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Minutes 07-24-00 MZ:NUTE5 OF NEZ6HBORHOOD SUMM]I:T MEETZN6 HELb :ZN THE L:ZBRARY PRO6RAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORZ:bA ON MONDAY, ~TULY 24, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Dan DeCarlo, Neighborhood Project Specialist, called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. and thanked everyone for attending. At Mr. beCarlo's request, Commissioner Charlie Fisher gave a "state of the City" message to acquaint the attendees with the status of various current projects within the City. · Marina Pro~ect Commissioner Fisher stated that the Marina project was on track. After the lawsuits were settled, it was necessary to wait thirty days before proceeding with the project. Everyone is happy and ready to move forward. · Ocean Avenue When the final bid proposals came in to re-do Ocean Avenue, they were on the higher side and staff found that by removing this first block from Seacrest we could bring the bid price down by $500,000, which was in keeping with the original targeted figure. Since the City intends to re-do the Library area in the next year or two anyway, it did not make a lot of sense to do it twice. hue to the reduction in scope, the timeline has improved as well. The number of days required for the project has been cut down considerably which will be great for the people living and working in the area. They should be starting near the end of August or the beginning of September. Also, their schedule is based on a seven- day work week, not a five-day one so if they said it would take ?00 days that would include Saturday and Sundays. Boat Club Park and the 10 Acre Park The County Commission approved the entire amount that Boynton Beach requested for this project. Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida July 24, 2000 Boat Club Park will be a place to put your boat in the water. The focus in this park will not be on pavilions and picnic tables. In order to get the money there had to be a certain amount of parking spaces for the boats. Right next door will be the lO- acre park with its emphasis on playgrounds, picnic tables and recreational activities. · Budget Time The budgets will be discussed and set for the coming fiscal year during the next couple of months. Commissioner Fisher invited interested part/es to attend the next City Commission meeting to express their opinions on August 1 at 6:30 p.m. where they would be discussing such issues as term limits, salaries, and single member districts. A member of the group asked when the Bridge would be opened. Commissioner Fisher responded that the projected date was the end of October or beginning of November and Pond B will be done at at the same time. By Federal mandate, the pond has to be ready to take the water when they open the bridge. Pond B might actually be done by the end of September. The City is trying to work out a joint bridge opening ceremony between Boynton Beach and Ocean Ridge. Ms. Zibelli asked why they did not build the gazebo in Pond B using the same recycled materials they used at the beach? Commissioner Fisher said that the recycled alternative was thoroughly explored and eventually dismissed due to its high cost. Ms. Zibellrs second question was concerning Boat Club Park. She commented that the County was allowed to use the park, the same as the city. 5he asked why they could not have the same thing as at the golf course, which was run on the basis of a percentage of people - "X" number from the City, and "X" number from the County and other areas. Commissioner Fisher stated that staff and the Commission were considering several user fee increases and schemes including charging to launch a boat and raising the beach permit fees. · Drainage Zssue Mr. DeCarlo introduced a special guest, Ms. Dana Ackerman White, the Director of Community Affairs with the Lake Worth Drainage District. The City Manager was at a meeting last week and said we needed to have some input from this organization. 2 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida July 24, 2000 Ms. White stated that they maintained 511 miles of canals in the southeastern portion of Palm Beach County. Their boundaries are from Okeechobee Boulevard south to the Broward County Line, approximately :[-95 west to the Refuge (a little west of State Road 7). They maintain all the secondary canal systems, open the Dates, and discharge water into the South Florida system. She stated that she was there to help the homeowner's associations, educate everyone on their drainage situation, and answer questions. Ms. White had some information about the maintenance of drainage systems and adjustable drainage systems. Ms. White said that adjustable drainage systems have a wheel, which can be opened up to release water at a fester rate. They need to be regulated and they may only be operated and opened with the permission of the Lake Worth Drainage District's permission, as a safety precaution. Ms. White pointed out that this was the first year the Hurricane Survival Guides distributed by Publix stores had included flooding as part of their guide, tt also has flood safety tips, maps of the drainage systems, and contact phone numbers. Commissioner Fisher asked a question about evacuation in times of hurricane emergencies and whether it was necessary to evacuate everyone west of 3:-95. Ms. White stated that the City should contact the Emergency Operations Center of Palm Beach County, who were the ones who monitored and sent out the evacuation notices. The property manager for The Meadows in Boynton, Mr. Scott Straleau, spoke of the major flooding problems that occurred in The Meadows last fall. There was some disagreement as to when the storm gates should be operated, when they should be opened, and when they should be closed. He said that they were open prior to the