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Minutes 01-24-00 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Betty Thomas, Chairperson Melody Green, Director of Recreation Bali Ramnarace John Wildner, Director of Parks Tom Williams Dan Winters Charles Jackson, Alternate ABSENT Mike Fitzpatrick Ed Harris James McMahon, Vice Chair I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Thomas called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Chairperson Thomas declared a quorum was present. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 25, 1999 MEETING Chairperson Thomas asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes of the October 25, 1999 meeting. There were none. Mr. Dan Winters moved to approve the minutes of the October 25, 1999 meeting. Motion seconded and unanimously carried. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS (a) Boat Club/Intracoastal ParksJohn Wildner : Mr. Wildner stated that at the City Commission meeting last week Commissioner Weiland gave a report on the Intracoastal and Boat Club Parks. Intracoastal Park has been in “hold” mode for quite some time. We have a grant from Palm Beach County that is due to expire in March. Commissioner Weiland and Mr. Wildner met with County Commissioner McCarty to see if the City could salvage part of that grant. MEETING MINUTES RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JANUARY 24, 2000 With reference to Boat Club Park, it was decided to extend the grant for 18 months to allow the City to spend up to $900,000 to renovate Boat Club Park as follows: 1) improve access to ramps 2) put in some holding docks for better traffic flow 3) increase trailer parking 4) remove the standing water in the dry retention area Mr. Wildner reported that the City Commission is undecided as to what to do with the Intracoastal Park site. The County wanted to take the remaining $1,725,000 that was available in the grant for Intracoastal Park and make it available for proposals from other communities interested in providing water-related recreation since we don’t seem to be ready to decide on the use of the funds. That does not mean we have lost it. The only municipality that has shown an interest is Lantana . Lantana also has to achieve consensus on property use issues related to waterfront locations. In the next three to four months we should have a new City Commission and a direction will be given as to whether we are going to have a park or a mixed-use facility and can re-apply for County funding. The County remains open to innovative City proposals for water-based recreation funding and will allow us to reapply for the use of the $1,725,000. (b) Greenways Network: Mike Fitzpatrick As Mr. Fitzpatrick was not present, Chairperson Thomas advised that this issue would be taken up at the next meeting. (c)Ezell Hester Center Gym Floor Refinishing Project: Wally Majors Mr. Majors stated the sanding process has been completed. The project completion has been delayed about a week due to the addition of the City Logo to the center court floor. This logo will substantially add to the aesthetics of the gymnasium. Ms. Green informed Board members that the funding for this improvement was achieved through reallocating presently available budget funds within the Department. The City Commission was not approached for additional tax dollars. 2 MEETING MINUTES RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JANUARY 24, 2000 (b) Monthly Report: Chairperson Thomas Chairperson Thomas called for questions or comments on the published Montlhy Plan and there were none. V.NEW BUSINESS Mr. Tom Williams commented that benches are being put in Sara Sims Park. He informed the Board that benches are nice but they are not going to accomplish the original intention of providing comfortable shady pavilions for the people. According to Mr. Williams people would not go to Boat Club Park if they had a nice shady place to go in their own neighborhoods. He pointed out that the City could gain revenue from renting the pavilions to interested parties. Ms. Green thanked Mr. Williams for his recommendation and said that planning for next year’s budget will soon take place and that his suggestion will be addressed in the upcoming budget. Ms. Green will pass the request on to Mr. Wildner in Parks as he is not here at this moment. A Neighborhood Summit meeting was called for the same time and place as this one and Mr. Wildner is splitting his time between the two meetings. The request for pavilions has also been made by the Hester Center. Parks and Recreation is well aware that some additional shade needs to be provided for the community. The Chairperson called for any other new business and there was none. Miscellaneous: Chairperson Thomas passed out Certificates of Appreciation and pens to people who were unable to receive them at the original presentation ceremony. It was mentioned that birds are nesting in the lights at the Wilson Field. It has not been determined that they are causing a problem at this time. George Timmons stated that as an environmentalist, he would have a problem if the City bothered the birds. A question was raised by George Timmons as to the parking on Federal Highway. Mr. Timmons said that this was a major problem for his company and his employees. Mr. Wildner stated that the City would be putting in 50 parking spaces to see if that alleviated most of the problem except for holiday weekends. The legality of parking could be addressed with the Police Department and, if necessary, the Department of Transportation. The Chairperson introduced the new Recording Secretary, Susan Collins. 