Minutes 10-05-21 Minutes of the City Commission Meeting
Held Online Via the GoToWebinar Platform and
In-Person at the City Hall Commission Chambers
100 East Ocean Avenue, Boynton Beach, Florida
On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at 5:30 P.M.
Present:
Mayor Steven B. Grant Lori LaVerriere, City Manager
Vice Mayor Woodrow L. Hay James Cherof, City Attorney
Commissioner Justin Katz Crystal Gibson, City Clerk
Commissioner Christina L. Romelus
Commissioner Ty Penserga
1. Openings
A. Call to Order - Mayor Steven B. Grant
Mayor Grant Called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
B. Roll Call
City Clerk Gibson called the roll. A quorum was present.
Mayor Grant explained that he was attending the meeting online because he is attending
the Florida Public Pension Trustee Association Conference in Daytona Beach and asked
that the Commission approve his attendance virtually.
Motion
Commissioner Romelus moved to approve. Commissioner Penserga seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Invocation by Rev. Laurie Durgan, Unity of Delray Beach
The Invocation was given by Rev. Laurie Durgan of Unity of Delray Beach.
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Commissioner Romelus
Commissioner Romelus led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Agenda Approval:
1. Additions, Deletions, Corrections
Lori LaVerriere, City Manager, requested to have item 3F added to the agenda, a job
fair announcement by John Durgan, Economic Development Manager.
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2. Adoption
Motion
Commissioner Katz moved to approve as amended. Commissioner Romelus seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
2. Other
A. Informational items by the Members of the City Commission.
Commissioner Katz stated that he had no disclosures.
Commissioner Romelus stated that she had no disclosures.
Commissioner Penserga stated that he had no disclosures. He commended staff for a
wonderful First Friday event. He attended the event with friends from another city who
were excited about the new town square and its family friendly atmosphere.
Vice Mayor Hay disclosed that he did attend Feeding South Florida's food distribution on
Thursday. He also attended the Lance Chaney renaming of NE 9th Avenue, he was the
pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church. He also attended the First Friday event. He
looks forward to the other amphitheater being completed to bring more venues to the City.
Mayor Grant disclosed that on September 22nd, he had breakfast with the Liter Hikers of
America. On September 23rd, he attended a conference for the Florida Association of
Latino Administrators. On September 24th, he was a panelist for Human Rights Media.
On October 1st, he met wit the City officials regarding transportation within City limits. On
October 2nd, he attended the Pathways to Prosperity renaming of NE 9th Avenue to Lance
Chaney Blvd.
3. Announcements, Community and Special Events and Presentations
A. Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, Wendy Link, to provide
information on polling placesafety precautions due to COVID-19 and the
ballot format for the March 2022 election.
Wendy Link, Supervisor of Elections, provided information on polling place safety
precautions due to COVID-19 and the ballot formation for the March 2022 election. The
Supervisor of Elections Office will be following CDC guidelines and all of the precautions
that were took in November, with plexiglass shields between the poll workers and the
voters and also providing gloves, hand sanitizer and wiping down all of the equipment in
the polling location after each voter. Masks and gloves will be offered to the voters as
well. She offered to answer any specific questions about ballot format.
Vice Mayor Hay wanted to confirm if there will be no closing of precincts.
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Ms. Link replied that at this moment that is true. We will have to wait to see. In March,
we will be getting our Census data and then new lines, being able to do all the precincts
in April. Every 10 years, we have the redistricting. Normally the census data is out sooner,
and we would have had a lot of the lines back already. Usually we get our first set of
redistricting lines and August, that has not yet occurred. As soon as we get those from all
of the different groups, we will be doing the overlays and then setting out the new
precincts. At that point, depending upon what the new lines are for all the various races
and offices, then we will have to make that determination. But that will not be the case for
this March.
Commissioner Penserga inquired if there is a back up plan for the poll workers should
there be another spike in the pandemic.
Ms. Link replied that they continue to recruit poll workers and the last election was a big
election because it was the Presidential Preference Primary(PPP) election. The election
was countywide whereas the election in March will only be for the municipalities so it will
require fewer poll workers.
Commissioner Penserga thanked her for all the work they are doing.
Ms. Link commented as a reminder her staff is in the lobby with a touchscreen ballot
marking device. There are great advantages to using the ExpressVote machine. It
speeds the lines up, it is less expensive and it does not allow you to over vote. It also
has no questions in terms of voter intent because there are not any stray marks or any
questionable marks, because it is printed out. You do not have to worry that the
canvassing board is deciding as to what that voter's intent was, because it is very clear.
B. The PBC School District and the Education Foundation of PBC will
provide an update to the CityCommission on the Digital Inclusion
Program.
Dr. Adam Miller, Assistant Superintendent for Performance Accountability, School
District of Palm Beach County, stated that they are here to provide an update on the
digital inclusion program. He introduced co-presenters: Ms. Erica Whitfield, Palm Beach
County School Board Member District IV, Michael Butler, Director of Network Services,
Palm Beach County Information System Services and James Gavrilos, CEO of the
Education Foundation Palm Beach County. He said they are very excited to provide
updates. They are going to give a review of the overall project and going to talk about
fundraising today. Then they will provide an update on the Wi-Fi Mesh Network in the
City. He handed the presentation over to Ms. Whitfield for some opening remarks.
Erica Whitfield, Palm Beach County School Board Member District IV, thanked the
Commission for their continued support of this project. This digital Wi-Fi has just meant
so much to our community and it is really the area that we are talking about. The Urban
Core of Palm Beach County and has really needed this project for many years. It is one
of the blessings that we have seen through this. The COVID pandemic has been the
opportunity for us to provide these projects. It is through partners like you all at the City
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of Boynton Beach with your incredibly generous donation to provide for the extenders for
our students that we're able to do projects like this. A huge thank you to everyone in
Boynton for supporting this project. We will be able to provide all of our children in the
area with the ability to get on Wi-Fi due to your generous donation. Also, the Education
Foundation for being a constant partner with us, and thank you so much to them. To Mike
Butler, we give him lots of kudos. He is really the architect behind all of this. Our own
Adam Miller, who is there in-person tonight, it is such a pleasure to have him working for
us and doing this work that is so valuable.
Dr. Miller stated he wanted to assure the City of Boynton Beach and the public that the
School District is not leaving our students high and dry without support. Last school year,
we provided intranet sponsorships and hotspots to any student that needed it. This year,
again, thanks to our school board. We have provided mobile hotspots and Comcast,
internet essentials for free to families in need.
Dr. Miller gave a slide presentation on Wi-Fi mesh.
Mayor Grant inquired about the speeds of the Wi-Fi, where has it been implemented and
what was the reaction.
Dr. Miller replied that Mr. Butler will be able to provide the specifics of the technical side.
The speed should be around 9100 megabits per second.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the security features of the network and who can
use the network. Will a School District email be required or will it be more accessible?
Dr. Miller responded that the way we planned this project was accessible to families of
students that attend the School District in Palm Beach County or the charter schools. For
the security section, I mentioned the Wi-Fi extenders had to be configured part of that
configuration is password protected. A family would need one of these Wi-Fi extenders
to connect to the network. It will be in-network, so you cannot walk around and try to find
it on your phone. It is a hidden Network with a hidden SS ID, and is password protected.
Michael Butler, Director or Network Services Palm Beach County Information System
Services, stated that all the traffic is encrypted and we have a cluster of firewalls that sit
in between the network and the internet, that comply with all the requirements regarding
student security.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the long-term plan. Is this still going to be limited
to the school district in the long run, or are there plans to open this up to the broader
community?
Mr. Butler replied that their goal is to open it up to the broader community. There are
some Florida Statute challenges currently standing in the way that we are attempting to
work through. He said he did not have a good answer on the timing at this point in time,
but that is the long-term goal.
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James Gavrilos, Education Foundation Palm Beach County, thanked the City and the
Commission for their commitment to this project. The next step in the project is
assembling the Wi-Fi extenders. Several volunteer groups have come forward to help
assemble the Wi-Fi extenders. Shortly after the City made their commitment, the Miami
Dolphins Foundation made a very generous contribution of $100,000 to this project. The
Foundation reached out again about a month ago to see if there is more they can do.
They have volunteered to assemble the Wi-Fi extenders. The final step of the project will
include going out to the homes and educating the families on how to use the system.
City Manager LaVerriere inquired what is the timeline on getting the extenders to the
remaining population of the students in Boynton.
Mr. Butler replied currently we are targeting the dark red area in the overlay, and that is
probably about half your student population. We are currently in the permitting and the
utility locating process for the pole installations. We are also in the Fiber design process.
We are hopefully going to be starting the pole installations by mid-November, early
December at the latest. That does not take very long, barring any complications. The
fiber installation will follow right behind that. Hopefully we will be able to get that red
section up and running in the first couple of months of 2022. We are planning to expand
into the dark yellow and then the yellow area right behind that. We have been waiting on
additional funding from the ARPA funding, and that is going before the Board of County
Commissioners for approval the first meeting in November.
