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Minutes 09-12-12 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012, @ 7 P.M. IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOY BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Vince Piraino, Chair John Huntington, Board Liaison Willie Swoope, Vice Chair Jennifer Gunter Ben Lowe . Wendy Kelly Margaret Newton Lesha Roundtree Floyd Zonenstein SENT: Phyllis Stern 1. Openings A. Call to Order Chair Piraino 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. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and determined a quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes — July 11 Meeting Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to approve the minutes. Vice Chair Swoope seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Announcement: None 1 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 12, 2012 V. Approval of Agenda 1. Additions, deletions, corrections. Vice Chair Swoope added a report from his discussion with Mayor Hay about the Board. 2. Adoption Motion Mr. Lowe moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Zonenstein seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. Public Audience None. VII. Old Business A. Charter School Guest Speaker Chair Piraino explained the speaker was unable to attend the meeting due to his schedule and agreed to follow up with Dr. Lee on Monday via telephone. B. Still working on approval for new Community Relations Board brochures. Chair Piraino commented the printing of 1,000 brochures had been approved. He sent the brochure to the City Manager's office, but Ms. Persaud was submitting the brochure used in the past and the information needed to be updated. He suggested, if desired, using the Boynton Beach emblem instead of a group photo. The idea was to update the brochure as soon as possible. Ms. Gunter agreed to work on the brochure and the members agreed to take a group photo after the meeting. Vice Chair Swoope explained he spoke with Mayor Hay after the last meeting about the Board. He indicated the Community Relations Board (CRB) was available to serve the citizens and if any situation arose during a City Commission meeting, it could be referred to the Board. He developed an email follow -up of the discussion and described what the function and duties of the Board were. He commented that for issues discussed during the Public Audience portion of City Commission meetings, the CRB may be a valuable resource to assist citizens with problem resolution and that information was available on the City's website. He thought Mayor Hay was amenable to the suggestion. He had not received a response, but he was made aware of the CRB and their duties and could refer citizens to the Board when appropriate. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 12, 2012 VIII. Special Business: A. Education Initiative for Boynton Beach — Commissioner Ross wants Community Relations Board to take the lead on this project. The members had received an email from Commissioner Ross regarding the Education Initiative meeting which Mr. Zonenstein and Ms. Newton had attended. Ms. Newton explained staff and other advisory boards were represented at the meeting. Commissioner Ross spoke specifically about education and using education as part of the branding initiative in Boynton Beach. Commissioner Ross sought to develop a slogan regarding education, to identify all educational levels within the City and coordinate it with the other City Boards. The Boards, at times, had indicated they would like more to do and she requested the Community Relations Board, in particular, lead this effort. The Boards she recalled that were present at the meeting were the Library, Community Relations Board, Sister Cities, Recreation and Parks, Police, the City Manager, her assistant and Commissioner Ross. Ms. Newton mentioned it was also indicated at the meeting that the Community Relations Board could write a newsletter which could be posted on the City's website. She thought it was interesting, informative and fascinating to find out the City has a multitude of educational opportunities within its borders, but many people were not aware of them. Mr. Lowe thought the task was vague. He inquired where the idea came from and if it referred to regular public schools, adult education often provided by the County and the locations in the City where it is held. He inquired why the Board stood out for the task and how the City's education resources compared to other communities. Ms. Newton responded that issue was raised and Commissioner Ross explained it was part of the agenda she would like to pursue. Identifying and publicizing educational opportunities was part of branding. She agreed the attendees were trying to grasp the concept, and what they wanted to highlight within the City. Commissioner Ross had pointed out Kaiser College, a new nursing school opened in the City on Congress Avenue near the mall, there were a number of charter and preschools in the City, as well as public schools, but that was just a piece. She commented there were grand ideas. Now the Board had to pull those ideas to together. She reiterated the task was to highlight the City of Boynton Beach and its educational facilities. Since the Community Relations Board had indicated it would like additional tasks, it was chosen to take the lead. Chair Piraino explained he was unable to take the lead due to his schedule. Discussion returned to the deadline of the second week in October. By then, all the Boards will have met and the participants will have grasped the concept of branding. The members also discussed the Sunshine Law. The Community Relations Board is not to meet with the other Boards. Each Board Chair was to report back to the Community Relations 3 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 12, 2012 Board and they would report to Commissioner Ross. More specifically, the Community Relations Board should report back to her with a slogan for the City of Boynton Beach regarding education and educational marketing, ideas on how to promote a positive image for the City, how to identify the educational opportunities and how volunteers can help to enhance education within the City. Ms. Newton thought the Board should select one idea and submit it, because she did not see all these