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Minutes 09-14-11 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2011, IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Regina Waterhouse, Chair Victor Norfus, Vice Chair ( arrived 7:10) Ben Lowe Vincent Piraino Lesha Roundtree Phyllis Stern ABSENT: Floyd Zonenstein John Huntington, Board Liaison I. Openings A. Call to Order Chair Waterhouse called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and determined a quorum to be present. Chair Waterhouse noted two new members on the Board. The members introduced themselves and shared a little history about themselves and why they wanted to be a part of the Board. III. Approval of Minutes: Motion Ms. Stern moved to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Lowe seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 14, 2011 IV. Announcements None. V. Approval of Agenda Vice Chair Norfus commented for the last few meetings, there had not been an agenda ahead of time to properly review or amend. Chair Waterhouse advised she would speak to Officer Huntington about either standardizing the agenda or providing items in order to receive it earlier. She advised she pulled some items from last month’s agenda and added them to this agenda. Mr. Lowe advised he wished to add item B, Senior Center and Shopper Hopper under VIII. New Business. Motion Ms. Roundtree moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Piraino seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. Public Audience Kathryn Lynch , 610 Horizons East, wanted to ask questions about the Senior Center closing at 1:00 p.m. and the ceasing of the Shopper Hopper. She advised the seniors depend on the bus and the Center for companionship. Many are at home with no car, do not drive, take medications and simply want friendship. This is what the Senior Center provides. If the early closing was to happen, and the transportation would be taken away, she felt the only people who would frequent the center were the seniors on Mae Volen’s lunch program. There are seniors who arrive at the center at 8:00 a.m. and stay until 2:45 p.m. until the bus takes them home. Mae Volen would pick up at 10:30 a.m., provide lunch and take them back home after lunch. Chair Waterhouse advised Ms. Lynch that the procedure when bringing issues to the Community Relations Advisory Board was a communication would be drafted that goes to the Commission advising them of a concern from the citizens. The Board would set up a meeting and then follow up with a response. The Board’s responsibility was to take it forward to the next step. Ms. Lynch advised she, among others, were not aware the Board existed and had been attending the Commission meetings and getting nowhere. Chair Waterhouse advised the issues are largely tied to budget. Rather than eliminating a program entirely, sometimes the program was modified. Ms. Lynch advised the Senior Center had sponsors. Doctors, lawyers and individuals donate money to the Center. That would be lost revenue, as well as the non-residents who pay $40.00 to patronize the Center in the afternoon. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 14, 2011 She advised there were petitions submitted to the City Manager’s office a few months ago, but nothing was done with them. Vice Chair Norfus requested copies of the petition, as well as the sign in sheet at the Center indicating the number of seniors signing in. Ms. Lynch advised the seniors would like the Center open at least until 3:00 p.m. as there are classes and activities beginning at 12:30p.m. If the Center closed at 1:00 p.m., those classes would be cancelled. The seniors would not pay $40.00 for classes at the Civic Center. Roberta Larson , 4359 Francina Court, Lake Worth, advised she was one of three bus drivers for the City. She had been a bus driver for the City for 11½ years and was the driver for the Shopper Hopper. She advised that Mr. Majors had indicated the City was investigating obtaining a grant for the Mae Volen bus service and if a grant was not possible, the bus service would be eliminated in its entirety. Ms. Larson advised that not only was the Shopper Hopper the transportation option for the Senior Center, but also for transportation to shopping and appointments. She also advised the seniors would be willing to pay more for the service in order to keep it. There was discussion about the taxi voucher program that was suggested by the City in which it was suggested that $50,000 be earmarked for a taxi voucher program. It was a program launched in Wellington that appeared to be working. Ms. Larson commented that she mentioned at the Commission meeting that cutting out the Shopper Hopper because of budgetary concerns, but raising salaries of City Officials instead of putting money back into the community for the elderly, was not right. Chair Waterhouse commented that the same thing happened with the trolley. She reiterated the next step would be to schedule a meeting with the Mayor and the City Manager before a decision was made at the Commission meeting. She hoped for a positive outcome. th Shirley Jaskiewicz , 1917 SW 13 Avenue, is a former teacher, served as Chairman of the Community Relations Board and went on to become a Commissioner and Vice Mayor. She commented that the Shopper Hopper and the Senior Center began as an aspiration of this Board due to the large population of seniors in the community. She explained how the Senior Center building became reality and the history of the Shopper Hopper bus acquisition. She explained because of the seniors and their presence in the community, the Senior Advisory Committee was created. She expressed her disappointment that now the City wanted to take these things away from the seniors when budget was an issue. She thanked the Community Relations Board for the job they do and for any assistance they could provide with this situation. She added that she felt the grant should not be procured for the Mae Volen bus. It should stay in Boynton Beach and grant money should be kept in the City. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 14, 2011 VII. Old Business A. Advisory Board Candidate Recruitment follow up Chair Waterhouse recognized the two new members. She advised she was introduced to some of the business owners in the City and some of the problems they were having with commitments given by the City that have not been fulfilled yet. She wanted more input from business owners about issues they were having since that was part of why this Board was set up. B. Marketing the Community Relations Board: sample brochure, picture Chair Waterhouse announced that at next month’s meeting, she planned a group photograph for the brochure. She would get the brochure printed and would ask if business cards could be provided, as well. C. Proposed guest speakers Mr. Lowe mentioned that when he visited the Senior Center, they had offered to speak about what happens at the Center, what activities there were, and what services were available to the seniors in the community. Chair Waterhouse advised she was told by Officer Huntington that any big presentation that was planned could be announced through the utility bills. She also stated she thought there was a television station that advertised events and items of interest in the City. She would follow up. She commented one of her former colleagues works for someone who was on a Board that was charged with bringing business to Palm Beach County. She thought that would be a good presentation for the next meeting. There was further discussion about different media outlets that could be utilized. VIII. New Business A. New Board Members This item was discussed earlier in the meeting. Vice Chair Norfus mentioned he went to the new Historical Preservation Board meeting as a gesture of support. He also attended the CRA meeting and noted there were still issues with them not funding things like the Heritage Celebration. He felt many of the citizen-type functions are suffering because of the budget problems. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 14, 2011 B. Senior Center/Shopper Hopper Mr. Lowe felt the Board needed to come up with a plan of action. There were some great ideas about how to get a proposal before the Commission. He commented that a meeting with City officials was important. The seniors came to the meeting hoping for resolution from the Board. He commented he saw two issues: 1) the time closing of the Senior Center was important. He was not sure what the cost was to keep it open for the extra two hours, but it did not seem as of it should be as big a problem as the Commission was making it to be. If there are activities that begin at 12:30, the Center needs to stay open until 3:00 p.m., and should not be closed. He wants the City to explain what the rationale was for making the decision; and 2) the Shopper Hopper was a separate issue and should not be treated as one issue with the Senior Center. Chair Waterhouse added the problem was that decisions are made because one person feels the problem could be solved by closing early, which alleviates the overhead. She advised she would send an email to Officer Huntington and would copy everyone on the email. She would bring up the issues discussed with him and inform him that time was very important, to meet with the City officials for discussion. Ms. Stern mentioned if a grant was being worked on for Mae Volen and they are a private organization, and not solely for Boynton Beach, the City should make Boynton Beach seniors and their Center more important and should take precedence. There was a lengthy discussion among the members about different ideas and ways to help the seniors and work with the City to keep the Senior Center open, stressing the Shopper Hopper was not only for the Senior Center but also for transportation to doctors and grocery shopping. Vice Chair Norfus commented on some of the issues that come up suddenly which could not wait until the next month’s meeting. Ms. Stern commented that before Officer Huntington became the liaison, the Board would have Committee meetings at the library. At those meetings, action plans would be formulated that could be implemented. If something were needed before the regular Community Relations Board meeting, possibly the Board could meet as a sub-committee and therefore it would not be considered “talking informally amongst each other”. Chair Waterhouse suggested checking with Officer Huntington to ensure no regulations were being violated. The purpose of the meetings would be to gather information, not for decision making. Vice Chair Norfus suggested setting aside the fourth Wednesday of the month, when necessary, to meet and discuss important issues that could not wait until the next regular meeting. A decision was not made. 5 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 14, 2011 IX. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Stern moved to adjourn. Vice Chair Norfus seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. f j_l{'t~, ('O./U{,2-(1'- Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 6