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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes RAB 092004PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 MINUTES The City of Palm Beach Gardens Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met on September 20, 2004. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 P.M. I. ROLL CALL Present: Robert Premuroso, Tory Buckley, George Schmidt, Ernest Volonte, Wendy Walker, Mary Anne Hedrick joined the meeting at 7:10 P.M. Absent: Dave Lill Also present: Charlotte Presensky, Staff Liaison, Christy Wolnewitz, Special Events Coordinator, Dan Reidy, Golf Course Manager and Justin Lucas, Athletics Superintendent. II. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD — OCTOBER STATUS Beginning October 1, 2004 there will be new members joining the board. All the old members that applied have been reappointed. There will be 7 regular members and 2 alternates. The meetings will still be held on the 3rd Monday of every month unless the new board wants to change that time. III. HURRICANE FRANCIS RECOVERY Charlotte Presensky reported on the Parks and Recreation Department's hurricane recovery effort. Most of the City's parks have reopened as of Saturday, September 18, 2004. Most of the programs are up and running too. There is still some clean -up of landscaping to do. All the park lights have been checked. They were all found to be structurally sound but some of the lights need to be redirected. The pool house on Burns Road had a lot of damage. The roof of the pump house pealed away and a lot of the debris landed in the pool. The pool was checked for damage and there was no damage found. The pump house offices can not be used. There was a lot of water damage and mold. They are going to bring a trailer in for staff to use as an office. In addition, the phones at the pool are not working. There seems to be a problem with the fiber optic system that is going to be repaired. The Tennis Center faired well in the storm. There were trees blown down and debris but for the most part there was no real damage. Dan Reidy reported that the City's Golf Course had a lot of flooding. There were a lot of trees down and a lot of debris to be cleaned up. The golf course is open although they are still working on some of the large trees that are down. Charlotte stated that there was significant enough damage to City property that insurance should reimburse for many of the items that need to be replaced or repaired. Charlotte stated that FEMA is still housed at the Burns Road Community Center. They will be there for at least another 30 days. They are trying to find alternate locations for some of the activities that took place in the gymnasium until FEMA leaves. Charlotte commended her staff for working so hard at the Disaster Distribution Center after the Hurricane. The board also commended the staff for a job well done. IV. THOMPSON RIVER LINEAR PARK Charlotte Presensky presented the plans for the Thompson River Linear Park and gave an overview of the project. Behind the Burns Road Community Center is a waterway that is called the Thompson River. The Parks and Recreation Department has applied for a grant to develop the Thompson River Linear Park. The grant is a "match grant" in the amount of $200,000. The City will have to match the grant with another $200,000. The park will cost $400,000 to build. The park will have an exercise trail that will connect to the Burns Road exercise trail by a bridge. Each side of the trail will have a half mile of walking trail and exercise equipment. They are also proposing a small fishing pier on the river. $400, 000 will cover the trail, exercise equipment, lighting and the bridge. The project will start as soon as the City receives confirmation from the government that the check will be coming. There were some questions from the public as to the lighting, security and who will design the park. Charlotte answered the questions as follows: The lighting will be on a timer. The times have not been decided yet. There will be a public hearing as the park comes closer to being built so the public can help decide the hours of the lighting. Charlotte also stated that the bridge will be large enough for police to be able to patrol the area. The park will be designed by a landscape engineer. The bridge and lighting will be designed by certified engineers. 2 V. PROPOSED BUDGET — PARKS AND RECREATION ELEMENTS Charlotte gave a hand out and presented the proposed budget for the New Year. She went over all the budget items. She explained that a lot of the decisions that the board made in the past few years has been added into this budget. The board was pleased to see their efforts paying off. VI. FRDAP APPLICATION — CITY PARK: PHASE II The Parks and Recreation Department has applied for two FRDAP (Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program) Grants. One grant is for the development of City Park, Phase II. This phase will include landscaping, lighting, 2 tennis courts, a large pavilion that will hold 8 picnic tables, four racquetball courts, a walking trail with exercise equipment and a shaded structure over the existing playground. VII. FRDAP APPLICATION — LILAC PARK: PHASE II The second FRDAP Grant application is for Phase II of Lilac Park. The proposal for this park includes: a new playground with a shaded structure, a launch for canoes and kayaks, a small picnic facility, exercise trail with equipment, batting cages and warm -up mounds and the dog park. VIII. COMMENTS BY BOARD MEMBERS None IX. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC There was a question posed by William Olsen. He asked if there was a City Council Liaison on the board. Charlotte stated that there were no more Council Liaisons but the staff liaison and the board chairperson will report to City Council with any issues and recommendations. X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM. 3 Approval: Robert Premuroso, Chairman Hedrick, Board Member Ernest V nte, Board Member I IA Veindy o. Board Member ' a'h Leyland"— Al ern David Lutrin - Alternate 1 Attest: usan Bell, Public Information/Recording Coordinator 4