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10-10-01 AGENDA REGULAR MEETING OF BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE October 10, 2001 8:00 p.m. City Hall Conference Room 1. Call to Order 2. Recognition of Visitors 3. Approval of Minutes of September 12, 2001 4. Vote on Continuing or Dissolving Beautification Committee 5. Old Business A. Update on Landscaped Areas '°' B. New Areas to Beautify (1) Selva Marina Drive Medians (2) Seminole Road in front of Townhomes at Atlantic Boulevard C. Public Information Seminars 6. New Business A. Tree Giveaway 7. Announcements/Reports 8. Adjournment DRAFT MINUTES OF BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING October 10, 2001 A regular meeting of the Beautification Committee was held Wednesday, October 10, 2001, in the City Hall Conference Room. Present were Chairperson Jody Richards, Mimi Ames, Gloria Vaughn, Jane Vincent, Parks and Recreation Director Timmy 7ohnson and Susan Dunham. 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 8:17 p.m. Chairperson Richards stated that she received a fax today from Ms. Dunham stating that Mr. Johnson requested that items S.B. Committee Membership and S.C. Beautification Committee Guidelines be removed from the Agenda. She stated that she called Ms. Dunham this afternoon stating that she was not in agreement with removing these items from the Agenda. Ms. Dunham advised that she had sent this fax to Chairperson Richards last week. 2. Recognition of Visitors None. 3. Approval of Minutes of September 12 2001 A motion was made by Committee Member Vincent, seconded by Committee Member Vaughn and unanimously carried to approve the Minutes of September 12, 2001. . 4. Vote on Continuing or Dissolving Beautification Committee Chairperson Richards moved this Agenda item to the last item of business. Chairperson Richards stated that it appears that the present members are the core group that attend each meeting. She said that the question arises as to whether or not this Committee functions for any reason. She further stated that the City functions very well without the Committee and they do not consult the Beautification Committee. Chairperson Richards said that if the Beautification Committee is here to make the City Commission look good, she could care less. [Chairperson Richards specifically asked that this last statement be included in the Minutes of the meeting.) Chairperson Richards stated that in most committees if a person misses three meetings, it is assumed that this person does not want to participate. She advised that the Committee is missing Dee Carter and Ann Bechtel. She further advised that the Beautification Committee does not have a set number of members so it is difficult to establish a quorum. Chairperson Richards stated that four members are present and this .group needs to consider if this Committee needs to exist; if not, then the group needs to present this to the City Commission and that they need to have the final word of the Committee's outcome. 5. Old Business A. Update on Landscaped Areas: Mr. Johnson advised that they are in the process of hiring another gardener to assist the current gardener. He updated the Committee as follows: work has been accomplished on Sailfish Drive but it is not completed; and they are preparing all the beds for fall planting. Minutes of Beautification Committee October 10, 2001 Page 2 DRAFT Chairperson Richards asked Mr. Johnson how they were preparing the beds. Mr. Johnson responded that they are removing the flowers and preparing the soil. Chairperson Richards asked Mr. Johnson for detailed information on the process used to prepare the beds. Mr. Johnson responded that it is the gardener's responsibility to prepare the gardens and he does not know the particular details. Discussion was held with regard to the poor quality of the snapdragons at Sailfish Drive. Mr. Johnson responded that they paid only 25 percent of the cost for those flowers due to the poor quality. Chairperson Richards asked Mr. Johnson if the soil in the beds had been tested. Mr. Johnson responded that the soil had been tested, and Chairperson Richards stated she would call Mr. Johnson for the results. Chairperson Richards asked Mr. Johnson what the gardener's .qualifications were for the job and Mr. Johnson responded that she has a gardening background and that she met the qualifications for the position. Chairperson Richards asked Mr. Johnson what his background was and Mr. Johnson responded that his background was in Parks and Recreation. Mr. Johnson advised that Mr. Vedro of the Eighth Street beach access has turned in the requested information to present to the City Commission. Mr. Johnson further advised that Public Works has some work to accomplish in this area and Mr. Vedro has decided to hold off on their project ,, until this work has been completed. Chairperson Richards stated that Mr. Vedro was supposed to report to the Beautification Committee with regard to the irrigation system and wanted to know if the report was going to be submitted to the Committee for review. Mr. Johnson responded that this information would come to the Committee prior to being sent to the City Commission. He further stated that if the Committee were dissolved, he would recommend to the City Commission that a drip irrigation system be installed at this location. B. New Areas to Beautify: (1) Selva Marina Drive Medians: Discussion was held with regard to determining who brought forward this request. Chairperson Richards stated that if there was no group that was interested in improving this area, then this was an item for a wish list for the Beautification Committee. (2) Seminole Road in front of Townhomes at Atlantic Boulevard: This item was addressed later in the meeting. C. Public Information Seminars: Chairperson Richards stated that the public information seminars