tasks occurring by the second week in October. It was agreed the members would think of ideas and pick one at the next meeting. The categories for the members to contemplate were contained on the email they had received. It was hoped the Board would become involved with the effort. Mr. Lowe commented the City had many brands. The water bill had an insert from the Community Redevelopment Agency and they had a whole new theme for downtown restaurants. They were pushing tourism and slogans. The members agreed they would think of ideas and discuss them at the next meeting. Ms. Newton explained the first item requested by Commissioner Ross was the development of a slogan. IX. New Business A. Volunteer from a Board to attend a Community Association Meeting. Chair Piraino commented he had received information regarding the Forest Park Neighborhood Community meeting at 6:30 p.m. on September 19th and inquired if any of the members could attend. Vice Chair Swoope and Ms. Kelley agreed to attend. A list of the various community meetings had previously been provided to the members. There was discussion an updated list would be requested and Ms. Gunter volunteered to attend at least two community association meetings by the end of the year. B. Small Businesses of Boynton Beach — Guest Speaker Dean Arnst from Paddle Away Sports. A few months ago, the Board had decided to have new businesses come to the meeting. Dean Arnst, proprietor of Paddle Away Sports, was present. Mr. Arnst's business was located at 2240 S. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, at Intracoastal Park and he had kayak, stand -up paddle boat rentals, and water sports equipment sales and rentals. He explained he started the business in June, and provides tours of the Intracoastal and has kayaks and paddle boats. He distributed his business cards and appreciated any support he could receive. Chair Piraino inquired how he was promoting his business. Mr. Arnst responded he was contracted with the City of Boynton Beach, he was advertised in FunFare Magazine and via press releases. He has a website, and had advertised in Groupon, Living Social and Travel Zoo, as well as through old- fashioned legwork, flyers, business cards and networking. The only other similar business in the City was located in the vicinity of 4 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 12, 2012 Two Georges' restaurant. Mr. Arnst did not provide parasailing and in response to questions posed, he explained what a paddle board was. Paddle boarding was a fairly new sport and he provided lessons. The City contracted with him to give lessons two times a month to help generate revenue to the City. The lessons for the City were on the second and fourth Saturdays at 8 a.m. and they last for three hours. The actual lesson was thirty minutes leaving two and a half hours extra time. He introduced water safety, endangered species and how to interact and when not to interact with wildlife to his students. He then goes over the basics of kayaking. He explained neither sport was difficult and people generally learned it quickly. He did provide life vests. The area during low tide where he gives lessons was very shallow and the water was shin high. It was a good time for someone who does not swim to be out as it was not dangerous at all. Paddle Away Sports was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days per week and he was the owner operator. The Board welcomed him and wished him well. C. Child Safety Expo at Old Navy on Saturday September 15, 2012 Chair Piraino announced the Safety Expo would be held at Old Navy and he invited the members to attend. Backpacks, booklets and gun locks would be distributed. Officer Huntington had provided the supplies and Chair Piraino would bring the table and boxes. The members were requested to bring folding chairs. Chair Piraino would set up at 11:30 a.m. and the event would end at 4 p.m. Members could stay for an hour or for the entire time. Chair Piraino agreed to email Ms. Gunter the template for the brochure so she could update it and then Chair Piraino would print copies to distribute at the Expo. Ms. Newton volunteered for the 2 to 4 shift. D. Foster Grandparent program. Brochures provided. Ms. Kelly explained this was a mentoring program that placed seniors with children that were in Head Start programs all the way up to the third grade to mentor at -risk children. Most of her volunteers were low- income senior citizens. By volunteering with the program, they receive a stipend of $2.65 per hour. She pointed out the stipend was non- taxable. The program also reimbursed for mileage and provided for meal reimbursement or meals on site. She was recruiting for all of Palm Beach County, especially the Glades, Indian River, Okeechobee and also for Martin County. She had brochures and applications available for those interested in volunteering. The next training session would be held in January; however, she could train earlier if enough people were interested. Schools the volunteers mentored in were Whispering Pines, Boca, Pine Grove, Roosevelt Elementary in West Palm Beach and others. If there was a school in Boynton, such as Poinciana and a member knows of a volunteer who could use the extra income, they could likely be brought on as a Foster Grandparent and they could continue to mentor at that school and be paid. Ms. Kelly distributed brochures and 5 Meeting Minutes Community Relations Board Boynton Beach, FL September 12, 2012 applications. She explained there were 150 volunteer enlisted and a total of 443 youth. Most of the youth were high risk youth that were in foster care, and had literacy and emotional needs. On a different matter, Mr. Lowe received confirmation that when a member attended a neighborhood association, they were to represent the Community Relations Board and encourage residents to come to the Board with their issues. It was noted the brochures would be available by the next meeting and he would bring them so members could distribute them. Ms. Gunter agreed to create a flyer. Chair Piraino recapped the items for the next agenda. X. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Zonenstein moved to adjourn. Vice Chair Swoope seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. 6aaow�t e'kw� Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 091792 6