Mayor Grant asked what is the anticipated time? Are we looking at the next school year
to have this fully up and running in Boynton Beach?
Mr. Butler responded that for the entire City probably early summer.
Ms. Whitfield commented that we are already providing Wi-Fi for these children through
other routes until this works. Currently we have the ability to give them a hotspot for their
house so that they can access the Internet until this works. We are working on that to
make sure everyone is covered.
Mayor Grant stated that one of his concerns is that children do not live alone in those
homes, and so it is also making sure the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins,
brothers, sisters have resources available to them. Hopefully we are able to use the
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the economic mobility for these individuals
and families to help get them to the 21st century with internet ready and access things.
There is a lot of things you can do with a cell phone yet there is a lot of things you cannot.
He has been working with the Chevy DTV Foundation. They have done multiple laptop,
desktop and tablet giveaways. He said he believes they still have some available if the
community wants to go to their website and just put it in your information and the next
one available will be donated to you.
Vice Mayor Hay commended the School District and the Education Foundation. He
suggested that there be more of a partnership between the City, the School District and
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Education Foundation.
Dr. Miller stated that a partnership is always powerful. We would love to partner with the
City of Boynton Beach in other ways. Mr. Gavrilos mentioned configuring extenders. We
have purchased about 25,000 extenders. If the City of Boynton Beach wanted to do a
community effort with volunteers to actually configure the extenders that your students
will use within the City, we can certainly set that up. We have had a number of businesses
come forward and donate their own time to configure the extenders. Mr. Gavrilos says,
takes like 3 or 4 minutes to complete each extender. 25,000 extenders times 3 to 4
minutes is a lot of minutes.
Mr. Butler commented we do work closely with the City departments on the permitting,
right of ways, things like that. Each of the municipalities that we are working with, we are
installing several thousand poles, countywide and probably close to one thousand miles
of new fiber optic cable. We are working as closely as we can with each of the
municipalities, as well as the county planning and zoning and engineering departments
to get this construction done in a timely manner and get everything in place.
Mr. Gavrilos commented as many of you know the offices of the Education Foundation
are in Boynton Beach. The Foundation is your neighbor and he will make an offer. He
said he appreciates Vice Mayor Hay's excitement on the project and if he wanted to do a
community project, even some of the City employees or some of the businesses, he would
personally bring the extenders down to Boynton so they can be assembled.
Mayor Grant noted that the City Commission Chambers would be a perfect location to
have 20 to 30 of us to help configure the extenders.
Mr. Miller exclaimed that is wonderful and thanked the Mayor.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that with the ARPA funding we have received, broadband
is to be a big part of that. She has spoken with other municipalities and we want to do
anything we can and participate with our funding as well. What that looks like in terms of
getting broadband countywide and that last mile in each of our cities what we can do to
participate not only financially, but any way that you need us.
Mr. Butler commented that one of the challenges that they have looked at and that they
will be working with each of the cities on is we would like to use your parks. The light
poles, for instance, and to be able to put radios up on those. Your City facilities, for
instance, your fire station on Seacrest. We already have a presence there because we
are your internet service provider. We would like to put an antenna on the outside of that
building to help facilitate the signal. One of the challenges doing that in City parks or City
facilities is power. We would possibly look to the City to assist us with bringing a circuit to
where the radio is so that we can have power. These radios do not use much power, but
the ability to get an outlet or a circuit to that location is sometimes a challenge. We have
been working with the school district, and they have been very helpful with bringing the
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power to us at the schools, and they are using their funding. That way we can continue
to use our funding to extend the actual broadband network itself. That is one area that is
at the top of the list, that we will be asking you to work with us on. He said he did not think
it is a big financial impact. They are your buildings, they are your light poles we would
need permission and to be able to work with your staff to get those up there.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that there is no doubt we would work with them on that.
Our Commission, during our budget process, had a discussion on getting Wi-Fi in every
park within the next two years with our ARPA funding. Hearing that you are doing a good
part of that work for us. The balance that we would not use would enable us to have the
funding to bring the power where it is needed.
Mr. Butler exclaimed that would be fantastic.
C. Glenn Weiss, Public Art Manager, to announce opening of "Dual
Conversations" exhibit at the Arts & Cultural Center.
Glenn Weiss, Public Art Manager, announced the Dual Conversations exhibit opens
Friday, October 8th 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Arts and Cultural Center. He stated
that this particular exhibition features two textile artists, one from Miami and one from
here in Palm Beach County.
D. Announcement by Rebecca Harvey, Sustainability Coordinator about the
City of Boynton Beach's tree planting event on October 9 at Galaxy Park.
Rebecca Harvey, Sustainability Coordinator, announced the tree planting event on
October 9th at Galaxy Park. Volunteers will be planting 30 trees around the baseball
field, playground and parking lot, including Live Oak Buttonwood, Red Bay and Red
Maple Tree. To date, 600 trees have been planted around the City and 300 trees have
been given away to residents.
E. Proclaim October 6, 2021 as Energy Efficiency Day in the City of
Boynton Beach. Rebecca Harvey, Sustainability Coordinator, will
accept the proclamation.
Rebecca Harvey, Sustainability Coordinator, accepted the proclamation. Energy
efficiency is a critical strategy in the City of Boynton Beach and Climate Action Plan, which
sets the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2035, and achieving net
zero emissions by 2050. This year, Boynton Beach has stepped up its climate
commitment by joining the city's rake to zero, a global campaign to accelerate greenhouse
gas reduction. Energy efficiency is one of the high impacts actions the city will be focusing
on in this program. Residents and small businesses in the City of Boynton Beach can
enjoy the savings of energy efficiency, and even greater savings because of our very
unique program, the Energy Edge rebate program. This program provides rebates for
eligible installations of air conditioners, doors, windows, water heaters, solar panels, and
electric car chargers. In 2014, the program has provided 173 rebates totaling $158,000.
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Participation has increased significantly in the past two years through our expanded
marketing and word of mouth referral to the program. Residents can learn more about the
Energy Edge rebate program at www.boynton-beach.orq/qo-green.
Commissioner Romelus requested a list of residents who took advantage of the
energy efficiency program.
F. Announcement by John Durgan, Economic Development Manager, about
the City of Boynton Beach's Job Fair.
John Durgan, Economic Development Manager, announced that the City has partnered
with Career Source Palm Beach County to host a job fair on Thursday, October 14th, from
3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Arts and Cultural Center in the auditorium. Individuals can
pre-register at employflorida.com. The industries that will be present at the job fair are
hospitality, customer service, transportation, and logistics. Some of employers that will be
in attendance as well are Amazon, Hyatt and Marriot Hotels, MV Transit, Palm Tran,
Retreat, Behavioral Health, and McDonald's and Burger King. We have 11 employers
confirmed, and we are still working with a few more that may participate. What we are
excited about is the educational partners that will be in attendance, they are: Palm Beach
State College, the School District of Palm Beach County, Career Sources training
department, as well as Medical Career Academy. If an individual does not qualify for a
position or is not selected for a position, everybody will leave there with something. There
will be information there for all the wonderful educational programs that are out
there. Vocational and training programs, certification programs and ways for that
individual to access those programs. We will have speakers at the event who speak
Spanish and Creole. Again, we encourage people to pre-register. We also encourage
individuals who will attend to bring at least 10 copies of their resume.
Mayor Grant stated that his position as Vice Chair of the Palm Tran Service Board, he
knows that there is a need for drivers. If you are looking for a job, and you have a driver's
license, we have jobs for you at this Job Fair. In addition, with the American Rescue Plan
funds that we have and the ability to fund economic mobility, this is the opportunity for
anyone over the age of 18, who feels that they are unemployed or underemployed has
the opportunity to better their lives through both education and work.
Mayor Grant asked if staff is going to reach out to the influencers in the community to
have them help spread the word or are we only doing what we normally do?
Mr. Durgan stated that he would be happy to work with the Marketing Department for a
creative way to get the word out.
Mayor Grant feels that there needs to be paid advertising so that people understand the
importance of this one opportunity. He recalled the ineffectiveness of the Town Square
Job Fair, where eight out of one hundred and twenty people got jobs. We have an
opportunity with county partners, education partners to really change the dynamics of the
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workforce in the City of Boynton Beach and the surrounding areas.
Commissioner Katz remarked that one of the criticisms from the Commission is that we
rely on social media. These influencers, who are they? What are they? Would they not
be using the same social media and given the fact that the criticism has been to try to
reach people by other means?
Mayor Grant replied these influencers are similar to what we have seen in our CRA blasts.
He encourages the CRA to help spread this word. People who may not just trust the
government, may want to hear it from the community and the different non-profits. If we
could spend $8,000, he thinks it would make a huge difference. He would like to see 500
people attend. He asked Mr. Durgan if 500 people was a good turnout for three hours.
