Commission - Regular Meeting

We'll begin in a few moments. We're just waiting on. Everybody, and welcome to the City of Boynton Beach City Commission meeting. Today is Tuesday, June 16th, 2026, and the time is now 5.30 p.m. We will turn to Interim City Clerk for the roll call, please.

Commissioner Cruz? Present. Commissioner McCray? Here. Commissioner Kelly? Here. Vice Mayor Turkin?

Present.

Mayor Shelton? Present. Mayor, you have a quorum. Thank you. We are now moving on to agenda approval additions, deletions, and corrections. Let's begin to my left with Commissioner McCray. I'm good. Commissioner Kelly? No, I'm good, Mayor. Vice Mayor Turkin? None. And Commissioner Cruz? None. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to the City of Boynton Beach Comprehensive Plan Update. Would staff please approach the podium?

Good evening, Tyler Tornese for the record, Planning and Zoning. Tonight you're gonna hear from Chen Moore on our updates to our comprehensive plan. This has been a process over the last six months. This is our final commission workshop, so we're looking to receive just the go ahead to transmit to the state, which you will be, if you're good, be approving at the first reading in July. And so this is that first of the final workshop. And again, Chen Morse is gonna give you an overview of what they've done, what they've heard and how we're moving forward. Thank you.

All right.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, I am Nilsa Zacharias, Director of Planning of Cherbourg, and with me is Othniel Leon, Principal Planner. We are excited, we are happy to be here conducting this second workshop with the commissioners. We started this process last year in July, and was about updating your comprehensive plan. This is an extremely very important document, and as you know, it has three distinctive parts. The first part is the objectives, the GOPs, goals, objectives, and policies. The second part here is the maps, and then the third part is the data and analysis. The data and analysis supports all the policies. and is an aspirational document and very important because capture the vision and the character of the city.

So now I will start.

As I just mentioned, we started this process in July, and as you can see on the slides, we have several community engagement meetings. The first one was October, then in November, then we have a commissioner workshop in March. I am very sure you have seen this through the process of community engagement. We prepared a survey. The survey had a QR code and we also attended several community engagement meetings, actually events, public events like the Pirate Fest, like other events where we engage with the public and we provided this QR code so we have the survey. Part of this document that is in front of you has the summary of the survey all the questions. Today is the second Commission workshop and then after this there will be the LPA meeting and the City Commission first reading to transmit to the state. This workshop is very important because we want to show you all your comments that we received. It was an amazing workshop that we had in March. We received a lot of comments. So we took notes and now we updated this document. And now we also are ready to take more notes to prepare the final document. What have we done since March? This is the summary. We basically received a specific direction from the Commission, so we incorporated all the public input, the technical document was updated, and we basically have a document that is ready for you for final review. As I just mentioned before, this document includes a number of chapters and or elements. Those are all the elements and chapters included in your comprehensive plan. Since July, we review those chapters, we updated them and we also work very, very close with the city staff. And I actually want to take the opportunity to thank the city staff for all their support and feedback. So the last workshop with the commissioner was March 26, and then these were the directions that we received from you. So at that time, I think the mayor was not present, and also Commissioner McRae. But we received, like I said, several comments, and we updated the plan accordingly. So let's just go through the, and this is a very short presentation. It's supposed to be only 20 to 30 minutes. Obviously we are here to answer any questions, comments that you might have. And so we updated the demographics, the projections of population for 2050. So as you see here in this slide, the 2050 is approximately 99,000 population, but if you add the seasonal, it will be more than 100,000. Also, we updated a future land use element per your comments and direction. We emphasize the neighborhood compatibility, also reinvestment in parks, and when we get to recreation element, we're gonna talk specifically what is the park reinvestment strategy. Also, we talk more about the compatibility, the growth and redevelopment, and the support of economic and employment centers. Through the document, our emphasis and focus was to provide a coordinated effort between land use, housing and transportation. With regard to housing and neighborhood element, if you go right now to your city website, you will notice that the element is only housing. We included the word neighborhood throughout this process because we truly listen the community and they were very involved through the process and how important are the neighborhoods. The truth is Boynton Beach is a city of neighborhoods. and we wanted to capture that idea and provide it into policies. So there are a number of policies, and as you see, when you scroll down the document in front of you, you will see the underline are all new policies, and then straight through, obviously, we are deleting those policies. But we have a number of, we actually created a new goal that emphasize how important is the neighborhood and the relationship with the housing. Sometimes it's extremely important to talk about what this document does not include. So does not rezone neighborhood, does not provide approved project, only sets policy guardrails. Again, this is an aspirational document. These are the vision, large view, and the character of the city. It does not include code language. That's for the zoning code. So now, please, Mr. Rosneil.

Good evening. Moving on, the next element is the transportation and mobility element. Transportation was one of the areas where we received a lot of commission input during the previous workshop. One of the comments was to better recognize the city's relationship with the Intracoastal and opportunities for waterway transportation. The updated transportation and mobility element incorporates blueways and waterway connections as part of the city's broader mobility network. The element also continues to support multimodal mobility through walking, bicycling, complete streets, transit, and regional coordination. Moving on, the next one will emphasize on the parks conservation and coastal elements. Since Boynton Beach is mostly built out, one of the recurring themes throughout the comprehensive plan is reinvestment. The updated policies emphasize maintaining and enhancing existing parks, improving greenway connections, protecting natural resources, and continuing responsible coastal management. Rather than only focusing on requiring new facilities, the plan focuses on improving existing community assets and quality of life for the city. One of the major additions to the comprehensive plan was to incorporate the economic development element. The element better coordinates economic development with land use, housing, infrastructure, and mobility planning. It supports employment opportunities, business retention and expansion, redevelopment of key quarters, CRA coordination, and mixed use activity areas while maintaining a community character. IN ADDITION TO THE POLICY UPDATES, WE ALSO UPDATED THE TECHNICAL FOUNDATION THAT SUPPORTS THE COMPLANT POLICIES. THIS INCLUDES UPDATED POPULATION PROJECTIONS, UPDATED HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURAL INFORMATION, REVISED DATA ANALYSIS DOCUMENTS, UPDATED MAPS AND COORDINATION WITH CURRENT STATUTORIAL REQUIREMENTS. THESE UPDATES WILL HELP ENSURE THE POLICY DECISIONS ARE SUPPORTED BY CURRENT INFORMATION And that leads to an important point regarding the comprehensive plan, what it does and does not do. Just to emphasize, the comp plan that Nilsa just mentioned establishes a long range policy directions of the city. It guides future growth, redevelopment, infrastructure planning, and neighborhood preservation. Equally important, the plan does not automatically rezone property, approve development projects, change rezoning districts, or eliminate future public hearings. Individual projects will still continue to go through the city's normal review and approval process. So looking ahead, here's the anticipated roadmap. Tonight's workshop provides another opportunity for additional commission direction to incorporate. Following tonight, we'll incorporate any final revisions before moving to the local planning agency and the commission first hearing transmitter process. And ultimately, after state reviewing agencies provide their comments, it will come before you for final adoption. And that concludes my presentation. I'll be happy to answer any questions, thank you.

Does anybody have any questions or comments from the commission?

I have questions. Thank you for your plan. When was the last time we did a comprehensive plan here in this city? 2016.

Yeah, been a while. Amanda Radigan, Development Director. A comprehensive update hasn't been done for at least 20, 25 years. We have done small incremental amendments as needed.

I noticed when you kept saying the presentation you said we had before, as I'm just saying, I see it on the screen. Did you all get binders out to the commissioners?

There were links that were sent out to the commission, a SharePoint link with all the entire document.

Let me say it another way then. Can I expect to receive? Absolutely. A binder. Thank you.

Vice mayor.

Yeah, I was expecting from the last conversation we had regarding the comprehensive plan that we were going to have like what was updated, a follow through. and what we have in front of us is just a very simple, bland presentation. I understand that you guys sent everything out, but I think it's important to have transparency with the public, and then also have these conversations on the dais back and forth. That's why I said I didn't think 30 minutes was gonna be enough. So for me, I think I need more time before we finally adopt this thing. So I'd like something a little bit more thorough.

Okay, but it's possible that staff misunderstood. The way I understood the next few steps was that we were going to send out the presentation to the board so the board had time to review it and then do a briefer conversation here for any last minute things that are caught through the final review. But if we would like to, if we can pivot, if there's something else that we feel is needed or required, we can do that.

Yeah, my big thing is just the follow through from from what we had discussed to be advertised, or at least shown publicly, I think was my big thing. That way there's no perception or question that what staff provided was followed through from what the commission and the public inputted from the last workshop. That was my whole thing. But ultimately, that's a decision that the IAS will make.

So there's a couple of ways we could do this. It's up to the board. Once we bring it for the first reading or the transmittal hearing, at that time, the entire document is included within the backup. And that is another public hearing. we can publicize the draft comprehensive plan on the website tomorrow morning so it's available for the public to review as well and that'll give us time before now in transmittal hearing to have another public hearing and get any last minute convert any last minute things that we want to include within the plan and then the following steps would be after that there's a gap so if there is anything that comes up we can pause and make edits if not there's a gap between transmittal and final adoption because that's when the state review happens okay just before you all go i would like to get a copy of what was uh you all stated so that i will be brought up to snuff on what is going on i'm just saying what was your comments

so that I will say this is what we decided. Right now, I can't vote on saying we decided anything, because I don't know what they decided.

Yes, sir. We'll get back to you. We can send you a link to the last workshop. I believe it was recorded. So you'll be able to see what your fellow commissioners

comments were and then my understanding is you would like a printout would anybody else like a printout we will print it out for everyone we'll print it out for everyone make sure it's in your mailboxes and we will post it on the website so it's also accessible from the public we'll get that done first thing in the morning i appreciate that thank you thank you any other comments or questions are we just looking for the goals policies and objective updates or all of the associated data

Because if we print everything, it'll probably be 1,000 pages.

But if it's the goals, policies, objectives... For me, it's just the follow-up and changes from the last workshop that we did. And Commissioner McRae brings up a good point. I think only three of us were here because there was scheduling conflicts. And so, like, I just think that there needs to be more conversation around this. And so maybe it's get up with all of the requests that you're hearing here now. And then maybe... before that first hearing. We start earlier. I don't know. I just think it's going to be an elongated conversation. And I don't want to rush this. As it's been mentioned before, we only do this every 15 to 20 years. So we have to do it right. And I know that there's a lot of guardrails. Policies as far as development goes. I know it doesn't hinder it, but I want to make sure that we get the things right that we can Because as we've seen throughout the whole state of Florida, you know Development is a very sensitive topic and I want to make sure that we're growing responsibly and that we're not just pushing this through

Absolutely. So what we'll print out is the goals, policies, and procedures because that's the goals, objectives, and policies. That's the major component. And we'll include a list of any reference materials. And in your review, if there's anything you need more detail, you know, you can reach out to us and we will get it to you. Anything that we can easily post and link on the website, we'll do that there as well.

That's all I'm requesting. I'm not requesting a thousand pages. I understand.

question to either one of you. Normally in municipalities, how often is this done? Every 10 years?

Florida statues has a specific provision that says that every seven years the municipality needs to open the comprehensive plan see if there are need needs changes according to Florida statues and Some municipalities decide no, we don't need an update So it's not it's not mandatory used to be mandatory, but it's not mandatory anymore. Okay, so

Thank you. We have been doing appraisals every seven years. However, there's no requirement for a full overhaul, but you can only piecemeal so much before it's not comprehensively looked at.

Okay.

Thank you. I see. When I started with the comprehensive plan, it was mandatory that it was done every seven years. That's what I'm saying. When was the last time?

Yeah. It was that DCA time. That was- Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry.

I'm ancient up here, but that's all right. Okay.

Any comments, Commissioner Cruz? Okay. Since this is a workshop, there will not be public comment this evening. Does anyone have any, oh, go ahead.

I have a question. Just for clarification, you mentioned starting the next meeting earlier. Do you want to do a workshop or do you want to just start the meeting earlier? I just want to make sure we understand and get it scheduled so you feel like you've had enough time.

I would probably suggest if we can start the meeting earlier and just do the first, probably have this be the first item, if that's possible. That way we can start at 5.30, do this as the first item, and then the regular agenda to follow.

It's up to you guys if you guys are okay. It's fine by me.

I just want to make sure we have sufficient time.

Yes.

Does 5.30 work for everyone? Okay. Tammy, if you'd note that, we're going to start the next commission meeting at 5.30.

If there are no other comments for tonight, do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved. Second.

We have a motion to adjourn. We have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. The regular scheduled city meeting will begin in how many minutes do we need? Nine. Nine minutes. So we will reconvene then. Notice. Oh, yeah. It's 5.51. That wrapped up quickly.

Thank you.

Point Beach City Commission meeting today is Tuesday, June 16th, 2026 and the time is now 6 p.m. We will now turn to the interim city clerk for roll call. Commissioner Cruz.

Present. Commissioner McCray. Present. Commissioner Kelley. Here. Vice Mayor Turkin.

Present.

Mayor Shelton.

Present. Mayor Yabakoram. Thank you. Our invocation tonight will be by Commissioner McCray and our Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Commissioner Cruz. Let's all stand for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, please.

Let us bow to the creative maker of all mankind. Father, here we are once more and again, assemble together to do the bidding for this great city. We ask that you would lead us and guide us to let you do things that will be pleasing in your sight. In your name we do pray. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God and invisible with liberty and justice for all.

We are now moving on to agenda approval, additions, deletions, and corrections. Let's begin to my right with Commissioner Cruz.

Not for me, thank you.

Vice Mayor Turkin?

Yes, I'd like to move up 3E in front of 3A. Okay.

Commissioner Kelly? No, thank you, Mayor. Commissioner McCray?

Mayor, thank you.

Before we begin, I'd like to get a consensus from the board to add the Boynton Forest to our next meeting, if possible. Been getting a lot of calls about that, emails, again, that we had agreed to do a study and I would like to kind of put that to rest because it is becoming something that the community is constantly reaching out to me about and referencing our last meeting. when we talked about it, probably six months ago. Yeah.

Yeah, I think it was quite some time ago, almost a year, and I definitely support that. I know it was kind of left up in the air. I think there's a lot of movement with what's going on with the county properties, and so I think it's important for us to have this conversation and make sure there's no misinformation going around and that we look at this thing holistically. And I'll save the rest of my sentiment for that conversation.

Do we have a consensus from the board to move forward? Yes.

That's fine. I thought we talked about it not too long ago, maybe two months ago. I think Vice Mayor Turkin, you brought it up, talking about a turtle kind of sanctuary or something. And I think I mentioned... to staff that we needed just because it is, although we own it, we don't have really any control over what the zoning is and what we're permitted to do and not do. And there was, we would need to talk to the county. And so I believe, I think that before we start having conversations and going down roads of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for studies and spending all this money, if the county is not going to support any, you know, I mean, we're not looking to rezone or do anything, but if the county is not going to support anything or, you know, then I think we're, us having a conversation is for naught without knowing what the county is, you know, would or not allow us to do within their jurisdiction because it's not... Mayor, if I may.

