Boca Raton City Council Workshop – April 27, 2026: Community Master Plan, Task Force, Parks, and Financial Reports
Boca Raton City Council Workshop – April 27, 2026, 2:00 PM – 5:47 PM
The City Council held a workshop on April 27, 2026, covering a broad range of topics including the initiation of a community-wide master plan, the structure of a Downtown Civic Engagement Task Force, immediate and long-term improvements to Memorial Park and softball fields, and review of the Save Boca citizen petitions. Staff presented financial reports for FY 2024-25, including audited financial statements and investment performance. The meeting concluded with public comments and no formal votes, but several directional consensuses were reached for staff to proceed with certain actions and bring back more detailed proposals.
Proclamations/Presentations
- Community Master Plan: Dr. Kim Delaney of Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) proposed a 15-16 month, high-engagement master planning process with five phases and extensive public outreach, including a week-long design charrette. The estimated cost is $250,000–$300,000. Council members expressed general support for a master plan, but disagreed on whether to contract directly with TCRPC or go through a formal RFP. After debate, the consensus favored issuing an RFP to ensure an open, competitive process, with staff to develop a detailed scope and timeline. Councilmember Drucker noted that an RFP would require a “cone of silence” limiting council communication with applicants.
- Downtown Civic Engagement Task Force: Deputy City Manager Lucasick presented three options for selecting the nine-member task force: (1) full public interviews of all applicants, (2) council workshop pre-screening followed by public finalist interviews, or (3) individual council member shortlisting then public interviews. Council discussed concerns about transparency and avoiding the appearance of insider influence. No decision was reached; the matter was continued to the next day’s meeting for a final choice.
- Memorial Park General Discussion: Public Works Director Zach Beer outlined short-term (fountain repairs, restroom renovations, tennis center concepts), mid-term (Singing Pines Building rehabilitation design, FPL line relocation planning), and long-term (power line relocation, tennis center construction) projects. Council agreed to proceed with initial planning for FPL power line relocation (due to its long lead time) and to study reopening Singing Pines, but deferred other major decisions until a comprehensive park plan is developed. Councilmember Drucker emphasized the need to align spending with property tax discussions at the state level.
- Softball Fields Update: Recreation Services Director Greg Stevens reported on ongoing meetings with the softball league and parents, focusing on scheduling optimization, lighting upgrades, batting cages, restroom trailers, and improved field amenities. Staff will consolidate data and present options for quality and quantity improvements at the May 26 workshop.
- Save Boca Citizen Petitions: City Attorney Kaler explained the ordinance adoption process and presented proposed clarifying exceptions to the charter amendment requiring voter approval for sale/lease of city-owned land over half an acre. Exceptions include: continuation of existing nonprofit leases, utility easements, city use of its own land for public facilities, and temporary recreational/community uses. Councilmember Pearlman requested modifications to recitals and ballot language; Deputy Mayor Grow requested clarity on “amendment” and “current existing” leases. These items will be introduced at the next meeting and discussed further at a workshop on May 11.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dr. Lorraine Blank (resident) criticized the late placement of public comment and called for more transparency. She requested clear terms of reference for the task force, objected to wording in exception #4 of the Save Boca ordinance, and suggested financial reports include constant-dollar and per-capita trends.
- Diana Cooper (softball parent) thanked the council for addressing softball field needs and urged separating the softball discussion from the downtown Memorial Park project, advocating for dedicated fields and scheduling improvements at other parks.
- Brian Cherry (resident) highlighted aggressive driving issues in Boca Raton, noting six traffic deaths in 2024 and 26,000 crashes in Palm Beach County in 2025. He recommended increased fines and red-light/speed cameras.
- Brianna Hackwist (resident, with stuffed tortoises Thaddeus and Ted) advocated for preserving green space and wildlife, especially in Sugar Sand Park, and opposed adding softball fields there.
- June Wagner (resident) urged preservation of beaches and beaches parks, promoting native species and improved parking access, and expressed concerns about the Oval development project overwhelming existing parking.
