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Minutes 05-12-14 TUTS OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE TI HELD IN THE CITY LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM A 208 S. SEACREST BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, ON APRIL 2, 2014, AT 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Steven Grant, Chair Tim Howard, Finance Director Fakhry "Ed" Boulos Dolores Schlesselman Christine Stella SENT: Jeffrey Grady, Vice Chair 1. Call to Order Chair Grant called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. Roll call established a quorum was present. Tim Howard, Board Liaison, explained Vice Chair Grady was not attending the meeting and would be moving at the end of the month. He will not renew his membership and will send his resignation to the City Clerk's Office. 2. Other Business ➢ City Services Survey Mr. Howard had received the survey comments, made the changes and included the revised survey in the meeting materials. Chair Grant requested a motion to approve the survey. Motion Ms. Stella moved to approve the survey. Ms. Schlesselman seconded the motion that passed 3 -1 (Mr. Boulos dissenting.) ➢ Determine beginning and end dates for Survey The members discussed the survey would be posted online on the Facebook and Twitter accounts. Hard copies would go to the Senior Center, Library and City Hall as a courtesy. The Marketing and Communications Manager, Eleanor Krusell, would issue Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 an announcement through social media and redirect them to the survey site. She recommended the survey be open for two to three weeks. After discussion, and with the exception of Mr. Boulos, there was agreement June 15 would be the survey end date. ➢ Recommendations for vacant lots Chair Grant requested a GIS map of the vacant lots and a data disk, and was unaware there was a fee for it. Mr. Howard agreed to check into the matter. Mr. Boulos commented his lots were very small, and even if they connected to other lots, his recommendation was to land bank them. Some were on MILK Boulevard and some were on NW 10 Street. Others were behind Poinciana. Mr. Boulos thought some of the lots did not have enough value to warrant selling them. Mr. Howard explained the City was working on a Model Block Program. The City and CRA assembled lots with the intent to have a developer build homes there. There were still a few property owners that were hold outs. Chair Grant suggested the members write their recommendations on the form to hold the lot to see if a Section 8 developer would construct something on them or indicate some of the other uses already discussed and vote on them at the June 9 th meeting. Ms. Schlesselman inquired if, in the Board's presentation, the Chair would make a recommendation for each lot. Chair Grant responded each parcel would have its own recommendation. If the lot could be used for a garden, it would be recommended for such. The same would hold for sellable lots. Chair Grant reviewed his tasks and advised the lot between 238 and 250 NE 7 th Avenue was about 4K square feet. He thought the best use would be a community garden. It was in the Heart of Boynton and would raise the value of residential units and improve the aesthetics of the area. He clarified a garden was a non - descript term for a green area, not farming. The choices were to sell the lot, make it a green area, do nothing with it, or use it for alternative energies. Since the area was residential, it was unlikely residents would want solar panels there. Mr. Howard suggested indicating whether the parcels were in residential areas or not and then give the recommendation. Further, it was suggested each lot recommendation be coded by the suggested use on the map. Recommendation The recommendation for the lot between 238 and 250 NE 7 th Avenue to be a community garden passed 3 -1 (Ms. Schlesselman dissenting.) 2 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 Ms. Schlesselman was not convinced a garden was the best use of the parcel. It was unknown what the cost to maintain it would be, and the City could be losing taxable value. Discussion followed the City was already maintaining the lot. Chair Grant thought if Boynton Beach wanted to improve its appearance, it would have to start and gardens could help. When driving to Delray Beach, there are homes with gardens and greenery. The City also has an Adopt -A -Park program, and a suggestion was made an organization or a non - profit could maintain it. The land the Community Caring Center used for their garden was sold. An inquiry was made if it would be beneficial to donate the land to them. Chair Grant explained that option could be included in the recommendation. Regardless of whether the City or a non - profit maintained the land, the Financial Advisory Committee was recommending the property become a garden because vacant land was hurting the City. Mr. Boulos did not see volunteerism in Boynton Beach and thought the nearby residents should be contacted so the community could maintain it. The only other option was if another entity would maintain it. Mr. Howard noted there were varying interests in different areas of the City. Some HOAs may have volunteers. Chair Grant commented this area of the City did not have a neighborhood association and the City should push the issue of green space in the Heart of Boynton. The next lot was the parcel at 319 NE 12 Avenue. It was a smaller lot having 2K square feet. It was two blocks wide and had no resale value. It was thought there was a utility line on it. Recommendation Chair Grant recommended doing nothing with the lot at 319 NE 12 Avenue. The members unanimously agreed. The lot at 339 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and NE 10 Avenue was reviewed. The property was located next to multi - family residential units. It was a vacant lot that could be rezoned to neighborhood commercial. The lot size was one -sixth an acre and currently zoned R -2. Recommendation The recommendation was to sell the lot at 339 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The members unanimously agreed. The lot on the corner of NE 11 and NE 2 nd Street was .0793 of an acre, surrounded by residential units. The City was maintaining the property. Chair Grant recommended the land be made a garden, which could include using tree plaques. Discussion followed whether the cost of the improvements would be offset by the increased value of the property and Chair Grant thought that was possible. Discussion again turned to maintenance and the need for parking in the area. 3 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 Recommendation The recommendation was to use the lot on the corner of NE 11 and NE 2 nd Street as a community garden. The members unanimously agreed. Chair Grant reviewed the lot on NE 12 Avenue. It was a small, vacant property. Property east of the lot sold in October 2011. Recommendation The