Commission - Regular Meeting

I see Vice Mayor Turcan's on. Is the mayor on? Mr. Kelly's here, too. Okay, I see Commissioner Kelly. And we're look waiting for Commissioner Cruz. We have like two more minutes, guys. Okay.

We're going to uh go ahead and uh proceed with the uh agenda. So, we'll start with 3A. We have a presentation by the Palm Beach County Commission on ethics. Palm Beach County Commission on ethics education communication manager, S. Elizabeth Martin, will give a brief overview of the independent watchdog agency and how the community can contact the staff. This is our annual um Commission on ethics presentation we uh we do every year. Um I will say I'm looking to uh probably schedule a Commission on ethics training that we have to do annually um in July. I reached out to the COE and they they gave me a date sometime in July. So, we'll we'll bring that forth unless the commission on the back there's a there's some feedback. What's that? There's feedback. What about now? Yeah, it's still I can see I can hear you talking about the ethics thing right now. You have 30-second like lag that's playing back. Hey commissioner, I had that problem a while ago. I had to log in and log out like three or four times. It's really bizarre and it's really confusing. You want me to log out? Yeah. I only had that for a second like early on before the meet before we started, but now it's fine for me. I'm not having an issue, but I get the frustration for sure. Oh, it's it's crazy. Yeah.

All right, are you guys good now? I'm fine. I don't think Turcan's made it back in yet. Okay. see him yet. Dan, are do I have um community support funds I'm going to do Can I just send them to Tammy and to Andrew? Yep, absolutely. Okay. And we'll we'll we'll do the add-on. Okay, thank you.

Just waiting on uh Vice Mayor to rejoin, guys.

Yeah, I'm back. Can you guys hear me? Yeah, we got you. Nice. That's better. Thanks. All right, so uh I'm looking to schedule something probably in July for our annual ethics training. And that's going to take care of any online ethics training. Well, if you guys want to do the online version, you can do the online version. Um but it's always a little bit easier and more interactive if we schedule the actual in person. So. And it normally takes about an hour or two and then you're good for the year. Sounds good to me. Okay, uh 3B is a proclamation for mental health uh health awareness month. Uh we'll scroll down to 5A, Andrew. Open up the advisory board. I want to say uh Commissioner Mack McCray has one appointment. And that's Anthony Garofalo. And that's for the art advisory board. The other one is the education and youth aboard. Now, I want to say that's Commissioner Kelly. Okay. All right, you can go out, Andrew. Amy's with these slides, Dan. Oh, okay. Tammy. So, we have one item on consent agenda. This is an extremely light agenda, guys. So, this is going to be the ILA for the demolition over at 670 Oak Street. That's a property that the CRA just purchased. And this is going to be the demolition cost for that uh for that particular parcel. 7A consent bids. It's going to be a uh

[clears throat]

And then we're request for proposal for a snack bar. This is going to be our concession stand out at the beach at Oceanfront Park. Um RFP was awarded to Dope Adventure Partners. They're the ones that came in and uh they did a sampling, I want to say. That was in room 115, probably about a week ago. They dropped off some different juices and some uh sliders and things like that. Quick question on this one, Dan. Um so, do we have like an idea of like what they're going to be serving? Because Because I know like a lot of the stuff it was very good. But I just want to make sure that like they're still offering non-vegan items. They are. Yes. I had the same question. Yes.