Thank you. I think that's the issue is that we own the land and that... It's very clear that when you look at an aerial map of this land, it is a little bit of forest that's left. And I understand the zoning question. I think that gets a little bit convoluted when you're looking to develop the site. I think, at least for me, from what I'm hearing from the public, and this is thousands of people that have eyes on this, and what we talked about last time is we shifted course. If we wanted to develop this, we would not have shifted course last year, and we unanimously did. And so I think this is about preservation versus any development. And so if that means that the city holds on to the land and nothing happens, and maybe it's a deed restriction, and maybe it's a mechanism to where you know, it takes a super majority to do something with this land. I think that's the sentiment of this issue is that you've seen so much rapid development throughout the whole state of Florida and that when you look at this little side of land, you know, I can understand, you know, that, you know, you have to grow, but you don't have to grow every single time. You can look at growth responsibly. And I think, you know, when you look at At this, the county decided not to move forward. I think essentially it was for workforce housing. Workforce housing is being built there. And then there's a lot of endangered species that are there. And so from what I'm seeing online, that there's already, I think, a hold or a stop at the county level because the developer of that project, from what I'm reading, seems to have moved forward with development despite the fact that there is endangered species there and that there is, you know, things that that entity has to go through, right? That's the county's problem, and that is the developer's problem. Our land, in my opinion, should be preserved because there's, what's the pain in it being preserved? And so I don't think we have to spend tens of thousands of dollars. I've spoken with the city manager. It seems like there was a deed restriction on one of the parcels, but it doesn't seem that is throughout all of the parcels. So who's to say later down the road that, know it does get developed i think from my perspective you know into answering to the public is what mechanism are we willing to discuss that'll help prevent that from happening and where do we draw the line as far as okay we're going to preserve this this piece of land there's nowhere else to go i mean when you look at that aerial map it's um It's very eye-opening, very eye-opening. So that's my position. I just think that we have to get an idea and have consensus on what we want to do with that land before moving forward with what the county does or doesn't do. Right now, it's not being messed with because we're not doing anything with it. And so right now... You know, seems like the solution that the public wants is for nothing to be built there because of the endangered species and because of the limited green space that we see throughout, not just the city, the county, the state of Florida.

Thank you. You know, I'm really in favor of, you know, doing a study because if we look at the state of Florida, we're losing spaces for our wildlife. And that's why we're looking up and saying, you know, they're in my backyard now is because you know, we moved them from what they habitats are and now we have taken over. So that's why we're having this problem now. So I think we do need to look at it, get a study and see which way we need to go. The sooner the better.

Did we ever get a price on the study? What is it? 30 $50,000.

Correct.

I believe we got a price. It was running 50,000 range. And that's within the city manager's scope of authorization and that hasn't been done. And from my understanding and chime in, that hasn't been done because when, when staff looked into this, is that there is a deed restriction for a portion of that land. And so if there's a deed restriction for the portion of that land, why would we not do that for the rest of the land? We need to identify what our intention is. If it's preservation, maybe we just do that and we don't waste the money. There's no reason to do a study. And Commissioner McCray, You weren't on the diocese last year, and so we had talked about this, and I had brought up a study initially, and so I think the ultimate goal is what do we want to do with this land if the key is preservation, and that's the end all be all, and we're going to leave it at that. Maybe it's not worth doing a study, and then we work at the legal mechanisms on how to keep that as it is.

Just for the sake of transparency in the public, this is not on the agenda today. If we want to discuss it, maybe we should add it to a future agenda and then we can have these types of conversations. Yeah, it's not on the agenda.

We have consensus to put it on the next agenda. Yes. And anything that legal you can advise us on to help us maneuver through this so we can wrap it up once and for all would be ideal. Okay, thank you. No one else has any other changes?

No. Okay.

We'll move on to additional items by the motion. Motion to approve.

Second.

We have a motion. We have a second to approve. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Yes, as amended. Aye.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. We'll move on to informational items by members of the City Commission. Let's begin on my left, please, with Commissioner McCray.

Thank you. I got a chance this month to attend the first Friday event here at the city. Awesome crowd, awesome weather, awesome band. I heard through the grapevine that the reason if the crowd was great was because the library had a part in it. Well, I'm just saying if that's what makes things happen here in Boynton, maybe we need to include some other departments with some of these things that we're happy having, you know, so that we could, Hey, showcase what we're doing here in the city of Boynton. I'm one of those is best to get a death with two stones instead of one stone. So I'm just saying, let's kill two birds. That's the first one. I was invited on Saturday night to the father's daughter dance over that culture center. Awesome event. Awesome event. And as I was sitting there looking at the fathers dance with their daughters, because I had to do the welcome address, that was a song that came out. And they used to say it all the time at funerals. They said, if I could just dance with my father again.

my mind went right back then the joy that filled me i'm saying wow look at these young ladies you know dancing with their fathers and i just got kind of overjoyed thank you thank you commissioner kelly um thank you i just i wanted to remind the public that we have a contestant on chopped castaways that she is still in um and they have another episode on tonight And so we have a Boynton Beach resident who is on that Food Network show. So her name is Hannah Flora, and she's a local chef. And so just tune in and watch because she's one of six right now that's left. So thanks for being here.

I just want to thank the police department, Chief DiGiulio, and the officers patrolling Forest Park. We've seen a lot of patrol. I've gotten a lot of feedback from the community from those areas. Making sure you get your roses, Chief. And a lot of feedback from the community about Officer Redondo and all the initiatives that the whole watch is doing during that time. And so thank you for that. A lot of improvement. And so thank you for listening to the residents and listening to the board. And then next, I just want to thank Sheila and the marketing team for everything they're doing and highlighting our local businesses, especially the marina. Saw the reels. Awesome. Great. So thank you for all you guys do. And lastly, I just got to say, This guy's ready for the camera. Commissioner Mack McCrae, if you haven't looked at the city's Facebook or Instagram, I mean, 60 seconds with McCrae. I'm subscribed.

No problem. It's going to be 60 seconds with all of us. Thank you.

It was good. It was really good. So good job, Sheila and her team.

Commissioner Cruz. Not for me. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to city announcements. Oh, no, we want to move you up to 3E. So since you pulled it, go ahead.

Thank you. So I have a proclamation for Family, Faith, and Community Month. Whereas strong family, shared values, and a spirit of service contribute to the health, stability, and prosperity of our community, and parents, grandparents, guardians, mentors, and other positive role models play an essential role in guiding future generations through love, support, responsibility, and encouragement. And whereas fathers and mothers provide a unique and meaningful influence in the lives of children and families, helping foster confidence, resilience, and strong character. And whereas community organizations, volunteers, and residents who dedicate their time helping others strengthen the bonds that unite our neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for all. And whereas spending meaningful time together, serving others, and promoting values such as compassion, respect, integrity, and personal responsibility help build safer, stronger, and more connected communities. whereas the City of Boynton Beach recognizes the importance of supporting families, encouraging civic engagement, and fostering a sense of belonging among residents of all backgrounds and beliefs. I, Thomas Hurkin, Vice Mayor of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, do hereby proclaim the month of June, 2026 as Faith, Family, and Community Month. And I'd like to present this to the Sarubi family. So a little backdrop. So JT and Sarah Sarubi, they met at Two Georges. If I'm wrong, correct me. And I met them over a decade ago through the animal health industry. And I've watched them. uh get married start a family and now they have three beautiful boys and i'd like to present this proclamation to them thanks for um also jt has invested in the city started a business here kept his business here and has doubled down on on boyden beach for raising his family so please join me in a round of applause for them

Oh, the little one. Gee. The stair steps. Congratulations, baby.

Moving on to city announcements, would staff please approach the podium?

Good evening, members of the dais, commissioners, Madam Mayor, Justin Johnson, marketing and outreach manager, and I'm here to announce Excuse me, I'm here to announce the city's annual Juneteenth celebration. It will be held this Saturday, June 20th at Sarah Sims Park, that's 209 Northwest 9th Court here in the city of Boynton Beach. There will be live performances, educational exhibits, food trucks, face painters, games, bounce houses, and it's fun for the whole family. All members of the community are invited to attend, and it is a free event. It will be held once again from 2 to 7 p.m. this Saturday at Sarah Sims Park, and we hope to see as many people there as can attend. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, and members on the dais. I'm Poonam Kalkut. I'm the Utilities Director. I think we're going a little bit out of order, but I just wanted to talk about the announcement for citywide free chlorine flush. We do that every six months to make sure that we are maintaining our infrastructure for drinking water distribution. And as we switch from what we do usually, which is chloramine disinfection to chlorine disinfection, and so the public will notice a little bit of change in odor and taste of the water during that time. It's a three-week period that we do, July 9th to July 30th. And we inform all the people that might get impacted, whether it's nursing homes or hospitals that might have dialysis patients there. or tropical fish aquariums and so on and so forth, pet shops, so that they can make the changes accordingly because the disinfection, removal of the disinfectant is slightly different between the two. And if there are any questions, you can answer.

Questions?

No, they just have been notified, right? Yes. Thank you, that's all I have to hear.

Yes, I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, please.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, and City Management. My name is Cody Bonanno, Event Manager. On behalf of the Events Department, I would like to announce our upcoming 4th of July event, Red, White, and Blue with a Waterfront View, celebrating 250 years of independence in the United States. This free family-friendly event at Intracoastal Park begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 4th, where we will have live music from two talented bands, a memory walk showcasing the history of Boynton Beach, carnival games and rides, including a Ferris wheel, and of course, ending the night with a firework show over the water. from 9 to 9.30, concluding the event. Parking and shuttle services will be available at Ezell Hester Community Center, St. John Missionary Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Boynton Beach, and the City Hall employee lot. We hope to see you out there enjoying the entertainment and activities, putting together as we celebrate this huge milestone over the past 250 years. Just also noting that this is a different parking location compared to the years before. Years before it was off of Quantum Boulevard. This shortens the route and makes it a little bit more efficient by about four miles in travel time and distance. Thank you.

Question. How often will the buses run?

So there's, it's actually a motorcade. So there's police officers before and after the buses to ensure safety. And then also we've designed the route to limit left turns and things along those lines to keep everyone as safe as possible. But it's, all the buses do stay together throughout the course of the event.

Thank you. Since we're talking about the 4th of July, what about the drought? I'm just saying, are we not in a drought problem here in Boynton? I'm just saying, you know, drought.

no water drought i'm from georgia i can't help you with that it's been a rainy week though but thank you we are moving on to a presentation of partnership between the city of boynton beach chamber of industry and commerce presented by rick maharaj ceo and founder boynton beach chamber of commerce industry and commerce rick would you please come down

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, staff, and fellow residents. I'm Rick Maharaj, your founding President and CEO, alongside Christine Roberts, Executive Vice President. We're proud to represent the Boynton Beach Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the BBCIC, Boynton's official chamber. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update and progress on our commitment to supporting the business community in partnership with the City of Boynton Beach. The mission of the BBCIC is simple, to provide impact resources to the business community to drive economic growth with partnership and empowerment in the forefront of our efforts to seek to build a lasting legacy with each individual business. Over the past year, the Chamber has focused on three key areas. First, business growth and networking. We continue to bring together entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofits, corporate leaders through the networking events, educational programs, and strategic partnerships. These connections help local businesses build relationships, generate referrals, and expand their presence within our city. Second, community engagement. The Chamber is committed to being more than a business organization. We actively encourage volunteerism, community involvement, and partnerships that improve the quality of life in Boynton Beach. Throughout our ambassadors, members, community partners, we work to create opportunities that connect business leaders with meaningful community initiatives. Third, advocacy and collaboration. One of the most important roles of any chamber is serving as a bridge between the business community and local government. We appreciate the city's willingness to engage with businesses and listen to their concerns. Our goal is to continue fostering productive conversations that support responsible economic development while preserving the character and values that make Boynton Beach special. As we look ahead, the Chamber is focused on expanding membership, increasing business participation, developing leadership opportunities, and creating programs that support both established business and emerging entrepreneurs. We're also working to strengthen partnerships with the city, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and community stakeholders to ensure we're building a stronger future together. We'd like again to recognize and thank our mayor, commissioners, city manager, staff, and all of our community partners for their dedication to Boynton Beach. Progress happens when organizations work together toward a common goal, and we look forward to continuing that collaboration. We'll jump into some real-time metrics. 200-plus members, corporate and key members include Dort Financial and Flagler Credit Union, Palm Beach County Office of Small Business Development, Children's Schoolhouse Museum, the Hampton Inn and Suites, Quantum High School. Some of our signature events include Kickstart Cafe, Power Lunch Collective, Civic Leadership, Health and Wellness Breakfast, that's one of my favorites, that drives about 75 guests at every event, so we're really happy about that. Levita Boynton, Drive for Success, This one's really special, Adopt-A-Road. Notable, the only chamber to be part of the City of Boynton Beach's Adopt-A-Road program. We have collected an estimate of over 653 pounds of trash along the Gateway Corridor. We're also currently running our second back-to-school drive with Point Seattle Elementary School. We also have educational programming including PR, AI, and marketing. 23 dedicated ambassadors that donate their time and talents to the chamber monthly. So far for 2026, they've logged over 200 hours of time. We're batting an average of 50% open rate on all of our emails. The BBCIC continues committed to being a positive force for economic development, business success, and community engagement throughout Boynton Beach. On behalf of our board of directors, ambassadors, members, and volunteers, Thank you for your continued partnership. We look forward to working together to make Boynton Beach an even better place to live, work, play, and do business. Thank you and have a wonderful evening.

Thank you very much. Next will be a proclamation for Men's Mental Health Month. Vice Mayor Turkin will read and present the proclamation to former Commissioner Reverend Woodrow Hay.

Whereas Men's Mental Health Awareness Month is part of the broader international initiative dedicated to educating men, boys, and their families on the critical importance of mental wellness, early intervention, and breaking the silence that too often surrounds men's emotional struggles. And whereas men bear a disproportionate share of the nation's mental health crisis, men die by suicide at a rate nearly four times that of women, accounting for almost 80% of all suicide deaths in the United States. And suicide remains one of the leading causes of death for men under the age of 50. And whereas according to the National Institute of Mental Health, only about 42% of men with a diagnosed mental illness receive treatment compared to 57% of women. And Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that just 13.4% of men receive any mental health treatment compared to the 24.7% of women. And whereas millions of American men experience depression each year, it often goes unrecognized because men may carry their struggles quietly or show them in ways that are easily overlooked, underscoring the importance of awareness, compassion, and early support. And whereas societal stigma, expectations of self-reliance, and the harmful belief that seeking help is a sign of weakness create powerful barriers that cause men to suffer in silence, contributing to higher rates of substance use disorders, isolation, and untreated mental illness among men and boys. And whereas the Men's Mental Health Network's 2026 theme, Partners in Care, Advancing Men's health through connection education and advocacy across the lifespan reminds us that care is relational and that men's mental health outcomes improve when supported by empathy education and genuine community connection and whereas mental health encompasses emotional psychological and social well-being and every man's untreated struggle ripples outward profoundly affecting spouses children families workplaces and the entire community And whereas the City of Boynton Beach is committed to fostering a community where no man feels he must face battles alone, where asking for help is recognized as an act of strength, and where education, outreach, and advocacy ensure that every man knows that help is available and recovery is possible. Now therefore, I, Thomas Turkin, Vice Mayor of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, do hereby proclaim June 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month. I urge all local organizations, schools, workplaces, and community groups to participate in awareness activities that promote mental health literacy empathy and connection and witness whereof i have here unto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of boynton beach florida to be affixed at boynton beach florida the 16th day of june 2026 and i have a former commissioner reverend woodrow hay accepting this proclamation Okay, thank you.

