Loading...
Minutes 09-25-06 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2006, AT 6:30 P.M. Present: Betty Pierce-Roe, Chair Bill Orlove, Vice Chair Patti Hammer Janelle Sloan John Allard John McVey, Alternate Wally Majors, Recreation & Parks Director Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent Absent: Tom Williams I. Call to Order Chair Pierce-Roe called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. II. Attendance Chair Pierce-Roe took note of attendance and declared a quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes from July 24, 2006 (The August 28, 2006 meeting was cancelled due to storm Ernesto) Vice Chair Orlove mentioned the date of the next meeting in the minutes was given as August 29 and it should have said August 28. Motion Mr. McVey moved to approve the minutes as amended. Vice Chair Orlove seconded the motion that passed 6-0. IV. Unfinished Projects A. Updated CIP Proiects Jaycee Park Ms. Rivers reported Jaycee Park construction documents were 95% complete and they hoped to go out for bid in November. Southeast Neighborhood Park The land had been cleared for the Southeast Neighborhood Park and they hoped to start construction in a month. The entire project should take 5-6 months. Intracoastal Park Clubhouse This project had been bid out and awarded. Construction should begin in about a month. Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 Wilson Park Mr. Majors reported bids had been opened October 11. If all went well and the numbers came in within the budgeted funds, the project should start by early December. Contractors would be given one year to complete the project. This was the replacement of the Wilson Center, which was to be named in honor of Carolyn Sims. The pool was to be replaced and various park improvements would be made. Mr. Majors noted the Intracoastal Park Clubhouse project would probably start about the same time and both were significant in size and scope. Boundless Park/Playground Mr. Majors related that the City Commission had allocated $2.5M towards the development of the Boundless Playground, which was directly related to the Boundless Park. B. Namino of Facilities Mr. Majors stated an Ordinance creating a committee to do this, specifically, would be coming before the City Commission at its next meeting. He was not aware of the composition or philosophy of the committee. He had read the agenda memo draft and gathered it was meant to be an independent committee. If most of the facilities to be named were recreation and park facilities, Vice Chair Orlove believed there should be some representation/input from the Recreation & Parks Board. His fellow board members agreed. Ms. Hammer offered to attend the City Commission meeting and express the board's desire for representation on the committee being set up for naming facilities. At the pre-agenda meeting of the City Commission on Friday, September 29, Mr. Majors would advise the City Commission the board had requested the item be pulled so it could be discussed at the meeting. v. New Business A. Smoking on the Beach Ms. Rivers declared that recently, De/ray Beach looked into banning smoking on the beach. She introduced a group from Sand Sifters, who did cleanups on Boynton Beach's Oceanfront Park and Gulfstream Park, a County beach just to the south of Oceanfront Park. They had been doing this work for approximately one year. Ms. Rivers introduced the group's spokesman and founder, Gary Solomon. Gary Solomon introduced the group's core volunteers, who were from the western part of unincorporated Boynton Beach in a subdivision known as Verona Lakes on Lyons Road. Ms. Rivers commented they had participated in the International Coastal Cleanup campaign of Palm Beach County two weeks previously with about 220 volunteers at Oceanfront Park and Gulfstream Beach, along with 500K volunteers around the world. She distributed a list of the items that were picked up on that day including such items as syringes, food wrappers and containers, straws and stirrers, paper and plastic bags, pieces of rope, pull tabs, plastic beverage bottles and many others. Ms. Rivers noted Mr. Solomon and another volunteer cleaned up the beaches every Monday and were joined by a larger group of about 50 volunteers on the first Saturday of each month. Mr. Solomon commented when the larger group 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 met, they were responsible for Ocean Ridge Hammock beach all the way to Boynton Inlet and almost to Gulfstream. Their efforts were backed by Keep Palm Beach Beautiful and the Solid Waste Authority. Mr. Solomon displayed two buckets filled to the brim with hundreds of cigarette butts he and another volunteer had collected at Oceanfront Park on the day of this meeting in a one-hour period, one week after the big International Coastal Cleanup campaign. A volunteer noted the cigarette butts were not floating in from the ocean, but were