I just think it's it's important. All the stuff was good. However, Tammy, can you open up the menu? Yes, exhibit F. Exhibit F right there. Okay, I see it. There we go. So, she had plant-powered stuff Where's the The fresh The fresh classics are non-vegan options that are available. Got it. Okay. Perfect. Do they have like uh dairy ice cream there or no? Just going to be vegan ice cream. So they do plan on getting a um an ice cream machine. Uh that was part of their um the equipment that they want to purchase. Okay. Like um like soft serve Yeah. something. Yeah, I just want to make sure that there's options you know, for for everyone cuz this is obviously like vegan heavy. And you know, I I would argue that that like the percent of the market people that are going to be shopping here is vastly larger than people who are vegan or you know, there's some people who don't like to eat vegan. There's some people who are skeptical about how those foods are made. Um so I just want to make sure there's a a healthy balance for these options. You know, from what I see here, it's just it's just one section of the menu with options and then everything else um I mean maybe I can talk to them offline. You know, it's everything else is you know, Well, you got you guys don't have to order this contract obviously. Um if there's any issue with the vegan aspect I think it's important for the

like I listen, I I I met the applicant. I saw like when they brought the food and the food was really good. You know, and I just think it's I think it's okay like I think we should the commission should have a conversation with them. At least from my perspective to be like, "Hey, you know, like it like can we have a balance?" Cuz I I just don't see that here. I think what we can do is if you can go ahead and approve the contract and then we can work with them based on you know we can bring back a menu with you know based on the dialogue at the commission meeting. How long is the contract for? It's a four-year contract with one four-year renewal. So so that would be my thing is I would put a contingency on that because like yeah we can have dialogue we approve the contract but if they have an approved contract for years they're not held to any standard or accountability in order to change anything on the menu from what I understand. Like I I I imagine they'd act in good faith but I just want to make sure you know that you know if we're going to negotiate after a potential you know award for the contract that you know we're we're we're doing that before we have zero leverage. So we can because they're going to have at least 45 days before they actually can get up and running. So what we can do is if you award and then we can have them bring back any changes to the to the menu for final approval. for the commission. Are they going to have vegan in their name when they're advertising this at the beach? It's It says the vegan the menu says the vegan is the name of the company. Yes yes they will have that title on the facility but we we mentioned these same concerns that you gentlemen are talking about to them. I don't I don't I don't like this addition. I don't I don't like this. I don't like the fact that we're going doing a concession stand at such a small segment of society. I think the advertisement and the name is I I people are going to get they're

going to think it will I think it will deter I think it might deter people It might not. I'm just I'm just thinking about like not marginalizing um like a large group of people that might not They might just get turned off by it like oh vegan whatever. Yeah I'm I'm look All of this is plant-based, everything. Except for the fresh classics. Maybe they can change the name to Dope Vegan and More. Or something that just says and more. Or or they could they could do a DBA and just write like, I know, Boynton Beach Concession Cart or something. I don't know. But I you know. I I I got Are you guys okay with pulling the Can we pull this item as opposed to going forward? I think what we got to do is maybe pull it and have a discussion um Tuesday and then we can not approve it and then we can work with the vendor to get all the concerns you have worked out. Yeah, but this is all about me. This is making the vegan menu the primary menu versus I think this should be flipped on its head. And correct me if I'm wrong, guys, like completely. I'm just looking at from the percentage of society. I don't know if anyone on this call right now is vegan. And why why we're it's almost like we're catering to a small segment of society versus the overall picture and then offering a smaller vegan menu. It's I'm just thinking about what what It's not even It's not even just about offering, it's about what's going to be successful.

optics. All right. Yeah, and it's an optics thing. Like it says Dope Vegan and people are already going, "Oh, it's all vegan food." They're not even going to look at the menu because it's going to be like, "Oh, it's just vegan stuff." And then I I I fear that it won't be as successful as we expect because we're sitting here thinking, "Well, they're going to have regular menu items, too." But what's to say that they're not being body who doesn't know. I mean, we're having this conversation and so we're a little bit more knowledgeable than the average person walking up to the concession and says, "Oh, it's a vegan hot dog." Or it's a because because now they have that stuff. And so then it's like, "Well, is it vegan or is it real? Like, I get like turkey and cheese, obviously it's turkey and cheese, but like I think there's I think like what Vice Mayor Turkington was saying, maybe they maybe and you know, maybe it's something that we assist with, but something to do with DDA or something just for this concession so that it's a little bit more like open-minded, I guess. As opposed to because people will just see, oh, it's so vegan it's just vegan food and they'll move on. Even if it says and more because I thought of that, too, and then I'm like, well, what's the and more? So, they have ice cream or they have you know, they're not going to think like, oh, there's a whole other section of the menu that has regular all-American, you know, regular food that's not vegan. So, because usually with vegans there's no crossover. It's there's no question mark. It's vegan or it's nothing. Yeah. So, I think it just it gives people it I I fear like it will give people the impression it's just vegan and won't they won't even look at the menu to see that it's not. Just so you're aware, they Just so you're aware, they were voted

