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Minutes 10-12-11 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011, IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Regina Waterhouse, Chair Victor Norfus, Vice Chair (arrived 7:09) Evelyn Duplecy Ben Lowe Margret Newton Vincent Piraino Lesha Roundtree Phyllis Stern Floyd Zonenstein ABSENT: John Huntington, Board Liaison I. Openings A. Call to Order Chair Waterhouse called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, led by Mr. Piraino. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and determined a quorum to be present. Chair Waterhouse noted and introduced the two new members on the Board. The members, Evelyn Duplecy and Margaret Newton,shared a brief history about themselves and why they wanted to be a part of the Board. In addition, Mr. Swoop, who attended as an audience member, indicated he was interested in being a part of the Board in the future. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL October 12, 2011 III. Approval of Minutes: Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Stern seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Announcements Ms. Stern announced the continuation of the Tennis Carnival in April. It takes place the last Saturday in April at 10:00 a.m. and asked for volunteers to assist. She advised she would be soliciting for donations as gifts for the youth that attend. To reiterate the purpose of the Carnival, tennis classes are provided to youth in the elementary, middle and high schools. V. Approval of Agenda Although the agenda was unanimously accepted, no motion was made for the approval of the agenda. VI. Public Audience William Swoop, 721 NW 10th Court, advised he had an interest in the Community Relations Board. He felt he could make a contribution to the community as well. He has been a resident of Boynton Beach for 26 years. He currently is employed by Palm Beach County Government, as an Impact Fee Manager. He felt with that experience, it would provide him with the opportunity to get involved in a number of citizen issues and problems. He was advised by the City Clerk's office that appointments are made by the City Commission in December. Patty Schultz, 1073 NW 11th Street advised she and her husband came to the meeting because one of the Board members intercepted them after they spoke at the City Commission meeting about complicated and convoluted issues that have been going on for years. They have lived in the City for eight years and if they could move out, they would. Their neighborhood has been plagued by vehicles of all types, including swamp buggies, motor homes, boats, cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, box trucks and other recreational vehicles. Over the past six or seven years, they have contacted Code Compliance and had not gotten a satisfactory response from them. Ms. Schultz felt it takes them too long, sometimes seven to nine days, to respond to a violation complaint, only to inform them that no violations were taking place. There were clearly violations of the City Codes, in her opinion. She felt there are severe safety issues. Because of the RV's, boats and large trucks parked in the driveways and on the side of the homes, there was no place for the residents to park their personal vehicles, sometimes having 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL October 12, 2011 up to seven personal vehicles. As a result, the vehicles are parked in the City swales, on the street, and on the lawns, making visibility impossible. Since going in front of the City Commission, the City Manager had taken hold of the situation and in one day, Code Compliance wrote 12 violations. Ms. Schultz advised she wanted to stay in contact with the City Manager's office to make sure there would be consistency, as there has been no control or consistency all along. She advised there was a resident who parked a vehicle that was against City Code. It was a 4500 Kodiak truck with a cab the size of a semi. There was a bed on the back and stands 11 feet high and almost 10 feet wide. It takes up four parking spaces in a parking lot. This resident was cited in the spring of this year and was told by the City that he could not park that vehicle in the neighborhood. The resident is the owner of a boat dealership on Federal Highway, and for the last four years he has parked the vehicle, towing a large trailer and business boats along the swale and sidewalk with all his signage exposed. It was brought to her attention that in the next few weeks, he would be going in front of the City Commission, asking for a change in the City Ordinance to allow vehicles of 4500 or 450 size trucks to be parked in residential neighborhoods. Many of the residents are opposed. Ms. Schultz advised that because she was opposed, she, among other residents, have been run off the road three times in the neighborhood, properties have been damaged and she advised she had been run off Boynton Beach Blvd and 1 -95 by a resident of this community. The neighborhood was run by a group of 10 -12 bullies. She advised she was a disabled person, cannot walk the sidewalks in the neighborhood due to the vehicles blocking them. There was actually an organized rebellion by the community to park their RV's, trucks and trailers on the streets, sidewalks, and lawns. Ms. Schultz advised she came to the meeting because she does not know where else to turn. Chair Waterhouse advised the Board would elevate this to Officer Huntington and the City Commission. She inquired if there was a homeowner association in the neighborhood and Ms. Schultz advised there was, but it was run by the violators. They are the same people who ran her off the road. The residents who complain are not welcome at the meetings and when complaints are put in writing, there was no response. The name of the homeowner association was Sky Lake POA. Mr. Zonenstein inquired of Ms. Schultz whether she tried to get in touch with her Commissioner, who would be Commissioner Ross. She advised she had done that last year, but when the situation began to escalate, she stopped communicating. She had also contacted Mike Rumpf and Mayor Rodriguez. Ms. Stern advised Ms. Schultz that possibly she should look into legal counsel for the criminal activity and to investigate whether the ordinances allow the vehicles on the sidewalks and lawns. Ms. Schultz advised she could not afford an attorney. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL October 12, 2011 Chair Waterhouse reiterated to Ms. Schultz that the Board would begin working on the issue immediately, communicating with Officer Huntington, the Board liaison, and bring the issue in front of the City Commission on her behalf. She would copy the Board members and Ms. Schultz on any emails sent regarding this situation. VII. Old Business A. Transportation Options Follow-up: Shopper Hopper Chair Waterhouse advised that at last month's meeting, there were three representatives that came to speak about two issues; the Senior Center hours and the Shopper Hopper transportation issue. Mr. Lowe recapped the events at the Commission meeting. He advised the Commission made a decision that Mae Volen would replace the Shopper Hopper that had been used in the City. It would be done at a fraction of the cost, but would not be able to provide Saturday routes, but would instead be done on Monday. They were working on getting a grant, and next year, they plan on hopefully subsidizing individual point-to-point transportation. The fee went up from fifty cents to $3.00, one way. He also advised the Commission made the decision to keep the Senior Center hours the same as they were. The Board members continued discussion on the Mae Volen costs and problems that may arise with seniors not being able to afford the fare. B. Senior Center: Commission Decision This item was discussed under VII. A. C. New Advisory Board Members: Additional Inquiries Chair Waterhouse advise that last month there was an issue regarding getting together outside a regular Board meeting to discuss issues. She had emailed Officer Huntington regarding the issue and he responded that it was permissible to have a sub-committee to meet and discuss agenda items and to form a plan of action, as long as the items had already been discussed in a public forum. The email from Officer Huntington will be attached and will become part of the minutes. 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL October 12, 2011 VIII. New Business A. Photograph A group photograph, as well as individual photographs were taken of the Board members. Ms. Newton advised she had two issues that came to her for the Board. One was on the Ocean Breeze Land Trust and the other was on the Heart of Boynton. Chair Waterhouse suggested the items be added to the next agenda for discussion. IX. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Zonenstein moved to adjourn. Mr. Lowe seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m. t11u Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 5 XFINITY Connect http: / /sz017Q.wc. mail. comcast. netizimbra /h /printmessage ?id= 18 XFINITY Connect rswaterhouse @comcast.net + Font Size : CRB Meeting From : John Huntington <HuntingtonJ @bbfl.us> Wed, Oct 05, 2011 03:53 PM Subject : CRB Meeting 6%2 attachments To : rswaterhouse@comcast.net Regina, I will not be able to attend the CRB meeting scheduled for October 12 Due to recent burglanes, 1 was assigned to attend a community meeting that was scheduled a few days ago As the Cnme Prevention Coordinator, I need to address the community on the department's plan of action. Please give my regards to the board members The CRB meetings are always circled on my calendar and I will make every effort to attend future meetings I also want to take the time to address one of the concerns from last month's minutes Regarding the importance of bringing concerns to the Commission in a timely matter, it is permissible to have a sub - committee to meet to discuss agenda items and to form a plan of action as long as the items have already been discussed in a public forum Example would be previous public concerns of the Shopper Hopper, Senior Center, etc You could have a sub - committee meet the day after your regularly scheduled meeting to form a plan of action to the Commission Please use the document template that we previously discussed I encourage the board to invite guest speakers that are available to inform the public of items of interest I suggest you announce future speakers at the close of business in order for the announcement to be posted with your meeting minutes It is the responsibility of each board member to forward future agenda items to the Chairperson and cc myself We have discussed many ways to have future agenda items by attending meetings and speaking with residents of Boynton Another suggestion would be to have a Face book page and invite the public for comments You would be surprised as to how many people rely on Face book to communicate Our Police Dept has a Face book page and it has been very successful in comments both positive and negative Thanks again for allowing me to serve you, you and the board members are doing a good job and can make a difference Officer John Huntington IP ` Crime Prevention Unit Cell :: 561- 706 -2960 ' Office: 561-742-6848 " Fax: 561- 738 -5127 . <;,, ,. x , , , `° image003.gif ,. 2 KB li image001.gif "�� 40 KB 1 of 1 10/12/2011 6:18 PM