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Minutes 03-26-01MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2001 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Betty Thomas, Chairperson James McMahon, Vice Chair Bali Ramnarace Tom Williams Dan Winters Margaret Murphy, Alternate Elizabeth Pierce, Alternate ABSENT Ed Harris 1. CALL TO ORDER ALSO PRESENT Wally Majors, Recreation Director John Wildner, Parks Director Chairperson Thomas called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. and introduced the Board members. II. ATTENDANCE Chairperson Thomas called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. Ill. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 26, 2001 Chairperson Thomas asked that the minutes be amended on Page 2, last paragraph, where it said Ms. Shuart, to change to Mr. Shuart. Motion Mr. Winters moved to approve the minutes of February 26, 2001 as amended. Mr. Williams seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Chairperson Thomas asked the new Board member, Ms. Margaret Murphy, to give the Board a little background about herself. Ms. Murphy stated that she had been a Senior Center Director and had asked to get on that Board but it was filled. She is from Connecticut but now resides full time in Sterling Village. She commented that she had a letter stating that her term ended in April. Mr. Wildner said that alternates were re- appointed every year. e Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Chairperson Thomas asked Bali Ramnarace to tell the Board members a little about his trip to China. Mr. Ramnarace stated that he went to China and saw the Great Wall, Beijing, Tiannamen Square, and the Forbidden City and that it had been very exciting. Security measures were in evidence wherever he went, especially Tiannamen Square, which encompasses about 100 acres of space. He stated that standing and talking in groups was ,not allowed. I.D. checks were frequent. The temperature at the Great Wall was 15 degrees below zero.. He said there were two distinct classes in China — the very rich and the',very poor. He also observed that bicycles were widely used as a means of transportation. All in all, Mr. Ramnarace said that China was, a very beautiful place to see. A. Dog Park Mr. John Wildner, Parks Director, stated that the Dog Park was going to be on the agenda for the City Commission meeting on April 3. The City is considering a number of locations for a dog park. The most recent candidate was the area on Congress Avenue near Hunter's Run and the tennis center, which resulted in negative public comment from people in Hunter's Run. Other potential locations are Nautica Sound, the old FPL substation off Golf Road, and Girl Scout Park. The FPL substation property has six acres behind it but is completely wooded and would require clearing off. Mr. Wildner continued, saying that the Dog Park was very popular, citing the one in Lake Ida Park as the closest. He has observed conditions at that park many times and they were becoming overcrowded in the evenings due to the Park's popularity. He also reported that many people drive from great distances to use the Dog Park. Chairperson Thomas asked if the Board wanted to make a recommendation to the City Commission that it pursue a Dog Park? Mr. Wildner replied that they were already pursuing it. Mr. Winters stated that he believed the recommendation could be of a particular site. He also stated that this was a an example of "NIMBY" or "Not in My Back Yard." It is something that most people think is a good idea, but they did not want it in their back yards. Various sites were discussed. Mr. Wildner said that it would require two acres and it needed to be fenced in. Chairperson Thomas said it would require a lot of parking space as well. One of the downsides of the various proposed sites is that they do not have developed parking lots. This is one of the reasons that consideration was given to the park on Congress Avenue, which already has parking for the tennis center. Most of the tennis activities occur in the mornings and the Dog Park would be used primarily at night. B. Hester Center Breezeway; Enclosure, Pavilion, PAL Pressbox Mr. Majors, Director of Recreation, stated that construction had begun on Monday on the Hester Center Breezeway, and it would take 150 days to complete. The 30 x 44' pavilion by the football and baseball fields would start soon. They worked out a deal with Sprint PCS, who are going to give the City a tower lease in advance, and that money will be earmarked for a press box for a PAL football program. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Chairperson Thomas asked if the construction would limit any activities? Mr. Majors said they would continue to have summer camp and after-school programs. C. Senior Center Mr. Majors stated that on March 7 there had been another Health Fair and that it had been amazing. There were fifty vendors, more than could fit into the Senior Center. There was also an outstanding turnout from the public for the event, which speaks well of the staff. Mrs. Conley, Chairperson for the Forrest C. Lattner Foundation, visited the City. The City submitted a'request for $800,000 to complete Phase II of the Senior Center and the Foundation felt strongly enough about it to visit personally. Mr. Majors was cautiously optimistic about receiving the grant. Mr. Winters asked about background on the Lattner Foundation. Mr. Majors said they had a website and were one of the primary benefactors for Antioch College. The City was expecting an answer on the grant request by May 1. Once Phase II is completed, parking will become an instant issue. Mr. Majors wanted to investigate the property immediately to the south of the Center between the gas station and the Center for this purpose. Mr. Winters asked if the City had made a bid for the Amoco station yet? Mr. Majors stated that they had not. Mr. Winters suggested the City look at a two-story parking garage. He said parking conditions down at the