Mr. Durgan replied that 500 people would be considered a good turnout. Even if the
individual does not leave with a job opportunity or an actual job, we can lead them down
the right path. They are looking for some sort of vocational training or some certification
training. They are going to leave with something valuable that may help. We are going
to pass these fliers out at the food drive on Thursday. He has asked Recreation and Parks
staff to make an announcement at our Bulldogs game at the Hester Center this Saturday.
He is working with Ms. Krusell and her great staff on getting this out the best way we can.
We have reached out to their contact at the Haitian radio station to get the message out
there. We are trying to touch every avenue possible to get this message out.
Commissioner Penserga stated that in the past he knows there were individuals who were
disappointed. They came to the job fair thinking that maybe there was an opportunity for
them, and unfortunately, they were not qualified. Are we announcing in advance what the
different types of qualifications may be for these different type of job categories? He wants
to make sure that people know what they are walking into. The second item is are we
keeping track of all the people that are coming in? Who are they? Are we keeping track
of how many people they speak to? Are we getting feedback from these potential
employers? What kind of common issues were there? Mr. Durgan mentioned bringing a
resume; are we informing them? What are some key guidelines to have a resume? He
thinks it would be a great idea to include that as part of the advertisement. We want to do
everything we can to setup individuals to do well even before they walk in.
Mr. Durgan stated those are all great questions, and we will work with our Library staff to
get this out in regards to working on a resume. He knows that Career Source is there
once a week at our library. They have a social worker working there temporarily now to
help the individuals, so we will definitely have a coordinated effort where we can let
individuals know about that resume building because it is such a critical part of the job
fair. Career Source did let me know upfront that is one of the main things that people do
not bring to the job fairs. We want to have a copy machine on stand-by, just in case they
did not have enough copies at the job fair. We will definitely have that targeted approach
to let people know there are resources out there to help them build that resume. To
answer Commissioner Penserga's question on tracking: absolutely. Career Source is a
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wonderful partner. They track everybody who comes in there. They follow up with them
after the job fair. They track their progress, who they applied with, who they contacted,
who contacted them. Even if you do not pre-register, if you do come to the event, you will
sign in and Career Source will make a phone call and follow up multiple times with that
individual who is seeking employment.
Commissioner Penserga inquired if the general qualifications for these jobs are on the
website.
Mr. Durgan replied we can do that. Career source does have that information. They have
a large database where they are blasting this information out to their partners as well.
They make the initial contact with some of the employers. They have the job descriptions
and qualifications. He will be more than happy to reach out to them first thing tomorrow
morning to get that information. We can market those and have some sort of targeted
approach when we do advertising.
4. Public Audience
Individual Speakers Will Be Limited to 3 Minute Presentations (at the discretion of
the Chair,this 3 minute allowance may need to be adjusted depending on the level of
business comingbefore the City Commission)
Lori Wilkinson, 458 SW 23rd Cranbrook Drive, stated that tonight she was representing
the Education and Youth Advisory Board. Our coffers are running a little bit low. Our
board has decided to do a fundraiser, and it is in conjunction with the fall festival that is
coming up on October 16th We are hosting a pumpkin carving contest. Anybody can enter
our contest; individuals, families, businesses and City departments. If you have not got
the message, we would love to have people enter our pumpkin carving contest. It will cost
five dollars to enter a pumpkin. You do have to buy your own pumpkin. Please remember
to submit your name with the pumpkin. People who want to vote for the pumpkin are going
to pay two dollars to put a vote in a box in front of the pumpkin. We are going to be there
on the 16th for the entire time. Pumpkins can arrive any time after 2:30 p.m., the event
starts at 3:00 p.m. and we are going to start counting the votes at 5:30 p.m. The winner
will be announced before the event is over.
Jessica T. White, CEO of the Sexual Exploitation Abuse, Child Protection Agency,
explained they are a multinational agency, faith-based agency, with the Global mission to
combat sexual crimes against children. Our agency was developed because we realized
that there was a harvest that was plentiful, but the laborers were few. So many people in
the land have little information, or education about sexual crimes against children or
misinform information. During the pandemic, we realized that there was a global shut
down that cause children to be in place with people who would abuse them. 90% of
children who are abuse are abused by someone that they know and one out of five
children are solicited online. We decided that we wanted to do a pilot program here and
want MB's Florida to be able to educate the population about sexual crimes and how to
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prevent them from prevent children from being sexually abused. This pilot program, will
be able to have comprehensive trainings. There will be four sessions with this program
that we want to host here. Commission, we need your help. Please understand, if we do
not safeguard our children and prepare them for prevention, our community will be a City
without walls, allowing the thieves to come in to be able to utilize these children for
personal gain. We want to be able to make sure that we raise our children up so that they
can be able to help the next generation, they are future leaders. If you have any questions,
please let us know. We would really like to be able to implement this year and next year
for the City members.
Mayor Grant stated that he wants to do whatever he can to help support the organization.
He knows of another non-profit that wants to make sure that everyone knows that the
month of January is Human Trafficking Month. He would like to get the two organizations
together to hopefully raise some money and make sure that people are aware of the child
exploitation and human trafficking that is going on in the area.
Sabir Khan, said he is the founding Chairman of Global Florida, a non-profit organization
that represents Bangladesh. He would like to have a street in Boynton Beach renamed
to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Founding Father of Bangladesh.
Mayor Grant stated that he is in favor of moving forward with his request. Mr. Kahn will
need to provide more information on which road he would like to rename. He believes the
process is that, if there is consensus by the Commission, we could put this in front of the
Historic Resources Advisory Board.
Andrew Mack, Assistant City Manager-Public Services, stated that there is a defined
process in the code. He will email Mr. Khan the information he needs.
Jackie Mistaragus, 2620 Village Royale on the Green, thanked Vice Mayor Hay and
Gary Dunmyer, for the road safety tools. We now have arrows and bike paths and walking
lines and crosswalks and reflectors. She added that it is a spectacular job well done.
Ernest Mignoli, 710 NE 7th Street, commented that when there is crime in the streets,
fire hazards or major building problems, nobody wants to talk about it. Then he started
the file, with OPRA, that is costing him hundreds of dollars. He said he sees hundreds,
thousands of violations all over the place with kids living here. He recently called the fire
department, about the explosive propane, gas tank. The fire department says we were
there, we did not see anything, but he has pictures of it and it is still there today. He sends
e-mails to the Building Department, Fire Department, the Police Department, the Mayor's
Department, and does not receive a returned e-mail. He thinks the public should hear
this. Also, the City Attorney is not returning e-mails, phone calls, or anything. Last time
he was here, he said the City needs a crime oversight division. He stated the City needs
a citizen municipal oversight division, so that we can keep a watch, to make sure that
officials here are doing their job because the City is out of control. He said Boynton is in
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the bottom 67% of the United States for crime, crime against children, rape, drugs,
violence and there is fire and building violations everywhere. He said nobody wants to do
anything about anything, except character assassinate people like me.
5. Administrative
A. Appointment of eligible members of the community to serve in vacant
positions on City advisory boards.
Motion
Mayor Grant moved to nominate Davey Morris to the Affordable Housing Advisory
Committee. Vice Mayor Hay seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
B. Review and approve priorities for the Public Art Program as drafted by
the Art Advisory Board during the public workshop on August 21 , 2021
and approved by the Art Advisory Board during its regular meeting on
September 9, 2021 .
Glenn Weiss, Public Arts Manager, gave a summary of recommendations from the public
workshop on August 21, 2021. The Board's focus is on diversity. They have renewed
their commitment to the Kinetic event it is the City's premier event that separates Boynton
from Palm Beach County and South Florida. The Board did recognize that the Kinetic
event needed more community engagement. They did evaluate other elements and one
thing they want to continue is to be the largest public art collection of Palm Beach County
Artists. Almost all 80 artworks are from South Florida artists or from artists in our region
and they want to maintain that. They want to support the good distribution of public art
throughout the City, yet at the same time, have a concentration in downtown. They want
to get better, because they do not feel it is as good as it could be, that the public
information, which goes out about the public art program. They want to proceed with new
programs such as the murals. More collaborations with City departments and community
agencies, they would like to see how they can enhance their fund raising and how we can
enhance our engagement with K through 12 education.
Commissioner Penserga thanked Mr. Weiss for working with the Art Advisory Board.
These are great recommendations. It says here with Private Collaboration and Support,
could you elaborate on what that means, because, to me public art it is not just about
putting art in the public, but actually having public participation in the art.
Mr. Weiss responded that has to do with the financial attributes that our money should be
kind of seed money to make other artwork happen. As you will see, actually the draft
Mural Ordinance and Guidelines and program has been completed, and is now working
its way through the process. There is a great deal of community engagement in
relationship to the making of the work and the planning of.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the financing of future art projects. Are there any
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discussions on how to find an alternative means of funding? Did that come up in the
workshop?