the best bite at Taste of Boynton. So, they were well received. But, I agree. on the opposite

Oh, yeah. I don't Yeah, I I tried it, too. I agree. I think it was I think it people would be pleasantly surprised that they're eating vegan food when they eat it. But, I think also because of they're charging for it, somebody's going to go, oh, I'm not going to pay $9 for something I'm not sure I like. They I'm just going to mention really quick. I I think they're extremely flexible to make any adjustments that we request cuz we sent them back to the drawing board like two times to revamp the menu and add more traditional items, if you will. So, they're open to do anything. So, all of these recommendations that you guys have, I am sure they would be open um to doing so, whether it's an adjustment to the name or potentially additional non-vegan items on the menu. I think they would be willing to do so, cuz they've accommodated every single request we've done so far.

Yeah. So, just wanted to put that out there as well. Thank you, Fabian. I think we have to remember also that just because it's a vegetable doesn't mean it's vegan. So, like if it's a salad, it's a salad. It's not necessarily just There's nothing that makes it, you know, So, I I think that there's a lot of options on there that aren't vegan, whether that be a salad or a sandwich, you know, whatever. So, um But, the So, anyway, that's my feedback. Yeah, I agree. I think the big the big thing is the name. I I would definitely like Like if I would have them change the name to where it's just something that wouldn't And also, like this is to help them, I think. Yeah. I don't want them to feel like they're deterred. And um, you know, and a lot of people are asking about this right now, like what's going at the beach. So, I want to make sure we get it right, especially since it's a 4-year contract. Um, you know, so I would I would I would tailor this to where maybe it's more focused on the beach or it's it's maybe Maybe very generic name, you know, inviting, whatever the case may be, and then people see the options, and then, you know, then then then they're asking questions, right? Then they're going through the menu versus just like Commissioner Kelly mentioned, just being deterred deterred immediately. So, I mean, do we Are they going to be at the meeting on Tuesday or is staff going to like kind of relay this to them, or how does that work? I do believe they will be at the meeting.

Correct. Yes, they'll be They're planning to be at the meeting there. We can We can make an adjustment if needed, but we have a presentation ready and they are planning on being at the meeting. Good. Awesome. Thank you.

nice if we can get everything out on the table that that night and then they could just agree to it and then we can move on cuz it's going to be at least 45 days before they actually move in. We want to make sure they're there for season next year. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Dan had to step out for a second. Um Alana, are you on? Or Gunam? 7B? Yes, I am. Did you want to go over 7B or if Alana's on? So, I think she may not be. Um but it's basically the state is requiring uh comprehensive vulnerability assessments to be updated. Uh the state changed some things for how those vulnerability assessments needed to what what all needed to be addressed and these whatever we do, like each city has to do this and once we do that, that's what's used when we're going out for grants for certain things. Um and so this is grant funded. Um so it's a great opportunity for us to get this sorted out and uh out of the way and still be able to utilize uh um the information that we get from the vulnerability assessment to be able to apply for grants and uh also show that we've done this, completed this task. So, a couple of different things that are driving this. Um but it's a grant funded project, so we should be able to move forward with this once it's approved. Mhm. Any questions? No. Okay. 7C, um we're piggybacking an agreement with Omnia um Partners for TD Synnex to handle cybersecurity solutions for the city. This project we we get software services