storm starting and someone said they should be closed but they were completely submerged by that time. At the time the Lake Worth Drainage District did come out and noted that the floodgates were open. Ms. White stated that she was being told a different story by the personnel in the Lake Worth Drainage District, which was that they had come out and opened the gates for The Meadows and that the gates were not open. According to Mr. Straleau, the gates were open and locked in the open position. Ms. White said that could have exacerbated matters, saying that if they were open and in the locked position during the storm, they probably Dot canal water in the development. She said that under no circumstances should the gates be opened DUR]:NG a storm event. They may be opened prior to a storm event and after the storm event but never during it for that reason, that you would get canal waters into your system. They have installed three additional phone lines that are set aside for hurricane use and said that she 3 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida ,Tuly 24, 2000 would get those numbers out to everyone. 5he offered to come out and talk to the homeowner's associations and give a presentation. Mr. DeCarlo said that 18 inches of rain with six inches prior to that was really catastrophic and that there wasn't anywhere for the water to go. The storm also changed the way people look at those types of storms. Everyone had been focusing on wind but not as much on that much rain over an extended period of time. Ms. White said that they were examining that event and a lot of good had come from it due to people becoming aware of their storm drainage systems and learning how to use them. Ms. White spoke of other factors that affected last fall's flooding. ,She said that ,South Florida Water Management did not open their gates completely and when they did they did not leave them open. On Saturday she was in a helicopter and they finally opened them up when they realized that they were under surveillance. Also, high tide came in. The canal system was fully open by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. Mr. Straleau commented also that the road construction also affected the flooding because there had been blockage dams put up and they were not removed until afterwards, but at that point it was too late anyway. Mr. Straleau asked another question about the maintenance on the Lake Worth Drainage ditches as to the grass and the weeds growing there in profusion. Their community has had a lot of problems there in that they are not allowed to maintain them. Their concern was that the grass is allowed to grow 12 to 15 inches high before anyone comes out and then they spray it. It takes two weeks for it to die. Tnstead of having 15" green grass you have 15" brown grass for two weeks, which looks ever worse! Ms. White explained that they were not allowed to maintain the ditches for liability Mr. DeCarlo thanked Ms. White for coming and said he looked forward to establishing a closer relationship between the City of Boynton Beach and the Lake Worth Drainage District. 4 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida July 24, 2000 Current Neighborhood Assistance Projects (DeCarlo) Mr. DeCarlo spoke of the status of various current neighborhood assistance projects. He noted that at the Commission meeting last August several neighborhood projects were approved and they were now finishing up. There were the Circle Zslands, Seacrest Court, 17th Avenue and Ocean Parkway. Ocean Parkway is being done right now and should be completed by next week. Mr. DeCarlo spoke of the value of the neighborhood projects and how they have shown how just a little bit of money and sweat equity can make such a positive difference in our neighborhoods. The recent publicity has created a lot of calls from neighborhoods who had not participated in the past. From the City's point of view, the ability to plan a community was very valuable. When they do a project, they go in and do a three to five year plan. Zn the next budget year we are proposing raising the amount budgeted for Neighborhood Assistance Projects from $Z5,000 to $35,000 and we are proposing that the $500,000 be kept in the budget for our larger projects. That will be going to the Commission for approval in August and September so we can plan from there. The Harbor Hall community gardening project was discussed. Mr. DeCarlo is going to propose the Harbor Hall project as a demonstration garden. The garden would be maintained with the help of the County Extension Service and the INCA neighborhood association. Mr. DeCarlo will also be proposing some improvements to Martin L. King, ,Tr. Boulevard. The Focus Groups were brought up and Mr. DeCarlo said that the two that stood out as being of primary interest were the Safety Focus Group and the Traffic Calming Focus Group. He hoped to do a mailing in the next few weeks as a follow up to this evening's meeting and ask for people who would be willing to serve on either of these two committees. Traffic Calming Mr. DeCarlo discussed the difference between speed bumps and speed humps. Speed humps have a gradual incline and a plateau on top, making them much more 5 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida July 24, 2000 friendly to emergency vehicles and cars in general. They are also much more effective and inexpensive. An Ordinance is being drafted pertaining to this. As a demonstration next year they would like to install speed humps in certain neighborhoods as traffic calming devices to show how they work. There are a lot of other cities in 5outh Florida who have had great success with the speed humps. The Traffic Calming Committee would work with various departments in the City and select two or three different sites where they would like to try them. Commissioner Fisher mentioned various