intentional drops on the beach. Mr. Solomon commented that the magnitude of the litter was enormous and not limited to cigar and cigarette butts. Litter was a big problem all over the world, but cigarette litter was the "most prevalent form of litter on Earth," according to Surfrider.org. The butts took years to degrade and if ingested could be injurious, if not fatal, to children, turtles, birds, fish and other wildlife. One of the Sand Sifters mentioned there were No Littering signs up and down the highways but none on the beaches. (It was later determined Oceanfront Park had signs but they were at the entrance and exit and not on the beach itself.) The beaches of Florida were its most precious resource and the reason tourists came to Florida. It was a huge venture because it involved changing the mindset of the visitors and the residents to take responsibility for their actions. They hoped to see signs on the beaches saying, "Please extinguish your smoking materials in this area. " Mr. Solomon noted the City of Boynton Beach had been tremendously helpful to the Sand Sifters, setting them up with the Solid Waste Authority and helping in a number of ways. Their base was Oceanfront Park. They were one of only two organizations in Palm Beach County who did monthly beach cleanups. He believed the cities of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Jupiter, and Lake Worth were watching Boynton Beach to see what it did about this issue. He urged the City to be trendsetters and leaders. After Boynton Beach, they planned to visit the cities they mentioned to solicit their cooperation and assistance, so they could move forward. They felt passionately about this issue. Chair Pierce-Roe pledged the efforts of the Recreation & Parks Board to assist the Sand Sifters in any way it could, noting this had been discussed at previous meetings. The board had agreed in principle with the Berkeley, California smoking ban. Chair Pierce-Roe detailed her involvement with another organization doing the same thing at Intracoastal Park and Boat Club Park. Vice Chair Orlove commended the Sand Sifters for the work they were doing and expressed gratitude for the help they were providing to clean up the mess. When the board had discussed this at an earlier meeting in light of what California was doing, some were concerned with how they would be able to enforce the litter ordinance. He asked if Mr. Solomon were aware of what any other municipalities had done in this regard, in Florida or elsewhere. The response was the advocates of smoking appeared to be hiding behind the Clean Indoor Act saying, "If you will not allow us to smoke indoors where food is served, you cannot ban us from smoking outdoors." The State had to be involved. Mr. Solomon declared that Boca Raton had set up No Smoking areas in their park with appropriate signage and Cocoa Beach, Tampa, Philadelphia, and many other cities were taking steps in this direction also. Mr. Solomon's group was desirous of the City's assistance to ban smoking on the beach. The assistance could take the form of: 1) enacting a local ordinance to ban smoking on the beaches 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 or at least parts of the beaches, regardless of the State's position; 2) enhancing the City's current litter Ordinance, 082-28, to include cigarette litter specifically; 3) lobbying legislators to enact a smoking ban on the beaches; and/or 4) enforcing the City's existing litter ordinance. They also wanted more effective signage and receptacles designed for extinguishing smoking materials. The conclusion of the discussion about an outright smoking ban on the beach was that it would have to be enacted at the State level, although the City could lobby its legislators on the issue if the City Commission agreed to do so. Mr. Majors noted this board could make a statement of commitment or recommendation about smoke free beaches to the City Commission, the policy- making arm of the City. It was thought that enforcement of the City's litter ordinance at the Oceanfront Park Beach would have to be coordinated with the Ocean Ridge Police Department, in whose jurisdiction the beach was located. Mr. Solomon had spoken to the Ocean Ridge Police Department, who appeared to be amenable to discussion on the subject. He learned an officer from Ocean Ridge now patrolled the beach for one half to one hour each day on a quad. Ocean Ridge was willing to work with the City of Boynton Beach to have that officer issue citations for abuse of the litter laws. Ocean Ridge was waiting to see what Boynton Beach wanted to do. Mr. Solomon was aware of the controversy around designating non-smoking areas in parks and beaches and the Florida Indoor Clean Air Act, but believed enforcement of the litter ordinance was something that could be instituted immediately. Mr. Solomon distributed a padded envelope given to Sand Sifters by Keep Palm Beach Beautiful