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Minutes 08-23-10 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND PARKS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2010 AT 6:30 P.M. AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Betty Pierce-Roe, Chair Wally Majors, Recreation and Corey Cook Parks Director John McVey Bob Lapin Catherine Scantlan Janelle Sloan I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Chair Roe called the roll. A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. : June 28, 2010 (July 26, 2010 meeting was not held meeting/lack of quorum) Wally Majors , Recreation and Parks Director, pointed out the April minutes had not been approved. Copies had been distributed at the beginning of the meeting. Motion Mr. Cook moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Sloan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. It was noted the motion pertained to approving both the April and July minutes. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. C.I.P Priorities Mr. Majors explained the Board spent the last few months touring various parks and viewing the inventory. The Board was asked to list their priorities and the recommendation would be used for the Capital Improvements budget for maintenance. He commented there would be no new building projects. 1 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL August 23, 2010 At this time, maintenance primarily consisted of mowing, picking up the trash and keeping the parks neat. Staff fills out a form when they go to the parks and were trained to conduct safety inspections. The Department upgraded its entire inventory of playgrounds over the last few years. Ms. Rivers was assertive and proactive, not waiting for things to go wrong or break at the parks. Rust removal would be considered maintenance. Broken equipment was addressed immediately. Graffiti was addressed immediately and vandalism may fall under maintenance. Gang-related vandalism was addressed immediately. The Palmetto linear greenway picnic area experienced vandalism as did Sara Sims Park. The Capital Improvements budget had funds allocated and the Department budget had line items for equipment repair and maintenance matters. Staff tried to anticipate as much as possible and minimize the reaction. The Tennis Center had lights that would need to be replaced. That would be a Capital item because it was a significant cost. Mr. Majors explained Capital items were usually expensive. Chair Roe inquired if some of the lights were off or dimmed at Boat Club Park because of turtles. The dock lights were on, but the first three closest to the water were off. Mr. Majors agreed to check on the lights. Mr. Majors also offered to provide the Board with a roster of all the parks and the Board could pick the top five they felt should be addressed and forward their recommendations to the City Commission. He also gave an update on the following: The Senior Center was almost maxed out and they would maintain the programs. ? The Barrier Free Park was moving forward. The City Commission approved the ? allocation of funds to complete the first phase, albeit it was not necessarily up to the design level they wanted. They had anticipated funds would be left over from the Oceanfront Park Boardwalk, but it was difficult to predict. Staff was modifying the construction plans to be more commensurate with the funding available, but Mr. Majors was unsure if they would have to rebid the project. The plans had to be adjusted because the City did not have the funds to complete it as it was originally designed. The Boynton Beach Foundation was finalized and there was now a formal non- ? profit organization to assist the City with their projects. The Foundation’s first project would be the park. Mr. Majors was impressed with the composition of the Board, and expressed they have the interest and ability to make projects happen. Ms. Sloan served on the Board’s subcommittee for a year and would continue to serve as a committee member. She commented Mike Penn, Chairman of the Foundation, was a hardworking individual. They were building the Board up and were working on brochures so when they approached potential donors they had information about the Board. 2 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL August 23, 2010 The Board was also impacting the grants the City had available for the project. Mr. Majors noted they had to meet two grant deadlines or they would lose the grants. He hoped to break ground for the park by the early part of next year and it was his understanding the park must be completed before the end of next year. There were only two items involving his Department that were on the City Commission’s wish list. One was the Shopper Hopper and the other was the Youth Violence Prevention Program at the Sims Center. The Department submits a budget in April that is reviewed by the City Manager, other staff, and the Budget Review Committee. When they modified it, they had to remove the Transportation Division. They also wanted to fund the Youth Violence Prevention Program at a lower level. When the City Commission reviewed the budget, they requested those two items be put on a wish list to try to retain those services. The millage was at 7.2 but the City Commission would try to reduce the rate. Earlier in the day he was informed there would be a Special City Commission meeting on August 31st to address the wish list. Other than the wish list, all else in the Department was intact. Transportation was a crucial item in terms of climate control and its carbon footprint in the community. Public transportation was a significant portion of any initiative and it provided an alternative to transportation. It was used for the Senior Center, the after- school program, summer camp field trips and other functions. It would be a very difficult decision. Communities that do not provide transportation options for elderly residents resulted in people fighting harder to keep their licenses which impacted public safety. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Bicentennial/Veterans Park Mr. Majors advised the existing Veterans Commission and different generations of veterans had requested the City consider renaming Bicentennial Park to Bicentennial/Veterans Park; however, staff learned Bicentennial Park was already renamed to Bicentennial/Veterans Park in the 80s. The City Manager appreciated the Board’s feedback about anything involving parks and thought it was appropriate to determine if there were any objections. Ms. Sloan pointed out most individuals called the parks by the first word of its name. Now Bicentennial Park was much more prominent in its display. Discussion turned to the Veterans Park on Ocean Avenue. There was a Banyan tree and public art there, but nothing else to indicate it was a Veterans Park. The members suggested dropping the word Bicentennial. Mr. Majors was not aware of whether the veterans wanted to maintain the word Bicentennial or not and he suggested the Board defer to the veterans. Based on their response they could address the park on Ocean Avenue. The members thought this was appropriate and had no objections to conferring with them. 3 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL August 23, 2010 th B. Selection of Holiday Parade Grand Marshall (4 Monday in October) The parade Grand Marshal had historically been chosen by a committee and now it was chosen by a committee comprised primarily of staff. The holiday parade Committee used to be made of City staff, the Chamber of Commerce and several volunteers. Through the years, the committee evolved into a committee of staff and volunteers. Mr. Majors felt it was better to choose the Grand Marshal in a different manner and requested the Board take on that role. The Recreation and Parks staff would accept the nominations for the Grand Marshal and the selection would be made by the Board. He distributed copies of the qualifications detailing how people were selected in the past. Staff would then bring the nominations to the Board in October and the members would meet in November and make the selection. It was noted the Committee had no objections to using that process. Staff issued press releases and used word of mouth to advertise nominations would take place. If a member wanted to nominate an individual, they should advise staff. He pointed out the nominated individual should have some degree of significance. Examples given were a person could be the head of a foundation. One year it was the Little League Champions. Another year it was the Fire Chief. Former committee member Betty Thomas was a former Marshal as was Brian Edwards. The individual could be a long-time volunteer or head of an entity. C. Future meetings Mr. Majors inquired whether the Board wanted to meet each month or every other month. Several members liked every other month but acknowledged it would be more difficult to meet during the holidays. Meeting for two months and not on the third, or meeting the next two months, but not the month after, etc. was also suggested. The September 27th meeting date was the same night as the budget hearing, so the meeting would be cancelled or rescheduled. The Board had already agreed to meet in October and November. Generally, they did not meet in December or the month of the Annual Advisory Board Dinner. Mr. Majors agreed to check the Ordinance to determine if it needed to be amended to reflect the changes in the number of meetings. There was agreement the Board would decide in November whether it would hold a January and/or February meeting. It was noted staff was always available if something needed to be addressed. The Board could meet or email staff. There were options and the Board was flexible. The members would also see one another at the budget meeting as well. B. Items for the City Manager’s Attention Former Governor Jeb Bush, during his time in office, had created an initiative to build several Boundless Playgrounds in Florida. At the time, the Department was looking for ideas for Congress Avenue. They hoped to break ground in January. Mr. Majors announced the Jaycee Park Art Marker project would be amazing. Prior to the 4 Meeting Minutes Recreation and Parks Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL August 23, 2010 improvements, the Park was a discreet park and the markers greatly enhanced the project. The Oceanfront Park beach was also improved. The Boardwalk and stonework was impressive and a ribbon cutting ceremony would be held in the winter on a Saturday. The Sand Sifters, who were praised for their efforts and who, significantly and consistently helped maintain the beaches, would be included. Mr. Lapin inquired, in reference to the beautification of Boynton Beach, how realtors were able to construct two projects on Federal Highway. He pointed out one project had no front setback between the road and the door. The other had the building on the roadfront. He thought it was awful. He advised he was a realtor but it troubled him to see this had occurred. Mr. Majors commented this also occurred in Delray Beach. The City has regulations regarding setbacks and zoning; however, Mr. Lapin thought given the project's construction, the regulations needed help. It was noted INCA had faced a similar issue and the community had to band together and make their sentiments known. Residents had to keep apprised of the issues continuously. Mr. Lapin also commended the developer at Renaissance Commons. He indicated he did a beautiful job and he requested his comments be passed along to the appropriate parties. VI. NEXT MEETING: TBD (September 27 Budget Hearing) There was agreement the Board would meet in October. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m. {}UjlJU/~ Cb/Lf'LtL Catherine Cherry (] Recording Secretary 083010 5