Village Council Workshop

Village of Wellington 12300 Forest Hill Blvd Wellington, FL 33414 Action Summary - Final Friday, March 12, 2021 9:00 AM DIRECTIONS WORKSHOP -DAY 2 WELLINGTON COMMUNITY CENTER Village Council Workshop Anne Gerwig, Mayor Michael Drahos, Vice Mayor John T. McGovern, Councilman Michael Napoleone, Councilman Tanya Siskind, Councilwoman Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 1. CALL TO ORDER Council Members present: Anne Gerwig, Mayor; Tanya Siskind, Vice Mayor; John T. McGovern, Councilman; Michael Drahos, Councilman; and Michael Napoleone, Councilman. Advisors to the Council: Jim Barnes, Manager; Laurie Cohen, Attorney; Tanya Quickel, Deputy Village Manager; Ed De La Vega, Assistant Village Manager; and Chevelle D. Addie, Village Clerk. Staff present: Ana Acevedo, Robert Basehart, Nicole Coates, Paulette Edwards, Kim Gibbons, Charles Gill, Eric Juckett, Shannon LaRocque, Mike O’Dell, Johnathan Reinsvold, William Silliman, Tim Stillings and Bruce Wagner. 3. WRAP-UP OF DIRECTIONS WORKSHOP Ms. Royal opened the morning by reviewing the objections for the day . The goal is to Define and Decide the 2021 budget with Long Term Vision in mind. The decisions that are on the table: Finance, People and Infrastructure. Ms. Royal provided a review of the Directions Workshop Day #1. She discussed the concept of “Design and Build for experience” and encouraged everyone to keep in mind the heart of who you are as a community with completing the impact/effort matrix. Council participated in an exercise regarding the Opportunity Canvas and discussion of the Wellington Community Park Opportunity Canvas took place. Wellington Community Park Mr. Barnes spoke regarding park infrastructure. He stated the issue related to the surtax was what you have maintenance on or deferred maintenance. He indicated that this was the only park that is not even close to the Village’s park standards. Mr. Barnes said this has been in discussion for several years based on demands for usage. Discussion ensued about the maintenance of the old Boys and Girls Club building. Mayor Gerwig asked if there is something that could be done with the building now. Village of Wellington Page 1 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 Mr. Barnes explained that the building is used for record and equipment storage. He stated a decision needed to be made regarding whether or not to sell the building. Councilman McGovern stated an appraisal should be conducted on the property. Mr. Barnes stated appraisals are quick and minor costs. He stated staff needed direction on what kind of use on which to base the appraisal. Council stated the appraisal should be completed as three different appraisals: large use, residential and agricultural properties. Due diligence is needed to understand the value of the property. Councilman Drahos stated Council would not sell the property without a plan for another park to be in place. Council asked about the storage of records and equipment and inquired if there is somewhere else this information and equipment can go in the event the building sells. Ms. Royal asked what the cost is for that exceptional plan regarding the building. Regarding the Town Center discussion: a gathering place and government. There was a suggestion to move business (LWPC) to another space in the Village to not displace the customers and possibly relocate the aquatics center. Mr. Barnes summarized and stated staff will come back to Council with different plans. He indicated a multi-layer public realm open space to gather, have events and more green space is what the Village is looking for. Councilman McGovern stated it would be a place where civic organizations can come and have their events. Mr. Barnes stated there could be a building that looks great on the outside and serves additional uses such as records storage and a police substation. Equestrian Industry Vice Mayor Siskind stated the equestrian industry keeps Wellington as a Village of Wellington Page 2 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 destination and further discussed her thoughts. Discussion centered on the costs, privately owned and used, wanting to make the industry accessible to others, impact on other businesses, traffic during season, and the overall economic impact (tourists, hotel stays, $$ to Wellington businesses). The Village has really been a partner of the industry but they are on the outside of it. There has been no investment of public dollars. Ms. Royal said there is a story telling/marketing/branding opportunity. Also, the expansion of the road and infrastructure opportunity. Councilman McGovern stated there are those who will disagree with that. Councilman Drahos stated he feels this Council has done more to collaborate with this industry than in the past in terms of sponsorship agreements. Mayor Gerwig asked if we were discussing the expansion of South Shore. Mr. Barnes stated staff needs consensus from Council on the equestrian industry regarding the regulatory framework the industry has to go through to operate in Wellington. He stated Wellington was not designed as an equestrian community; it just evolved due to the large lots. He stated the Village is confined by the limits of what those properties have. Councilman Drahos asked what more can Wellington do to be a partner in the equestrian industry. He stated VOW could improve the functionality of the site itself. Mr. Barnes stated the demand is there from a non-industry standpoint also. He said outside of the standard maintenance program, the Village does not have any roadway projects on the horizon right now. The discussion turned to the infrastructure of roadways and expansion of South Shore. Expansion of South Shore Mr. Stillings provided numbers on the roads on South Shore and Pierson. Mr. Barnes stated staff would continue to mill and overlay the roads versus construction. He recommended that we look at capital for the program. Mayor Gerwig stated Wellington is the only twelve week horse show in the world. Mr. Reinsvold referenced the current condition of the road at South Shore Village of Wellington Page 3 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 and Pierson and discussed the proposed improvements by the developer. He highlighted the Village’s proposed improvements. Ms. Cohen discussed the Governor’s orders regarding states of emergency. Mr. Barnes stated the Village has conceptual designs completed internally and could hire a