residential streets that had evolved into high traffic streets such as 5.W. 8th in front of Home Depot. Tt was residential forever but then ,urned into o cut-through street. Mr. DeCarlo stated tho, when Loew's and the Baptist Church open up, traffic will only get worse, not better. This is one of the issues we won, ,o discuss and maybe this is one of the areas we will select ,o try something. Once the ordinance is in piece then we know of some si,es ,ha, need something ASAP. Mr. beCarlo reported that the beautification effort seemed to be taking care of itself because of ,he in,erest we now have in our neighborhood assis,ance projec,s and the o,her ,hings we ore working on. An area tho, needed improvemen, was the City's issue abou, having trees in ,he rights-of-way. He was looking at areas where, with proper safety considerations, trees may work. They were looking into Laurel Hills and even Leisureville for ,his effor,. Other Concerns: Mr. DeCarlo made the group aware of the upcoming Florida Neighborhood Conference being held in Fort Lauderdale October 5-7, a great event. Mr. DeCarlo urged as many neighborhood people as possible to get together and attend. He said he was looking into the possibility of a bus to take the group there and back in one day. ]:t is a wonderful opportunity to learn and gather ideas that have worked for other areas and bring them back for application in our own neighborhoods. The topic of the new water meters being installed by the City was brought up. Mr. Law, Deputy Director of the Utilities Department, stated that the project was being handled by Bob Kenyon and the City is putting in a new "radio read" meter. This will allow the meter to be read by the meter reader driving down the streets where the meters are located. They are installing them in the new communities and retro-fitting the older communities and the work has been ongoing for several months. 6 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida ,Tuly 24, 2000 Mr. DeCarlo asked if it was publicized? Mr. Law said it was Mr. Kenyon's project and he did not know for sure. Mr. DeCarlo thought it would be a good idea to get the word out to the various communities and associations so people would understand. Mr. Law replied that there were 31,000 meters in the system so the job was being done in phases. They started in the neighborhoods that have rear easement water mains and meters, trying to bring them out in the front and then converting them to the new style meters. Ms. Currier said that all the painting and fix-up being done on North Seacrest was wonderful and that it was quite a transformation from its previous condition. Mr. DeCarlo mentioned that the City was working with an active Haitian community and one church in particular on Seacrest and that this would be one of the locations for a community garden. There ore o lot of people there interested. We see it as a way to get them involved in different activities. Zt has been a real challenge. Ms. Currier said that in her neighborhood gardens were flourishing with a large number of banana plants and pigeon peas and that her neighbors were very proud of their gardens, often taking visitors through to admire them. Commissioner Fisher stated that he was contacted by some of the Boy Scout troops with the comment that they had several Eagle scouts waiting to do their projects and suggested this as a resource for labor and assistance for neighborhood projects. Ms. Currier asked about the gardening project on Martin L King Boulevard and whether it was still "on". Mr. DeCarlo said that Ms. Girtman was going to allow the City to use her property for $1.00 a year, after speaking with her attorney. A meeting is planned this week to firm up planS. Ms. Currier said that the growing season was underway and that the children wanted to plant a garden. According to Commissioner Black, Home Depot will give the group what they need over and above what the Extension Service provides, to include help maintaining that particular parcel. Brian Edwards asked if there was anything that the people living east of could see that told them their status regarding the drainage plan. Mr. Law said there was a document being formulated and going to the City Manager soon. The City Manager already has a list of capital projects and there is a secondary list of capital projects being forwarded to his attention, which includes ALL drainage projects, from the highest to the lowest priority. 7 Meeting AAinutcs Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida ,Tuly 24, 2000 Mr. Edwards also asked who was responsible for inspection of sea walls? Mr. Law said that, with few exceptions, the sea walls were on private property. Mr. Law believed that it was primarily an engineering issue but offered to research the matter for Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards' neighborhood group believes they have some sea walls that should be maintained by the City. Mr. Edwards asked about traffic calming and street lighting. They have a committee working on street calming in their neighborhood. They are looking at what they want and are considering putting it into a Neighborhood Assistance package. Mr. DeCarlo stated that he had met with several members of the group on street lighting and that he would like members of INCA involved in the Traffic Calming Committee. Mr. DeCarlo said right now if you need street lighting it is assumed you have to do a map of your neighborhood showing the location of the existing lights and the location of the new lights you are requesting. Zt first goes through Engineering to determine if the need is valid and then it goes on to FPL. One of the things we will be able to do with the new GZ$ system is all the FPL light locations will be on our map so you can pull it up on the computer. The information in the computer includes the lumens on the individual light pole. You can do a survey of a particular block in the City and see where your dark areas are. This is an incredible tool. You can take a plot map and survey where lights are and where you want them to be and input that into the computer. Another issue is that some of the existing light poles are not functioning well. The INCA area is one of the examples of a neighborhood that is trying period lighting. Ms. Zibelli said that in 1985 or 1986 the City went to the Iow sodium light to save money but they are not adequate in terms of brightness. 