Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes RAB 072406PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING July 24, 2006 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Deputy City Clerk Ray Ellis called the roll: Present Tory Buckley Dr. Carolyn Chaplik Mary Anne Hedrick Robert Premuroso Ernest Volonte Absent Philip Milton Chair Premuroso announced that Philip Milton's sister had passed away and members could send condolences via email. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Tory Buckley noted in the minutes the board was supposed to receive an updated version of the economic impact numbers. Mike Kelly responded they had been received from the Sports Commission and would be distributed to the board at the next meeting. Mr. Buckley asked about the lights at Plant Drive. Mr. Kelly advised the lighting had been approved at the last Council meeting and would be installed. 99% of the funding had been provided by the insurer and FEMA, resulting in the City spending less than $10,000 on the system. The high school varsity team would practice on that field, JV and freshman teams would practice on the church property and the remaining school property. Mr. Buckley asked about the jogging trail; Ms. Presensky indicated she had not worked on numbers yet. Mr. Buckley made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 24, 2006 meeting. Motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Mr. Premuroso asked Ms. Presensky about trip to New Orleans. Ms. Presensky said it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life, to see people living in trailers in front of their homes, not being able to live in their houses, landmarks that are still not open. It has changed her viewpoint on public service and how she will respect hurricanes in the future. As a City we will now be developing our own long term recovery program based upon what we learned on this trip. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2006 Page 2 ITEMS BY STAFF LIAISON: District Park Update-- Ms. Presensky reported the termination agreement had been passed by City Council; however, the County had chosen not to sign the agreement at this time and were in conversations about what they felt the City should still be doing. The City Manager had provided Council with an extensive report and backup material was ready if needed; the City Attorney felt the City was within their legal rights in terminating the Interlocal Agreement. Council Liaison Levy provided further information. Discussion ensued. Attendance/Meeting Calendar-- Ms. Presensky reported term expirations for Tory Buckley, Robert Premuroso, Ernest Volonte, and Wendy Walker and asked them to let her know if they wished to continue to serve via e-mail, but she would first check to see if they needed to fill out a new application. Meeting dates for the rest of the year were announced: August 21, September 28, October 16, November 20, and December 18. Ms. Presensky asked if the board would like to move their meeting date to the 0 Monday instead of and Monday so as not to conflict with holidays. Mr. Buckley requested the board stick to the scheduled dates. Consensus was to stay with the 3rd Monday unless there was a conflicting holiday, and to schedule meetings 6 months at a time. Ms. Presensky advised the resident opinion survey had been completed and she would like it to be on next month's agenda. OLD BUSINESS: Golf Course Renovations — Dan Reidy provided a presentation of the golf course renovation project. At this point the renovation was approximately 801/6 complete, and the completed project would be presented at the next meeting. Currently the project was on time and so far on budget. Target date to reopen was October 1. Ms. Presensky reported an item had come up at City Council regarding a donation over a year ago of approximately $800,000 and that the intention of then Mayor Jablin had been to use those funds to develop the front of City Hall to accommodate cultural events. Recently Councilmember Jablin, Ms. Presensky, and Mr. Dougherty had discussed a vision using the golf course as the cultural events location, and Ms. Presensky reported City Council had requested that the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board take up this issue. Staff provided a power point presentation of how two programs, social and cultural activity and clubhouse operations could succeed with indoor climate controlled space, food service for large numbers of people, and a pleasant gathering space. This would position the golf course for future success, and allow facility space for private social events. Mr. Reidy expanded on possible uses for the facility and estimated the project could take 1 -1/2 years to complete, and suggested funding options, including the $800,000 donation and dedicated impact fees. Councilmember Levy reported Council concerns were the distance to the location and whether people would attend, how much this would enhance the golf course operations, and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2006 Page 3 whether venues held at City Hall would be moved there. Discussion ensued. Ms. Presensky requested discussion of elements, thought processes, how the public could be contacted to see if they would use the facility, potential use, etc., at the next meeting. Mr. Buckley expressed his opinion the cultural facility needed to be in the center of town and he would rather focus on the clubhouse for the golf course. Ms. Chaplik expressed her opinion the golf course was not a country club, musical events could be held at the Burns Road facility, and there were other spaces