Let me first of all just say thank you. I have two comments I would like to make. First, to Mayor, rebecca shelton and vice mayor thomas turkin commissioner mike mccray commissioner ama amy kelly and commissioner angela cruz city manager dan duggar and other city officials and citizens of this great city called boynton beach i humbly and gratefully accept this proclamation declaring June as Men's Mental Health Month. Thank you, Vice Mayor Turkin, for your leadership and your spearheading this important recognition. Too often, men suffer in silence, believing that they must carry their burdens alone. This proclamation sends a powerful message that seeking help is not weakness. It is wisdom. It is courage. It is strength. It's okay to not be okay. You're not in this alone. On behalf of all men in our community, especially fathers, grandfathers, veterans, first responders, and young men who may be struggling, I thank the City Council for bringing awareness to this critical issue. Let us stop sweeping this issue under the carpet. Together, let us continue to remove the stigma encourage conversation, and remind every man that his life matters, his voice matters, and his mental health matters. May God bless the city of Boynton Beach and may he grant peace, hope, and healing to all who stand in need. The second point I'd like to make quickly It's just an FYI, as I want to share this with you. I've been taught by men and women who have been in the political world much longer than I have, they taught me this, that we always address a former political official by their highest position held. For example, we don't refer to attorney Bill Clinton, we refer to him as President Clinton. We don't refer to Senator Barack Obama, we refer to him as President Barack Obama, et cetera, et cetera. The same is true of former mayors of the city of Boynton Beach. The only exception to this accepted protocol is when both mayors are present at the same time. At that point, the current mayor is referred to as Mayor XYZ, and the former mayor is referred to as Former Mayor XYZ. I thank you again for what you have done and may God continue to bless this great city of Boynton Beach. Thank you.

We are now moving on to public audience. As always, it is three minutes per person. It's non-transferable and this is not a Q&A. Same rules always apply. The speaker must address the commission as a whole and not any individual or anyone in the audience. Insults, personal attacks, and disruptions are not permitted and you'll be asked to leave should you violate these rules. We have concluded those in person. We will then move on to online. If you want to speak, please line up at both podiums so we can keep things moving. So if you want to speak, now's the time to line up on either side. We'll start with you, Ms. Hoyer.

Thank you. Susan Hoyer, Boynton Beach. So I want to say, I've been talking about that class I've been trying to get into in the library for a couple months now. Finally got in, took two months. Yes, I know. And I found out, because Brian is wonderful, by the way, and Turns out over 200 people have taken that class and qualified to use the Creative Makerspace, of which there's 60 spots per month. So this is my official plug to do something about this during budget hearings, because Rebecca, not you, but Rebecca upstairs, is also qualified to allow people to work with the creative maker space and she's not being utilized and that would help solve the problem with the 200 plus people who are able to use it but are unable to because you have to book a month out and there's only 60 spaces per month. So I'm gonna say that obviously this is something that's in demand by our residents. Brian has gone crazy and gotten all kinds of grants. We have the most crazy, amazing machines compared to other cities around the county. So we have this insane worker space that is very difficult to get into because there's just not enough The budget needs to be allocated to make sure both Rebecca and Brian can have the time in there so that the residents can then use the machinery and they're not able to just because of the lack of the way the budget works out. So this is my official plug, Dan and Commission, to let's do something about this because obviously this is a huge in demand space within the library. I will say that the guy next to me during the class, it took him six months to get in the class. So this is amazing. And we have this and no other city does. So please, let's resolve this during budget time. And I know that's right around the corner. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please, on the left.

Good evening, everybody. Good evening. My name's Jane Justice, and I'm here to speak in favor of reducing the tax burden on the resident, all the residents in Palm Beach County. And I think that's a good thing for mental health, actually. For years, the property values have continued to rise, and as those values increase, the government revenues have certainly increased, really. And even when the millage rates are the same, many homeowners are still paying significantly higher with their HOAs, their property assessments, and you name it. The FPNL is going to get us, I mean, every day you turn around, it's something else. So the people of this county are really struggling. That's the senior citizens, that's the single mothers, that's the families, and the veterans are struggling. And so the higher utility bills I mentioned, increasing food prices, outrageous inflation, gas prices impacting everybody every day. So at some point, the government must recognize that the taxpayers have reached their limit, and I think they have. Every dollar collected in taxes is a dollar that a family cannot spend on groceries, medication. By the way, that's really crazy too now, okay? Home repairs, saving for retirement. Forget about that one now. Government should be asking a simple question. How can I help the taxpayers with the money here? We can reduce the spending rather than how much can we collect. I believe Palm Beach County should begin identifying unnecessary spending, duplicating programs, excessive administrative costs, and projects that are not essential to public safety or core services. Taxpayers deserve transparency, accountability. Before asking residents to pay more, government should demonstrate that every existing dollar is being spent wisely. Many residents feel that taxation has become disconnected from representation, and that I can attest to. They see taxes rising year after year, where the struggle to make ends meet gets harder and harder, thus the mental health again, if you wanna laugh. It's not funny. They want relief. They need relief. They want government to live within its means as the families are forced to do. Everybody's trying to downsize. And by the way, as a realtor, you know, business is really bad. And I happen to know that Boynton Beach is really out of limits. I wouldn't tell anybody to move here unless they really want to. I don't get involved in that. Ten seconds. Boynton Beach is pretty high here, so we need to do something about that. I think I got the message out to you, and I think it's a very important one for everybody. Thank you. Next, please.

Hello, sorry. Hello, Kim Kelly, Hurricane Alley, 529 East Ocean Avenue. I'm here tonight to clarify a recent article or an interview that I did with WPTV recently. It was on myself, Hurricane Alley, and the redevelopment. The reporter initially asked me my thoughts on redevelopment. I said I was frustrated, as we all have expressed the frustration with the time that we have spent on this project. Lawsuits and blockades of course did not help in this progress, which took it all out of our hands. He proceeded to ask me what my future looks like. When I was speaking with him, I referred that why should we lose jobs or businesses to redevelopment? But what he forgot to add was that I was speaking about when we transition. That meant when we closed. So we weren't down for a long period of time. So we were able to survive. We were also talking about the accessibility to parking. although he turned this around and made it sound like i was not for redevelopment and that the staff and the city did not support me that could be not more far from the truth this city the cra board this commission they have done nothing but stand behind me and i want to let you know that i thank you and i apologize for the misconstrued and twisted words that one reporter did What he left out was how excited I was with the new CRA leadership and how the affiliated group has stood by me as well as this board has for the last six years. I would like to go on record, and if the media can right a wrong, here it is. I have for the last six years supported this project, have been a major part in watching the ups, the downs, the in-betweens of what my future and what downtown's future will look like. The current and past CRI Board has always been supportive and have put their local businesses on the forefront of every project. Jeff and Nick from the Affiliated Development Group have never wavered in their belief in me and have supported me and have always chose Boynton first, besides obstacles that they have faced over the last six years. It saddens me that the media feels a good story is one that hurts the community, the progress of the community, and the rebuilding of a once fractured community that is now flourishing with great leadership and a positive step in the right direction. So again, I want to make myself clear. I am for redevelopment. I am for this project. I am for the Pierce. I am excited for my future and, of course, a little scared, as anyone would be venturing into a new place, a new address, a new me. Please accept my apology if my words were twisted or misconstrued in any way or any manner. That was never my intent. That was never my goal. That's not who I am. Please accept my apologies, and I hope we can move forward and keep building our great relationship that we have had. And again, I apologize for people that just want to make their name in the paper, and that wasn't me this time.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next, please.

Hello, good evening. My name's Kelly Alvord, 235 Southwest 6th Avenue. I'm here on behalf of the iCare program. We're a nonprofit organization that supports adults with autism and related intellectual and developmental disabilities. We serve about 250 people, and we are located right here in the heart of Boynton Beach. I'm here today to sincerely thank all of you for supporting the block grant. That has covered the pay for most of my position for this year so far. And that's allowed me to be at events like the first Fridays, I've seen Commissioner Cruz there. And the extravaganza, various outreach events and vendor fairs where We offer resources for families whose students are aging out of public school. Our nonprofit is the only program like its kind located in Boynton Beach. We specifically serve adults with autism and related disabilities. So we have, we've managed to welcome 25 new members since we've received this grant. So thank you very, very much for that. It's all been word of mouth through the community and people seeing what we do and saying they'd like to have that for their family, their loved one. Your support has really helped us to expand our program, which means the world not only to us, but to our participants. We show up, and honestly, I began as a volunteer there, and I was like, this is 95% of my social life, and I've never been happier. It's amazing. You walk in, it's like you're Beyonce. But we do it for them specifically. We're there to make a good time for them, and we're able to do that because of your support. So thank you very, very much. Thank you. Next, please.

Michael Swarzena, 9341 Longmeadow Circle.

Can you move the mic up a little? Can you hear me?

Yeah. Good afternoon. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioner, staff, allowing us the opportunity to speak. On behalf of Save Boynton's Forest, I know this is what is now a future agenda item. About a year ago, A little over a year ago, we had packed this place full, past capacity, so this is an important item for us. We do have what appears to be more support than we've had, so I do look forward to coming to that next agenda and seeing you guys have that opportunity to preserve this land. I did forward an email to each of you and the city attorney, as well as the assistant city attorney. That information contains some information from the county basically indicating that those parcels all do have the deed restriction. There's only one that's recorded, so I do believe, based on their research, that's just a recording error. So this should be a pretty good opportunity to forego any more controversy and just preserve the land, so thank you.

Thank you so much, next please.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioner, and members of the community. My name is Angelica Rivera, also known as Angel. I'm proud to say that I am a resident of Point Beach Boulevard. Point Beach, not Boulevard, but. I'm also here representing Conviva Care Center, where we are committed to serving and supporting our senior community. Conviva provides primary care services and resources for patients on Medicare, and we understand how important it is for our seniors to have access to quality care, education, and support close to home. Here in Boynton Beach, we have three Conviva locations. We accept most major insurances, and one of the things I'm most proud of is that Conviva doesn't just focus on doctor visits. We also focus on building relationships, connecting seniors to resources, and helping them feel seen, supported, and cared for. We offer same-day appointments, access to providers, on-site services to many of our centers, and the community events that help keeping our seniors engaged and informed. We also have locations that are open on Saturday and Sunday because we know health needs health needs not always are on Monday through Friday. That extra access can make a real difference for seniors and families who need the care, guidance, and support. As a resident and as someone who works closely with seniors in our community, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be part of a city that values connection, care, and service. I look forward to continuing to partner with the community and helping our Boynton Beach seniors get the care they deserve. So thank you very much. I appreciate your help. Thank you. Thanks, please.

Hello, my name is Laura Milligan. I live in Boynton Beach. I live near the Nichols Forest or the Boynton Forest. I want to thank you all so much, as Mike had stated, for considering once again putting it on the agenda for next month. That's June 7th, correct? Agenda. I'm not going to give the same speech as I did June. July. I mean, I'm sorry, July. Last year, June 3rd of last year, as Mike said, we packed the room. Five years prior to that was COVID, but we have a lot of people who realize the value of this forest. I appreciate that the city is planting trees throughout which you know how important the trees are, cool the planet, take a walk near the forest. Not only will you feel the cooler temperatures, but you'll see probably baby gopher tortoises too. The tortoises are thriving. I live right near there, I see it. So we would just love for you to just preserve it once and for all. so that we don't have to keep doing this every two, five, 10 years, kicking the can down the road when it's just so important, replenishing our water aquifers. As you know, I know years ago, the city of Boynton Beach was forcing communities to use reclaimed water for irrigation because the water aquifers are depleting. And I could go on and on about that, and I will spare your time, but I just wanna know on my behalf, on a lot of people's behalf, that we thank you so much for truly looking into this and just preserving it once and for all. Thank you so much. Thank you, next please.

Good evening, Cindy Falco de Corrado. I'm here tonight regarding supporting lowering taxes for Palm Beach County. The people of this county are tired. They are tired of watching their property taxes rise year after year. They are tired of being told there is never enough money while government budgets continue to grow. They are tired of carrying the burden while government continues to spend as if the taxpayers have an endless supply of money. The truth is simple. The taxpayers are not an unlimited source of revenue. Every year homeowners face increasing costs, insurance goes up, utilities goes up, food costs go up, medical expenses go up, yet government continues to take more and more from the people who are working, saving, and struggling to remain in their homes. At some point, government must recognize that enough Is enough. The answer is not continue finding new ways to spend money. The answer is to find ways to spend less money. Taxpayers have a right to know where their money is going and whether their expenditures are truly necessary. We need to return to the principles of physical responsibility. We need to focus on core government services. We do not need government expanding into areas that create larger budgets while taxpayers struggle to survive. the people are asking for something very reasonable lower taxes responsible spending transparency and accountability i urge this commission to stand with the residents of the city of boynton beach in palm beach county the money does not belong to the government it belongs to the people who have earned it and I had just saw my water bill, which has four different price ranges on it for TG. I don't know what changes the denominations from $2.81 to $3 and something cents to $4 and something cents to $5 and something, and then there's an other charge on my utility bill. It's out of control, and we had to pay assessments on it as well. But I also want to bring up another thing. Transparency isn't hard. It's simply doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do. When government chooses transparency, it chooses integrity. the truth needs no protection only transparency doing the right thing shouldn't depend on who's watching transparency is about accountability looks like in action a government worthy of trust has nothing to fear from transparency and when citizens are harmed transparency isn't a favor it's your duty to stand up and to protect we the people thank you thank you next please

Woodrow Hay, I'm here to make a few comments. I know it probably fits more in the CRA, but since this council has authority over the CRA, I thought I would mention it now, and I will be back to talk about it a little bit more, and that is what seems to be happening at at Boynton Beach, heart of Boynton apartments. The prices are going up, effectively July 1st, and I'm getting calls, and I know there may or may not be anything that you can do, but just consider if there's any way that we can delay it, push it back a little bit, because many of these people are struggling. They struggle just to qualify. Okay, and now I just happened to bring one of the names because he doesn't mind, and his name is Mark Major Jr. His rent will be going up $400 monthly, and that's a lot for anybody. And I think if we as a city council or whatever can do anything to help, now is the time to do that consideration, to postpone it, get with HUD and see what we can do, if anything, I don't know. but I think we got enough spot people up here, if there's anything that can be done, and including staff, I think we need to move forward. These people are really hurting, and it's just not, everybody's suffering, I know that. But maybe there is something that we can do to push back this tremendous increase in hardship on these people at Harder Boynton Apartments. Thank you.

Thank you, next please.

Good evening. My name is Barbara Reedy. Next week, in order to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, the Boynton Beach Historical Society will be painting rocks. And we've named our project Rock on America. And the Girl Scout Troop 245... 1-4 is joining us and we're going to paint our rocks and distribute them around the city in the hope that it encourages people to remember that democracy is fragile and we all need to fight to keep it. The other thing I wanted to mention is the Historical Society, we did research on the deed for the Pence Park and that land is deed restricted. And if we need to produce a copy of the deed for whoever's in charge of moving forward with the Pence Park, we'd like to see that that's stopped because it needs to remain a ball field and a children's playground. I'm glad that you're working on your comprehensive plan. I spent time today reading parts of it and I would urge you not to throw the baby out with the bath wire. There are important parts in that plan even though it was in 2008, sections four and sections five of the conservation element and pertaining to the parks and green space. There are important things in there that are true today that were true in 2008, so please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I think that there's things that you can amend, change, update, whatever, but there is some strong information in that comprehensive plan from 2008. Thank you. Thank you. Next, please.