5he asked if the City was considering this. Mr. DeCarlo said that this was an Engineering issue also and that FPL required their sign off prior to doing anything. Fire Chief Bingham spoke of the City's actions being taken for hurricane preparedness such as a lot of tree-trimming. He advised residents to begin removing all loose debris from around their yards and businesses. The City recently had a special trash pickup for this purpose and if storm conditions threaten, it is likely that a second pickup will be done. Chief gingham reported that there had been no warnings to date and that the situation was quiet but that August and September are typically the highest in hurricane activity so now was the time to prepare. The Fire Department has been testing their equipment and an Emergency Operations Center has been set up in the Water Treatment Plant. Everyone 8 Meeting Minutes Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida ,Tuly 24, 2000 involved is revisiting the Hurricane Plan to get ready. Residents were cautioned to begin gathering flashlights, food, gas for cooking, and all the necessary supplies. Chief Bingham stated that there were going to be two Citizen Fire Academy classes in the near future and they are currently soliciting for interested residents to attend. One course will be October 7 and the other will be in ~Tanuary of ;>001. There are approximately ;>0 individuals per class and it is an eight-week program. ~Zt meets on Wednesday night for three hours each session. Chief Bingham passed out applications and asked that they be sent out to the neighborhood associations. The previous classes have been very successful, always garnering good reviews and feedback. Ms. Currier remarked that during the year at all times but especially during bad weather, that people be mindful of the old and infirm individuals in their neighborhoods. Ms. Currier stated that many of these individuals are alone, unable to drive to pick up groceries or supplies, and would be most appreciative of offers of assistance. Ms. Zibelli asked for help on the maintenance/trimming/removal of the holly trees on a 25-foot section on an FPL right-of-way in her neighborhood. 5he has asked the City, who says it belongs to the County, and the County, who say Jt belongs to the City. 5he wondered who owned it and who was supposed to maintain it. There is holly growing in the area and the residents on each side are cutting their side but are not allowed to cut down the plant material in the right-of-way. Mr. Law said that was actually an easement and that she owned the property to the property line. All the fence means is that you cannot construct something on the easement but it is your property. Mr. Law asked if she had a survey of the property. Mr. Law offered to look at the plats for her to help ascertain ownership. Ms. Elizabeth ,Tenkins spoke of some concerns relating to the light poles in her neighborhood, Ridgewood Hills. Mr. DeCarlo said that in this neighborhood they did some circle islands. They had some light poles that were built in the 1c~30's and at one point of time they had electricity running into them and lights but the City found it would cost too much money to run in electric so they are looking at doing a solar thing that is less expensive. They are still looking at that, they are going to do it and there is money in the budget to do it according to Mr. DeCarlo. g Meeting Minutes ~ Neighborhood Summit Boynton Beach, Florida July 24, 2000 Ms. ~Tenkins was also concerned about the condition of the grass and grounds at the Boynton Terrace Apartments, stating that cars parking there were ruining the grass. Considerable discussion followed. Inspector Roy of Code Enforcement stated that if the vehicles were inoperable or unregistered they could assist but if they were not, their hands were tied. The Police Department can assist if the vehicles are blocking traffic. Inspector Roy went on to say that there was nothing in the Code at present that prohibited parking on the swales. The idea of putting up signs prohibiting parking was discussed but not seriously considered as a viable solution. Mr. DeCarlo stated that the older homeowner's associations did not have covenants as do most present-day ones. Mr. Quintus Greene, Development Director, remarked that he was aware of many shortcomings in the current Code of Ordinances. He spoke of other cities where it was illegal to park on any unpaved surface, even on private property. Mr. DeCarlo thought that an ordinance of this type would be an excellent idea. Commissioner Fisher asked if cones could be placed that would make parking more difficult as some property owners do at this time. Mr. 5traleau thought there would be a liability issue on this. Inspector Roy stated that the round turtles were O.K. but the cone pyramids were not. Mr. Scott 5traleau, from the Meadows Homeowners group, stated that the Development Director, Mr. Quintus Greene, had helped his association tremendously in their landscaping project by getting permits moved along through the process and so forth. He was very appreciative of the assistance. Mr. DeCarlo stated that the October meeting might be at the Women's Club instead of the Library. He thanked everyone for coming and at 8:10 P.M., the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (2 tapes) 10