3 MEETING MINUTES RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JANUARY 24, 2000 SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY WORLD-CLASS FACILITIES TEAM Ms. Melody Green, Director of Recreation, introduced the World-Class Facilites Team who gave an audio-visual presentation on the state of our Recreation buildings and the improvements needed to bring them into line with other World- Class Cities. The presenters: Brenton Rolle, Wilson Center Charlie Crawford, Crew Leader Civic Center Kay Welch, Art and Activities Center Carolyn Sims, Recreation Manager Bill DeBeck, Facilities Manager Wally Majors, Recreation Manager Sharon Golden, Civic Center Supervisor/Recreation Mgr Ginny Shea, Marketing Manager Sherri Claude, Adm. Assistant to Director of Recreation Meg Cooper, Special Events Manager Mary DeGraffenreidt, Recreation Supervisor Ezell Hester David Saunders, Lifeguard Oceanfront Park The needed improvements were similar at most of the sites reviewed. There were issues of improper signage, staining from well water, shrubs not being trimmed, non-matching or inappropriate furniture and appurtenances, lime stains in bathrooms, and a lack of paintings, flowers and other aesthetic improvements. Chairperson Thomas asked Ms. Green if there were funds in the current budget to achieve the needed improvements. Ms. Green stated that 30% of the improvements had already been completed. The leadership team is reviewing the budget to see if previously allocated funds can be re-allocated towards this project. According to Ms. Green, by the end of this fiscal year, 50% of all items will be completed. Chairperson Thomas expressed embarrassment at the some of the building and site conditions shown in the slide presentation. A discussion ensued as to the best way to get the funds required to bring the City’s Recreation sites and buildings up to the next level of excellence. Dan Winters commented that Delray Beach, a target site which already expresses World Class excellence, runs a $270K deficit each year! Bali Ramnarace said that he hopes the proper support for John Wildner’s bid for the funds will be forthcoming. Mr. Winters also commented that when asking for funds and going up against a Police Department request for more police officers or the Fire Department for more firemen, the Parks and Recreation cause would 4 MEETING MINUTES RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JANUARY 24, 2000 probably not be granted. Mr. Winters said that there were no items mentioned that could not be taken care of with enough money and manpower. Chairperson Thomas and various Board members expressed appreciation for the fine quality of the presentation. Bali Ramnarace expressed appreciation to John Wildner for helping him with the cricket field. The field is finished now. Some players from the United Arab Emirates are expected to be here in September and the old field needs to be fixed. Mr. Wildner agreed and said that he was working with the Rolling Green School to get their irrigation system fixed which should help the problem. At 8:15 Chairperson Thomas excused herself and asked Tom Williams to take over as Chairperson. In reference to Boat Club Park, Bill DeBeck said that when they realized the project would be delayed even further they requested $250,000 for the docks, computers, clubhouse additions, restrooms, ceilings, roofs and got “zero”. In the Civic Center they asked for about $50,000 for ceilings, floors, stages, restroom modifications, awning, extra concrete work, and got “zero”. At the other parks and at Wilson Center, they asked for new floors, restrooms, and some other work and got “zero”. They asked for a total of $390,000 for miscellaneous repairs and got $90,000 for the whole City. John Wildner stated that Parks & Recreation were acutely aware of each of the items that needed to be done. Ms. Green has a list of what work needs to be done including which parks are being painted this year, but they are at a minimum compared to what we asked for. Ms. Green said that is why they are looking to re-allocate funds from the existing budget to be able to accommodate the recommendations of this Team. Ms. Green and Mr. Wildner agreed that it would be more appropriate for the Recreation Department to request the funds than Facilities. Ms. Green addressed Dan Winters regarding the arguments and priorities of getting the money. Operating dollars would of course go to add additional police officers. Capital dollars for these improvements would come from a completely different budget fund. Having this presentation done, identifying all the problems by each facility as to what needs to be done, and our reallocation of existing dollars to get 50% of it done this year present a powerful argument when we submit our capital budget requirements for next year. 5 MEETING MINUTES RECREATION AND PARKS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JANUARY 24, 2000 VI. NEXT MEETING: Monday, February 28, 2000, 7:00 p.m. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was properly adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) 6