Banana Boat were really bad and that you couldn't even have your car valet parked. Mr. Williams suggested making the Police parking garage higher. Vice Chair McMahon asked if there was anything the Board needed to do in support of getting the grant from the Lattner foundation? Mr. Majors said that if anyone wanted to call the Foundation to express support for the project, they would probably appreciate hearingfrom someone from this Board. Also, he believed the chances were good of getting the grant and that he believed the City was going to upgrade the priority for the Senior Center project. D. Boat Club and Intracoastal Park Mr. Wildner reported that construction was to start on Boat Club Park immediately following the 4th of July festivities to be held there. He said that if water restrictions continued, the fireworks may not be held this year. In reference to the Intracoastal Park, they had started a contract with Williams, Roberts & Todd to prepare the construction documents for the site and this is ongoing. Ms. Pierce asked if the first pavilion when you drive into the Boat Club Park would be taken down? Mr. Wildner replied that it would and that boat trailer parking would fill that spot. Ms. Pierce asked if a Porta -John would be placed on the site? She stated that there had been large parties held at the Park and in front there had been some hedges put in. Rather than going to the bathroom in the established facility on site, people were using the corner of her neighbor's lot as a bathroom and leaving toilet paper behind. 3 t Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Mr. Wildner said they would consider putting in a Porta -John and that it would only cost $70 per month. Mr. Williams said that there should be one at each end. Ms.. Pierce commented that perhaps palm trees would be a better choice than hedges because the homeless were thriving in the hedges along Federal Highway. E. Special Events Chairperson Thomas thanked the Recreation and Parks Department for the wonderful job they did on GALA this year. She also thanked the other City departments that had worked with Recreation and Parks and the Chamber of Commerce. She was very impressed with the layout, the people who were there, and all of the activities. Mr. Winters remarked that there had been a lot of competition since it was St. Patrick's Day and there were other events around town. He also commended the booth with the beer for keeping their prices in a reasonable range. Mr. Winters suggested that the Recreation Department have a booth to sell hot dogs or some other commodity that would provide some extra money. Mr. Majors stated that they did get the booth rental money. He said he was thinking of going to a percentage of sales instead of a set fee for booth rental since the site was going to be expanded and it would be a way to potentially increase revenue. Mr. Majors stated that their goal was to put their plans in place for the location of next year's GALA by April this year. He said it was hard for staff to keep changing locations from year to year. Mr. Majors reported that this was the first year of running the shuttle from the Mall and it had been very successful, with 700+ riders. Mr. Majors also believed that when the Special Events Team got up to speed with a full staff, the event should get even better. He thought they had already done a great job so far with the Holiday events, Black Awareness and now GALA. Ms. Pierce asked why the artist's booths close so early? Mr. Majors said it was the artist's choice to do that, as they did not feel there was much business at night. Mr. Majors mentioned the upcoming Concert on the Green on May 19 and the Easter Egg Hunt on April 14 at Hester Center. Mr. Majors stated that a shuttle would be running from the Civic Center to the Hester Center for those who needed it. Mr. Winters asked Mr. Majors to have Ms. Vlaun, the Special Events Manager, contact Bill Daughterty in Lake Park. He brought up an event held by the town of Lake Park that he wanted to see duplicated in Boynton Beach. He said it was a community garage sale held four times a year with food vendors and entertainment. They spend about $2000 for a band and do not charge admission and everyone has a wonderful time. He said the food prices were extremely reasonable and that he had never had a better night in recreation in his life. He said it was an esprit de corps type of thing. Mr. Majors said that recreation departments always copied each other and if they saw a good idea, they would use it. Mr. Majors remarked that Jeffery Livergood's wife had been involved in special events in Illinois and he was hoping to include her in the planning group. 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 F. Greenways Network Mr. Wild er reported that his department was doing an inventory of properties throughou Ithe City that would be forwarded to the City for its consideration in the Strategic nitiative Program. He thought they would be engaging a consultant to help integrate a Greenways Network, the pedestrian walkways, and traffic programs. The Public W®rks Director, Jeffrey Livergood, was very supportive of that and also had experience in Illinois setting up a Greenways Network. All in all they were making good progress on Greenways. Mr. Wildner spoke of the Villa del Sol, the apartment complex proposed for the intersection of U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway. There are fifteen acres of property that was previously zoned commercial for a strip mall that was never built. The owners of that property had it rezoned to high density residential. A developer was interested in that property; however, using the formula for dedication requirements for park property and fee in lieu of land for park property, their fee was going to be very high because the density was so high. There are 312 units at that property and using the formula, they were going to be required to dedicate 2.34 acres of land. Right across the railroad tracks is the Zill Mango