Mr. Weiss commented that the Board would love to see more funding coming directly
from the City Commission, from the budget, as opposed to just the money from the
developers. That was not discussed in detail.
Commissioner Katz inquired how detrimental would it be to the arts program if the current
developer fee were to be reduced by a quantity of 25 to 50% as some have floated?
Mr. Weiss replied that would reduce the program substantially.
Commissioner Penserga recommended that that discussion be had by the Art Advisory
Board, regardless of what happens to the ordinance, whether that is changed or not
changed. It is always good to have alternative means of funding in general.
Mr. Weiss stated that he will take that recommendation back to the Board.
Mayor Grant suggested that the Board holds a fundraiser with the local artists.
City Manager LaVerriere commented that art in Town Square is on loan and would like to
find a way to keep some of it. It is all so beautiful and would hate to see it leave. She
believes that once the Town Square project is complete, the City will be in a better place
to support the Art in Public Places Program by purchasing additional pieces.
6. Consent Agenda
Matters in this section of the Agenda are proposed and recommended by the City
Manager for"Consent Agenda" approval of the action indicated in each item, with all
of the accompanyingmaterial to become a part of the Public Record and subject to staff
comments
A. Authorize utilizing the Law Enforcement Trust Fund (LETF) in the
amount of $23,000.00 for the purchase of gift cards and gun
packaging/processing materials to incentivize and encourage firearm
owners to safely dispose of unwanted firearms.
Vice Mayor Hay pulled the agenda item.
Vice Mayor Hay asked that Chief Gregory talk about this new buyback program and what
is the rationale behind it.
Michael Gregory, Police Chief, expressed thanks for the opportunity to share a little bit
more about that. He said as we talked last time, we had a very successful gun buyback
program that we held earlier part of the year. It was so successful we ran out of gift cards
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and we had to turn folks away that were trying to turn over firearms. They did not have an
alternative method of disposing of them. We knew we wanted to try to do another
program. We are still trying to lock down the right date and time. The previous program
was funded from drug dealer funds from our Law Enforcement Trust fund money that we
seize and year end forfeiture actions. We are going to do that one more time and try to
figure out the right timing to make it happen to give the public another opportunity here in
Boynton Beach to get rid of unwanted farms that they may have at home.
Commissioner Katz inquired if this program was restricted to Boynton residents only. Do
we know how many Boynton Beach guns are being taken off the street?
Chief Gregory responded that we do not ask a lot of questions to keep folks from feeling
intimidated about turning them in. We do full investigations on the firearms once we do
take them off the street. We process the serial numbers to see if they have been reported
stolen. If so, we try to reunite the firearm with its lawful owner. We also do investigations
to determine if was used in a crime. If we determine that, the firearm gets turned over to
the appropriate law enforcement agency that is investigating the crime.
Vice Mayor Hay inquired if there were any challenges at the previous event?
Chief Gregory replied that it went smoothly. The biggest challenge we faced was the
large turnout. It was larger than we anticipated. The cars were backed up to Boynton
Beach Boulevard.
Vice Mayor Hay asked how many guns were removed from the street at the last event?
Chief Gregory stated over 133 firearms were recovered.
Commissioner Romelus inquired about the dollar amount of the gift cards that will be
given out.
Chief Gregory responded that they are requesting $23,000 out of the Law Enforcement
Trust fund. $3,000 will go to reimburse the gifts that were purchased the last time and the
remaining $20,000 will go towards the gift cards as well as gunlocks and trigger locks we
will be offering gun owners.
Commissioner Romelus clarified her question. What is the amount of the individual gift
cards that will be given out?
Chief Gregory replied that they are adjusting them to $75 and $150 this time.
Motion
Vice Mayor Hay moved to approve. Commissioner Penserga seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
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B. Proposed Resolution No. R21-134- Authorize the City Manager and Police
Chief to accept a $35,000 grant award and sign all documents
associated with the grant agreement for the Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT) Occupant Protection grant subject to the
approval of theCity Attorney.
C. Approve the one-year extension for RFPs/Bids and/ or piggy-backs for
the procurement of services and/or commodities under $100,000 as
described in the written report for October 5, 2021 - "Request for
Extensions and/or Piggybacks."
D. Proposed Resolution No. R21-135 - Approve and authorize the Mayor to
sign sub recipient agreements for the Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG), as adopted in the CDBG FY2021 One Year Annual
Action Plan, R21-091.
E. Proposed Resolution No. R21-136 -Approve and Authorize the City Manager
to sign a five (5) year agreement with Ballard Partners, Inc. of
Tallahassee, FL for Appropriations Lobbyist Services for the City of
Boynton Beach with an estimated annual amount of $60,000 plus
expenses.
Mayor Grant pulled the agenda item.
Mayor Grant stated that he was able to visit with Ballard Partners. They did an amazing
job hosting and allowing him access to the Florida Legislature. He inquired if the City
currently has a Grants Coordinator.
Mara Frederiksen, Director of Financial Services, responded that currently, we have a
Grants Manager position advertised and a Fiscal Analyst position advertised, which is for
grants.
Mayor Grant commented hopefully those positions find and capture any sort of
competitive grants or appropriations in all of the higher government levels. In addition, he
saw the scope of services with the US Conference of Mayors. Whatever they can help
us do with the Florida League of Mayors, he would appreciate as well.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that Matt Forest will be here on December 7th and will be
bringing the legislative priority list to the Commission for next year's session. She also
understands Palm Beach County Days is going to happen, she was just told by Richard
Radcliff, so the information has not come out yet. As she gets it, she will circulate it and
that would be in January.
Mayor Grant stated that one of the large items is the legislative annexation of the property
to the west of the Boynton Beach Mall that is on septic and put them on sewer. If Mr.
Forest can give us an update on that in December, he would appreciate it.
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Motion
Commissioner Penserga moved to approve. Vice Mayor Hay seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
F. Approve piggyback utilizing Palm Beach County contract # 750772C
with American Water Chemicals, Inc. for antiscalant, used for the West
Water Plant nano-filtration membranes, for an annual estimated
expenditure of $42,000.
G. Legal Expenses - August 2021 - Information at the request of the City
Commission. No action required.
H. Approve minutes from the September 8, 2021 and September 21 ,
2021 City Commission meetings.
Motion
Commissioner Katz moved to approve the remainder of Consent Agenda. Commissioner
Romelus seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Consent Bids and Purchases Over $100,000
A. Approve Task Order # LS-08-2021 with Florida Design Drilling
Corporation in accordance with RFQ 028-2821-19/M FD, Pre-
Qualification of Contractors for Utility Construction Services awarded
by commission on August 6, 2019. The Scope of Work is for the
Master Pumping Station #309 Pump # 2 Replacement in the sum of
$119,000.00 based on unit costs provided byFlorida Design Drilling
Corporation in their respective bid.
B. Approve an increase to the estimated annual expenditure of the US
Communities Contract # R-TC-17006 with Amazon Business in the
amount of $110,000, increasing the estimated annual expenditure
from $65,000 to $175,000.
Mayor Grant pulled the agenda item.
Mayor Grant asked what does the City use Amazon for?
Mara Frederiksen, Director of Financial Services, stated that this was a City-wide rollout
and the City does not pay shipping. It is a joint business account for the City.
Mayor Grant commented that he wants to be sure that the City is not outsourcing
everything to Amazon because it is easy.
Ms. Frederiksen stated that staff spent about a year taking this to an enterprise account
and we actually quoted out every single individual item that anybody wanted to purchase
on Amazon. We placed three quotes and Amazon by far tended to be the cheapest, and
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our warehouse continues to look at each purchase individually as well.
Motion
Vice Mayor Hay moved to approve. Commissioner Katz seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
C. Approve Task Order UT-1E-05 with Gentile Glas Halloway O'Mahoney
& Associates, Inc. in theamount of $148,762.10 in accordance with
RFQ No. 046-2821-17/TP, General Consulting Services Contract,
Scope Category E awarded by City Commission on August 7, 2018 to
provide design, permitting, bid assistance, and construction
administration services for a new EcoParklocated in Quantum Park.
Mayor Grant and Commissioner Penserga pulled the agenda item.
Commissioner Penserga asked for an overview of the item from staff.
Assistant City Manager Mr. Mack commented that we have had several meetings that
have sought public input on the process of developing a new EcoPark in Quantum
Park. We are glad to present tonight to you that first step, which will be the initial
construction design and construction document permitting. This selection is for you
tonight to decide on an award to our consultant that will manage the project for us. As we
move through, that project will go through the phase where we complete the design, and
then we will bring it back to the Commission for the actual bid and award. We will be
having schedules for the design within the next 90 days, as far as the kickoff and working
with the consultant to make sure we get it worked into their schedule.