recommendation was to sell or auction the lot. The members unanimously agreed. The former Animal Shelter site at 415 4 th Street was a half -acre site surrounded by commercial property. The site was paved, but there was no building on it. It abuts another vacant lot and a cell phone tower. Recommendation Chair Grant recommended nothing be done with the lot. The members unanimously agreed. Chair Grant reviewed the lot at 905 N. Seacrest Boulevard was .1010 of an acre, adjacent to Daystar Academy. It was unlikely to sell due to its small size. Chair Grant thought instead of a garden, trees be planted to enhance the landscaping. There would be a cost for irrigation and to purchase the trees. Another option was to coordinate with the Academy to set up an agricultural garden. Recommendation The recommendation was to plant a garden. The members unanimously agreed. The lot on NW 5 th Street was .06 of an acre surrounded by residential units and 1 -95. It was unlikely to sell and was between two homes. Recommendation The recommendation was to use it as a garden. The members unanimously agreed. Chair Grant reviewed the lot on SW 3 rd Avenue was one -tenth of an acre. It was surrounded by residential units and vacant land and was unlikely to sell. It bordered SW 8 th Street, by Cracker Barrel. 4 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 Recommendation Chair Grant recommended doing nothing with the land. The members unanimously agreed The lot on SW 24 was .13 of an acre abutting the 1 -95 sound wall and was not suitable for a building due to its odd - shaped layout. It was good for a community garden due to its location at the end of a street. It was 6K to 7K square feet. The neighbor uses it as a spare lot and Chair Grant thought adverse possession could apply. There was a roundabout at the end of the street and the property could be a nice park. Recommendation The recommendation was to use the land as a garden. The members unanimously agreed. Chair Grant was unable to locate the Winchester Park parcel and did not study the land. He reviewed Girl Scout Park had no entrance. Unless the land across the canal was developed as a park, there would be no entrance. Because of its location on a canal, it might be suitable for underground turbines due to the ebb and flow of the canal. The canal had access to the Boynton Canal, but it was unknown if it had access to the Intracoastal. Recommendation The recommendation for both the Winchester and Girl Scout Parks was to do nothing. The members unanimously agreed. Ms. Schlesselman requested delaying her presentation until after the CRA meeting, which would detail the updated Heart of Boynton Plan. Ms. Stella wanted to revisit her lot recommendations based on the comments made regarding Section 8 Development. Mr. Boulos commented his task was to focus on alternative energy downtown. He noted the City has a green school. The cost to build a green school was 2.5% higher than conventional construction. The cost for all of the additional green equipment was $2.3M and the rest was from donations. He spoke with Mr. Livergood twice and narrowed the discussion to diverting 100 street lights in the downtown area to solar. The cost was not the issue. Half the poles in the downtown area were owned by the City and the other half were owned by FPL. FPL encourages, installs and maintains the lights and they charge the City $14 a month per pole. Thirty -three percent of the cost is energy and the rest is for depreciation and maintenance. The downtown area has only one transfer station, so solar energy could be supplied to that station without having to rewire it. When there is cooperation between the private and government sectors things work, such as installing 5 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 solar panels on a building. He commented the Little House is owned by the CRA and a panel could be installed there. He also commented five years ago, there was discussion about installing solar panels at the landfill and it would cost $5 million. It could power the golf course that has pumps, a building, and golf carts. Mr. Boulos did not explore an estimate for the 100 poles or if they should be replaced with LED lights because LED lights had not been proven. But he thought these concepts were compact, manageable and would differentiate the City from other cities. FPL would still charge, but not for energy and the concept was not for savings. FPL was not planning on replacing the sodium light bulbs and the cost of electricity was already estimated. The next question was the cost to install the solar panel. His recommendation was to use solar panels located in gardens and on buildings to supply electricity to the 100 poles. Mr. Boulos reiterated the task could be accomplished through a partnership with the private sector and donations. There is a global climate change and it could take years to recover expenses, but during that time, it was important to have a plan to further reduce expenses. Fire Station No. 5 had solar panels and a study could be done to obtain the amount of energy the panels produce and the costs to run it. Ms. Stella inquired if the City evaluates the cost for good will when they evaluate opportunities. Mr. Howard explained they review items project by project and it depended on the project and the funding for it. One objective of the Strategic Plan was to move towards green initiatives in connection with all the other cost factors. If the initiative does not outweigh the cost factors, the City Commission moves forward with it. The issue with the Fire Station was there was funding from the Department of Energy with specific parameters for which the funds could be used. One was solar energy. Since the Fire Station was the most recently constructed building, it lent itself to the addition of solar panels with minimal retrofitting where other City facilities would have required more retrofitting, resulting in less money being available for the panels. With Galaxy Elementary School, the City could focus on the school and promote Boynton Beach becoming a green or greener City. Mr. Howard did not see any harm in trying to attract businesses that create and manufacture green items. He commented many states have not embraced tax incentives for green businesses. Chair Grant summarized the recommendation, along with the findings, could include whether to move forward with it. Ms. Schlesselman commented her task was energy conservation and was broad. She would focus on one finding and make a recommendation. Chair Grant explained members should present their findings on the form's format and make a recommendation about solar panels. 6 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, Florida May 12, 2014 3. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Schlesselman moved to adjourn. Mr. Boulos seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m. Ow" I ufu " JhAq Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 052914 7