and hardware services through this contract. And it's just a renewal or re-upping a contract that we previously used. Under city manager's report um Commissioner Vice Mayor Turken asked us for an update on several projects. So we have an update for the Chapel Hill drainage project. The the engineers will be here to to provide an update um Forest Park playgrounds also other playgrounds the Parks and Rec Department will do a update on the playground status and then public works will do a status update on the the the lowest rated roads and and the condition assessment and then and some projections on costs and stuff that we have for the remaining the worst roads in the city. Any questions on that item? Yeah, just real quick on those Go ahead. Go ahead. I was just going to say you know I'm glad we're doing this now well in advance of for at least in in advance of budget so we can really talk about you know prioritizing you know these items and making sure we can we can get it in the budget. Yeah, for for those presentations Andrew does it have like the I know like the big thing recently like having that castle removed I think I think that you know that should be moved forward with a lot of parents are complaining about that. I'm getting emails and pictures as you are too as you've seen. The other thing is are we looking at potentially like redoing that park or maybe just switching out that castle with something else? And then um like obviously what those costs would be if we have the funds for that. Do we have any potential remedies for the the park? And then, um, I know we'll go into the drainage

with the roads with which are a little bit, um, I think there's a little bit of an overlap there because the remaining roads I know we're holding off until that drainage comes. And so, I think it's really important for us to really nail down and like try to get this done because otherwise what I see happening is this continues to get kicked down the road, the roads get the roads get worse, and you know, maybe we don't get grant funding for this, and this project gets pushed out 10 years, then we could have done the roads now and at least provided some form of relief, you know, for the neighborhood. And so, I really want to focus on like not just like where we're at, but where we're going and what what options we have to move forward with these projects, if that makes sense. Yeah, so that may not be actually in the presentation, but that's definitely something that we wanted to talk about for sure. I mean, the paving part for sure, I'm we exactly hit it on on the head, you know, we have drainage problems in there, so we're not wanting to fix the roads. But, like you're saying, it could be a 10-year time frame. So, by the time we could have paved the roads, they'd been ready to repave 10 years from now. So, those are definitely logical items that we'll talk through. Um, as far as the Forest Park, the the castle, we're strictly going to go over the status of the playgrounds, kind of like all the So, we Basically, we're doing an update from our outside consultant who does a independent inspection on the playgrounds. We're going to go over the status of the inspections, and then we can talk about which playgrounds are are needing repairs, and then we can talk about the castle separate because it's not really identified in the presentation. Um, and we can talk about what you want. If you guys give us that direction, then we can go ahead and remove that playground, uh, make provisions to do that as well. But, that all be discussed at the meeting for sure. Okay.

Andrew, is is that all the old kid kingdom stuff that they insisted on moving to Forest Park? Is that what that is? Yes. Yeah, that's correct. And I Which was in horrible condition when it was moved and you know, fought to be saved and now here we are having to pay to [snorts] remove it. It's just mind-blowing to me. It was It was It was definitely a controversial move, I know. Former commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick, he was part of the design. And he wanted to see it preserved. But, the problem is is we have to we have to align that with the liability the city's going to absorb in the in the event a kid gets hurt. Absolutely. [clears throat]

I I I think if we're not maintaining that and when I I I've been over there several times and I uh I I just I I I think that it definitely needs to be removed. I'm not sure what we need to replace it with. Um but, when the playground was actually