consultant to come up with a plan. Councilman McGovern stated this is an area of discontent right now. The traffic congestion at Pierson/South Shore intersection is a four day a week problem. There was further Council discussion and staff will spend more time researching and evaluating. Staff will share the information with Council. Mr. Barnes mentioned show venues unrelated to extraneous requests but the venues themselves. He stated staff would get developers to think more proactively. Councilman McGovern stated they would like to be a part of the discussion at the very beginning as part of the plan. Councilman Drahos stated Wellington should take ownership and have more of a role in supporting this. It should be our season not just the developer’s event. Councilman McGovern stated the Village does not toot its own horn regularly enough. He stated developers used to do that and they are living off Wellington’s brand. Mayor Gerwig stated they are supporting the local businesses and the mall. Most successful malls have density around them. Mr. Barnes stated regarding the equestrian industry, the Village could do a better job along marketing aspects. He stated we walk a fine line regarding the venue because of the private nature of those venues and gave the example of how we use to do banners for the event. He stated to continue to afford those opportunities to those venues the Village would have to do that with all businesses. Mr. Drahos reiterated that the Village should promote it as “our” season. Mayor Gerwig stated the Village could just have their part of it such as pony rides or other horse themes that the Village operates as part of the season. Village of Wellington Page 4 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 Village Involvement in Wellington Green Redevelopment Councilman McGovern stated this is the primary issue to define the future of the entire community. He stated the challenge is it does not belong to the Village. He said we have to show the businesses, residents, and outside stakeholders the potential of redevelopment in Wellington. Mayor Gerwig stated State Road 7 (SR7) and Forrest Hill Boulevard is the largest intersection in Palm Beach County. Councilman McGovern stated the mall is down to a $90 million valuation. He said the owners originally paid $340 million for it. He mentioned the hospital is highly successful. Mayor Gerwig stated there are individual parcels outside that have been sold off and developed differently. Ms. Royal asked what the opportunity at hand is when it comes to the mall. Mr. Barnes stated the mall would have to redevelop; and when they do, the Village needs to have the regulatory framework for them to do that. Councilman Drahos stated this is a private sector issue and his approach to this is evolving. He feels the Village is qualified to people put on notice of what it does not want there. Mr. Barnes stated it is very helpful to know what we do not want and feels this will help shape the framework for what any kind of development would need to have to move forward. Mayor Gerwig stated there has been significant investment in the mall. Councilman McGovern discussed the movie theatre and restaurant at the mall. He stated they are outliers. Mr. Barnes discussed mall redevelopment and the K-park site. He said a game plan would need to be developed to envision what could go there and we would do this in partnership with a consultant. He said the entire property would be affected it the mall goes dark. Councilman Drahos stated the take a way that was universally rejected was the plan called for 700 apartments. He stated he would be resistant to any plan that called for apartments. Village of Wellington Page 5 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 Councilman Napoleone said there needs to be an entire revisioning of what that area can be. He said they have to get approval from Council for whatever they want to do. He said we have to help guide them through the process of what needs to be there. Councilman Napoleone said apartments in that area would not be good for Wellington as a whole without something else there. Ms. Royal said the real thing on the table is support from Council to realize some concepts of what could help with the mall and the appraisal of K-Park. Councilman Napoleone asked if TCRPC is reviewing what other cities have done with malls. Mr. Barnes stated staff could bring in some of those examples. K-Park Mayor Gerwig said it is important not to do anything with the mall that will affect the value of K-Park. She is in support of looking at some public use for K-Park. She stated the mall should become some quality of life use. Axis has been very successful as far as occupancy. Councilman Drahos stated he would like to see something other than apartments and if there is going to be density it needs to be a great plan. Ms. Royal summarized the current discussion. She said there is a request to direct staff to see if Council is open to receive some ideas about what to do with the property. Councilman McGovern stated he would like to see something done in the short term. Mr. De La Vega asked if anyone envisioned something happening with K-Park in two years. Mayor Gerwig asked what if the Village built something there. Councilman McGovern said he is willing to let staff speak with the property owner or lessee to see what could happen there. Mr. Barnes stated the property would not be sold and there will not be a master plan for it at this time. Councilman McGovern stated the property needs to be appraised. Village of Wellington Page 6 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final March 12, 2021 Mr. Barnes stated the first appraisal was done years ago and staff needs to have a sense of what Council wants to do there in order to do the appraisal. Ms. Royal stated she hears that Council is open to the concept of a short term/high impact to see what it could be. Councilman Napoleone stated he does not know that the Village needs an appraisal on K-Park if nothing is going to be done with the site right now. There was consensus from Councilman Drahos and Vice Mayor Siskind on this. There was Council consensus for a short-term lease for K-Park for the “You Pick It” idea. Mayor Gerwig inquired about Lotus. Mr. Stillings spoke regarding Lotus II and stated they have had conversation with Cooper Sachs. 6. ADJOURN There being no further business to discuss, the Workshop adjourned at 1:25 p.m. Village of Wellington Page 7