I wasn't going to speak tonight. My name is Jim Knight. I live at 740 Havana Drive, Boca Raton. I own property here in Boynton Beach and have for 20 plus years. My son Alex lives right down the street here, 229 Southeast First. And I just wanted to say that three people came up to me tonight and said, what are you doing here tonight? Doing business in Boynton is a breath of fresh air. And that's what my response was to them. I work in many other communities and the county here as a whole and so forth, and it's very difficult to get things done. And I understand some people are opposed to projects and developments and so forth, and they have a right to. At least the people here at your staff and your department listen. And if it doesn't make sense, they say, go back and start over. Come back with something new. And it just really is a truly breath of fresh air. And I appreciate it and keep it up because you're going to run over your neighbors. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please.

Good evening, everyone. I am Elizabeth WIU. I'm here to represent Pancake for Men in honor of men's Health Month, Mencare for Men is paying it forward. And we are doing yoga, meditation, and sound healing. So even if you feel you do not have a mental problem, please come out and join us on the beach Friday at 6.30 PM. We wanted to say thank you from all of you for your support. And because of the CRA and the city, our business is booming. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone online before we conclude public comment?

Yes, Mayor. We have one person online. Mr. Ray Whiteley is online, and if he wants to unmute himself, then he can begin when he's ready.

Mr. Whiteley.

Good. Yes. Mayor, good afternoon. Vice Mayor, Commissioner, city staff. I was trying to get on last meeting, but They tried to help me and I couldn't understand how to do it. So I had to do some research and follow the directions that the guy gave me the last time. So I am here. First of all, I want to tell the mayor thank you for coming to the funeral a couple of weeks ago of Pastor Thomas. Your presence mattered and it showed the respect for the family and the church family. and demonstrate that our city leaders is connected to the people who they serve so thank you for that Commissioner McCray, I was blown away by your one minute film the other day. I thought it was very good. You look a little nervous, but you're gonna grow into it. I love it. I love it. I'm praying that you continue doing them, continue to inform people and using the technology. It's just a breath of fresh air. Thank you for whoever did it and whoever produced it. I also want to thank the city manager for the informational session that he gave regarding the proposed property tax referendum. It was insightful. It was thought out and it was scary as heck. It's scary when you laid out the things that can happen to city employees and services that we will be losing if this thing go into effect. So whatever we could do, whatever conversations or whatever educational sessions that we could have to educate community, educate congregations, whoever. let us know, we are willing to be a part of those informational session. And finally, I want to invite everyone to the upcoming candidate forum, gubernatorial candidate forum at St. John Missionary Baptist Church on June 29th. It's a Monday night and the doors open at 5.30. Candidate forum begins at 6.30. All the qualified gubernatorial candidates were sent a letter to participate now it's 25 of them and i don't think 25 of them will show up but they all had an opportunity to come and listen to the residents from palm beach county so again thank you all for what you're doing public service is not easy um and sometimes i come down it's not so uh so pleasant but i have to give you all roses and finally i did tell them personally but i didn't want to tell them publicly Thomas Turkin, you did an amazing job moderating the event about a month ago. You are natural for that position, man. So thank you all for what you do and God bless you all.

Thank you. Public comment is now closed. Moving on to advisory board and appointments. We have one applicant for the building board of adjustment and appeals.

I am a resident of the Workforce Housing, so I am so grateful to have my new home and be a first-time homeowner. And also, I did participate in the Boynton Beach Entrepreneurship Academy that happened here not too long ago, and I am thrilled. I was very informative, and I appreciate you guys doing those things for the community. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to the Advisory Board and Appointments. We have one applicant for the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals. The nomination is for me to appoint a regular member to the Building Board of Adjustments and Appeals. I would like to make a motion to appoint, is it Jose Velasquez? George. George. George Velasquez. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes unanimously. We have two applicants for the Education and Youth Advisory Board. The first nomination is for me to appoint a student member to the Education and Youth Advisory Board. I would like to make a motion to appoint Faith Francis. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Second nomination goes to Commissioner McCray to appoint a regular member to the Education Youth Advisory Board.

Faith Francis.

No, I just did him.

It would be Rashema Owens.

Rashema Owens.

That's my neighbor. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. Next, we have one applicant for the Historic Resources Preservation Board. This nomination goes to Commissioner Cruz. Would you like to make a motion?

No, I will not. Thank you.

Thank you. We would like to table the item for now.

Yes.

Thank you. Can we have a motion to table, please? I have a motion to table. Second.

We have a motion to table, and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. motion passes um and i would also like to table it's i think we're keeping it on the table yeah keep it on the table on the table okay there are no applicants for the following boards we encourage residents to apply if you're interested the art advisory board has one regular and one alternate position the recreation and parks board has one regular and one alternate and the senior advisory board has one regular and two alternate positions We'll now be moving on to consent. My colleagues would like to pull any items from consent. Now let's begin on my right with Commissioner Cruz.

Not for me.

Thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor.

Nothing, Mayor. Thank you.

Commissioner Kelly. No. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner McCray. Nothing. Thank you.

Motion to approve.

Second. We have a motion to approve consent agenda. We have a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. We are now moving on to consent bids and purchases. If my colleagues would like to pull any items, let's begin on my left with Commissioner McCray.

I'm good, thank you.

Commissioner Kelly.

Yes, Mayor, I would like to pull 7E, please.

7E, you said? E. E. Okay.

I'm sorry.

Well, Vice Mayor, I'm talking to you.

And Commissioner Cruz.

Nothing for me. Motion to approve the agenda. Second.

We have a motion to approve the agenda. We have a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. And Commissioner Kelly, would you pull item E?

Thank you. Yes. The reason I pulled this item, I'm kind of wanting to see if there's consensus to table on this item. We've been just starting our budget conversations with staff. I have some concerns about some budget amendment suggestions going in having to do with staffing and I think that approving a $2.3 million contract right now when we're looking at potentially freezing salaries and wages and contracts and all that is not So my thought would be to either table it until after budget, until we have budget workshops, or even until after November when we know whether our budget moving forward is gonna be stable enough to sustain such a purchase. I just think that we have to put personnel over excess equipment at this point. That's my position.

Is this equipment or this request ancillary to anything that we're already utilizing that could impact any operations, or is this just something additional we want to look at?

Well, item 7D was the termination of our contract with Flock for the drone first responder because, unfortunately, they couldn't deliver the equipment within a reasonable amount of time. So switching to Axon, which is 7E, is basically us purchasing the drone first responders through them. So we did have money allocated for the DFR with Flock already. So this is going to enhance our real-time crime center. And if you guys don't mind, we can go through the presentation just to show how it actually functions with our core activities we currently do in the RTCC. And then we can go a little bit into the financial impact because the first year of the contract, which is this October 1st, 2026, there is no... There is no charge, for lack of a better word. The first payment doesn't kick in until October 1st of 2027. So the fiscal impact wouldn't be until not this upcoming fiscal year, but the following fiscal year.

I mean, I'm okay to hear the presentation. I'm okay to table it either way. I just want to make sure that this isn't a thing where you know, we're eliminating this and then now we have equipment that's not being utilized because we don't have, you know, a certain program for it. I need more information before I make a decision to cut anything. The last thing I want to do is have something and then not have the tools to make that thing work. It's no different than having an RTCC and not having officers in it. So I'm okay either way. I'm okay to see it now or see it at another different time.

Doesn't matter to me.

Yes.

Thank you. I want to thank you all for coming and giving me the presentation and I'm okay with looking at the presentation again, but it is needed after what you all showed me and it won't kick in until October the 1st, 2027 and we're piggybacking off of what getting rid of and I'm in favor of moving forward. I'm just saying because you're saving lives. I'm just saying, you know, that's a price that you cannot put on saving lives. I'm sorry.

I understand your concerns, Commissioner Kelly, and I think they're very responsible and it makes common sense to wonder what's going to happen in the future because we don't know what our budget is gonna look like come November. We don't know if it's gonna pass or not. Chief, thank you for providing me the information. Generally speaking, I'm in favor of this because we do need it. My understanding is that there was a failure from the part of one of the previous contractors, so that's why they needed to bring it back. As long as we can find money in the budget, know for this i would be in support of of moving forward with it and um yeah that's my only concern great any other comments no i mean i'm okay to uh move forward i would like to see the presentation absolutely you guys are okay with that i'm sorry vargas through the presentation good evening mayor vice mayor commissioners

My name is Sergeant Vargas and I supervise the Real Time Crime Center. So what is a drone first responder? A drone first responder is an autonomous rapid deployment system where a drone launches from a fixed base station within seconds of an incident, arriving before ground units. The drone streams live HD video to dispatchers, officers, command staff in real time, providing aerial situational awareness. What does this mean? It means that we have rapid response and we can launch within less than 30 seconds. Each location is three miles of coverage for radius. It's operational 24-7. Flight time up to 30 minutes, and it boasts a thermal camera. So what we're proposing is three Skydio DFR docks. It's a comprehensive solution package. It includes Skydio X10 drones, the dock, DFR command cloud base, 5G connectivity, API integrations with our current products that we have, thermal imaging, nice sense for low light operations, advanced mapping capabilities, integrative spotlight speaker system parachute for safety equipment. By going forward, we're locking in the price for the next eight years. DFR pricing across the industry is trending upwards and contract costs can increase substantially over time. Several competing solutions currently command annual fees 250,000 per dock per year. So the benefit to this contract is we also have refreshed drones at year three and year seven of the contract. So we built in future technology enhancements into this contract, so we're not being left behind as technology evolves. Skydio is expected to introduce a new DFR drone with increased performance and faster response times, extended battery life, which will be available to the agency during its first scheduled refresh cycle. So as we look at live operations supported by the Real-Time Crime Center, it goes in stages. First, you have the 911 call. And as that call is coming in, our Real-Time Crime Center is evaluating that call. And as the call is being dispatched, and even sometimes before the call is being dispatched, they're pressing the button, the drone is launching, and they're flying to the location. The drone typically arrives first, providing officers with real-time information, and then we can coordinate from the real-time crime center and livestream the video feed to supervisors so they can make the most accurate and informed decision. Some of the benefits to this is real-time intelligence. This allows us to make enhanced decision-making, improves overall public safety outcomes. You have faster incident resolution more efficient with our resource allocation. Now, we've already tested this stock out for two months in the beginning of the year, and we only had one location. And now that doesn't necessarily cover the entire city. And we were conservative with our deployments because we wanted to make sure that we were available for significant calls. And during that time, we were first on scene over 40% of the time, provided helpful intel to officers and supervisors 88% of the time, And our average time to the scene was less than 90 seconds. We also cleared multiple calls without even dispatching officers, which saves on manpower and allows them to continue to focus on the neighborhoods and patrol those areas that need those areas patrolled. So now we look at DFR beyond public safety. So the expanded use cases, right? The drones are not always going to be in use, and that's why we're going to have a shared use among departments. The building department's purchase of one of the three docks represents a shared investment that improves overall program efficiency, expands operational coverage, and increases the value of the DFR deployment. We could use this for building inspections, light studies, disaster recoveries, search and rescue, but also fire and hazmat situations, and 3D mapping. As we take a little deeper dive into building inspections, Imagine the building department not having to leave their desk and being able to check out projects that they have going on without having to drive over there. Conduct inspections that they can later on use that for their projects. And then light studies. You don't have to have somebody driving around the street at 2 o'clock in the morning to see what lights are working, what lights are not working. All this can be programmed into the system. and at a click of a button with one of our drone operators who work night shift can be done and that can go back to the corresponding units or building department. So you look at disaster recovery, a lot of times one of the first things that we have to do as an agency, as a city, is conduct post-storm assessments. We have to look at searching the corridors to determine what's damaged, what we need to get to immediately, and With that being said, typically the way it's worked is you have a command post, the EOC, and now you're dispatching individuals to go there. But now you can do that as soon as the storm's over with the drone and provide that real-time feedback with either photos, maps, or video that now you can task to crews to go out there and handle those situations so we can get the city back up and running. We look at search and rescue with these docks being strategically placed throughout the city. We're able to show up to missing persons in a relatively fast manner. And typically, if it's an individual who has dementia and they've walked away from their house, we could get there quick, find them. But what does that do in the interim, right? It allows us to not be on that call for an hour, two hours, three hours plus, burning up those resources that could be utilized for other calls. 3D MAPPING AGAIN GOES BACK TO BUILDING INSPECTIONS LIGHT STUDIES DISASTER RELIEF AND RECOVERY ALLOWS US TO PUT TOGETHER AN INTERACTIVE 2 TO 3D MAP AND WE CAN PRESENT THAT TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE GOING OUT THERE SO WE HAVE SOME STATS FOR YOU NOW THIS IS YEAR TO DATE FOR THE DRONE UNIT THIS INCLUDES THE TWO MONTHS THAT WE HAD THE TEMPORARY DOCK

Fiscal year or calendar year?

October 1? Calendar year. So from January 1? January to today. So we've had 737 flights. We have had 145 flight hours. Flights per month is roughly 123. Helpful intel, it's at 82%, and that's gone down because the process that we have to deploy the drone from the real-time crime center is sort of labor-intensive. And you can see the first on scene has decreased to 28%. Currently, what we have to do to deploy the drone from the real-time crime center is activate the drone, walk it downstairs, outside, put the drone up with the controller, go back into the real-time crime center, and then fly it from the computer. That takes about anywhere from four to five minutes. Then you have a minute to a minute and a half traverse time. So now you're looking at six to seven minutes of flight time, where when we did the dock trial, we were on scene a lot of times, less than 30 seconds, but upwards to a minute, minute 30, depending on where we're at in the city. We were able to provide really good intel to the officers, solve those situations fast, and allow those officers to handle the situation and get back on the road and patrol the neighborhoods. So three strategically placed DFR docks would be approximately two miles apart, provide rapid response drone coverage across the entire city. This would allow increased monthly flight operations to enhance situational awareness and operational effectiveness. With the three docks and their locations, we would have higher first on scene response rates to enable faster intelligence gathering for responding units. Real time aerial feed to improve incident assessment and support informed decision making. Autonomous deployment capabilities reduce response times and maximize public safety resources. Again, it also clears calls and select calls fast without having to send an officer. So we're saving on that aspect as well. That concludes the end of my presentation. I believe Assistant Chief Kautz would like to speak.

Yeah, just a couple of things. Sergeant Vargas, thank you. You covered a lot there. Remember, just remember, we're already budgeted $125,000 for this DFR from the contract we just terminated. With the building department responsible for payment for 90,000 for one DFR, kind of leaves us budgeting for about $65,000. And again, reminder, that's not until October 2027. Thank you. Go ahead.

Okay, so the difference is $65,000. Okay. A year.

A year.

A year. For the remaining of the eight-year contract. And also, we don't use the general fund, we use the traffic safety fund. So it's the violated dollars from the red light camera and the school zone speed enforcement camera.

Thank you for that clarification. That makes a huge difference. Also, I think the use mix is a huge difference, too. And I remember Adam actually mentioning this to me. Yeah, this is awesome. And when things happen in November, if it happens, we'll revisit this. But $65,000 a year, you keep officers on the street patrolling. You save boots on the ground. I think this is a no-brainer. Thanks for the more thorough presentation. Thank you.