Nursery, which is about five acres. They came up with a plan to buy 2.34 acres of the Zill property to be used as a neighborhood park for that area. That turned ou�ol to be a savings for them because the Zill property is not zoned as high as the Villa del property and that plan was accepted at the City Commission meeting last week. If that doesn't happen in 60 days and they are unable to purchase that property from Mr. Gill, they have put up a letter of credit for $250,000 for the park fee, or higher, dependin on the actual amount of their required gift. Mr. Wildner talked to Mr. Zill and he was interested in selling the 2.34 acres. Chairperson Thomas asked if the Greenways couldn't be considered a park area? Mr. Wildner stated that it could and would be part of a hub along a greenway. You would have pedestrian access or a green corridor that would connect to either parks or preserved property or schools, some areas that would have open property and would be an alternative transportation network to design in a green fashion. Ms. Murphy asked if this were ight along the railroad tracks? Mr. Wildner replied that it was and that they would hav to redesign it to be safe for park patrons. Ms. Pierce asked if the Parks Department was going to do anything new or different in Bicentennial Park near Eckerd Drugs? Mr. Wildner said they would have to look at that a little closer because of its increased visibility. Ms. Pierce wondered if Eckerd would want to cooperate with the City since it would give them a nice place to have their lunch? Mr. Wildner thought that might be possible. He also commented that the animal shelter might be r6oving because they needed more space. G. I Items for City Manager's Attention Mr. Winte s broached the idea of the City providing selected Advisory Boards with discretionary funds for their use in projects that would contribute to the improvement of the community. He had in mind a figure of $10,000 per year. This discretionary fund allotment would be restricted to those Boards whose activities involved social services such as the Advisory Board on Children & Youth, the Cemetery Board, the Recreation & Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Parks Board, the Community Relations Board, the Education Advisory Board, the Library Board, and the Senior Advisory Board. He said there were things that these Boards may want to do that could not be done if they had to wait for budget approval. Decisions on the spending of this contingency fund would be made by majority vote of the Boards. The Board felt this would be a step toward empowerment for the Board in that the Boards could see problems and fix them in a timely, independent manner. Motion Mr. Winters moved that the Board encourage the City to establish a contingency fund of $10,000 to designated Boards for utilization within their jurisdictions. Mr. Williams seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Member Comments Ms. Murphy said that the Board had mentioned the previous month that it would like to have the principal of the new high school, Dr. Walter Cornnell, attend one of its Board meetings and that the invitation could be extended by the City Manager. She thought the City Manager was going to invite him. Mr. Majors stated that he and Mr. Wildner would extend the invitation for Dr. Cornnell to come to a meeting of this Board. Ms. Pierce stated that Dr. Cornnell would be at the Holiday Inn Catalina on April 11, 2001 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. where he would be the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Ms. Pierce asked Mr. Wildner to bring a copy of the Boat Club Park plan for the Board members to see at the next meeting. Mr. Winters asked about the status of the property north of the Intracoastal and Boat Club Parks and whether the City was still trying to buy it? Mr. Wildner said this was slated to come up again at the City Commission meeting on April 3 and that it had become a bidding war between the City and a developer who was also interested in the property. Chairperson Thomas suggested that the Lattner Foundation might be able to help the City with its bid on that property. F. Monthly Report Chairperson Thomas thanked the Parks and Recreation Departments for their report. V. NEW BUSINESS Cricket Pitch at Rolling Green Mr. Ramnarace stated that the cricket pitch was dry. He noted that the sprinklers were on all the time at Little League Park and asked why? Mr. Wildner said that before they dragged it, they were allowed to water it for ten minutes. Mr. Ramnarace said it was definitely on longer than ten minutes. M. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Mr. Ramnarace said he could not invite anyone to come and play cricket. A fence was put in and it is in thewrongplace and they could not use the toilet facilities there. The placement of the fence was incorrect. It should have been moved back about thirty feet. Mr. Wildner suggested that a gate would be installed. Mr. Ramnarace said he hadbeen waiting for, two years to be able to use this cricket pitch. Mr. Ramnarace was trying to get four teams there and the kids love the game. Mr. Williams stated that the islands on Federal Highway had sprinklers that were on a lot and Mr. Wildner stated that they were not supposed to be on. He went on to say that there were some five hundred sprinkler systems throughout the City and when the Parks Department became aware of this kind of thing, they shut them off. Mr. Ramnarace said that the construction at Rolling Green was due to finish the end of July and he really needed some action on the issue of the cricket pitch. Mr. Wildner said it cost too much to sod and they had to go, back to seeding it. He did not want to begin that in the middle of the drought. Mr. Ramnarace said he could start on the western side. Mr. Wildner said it would all have to be done at one time. You have to grade both sides so the ground pitches in the right way. Lights for Ezell Hester Center Mr. Williams asked if anyone in the