Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes RAB 101804PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD October 18, 2004 Minutes The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met on October 18, 2004. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the pledge of allegiance. L OATH OF OFFICE Patricia Snider, City Clerk, administered the Oath of Office to all regular members and all alternate members who were present. U. ROLL CALL Members Present: Bert Premuroso, Mary Anne Hedrick, Tory Buckley, Phil Milton, Ernest Volonte, Carolyn Chaplik, Alan Leyland, David Lutrin. Wendy Walker arrived at 7:06 PM and was sworn in upon her arrival. Also Present: Charlotte Presensky, Staff Liaison, Mike Kelly, Parks Director, Ann Schilling, Recreation Resource Manager, Dan Reidy, Golf Course/Tennis Center Manager, Christine Tatum, City Attorney, Patricia Snider, City Clerk and Susan Bell, Public Information/Recording Coordinator. III. SELECTION OF INTERIM OFFICERS (to serve until January 2005) Patricia Snider, City Clerk acting as the temporary chair, opened the floor to nominations for interim chair and vice chair. The board voted 6 -0 to elect Bert Premuroso Chairperson, and Mary Anne Hedrick, Vice Chairperson. IV. ORIENTATION SESSION The board was given an orientation session that was led by Christine Tatum, City Attorney, and Patricia Snider, City Clerk. The orientation included the background and overview of the City's Boards and Committees, the powers and duties of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the Florida Sunshine Law, public records requests, ethics and financial disclosure. All board members were given a Board and Committee notebook that explained in detail, everything that was discussed in the orientation. V. APPROVAL OF MINTUES The board approved the minutes from the September 20, 2004 meeting. Tory Buckley commented that he thought the minutes needed to be more specific to the actual conversations that took place at the meeting. Charlotte explained that the minutes that are transcribed are action minutes and individual conversation back and forth is not captured. Tory would like to see the minutes include more board member comments. VL ITEMS BY STAFF LIAISON Hurricane Damage - Hurricane Jeanne Charlotte Presensky, reported on the hurricane damage from Hurricane Jeanne. All recreation facilities and parks sustained a substantial amount of damage. There was a significant amount of lighting damage to the parks, tennis center, and ball fields. YAA had to cancel its fall program due to lighting damage on the ball field. The lighting at the Plant Drive Baseball Field and Roller Hockey Park had significant lighting damage and they have not been able to play at night. Bert Premuroso asked if the lighting would be fixed by Daylight Savings Time. Mike Kelly stated he is hoping to have most lighting fixed prior to the time change. Davco Electric has been out to assess the damage and will be doing the repair work as soon as possible. The Burns Road Community Center sustained further damage to the roof. The sky light gave way and there is some cracking. A lot of the fencing in the parks have been damaged and needs to be replaced. Estimates are being worked up and it will be sent to FEMA and the City's Insurance carrier. There is a 3% deductible on each and every facility. They are hoping FEMA will make up the difference. The City is prepared to pay for damage until they get reimbursed by the insurance carrier or FEMA, from reserve money that was incorporated into the budget over past years. Bert Permusoso asked if any other athletic leagues are in jeopardy of being cancelled. Charlotte responded that YAA Roller Hockey might have some financial damage because they cannot play at night and they have to use other facilities. She added that several of the city sponsored programs at Burns Road were cancelled due to the back to back hurricanes. The Athletic Department has adjusted, cancelled or shortened programs that would have started mid- September. She is in the process of assessing financial damage from canceling city programs and already knows that she will not meet budget projections. VII. OLD BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE The new pool is coming along despite the hurricanes and should meet the projection time frame of Spring Break 2005. Some of the planning time for the Burns Road Community Center project was cut back due to the hurricanes, however, they are now back in the planning stage. The drawings are 60% complete and should come back to the board next month. The City is considering adding a 2nd floor to the community center to make an EOC site that would be wind rated for a Category 5 storm. The police station is not rated for a Category 5 and this would be a much stronger facility. Plans for the Thompson River/Linear park project have slowed down due to the hurricanes but are staring to gear back up again. Bert Premuroso presented a question about how the insurance money will be used since the Burns Road facility was already budgeted to be redone. Charlotte stated that the insurance money will supplement the budgeted money because some items now have to be replaced instead of repaired. For example; the roof may have to be replaced as opposed to the original plan to repair it. The insurance money will make up the difference. She will have more information on this at next month's meeting. VIII. NEW BUSINESS: GOALS FOR THE BOARD The board members openly discussed the goals for the future of this board. Charlotte suggested making the improvement of PGA Park one of their priorities. She suggested the group seek out citizen input and do a case study to make sure the improvements will meet the needs of the residents. The board agreed that PGA Park should be made a priority on their upcoming agendas. Mary Anne Hedrick suggested that they speak with representatives from the different groups (this could include football and baseball teams) that use the parks and get their input on what improvements they would like to see be made. David Lurtin suggested also getting input from residents who are not using the park, to find out why they do not use facility. Mike Kelly stated there were about 70 trees that were down in PGA Park due to the hurricanes and the park looks totally different without the trees. Carolyn Chaplik asked about putting out a questionnairetsurvey at the Green Market. Charlotte explained the process of park analysis which includes; staff meetings, board meetings, surveys, input from user groups and casual users, and public meetings. Funding for PGA Park is in the budget for 2006 but the board can decide to bump up the process. Since the park took a big hit in the hurricane it would be a good idea to get the vision started while they are already doing repair work on the park. The board agreed that PGA Park was an important project and would like to put it on the agenda for next month to start process. FUTURE PROJECTS Tory Buckley asked if there is land in any of the new developments coming on line in the city that will have a public park, similar to the park at Mirasol. Charlotte stated that there is nothing coming up at this time. She discussed City Park and the status of the agreement with the county. Tory would like to set up a meeting to discuss the open land and the future use of it. The board decided that the next meeting will be held at 6:30 to allow time to open discussion up to public regarding the lighting at Watkins Middle School. Charlotte gave the board the option of changing the time of the monthly meeting. The board wanted to keep the meetings on the 3`d Monday of the Month at 7:00 PM. If there is a big public discussion for the night they will move the meeting up at their discretion. FRENCHMAN'S CREEK GRANT Frenchman's Creek has been extremely generous to the City and has made substantial donations to the City which included a van and the playground equipment at the Riverside Enrichment Center. Charlotte put in an application for funding of two computer facilities. One will be at the Riverside Enrichment Center and the other at Lakeside Community Center. OTHER ISSUES: The Green Market is now open through March, 2005. Alan Leyland asked about the operating economics of the Golf Course. He suggested raising fees for non - residents and to use that money to make improvements to the golf course. Dan Reidy explained that the Golf Course is set up as an enterprise fund which is separate from the City Budget because it was supposed to be a revenue generator. Seasonal Rates are going into effect next week which will increase slightly from last year. Dan said he will approach the City's Finance Director with this idea. S IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:32 PM. Approval: Robert Premuroso, Chairperson Mary Anne Hedrick, Vice Chairperson Board Member Wendy Walker oard Member Ernest V,'dnte, Board Member Carolyn CAaplik, Board Member Alan Leyland, Alternate Attest: David Lutrin, Alternate Bell, Public Information/ Recording Coordinator