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Minutes 11-28-12 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL EVENTS AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE ETIG HELD ON NOVEMBER 28, 2012, AT 5:00 P.M. IN THE CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Elliott Williams, Chair James Guilbeault, Vice Chair Wyn Yelin Michele Costantino, Alternate ABSENT: Brad Sevaldson Mark Karageorge, Alternate I. Welcome Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. II. Introduction & Announcements None. III. Approval of Minutes Ms. Costantino moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Yelin seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Chair Williams explained there was an upcoming City Commission meeting on December 4, 2012, and the purpose of this Committee meeting was to review what the Committee wanted to discuss with the Commission. Ms. Costantino had developed an outline of the event. It was agreed she would review the presentation and discussion would follow. A copy of the handout is attached to the minutes. Mr. Guilbeault first wanted to update the Board regarding a Chamber Board meeting held this afternoon. Mr. Buchanan announced they were going forward with the event as a City, Chamber and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) venture. The Chamber secured five local blues bands that would provide the music for the festival in -kind. The headliner was BB King's and other bands from Boca, and Boston's on the Beach. All of the bands were very good and the event was planned as a one -day event. The City would be involved in the truck and car show. Mr. Guilbeault inquired if the Committee was representing the City. Ms. Costantino believed that under the enabling Resolution, they were, but that may change when they speak with the Commission. 1 Meeting Minutes Special Events Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL November 28, 2012 Chair Williams also attended a meeting with Mr. Buchanan two weeks ago and discussion took place that the Committee would be in charge of food vendors. He asked Kathy Biscuiti if she was aware of a group of food trucks that go to Wellington on Friday nights as he wanted to contact those vendors. Later, he would contact other vendors as different vendors were needed. Ms. Costantino reviewed items that were needed and different organizations that should participate in the event. The opening showcased Boynton's agricultural community. She highlighted the components of the event such as the many uses of peppers. They could hold a hot pepper cook -off, chili cook -off, a hot pepper sauce taste off, and local vegetable vendors that could offer peppers and other produce. The car show and music events were listed clearly indicating those components were sponsored by the Chamber and inquires about them should be directed to Mr. Buchanan. Item four pertained to arts and crafts to highlight local artisans and provide a way to raise funds to cover the cost of the event. Since the event was new, the costs needed to be reasonable. In addition to the food trucks and independent food vendors, local clubs and churches could raise funds for their projects. Local micro - breweries could set up tasting tents and charge a fee to sample four or five different items. Other activities could include opening the Children's Museum and having bounce houses and games. Ms. Costantino had been to another event that had a free community art station. A huge frame is constructed with a large pad of paper attached, and paint is provided. Event -goers paint creating a mural depicting the spirit of the community. Hopefully an individual from the Art Center would volunteer to paint and promote the activity. It was hoped the supplies would be donated from local businesses. As for community input and outreach, a letter could be sent announcing what the Committee was doing and if anyone was interested in participating, they should contact the Committee. The Committee would request Ocean Avenue be closed from South Seacrest and east to the point needed to accommodate however many vendors and activities there were. They would work with the Chamber on the placement of the vehicles for the car show. Tented vendors would be on both sides of the street, and food tents would be in the Police Department parking lot east of the playground as was done with the Haunted Pirate Fest. Chair Williams suggested speaking with Mr. Buchanan about the logistics because he already had an outline of where the vendors would be. The only thing they did not discuss was where the Committee's Hot Pepper Festival would be located, so the Committee needed to make that decision. It was also important to determine whether the City, CRA or Chamber would be the lead, but without Mr. Buchanan coming to the meetings on a regular basis and working as a team, planning was confusing. A 2 Meeting Minutes Special Events Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL November 2, 2012 suggestion was made to invite Mr. Buchanan to the next meeting and Chair Williams agreed to do so. Ms. Costantino listed the expenses for items such as police and fire personnel, liability insurance, City volunteers, restrooms, electricity, tents rated for cooking, and advertising. The figures listed were very conservative. Parking for vendors and attendees was identified and Ms. Costantino noted a shuttle could be used if needed. Parking would be similar to that provided for the Haunted Pirates Event. Chair Williams commented at a meeting with the Chamber, Ms. Biscuiti had suggested omitting bus or shuttle service and instead, having an officer on the corner to ensure pedestrians could cross the street. Discussion followed about the amount to charge vendors. The Chamber wanted to charge $150 for vendors; however, Chair Williams thought the amount was high for a new event. If the Chamber was going to handle the car show and music, they should leave the vendor planning to the Committee. The price the Committee set would be the price charged. Mr. Yelin recalled Ms. Biscuiti indicated vendors were charged $75 for the Haunted Pirates Fest, but not many participated. It was thought $75 for a one -day event was too high and arts and crafts vendors would not participate. After further discussion, it was agreed the cost should be $35 for craft vendors and $100 for food vendors. This was the way vendors were handled for the Delray Affair. It was noted it was important to avoid duplication with both the craft and food vendors and to determine how many vendors there should be. Arts and crafts vendors would be screened to ensure they had quality merchandise. Mr. Guilbeault agreed to develop a fee schedule for food vendors and how many vendors there would be. The car show should be located by the Museum and the music by the amphitheater. The Pepper Festival section should be in front of the Schoolhouse Children's Museum as the area could support 10 or 15 vendors. Vendor parking would be located behind the Old High School, which could accommodate about 25 vehicles, at City Hall and other locations based on the number of vendors. Vendors would not want to park far from the event site and have to carry their merchandise a long distance. The back part of the Police parking lot would be used by the band to load and unload and the rest of the lot would be for tents, tables and eating. A suggestion was made for the Committee to meet with Mr. Buchanan to determine if the plan was sufficient to go before the City Commission or if they needed to change anything in the draft. It was thought the draft was fine, but the fee schedule, food and craft vendors would be added and then the Committee should get the event started. 