meant to contain cigarette butts until they could be disposed of in a proper receptacle. The Sand Sifters had tried to give these envelopes to people who were smoking on the beach, with mixed results. They had experienced a fair amount of aggression and resistance to the envelopes from the smoking public. Most smokers did not believe they were doing anything wrong by extinguishing their cigarettes and leaving them in the beach. Chair Pierce-Roe believed smoking areas should be set up on the beaches and all the parks in Boynton Beach, even if an outright smoking ban had not yet been enacted. She also believed appropriate receptacles should be set up to accommodate the cigarette litter. Mr. McVey of Little League Park responded he had the same problem with cigarette litter, which was also a fire hazard. They purchased several of the smoke "snuffer" type dispensers and had experienced a 70% improvement in the problem. Mr. Solomon mentioned there were no such ash receptacles at Oceanfront Park, nor did they have receptacles down on the beach. If these problems could be addressed, there could be an immediate improvement in the problem. Chair Pierce-Roe suggested having garbage cans with sand on top where cigarettes could be put out would be another potential improvement. She believed some of these "quick fixes" should be brought to the City Manager's attention. One volunteer advanced the idea of instituting a $250 fine for violations of the litter law and how that would, with advertising on the part of the newspapers, television, and radio, be a very effective way to solve the litter problem on the beaches, especially if No Smoking areas were clearly marked. Mr. Solomon believed they were realistic enough not to expect 100% compliance with the litter ordinance but at present, there was no visible enforcement of it at all. Small gains would 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 eventually lead to large gains and the message would eventually get out. It would, however, probably require constant reinforcement. Mr. McVey mentioned police officers in Jupiter constantly patrolled the beaches and they had much less of a litter problem there. Mr. Solomon responded Boca Raton also had officers on quads patrolling the beaches. Ocean Ridge had officers checking on the beaches at 8:00 a.m., but there was nobody on the beach at that time. It was important to patrol between the high- use times of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. They could actually write tickets all day long. Mr. Solomon mentioned Jupiter had 1800 volunteers cleaning their beach and had been doing so for 12 months. Volunteers at their dog beach were a constant presence at that beach. The board suggested the Sand Sifters attend the City Commission meeting on October 3 to speak during Public Audience. When Vice Chair Orlove had been to Oceanfront Park and was ready to go home, he went up the ramp and saw trash cans that were overflowing. He asked if there were a way to improve this by getting a few more trash cans or have them emptied more frequently. Ms. Rivers responded they used the small trash cans at that location because the larger ones got so heavy they were difficult for the maintenance staff to handle and were already cleaning the trash cans three times a day. They could add some trash cans, though. Vice Chair Orlove believed they could talk with the City Manager to request he talk to the Police Department to see if they could do what Jupiter was doing. He believed there would be fewer occurrences of littering if there were at least some police presence on the beach. Mr. Orlove thought they could issue warnings to violators, with the admonition that the next time, they would get a ticket. He asked if a fine were currently associated with the City's litter ordinance and the response was it was not. He thought an Interlocal Agreement with Ocean Ridge might be needed. Mr. Majors mentioned one of the ways the ordinance would be enforced would be through a formal complaint. One of the things that had to be resolved was how they dealt with the jurisdictional issue. The litter ordinance was in Chapter 16 of the Code of Ordinances and was rather strict. It did not even allow for ashes to be dumped in parks and a beach was considered to be a park. The issue was enforcement. Ms. Hammer inquired whether the ordinance had ever been enforced. Mr. Majors responded that this was the first time he had been made aware the problem was of this magnitude. Mr. Majors remarked they would have to review the legal ramifications of the issue and in the meantime, could put out a few more garbage cans. If people called in to complain about conditions at the beach, that would be an instigating factor also. He noted the hard part was being patient with government. It did not mean they did not care, but they had such a broad spectrum of responsibilities and competition for resources, they could not forge ahead