that would be available for large gatherings. Mr. Premuroso commented events for the City should be in the center of the City, and indicated he had no problem with placing this on the agenda in the next month or two and having staff present numbers so that the board could recommend or not to City Council. PGA Park Master Plan - Russell Moore, RMPK Group, presented a conceptual site plan to address facilities damaged by the hurricane, what should remain, the kinds of activities to add, how to improve access, circulation, organization of uses, safety and comfort issues, and upgrading aesthetics of the park. Staff comments included suggestions for other locations for storage of maintenance equipment and the dog park, as well as additional parking, restroom location, police substation location, and a hardened surface around the soccer field. Ensuing discussion included the gate at Ryder Cup, additional parking, restroom locations, heart trail, lakeside benches, separating picnic and activities areas, shelters, lighting, re- labeling soccer fields to all- purpose fields, locating another concession/restroom/storage facility close to the fields, locating the maintenance facility and dog park by the police substation, having more pavilions, possibly more tennis and basketball courts, and fenced playgrounds. Ms. Presensky expressed her opinion this was not the right park for a dog park, and Mr. Buckley suggested several smaller dog parks around the City. Another suggestion was for a lower basketball basket for smaller children. Ms. Presensky suggested inviting the public to the October 16, 2006 board meeting and presenting the PGA Master Park Plan at the Green Market the day before. Board members volunteered to be at the Green Market to explain the plan. A Saturday morning site meeting was suggested for November to get public input. Ms. Presensky announced the first Youth Triathlon and Youth Festival at Burns Road on Sunday, October 8, 2006. NEW BUSINESS BRRC Grand Re- Opening - Ms. Presensky announced the Burns Road Recreation Center grand re- opening September 8 and 9, reception and re- burying the time capsule on Friday September 8, and on the 9a' an open house, Wellness Day, tours of the facility, free resident use of the pool, and Grandparent/Grandchild Swim and Breakfast Day. Tennis Center Opening — Ms. Presensky announced the Tennis Center opening to be held on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 from 6 -8 p.m. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2006 Page 4 COMMENTS BY PUBLIC Tim Frohling, 152 Euphrates Circle, noted he liked the plan and suggested the amount of multipurpose fields should be increased, pavilions should be more centrally located, and the concession stand should be close to multipurpose fields. Linda Hughey, 9120 Reed Drive, suggested placing the dog park in the northwest corner so that a bridge could be built to connect to the park in PGA; also, the dog park should be closer to parking. Ms. Hughey expressed her opinion having cultural facilities at the golf course would not work, and suggested building a clubhouse where the tennis courts were. Ms. Hughey advised the kids in her neighborhood still did not have a park. John Chaplik, 715 Hudson Bay Drive, expressed his opinion that adding a clubhouse to accommodate 200 people at the golf course would not be appropriate, that cultural events should be located more centrally, and keep the golf course a cheap place to play golf for the residents. Mr. Chaplik also commented the social events should be limited to the residents of Palm Beach Gardens, since not having enough room was many times due to people attending from out of town. COMMENTS BY BOARD Mr. Volonte inquired about the utilization at the City park near the tennis courts. Ms. Presensky responded there was a lot of use and that Mirasol Park was really being used. Another comment was that there was insufficient parking at the Mirasol Park. Mr. Buckley asked if any vacant land had been identified within the City available for parks or green space. Ms. Presensky responded this issue had been studied, that parks would come with the western development, and within the City there were only small pockets of land. Mr. Buckley noted there were parcels of land contiguous to the parks that might be run down or old zoning and suggested the possibility of purchasing some of those areas and razing the buildings to use those properties for park land, and asked everyone to look for such areas. One such area was the building next to the dog hotel on Burns Road. Ms. Presensky explained that locating parks throughout the city was the proper thing to do. Ms. Chaplik made a motion to nominate Charlotte Presensky to the National Recreation and Park Association Assistant Branch for the Professional Excellence Award. Mr. Buckley seconded the motion. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Ms. Chaplik described the award, and advised it had been sent out. Ms. Presensky expressed her appreciation and noted others also deserved the award. Mr. Kelly commented the new lights at the Skate Park and City Park were on satellite control and that was working very well, and lighting for other parks would soon be on this system. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2006 Page 5 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:07 p.m. APPROVED: Philip Milton V Wendy alker, i e Chair Attest: Ray Ellis, 7 eputy ity Clerk Note: These summary minutes are prepared in compliance with 286.011 F.S. and are not verbatim transcripts of the meeting. A verbatim audio record is available from the Office of the City Clerk.