Real quick, Chief. I know you're saying this is coming from the traffic fund, but the traffic fund has not been as successful as anticipated. And I know that we're changing, we changed programs. And I'm not saying that this is not, I've spoken to you, I am very in favor of our drone program. I've watched it launch. I've watched it in action. I've seen it. I support it. I think it's very helpful. But when I'm talking to city administration about about major staffing concerns and issues and funding and where money is coming from, I just, I don't see, I can't support this and then look at the officers or the firefighters or our general employees or SEIU employees and go, yep, sorry, we couldn't give you your raise. We couldn't give you the raise that we promised and we agreed to in a contract because we supported a drone program. We have drones. It's a successful program. It's been successful. You just talked about it's success. I am not saying I do not support this program. I think that if it comes down to it and we have the money and everything goes as planned, then great. My position is I can't support spending this money when we have a drone program that is working and up and running when we're talking about potential staffing issues and cuts and everything. So I just want to make my position clear. I am very supportive of this program. If we weren't in this position, I wouldn't have even pulled the item. But I have concerns when we're talking about $2.3 million and that's about what we would be. you know what we'd be talking about in in contract um issues and discrepancies so that's my position but that's so that's where I stand yes thank you thank you uh Chief you all all of us that have cell phones they go off and said missing a missing person in the city of Boynton

You know, I'm sitting up here tonight, I'm listening to everybody talk about, you know, about staffing and all that stuff. I think, you know, when it's coming down for the state of Florida, we are getting all worked up really kind of like really for nothing because this whole thing is just moving shells around. You all showed me something where you all located a missing person. I was floored by that because I'm just saying the mama did not know where that child was. And my whole take is that you cannot place a dollar sign

on the person i'm sorry i'm in the business and and and sitting there crying and stuff i'm just saying you know i am totally totally in favor of this proposed resolution here yeah so i agree with that sentiment is that there isn't a dollar on the ability to make an impact and if 65 000 is a make or break then then maybe we should review dan's contract because i'm sure he could definitely review um Sixty five dollars sixty five thousand dollars elsewhere and I would I would even further Branch that if you asked the the residents who ultimately are our consumers would they rather? Want to hear a story about what Commissioner McCrae had just mentioned or would they rather see a three percent increase? for the city residents obviously I support city staff, but ultimately, we all answer to the consumer, which is our residents. And if it's gonna make our community safer, it's a no-brainer. And ultimately, this is a part of another conversation, is public safety's the primary focus, not raises, not a library, not parks and rec. Every person has a right to feel safe in their community, and that should be the first and foremost.

initiative of of any governing body in my opinion and so I think this is a no-brainer I'll make a motion to approve we have a motion and we have a second all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay nay motion passes four to one thank you regarding item 8a is a public hearing item staff

um in my brain it was an ordinance it's a resume never mind you're correct we don't have to read it in the record mayor miss utterback from our community redevelopment agency is here with us this evening and she's going to briefly cover this item good evening city commission uh teresa utterback development services

Director for the CRA. This item is being brought before you because the CRA has six lots that it will be disposing of through an ITN with Lennar and it will be under fair market value. So it needs the city's approval to move forward.

Any comments or questions from the board?

No, I'm just saying that we do need to get these lots built. I'm just saying because what it is, I'm getting calls about illegal dumping and stuff like that. If there was somebody living there, they could watch out and wouldn't have to worry about illegal dumping. I'm in favor of this resolution. I offer a motion that we approve proposed resolution R26-108.

Sorry, we have to have public comment.

Anybody would like to speak on this, please come down. Going once, going twice. Okay, if there's nothing further now, you're on deck.

I'm going to repeat what I just said. I offer a motion that we approve proposed resolution R26-108.

Yes, second.

We have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. Thank you. I'll turn to the clerk to read item 8B into the record.

proposed ordinance number 26-016. Second reading an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Boynton Beach, Florida amending Article One of chapter two to adopt a new section two dash 10. Control of access to city on city owned controlled and leased property provided for codification, providing for for severe ability providing for conflicts and providing for an effective date.

This is the second reading for this item. Have there been any changes since the first reading? There have been no changes. Thank you. Any comments or questions from the commission? Public comment is permitted at this time.

Motion to approve.

We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion. We have a second for ordinance number 26-016. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Oh, it was a roll call. My bad.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz?

No.

Vice Mayor Turkin? No. Mayor Shelton? Yes. The motion passes three to two. Thank you.

Tammy, again, I'll turn to you to read in item eight, C and D.

Item eight C, proposed ordinance number 26-017, second reading and ordinance of the city commission of the city of Boynton Beach, Florida, amending sections 18-55, 18-75, and 18-76 of chapter 18, article two of the code of ordinances to provide for optional participation by the fire chief in the employee's pension plan, providing for codification, providing for its variability, providing for conflicts, and providing for an effective date. Item 8D, proposed ordinance number 26-18, second reading and ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 18, Article 4, pensions for firefighters, creating Section 18-195 of the City Code regarding membership, creating Section 18-196 of the City Code regarding optional transfer rights of fire chief, providing for codification, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing for an effective date.

This is the second reading for these items. Have there been any changes since the first reading? No changes. Any comments from the commission? Public comment is now permitted.

Motion to approve. Second.

We have a motion to approve and we have a second for ordinance number 26-017. All those in favor say aye. Roll call, please. Roll call.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz? Commissioner Turkin?

Yes.

I'm sorry, Vice Mayor. Mayor Shelton? Yes. In a roll call, the vote passes four to one.

Four to zero.

I'm sorry, four to zero.

We need a motion for the second ordinance that we read, because we did them together, which is 26-17. So moved. Second.

We have a motion and we have a second for 26-017. All those in favor say roll call. 18.

Commissioner Kelley. Is it 18? It's 18, not 17. Commissioner Kelley? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz? Vice Mayor Turkin? Yes. Mayor Shelton? Yes. New roll call vote. The vote passes 4-0.

Tammy, I'll turn to you to read in item 8e into the record.

proposed ordinance number 26-019 first reading and ordinance of the city of commission of the city of boynton beach Florida amending Chapter three article three section eight point E downtown transit oriented development district. overlay to remove the language in regards to density allowance of units 750 square feet or less account as one half a unit, as well as a general cleanup of the overall article.

This is the first reading for this item. Does staff have a presentation?

Yes. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. My name is Yazan Batal with the Planning and Zoning Division. This proposed text amendment is in regards to density allowance within the downtown transit-oriented development district overlay, which is shown on the map. It's in the downtown area with a half a mile radius from the center. Intent of the overlay was to improve development in the area with some of its features designed to Encourage density and emphasize strong interconnectivity throughout the area Currently land development regulations allow for maximum density to be based on the underlying zoning district but within the overlay, units that are 750 square feet or less may be counted as half a unit for density calculations within mixed-use zoning districts. While originally intended to encourage smaller housing options, this provision may unintentionally incentivize development with disproportionate number of small units. Staff finds that it can reduce diversity in housing options on unit sizes and increase residential intensity beyond what is generally anticipated. Removing this provision would promote a more balanced mix of housing types and maintain consistency with the intended density framework. The only remaining option would be for obtaining allowance, density allowance would then be through participation in the city's workforce housing program or payment in lieu of. Thank you.

Any comments or questions from the commission?

Just for clarification. clarification that was like great plan speak but um for the public can we just get like uh in layman's terms what that is exactly because i didn't even understand in the agenda review and i asked adam like does this mean that there's going to be more density or is requiring the minimum square footage um going to decrease that and so i know that commissioner cruz has brought up this item something similar maybe three or four years ago And so I just wanna make sure this is related to that and that we're not making a decision on something that is going to create more density, because I don't think people want that.

Amanda Radigan, Development Director. We have great planners here with their planning talk, but the CliffsNotes version of this is that there is a section of the code within the downtown that allows for more density by counting smaller units as half a unit instead of one unit. This strikes that out of the code, which now one unit will equal one unit, which is more consistent with the intent of the comp plan. So this limits density further within the downtown. This was intended originally to naturally incentivize workforce housing. But now I believe that we are at a point where we want people to participate in the workforce housing program. And the direction of this board was to incentivize people to do the payment in lieu of program through the workforce housing program. So the planning response is to eliminate this option.

Okay. Public comment is permitted at this time. If there's nothing else, may we have a motion?

I guess in layman's terms, the smaller units would count as a half and now they're going to count as one, so it's a good thing. Motion to approve.

Second.

We have a motion to approve. We have a second for ordinance number 26-019. Let's turn for a roll call.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz? Yes. Vice Mayor Turkan?

Yes.

Mayor Shelton?

Yes. roll call vote. The motion passes unanimously.

I mean, I'll come back to you to read in eight F into the record, please.

Those ordinance 26 dash 020. First reading an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Boynton Beach, Florida, amending chapter four site development standards article seven external lighting standards to amend the relief process to remove language regarding community design relief, but keep waiver relief and general cleanup of overall article

This is the first reading, staff.

Good evening again. My name is Yazan Bata, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. This text amendment is in regards to the exterior lighting standards. Currently, the land development regulations provide two relief processes for the standards. One is a community design appeal application. specifically for community design standards within the article. The other one is a waiver for all other standards within exterior lighting standards. The proposed amendment would remove one, which is the community design appeal. That would streamline and make the process easier for the applicants, for the staff, increasing efficiency, again, for the applicant and for the staff. Also, staff conducted general cleanup of the article, cleanup items like incorrect references, typos, enhancing language consistency throughout the code for the entire article. Thank you.

Any comments or questions from the Commission? Public comment will be permitted at this time.

Susan Oyer, Boynton Beach. So question, how is this going to impact the color of the lighting? because this came up years ago when I was on planning board and we made sure we put it in the code that you could only use warm white lighting because the cool white lighting has been proven to cause cancer and impacts people's ability to sleep, which then leads to cancer. So I just wanna make sure we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water here and we're keeping proper warm white lighting, which has actually been proven to be beneficial and healthy. So I just wanna make sure that's brought to your attention. Thank you.

Let's turn to you.

No, I just wanted to answer Susan's question. So there's no impact on the standard. It just removes the relief process that we discussed. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's turn to the clerk for roll call. Commissioner Kelly? Yes.

McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Turkin?

Yes.

Mayor Shelton?

Yes. If we get a motion, I will sleep. If we get a motion. Motion to approve. Second.

You know what starts happening this time of night. We have a motion, we have a second.

In a roll call vote, the motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

Tammy, I will turn to you to read in item 8G.

Proposed ordinance number 26-21, first reading and ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, amending part three, chapter one, article two, definitions, and chapter three, article three, section eight, overlay zone to add a marine district overlay provided for codification, conflicts of variability, and effective date.

This is the first reading, staff.

Good evening, Commissioners, Tyler Tornese, Planning and Zoning. So this is the proposed code amendment for the Marina District overlay. It is Marina Month here in the city, so it's right on time. To go over briefly how we got to where we are today, staff received direction from the City Commission at the Joint City Commission and CRA Workshop in November to explore and research developing this overlay. We got right to work, and we gave you an update in January of this year where we stand with that. And we went over just briefly, we went over where we were going and where we want to be. And so if we look at the roadmap going forward, today at this hearing, you're going to be hearing the first reading of this ordinance. And then if you pass it, it goes to the July 7 hearing for adoption. What we heard at those first meetings are really important when we try to understand what the overlay is and what it's meant to do. And so at that first meeting, at that joint workshop, we heard that we want to encourage marine uses, we want to attract new businesses, and we want to most importantly activate that public waterfront along the Intracoastal. We want to preserve public space. Building onto that, at the January 2020 City Commission meeting, we got a little bit more feedback because we gave you what we were thinking, the preliminary research, what our neighboring municipalities have been doing, and that feedback was we do not want to focus on dense residential development. We want to focus on commercial uses with accessory hospitality and recreational uses that fit. We want height to be limited between 60 to 80 feet. And so those two meetings essentially created the intent of our overlay moving forward. And so that is to boost marine commerce, revitalize with mixed commercial uses, use and encourage flexible, sustainable design, and again, prioritizing that public access. Now, before we get into the more technical details of the overlay, I just want to be very clear about what this overlay is. And again, plan or speak, this overlay does not provide density bonuses to residential development. It does not reduce or ease any existing environmental protections or regulations. And it does not automatically rezone or redesignate any parcels today. The overlay does, however, incentivize private investment in public waterfront infrastructure, it encourages compatible mixed-use development, and it promotes and retains marine-oriented businesses and industries. Now, at those previous workshops and city commission meetings, we went over the targeted uses. What is this overlay going to target? What do we want to incentivize in these areas? And so those targeted uses, as we received from feedback from you, were our waterfront restaurants and cafes, marinas and yacht clubs, dry boat storage and clothes, and I'm gonna go into a little bit more detail on what that means in a second, water-based recreation services, so equipment rentals, tours, fishing excursions, you name it, and marine accessory shops. Now focusing on the dry boat storage for a second here. This will be a new use that we're introducing to our code. The key is that it's enclosed. We're not talking about dry stack storages that are out and visible for the public to see. All boat storage and how we're writing the code has to be interior to the site and interior to a building and enclosed and screened from public view. So we won't be able to see it. And that's what you see typically of a true dry storage facility in a marina. The boats are unloaded via strong boat lifts and they're taken over to the water, but they're enclosed. They're not out in the open. Now, this is a list of prohibited uses. I don't want to read through all of these, but the idea again is we want to target marine-centered uses with those hospitality and recreation mixed in. We do not want other uses in this area. So now we're delving into more intense planner speak. So I want to keep this as light as possible. The column on the right shows you what the change is from the base code. And again, with this being an overlay, the way the overlay works is that this isn't changing any of the zoning today. It builds on top of the underlying zoning. So right now, what this is changing from the base code is within the overlay, it reduces the max potential height of hotels by 60%. They go from 150 feet to 60 feet within the overlay. IT INCREASES THE MAXIMUM POTENTIAL HEIGHT OF INDOOR DRY BOAT STORAGE AND MARINE SERVICE BUILDINGS BY 15 FEET IN COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND RECREATIONAL DISTRICTS, BUT IT CAPS THAT HEIGHT AT 60 FEET. NOW, FOR SETBACKS, IT'S A STRAIGHTFORWARD REDUCTION FOR THE SPECIFIC TARGETED USE, AND THAT'S 20% REDUCTION OF REQUIRED SETBACKS. I want you to think about that a little bit when it comes to the Intracoastal and the properties that we have along the Intracoastal. A lot of them are uniquely shaped lots. A lot of them are very thin. A lot of them already don't have very big setbacks. So what the setback reduction is and why we put it in there is it's to incentivize the type of development that will fit but also not limit it too much so that we're not getting those uses that we're incentivizing. And then last, for public promenade, this is probably the most important thing, and I think the thing that the commission might be the most excited about, is that for new commercial development within the overlay, and this is really one of the impetus from your input, is we're requiring all waterfront development to provide a public waterfront, a public promenade, publicly accessible to the public and deeded to the city, not deeded to the city, an easement to the city. And that's gonna be done through the entitlement process and it will be ultimately under your approval when it comes to the commission.

I'm sorry, just real quick for the base code. So that reduces the height from 150 to 160?

Yes.

Okay. And then... Just so I understand, so this wouldn't allow for any residential? No, that's not what this is doing.