without heed to the consequences. Certainly education, advocacy, and encouraging public awareness were important tools to address the problem. The City would initiate a dialogue with Ocean Ridge to see what could be done to pool resources to find a way to address the issue. Mr. Majors suggested the board make a formal recommendation for staff to initiate a dialogue with Ocean Ridge and send a request to the Legal Department to determine the options to make the situation more restrictive. Since the City already had a litter ordinance, they had to 5 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 talk with Ocean Ridge about enforcement of it. If asked, the Legal Department could probably find a lot of information for the board so it could make an informed decision about this. It was not as simple as it sounded to ban smoking in parks. The Recreation & Parks Department would be very happy to see such an action, especially from the standpoint of safety. Littering in parks and at the beach was a nationwide problem. Staff could at least move forward with some research, finding out how they could help to enforce the litter ordinance. A volunteer stated the City's ordinance put the onus on the landowner to adhere to the ordinance, and in this case, the City of Boynton Beach was the landowner of Oceanfront Park. He thought it was, technically, a code enforcement issue. Ms. Rivers noted there was a separate Code of Ordinances for park properties, which also had a litter clause in it. Ms. Sloan wanted a stronger response. She wanted the action to go in the direction of a smoking ban and explore the legal ramifications. Vice Chair Orlove said the board could ask the City to pursue this with its legislators. He agreed with Ms. Sloan, who stated the board should go as far as it could. Mr. Majors responded after they discussed this with the Legal Department, they could bring more information to the board at its next meeting. Motion Vice Chair Orlove moved to ask staff to strongly pursue ways that the City can work with the City of Ocean Ridge to ensure that litter laws are enforced and to go one step further to find out through our State Representatives how they could enforce a smoking ban on Boynton's beaches. Ms. Hammer seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0. Mr. Solomon asked the City to get ashtrays or ash receptacles on the boardwalk as soon as possible. Ms. Rivers committed to investigate the signage, more garbage cans, and the purchase of the appropriate cigarette disposal receptacles. Some comments after the presentation were that lining the beach with garbage cans would be an eyesore in itself. Policing and enforcement were thought to be the key. B. Boundless Playoround Ms. Rivers declared the City Commission had given $2.5M towards the development of the Boundless Playground itself and its ancillary facilities, which would be restrooms, sidewalks, site work, irrigation, and landscaping. Mr. Majors noted the amount was actually "up to" $2.5M. They had been directed, however, to continue the fundraising feasibility study. The rest of the park would be developed with grants and fundraising. The feasibility study was underway at present. The Recreation & Parks Department prepared a position paper explaining why they thought this was a good idea and gave it to the fundraiser with a list of potential donors from many areas, not just Palm Beach County. The fundraiser would add to the list and do phone interviews with about 300 people and sit down one-on-one with about 40 people. Once that process was finished, the fundraiser would know the level of interest in the community for the project and whether it would be worthwhile to continue. The fundraiser had done a lot of projects and felt this was an exciting project. Ms. Rivers was meeting with the fundraiser on October 6 and they would develop the timetable for the feasibility study. At the same time, they were putting together the Scope of Services for the construction drawings and would be going 6 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 to the City Commission at the second meeting in October or the first meeting in November with a new Scope of Services including landscaping, architecture, and design for the construction drawings. It was a lengthy process. The construction drawing process would take five or six months and then there was the permitting process and a thorough review by the City. They had to follow the City's process just like any other developer. A great deal of site work had to be done also. In addition, they were setting up a 501(C)(3), which they hoped to have in place by the first of the year. They were working on a list of potential Board of Directors and if a board member knew of some likely candidates, she wanted to hear about them. The bylaws had been approved by the Legal Department. Hopefully, the fundraising effort would be funneled to the non-profit organization