have a conversation with the neighborhood about that, right? Oh, for sure. For sure. I think we'll do you know, we'll have a meeting. Uh we'll set that up. But, I just want to make sure someone's got their their stuff going. Um but yeah, anyways, um so yeah, I just want to make sure like not just report and a presentation, but some type of you know, creative solutions to these issues whether that's moving money around, you know, um whatever the case may be because that you know, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but that that drainage project, you know, has been kicked down the can uh kicked down the road um you know, year over year over year. And I I can understand why, but for the residents who don't see anything changing, um you know, with with regard to, you know, the the drainage, you know, they're not that aren't as involved. They don't, you know, they don't they don't understand. And, um, you know, I just want to make sure that, you know, that's something that I I committed to and I'm going to do everything I can to get that done and advocate, you know, for whatever, you know, budget, um, recommendations, transfers, etc. that we need to make going into this next fiscal year. Sure. Yeah, definitely looking forward to the conversation. I agree with you that it's very hard pill to swallow for for us to tell you we can't fix your roads because your drainage, we don't know when we're going to fix your drainage, so we don't want to fix your road. So, it is it's a catch-22 and we definitely need to talk through it. Okay. Okay. All right. Where did you leave off on Andrew? Uh, you're on 10A. 10A? Okay, Shawn, are you uh you want to know

this was a uh I think I want to say a resident brought this to our attention.

So, a resident brought this to our attention. And essentially, I looked over the ordinance and determined based upon the speech that this was an unconstitutional uh restriction of first amendment free speech. So, my recommendation and I I spoke with um Vice Mayor Turkin about it and I I was sent a memo that this needed to be removed. Hey, Shawn, are we just going to rely on the county's uh ordinance at this point? Yes, we'll be Yes, we we were restricting further than what the Palm Beach County Code of Ethics did and and that's where the problem was. Um, so, you know, we can't Listen, obviously if someone's on a board and there's a conflict then they shouldn't vote on it but what this was doing was going further that they couldn't even come to the commission and advocate for it which was you know, again free speech if they're not yeah, it was an issue so. Yeah, because code of eth I mean I've gotten opinions on that and code of ethics is very clear that you can participate in discussion. You just can't vote so. Correct, correct. As long as it's not before your board and you know, if a person goes before a board to advocate for it then it's good. So, yes. So, we're just removing the entire thing. Got it. All right, so B, C, and D I'm going to talk about together and this all has to do with our cemeteries. So, for item B and we've ran into this this I want to say once or twice where we've had residents that will actually purchase a plot or they will purchase multiple mausoleums

and what they'll do is they'll resell those to residents that are outside the city and we had one particular instance where they were sold to a company in Boca Raton and they subsequently subdivided the mausoleum plots and sold them for profit. Because the city is essentially subsidizing these plots comparative to private sector [clears throat]

um, cemeteries and I'll get a perfect example is the Palm Beach County Memorial Cemetery which is located at 300 North Seacrest going towards Hypoluxo. If you were to go there and try to bury a loved one, um, it would cost you anywhere between 8 and 10,000 dollars. If you come to the city of Boynton Beach, you can purchase a plot for $325. So, what you're doing is you're taking city-owned property and you're essentially subsidizing the burying of a loved one for $325. And the issue really isn't that. The issue is we have a cemetery fund dedicated to the maintenance and the operations of our cemeteries and the upkeep. So, when we continue to do that, what we're doing is it's twofold because then the city's having to pay to maintain these cemeteries and we've had multiple complaints come up at city commission meetings. And so, this is us trying to raise those um prices and not even to where it's going to match the private sector, but at least to where it's going to help us offset some of the costs the city's incurring. And we work We work with Commissioner Mack McCray and I want to say Kevin. And so, we think $2,500 is a a better price arrangement um that's going to help offset the cost that the city's absorbing um with these plots. Um 10 C, that's going to essentially go over what I just spoke about about the actual um cost of the uh the cemetery plots. But 10 D, that's one of the things I think is going to require a little bit more of a comprehensive comprehensive conversation with the uh commission due to the fact that currently right now we're not really enforcing the rules of our cemeteries. We're allowing people to

leave stuffed animals, plant trees, um plant uh different bushes and things like that. And essentially they're doing also they're putting gates up, makeshift gates and fences. So, a lot of that stuff is not allowed pursuant to our ordinance, but we've been allowing it out of compassion for for those loved ones. So, um and we've heard um residents come up voice those same concerns about our cemetery. So, this is us addressing a lot of those concerns. So, um that's what uh 10 B, C, and D uh are. Andrew, you got anything to add? Just um on 10 B, that's an actual ordinance that would help um if you guys are agree with that ordinance, it would restrict from the resales and that they would have to resell it back to the city. So, that would close that loophole where people could actually resell it and make a profit. They would actually have to sell it back to the city.

