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Minutes 02-24-14 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014, AT 6:00 P.M., IN THE CITY LIBRARY, ROOM A 208 S. SEACREST BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steven Grant, Chair Tim Howard, Finance Director Jeffrey Grady, Vice Chair Fakhry "Ed" Boulos Dolores Schlesselman Christine Stella ABSENT: Gary Dunmyer 1. Call to Order Vice Chair Grady called the meeting to order at 6:12 p.m. Roll call established a quorum was present. • Introduction of Christine Stella Chair Grant introduced new member, Christine Stella. She commented she was only aware of the Committee from what she read in the minutes. Chair Grant explained for the last three years, the Committee was reviewing cost - cutting measures. The City has an annual survey and residents are asked what they would like done in the City. Additionally, the City Commission agreed the Committee could review vacant lots in Boynton Beach. They will also review alternative energy. Ms. Stella moved to Boynton Beach seven years ago from New York. She works in Boca Raton and lives near Lake Ida. She has a Master's degree from Fordham University and attended the State University of New York at Albany. She worked for Pfizer for nearly 10 years. She is recently engaged and has a strong financial background in corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and capital investments and more. Mr. Howard welcomed Ms. Stella to the Board. 2. Approval of January 13, 20134, Minutes Mr. Howard received two corrections from the Assistant City Manager, Carisse LeJeune as follows: MEETING MINUTES FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE BOYNTON BEACH, FL FEBR 24, 2 014 Page three, first paragraph — Ms. LeJeune told Chair Grant the City has solar panels on Fire Station No. 5 and wind turbines in two retention ponds. She did not tell him that the City was discussing using land near the golf course for alternative energy because the City was not. The members agreed it was the Committee that discussed using the land near the Golf Course for alternative energy. Page two, paragraph three — should read Climate Action Plan (CAP) and not Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). Ms. LeJeune was interested in funding opportunities for projects that are currently in the CAP. She is not in charge of the Capital Improvements Plan and did not discuss it. Motion Vice Chair Grady moved to approve the minutes as modified. Ms. Schlesselman seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 3. Other Business • Updated List of Committee Members • List of Vacant Lots These items were discussed together. It was pointed out Gary Dunmyer was still on the list because the City Commission had not yet accepted his resignation. • Discussion of Vacant Lot List previously sent Chair Grant had printed information from the Property Appraiser's website regarding the assessed value of the properties. Some were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and others had very little value. Mr. Boulos viewed his assigned lots online to obtain an idea of its location and physically inspected them. Each was in a residential area with no grass. One was on MLK, and the lots were about 100 by 100 or 200. One was a corner lot and the rest were consecutive lots. One had a boarded up house. He questioned who would construct a home in an area that was not well developed. The lots were also too small to accommodate any type of use except to donate to a developer to construct something. Mr. Boulos also reviewed The Links Golf Course and met with the Manager, Ron Tapper, as The Links and City parks had been considered for alternative energy. Mr. Boulos suggested having business cards printed because it is difficult for him to explain to individuals his function on the Committee. Mr. Tapper did not know how much 2 MEETING MINUTES FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE BOYNTON BEACH, FL FEBRUARY 24, 2014 electric The Links used. Mr. Boulos had inquired about a corner piece of land and learned it was not owned by the City. The only space Mr. Boulos saw that could accommodate a lot of alternative energy was about 2.5 acres along the entrance. The Links has a pump station, a building and electric golf carts, which use energy. They had experimented with alternative energy by installing one cart with a solar panel above the canopy and learned it was not viable because golf balls hit and broke the panel. Additionally, someone drove under a tree with a low tree branch and ruined the panel. The pumps at The Links are for irrigation and Mr. Boulos would have to return to The Links for further information. The pumps could be an option, separate from the carts and building. Mr. Boulos also advised he could not access Meadows /Nautica Park. He learned from the web that agricultural interests did not want the land to be developed or want patrons on agricultural land because there was not much agricultural land available. For Ms. Stella's benefit, Chair Grant explained the process the Committee follows with the City Commission. Mr. Howard also explained The Links is owned by the County and the City has a 99 -year lease with them. Ms. Schlesselman explained most of the properties she had were in the Heart of Boynton CRA plan. The CRA recently had a meeting she attended regarding updating the plan and they were already working on some components. The CRA approved a Family Dollar store south of the lots she was assigned. Her lots were medium density residential lots. She also was assigned the Denson Pool and could not find information about the Wilson Park Project, but the Park is empty except for the pool and building. There were two lots on the other side of the street bordered by a canal that was part of the park land. It was not a high traffic area and could be a good location for alternative energy. While the property is not large, it is out of the way. She also did not know where to find information on what was planned and Mr. Howard suggested she contact Recreation and Parks Director, Wally Majors. Ms. Schlesselman also researched FPL Park which is a small, wedged- shaped property. It has many trees and was located between a highway and residential community. It did not appear to have easy access or be a location residents would travel too. Chair Grant researched his and Mr. Dunmyer's properties. Many of the properties were less than a 10 of an acre. The former animal shelter was a half -acre in a high density area. Unless the City wanted to use the property for another facility, someone else could use the property. Chair Grant thought some properties were suitable for facilities or alternative energy, to create a park or be sold at auction instead of them being an expense for the City. 3 MEETING MINUTES FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE OYNTON BEACH, FL FEBRUARY 24, 2014 There is a six -acre property in Mission Hill