Commissioner Penserga thanked Mr. Mack for the overview of the item. He
exclaimed that he is very excited about the EcoPark.
Assistant City Manager Mr. Mack noted that the City has applied for a grant, seeking
$400,000 from the state. He believes that we are ranked number one in that grant.
Commissioner Penserga inquired if the City has received confirmation on that yet.
Assistant City Manager Mr. Mack responded that right now that we do not have an
award, we just know that we have been ranked. We are waiting for them to fund the
money. We hope to find out that in the month of October.
Commissioner Penserga commented that is a very good sign that the City is ranked
number one.
Mayor Grant stated that before the final design is done, it should be reviewed in a public
setting. He would hate to see people use the EcoPark and find small things that could
have been changed beforehand. We have the sustainability fund that can help the
EcoPark, and one of the things that he is trying to push is the solar power and energy
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renewables. He feels that a parking lot is a prime place for solar canopies, similar to what
we have at Oceanfront Park and Barrier Free park. Hopefully the City is reaching out to
FPL to see what we can do to get solar canopies in that parking lot.
Commissioner Katz thanked staff for continuing to move forward with this project. This is
another one of those items like the canal mitigation that Commissioner Romelus worked
on for the past five years. We have been working our way towards getting this park in a
position to be built out for the past 5 or 6 years. It is pleasure to know that it should be
etched in stone by the time we leave after all the effort that went into this project. Staff
has been an integral part in that along the way.
City Manager LaVerriere stated for the record, this has been number one on the list of the
Recreation and Parks Advisory Board for many years. She thinks they will be just as
happy to be able to see Phase One done. Seeking more grants will help us with pavilions
and other items for the park.
Commissioner Romelus suggested honoring Mr. Kanter as he was a fairly strong
advocate in having this park built.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the funding gap. Has there been any discussion
on how the gap is going to be covered?
Mayor Grant responded that we did have a discussion earlier regarding a parks and
recreation bond, which is something that the voters can vote on to help fund it. In addition,
this is something that may take time. It is not something that we need to do all at once. He
believes that there is enough funding to start it off. He is concerned with preserving the
land that has not been developed. Hopefully as we move forward with this EcoPark, we
have a non-profit organization that helps us with the funding because the Quantum Park
development districts should not be the only ones paying for this. However, he does feel
that we need to find ways to, especially with the Publix being the big payee of the
Quantum Park Development District, that does sunset to see if they are still willing to help
fund that area.
Vice Mayor Hay stated that he is excited about this. This park has been on the table a
long time. He is glad that this Commission was able to move it forward. He can almost
assure that the next Commission will continue to move this along and it will not drop the
baton as it has been passed.
Commissioner Romelus inquired if there were electric vehicle parking lots at the park.
Assistant City Manager Mack stated he does not believe there is one there now. It will
be a part of the project. That is something that we will consider putting in. As a part of the
design process, we will do a value engineering look, and then look at what we can afford
now. What can be easily phased in? As well as, what the Mayor mentioned, we will do
some public outreach meetings to gain some input during the process. When we start
having plans at 30-60-90%, we will start seeking input to make sure that we are aligning
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the vision for the park with the Commission and the public as well.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that there are some great sponsorship opportunities in
the future. She can see a Publix pavilion. There are other grant agencies. The land and
water conservation, Fish and Wildlife. That effort that we are going to continue to go after
once you have your design done and it is shelf ready. We are in a much better place to
compete for additional grants. That is going to be the next big step, too. We will be utilizing
some park impact fee funding. She thinks it is helping fund the design portion or going
towards construction. There is a funding that does support the development of regional
parks. We do consider this a regional park and not a neighborhood park.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the 90 days.
Assistant City Manager Mack responded that once we meet the consultant and have a
schedule, that will lay out the whole entire process within the next 90 days for sure or
before.
Commissioner Penserga acknowledged that the 90 days was to get on the consultant's
schedule.
Assistant City Manager Mack stated that we are going to have a kickoff meeting here
within the next two or three weeks and then we will get an actual schedule with a timeline.
Motion
Commissioner Penserga moved to approve. Commissioner Romelus seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
D. Approve the one-year extension for RFPs/Bids and/ or piggybacks for
the procurement of services and/or commodities as described in the
written report for October 5, 2021 - "Request forExtensions and/or
Piggybacks Over $100,000."
E. Approve an increase of $42,000 with Brenntag Mid-South, Inc., for the
purchase of Sodium Hydroxide, utilizing the City of Boynton Beach Bid
No. 015-2821-19/IT. This will bring the totalapproved expenditure to
$210,658.
Motion
Vice Mayor Hay moved to approve the remainder of Consent Bids and Purchases Over
$100,000. Commissioner Penserga seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
8. Public Hearing
6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the agenda permits. The City Commission will conduct
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these public hearings in its dual capacity as Local PlanningAgency and City
Commission.
9. City Manager's Report
A. Consider and approve use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
funds to provide pandemic premium pay to City employees.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that we have had discussions in the past regarding the
potential use of some of the ARPA funding for premium pay for employees. A variety of
cities are utilizing some of this funding for some or all of their employees. Ms. Oldbury
has put some work into what a variety of different funding thresholds may look like for
open discussion tonight or if the Commission chooses to move forward with the premium
pay. She said she gave the Commission a chart this evening that shows where we are
with our ARPA fund balance. We can discuss this chart too. These are items that have
been approved or we know are potential expenditures out of the ARPA funding. That is
not including us bringing any new projects or anything forward that we will be doing in
November with the Commission in a workshop setting. So just keeping that in mind, that
is about where the balance would look like, at a little over $4M for us to be able to do
some of the other things we have talked about: the Resource Center, et cetera.
Julie Oldbury, Director of Human Resources Risk Management, said she could give a
little explanation about the funds and how they are intended to be used for this purpose,
if that would be helpful. The American Rescue Plan Act, US. Department of Treasury
issued an Interim final Rule for the coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Plan,
and also the Heroes Act, which was allowed for the use of premium pay for these funds.
Employees, in order for them to be eligible, they would have to have performed essential
work involving regular in-person interactions and/or regular handling of items handled by
others, and have been and continue to be relied upon to maintain continuity of operations
of essential critical infrastructure. The premium pay, one thing that is important to
understand about this is that the provision state that entities should prioritize the
compensation of lower income workers. Although the legislation did not specify what they
consider to be lower income by a numerical value, they did reference the state's annual
wage pursuant to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment in Wage
Statistics. For the state of Florida, that amount is $50,020 annually. She explained that
when she configured these charts, she did it based on different tiers, based on the pay
grade that people were in and also based on their bargaining units and the SEIU
employees. Those are our blue-collar and white-collar employees. They tend to be the
lowest in income earners. Her recommendation to the Commission would be in order to
sort of comply with that intent of the legislation would be if the Commission offers any
premium pay to prioritize those workers.
Mayor Grant stated that he believes that $500 should be going to everybody. However,
according to the guidance that we received for the ARPA, that additional $500 should be
going to people who are making less than a certain amount that the City Commission
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decides. Whether that is just this year, I believe we can do it this year and next year
because we will receive over$6 million in May of 2022. Let that administration determine
if they want to do the same or more. He then asked Ms. Oldbury are they still allowed to
do that as well next year?
Ms. Oldbury responded provided funding is available, yes.
Mayor Grant stated that we do not have to just do it all at once, and so that we can meet
some of the union requests for these funds not in one year, but in two years, depending
on pay scale.
Vice Mayor Hay stated that this is for the ARPA fund. He thought that we were going to
do the City employees $2,000, police and fire were $1,500 if he is not mistaken. But they
got a thousand from the state which is not our concern. This is to offset the impact of
COVID on all of us. A loaf of bread for an average employee is the same for police and
firemen. What we do here for serious concern is be equal at this stage. This is not merit
which has nothing to do with it. We do $2,000 to the employees and police and fire. I
know that that will add up to $3,500 for police and fire.
Mayor Grant stated that the information that he has is that police and fire have already
received a thousand dollars from the state. The different unions have requested funds.
It is our sole discretion as the City Commission to distribute funds similar to our last City
Commission meeting when we decided to give out $500 to City employees who are
vaccinated. The funds that we have this year, knowing that we are going to get another
$6M in funds next year, to try to split that amount over two years, rather than doing it all
at once, so that we can use some more of the funds for the City. Then an additional $500
to people who make under a certain pay grade. Most of the City employees would get
$1,000. However, certain directors or higher earning individuals who are getting a majority
of the pay increase of the 3%, would not be getting the additional $500 because they
make an amount. The federal rate that they used for the economic stimulus was $80,000.
He would be happy to go as high as $90,000 or $100,000, but anybody who makes over
that amount would not be entitled for an additional $500 from the ARPA Plan. The next
Commission can also issue the same amount as well, whether it's $500, or a $1,000 or
even more, because we are still in a pandemic and it is a still an ongoing hazard.
