The delay was getting the emblems to put on the signs. He explained in the interim, he was trying to schedule a meeting with the Council of City Managers (Palm Beach County League of Cities) and noted Vice Mayor McKoy serves as President of the League. Vice Mayor McKoy was assisting Chair Kaiser in getting on the agenda to gain support for the project from the various cities. He announced four signs would be erected in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach at the same time, and the Dedication for National POW/MIA Day was scheduled. Chair Kaiser also suggested the committee consider holding a 24-hour vigil, from a Friday to Saturday. He explained in the past, veterans invited the Boy Scouts to participate in the vigil. Boy Scouts that were interested came to the park, pitched tents, and rotated in one-hour shifts as honor guards around the memorial. The veterans supervised the event. Chair Kaiser thought this could be a great project and an opportunity to teach youth, individually, and as a group, about the veterans. He suggested the idea be put on the agenda as a future agenda item. Food could be donated for the event. b. American Legion Monument Commissioner Ensler spoke and indicated he was concerned about what could be done for the American Legion Monument at the circle, and also concerned about how long it might take the City to fund the monument. He announced he would like to personally purchase a monument for the site and he distributed pictures of monuments. He declared he would buy one for the circle. The monument would be on a poured concrete base, seven feet high, with the plaque on the base. He discussed the idea with the City Manager, since the land for the monument was City owned and he had no objection to the donation. The City Attorney was drafting a 2 Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2006 contract with the American Legion, and the City, allowing the Veterans Council to retain ownership of the monument. It could be moved at a later time if necessary. The monument was bronze. Commissioner Ensler asked if they were willing to accept the monument as a gift from him. Mr. Buckner, a member of the American Legion, indicated he thought the Legion would be very supportive of it. The next meeting was around the 18th and Mr. Buckner will discuss the item with the Legion members. Commissioner Ensler pointed out he has asked the City Attorney to add into the contract the sculpture would meet various Codes such as hurricane wind load standards, etc. c. Veteran's Day, Saturday, November 11, 2006 Chair Kaiser announced the November 11th, Saturday date was incorrect. The Veterans Day Ceremony had always been on the Sunday before which was November 5, 2006. The Veterans Ceremony will be at the Intracoastal Park and 2 P.M. was the normal time. X. New Business Items The board discussed the American Legion Monument and noted there was electric available at the site so there could be a blinking light integrated into the monument. Commissioner Ensler spoke about Veterans Park, which was a small park. He indicated the City has another park named Bicentennial Park (Centennial Park), and beyond that was a large area where the City's Animal Control facility was located. Commissioner Ensler advised the members he met with a developer who wanted to put a project along Federal Highway and develop the area, that included putting a park where the animal facility was and constructing a garage as well. The developer felt that the area was big enough to accommodate large gatherings and would be a good meeting place for residents. Commissioner Ensler was considering approaching the City Manager about renaming the parks. The current Veterans Park was a small pocket park and he suggested Centennial Park could be renamed Veterans Park or other name that paid homage to veterans. He displayed a conceptual plan of the development and explained this might be a nice situation since the developer would pay for the park and the City would not need to expend funds to develop Veterans Park. Commissioner Ensler also indicated the City has the Art In Public Places Ordinance in effect where the developer would pay a one percent art fee with seventy percent of the fee going to acquire the actual art. A project as large as the one being proposed would have an enormous art fee associated with it. Commissioner Ensler asked, if the City gave its approval, whether the veterans should relinquish the current Veterans Park and rename the proposed park. He expounded the proposed development would feature a number of restaurants, parking and residential dwellings, thereby offering a great deal of exposure. The City had not approved the proposal and the suggestion was preliminary. Commissioner Ensler further explained he did not know how the park was named Bicentennial (Centennial) Park and thought the City should investigate the issue. Should the park be renamed, existing veterans monuments could be moved there. The project was still two to three years away, and the developer was interested in working with them; he then advised if the Veterans Advisory Commission and the City agreed on this issue, he would begin speaking with the developer. 3 Meeting Minutes Veterans Advisory Commission Boynton Beach, FL July 12, 2006 Motion A motion was made by Mr. Buckner that the Veterans Advisory Commission delay using the downtown Veterans Park as it was too small for their use and go with relocating Veterans Park to Bicentennial (Centennial) Park. Mr. Boruck seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Commissioner Ensler will take the request to City Manager Bressner. XI. Benediction, Moment of Silent Prayer Chair Kaiser offered a Benediction and moment of silent prayer. XII. Adjournment The next meeting will be the second Wednesday in September. September 15th was the dedication and unveiling of the sign. Chair Kaiser thought it would be nice to have the sign unveiled in the City Chambers with coffee cake and a social. There was no further business. Motion Mr. Boruck moved to adjourn. Mr. Kull seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting adjourned at 10:34 A.M. Respectfully submitted, (]r '_ Catherine Cherry-Gub Recording Secretary 071806 bvuvn01? 4