3 Meeting Minutes Special Events Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL November 28, 2012 The main issue to discuss with the City Commission was to decide how the Committee would move forward. The way the Committee was set up, they could not participate. The Committee is an advisory board, but Chair Williams did not see the Committee falling under the purview of the Sunshine Law. The Commission needed to understand the Committee's direction otherwise the members would have to say good -bye to the Committee. Discussion ensued there were meetings already held between the Chamber, the CRA and the City about the event and the Committee was not included. The Committee did a lot of work and now the Chamber, CRA and the City were taking over the Committee's work and doing it their own way. The members discussed it was counter - productive to have different groups working on the event independently and it was already at that point. The Committee was doing one thing and the other groups were doing other things. Now that the Committee was aware of what all parties were doing, the activities needed to be coordinated so the Committee could learn what route to take. All parties should be present to discuss what they were doing and who was in charge of what. If the CRA wanted to take over the task and have the Committee walk away, members could be individual vendors. Currently, the Committee could work on the pepper part of the festival, but the Committee needed to be told what role the Commission wanted the Committee to play and whether the City Commission wanted the Committee to operate under the Sunshine Law. Chair Williams commented if they did, he was going to say goodbye because the members could not function as a Committee and work under the Sunshine Law. It was also noted the liaison was not present at the last two meetings; however, Chair Williams commented the liaison's absence for this meeting was his fault because he did not copy them on the meeting notice. The members agreed they would all attend the City Commission meeting. There was discussion whether Mr. Buchanan knew of the Committee's existence. It was clarified Mr. Buchanan was acting on behalf of the Chamber, not the CRA. Mr. Buchanan formulated the Chamber's plan when Chair Williams was thinking about the Pepper Festival. Mr. Buchanan came up with the idea of holding the events together and having a Red Hot Blues Cruise. Further discussion followed the Chamber would be making money from the event. Mr. Yelin noted when he first attended a meeting, Ms. Biscuiti was present and was speaking with Mr. Buchanan, but she never mentioned there was communication between her and Mr. Buchanan and the Committee. Everyone wanted the same thing which was to have an event to replace the GALA and try to put Boynton Beach back on the map; but there were too many parties. When the Committee was formed, the members were told there was no money from the City, no money from the CRA and not to ask for money. Now, the Committee learned there was money available which was disconcerting. Of paramount concern was the Committee had to raise money and determine a way to be self- supporting. The purpose 4 Meeting Minutes Special Events Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL November 28, 2012 of the draft was to advise the Commission how much it would cost to hold the event. Even with the low budget proposed for the Pepper Festival, it would be at least $10,000 and without a main sponsor or other sponsors involved, raising those funds would be difficult. The Chamber would not provide any money, but the CRA may. Chair Williams noted the CRA and the City had already agreed with Mr. Buchanan regarding costs. The Committee was unaware of what Mr. Buchanan had worked out but this miscommunication should not have occurred. It was thought the Chamber would receive money from the car show. The vendor monies would go to the City. Discussion ensued the Chamber was looking to the City to pay the cost for the police coverage and other needed provisions. Mr. Yelin expressed if the Chamber wanted to hold an event in the City, the Chamber should pay or help defray the cost of the logistics. Since the Committee was part of the City, the Committee would not contribute anything towards those costs. There was agreement it was important to have Mr. Buchanan and the board liaison at the next meeting as there were too many unanswered questions and the Sunshine Law prevented the members from discussing the event with Mr. Buchanan except at a meeting. Mr. Guilbeault agreed to have his food vendor list available by December 4th and Ms. Costantino would have her craft vendor list. Beer and wine could be sold, but it was unknown who would sell it. If the Committee brought in their own micro - breweries and had a tent for tasting as part of the Pepper Fest, they could charge a fee and sell wristbands to ensure those imbibing would be of legal age. The next Committee meeting would be on December 5th at 6:30 p.m. and Mr. Buchanan would be invited. As to the presentation to the City Commission, Chair Williams would start the presentation but he could not read anything as he had a cataract in his eye and everything was blurry. Ms. Costantino would present the plan. Chair Williams would explain to the Commission why the Committee was present, why they wanted to meet with them and then explain this matter. Ms. Costantino requested Chair Williams let the Commission know that the Committee feels slighted and that he was speaking for all the members. The Commission wanted the Committee to put something together. They put an event together, but it was being fragmented. The City was working with the Chamber, the CRA was now involved, and the Special Events Ad Hoc Committee was sitting in the dark. Since Chair Williams was well spoken, a request was made that he present the issue in an appropriate manner, and Chair Williams agreed to do so. 5 Meeting Minutes Special Events Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL November 28, 2012 There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. OAtAUQJxj J Catherine Cherry Recording secretary 120412 6