Okay. Yeah. So, it prevents them from even having that idea because they're they can't resell it. That's what you're saying. That's correct. Right. And

Only if we And only way we could is if we didn't want to buy it back for some reason. Well, yeah, but that would be crazy, but Yeah. Um with regard Andrew, with regard to the to kind of like the the are we planning to like slow roll you know, now the compliance thing because obviously I don't want to all of a sudden walk in there the next day after this passes and rip everyone's stuff up and then we're you know, then we which is it's a bad look. So, I want to make sure we're like we're being compassionate. I mean, that's why they've been able to do what they've been doing, but you know, we have to I so I want to be mindful of that and make sure that we're slow rolling that and you know, cuz now it's the cemetery on a weekly basis and is going to notice or see and so, you know, me and people that go once a year or whatever. And so, I just don't want them to one day and their stuff is gone and they have no idea why. Yeah, the plan is to to notify everybody and give them 60 days to come into compliance. Um and then at that point, you know, we're also going to put up more signage in the in the in the park in the in the cemetery so that people are aware of the rules and that that we're going to start enforcing them strictly, um which is is the best is the practice in most cemeteries. You know, that our cemetery, unfortunately, I think um we had some grieving people that that were leaving a stuffed animal here or put up a little um tribute or um monument to to their loved one. Um and you know, and we have some people that, you know, that would go there daily and just keep it up and it doesn't look as a problem. But then you have others who do the same thing but don't come back for a year and then it looks terrible, you know. So, that's the

balance that we're trying to find and it is a very sticky situation. That's why we're bringing it to you guys to to make sure that we're all on the same page cuz we definitely don't want to um upset people but at the same time we need to be able to make sure everyone's, you know, enjoying their you know, their resting place. So, that is going to be something we'll talk about and we definitely will be phasing it and it won't be just a automatic rip everything out. Um we're going to work with everybody to make sure that we get come into compliance. Okay. Yeah, maybe we just we don't address things until we've actually heard from the families. Like we don't, you know, it's not we're putting giving people notice and then when a deadline comes and goes and we don't hear anything, then we just go and take care of it. We don't do anything until we've heard and they know they're aware, I guess, is just my thought is that we'd really make sure that we're we're speaking to them before we do anything. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You know, I I I agree with you. Yeah, I would agree with you that even if we don't hear if they don't come into compliance by we at least reach out to them or try to make an effort to make sure that we touch base with them so they understand before we touch their stuff. Understood. Correct. Yeah, that would be my hope. So, thank you. All right, guys. That concludes the agenda review. If you guys have any additional items to add or anything to bring up, now's the time. Um just note that we will be republishing tomorrow to add a proclamation um for police week and um So, that that will be coming tomorrow. We need to also add the community support funds, Andrew. That's correct. And that's correct. Yes. Yeah. And then um I don't know if um Adam or Amanda if I can get a update or when you think um we can have that discussion with regard

to the um the art the the policy as it pertains to whether that be not-for-profits or whether that be industrial or what the options are. Just I had them reach out to me to see if there was an update on when that would be on the agenda. So. Yeah, I actually just met with staff on some data just today. I asked them for a little bit more research. So, I we should be able What are we on? The first meeting in May? Um we could probably do it at the next meeting. That's the May 19th meeting. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. All righty. All right, you guys. Have a good night. Thank you. Good night, guys. Good night. Good night.