would be under the auspices of the City to present seminars relating to beautification. She further stated that she knew of six people who were interested in speaking at seminars. Board Member Vaughn stated that the Florida Yards and Neighbors group would be available for a seminar. B. New Areas to Beautify: (2) Seminole Road in front of Townhomes at Atlantic Boulevard: Board Member Vincent asked if the developer had approached the City with regard to beautification of this area. She also stated that she spoke with someone involved in this project and he stated that they are going to "'' beautify this area. Ms. Dunham advised that approximately one year ago someone approached her who asked if the City would be willing to share in a project to beautify the right-of--way in Minutes of Beautification Committee October 10, 2001 Page 3 DRAFT front of the townhomes. She stated that she advised this person at that time that when he was ready to proceed, he would need to present his proposal to the Beautification Committee. Board Member Vincent stated that this area was an eyesore to the entrance into Atlantic Beach. Chairperson Richards advised Board Member Vincent that if she has an issue with this area, it is within her rights as a citizen to address the City Commission as to her concerns. Chairperson Richards advised the Committee that after tonight, she would no longer be a member of the Beautification Committee. Chairperson Richards advised that at the last meeting the Committee had discussed forming a garden club. She further advised that last evening, she met with the Garden Club of Jacksonville. She stated that they were very interested in accepting another garden club into their group. Chairperson Richards said that the garden club could hold all kinds of seminars and, hopefully, the Commission would accept the club. Discussion was held with regard to starting a garden club and members discussed the lack of time to initiate the effort. Chairperson Richards stated that there are a lot of people who do not want to be involved in the City but who may be interested in a garden club. She suggested placing an article in the Tide Views newsletter to determine the interest level. She said that if the interest exists in Atlantic Beach, the Garden Club of Jacksonville is more than willing to re-form the Atlantic Beach circle. Chairperson Richards stated that she would draft an article to give to the City Clerk to place in Tide Views. 6. New Business ~., A.Tree Giveaway: Chairperson Richards asked if this event was successful last year. She stated that many of the trees were not picked up so they were planted on Francis Street, Jack Russell Park and Rose Park. Ms. Dunham advised that most of the trees were picked up by the homeowners; she thought she remembered approximately 16 trees were left; Mr. Johnson thought less than that. Board Member Vaughn stated that she thinks the tree giveaway is a good idea but that the trees were too big for some people to pick up. She suggested buying more trees in a smaller size. A suggestion was made to incorporate this project with the public information seminars. Chairperson Richards stated that since the Beautification Committee does not want to take action on this matter, the Committee could defer to the City Commission to take action. A motion was made by Board Member Vaughn, seconded by Board Member Vincent and unanimously carried that the tree giveaway project be deferred for action to the nett City Commission meeting. 4. Vote on Cantinuin~ or Dissolvine Beautification Committee Board Member Vaughn stated that in view of the fact that the Beautification Committee cannot increase membership and the Committee is unable to make a quorum, she recommended that the Committee be dissolved. She further stated that the Committee is frequently bypassed on matters that they consider to be important to their function but are overlooked in favor of the City Commission. In addition, she stated that the City Commission does not take their viewpoint seriously. °, Minutes of Beautification Committee October 10, 2001 '" Page 4 DRAFT Board Member Vincent stated that the Beautification Committee is not needed as it was at one time. She further stated that is obvious that the Committee is redundant, they are bypassed on beautification decisions and it does not appear that the Committee is needed. Board Member Vaughn advised that the City Commission has expressed that the Committee does not have the expertise to make decisions for the beautification of this city and cannot entice those who have the expertise to join the Committee. Chairperson Richards called the vote. to dissolve the Committee and it was approved with Board Member Vincent, Board Member Ames, Board Member Vaughn and Chairperson Richards voting in favor. Board Member Richards stated she would advise the City to disband this Committee for lack of interest and lack of involvement. She further stated that she would write a letter tomorrow to the Commission with the discussion and recommendation of this group. Chairperson Richards further advised that the decision was unanimous among the four Beautification Committee members present and it is their wish to dissolve the Committee. A motion was made by Board Member Vaughn, seconded by Board Member Vincent and unanimously carried that the Beautification Committee be dissolved. Board Member Vincent stated that there is only one member missing, Dee Carter, and she would like the record to reflect that this is a quorum. Mr. Johnson requested that Ms. Dunham advise the Beautification Committee members when the City Commission makes a decision. Chairperson Richards asked to be advised of the pertinent City Commission meeting so that she could attend. 7. Announcements/Reports None. 8. Adiournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Jody Richards, Chairperson