and the Recreation & Parks Department would concentrate on construction drawings. Ms. Hammer spoke of the $2.5M as seed money and Ms. Rivers responded the fundraiser was extremely pleased to hear about that support because if the City showed that kind of commitment, it would encourage contributions from others. Contributions of stories about people who might use the park were solicited from the members. They would be sent to Mr. Majors or Ms. Rivers, who would incorporate them in the marketing/fund raising materials. The stories could be about people who had disabilities and wanted to use such a park or had used one similar to it somewhere else and had a wonderful time. Names of potential donors would be welcome also. C. Monthly Reoort Chair Pierce-Roe inquired about the Hurricane/Emergency Preparedness item and asked who was on the Post Storm Assessment Team. Ms. Rivers responded the team was composed of staff from the Recreation and Parks Departments. Each team was assigned to certain parks where they would go and take pictures and document hurricane damage on forms as an aid towards bringing them back online as quickly as possible. Ms. Hammer mentioned someone had brought up a concern that all the parks and money was going to the east and very little was going to the west. She asked what was going up west of 1- 95. Ms. Rivers responded, Nautica Pond, Boundless Park and Playground, the Compson development on Congress, and Knollwood Park. Ms. Hammer asked what happened to the skate park proposal. Mr. Majors responded the School District was not interested in pursuing this. Also, the agenda for the Recreation & Parks Department was packed full right now with the Wilson Center, the Intracoastal Clubhouse, Knollwood Park, Jaycee Park, and the Southeast Neighborhood Park. This could be looked at again but for the next three to five years, his department would be extremely busy. Ms. Sloan asked about Caloosa for a skate park. Mr. Majors responded they were asked, but they put the in-line skating course in an area they deemed to be more available. There were some pieces of sand and slash pines at Caloosa the County did not want to disturb. Ms. Hammer inquired about the status of the accreditation of the Recreation & Parks Department. Mr. Majors responded they had been invited to attend the reception out in Seattle 7 Meeting Minutes Recreation Be. Park Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida September 26, 2006 and viewed that as a good sign. He hoped the board would attend the City Commission meeting at which this would probably be presented, since they had played a big part in the effort. Vice Chair Orlove inquired about the new floor in the Civic Center and Mr. Majors indicated the floor was something that absolutely had to be done. Vice Chair Orlove's other question was about the Town Square plan and plans for the Old High School. The Old High School was to be a cultural center and a new Civic Center would be built across the street, along with an outdoor amphitheater. They also spoke of closing off Ocean Avenue near Seacrest to be pedestrian- only. Mr. Majors replied components of this were in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), but they had been moved out, including the new Civic Center. Vice Chair Orlove declared the contrast between the new Library and the Civic Center was marked. Ms. Sloan needed more "talking points" on the Boundless program. Ms. Rivers had already put something like that together and would provide it. Mr. Majors stated the marketing piece would be a simple, informative narrative they would give to potential donors. Returning to an earlier discussion, this was why staff had asked for stories, testimonials, or letters of support for the park. Mr. Majors indicated the questions would be: · Had they experienced the inability to access this kind of faCility? · Did they have access to after-school programs for children with disabilities? · Did they have a loved one with disabilities they thought would benefit from the playground/park? · Were there elderly people who might want to use the facility? · Did someone use this kind of facility and have a great time? Participants should be asked whether they could be quoted. Mr. McVey noted they were the only Little League organization in Palm Beach County that had a program for the challenged. Vice Chair Orlove inquired about the Old High School and what the CRA was doing about it. Ms. Rivers responded some colleges from up north had contacted the CRA about taking over the space for a cultural college. D. Items for the City Manaoer's Attention Vice Chair Orlove felt they had already addressed this through the minutes and their attendance at the October 3 City Commission meeting. VI. Next Meeting: October 23, 2006, 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center VII. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~.~r Susan Collins Recording Secretary (092706) 8