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Minutes 06-13-12 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012, AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER, CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Willie Swoope, Vice Chair Evelyn Duplecy Ben Lowe Margaret Newton Lesha Roundtree Floyd Zonenstein Wendy Kelly, Alternate ABSENT: Vince Piraino, Chair Phyllis Stern Regina Waterhouse Richard Wise, Alternate I. Openings A. CaII to Order Vice Chair Swoope called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll CaII The Recording Secretary called the roll and determined a quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes — April 11 Meeting Motion Mr. Lowe moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Zonenstein seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Approval of Agenda a. Additions, deletions, corrections. Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL June 13, 2012 b. Adoption Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded by Ms. Duplecy and unanimously passed. V. Announcements Officer Huntington requested members provide him with their current email address. VI. Public Audience INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE - MINUTE PRESENTATIONS VII. Old Business A. Board Member Concerns Vice Chair Swoope expressed his concern that as a Community Relations Board, something should be done to advertise the purpose of the Board and the types of issues that could be brought to the Board. He felt the members should think about ways to make the Board more visible to the community and constituents of the City of Boynton Beach. Ms. Roundtree mentioned that Ms. Waterhouse was supposed to distribute a flyer to the Board for review and distribution around the City. The Board members never received the flyer and Officer Huntington suggested contacting Ms. Waterhouse and asking her to provide the flyer. The cost of printing would be a factor at this point as there was no money budgeted and Ms. Waterhouse originally was going to cover the cost herself. Ms. Newton expressed a concern that the Board as a whole may not have an understanding of what the mission was and what the Board was supposed to do. She suggested at the next meeting, the Board review what the City's definition of this Board was and how each member could feed into the vision. She opined that communication as a group was not up to par. Officer Huntington advised that in January 2011, this issue was brought up. Prior to that, someone from the City attended a meeting and reviewed what could and could not be done by the Board. He would recommend the City Manager attend a meeting and speak to the members of the Board. He offered to follow up and invite the City Manager to a meeting. Vice Chair Swoope indicated there was a copy of the Ordinance available and he would email it to everyone for review at the next meeting. There was continued discussion 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL June 13, 2012 among the members about concerns and suggestions for more Board visibility including publishing the meetings in the Palm Beach Post and utilizing social media. VIII. Special Business A. Sherri Johnson, Executive Director, Community Caring Center Ms. Johnson began by providing information about the background of the Community Caring Center and the vision created by them. She stated public services were provided up to 2007, at which point an Economic Development department was added. She reviewed the different reasons the public came to the Center for assistance. She added the perception of the food pantry and the way the public viewed it had to be changed. As a result, an approach to a healthier food environment was explored. This was decided in part due to the lack of proper healthcare much of the population Tacks. Slowly, pastry and other processed foods were given out less frequently. Refrigeration was brought in for fresh produce and healthier foods and the health issues had begun to be addressed. Ms. Johnson indicated in 2004 there was a study done that addressed the hunger of children in the community and the Community Caring Center partnered in that study. As a result, a fundraiser called the Hunger Walk was formed. A survey showed that this area was three times higher than the national average for children not knowing where their next meal was coming from. From there, other organizations that helped were the Palm Beach State College campus and United Way that gave presentations on how to address hunger. An organization from Philadelphia established a system in the State called a Food Trust and from that a food financing incentive program was established that operated much like the home program for affordable housing. When there was a transaction, part of the money went into a trust fund that would come back to the community to help establish non - profit grocery stores that would be able to provide affordable access points. Ms. Johnson continued to discuss the Center's history and the vision for future programs that would provide fresher, healthier foods. They also became involved with USDA for a larger selection of foods and created a nutrition program for seniors, awareness programs for diabetes wellness, canning, and chronic diseases, among others. Ms. Johnson advised their goal was to progress to a non - profit grocery store that would provide affordable, healthy food for the community. The Center was in the process of negotiating on a potential site that would be a 12,000 square foot facility and foresees creating 125 jobs. Ms. Johnson was requesting the Community Relations Board to assist her in getting the public aware of what the Center does and what its goals were to help move them forward. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL June 13, 2012 IX. New Business None. X. Adjournment Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to adjourn. Mr. Lowe seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m. _,,,(1c..54_, __GLA,k,i_.._,(..-7---. COE&- EIIie Caruso Recording Secretary 4