Commissioner Penserga stated that he likes Mayor Grant's idea of doing half now and
half later. Another line of thought that he heard is that because some groups got some
money already that maybe they should not get as much as the others. I understand that
argument but I am putting myself in their shoes. As a teacher, if he was the topic of tonight,
if teachers were the topic of tonight, it's almost tantamount to saying, well, something
happened to them that was not within their control. That was not a decision made by them
but now they are going to be penalized for getting that money by decision made by
another body. It is not fair to penalize a group based on what the state legislature decided
at some other time. Looking at the numbers presented here, he would be in favor of a
compromise between the ask that's been provided somewhere in the in the $2,000 range.
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We will do one this year and one next year. The law allows for premium pay, but really it
is hazard pay. People who were working and exposing themselves through the pandemic
elevating their risk. This is our way of saying thank you for doing that. Thank you for still
picking up the garbage. Thank you for picking up all those people in ambulances, and fire
trucks, and our police officers who are exposing themselves to residents. He is ready to
move forward unless the Commission wants to discuss some more.
Commissioner Katz stated that he agrees with Vice Mayor Hay and Commissioner
Penserga. Police and Fire were on the front lines and more prone to infections. He is
factoring that as hazard pay.
Commissioner Penserga pointed out that the $500,000 for the acquisition of the property
in the CRA, not all of those funds were used. We are waiting for that money to come back
and that will elevate and offset the numbers.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that the City will not being using any of those funds. The
CRA covered the first $500,000 for the lots purchased and the City did not use any of
their funds.
City Manager LaVerriere reviewed the ARPA funds that have been spent so far. We
received our first tranche, which was $6.82 million in May. We are going to be getting
that same amount next May. What we spent out of that so far, we dedicated almost
$30,000 towards the housing study that is underway. The tutoring program was $28,000
that we did over the summer before school started. The wellness program for police and
fire for the additional mental wellness program and expansion of services was $ 67,000.
We did dedicate $500,000 for the CRA for the auction but that will negate itself because
we ended up not spending it. We did the vaccine incentive program. With the vaccine
vaccination event, that is $60,000. We identified for six months, from March 1, 2020 thru
September 30, 2020, $1.95 million in revenue loss. We have dedicated $75,000 the
Commission approved for the funding of the position with P2P, for rental assistance. The
Commission approved a $500 per employee vaccine incentive, which we have identified,
assuming every single employee did it. That is not likely, $67,000 for fire, $75,000 police,
$400,000 general employee population. Those are estimates, assuming again, every
single employee got vaccinated. We need to think about when we have next year's
revenue losses, that we will be identifying. We just closed out the year on September
30th looking at a full year of losses, we are estimating about $3M. Originally, we had
identified what we thought was going to be about six million over two years of losses so
we have factored that in there. We have not had any discussions at the Commission level
at all but the potential of utilizing some ARPA funding to close the gap on the Wells
Landing project. She has identified two million. That is a what-if, but it is out there and we
got a lot money back. And if we do the premium pay at $1.6 million, that leaves about
$4.3 million in totality of all of the ARPA funding for any other projects that we want to do,
like the Resource Center and some other things. She wanted the Commission to have
that bigger picture.
Mayor Grant stated we can do a lot with that four million if we use it wisely. Regarding the
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Wells Landing project, no, I saw the development fee, and so we are definitely going have
to have that expense to be reduced. In addition, whether we can loan the money out
where they were intending to repay, whether we have to give it out outright or if we can
make a loan, and get paid. He thinks it may be better financial sense, rather than to just
give money away.
City Manager LaVerriere remarked that we are looking into that with the Treasury now
because that was part of a discussion with Centennial, is perhaps to do exactly that and
not take the full amount.
Mayor Grant commented that he is happy with what the Commission is saying, where we
are doing one thousand now and one thousand later. The only comment that he has is
for people that are making less than $50,000 if they could get an extra $250, it is
something that he would be in favor of.
Commissioner Romelus commented in the interest of fairness, we are deciding and we
are discussing how to allocate these funds. And in terms of what she has heard from her
colleagues, we are putting into consideration individuals who put themselves at risk, and
who basically had to show up and to be there, regardless of what the reality on the ground
was. They had to be physically in a location to do the job that they were hired to do,
otherwise, they would be in violation of their job. She thinks those individuals should
receive a higher payout, whatever, we want to call it, hazard pay premium pay, than those
who maybe had the luxury of being able to be safe in their homes, being able to work
from home, being able to work behind a computer and not having to show up somewhere
physically. She is not necessarily saying that she does not agree with what her colleagues
have said. The $2,000 across the board, she thinks if that is the ultimate decision that the
board decides to make, she is fine with that, and would be able to go along with that. She
still thinks the $2,000 number should be reserved for those who, again, were intentionally
because of their job, because their duties and responsibilities had to be put in the line of
COVID. She is speaking about our first responders, individuals who are out on the
garbage trucks. Those individuals who do not have a choice to show up or not show up
to do their jobs. She is not saying that she does not appreciate our staff who had the
ability to work from home or work remotely. She appreciates them just as much. Thank
those individuals who put themselves in harm's way in order to keep our City running
when some of us physically could not. That would be the only caveat that she would add
to this conversation that there should be a differentiation between those who had to show
up to do their job and those who had the luxury to stay behind, to stay at home, and
protect themselves and others from the pandemic. If this a conversation that the
Commission is interested in having, she is fine with having that. If not, then she is fine
with just simply taking the number and spreading it across the board. She would like to
address the comment that she feels that is coming by the member that is standing before
us now. The conversation that we are having right now, Mr. Wright, is a conversation to
provide premium pay for our employees who have worked tirelessly for the last few
months and year during this pandemic. It is money that is meant for this expenditure and
we are going to spend it. It does not mean that we have forgotten about District 2. It does
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not mean that we have forgotten about the issues that are relevant and pertinent to you.
She does feel that there is some discord that is coming from yourself and Mr. Orr. It does
not mean that we have spent money that would otherwise be able to go towards some of
the initiatives she knows are important to them. She explained that she hopes to deflate
the anger a little bit, because she felt like it was coming and aimed at us here. This
conversation really is not taking away from anything she believes matters or is important
to Mr. Wright.
Mayor Grant stated that ARPA are public funds and the public has a right to make sure
that that money is used wisely. He does appreciate anybody from the audience that has
comments regarding spending the ARPA funds. That is why we are having so many
different workshops. City Commission meetings are always an opportunity to talk about
how the City Commission spends government money.
Bishop Bernard Wright, CEO of Bernard Wright Ministries, 713 Northwest 2nd Avenue,
commented that we have been in the pandemic from the very beginning feeding Boynton
Beach, taking chances on the frontline just like our firefighters and we commend
them. We commend everyone who has come out. We have not stopped yet, putting
millage on my car, gas money coming out of my own pocket and others who help us along
the way. We hear millions and hundreds of thousands, that is been allocated to the CRA.
They could have bought this property that the county has had for years. We are talking
about unwise and wasteful spending, money that should be prioritized. There has been
no move forward toward money coming into Boynton Strong, Bernard Wright
Ministries and other entities who have been actually in this pandemic. He has taken part
in trying to see a change for the better, not knowing what tomorrow is going to bring. He
feels that the Boynton Bulldogs should have the best safety equipment. He is a concerned
parent and no one will listen. They should have the best equipment for safety, especially
with concussions that you can get in football. We have not been prioritized.
Mayor Grant stated that he understands Mr. Wright's comments saying that the City
Commission has not really discussed how are we spending the money in the City. We
have only talked to the City employees. He believes that September 30th was the first
workshop. Hopefully, staff can give us an update on that workshop at our next meeting
on October 19th
City Manager LaVerriere commented that we are having all three workshops. We are
pulling all that information together for you and bringing that to the November 16th
workshop with the Commission, to talk about all of the input we have received, and
projects that we think were born out of those meetings. That was the plan.
Mayor Grant requested that the information that is discussed at the workshops be placed
on the City website so that the public can see the comments that are being made at these
workshops. We are looking to spend the money before the end of the year. However, we
want to get the totality of everyone's needs first, and we appreciate your comments.
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Bishop Wright stated he appreciates it. As long as we sit around a table, we move forward
and see progress.
Commissioner Penserga inquired about the workshop for the non-profits.
City Manager LaVerriere responded that has not happened yet. We had changed the date
and she does not have the dates in front of her. We have a second public workshop plus
the non-profit workshop happening in October. Then, we will have the November 16th
workshop with the City Commission prior to the Commission meeting at three o'clock, and
what that will be is a combination of survey results. We are getting hundreds of survey
results, emails and communications. She was out of town, but she watched the YouTube
video of the first input session. It was excellent and we had some good input at that
meeting. We really hope to have that happen over at Station 3.