- Jonathan Nungeon (resident) urged the council to slow down piecemeal park improvements and wait for a comprehensive master plan. He noted that any police station renovation would require a temporary relocation.
- Judy Morrow (resident) praised the inclusion of tennis center improvements, noting a 54% increase in tennis participation since 2001 and citing economic impact data. She recommended a clubhouse and observation deck similar to Palm Beach Gardens’ facility.
Key Outcomes
- Community Master Plan: Council consensus to proceed with an RFP process for selecting a consultant; staff to define scope and timeline. No direct contract with TCRPC.
- FPL Power Line Relocation: Staff directed to start initial planning and coordination with FPL for relocating transmission lines from Memorial Park.
- Singing Pines Building: Staff to study and bring options for rehabilitation and reopening, including potential children’s garden.
- Task Force Selection: No decision; will be finalized at the April 28 meeting.
- Save Boca Ordinances: Council will introduce the ordinances/charter amendment at the April 28 meeting; second reading and public hearing scheduled for May 12 after a May 11 workshop.
- Financial Reports: The city received an unmodified audit opinion, its 44th consecutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and presented a Popular Annual Financial Report for the first time. Investment portfolio had a blended yield of 3.79% and market total return of 3.72% for FY 2025.
City Manager & Attorney Reports
- City Manager reported no additional items.
- City Attorney reported no additional items.
- Mayor and Council Members had no reports.
The workshop adjourned at 5:47 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Your city council is now back, this time with a workshop meeting. The date is still April 27, 2026. The time is now two o'clock in the PM. We will start this workshop meeting with proclamations and presentation, unless anybody has any changes they'd like to make to the agenda. Seeing none, we'll move to proclamations and presentations. Item one is our community master plan. Mr. Soheny. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And uh for items A through D, Community Master Plan, Downtown Civic Engagement Task Force, Memorial Park General Discussion, and then a softball fields update. I'm going to turn it over to Deputy City Manager, Mr. Lucasick. Thank you, Mr. Sahini. Good afternoon, Mayor Council. So as we're pulling the presentation up. Let me start by saying to the city manager's point, we're going to be covering four topics that are listed on the workshop agenda within this presentation. So I'm going to do a quick, quick introduction and uh get us underway. There we go. Awesome. Okay. So what we're going to cover today. Uh one is that, and I've all introduced you individually, but uh Dr. Kim Delaney with Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council is with us today. Um, as I mentioned in past meetings when we started thinking about public engagement and when we started thinking more specifically about what we were going to do as it relates to a community-wide master plan. Um I couldn't think of uh an agency or an individual who could handle and help us help guide us through the public outreach process better than Dr. Lit Dr. Delaney or Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. So she she's here. Uh she helped craft the uh process that she's going to walk us through in a couple minutes, um, and she can answer some questions as it relates to how that looks and um how we'll go forward. Uh once Dr. Delaney is done, I'm going to talk a little bit about the civic engagement task force. Specifically, I'm going to talk about the selection process and what that looks like going forward and ultimately get some direction from the council as it relates to what what process we're going to use to select the individuals who serve as members of the task force. Um then following that we'll talk about Memorial Park and civic area improvements. And uh uh Zach Beer is here to talk a little bit about um some uh uh general projections and some projects that we're looking at in the short term. Um also Greg Stevens, our recreation services director, is here. He'll talk a little bit about some of the softball field and operational improvements that we're talking about. Um again, just in the short term, uh, as we start thinking longer term as we're going through the uh civic engagement process and the community master plan to get an ultimate solution. Um we'll talk a little bit about some of the things that we're exploring in order to get us to uh a place where we can provide some um enhanced facilities for the softball association. Um and then lastly, any any questions that we have or any direction that we haven't received, we'll we'll sum up the meeting, kind of going through those last remaining issues just to make sure that uh we as staff have some direction in terms of how we're gonna move forward with the process. Okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Dr. Delaney. There you go, Kim. Thanks for that. Of course. And good afternoon, Kim Delaney for the record. I'm sorry, Dr. My Paul by the way. There we go.
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