City had looked into the lights for Ezell Hester Center? Mr. Majors said they got a response in reference to the fence from the County. They were going to put in yellow turn signal signs and reflectors on the white line that runs parallel to the curb. They were also considering the fence. During the day the black fence looked better. but at night it blended in and was invisible. Mr. Majors stated that he and Mr. Wildner had to figure out a way to do some landscaping in the front of the fence to add some depth and psychological boundaries. Mr. Williams suggested that caution lights like on the train tracks would be good. Mr. Williams said the area needed a light that blinked all the time. Girl Scout Park Mr. Wildner mentioned one of the Commissioner's ideas about Girl Scout Park behind the Chapel Hill subdivision. There are 9 acres there that was once used by the girl scouts for a campground. It was given to Palm Beach County and they eventually gave it to the City. It is along the E4 canal and it has an open grassy area and some shaded areas. People in the neighborhood walk in off Sunset Drive. The entranceway is through a residential neighborhood and people go in there to picnic fish. Part of that property actually extends south of the Chapel Hill canal that borders on Mission Hill Road. One of the commissioners suggested a ,pedestrian bridge be built on that piece of property on Mission Hill Road. It is only about a building lot size piece of property but there is enough land to put a small parking lot and a pedestrian bridge there. In the past, people used to drive into the Girl Scout Park site and do things like "wheelies" and other activities. The City put a gate there and stopped them from driving in but people are parking along Sunset in front of people's homes. One comment was that possibly the Parks and Recreation Board could assist with the planning of that because they would like to have some input from the neighborhood. At the upcoming Board 7 Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 meeting we might invite neighbors to come and discuss that possibility. We would have to put some picnic tables there, like a passive park. Ms. Pierce asked if it would be possible to get a bus and take the Board to the site and meet the homeowners in a setting where the Board and the homeowners could interact directly? Mr. Wildner said it may come up at a City Commission meeting and they may want to have input so it may be May before the trip could be arranged. Ms. Murphy asked if the Girl Scout Park site would be big enough for a Dog Park? Mr. Wildner said it was one of the areas under consideration for a Dog Park but it backed up to some homes and they anticipated negative neighborhood comment. Pond B Some discussion was held on Pond B which was soon to be named as a result of a contest generated by the City's Media Director, Wayne Segal. Mr. Wildner had heard that an idea was afoot to change the orientation of the mall adjacent to Pond B, where the buildings would face the Pond. This could open the door to putting an emphasis on restaurants and nightlife establishments that would increase the value of that mall. Vice Chair McMahon said that at last the City had a destination type place. Mr. Majors said he expected it would be used for wedding ceremonies among other things. Demonstration Garden Ms. Pierce stated that behind the Holiday House, Dan Decarlo said they were putting in a demonstration garden. She asked if that would be considered a Park? Mr. Wildner said it would be maintained by the Parks Department and that it would have a park name probably when it stopped being a demonstration garden and became a park. Mr. DeCarlo spearheaded the effort to get a certain amount of money for neighborhood improvement projects. Ms. Pierce talked to Judy Maaske at the Sr. Center and she said they had a garden group but it was not active because of the drought. The people there were interested in being volunteers for the demonstration gardens. She called Dan DeCarlo and asked that he solicit help from the seniors, who were looking for things to do. Mr. Wildner said that the big problem with the demonstration garden was once they started planting, they could only water the plants three times a week under Phase 3 restrictions. Most of the plants will take longer than 30 days to get established. He stated that this was not going to be a sod park. They were going to install about 10,000 plants and flowers. They were planning on doing it the middle of April but if Phase 3 restrictions were instituted, they would have to reconsider it. One of the groups they were going to invite was the master gardeners from the PBCO cooperative extension service and if the gardens can be planted before they go back up north, that would be a good thing. Also, Dan DeCarlo came to the INCA meeting the previous week and INCA wants to help to. Ms. Pierce asked that the seniors and the INCA people be advised when planting would take place so they could help. Mr. Wildner said there would probably be a very short period of time from when they decided to plant to the actual planting. He believed water restrictions were going to continue year-round. The weather forecasters are talking about two to three years of very little rain. Meeting Minutes Recreation & Parks Board Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2001 Mr. Winters asked if the City could put some sculpture in the demonstration garden behind Holiday House? Mr. Williams asked if Wilson Pool would have swimming this summer in light of the water restrictions? Mr. Wildner stated that there were no restrictions, currently, on public swimming pools, only private ones. Mr. Majors reminded everyone eligible for re -appointment to submit his or her applications. VI. Next Meeting The next meeting will be on April 23, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room C. VII. Adjournment There being no further new business, Chairperson Thomas adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (2 tapes) 9