Vice Mayor Hay remarked that he was at the first workshop and that there were people
from District 2 who came with great ideas. There was good representation from all
sections of the City. He is looking forward to November 1st and receiving similar input
from the community.
City Manager LaVerriere noted that the next workshop was October 28th at Fire Station
3, located at Minor and Congress. She believes the meeting starts at 6 p.m.
Tory Orr, 106 Northeast 7th Avenue, inquired why the meeting was being held out west
and not at the Carolyn Sims Center. He also stated that the Center is still not opened to
the public. He lost both of his jobs during the pandemic and he was still feeding kids every
day.
Commissioner Romelus stated for the benefit of those who are listening, and for those
who choose to stay here and listen let us address some things. Can you please re-iterate
those dates and those locations? That way it is clear where we are meeting and where
the public input meetings are happening.
City Manager LaVerriere responded that these are not the only public outreach meetings
we are going to be having. This is money that we have the next four years to spend. We
have two years to decide what to do with it, and then another two years to actually
physically get it spent. This is not a decision that is going to be made in two meetings and
we spend $13 million. This is a continuing process, she is going to repeat that every time
we have conversations so people do not feel like this is it and they are not going to be
able to make or be part of a decision. We have had the one outreach last week, we will
have October 28th at 6 p.m., we are going to do an outreach out in the western community
that was specifically requested. That is October 28th, at Station 3 at 6:00 p.m. Then we
thought it would be a good idea to also reach out to all of our non-profit community in
Boynton. They are the ones that have the boots on the ground. They know what the
issues are. They know what people need. We are going to have a non-profit stakeholder
meeting on November 1st, in Chambers, at 6:00 p.m.
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Commissioner Romelus inquired about the workshop on September 30th Where did it
take place?
City Manager LaVerriere replied it was in Chambers at 6:00 p.m. All of this is on our
website, on our ARPA page. Then we are going to take the combination of all that
information and what we have been able to research and have a workshop discussion
with the Commission on the 16th and get some direction on some projects. Bulldogs,
Jessica's programs, all that stuff, we are going to pull it all together and put some numbers
to them. She wants to get priorities from the Commission. What do you want us to work
on first? We will not be able to do it all in six months. Do we want to do the resource
center? That is a big discussion that will take a year and a half to get complete. These
are conversations we are going to have continually, literally over the next year and a half
to two years. She provided the list tonight to keep track of where the money has gone
and what is floating out there. We are going to have to make some decisions. Do we
want to put $2 million toward Centennial? You may not. We want to keep a balance in
mind at all times. Then we move from there so we will get some priorities from the
Commission on the 16th. We will be coming back again at the beginning of next year and
doing more outreach as we learn more. It is not a one-shot deal and she can not impart
that enough to the community.
David Scott, Director of Economic Development and Strategy, stated that the
Intracoastal Park Clubhouse was considered for the workshops. We are looking for
maximum participation from the community. Chambers allows the workshop to be in-
person and virtual. The second meeting is being held out west and we needed a location
that would allow both in person and virtual. We did consider the community room at the
Police station yet felt that some members of the community would not feel comfortable at
the police station. Therefore Fire Station 3 provided an opportunity to have a meeting out
west.
City Manager LaVerriere stated Commissioner Katz requested one of the meetings to be
held out west. That is why we are having a meeting out west.
Commissioner Penserga inquired if it was difficult to bring meeting equipment to different
locations.
City Manager LaVerriere replied she is not the one to ask, but as she understands yes, it
is.
Assistant City Manager Matos stated that the audio equipment needs to be calibrated.
We have a consultant that runs all the audio for the Commission meetings. It is not a
simple set up.
Commissioner Romelus asked why is the Carolyn Sims Center still closed to the public.
City Manager LaVerriere stated that it is not a correct statement.
Assistant City Manager Matos commented that the Center is fully open. It is open Monday
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to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
City Manager LaVerriere noted that there are no after school programs there.
Commissioner Romelus requested that staff reach out to Mr. Orr and discuss why he
believes the Center is closed to the public.
Mr. Mignoli commented that he feels that the people who suffered the most during COVID
do not work for the City. There are over 18,000 families in poverty in the City. The ARPA
funding should go to them and not to City employees. The funding should be spent now
and not over the next four years. The City should not be holding meetings in police and
fire departments. Zoom will set up anywhere and they put the whole meeting on film.
Mayor Grant inquired if the amount should be the same for all employees or should
those who earn less than a certain amount get more.
Commissioner Katz stated that he is fine with going across the board.
Motion
Commissioner Katz moved to approve premium pay at $1,000 a year for the next 2 years
for all City employees. Commissioner Romelus seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
Mayor Grant stated all City employees are essential and we have the ability to do this.
10. Unfinished Business — None
11. New Business
A. Consider a request from the Palm Beach County Human Rights
Council regarding a resolution and placement of a plaque at the Pride
Intersection.
Mayor Grant inquired if this was City policy.
Assistant City Manager Mack replied that this is not City policy.
Mayor Grant asked if this would fall under Historic Resources Preservation Board.
City Manager LaVerriere responded it does not need to go to the Historic Resources
Preservation Board.
Attorney Cherof stated that this does not need to be reviewed by an advisory board. It is
a policy decision by the City Commission.
Vice Mayor Hay inquired why is this being considered.
Mayor Grant stated that this is a continuation of the development of the Pride Intersection.
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Commissioner Penserga commented that the purpose of this plaque is to memorialize
Mr. Alan Hendricks and the contributions he has made to the City.
Gemma Torcivia, a member of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council and a
local attorney, stated that she appreciates the Commission's consideration of their
request. She has been working on behalf of the Board with the Pride intersection in Delray
Beach which was defaced during a rally. The State attorney was unable to use the
Combating Public Disorder Act, which was codified in four statutes in 2021, because it
had not been dedicated with a memorial. The language of the Combating Public Disorder
Act, it's very specific that in order to utilize that act to appropriately prosecute someone
who defaces or damages, a memorial or historic property, it has to be designated as
memorial or historic property. What we have done as a board, is we have developed a
resolution that has been approved by the State attorney's office as appropriately creating
a memorial for the intersection. If down the road, and hopefully this never happens,
something happens and there is a willful and malicious defacement injury or damage that
occurs to the intersection or to the memorial plaque, that appropriate action can be taken
by the State attorney, essentially, giving him the ability to use the full range of tools that
we believe the legislature intended him to have. We are asking this Commission to
consider adopting this resolution, which has been provided as part of your agenda
packets, which contains the appropriate language to dedicate the intersection. It also
does make notice of a local resident, and the language on the plaque itself is also
suggested in the resolution to conform with that statute, which is on page two of the
resolution, so the memorial would read Boynton Beach Memorial LGBTQ Pride
intersection. Then there would be language which says, we are counting and honoring
the public service of Alan Hendricks. The Boynton Beach City Commission dedicated the
Permanent Boynton Beach Memorial LGBTQ Pride Intersection.
Mayor Grant stated that based upon what Ms. Torcivia stated regarding a Memorial, is
that this goes in front of the Historic Resources Preservation Advisory Board for a public
discussion because that is what they are there for, to make these types of
recommendations to us as a City Commission. He said he does not feel comfortable
deciding on this without their recommendation.
Commissioner Penserga pointed out that the Commission has already approved the Pride
Intersection and normally he would agree with the Mayor in that having input from the
advisory board would be helpful. But in this instance, it seems redundant to him. It is
already something that we have approved. It seems like this should be an easy and
straightforward addition to provide legal protections should a hate crime occur. We can
actually prosecute the individual or individuals that commit this hate crime.
Vice Mayor Hay inquired if this a memorial plaque and what does it look like.
Mayor Grant stated that it is something that our Historic Resources Preservation Board
votes on. They are doing one regarding the Rosenwald School. He feels that we are
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sidestepping our City advisory boards. In addition, he thought we have a progressive flag,
not a pride flag. He wants to make sure that we have the correct language. Is it LGBTQ,
LGBT, LGBTQIAA? There is a lot of things that he feels that we need to have the
discussion and for the residents to make the decision, not just the Palm Beach County
Human Rights Council.
Vice Mayor Hay inquired if the City is the first in the area doing this. He is not objecting
strongly to it. As the Mayor said, he wants to make sure that we cover all our bases and
follow our own procedures that we have established. We just had one come before us,
with our parks in this City and monuments. We need to move forward carefully. He said
he wants to make sure we have all of our bases covered and let's move with caution.
Attorney Cherof pointed out that the item on the agenda is a request. It does have a form
resolution attached to it. The resolution is not on the City Commission agenda tonight for
a vote. That would have to come back at the next meeting once the City Commission sets
a policy decision.
