HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes RAB 111504PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD
November 15, 2004
Minutes
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met on November 15, 2004. The meeting was
called to order at 7:04 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.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Bert Premuroso, Tory Buckley, Phil Milton, Ernest Volonte, Carolyn
Chaplik, Alan Leyland, David Lutrin and Wendy Walker
Members Absent: Mary Anne Hedrick
Also Present: Charlotte Presensky, Staff Liaison and Community Services Division
Director, Mike Kelly, Parks Director, Justin Lucas, Athletics Superintendent and Susan
Bell, Public Information/ Recording Coordinator.
COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC
There were approximately 15 teenagers that attended the meeting to discuss the lighting
at the Gardens Skate Park. Nicole Holderbaum of 9024 Gardens Glen Circle presented to
the board the reasons why the Skate Park needs to have lighting. Lindsey Histler also
spoke about the need for lighting at the park. They stated that there are many teens and
adults that want to utilize the skate park but now that it gets dark early they cannot skate
past 5:30 PM. They presented the board with a notebook that contained over 200
signatures of people who support lighting of the park.
Bob Beiby from North Palm Beach also discussed the petition and congratulated the kids
on doing a great job getting signatures. He stated that he is an adult skater who skates 1 to
3 days a week. He feels that the lighting is very important to the skaters. The park is used
by young and old and it is only fair that there is lighting.
There were several other teens that spoke and stressed that by the time they get home
from school and do their homework it is dark outside and there is no lighting to skate at
night. They pointed out that all the other City parks have lights and since this is also a
sport this park should be lit too.
Charlotte discussed the history and background of the Skate Park and the lighting. When
the park first opened the attendance was very low so the lighting was put on the back
burner. Since then the attendance has substantially increased. The Board discussed the
possibility of charging a fee to use the skate park but staff does not think that a minimal
fee is worth collecting. It will actually cost more to collect the money and do all the paper
work involved than the actual fee collected.
Charlotte explained to the Board that they have the opportunity to adjust their priorities
though the 5 -year Capital Improvement Plan. If they want to focus on this next year they
add it in their budget.
The Board was concerned about waiting too long to put in the lighting. They would like
to come up with a temporary fix until there is a permanent solution. Some suggestions
were renting lights and readjusting the ball field lights. Charlotte feels that temporary
lighting will be hard to accomplish because of safety and liability issues.
The Board was very definite that they want the kids to be able to use the park at night and
asked staff to come back to the next meeting with information on what can be done on a
temporary basis until permanent lighting can be installed.
ITEMS BY STAFF LIAISON
Charlotte reported on the status of the Burns Road Facility. Staff is making plans on how
to take the building off line, get the building built and move back into the facility. They
are in the process of an inter -local agreement with the School Board and working with
Gardens High School to provide space to hold Summer Camp this Summer. If they are
able to do that they can vacate the Burns Road building for 3 to 4 months. It will be
much easier for construction if no one is in the building. Charlotte will report back at the
next meeting with more information.
OLD BUSINESS
Charlotte presented the updated plans for City Park, Lilac Park, and Burns Road
Community Center.
The City Park plans included the layout for the exercise equipment, two hard court tennis
courts, a pavilion, lighting the basketball courts and adding a shaded structure over the
playground. They are also proposing a hard service ADA exercise trail for people with
disabilities. The grant is for $400, 000. This is a match of $200,000 from the State and
$200,000 from the City.
The plans for Lilac Park have incorporated the next phase of the park. This includes the
playground with shade protection, picnic areas and exercise equipment. This is also a
$400,000 grant with a match of $200,000 from the State and $200,000 from the City.
There was discussion among the Board as to where the foot bridge and the walking trail
will be.
The conceptual plans for Burns Road Community Center were presented to the Board.
The drawings included: a new front desk area, new entrance to the pool, with locker
rooms, a new conference room, a new kitchen, and a large storage facility. Also included
are new offices for the Athletic staff, a full court basketball, 2 short courts and 2
volleyball courts.
The City is also proposing to build a second floor on the Community Center to be used as
an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) that will sustain 155 mile winds. City facilities
are now built to handle 110 mile winds. The City would like to take this opportunity to
build the EOC while they are already redoing the building. The Board was concerned if
the money for the EOC was coming out of the Parks and Recreation budget. Charlotte
assured them that none of the money to build the EOC will come out of Parks and
Recreation Budget. The total cost for the building and EOC will be about 1.1 million.
Staff would like to have the biding process for the Community Center start by January, be
awarded in March, start construction in April and be done by the end of December 2005
to early January 2006.
Howell Watkins Inter -Local and Public Meeting
Charlotte explained that she is rescheduling the public meeting in reference to the
lighting at Howell Watkins until sometime in March. She felt it was too early to hold the
meeting because the School Board will not be ready to discuss this subject for several
months. Bert Premuroso suggested April or May because March is very busy due to
election.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Charlotte presented a draft of a calendar that she would like to use to start slating
out discussions for each meeting. There was discussion among the Board about
the items on upcoming meetings.
2. The Board would like to reschedule the December meeting because of the
Holidays. Charlotte will send out an email with possible reschedule dates.
3. The Board would like to meet at the Ilex Circle Green Space on Saturday
December 11, 2004 @ 10:OOAM to answer questions from residents about the
park. They will post signs to notify the public that they will be there to give out
information.
Mike Kelly discussed the background of Ilex Circle Green Space. He also talked
about the fencing, irrigation, landscaping and electrical. The project is expected
to be completed by February 15, 2004.
4. In January Charlotte would like to give the Board an update on the impact fund
and how the funds are coming in. Recently impact fees were updated and Parks
and Recreation impact fees have doubled. Therefore, the Board should have more
money to use for upcoming projects.
5. In February the Dog Run will be dedicated. It will have fencing, grass and
irrigation. When the grant comes in it will become a dog park.
6. Tory Buckley asked if there are plans for a new football field. Charlotte stated
that it is being discussed but no plans have been made at this time.
Storm Update
Mike Kelly gave an update on the storm repairs. Staff is going before City Council to ask
for $625,000 to replace and repair lighting at 7 different parks. Out of that $433,000 is for
Gardens Park which had substantial light damage. Gardens Park will be done by baseball
season. Tryouts are January 15, 2005. Mostly all the park fences have been repaired.
Some of the netting still needs to be fixed.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30
PM.
Approval:
Robert Premuroso, Chairperson
Mary a Hedric , Vice Chairperson
Phil Milton, Board Member
Wendy Walker, oard Member
Ernest Volon , Board Member
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Carolyn Chap 'k, Board Mehiber
A an Leyl , Alterna
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David Lutrin, Alternate
Attest:
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Susan Bel , ublic Information/ Recording Coordinator