This doesn't apply to residential zone properties. Yeah, that was it. Sorry, thank you. No worries. All right, so for the overlay incentives, these are only going to be applicable to those targeted uses. So again, this doesn't apply to everyone. This is only the uses that we want and that we list in the ordinance. we are providing certain developmental incentives to make that sandbox, that development sandbox, a little bit more friendlier. And those are lot coverage, FAR, and height. And so those vary between our zoning districts. For mixed use, the bonus potential is lower. For all other districts, we open it to all categories. They can get a lot coverage bonus, a FAR bonus, and a height bonus. if they provide three of these five items here. And again, all of these incentives and all of the standards that they're varying from will have to be approved by you. It's under staff's discretion as we're bringing it through the entitlement process, but ultimately you will see this before the city commission when an entitlement project comes before. And then to continue those overlay incentives and kind of hitting back on what I mentioned for these unique sites, they don't have a lot of space entirely. And so we wanted to make an option for parking to be something that they could reduce because it's always gonna be a problem. And one of the big items here was a 15% reduction baseline for any targeted uses that can be stacked for a further 15% if they provide additional public waterfront amenities that build upon the overlay code. They utilize a shared parking agreement, and it utilizes valet services. All that to be said, they have to show us that the site is going to work with whatever parking they're proposing. It has to be approved, I mean, it has to be signed and certified by a licensed engineer, a parking study, or a certified planner that shows us that they are not creating a public nuisance that can't be parked. And then last, this is the overlay boundaries right now. It roughly follows, if you looked at the north end where Gateway Boulevard is, all the way to the southern end, about 200 feet south of Wolbright Road. It's the development nodes of the city, the major points. And so that's where we wanted to focus on. That's why we didn't go further north or further south, kept it right there. And just to recap after today and where we are today is this is the first reading of this. It will be adopted at final reading if you move forward on July 7th. Yeah.

Thank you. Any comments or questions from the commission?

Nope. Thank you so much. I think this is great. Thank you for the outline, the timeline. Thank you for putting the presentation in layman's terms also. I think, you know, I think this is a great thing, especially with, I like the, uh, the, the reference to like providing more like public dockage or slips, whether they're dry or wet slips, that's a big issue here, not just in the city, but in the county. Um, and so I think when we look at, you know, development that will happen far long after this body's here, you know, when we put a focus more on commercial, which this body has unanimously decided, and switch from that residential focus. You know, this is how you prevent, you know, a body that may be, you know, in my opinion, more favorable for residential, which in my opinion is not, know the sentiment of the public this prevents that and so i think i would say that majority of people who live would much rather see some type of like real waterfront use that you see in other municipalities versus seeing the waterfront just be developed in a bunch of uh high-rise apartments or rentals and so you know i i admire um this i'm in strong support of it so thank you for all the work that you've put into this and thank you for your presentation It was very easy to comprehend.

Thank you.

No comment? Motion to approve. Public comment?

Oh, yeah. God.

Public comment on the first reading? Yeah.

Okay. Barbara Reedy. I'm sorry, I'll be quick. I'm curious whether the marina overlay goes over the mangroves. which are protected, I believe. I didn't get to look at the map closely enough to see that. So are we losing the mangroves or are we saving the mangroves?

So any and all environmental protections and regulations that existed prior to the overlay will exist after the overlay. If there are mangroves in tight, that will have to go through all the agencies that are approval.

Thank you. Do we have a motion?

Motion to approve.

Second. Second. We have a motion. We have a second for ordinance number 26-021. I'll turn to you for roll call.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz? Yes. Vice Mayor Turrican? Yes. Mayor Shelton? Yes. In a roll call vote, the motion passes unanimously. Thank you. And Timmy?

Mayor, excuse me before we move on. I like the way the presenter stood up there and just smiled before we said anything.

Let me just clarify one thing to the board and I apologize for the last minute change. So we got rid of the two reading rule for our planning items, but in coordination with planning and legal, we thought it would be a benefit to start doing public comment at the first reading so that if there are any public comments which bring about proposed changes or anything like that, we can then make the changes and then bring you the final product at second reading. So that's what you're seeing today. Makes sense.

Tammy, I'll turn to you to read in 8H and 8I into the record.

8H proposed ordinance number 26-022 first reading an ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, approving the abandonment of a portion of a 30 foot wide southeast third street right of way located between Southeast Fifth Avenue and Southeast Sixth Avenue, authorizing the city manager to execute a disclaimer which shall be recorded with the ordinance in the public records of the Palm Beach County, Florida providing for an effective date and for all other purposes. Eight, I approve a request with a major site plan modification to the Pence Park improvements project to allow for the renovation and expansion of the existing Pence Park, including sports facilities and a field in a children's play area and multiple indoor areas for multipurpose office and storage in a rec zoning district located at 600 Southeast 4th Street on a 3.33 acre site applicant city of Boynton Beach.

Thank you. This is the first reading, staff.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Tonight, I have Peter Gansey from West Architectural and Design here to do a presentation for Penns Park. And after that, I'll answer some questions when he's done.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city commissioners, and city staff. I appreciate the opportunity to present to you, Pence Park. And thanks, Kevin, for letting me know last night. No pressure. No, I am truly honored. I'm not only an architect. Can you hear me? I'm a father. I have four kids. All right. Like I was saying, I am truly honored. I am a father. I have four kids. All my kids play sports. I spend a majority of my personal time at ball fields, which allows me to see what works and what doesn't work. And I get to use that opportunity in my professional life and incorporate that into the design of these parks. You know, with Pence, I also have a connection with Pence Park. My oldest son played travel baseball, and they used to use this park as practice field, which 20 years ago, it wasn't in great condition. It still isn't in great condition. So I think this is a great opportunity to renovate it and bring it up to standards of today. I know it's hard to kind of see these pictures, but if you're familiar with the site, there's an existing restroom to the west side along the railroad tracks. There's a basketball court kind of hidden back in the southwest corner. There's a playground tucked behind the existing lift station, and you could see the field gets well used, and it's almost like a dirt field in the middle. So with the proposed park, a major part of this is the abandonment of Third Street to allow expansion of the park and the use of 25 feet off the railroad tracks, which there's an agreement with FEC to allow that to be done, or a lease agreement in place with that. This allows us to use the artificial turf, maximize it as much as we could, add the pickleball courts, the playground with the main building centrally located, and everything is off of that site.

sorry so i reviewed this with kevin and and we talked and so i just want to make sure okay all right all right all right see it in our last slide we've done this before we've done this before okay bleed okay

so also part of this design is to put off-street parking so that you're not parking off the roadway and allows parking inside the um we'll go on to the next slide all right this slide is kind of like our analysis and it shows the site elements the location of the different elements on the site and what we considered as we were designing the site as far as the sun angles the prevailing winds as how the breeze is going to go through the park The orientation of the parking with the access on the north and the south side, keeping them away from the intersections, but you see them meandering through the park also adds as a deterrent to slow down the vehicles as they're going through the parking lot. There's pedestrian access to the north and to the east. There's a walkway that goes around the park So as the kids are practicing, the parents can walk around. They can also sit in their car and see the kids. This project does meet the sustainability requirements for the city and the mobility requirements for the facility. So some of the things that we thought about is when you're designing a park, you try to give I call it like the good bones to the park. So with the roof design sloping to the south, that could be the addition of solar panels in the future if necessary. We created the drainage swale areas that could be bioswales in the future if the city wanted. So we thought of all these things as we were progressing with the design. The main building, this is the program of the main building. It's an office, restrooms. It's got a storage room and maintenance for the courts. There's also an electrical room, and then there's a community room that opens up to the open-air plaza. There's some renderings on the right side that shows a view going back to the entrance, looking through the plaza, and a rendering from the multipurpose room looking out to the fields. Other things that we thought about is with any park, you always need a maintenance building, you always need dumpster enclosures, nobody ever wants to see them, and there's no good place to hide them. So part of this is we designed them to be complementary to the design of the building, but we also gave an opportunity that if they wanted to, the city wanted to include public art, these could be areas that murals could be added to the project. Alternative? Kevin, I don't know if you want to talk about this.

So in the midway through design, we understood that we need to have a basketball court and a water feature came up. So we went back to the architect and did some hashing back and we could put in a half court, do it with two pickleball courts and put a half half basketball court there. And also at the south end, we have three sales because this covers a playground. Take off the third sale and put on the bottom right. You see is these are called misters. They're not as intense as water features, meaning they don't need the extensive drainage. They work off evaporation, less water flow, but the kids get to have fun and get wet and not drench and walk back into the building. So tonight I'll need your permission, if that's okay with this body, to the next time we have a second reading is to go forward with this design, adding a half court and the water mister area. Okay? So that's what, yes, we had the regular design, Mr. Turkin, in the beginning, but this is what we talked about in Ms. Cruz, and this is where we're at, this is what we like to do. at this park. That satisfies, I think, everything. You have ball fields, playgrounds, children's wet area. I think it enhances it greatly. So that was slide seven, right?

Yeah.

All right, and then this just tells you where we're at. We're 100% done with the construction documents besides making these alterations. The project is in review and they're estimating permitting in July and August. And then here's some renderings of the main clubhouse building, the interior of the multipurpose room, and some site renderings and the plaza and the maintenance building.

That's it. Any comments or questions you have? Thank you.

I want to ask this to Shauna. What is this de-restriction I keep hearing about?

So I actually did a memo on this back in February. And the deed restriction requires the Penns Park to be maintained as a public park with an athletic field and a playground held in trust. But that does not freeze it. It doesn't mean that it can't contain other elements. So it doesn't say it can only have that. It says it has to have that. And so as long as it has these recreational amenities, then it's not a problem with regard to that. And that's in the 1949 deed. And among other things, it has to remain Penns Park. The only caveat is this, and I would like to change the name from a civic room to call it a recreational room, because obviously it's appropriate to have a room where you're gonna keep your, you know, an office for staff and also with regard to where you're gonna keep your basketballs and the different things for the kids to play. But I do think that the civic room, as it's being called, really needs to be appropriate for recreational programs for children, maybe even adults. But I don't think it would be appropriate and within the meaning of that deed restriction to say allow it to be rented out. to meetings and those sorts of things. That's the most and only sensitive part of this project that could arguably run up against. So again, it's okay to have the accessory structure as long as it's used in furtherance of the deed with regard to playground activities and recreational activities.

Thank you. You know, looking at the project and being honest, You know, I think that was in 1949 and we're in 2026. I think that if anybody, you know, with the last name pencil, look at the rendering of what is going on to that part now compared to what's happening now to what we're going to put there, they should be jumping over the bleachers. I'm in favor of it.

That's an improvement, vast improvement.

Any other comments?

Thank you. Uh, yes, I did have a small request for safety purposes and it's, um, can we go back to the picture real quick? which picture the alternative hopefully okay thank you so we have the railroad tracks and i don't know if kevin can you come up and and talk about it so thank you kevin i did a little tour of the park um to see it and as i walked through the park um i saw that there's there are train tracks like right there, after the field. My understanding is that the field is gonna be protected by some sort of a barrier or a...

The fence around the field.

Yeah.

The fence is, the field is fenced. So there will be no children running off the field into the tracks.

Yes. So the field will be fenced, but then we're going to have sidewalks surrounding the park, correct? Correct. So two things. For the sidewalks, I have a dog, and I'm sure a lot of people have dogs. Can we add some trash can, trash, you know, for the... Receptacles, dog receptacles.

Yes. Yes.

And... I'm thinking of that because in my neighborhood, when I walk my dog, I walk him in the sidewalk throughout their green space. And there's every so many feet or whatnot, there's an area where they can pick up their their business. So I would like to see if we can add that, uh, because we're having obviously development coming up a lot of it in the surrounding area. So we want to make sure that people have air space to walk their dogs. It's a necessity. And then, um, number two, the, the safety concern was the train tracks and knowing how many accidents happen. nearby train tracks. This is a public park. Children will be here. And so, as you mentioned, the field is going to be fenced, but then outside of that fence is going to be a sidewalk surrounding the entirety of the park. I would like to ask if we can put some sort of a fence that protects kids from going into the train tracks and then maybe covering it up with

i can i can clarify that there is a fence proposed where you see that dark line 25 feet off the railway there is a fence proposed there so you have a fence for the field and then you have a fence between the walk that walkway the green area and the railroad tracks okay thank you thank you for clarifying

Any public comment or do we?

Jim Knight, 740. I just wanted to mention that the family also attends Journey Church right around the corner, and this is a huge improvement. It would be phenomenal. I think it's going to be quite successful, and you may look at the parking. You may even talk to Journey Church to see when they're closed, maybe overflow parking. I know there's a lot of parking on the street there. I know Journey, they flood the whole street back and both sides when their events are going on and so forth. Thank you. Thank you.

Susan Oyer, Boynton Beach. So I'm questioning why we have the need for more pickleball courts. We have a lot around the city, plus there's that entire business on, I think it's Quantum, that's just what, like 30, 40 pickleball courts. So I would hate to see open possible green space because you do just need open green space for people to fly kites or play or a picnic or just hang out and chill and little kids run around and just play little kids aren't doing organized sports they're too young to get that they just want a place to run and play and kick the ball and i think if we were to eliminate those last two pickleball courts and i'm fine with the half basketball court or Maybe make a full basketball court, but we need to leave some green space. Kids just need a place to run. And you have other assorted fields. You have other bigger spaces that will most likely be utilized for soccer. Because every time I drive by that place, there's soccer teams out there playing footy. Yay, good for them. We have a very active Pence Park for soccer. But you need to leave those little green spaces, and I don't see a need for more pickleball. There just really isn't. There's pickleball all over the city. And I think people who are really that into it are going to go join that club or go to Barrier Free or go to one of the other locations. I absolutely... do not like that community room at all. I think that is over activating the space and do we really need more office space for city employees? There should already be office space for our rec and parks people or for maintenance. And what about, you're talking about having basketballs and supplies for the kids to play with. So how does that come out of future budgets? Do all the other community centers around the city, do we provide basketballs and all kinds of equipment all the time? Because that's just sounding like an ongoing cost that we don't need to have. And I get if maybe You know, there's some storage space for the lawn mowers and whatever they're doing, but that just seems like too much. It's too excessive. Let this just be open, fun place space. And I love the idea of the mister. I love the idea of the shade sales. I, you know, I can live without the parking, but you know, we got to do what we got to do. I love that you're asking about the fences, but let's not over activate the heck out of this. Let's leave this some open green space that people can enjoy. And thank you.

Barbara Reedy. Susan is correct. We do have a need for passive parks. Not everything needs to be activated, activated, activated. It's just not necessary. I would like to add a component to the deed restriction that Ms. Lamb did not speak of, and that is that if any improvements are ever made to that parcel of land, At the end of five years, the land will revert back to the family with the improvements on it. So after five years, the family could come along and claim it. That is part of the deed restriction. Also, I'm not sure how much is this going to cost. Last I saw it was $4.4 million. and I thought that we were trying to watch our pennies around here. Thank you.

There's no such deed restriction about, there is a reverter if it's not used within the meaning of the deed restriction. If Ms. Reedy has something that I missed, I pulled all the deeds, I'd be more than happy to review it, but from what I reviewed, that's not how it reads.

Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you. Were you about to chime in? Thank you, staff, for looking at this. I'm happy to hear that one of my colleagues did tour the space. And I would even go further. If you tour the space around there, you'll see a plethora of crime, abandoned homes, crack pipes, baggies, and all sorts of paraphernalia because this park is not activated. This is the same story that we saw with JC Park where you had prostitution, drugs, crime, and violence. that park got converted into a dog park. And now the calls of service has significantly declined there because, shocker, maybe crackheads don't like dogs. And so, you know, when we talk about investing... Yeah, and I agree with that. But when we talk about activating space, it's not just about recreation. It's about eliminating slow and blight, right? And that's what this does. And so it's not just an investment into the park. Now, granted, this process was a little bit janky, and it went through the CRA Advisory Board as an assignment. And with that assignment, the feedback was we wanted a water feature, and also we held a – community event at Forest Park and from that there was mixed feedback regarding the pickleball courts regarding the community room and regarding the basketball courts as the Park was originally displayed as you saw was the original presentation that we got in the neighborhood and was the original presentation that we've seen and then I've sent out to constituents throughout district 3 and you know i think this is a fair compromise with a few additions i do think you know um Pickleball is huge and I would actually ask If it's okay Fabian if you can just give a brief like Professional opinion based on the utilization of our existing pickleball courts because I think it's important also to know that not everybody especially seniors which I would argue are probably the Largest utilization of picklebar courts have the means and funds to go join one of these fancy clubs, correct? And so, you know We should be able to provide them a space. And if you look at the district three corridor on federal, it is majority 55 and plus. And a lot of these residents, High Point, Colonial Club, Sterling Village, they're going across 95 to go to the tennis center or Calusa Park. And so I just want to hear from... the man who does this day in and day out about the utilization of pickleball within the city. Absolutely.

