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Minutes 02-09-16 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016, AT 6:30 P.M. IN CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA 33435 PRESENT Jerry Taylor, Chair Vivian Brooks, Executive Director Joe Casello, Vice Chair Tara Duhy, Board Counsel Michael M. Fitzpatrick Mack McCray David Merker I. Call to Order Chair Taylor called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Ill. Invocation and Pledge to the Flag Mr. McCray gave the invocation. Chair Taylor led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. Roll Call Roll call established a quorum was present. IV. Legal: None V. Agenda Approval: A. Additions, Deletions, Corrections to the Agenda B. Adoption of Agenda Motion Mr. McCray moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Merker seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. Informational Items and Disclosures by Board Members and CRA Staff: A. Disclosure of Conflicts, Contacts and Relationships for Items Presented to the CRA Board on Agenda Items Mr. Fitzpatrick disclosed he met with Morris Kaplan earlier in the day. Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board B oynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 Vice Chair Casello met with Morris Kaplan and Atwater Infrastructure regarding the Town Square project. He attended a ceremony at Boynton Veterans Memorial Park honoring the Four Chaplains last Sunday. During WW II, a troop carrier transporting 990 soldiers was hit by a German torpedo and only 220 soldiers survived. The Four Chaplains gave their life preservers to young sailors and went down with the ship. He announced Alexander Seltzer received an award from the Veterans for her outstanding reporting regarding veterans affairs. Messrs. Merker and McCray announced they also met with Morris Kaplan. Chair Taylor met with the Kaplan Group and toured the 500 Ocean project with the developer. He noted the developer had problems on 4th Street due to underground AT &T wires. The developer addressed that issue and would reopen the street. Most of the underground work was finished and the garage should be completed in the next three to four weeks. The developer was making progress and was back on track. B. Informational Announcements VII. Announcements & Awards: A. Music on the Rocks Chris Burdick, Special Events Coordinator, announced Pocket Change performed on Friday, January 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. as part of the MLK Celebration. Food and beverages were available for purchase. There was free parking, but only about 150 people attended due to the tornado watch. The next Music on the Rocks event would be held on February 19 featuring Funk -a -Billy Playboys. B. MLK Celebration of Unity Recap On Saturday, January 16 the CRA hosted the first annual MLK Celebration of Unity event from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Mike Norwood, Pastor Davis, Historian Victor Norfus and Ms. Boynton Beach were present. A concert featuring Speaker Box, the Valerie Tyson Band and Defunk and the Flow performed. Food and beverages were available for purchase from local vendors and there were retail vendors and children's activities on Ocean Avenue. About 900 people attended and staff looked forward to a bigger event next year. C. Presentation of Photo Collage to CRA Board The MLK Committee presented a collage created by Alan Luby Photography depicting all elements of the celebration to the Board for display in City Hall. Alan Luby Photography also created a photo album to be presented to Michael Norwood and the MLK Committee as a keepsake. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton. Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 Michael Norwood, Chair of the MILK Committee, explained the Committee partnered with the City of Boynton Beach and the CRA Board and it was a good example of what could be accomplished and he thanked the Board. Chairman Taylor thanked all for putting the collage together and the Committee's hard work. D. Movies in the Park Recap Mr. Burdick explained on January 9th, the CRA featured Footloose from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Guests were encouraged to bring beach chairs and blankets. A trailer of CRA business was shown and gift cards from the highlighted businesses and Pirate Fest souvenirs were given out. Food and beverages were available from local vendors. The March 4th Movies in the Park would feature ET the Extraterrestrial followed by Ghostbusters on April 1 Labyrinth on May 9 and Beetlejuice on June 3ra VIII. Consent Agenda: A. Approval of Minutes — CRA Board Meeting January 12, 2016 B. Approval of Period Ended January 31, 2016 Financial Report C. Monthly Purchase Orders A. Approval of Commercial Fagade Grant to Alliance Group Enterprise, Inc. Motion Mr. Merker moved to approve the consent agenda. Mr. McCray seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IX. Pulled Consent Agenda Items: None. X. Information Only: A. Public Comment Log -None B. Marketing and Business Development Campaign Tracy Smith - Coffey, Marketing and Business Development Specialist, advised the CRA developed a video filmed in Ocean Breeze West about how important affordable housing is to the community, which the Board viewed. Chair Taylor thanked the CRA Board for promoting the project and thought the CRA did a wonderful job. The video will be submitted to the Florida Redevelopment Association and hopefully would win an award. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 C. CRA Display Booth at Palm Beach County South Florida Fair Chair Taylor advised he received many comments the CRA had the best booth at the South Florida Fair. He thought it was outstanding and praised staff on a job well done. XI. Public Comments: (Note: comments are limited to three minutes in duration) Chair Taylor opened the Public Comment. Dr. Piotr Blass, 119 W. Tara Lakes Drive, was delighted with the MLK Celebration. He thought Boynton Beach has wonderful democracy and commented there is an election pending. He noted when there are debates, all candidates are invited. He pledged he will not attend any debate that excluded any candidate and hoped the other candidates would do the same. The New Disciple Church excluded him from their debate and he planned to contact them. He announced he would speak to the Boynton Diner and have one more debate on March 10 th . The press will be invited and candidates could speak for 20 minutes as opposed to two minutes. Dr. Blass pledged if elected, he would not draw a salary. He challenged his opponents to make the same commitment. Steve Grant, Mayoral candidate, had attended the CRA Advisory Board Meeting. He found it informative and wished it was taped or video recorded. He inquired who to discuss this with and learned his request should be directed to the CRA Board. Mr. Grant noted the CRA Advisory Board does not get paid and thought they should. He also thought the CRA should have dinner available from local CRA restaurants at the advisory Board meetings so the greater community would attend. He thought there was a lot of information being presented and it was not good it was only being presented to seven people. He requested more trash cans and recycling bins on CRA property and pointed out there were 10 receptacles next to the Old High School. He could not move them to property on MLK or on 5 th Street, but if he received permission to do so, he would. Chair Taylor explained only the City could move the receptacles. The City provides the trash cans and the CRA would have to review the matter and make a recommendation. Mr. McC-ay commented he represents MILK Boulevard and District II and he did not want a lot of trash receptacles on MILK Boulevard. The problem was not the receptacles; it was educating the community to use them. He drove by on Monday morning ; and a can was knocked over. He picked up the trash himself. Mr. Grant commented there was between 10 to 20 trash cans on Ocean Avenue and there were not many,people walking on Ocean Avenue. No one Else coming forward, Chair Taylor closed public comments. XII. Public. Hearing: None XIII. Old Business: 4 I Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board B oynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 A. Update on 4 th Street Parking Lot Project Mike Simon, Assistant CRA Director, explained the item was an update on the completion of the NE 4 th Street parking project. Vice Chair Casello was concerned about the new plantings, but learned they were drought tolerant. Mr. Simon explained it was called a bio- swale, and the contractor was providing 180 days of watering. There had been a lot of rain recently which helped strengthen the plantings and the intention was they should survive without an irrigation system. Vice Chair Casello asked who would clean up the litter. Mr. Simon responded the City and CRA would do so. They have a maintenance contractor there several times a week, but with the work from the Florida East Coast Railroad, the debris was strewn about. They were making every effort to stay on top of the issue and will get a trash can for the corner. Vice Chair Casello complimented the CRA on the Welcome to Boynton Beach Sign on Federal Highway. He was very impressed with the landscaping along the tracks and it made a big difference. Chair Taylor noted the before and after pictures were impressive. B. Update on Marina Open Space Project Mr. Simon explained this was an update of activities regarding the Marina Open Space Project in preparation of the release of the Request for Proposals or Invitation to Bid. Work on the exfiltration trench and the sub - surface soil evaluation had taken place after the demolition of the building. The engineers will use the information to enhance the design of the support systems for the new boardwalk, seat wall and roadway renovations. XIV. New Business: None XV. Executive Director's Report: A. New Businesses in the CRA District Vivian Brooks, CRA Executive Director, announced two new businesses: Schmidt Stained Glass, located in the Flamingo Plaza, and the Twisted Fish on NE 4 th Street, the site of the former Backyard had opened. She noted the Twisted Fish business was operating under a different owner. B. Development Outreach Ms. Brooks included a status report in the meeting back -up. There was much activity regarding. the Town Square and there were many meetings held regarding the project. Other sites were being reviewed in the same general vicinity and staff was waiting to hear if th.e State would fund the Ocean Breeze East and MLK south sites. 