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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Recreation_4/22/2019MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA COMMUNITY CENTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE April 22, 2019 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Deputy Village Clerk Mary Ann Grieser. Present were Community Center Advisory Committee Members: Chair Frank D'Ambra, Member Tracy Kerwin, Member Julia Woertz, Member Chris Deragon and Vice -Chair Liz Schauer. Also present was Acting Village Manager Jim Weinand, and Village Attorney Keith Davis. 1. Committee Approval of 4/10/19 Meeting Minutes MOTION: Member Deragon moved approval of the 4110119 meeting minutes; seconded by Member Woertz; motion carried unanimously. 2. Presentation on Space Needs Preliminary Findings Ms. Nilsa Zacarias, Director of Community Development, reviewed the table of contents for the draft "Needs Assessment and Conceptual Design Plan". The plan would evaluate the need for a new community center based on demographics, socio-economic status, surveys, community meetings, the Village's Comprehensive Plan, existing recreation programs and current building conditions. She reviewed each area the assessment would cover. She commented on Objective 1.1 in the Comp Plan, which Council approved to maintain community and neighborhood parks and facilities to meet the current and future needs of all age groups in Tequesta. Ms. Zacarias further explained she met with the Director of Parks and Rec regarding the condition of the building, and was waiting to hear back from the Building Official for his input on the current deficiencies. Ms. Kerwin questioned the committee's role as a sub -committee. Mr. D'Ambra stated the Needs Assessment was the overall picture, and explained the role of the committee was to gather information and provide that data to Council. He explained phase two would include the design and schematics, Planning and Zoning review, followed by a bid process. Ms. Kerwin stated that without a Needs Assessment she did not know what to project out to the community, and further opined a statistically valid survey should be created by an expert rather than questions formed by the committee. Chair D'Ambra advised hiring a third party consultant would require council approval. Chair D'Ambra brought surveys to the table from other agencies for consideration. Ms. Schauer suggested asking Council for a six-month extension to allow ample time to complete the survey and prepare a proper presentation. Ms. Kerwin stressed there were professional agencies to create meaningful survey questions, and felt Council should know what programming the community wanted if the Village was to spend five million. Mr. D'Ambra provided a summary of results from the Tequesta Fest and open house surveys. He broke it down into two key questions: Are you in favor of the proposed new community center in the Village of Tequesta and Do you support the Council moving forward to the next step in the process? He felt the results were valid and noted the Survey Monkey questionnaire was based around programming needs. 3. Discussion Regarding Current Programming, Current Conditions, Challenges, and Vision Mr. Greg Corbitt, Director of Parks and Recreation, advised the current building was built in 1963. He discussed the following items: demographic changes, current conditions of the building, current park programming, and additional requests made of the building. He discussed events that could be offered in a new building, and explained the need to currently set up and tear down after each program offering, which would not be the case with a new building. He described how the instructors were hired and paid; explained summer camp was 99% residents with a waiting list, and the lowest cost program in Palm Beach County. He responded to questions about the skate park and stated it was utilized by residents and non-residents and organically kept children off the streets. He stated it likely would remain. He discussed staffing levels and provided the current budget including revenues, expenses and general operating. He noted the only events residents were charged for was summer camp and rec programs, which were discounted. Mr. Corbitt responded to questions from the committee. Ms. Kerwin asked how much Palm Beach spent on their survey and Mr. Corbitt stated approximately $100,000, which included the survey and Needs Assessment. Ms. Kerwin felt $100,000 for a comprehensive report was a wise investment. Chair D'Ambra did not believe the Village needed to spend $100,000 and reiterated Ms. Zacarias was a professional consultant. Ms. Schauer stated in the late 1990's, survey questions were provided to an outside organization and the company handled the work as opposed to in-house staff. Chair D'Ambra stated this would require Council approval to expend funds. Ms. Schauer stated they could review and eliminate questions once they received the Needs Assessment. Ms. Woertz asked Mr. Corbitt if there was a plan for better advertising of recreation programs and Mr. Corbitt stated it was on the website and on Facebook. Ms. Schauer asked for it to be included Smoke Signals. 4. Presentation by REG Architects Mr. Rick Gonzalez, President of REG Architects, provided an update on the status of the architectural components done to -date and responded to committee questions. Mr. D'Ambra reviewed ongoing discussions with the Lighthouse Center for the Arts in regards to acquiring their property - to which the Village would apply for a grant to cover half of the cost. Mr. Gonzalez described the differences between hard bid and construction manager at risk. Ms. Kerwin questioned the committee purpose. Chair D'Ambra stated it was to complete the task of presenting information to the community and gathering input to finalize the validation that the community wanted a community center. The committee would then make an objective recommendation to Council. MOTION: Vice -Chair Schauer moved to request Council extend the timeline for the Committee for at least six months to complete the job properly. Chair D'Ambra suggested the committee review the surveys provided and create a questionnaire template that was appropriate and objective, and then engage a third party to review and proof, make changes, and finally send to all households in the Village. Afterwards hold community meetings as initially discussed and meet with the realtors. He did not believe the committee needed six months. Motion seconded by Member Kerwin; motion carried 4-1 with Chair D'Ambra opposed. Chair D'Ambra proposed the committee wait until the Needs Assessment was received before requesting an extension. Ms. Woertz stated she was good with waiting until they received the Needs Assessment before making a decision. Mr. Tom Bradford, resident, suggested creating a project management timeline to set forth key milestone dates. Ms. Zacarias stated the Needs Assessment would be ready by Friday, May 3ra 5. Discussion on Shared Parking Attorney Keith Davis reviewed the reciprocal overflow parking easement agreement with Gallery Square North. He noted there was no applicability to the community center and stated there was nothing in the Code regarding shared parking. Mr. Tom Bradford, resident, stated there were agreements between the Village and Good Shepherd Church and agreements between the Village and Jupiter Medical Center that allowed for overflow and cross parking. Mr. Davis stated there were cross parking agreements; however, the Code did not provide a mechanism for shared parking to meet off street parking requirements. Mr. Weinand stated this was on the April 29th workshop for discussion. Mr. Bradford stated he had the previous attorney Mr. Randolph record the shared parking agreements in the County records. 6. Discussion on Proposed Survey Discussion took place previously in the meeting regarding the survey. Chair D'Ambra advised the homework was to go through the surveys provided and at the next meeting, they would put together a template for an outside entity to review and proof. He noted they would need to request some funding from council at a future meeting. Mr. Weinand stated the funding could be requested at the June meeting. 7. Any Other Matters Chair D'Ambra stated he would update the committee on the status of the Lighthouse Park when he was able to disclose. 8. Set Meeting Date Schedule The next meeting was scheduled for May 8, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting would begin in the Chambers and the committee would then walk to the community center to view the current conditions; the committee would return to Village Hall to finish out their meeting. ADJOURNMENT Member Kerwin moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m., seconded by Vice -Mayor Schauer, motion carried unanimously 5-0. Respectfully submitted, �t_�mw.�e - Lori McWilliams, MMC Village Clerk Note: These summary minutes are prepared in compliance with 286.011 F.S. and are not verbatim transcripts of the meeting. All referenced attachments are on file in the Village Clerk's office.