And one thing is I have been receiving emails and calls from the Sterling, the Colonial, the whole federal, the US 1 corridor, because they don't want to go on the other side of 95. and they feel that we have not had it for a period of time. And before you do say something, while we're talking about this, and I know it's been an active couple weeks on the units that are north of Pence Park, that we've had people in there with needles, sleeping in there, code has been there, cops have been there. It's the bane of my existence every weekend when I field so many calls, and thank you, Adam, for jumping on every minute, and PD, and code. But it's because we don't have an activated park. And it's because a lot of the people that go there don't really live in the neighborhood and they're leaving the trash behind. And so I think that if it is activated and we can actually bulldoze those crack homes down, I think that this is gonna be a beautiful thing.

Absolutely, first, Fabian Derlo, Assistant Director of Recreation and Cultural Services. Good evening, everybody. So to your point, yes, pickleball courts will be crucial at this location. It's proximity to our senior center. Accessibility is a big key to this, right? We do have other pickleball courts, barrier-free. We just introduced some at Galaxy. We have a lot of seniors in this community that don't have stable transportation. This would allow them to walk from the senior center to this site to be able to play pickleball. All of our courts are full if you drive by in the mornings. So there is a need for additional courts. We also offer indoor pickleball at Hester Center and that's probably one of our most popular programs. So I don't think adding additional will be a concern other than just giving people more opportunity to play. We have a lot of concerns with folks that have to wait a decent amount of time at these various facilities to be able to get on the court. So this will help alleviate that problem. You guys, if we move forward, have like a marketing plan?

Absolutely. I don't think you probably will need one. Yes, yes. But just as far as launching it, because I think having that, and thank you, Kevin and Wes, for adjusting this to what the community feedback was, because I think it is important to maintain that basketball court, but I think That's a compromise to have at least one pickleball court as well.

Correct. And it allows for flexible space too, right? We can reassess in the future. If there's a new trend that arises that is a court sport similar, we can go back to the drawing board and kind of make an adjustment from there. But at least the landscape is set there. As it retains, hold on to your question again, which you mentioned just shortly ago. If you can ask that one more time. The utilization of pickleball throughout the city. Oh, and the marketing for it as well, too. Yeah, so we would advertise it. This would give us an opportunity, especially since this facility would be staffed, to have additional uses for pickleball just beyond casual play. This would allow for us to do leagues, tournaments, things like that, clinics for folks that are turning to learn how to play and get into the sport. So this is a little bit different than some of those more passive facilities. opportunities that we have for example at Galaxy where it's just drop in and play. This would be much more structured for folks that may be at a higher level or again that are looking to learn the sport. It gives them that opportunity which is separate from the others.

And so, and essentially this would just be a smaller rec center, which we have throughout the city, right, that are staffed. And so, like, my ask would be, like, you know, maybe we flex that staff. You know, I don't want it to be too heavy on the labor and maintenance costs. If we can mitigate that. Um, that's my ass, but I think this is, if you go drive around, you go to those abandoned properties. I mean, it's just, it's undesirable. And, you know, I wouldn't want to bring my kid there now after looking at that thinking he could run over, she could run over, over there, you know, to those neighboring properties. Um, but in, in, and, uh, I think that's all I got as far as the pickleball courts. Sure. I might need Kevin to come back up. Sure. Sorry, Kevin.

Excuse me, before you go from rec, you will not have to hire extra staff to man this facility. I'm just saying, I'm quite sure you have enough staff that you can spread them out.

Correct. Based off the current staffing plan, we would just readjust and base some of our current staff at that location. Okay.

Okay. So with the, um, so with the water feature, the idea behind that was, um, we had spoken about, we've seen it. And so that won't be a reoccurring maintenance costs. Cause I think that was the largest concern is a lot of those like more advanced, uh, water fountains or play areas are yeah, they're, they're, they're a money burner. Um, The other question I had was for the, well, not really a question, but I support the doggy waste cans. I think that's a good idea. And then with the office space and the, so... Can that turf field, can people go, obviously there's an event that's going on, or not an event, but like a soccer game that's permitted and people are utilizing it for, you know, a rec event. Can people access that space and just go throw a football, fly a kite, or whatever they want?

I assume they could. It's an empty lot.

So I can answer that. Typically, when we have a ball field like that, as long as it's not a structured team or somebody playing, we do allow drop-ins as long as the fields are not being used. So if you wanted to go there and just throw the ball with your son, we don't run kids off and parents off from the field if it's not being in use.

Yeah, because I think that is the important piece, too, is people should have the ability to utilize that. And I would imagine that it's probably going to advance as far as soccer goes for utilization, which is good, right? Any more activation is a good thing. I just want to make sure that with these upgrades that the access to the park isn't limited or mitigated because that's the big thing is... is i wish i should be able to these commissioners and the mayor should be able to the residents should be able to just walk through walk into that park go through a football as long as there's not you know an active like game going on and so i just or use the playground so i just want to like hone down um i know the hours would be sun up to sundown is that accurate

I don't know that we've established hours yet for that park. Uh, Fabian would have to actually talk. Okay.

Is that typically common throughout the city though is typically we are sunup.

We do have some parks that have walkways that are lit, so they are open later hours. So I just don't know if that particular, yes.

To answer your question. Yes. Outside of ocean front and Harvey Oyer, all of them are sunrise to sunset. And just to mention on the turf fields as well, too, we're looking beyond just your standard sports as well. So we're talking about fitness classes. YOGA, STRETCH AND TONE, SO THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE BEYOND JUST ATHLETICS, AS WELL AS SOME OF THOSE MORE UNIQUE SPORTS TOO, SO WE CAN LINE IT FOR LACROSSE, WE CAN LINE IT FOR FIELD HOCKEY, MULTIPLE AGES OF SOCCER AND FOOTBALL AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A MULTI-PURPOSE, RELINEABLE TURF FIELD LIKE THIS, THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE ENDLESS. SO JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT AS WELL.

and then lastly for the recreation room so this is the one thing that's like and i'm sorry guys but this is important this is a big project and there's a lot of questions you know from my constituents about this the recreation room so this is where it's it's it's difficult for me because my opinion is is i understand the why is like you can use it for kids birthdays and stuff you could use it for meetings and you know will is the anticipated utilization there. I mean, you could use it for town halls, I think, is a good idea also. That way, Mr. Brueggemann doesn't have to ask the church all the time. And so I think that is a good use of the space. I just want to make sure... My biggest concern is, and we've talked about this before, is we... I think everyone can agree we don't want undesirable activity into that space. And so can you or Kevin just kind of tell me what are we going to do to mitigate that? Because that's that's my big concern.

Yes, cameras.

Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. And that's a big part of having the staff on site as well, too. Everything that you mentioned. So you're talking about facility rentals. You're talking about meetings. You're talking about programming potentially, too, for youth, adults, senior citizens. We have summer camps, as you guys know, not just in the summer, but also winter and spring break. an opportunity for them to have a space where they can gather, learn additional skills, bring in guest speakers. We're trying to do a lot more with the price of everything going up, bringing field trips to the kids instead of taking them to places. So that gives an opportunity for that as well too. And yes, but the big part and going back to the rentals as well too, with this proximity to the playground and also having view of the open turf space gives a place where they can have that centralized location where you have the cakes and presence and things like that while still being able to keep an eye on your children that may be on the playground as well as on the turf field. So that was kind of the vision of it, a flexible space that we can do pretty much anything there on site. Yeah.

And the entire site is lockable at night. Okay. It's completely up. Yes.

Which is common practice amongst a lot of these parks. Absolutely. The neighborhood parks. I know you guys do it. I don't think you can lock for us. You guys lock for us?

So there would be gates on both of the parking lot entrances, as well as there's going to be a gate to even get into the facility. So that plaza area towards the front that gives you access to the office and the multipurpose room in the fields, that would be locked up as well, too. so we could shut down the entire site, or we could shut down the parking lot, or we could shut down both.

Okay, okay. And the playgrounds are accessible as well? Correct. Well, you don't have to go through, like, I just want to make sure it's not, like, difficult to be able to utilize this park.

Yes, yes, so you would have to come through the main entrance for the playground, which is a good security feature anyways, because then we can kind of get eyes on individuals as they're coming in and out of the facility. But every day that the facility is open, which would be seven days a week, folks would be able to access that playground. Yep. Okay.

Those are all. Thank you. Final question to legal. Did you check the 1949 deeds?

I did. And I checked 1908, 1949, but just for the record. Okay. Here's what the 1949 deed, which was the piece that actually conveyed the property to the city. said that the operative restrictions, the deed provides that the property shall be forever known as Pence Park, not be sold or transferred, be maintained as a public park containing an athletic field and a children's playground for the use and benefit of the public, be maintained continually in condition enabling such use, and be held in trust solely for the use and benefit of the public. There is a revert or position but it states if those conditions are breached or if the property ceases to be used for the specified purpose for a period of five years. So that's where the five years is. Correct. So the other thing I want to mention also on the record that we're making it clear that this ancillary indoor facility is intended to support the park and the recreation functions consistent with the deed. And that is the primary purpose. It is not a money generating thing. It's to support the existing nature of the park.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mayor, if I could please. So this was a long time that we spent on this item. So I just would like to remind the board that you guys will be voting on the abandonment tonight. Since it's first reading, there's two development applications along with the site plan, which we will be requesting the table at the next meeting. Also, this is one of those unique development applications where you have the city as the applicant and we also have our city planning staff is here and So I know that the current design for the site plan Doesn't incorporate some of the feedback that was presented tonight so I would just like our planning staff to be able to provide some information to the board.

Thank you. Amanda Radigan, Development Director. So I want to be clear that the project that is in front of you does not contain a half a basketball court or the misters. If that is the consensus of the board, we would need to have that information today in order to prepare a revised set of drawings to bring back for second reading the plans that you guys are talking about. So we would need consensus on the changes, a tabling of that item, and then approval of the abandonment.

Yes. I wanted to kind of incorporate, if I may, all the changes that we discussed tonight. One of them was the half basketball court that was mentioned before that Kevin had talked about. The second thing was adding a hedge. after the sidewalk as it encloses the park. And then the last thing would be to contact, to include the history of the Penns Park somewhere in the park to educate the public on its history and how we got to where we are. So I wanted to make sure that we incorporate those three items.

And the water feature.

And the water feature.

And the dog cans.

Thank you. If we can get consensus on that.

I have six items, include a half basketball court, include a water feature or misters, include dog trash receptacles, ensure that there is a hedge at the fence line along the rail, and include an area in the park to add a plaque of some sort talking about the history of Penns Park. maybe in the community room okay i think yeah okay uh and just for ease of some of the legal items uh if it is the consensus of the board we can also add a formal renaming to a recreational room instead of civic

Motion, I think you're looking to table the item.

We need a motion to approve 26-022 and then we'll be tabling the site plan modification.

Motion to approve 26-022 on first reading. Second.

We have a motion and we have a second for ordinance number 26-022. Roll call.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCray? Yes. Commissioner Cruz? Yes. Vice Mayor Turkin? Yes. Mayor Shelton? Yes. And a roll call vote. The motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. And then, Adam, you mentioned that your staff would like to table eight, aye. Motion to table eight, aye. We have a motion. We have a second to table eight, aye. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Motion passes. I'll turn to you, clerk, to read an 8J into the record.

Proposed ordinance number 26-023 on first reading, amending part two, chapter two, administration article two, city manager, section 2-30, powers and duties generally by creating new subsection K, authorizing the city manager to execute certain contracts on behalf of the city provided for codification, severability, conflicts, and an effective date. This is the first reading. The staff has a presentation, please.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commission. Andrew Mack, Deputy City Manager. I have a brief presentation on this item if you'd like to hear it.

Yes.

Okay. So this is just a cleanup. We had a meeting, a gender review meeting in April. We had a consensus of the attendees on the meeting to come back and clean up some of the things that we were working on that consolidated some of the signature authorities of the city manager. So just kind of go through what that actually does. This consolidates, doesn't create new signature authority, reflects best mutual practices. It also is an operational efficiency measure and not a new grant of power. What it does do, it consolidates, it clarifies, it streamlines. It does not give new spending authority, no change to the budget process or expansion of financial powers. So one of the reasons why we're here, as you can see, we have six, seven different resolutions over a multitude of years that have granted the city manager different types of signature authority. Basically what we're doing is taking those six or seven ordinances and rolling them into one, or resolutions, and actually codifying them into an ordinance for transparency so that everyone in the public and everyone on the dais, so everyone's very crystal clear about what the authority and does not authority does include. So every document carries the same condition. It's budgeted by the commission, it's approved to form by the city attorney's office, it's insurance compliant, and then procurement compliant. Those are all things that go through anything that the city manager has to sign. what is authorized part of the one operations and property events. So procurement contracts, facility use agreements, temporary construction easements, insurance policy renewals, site access, right entry, special events. These are all most of our daily operational things and things that we'd like to see turned around quickly. Just for instance, like recently we had a parking event, something that we needed to get done right away. We had to actually bring it back and ratify that item under this new methodology, we can just sign those documents. What is authorized under part two? So recreation providers, workforce programs, lien releases, grant and ship documents, sponsorship and public art, employment matters, permits and development filings, and intergovernmental and emergency tasks. The problem, the one routine item, this item was six plus desks, so whenever we're dealing with some of these items that would give the designated, the commission is designating that signature authority to the city manager, this cuts out hitting nine of the people's desks, so it's just an efficiency gains as well as a part of this process. Same task, again, just highlighting that before, currently, it's something that could take two weeks, basically you bring it to the commission. Now something that could happen in the same day, something that is necessary that we can get done right away. Just another hit on what the efficiencies are. Hundreds of hours it takes to create the agendas and all these items. And we've already seen some of these, the resolutions, you've seen some of the agendas have gotten smaller. Your consent list, I think at one time we were up to double Z at one time from I can remember. Hopefully we won't ever get back to that. but six plus hands that touch these agenda items. So under the new method, we can streamline that and then it'll go right to the manager for a signature. Again, just another iteration on this is just giving the signature pen and not giving the purse to the city manager. Those are not changing any of the financial requirements. Those are still codified. And then again, this is just bringing more transparency to the process. And then the ask is if you agree, then we can codify on first reading tonight, ordinance 2623, and then we'll bring it back for second reading on July 7th. And I'm open for questions.

Any questions or comments from the board?

I have questions.

Sure.

First of all is that this will not do away with the documents that the mayor has assigned. She will still be in the signing position. That's correct. Thank you. That's all I need to hear.

Is that correct? That is correct. Then that's a bit confusing.

So, for instance, like ordinances, those things are all codified by the mayor. Everything that's now codified by the mayor retains. These are just simply the contracts and procurement vehicles.