5 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board B oynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 Vice Chair Casello understood Casa Costa wanted to sell the commercial real estate part of the project to a different developer and they wanted to include the $480,000 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the commercial project. He thought the TIF should stay with the original developer or owner and then if transferred to another developer /owner, it should be renegotiated. He thought the TIF made property in the CRA very attractive to sell because the CRA would guarantee almost a half of million in TIF funds for the next five years. He did not think CRA properties should be flipped and he requested Attorney .Duhy develop a ruling or guidelines regarding the matter. Attorney Duhy advised the information would be available at the next meeting. C. Information on Approval of Grant Submitted to SWA for Blighted Properties in HOB Ms. Brooks advised the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) has blighted and distressed property clean -up and community beautification grants and she wrote a grant with the City for three areas in the Heart of Boynton. This was the first time they applied and the SWA said the grant was the best grant they ever received. The total cost of the three projects was estimated to be $93,500. The CityVCRA requested $62,300 and the CRA will match $32,347. The SWA approved the grant and the agreement would be on the next agenda. One property was located at 909 N. Seacrest Boulevard which involved the demolition of an old building and re- sodding land as part of the expansion of the Sara Sims Park. There would also be improvements to the wall at Public Works that needed to be cleaned and painted. Staff planned to landscape and irrigate the wall area and replace the fence to provide screening between the site and the adjacent single - family home. The improvements would enhance the neighborhood. The CRA would also clear and grub the middle portion of the Cottage District so people could not hide there. Mr. McCray clarified the property to be demolished is the Sims Barber Shop and Max Beauty Salon. D. Copy of Grant Submitted to Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council for Environmental Site Assessments Ms. Brooks explained there are funds from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council for two properties in the CRA that may likely have had industrial or auto related contamination. The CRA would be interested in buying the properties to clean them up or reuse them. Staff wanted to ensure if purchased, the contamination was contained on site and would not affect other properties. Vice Chair Casello asked if a business contaminated the soil, if the EPA requires the business to clean it up. Ms. Brooks responded it would depend on the type and level of contamination. This study would give an idea of how contaminated a property may be. 6 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 9, 2016 On a different matter, Mr. Fitzpatrick noted the CRA Board is an independent legal entity from the City, and the CRA Board and City were operating separately. He understood the City Commission appointed the CRA Board, but questioned why the CRA Board did not appoint the CRA Advisory Board. Attorney Duhy explained under the current structure, the advisory board and its composition is a City function. Since the Community Redevelopment Agency Board members are City Commissioners, the rules and regulations of the City govern that Board. An advisory board could be created by the CRA Board, but the existing advisory board was created by the City and the City would determine its scope, makeup, rules and regulations. The CRA Advisory Board is advisory to the CRA Board. Mr. Fitzpatrick thought it was comingling the organizations and noted the organizations have two separate attorneys. He did not feel it was the right thing to do. Also on a different matter, Vice Chair Casello commented they have good candidates running for office, but suggested when a candidate is trying to sell himself to the public, negativity and pandering to the crowd does not work. He recalled a few debates he attended in the MLK area and the negativity from some candidates indicated to him the candidates did not really understand what was occurring in the City. Being in front of a crowd that was sensitive to the area and a candidate bad mouthing it made him question their qualifications. There was no mention of the positive changes regarding MLK Boulevard at the debate. At a debate the night before it sounded like the CRA was taking an old man's barber shop but there was no mention the CRA let the operator stay at the location for years for $10 a year. The CRA had negotiated with the family and advised them what would occur with the property. There was also no mention the City was buying land to make the Model Block more accessible to developers or the two proposals for the Ocean Breeze East project. He commented one could talk about trash and litter, but if one was to be a candidate they should bring a positive note. XVI. Future Agenda Items: None. XVII. Adjournment There being no further business before the Board, Chair Taylor properly adjourned the meeting at 7:12 p.m. f Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 021216 7