Mayor Grant remarked that when the Commission decides, we have a recommendation
from the City's Historic Resources Preservation Board because that is what they do. They
normally get these requests first. As he mentioned, they were discussing the plaque for
the Rosenwald School. If we wanted to, we could make the decision however, it is
sidestepping some of our advisory boards' ability to make recommendations to us.
Commissioner Katz stated that he agrees with the Mayor's recommendation. If it took
more than 60 or 90 days, he would be shocked. It is a finite item. The intersection honors
a wider base of populations than the resolution as it is currently worded. He wants to
make sure we get it right if we were to get a recommendation and move forward as a
board. He inquired if this would help a prosecution take place.
City Attorney Cherof stated that he cannot answer that. The process that the State's
attorney makes in determining to prosecute or not has many factors. He does not think
that a signal factor is dispositive.
Commissioner Katz reiterated that he is okay with this as long as it goes through the
proper channels. He likes the idea that it honors a local resident who is part of the
community that the intersection honors. It is sad that this is a step that needs to be taken
to prosecute people who are willing to deface property in the name of discrimination.
Commissioner Penserga remarked that it was not too long ago that this body considered
the monument policy and whether or not to move forward with it. That monument policy
was defeated by this board. In that policy, it laid out a process for these types of things to
be addressed and his understanding was that process was too cumbersome, it was too
long and all the other reasons and that things go directly to the Commission for
consideration. That was his understanding. Now we have an applicant that is coming
directly to the Commission, and now he is confused as to where we stand. He said he
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thought that is what the process was to come directly to the Commission.
Mayor Grant stated that Commissioner Penserga was absolutely correct; we are not
saying, no, we are just saying we want to make sure the Historic Resources Preservation
Board is included, because it will become a historic resource, because you cannot destroy
historic resources without penalties. If the Oyer building was a historic resource, we would
not be able to tear it down. He wants to make it clear that this is something that will affect
the future of the City. That is why we have the different advisory boards. For example,
our planning and zoning board reviews all different site plans because of the future effect
of the city, and that's kind of where he appreciates them coming forward. He thinks the
City staff did the proper protocols of letting us review and see the resolution that was
proposed, to see if we want to make any changes and it is well within our authority to go
to an advisory board. For example, if they wanted to have a monument at a parks facility,
he would suggest that we would send it to the Parks and Recreation Board, not the
Historic Resources Preservation Board, or we actually could send it to both and get both
of their recommendations.
Ms. Torcivia stated that her understanding was that the Historic Resources Preservation
Board recommends properties for historic designation and advises on historic
preservation matters. To be very clear, the distinction is that this is not a request for a
historic designation, this is a request for a memorial.
Mayor Grant remarked that as an attorney, a memorial is a forever thing that creates a
historic designation. Correct, it is not a historic designation as of now, but it will be of a
historic designation once the memorial is there.
Ms. Torcivia stated that we are happy to follow whatever process you would like us to. To
answer the Vice Mayor's earlier question, you are certainly not the first City that we have
been working with to try to move this forward. Obviously, other cities in the county have
been pioneers in protecting LGBTQ rights and have created similar intersections. We are
certainly working with them to pass similar resolutions, to provide the State attorney, the
ability to prosecute these crimes that unfortunately occur. This really is just to provide
those teeth so the state attorney can do his job and effectively prosecute criminals.
Although, to be fair, we did think this was the process. We are not trying to subvert your
process.
Mayor Grant commented that Ms. Torcivia is absolutely correct. This is the process. We
have the ability to make sure that we have another public meeting as part of getting citizen
input before we decide. He stated this is something that, as he mentioned earlier, is within
our authority because we approve a resolution creating a memorial or a historic
designation. He said he appreciates her coming forward and he is sorry if staff thought
that this was going to be the only meeting that they had to attend. We have these different
advisory boards to help us make the best decisions on behalf of the city.
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12. Legal
A. Authorize the City Manager to co-sign a US Army Corps of Engineers
Application for Permit for Hampshire Gardens to construct a
replacement seawall.
Bill O'Connell, HOA President, stated that we have a seawall that is over 50 or 60 years
old and we are looking to protect our property. Our property adjoins Jaycee Park; we
share a common border there. We are willing to flip the bill to return the seawall along the
property line, which part of the property sits on Jaycee parks property. We are going to
return that seawall on that property. With the agreement that we will provide an easement
of our attorney, prepare an easement agreement which the City requested that we do
prior to receiving any construction permits. We will take care of that. This process is just
to get the permit application going with the Army Corps of Engineers and the DEP, if they
will approve our plan, as sketched out by our engineers.
Mayor Grant inquired if a living seawall is part of this project. That it is not just the water
against the metal or brick, but that there is freshwater landscape.
Mr. O'Connell stated that he believes that there was; we will call it in the terms of the
Engineers, or rip rap seawalls solution that we may be able to put it in rather than a
concrete seawall. The problem is that when we get the King Tides there, where our
property butts Jaycee Park, the water comes through the park and floods out our parking
lot. All of our asphalt is now collapsing and settling in the intercoastal. We are trying to
prevent the seepage of our soil from the south end of our property going back out into the
intercoastal. We would have no problem with that. That would actually be a lot less
expensive for us to do. We could do some sort of rip rap rock foundation living seawall
kind of construction. He does not know how feasible it would be to do that and solve the
problem that we are having. He thinks the plan would be, even if they do the wall they will
still have some kind of living seawall formation in front of that wall to help give it a better
appearance on the park side. He will definitely talk to the engineers to see if there is
anything they can do to improve the design. We do not even know if the DEP and Army
Corps is going to approve what we are submitting. The first step in this process is just to
make the submission and we both have to sign the application since it is going on two
properties.
Vice Mayor Hay inquired about the lifespan of a seawall.
Mr. O'Connell replied 50 years, if you can get 50 years out of a concrete seawall. We are
in a high wake zone it is really 30 to 35 years. This seawall has seen 50 to 60 years. We
are trying to repair it. We want to protect our property and we want to do it the proper
way. This is going to cost as well over a million dollars, which we already funded the
project. We do not want to do it and not return it on the South end and leave our property
open to King Tides and a potential hurricane storm surge that will wipe out some of the
units in our complex. We feel it is a benefit for both park and neighboring property. We
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feel it is going to help both of us.
Vice Mayor Hay commented that he was thinking we would be at a higher risk. We are in
a hurricane area.
Mr. O'Connell stated fortunately, we have been okay. We have not had a tremendous
situation there. We are experiencing severe flooding during King Tides. That is why we
have to get this done.
Motion
Vice Mayor Hay moved to approve. Commissioner Romelus seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
B. Pursuant to Section 286.011(8), Florida Statutes, the City Attorney
is requesting a privateattorney-client session of the City Commission to
discuss pending litigation in the following case:
LATOSHA CLEMONS, Plaintiff, vs. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH,
FLORIDA, a Florida municipal corporation, Defendant — Palm Beach
County Circuit CourtCase Number: 50 2021 CA004638XXXXMB AE
Assistant City Attorney Bridgeman stated that the Florida Statute requires her to
request closed door sessions with the Commission publicly, which she is doing
tonight. requesting that closed-door session in the Latosha Clemons vs. City of
Boynton Beach case. She said that they can probably conclude their discussion
within 45 minutes. There was a Commission consensus to have the attorney-
client session at 4:30 p.m. on October 12, 2021 .
13. Future Agenda Items
A. Head Start Purchase and Sale Agreement - October 19, 2021
B. Hazard Mitigation Grant Award for Potter and Dimmick Roads - October 19,
2021
C. Mobility Plan &Technical Report-October 19, 2021
D. Draft Ordinance for Disposition of City-owned Property. - November 2, 2021
E. Discuss process and estimated costs for a Recreation and Parks Bond
Referendum Question inAugust 2022 - November 2, 2021
F. Building Department staff will present an update on the implementation
of the new SagesGovsoftware for permitting and inspections -
November 16, 2021
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November 16, 2021
G. National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System Update -
November 16, 2021
H. Sign Code Amendments - November 16, 2021
I. Representatives from FIU will present the Diversity & Equity Assessment
of City Systems (InternalAssessment) - November 16, 2021
J. City lobbyist Mat Forest to give a preview of the 2022 State Legislative
Session 2022 and discussthe City's annual Legislative Agenda. -
December 7, 2021
K. Consultant Presentation of Housing Needs Assessment - December 7, 2021
L. Discuss disposition of vacant 3.62 acre parcel adjacent to
Leisurevillle and west of SW 8thAvenue -TBD
M. Discussion regarding adjusting traffic signal timing for pedestrians during
off-peak hours. — TBD
N. Discuss Building Safety Inspection Program — TBD
0. Proposed Ordinance No. 21-025. First Reading. Approve Development
Agreement Ordinance. (Tabled from the September 21, 2021 City Commission
Meeting.) - TBD
14. Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Grant adjourned the meeting at 8:58 p.m.
ATTEST:
r tal Gibson, MMC
Ci y Clerk
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