I do have some questions. Okay. Similar stuff has come up in the past, and I have vehemently opposed that before. And there are a couple of reasons why. I'm basing my opinions on facts. and research that I've done throughout the years while being in elected office. I have a couple of concerns and I did reach out to legal a little bit before, so thank you for your answers. Okay, thank you. And the question that I have is, After reading the entire ordinance, I only saw the charter being mentioned on page five, which is mentioning section 20 of the city charter. Is that correct or incorrect? Just wanna make sure.

We have Stacy come up and talk, answer that question.

Yeah, Stacy drafted this, so I just wanna make sure you get the best answer and I don't misspeak.

Sure, so the reference to the city charter in section five, relates only to the employment agreements, which is where the city manager derives his authority. The charter separately speaks to the commission's power to enter into contracts on behalf of the city. That's Article 1, Section 7 of the charter. And so that authority is already granted to the commission and the commission historically has delegated that authority through a number of resolutions as well as other code sections throughout the years.

My question is section 20 of the city charter was mentioned in ordinance number 26-023. Was section 7 or section 10 of the charter mentioned anywhere in this ordinance?

No.

Why not?

Well, section 20 of the charter is mentioned again because that's the specific authority with respect to the city manager governing employment matters. So it's the signature authority related to that item, not the overall commission authority to enter into contracts under Article 7.

I I want to say this for not just for this item but for all items that come in front of this board if there's ever any item that has anything to do or is mentioned in any capacity in the charter of the city of Boynton Beach I would hope and expect that whoever's drafting the ordinance and I'm again I'm trying to say this in the nicest way possible that Would you agree that it's important to include any section in the charter if we're including section 20? Would it not make sense to also include sections potentially 7 or 10, which are relevant?

Well, sections 7 and 10, again, govern the entirety of every document that the city commission considers. It's the underlying authority that the commission as a whole has the authority to enter into contracts.

Right. But that wasn't mentioned here in anywhere.

We're happy to add it in a whereas clause if that makes you more comfortable, but from a legal perspective, it's not detrimental to the ordinance because the charter and the ordinances are read together.

I understand you're doing your job, so I'm not trying to, you know, but for the sake of myself and my constituents, I do want to say, and I would like to ask publicly the legal department or whoever's drafting these ordinances, please, please, please, include any and all sections of the charter and any and all ordinances that come in front of this board going forward. Because if we don't, I believe that we're not being transparent and we're kind of not adding all the information that it needs to be there and it's relevant. And just so that I don't get, you know, some pushback in the future, I'm going to read section seven and section 10 of the charter, which I did back in July of 2023. And I'm having to do this again two years later. Section seven under the charter is authority to contract. And the charter states the city commission shall have the power to enter into contracts on behalf of the city. All contracts shall be attested by the city clerk with the seal of the city. That's section seven. now moving on to section 10 if i can find the paper section 10 of the city charter determines duties powers and privileges of the mayor there's a paragraph that's not directly relevant but it just talks about the duties of the mayor but then right after that it says and i highlighted this the mayor shall sign all deeds bonds or other instruments of writing to which the city is a party when authorized to do so by the city commission. So I just wanna say that again. I believe that making a change through an ordinance to the charter is not the way to go. As I mentioned in July of 2023, I still remember, the Attorney General has said in many, in many, what was 24?

I think it was, I thought it was- 23 was three years ago.

I thought it was July 23. I'm pretty confident with this, but whatever. I remember that. The previous meeting in July that we had, that doesn't matter. The point is that I even did research on Attorney General opinions and the opinions had stated that no municipality could amend the charter through ordinance. I remember we just went through a charter review and we changed one word in the charter. And that was instead of a one year period, I believe it was, we changed it to two years and went to the ballot and people voted on it. So at that point, we utilized the referendum method to make a change that would affect the charter in actuality. This ordinance being presented today has significant changes and I'll tell you the most concerning one that I have. It's on page five out of pages, eight pages. Um, and it designates, and again, this is nothing to do with you as a city manager. This is, it doesn't matter who's sitting in that chair, even if it was somebody else, I would have these concerns regardless. Right. Um, It says, part two, chapter two, article two, entitled City Manager, section 230, powers and duties generally. The city manager shall have the chief administrative officer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it moves on to talk about what authorities with a lot of new language from literally page three to, I think it's page eight, includes... a lot of additions to what can be approved. And it reads, approve and execute the following contracts, documents, and instruments. I have a question about the word approve and execute. because my understanding is that the city commission is the only one that can approve things. One part of the ordinance talked about the ability for a city manager of this city to sign and approve certain things, including but not limited to, again, multiple pages, youth sports league facility use agreement, being able to terminate contracts, And then one that really caught my eye was city initiated development or construction projects. I believe this needs to go to commission. I don't believe that simply allowing a budget to pass, and I don't know exactly where in the ordinance, maybe the city attorney can enlighten me, but there's a place in the ordinance that says that the city manager would be able to sign and approve city initiated development or construction projects. which is concerning for me because many of us on this day is campaign on transparency, and my understanding is that if that happens, those things will no longer come to commission. So let me ask an example so I understand better. If there was a city-initiated development, and I guess the requirement in the ordinance is to be budgeted, if something was budgeted for, that has not come to commission for approval. And it happens to be a city initiated development or a construction project. Would the city manager be able to approve and sign that without coming back to commission with the specific project? Yes or no? I just want to make sure.

So I can give you an example of like tonight, for instance, those are city initiated applications for Pence Park. So someone from the city's owner has to sign the applications to submit to staff. That's exactly what we're asking. So simply by signing the application does not approve it. the approving of that application still rests with the commission and the dais. So all he's doing is approving the applications to be submitted under the development applications. I'll give you another example. But not the construction. So construction does come in because there's things that we do on a regular basis that or some sort of site plan approval. For instance, like we have at Hester Center, we have right now one of the air conditioners is failing. So we are in the process right now of getting it replaced. In order to replace it, that permit application has to be signed by the owner. So the owner in this case, we would have the city manager or his designee. So those are the type of scenarios. So there's no erosion of the commission's approval authority when it comes to development applications, nor to contracts. The city manager does have the authority under the current processes to sign, yeah, correct, under the threshold. So anything above the 75 threshold still would be come back to the commission for approval. He would have to, unless it was an emergency type of situation where we would ratify it at the next available meeting. Thank you.

So can I provide a little bit more context?

I just want to know if there was a construction project that the city was initiated, would this come to commission, yes or no?

It would come to commission, yes. So currently, the section that you're referring to, this commission adopted Resolution 25-106, which actually already authorizes the city manager to do this. So this is in place, and it is something that's authorized by this board recently, that we are looking to codify because best practices are codifications, not resolutions for long-term direction and authority. That being said, the portion of that section that you're reading is only the end snippet. When it's read in its entirety, it's building permit applications, minor development applications, owner's consents, street light order forms and related utility service orders, connection applications, environmental permits, right of way use permits, et cetera, for city owned properties and city initiated development or construction projects. So it's all of the paperwork that goes along with a project that this board has already approved. It's not the actual approval authority. It's the day-to-day. We need an owner's consent. Do we need to do an agenda item that's going to take two, three, four weeks to come before you? Or can we have the owner's consent signed? The FPL street lighting can't be installed. Do we need an agenda item for you to approve the four new light posts? Or does the city manager do it because it's part of the project that this board already approved? That's what this section does.

That's within the $75,000, which has been the case for a while.

Not necessarily. If you already approved a project, right, and you've already approved that the lighting is gonna be part of the project, he has to be able to apply to get the permits for that project. Because we're the city, we still have to apply for permits, whether that's either with FP&L or the county, depending on who owns maybe the roadway or whatever the case may be, because we don't own everything. There still has to be an application for those. And so again, it takes more time.

In the past, who's been signing that?

Well, we have a resolution to allow the city manager to sign that. The problem is, especially as legal, we have to go through, every time something comes on our desk, this is the question every single time, who has the authority to sign this? And it gets very difficult when we're keeping track of multiple years of resolutions where it'd be easier to see it in one ordinance in one place. I do want to address briefly your comment with regard to changing the charter. This ordinance does not change the charter. And I just want to point out, If we take the charter, section one and section seven, into the strict reading rules, then the mayor would have to sign every single document, and there would be no purchasing policy and purchasing limits and all of those things, because once we delegate anything to someone else, it doesn't mean it's changing the charter. You're just delegating the authority, which is within your purview.

I know, but again, and I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Section 10 reads, the mayor shall sign all deeds, bonds, and I'm not trying to give you more things to sign, but this is a matter of principle. The mayor shall sign all deeds, bonds, or other instruments of writing. It doesn't say the city manager, right? So I just want to say that that's been my concern with regard to the charter. I disagree. I think that in order to make these sorts of changes, we would need to have a charter amendment and go to referendum, not specifically for everything, but I think that to change these, I do believe that that would be the right way, and I'm not basing it on my opinion. I've done research again years ago, and it came back to that being the opinion of the Attorney General in the past based on things that were presented. I cannot just move forward with this without saying something. I try to pick my battles, but this is definitely something that is worth for me to talk about. And again, just for the record, it's nothing to do with Dan as the city manager. It would have to be with anybody in that seat. Vice Mayor, you have something to say?

I can admire the passion and the research and well, let's see that for everything. So my big thing is we talked about this last year and like it's not about the mayor signing stuff. It's not about the city manager, whoever that is signing stuff. It's about what's the most efficient way to get stuff done for the taxpayers. And I mean, do you want to come here every week? I'm willing to. No, I'm saying, do you want to come every week and have a commission meeting? Do you guys want to come every week to have a commission meeting so lights can get changed out? Are you willing to? I'll do it. I'll come twice a week. You want to?

That was never the case.

Okay.

That's the point I'm trying to make is that ultimately, and I'll go back to this, is we have a city attorney's office who's going to garner the legal opinion. And I really admire... I really admire... what your perspective is on the charter. And I agree with that. We shouldn't have to be, charter needs to go before the people. But from what I'm understanding, it's the legal team's extra opinion that that's not the case here because we're essentially just adjusting the current authority as it is to make sure that These things that are already approved that the city manager can just execute on? Is that what I'm understanding?

Well, again, Section 7 grants the authority to enter into contracts to this commission. Section 10 states that the mayor shall sign certain contracts when authorized by the commission. This is a duty. It's not a grant of power. it says that the mayor shall. So if the mayor votes no on an item, she is still obligated under the charter to execute those documents. And I'd also like to make note that the charter carves out specifically bonds and deeds by name, and those items are expressly left out of this ordinance as well.

And those are the larger impact items, right? Those are the fiscal impact items that we would be worried about, which I can admire, but that's not this. We're talking about lease agreements. We're talking about support utilization agreements. We're talking about people's lights going out that need to be repaired. I mean, we're talking about simple everyday things that we're going to hold up because for why? Because I mean, I just, and maybe I'm comprehending it wrong, but why would we make residents wait for things to be executed that are already approved by this commission?

Okay. Items like this have been on city commission agendas. The difference is that agendas used to be longer and now agendas are shorter. That's it. One more thing is like, you know, it's a good way to see things come to the, like, to be added on the agenda, even if it's on consent to know, like, to know what's going on and get updates with, you know, a lot of those things.

So what you're proposing is that we add every little item to be... coming forth on the agenda. So if Bobby and Sue... I'm not proposing anything.

A parking agreement.

A parking agreement.

An adopted roadway agreement. Yeah. I'm sorry. Motion to approve.

Commissioner McCray has one thing to say and then we're going to call it.

You know, this is why I asked at the beginning of this, will the mayor lose any of her... and they said no, and I understand that. That's the only thing I need to know, that we are bound by what we swore that we would do and everything. I'm just saying, employees are employees, and I'm just saying, that's why I said, well, bound. Will she lose any of her authority? Will we lose any of our authority by cleaning up what needs to be cleaned up? And you all said no. Legal said no. So I'm just saying, forget the charter right now. Let's move forward.

We have to do a public comment. Okay. Public comment? Okay. Now we can take on the motion. Motion to approve.

Second. Second.

I have a motion to approve, and we have a second. All those in favor of ordinance number two? Roll call. Roll call.

Commissioner Kelly? Yes. Commissioner McCracken? Yes. Vice Mayor Turkin?

Yes.

Commissioner Cruz? No. Mayor Shelton? Yes. Motion passes four to one.

Thank you. Tammy, I'll turn to you for item 10A into the record, please. No, 10A doesn't need to be read in the record. Oh.

Nope, nope. You got the old one.

Should I put that in there? Yeah. Hold on. Okay, let's start. Let's move with the presentation. Yeah, you have it in here.

Yeah, proposed resolution to banking.

Go ahead. Good evening, Alan Lawson, CFO, City of Boynton Beach. We are here to talk about proposed resolution R26-105 regarding a procurement waiver request due to a piggyback issue as we went to renew the banking service agreement with Bank of America. I'm going to let...

my director here discuss the specifics around the procurement because it gets very confusing yeah hi uh andrew roswedowski your uh procurement director city of boynton beach um when we reviewed the yeah can you speak into the mic oh sorry when we uh reviewed the um the amend the uh renewal for the bank of america it was actually determined that this year yep i know you're tall you can go to the taller mic over there is that better there we go okay sorry guys um Andrew Rozdowski, your procurement director at the City of Boynton Beach. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. So when we reviewed the contract amendment for the Bank of America, it was determined that we were actually not piggybacking anything because we piggybacked the solicitation process but not the contract. Therefore, we need to request a waiver or we're not going to have a banking contract. So that's basically why we're here today. And Alan can kind of go through the different things that he was able to negotiate in the contract. But that was basically what we determined. And yeah, that's why we're here today.

So we've had a 17-year relationship with Bank of America. The biggest piece of this is that we're going through an ERP as well, and they are actually already connected with Workday. They've already integrated. It is critical to the success of our actual ERP conversion, which takes place October 21st, that we maintain this contract going forward. We have multiple active accounts. We have ZBA accounts. Their cash flow platform is one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world. And we continue to utilize them with our whole cash flow management process for the city. We have, I can't see that. So again, we've said the piggyback was not available. Our policy authority, the commission may approve a waiver by a simple majority in order for us to move forward. And July 1st is the deadline. From a cost perspective, we're essentially, I'm sorry, page four. The approval ensures the uninterrupted cost-effective banking services for the city of Boynton Beach. Again, 17-year relationship. It is critical to the success going forward with our AAP. And then... The cost service is actually neutral over the five years, and actually we got a loyalty credit for $30,000. So right now it's actually going to be costing us nothing to move forward with our existing contract. And that is it. Any comments or questions?

I have a question. Will Bank of America be handling our CRA funds as well? No, sir.

I feel better.

Mr. Kelly.

No, I'm good. Thank you.

I just want to thank you both and thanks Andrew for everything you do. I would highly suggest everyone sit down with Andrew. He's a wealth of knowledge and him and I talk AI all the time about how to improve processes. And yeah, we're blessed to have you in the city.

So thank you. Actually, it was his policy change to our policy that actually caught this flaw. So kudos to him on that. So if you guys know that we changed our procurement policy through our own procurement policy for the city is what caught this flag. Yeah. Awesome.

There's nothing further. Do we have a motion to propose?

Second.

We have a motion for R26-105 and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay.

Motion passes unanimously.

Any final comments or do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn.

Before we go, wait, wait, wait. All right, all right. 60 seconds with Mac. That's right. These future agenda items. One minute McRae.

Oh, that's good. That's a good point.

Future agenda items. I'm just saying we can next time slow down and just start putting some dates on these so that we can start getting some of these off. A lot of them just repeating themselves.

That's a great point.

Okay, we have a motion, we have a second to adjourn. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. With no further business to discuss, the meeting is adjourned at 8.55 p.m. Thank you, everyone.