next to 1 -95 that he recommended could be studied for alternative energy. It is next to a canal and has a breeze. The Parks Department or the City Survey could ask residents if they would mind wind turbines at that site. He also recommended advising the City the small lots had no value. If someone else wanted them, that was fine. Mr. Howard explained there were a variety of ways the lots were obtained such as for infrastructure or tax deeds. He was aware the City and CRA were trying to assemble land for redevelopment. The CRA has lots in the general area as in addition to the Family Dollar Store parcel. As properties became available, the CRA would acquire them. Some parcels were owned for years and others were recently acquired. Chair Grant also reviewed some parks and commented Boynton Beach has a facility and parks guide in PDF format. Unlike FPL Park that is wooded, other parks are by canals and could be used to help green the City. The task for the next meeting was to start making recommendations of what to do with each lot. Parks could have more than one function. Chair Grant would send recommendation forms to the members, and he explained how to use the form. The Financial Advisory Committee would vote on each lot and on certain areas of specified parks. Ms. Schlesselman inquired, since the CRA had a detailed plan, if she should pursue her lots. Chair Grant she should indicate on the Recommendation Form under the "Pros" category what was being planned and under "Cons" an alternative plan. He proposed the deadline for recommendations on the vacant lot items be April 14 • List of Study Topics, including Commissioner suggested topic Item three, Evaluate Alternative Energy Sources for Buildings and Funding, was for all to review and go into deeper detail. Vice Chair Grady explained he found information that the highest photovoltaic output occurs on the hottest, brightest days when there is the highest electric demand. In many instances, pairing solar and electric power on high demand days works well. The problem is the cost of installation. He also found information solar and wind power seems to be the most feasible for what other cities and entities, such as country clubs, use. Ms. Stella inquired if studies by neighboring cities were done and it was pointed out that if so, the studies are public record. Mr. Boulos asked if he could inquire about power at PGA and was encouraged to call. Mr. Boulos thought PGA had many, many golf carts and if they were not using solar power, there must be a barrier to do so. He noted the The Links has only 45 golf carts. It was also suggested other like -sized cities would be a good indicator of the success or failure of alternative energy. Mr. Howard thought Jupiter or Palm Beach Gardens installed a certain type of water chiller paid for by an energy block grant and it saved money. Additionally, Vice Chair Grady noted oftentimes the manufacturer will publish case studies that involve municipalities. A good starting 4 MEETING MINUTES FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE BOYNTON BEACH, FL FEBRUARY 24, 2014 point would be if cities that constructed buildings in the last two years. The Committee agreed solar and wind turbines were the best options. Mr. Boulos was asked to review City energy uses but had not contacted the Director of Public Works, Jeff Livergood. Ms. Schlesselman reviewed conservation and had looked at other cities. There are incentive plans other cities had to conserve energy overall. Many grants ran out and she checked with Palm Beach County. Almost everything was based on grants. She noted the City has many programs waiting on funding. Going forward, she inquired if the Committee should look at whether it is in the City's best interest to pursue grants or self -fund. It was noted most have used the grant funds, and she commented there may be quite a bit available for specific uses. Chair Grant was to speak with the Grants Coordinator, Debbie Majors, before moving forward to see what grants were available. There used to be rebate programs for appliances. The Climate Action Plan contained different ways to conserve such as the Green Building Program. If plans are available, they would look for a way to fund them. Chair Grant commented that could be a question in the City Survey. Citizens may be willing to pay more taxes for conservation or alternative energy which would assist the City over the long term. Chair Grant thought if a viable recommendation is made , those plans with have a short -term gain and long -term cost and visa versa should be identified. Ms. Schlesselman was aware of seven programs which reduce costs through partnerships with residents and commercial entities to implement alternative energy. She had to look up terms such as zero -net GHG emissions on future City vehicle purchases. She thought she could make recommendations for each of them. Vice Chair Grady commented FPL has an entire department dedicated to alternative energy, but he was unable to contact them. Mr. Boulos was concerned if the Committee was starting a trend people may not be ready to embrace and it would be difficult to sell. Mr. Boulos was to address the "Analysis of Residential vs. Commercial Tax Base Including Residential Property Taxes as a Percentage of Per Capita Income, Compared to Surrounding Cities" item; however, he was unable to get to the project and they will revisit the item after April. A recommendation regarding Item Five, to establish a non - profit organization, there is already an umbrella organization to use. The by -laws were to fund anything cultural, educational or environmental. • City Services Survey 5 MEETING MINUTES FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE BOYNTON BEACH, FL F 24, 2014 The survey was to solicit positive feedback. Vice Chair Grady commented the survey should be carefully worded to market Boynton Beach in a positive manner. Survey participants can rate the services in order of importance. The Congress Avenue corridor was doing well. Chair Grant also commented the property appraiser is not limited to a 2% or 3% increase in value. The values of City properties also will increase. For the next meeting, members were to write their opinion on each question. Economic Development Planner, Scott Kline, finished his survey. Mr. Howard will obtain a copy of that survey and send it to the members to avoid duplication. The members will also give an update on their project with bullet points. On April 14 ", they will start voting on recommendations. Mr. Howard will research when the survey will be posted. The survey will also be finalized next month. Chair Grant agreed to email Ms. Stella the tasks former member Gary Dunmyer had. 4. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Vice Chair Grady moved to adjourn. Ms. Stella seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:26 p.m. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 940206 6