Here’s The Scoop…2009 July 4th Committee Keeps Shooting Off Duds….
May 20, 2009 by Barbara
PSSST….4TH OF JULY COMMITTEE MEETING…7 PM PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING…May 19,2009…
Dear Readers…
Did you hear about it?…No?…You are not alone!… Just another case of the McIntee/Silverstone/Furth/Colon Committee following the bare minimum rules required by posting in a “public place” the “public meeting”…open to the “public”…the LIMITED “public”…So that unless your are a part of the “group”…you are left in the dark…It makes life easier for this “committee”…to do as they want, with no questions or unwanted input to contend with…just like the firework display RFPs we saw a few weeks back….and the backup materials of all the ordering already done …(previous posts)…
This writer just happened to catch the public notice to cover Sunshine for the “2-Hats/Broom Boys” Co-Chairs to meet Tues. evening because I was provided the wrong start time for the Master Plan Steering Committee meeting twice from Town Hall…I was told it began at 6:30 pm…and arrived to find Jarvis Hall dark and locked…Thinking perhaps the meeting was canceled I checked the board outside…and what was posted?…The July 4th Committing meeting…in the Public Safety Building 2nd floor conference room 7 pm….That in itself was interesting due to the Town Manager having a fit when she found out McIntee had offered up the Public Safety building recently for the businesses to meet to discuss the valet parking. It was moved the day of after she found out, and made it clear the building could not be used without her approval. So did she approve this meeting to take place in the conference room? While it’s true only 24 hours notice is required, for a meeting to take place to observe the Sunshine laws, at least two fellow members of the dais were not informed of this meeting taking place…
Since I had already set my TV DVR for the MPSC meeting (start time was 7 pm…and we are told the accurate time will be rectified in Town Hall going forth)…I decided to attend the first July 4th Committee meeting. HMMM… How is it there even was a July 4th committee if this was the first posted meeting?…
I walked upstairs to the 2nd floor of the new Public Safety building with fellow resident Yann Brandt who also came to attend the MPSC meeting at a few minutes after 7 …The “committee” looked none too pleased…That would be the committee of Moe McIntee and Gail Albohn seated at the conference table….Soon after Co- Chair McIntee walked in …and soon after was Co-Chair Silverstone…Also in attendance were MPSC members Marilyn Carr and Marc Furth -July 4th Event Coordinator…These 2 MPSC members called MPSC Chair Paul Novak that afternoon to say they would not be attending the monthly MPSC meeting, due to their attendance at the July 4th Committee meeting…
BC- The two committee members missed a co- meeting with the P&Z to go over the El Mar Drive project and the plans the Town just paid thousands for at the committee’s request!…The 4th meeting absolutely should have been on another night to allow for their attendance at this Town board meeting…
As I sat down in the rather small VFD conference room, I looked up behind me at the “memorabilia” wall of Vice Mayor/ Deputy Chief Jerry McIntee with framed newspaper articles of him …one was from Jan 15, 1977 by Mike Vogell in the Buffalo Evening News as a Bomb and Arson Investigator…
Also in the room were 7-8 VFD members, a BSO Deputy and Jerry Sehl, who arrived after it was discussed what his role would be…(more on that below)…that was it…the room was overflowing and the air conditioning was not working ….
McIntee sat at the head of the table with BFF Co-Chair “Jimmy” Silverstone to his right…He opened up the meeting by stating it was a posted meeting and that they had an agenda …would try and follow it and “get through it as fast as possible”…He asked Marc Furth for the agenda…and said it included a synopsis of last years July 4th event…He added he and Jimmy did not sit on the committee…He spoke of donations saying the Town had sent out letters …adding “multiple donations had come in” but had not dollar figures or names…
Jimmy said he he was going to ask Jerry Sehl to handle the donations since he did it last year…He was asked by Marilyn Carr if he hadn’t already spoken to him (Sehl)…First Silverstone said he needed to wait until it was on the agenda and approved, but quickly admitted he had in fact already spoken to him and Peanuts Wick as well….
McIntee said the donations “were under control”…Then went on to talk about the cart show saying it was “tremendous” last year….and that Marc Furth had a schematic of the layout for it…copies of those would be available at “the meeting after this”…after it was asked for by the BSO Deputy…
McIntee went on to the food and food coupons…for the vendors saying they “got hit on that”…and it was decided that the vendors would get T-shirts …which he added were in the works to purchase…adding they would find someone to pay for them…McIntee wanted to know about vendors and locations for them…
Jerry Sehl arrived …. and Marc Furth, verified the problems they encountered the year before with vendors getting free food and drinks…McIntee said the coupons given to the vendors were “passed out to their cousins” to use, asking Marc if he “had it under control” …Marc said yes…Marc added that when they invited vendors last year only one accepted…and it was decided they were only going to allow one (the same person) this year…
VFD member Mark Conn was not at the meeting but he will follow the same parade plan as he did last year…
Marc Furth asked who would send out letters to dignitaries for the parade…Marilyn Carr said the Town usually does it…Marc answered that Commissioners could do it also…Marc spoke of the problems they had with the bikes in the parade …and again it was decided Mark Conn would take care of it…
McIntee said the previous years synopsis showed it was a 50s-60s Car Show…should they keep the same theme…asking for ideas…McIntee then said ” Why break a toy that works?”…the theme will stay the same…Marc said there will be no bands this year…saving $1000 and VFD Chief Bob Perkins will be the DJ…adding the possibility of a steel band …Jimmy will ask Peggy if she has a connection…for under a $1000….
McIntee asked who would be the judges this year and then decided it would be headed up by his wife Moe and Gail Albohn…along with all awards…
Jerry Sehl wanted to discuss the raffle items and distribution of them throughout the 4 hours…
It was also put forth that maybe Mark Conn could provide them with a Sal’s tow truck playing patriotic music…
Onto the 4th of July fireworks display…and an amusing moment when the BSO Deputy said “It’s on the pier, right?”…OOPS!…Marc Furth quickly advised him it was on the beach…McIntee said this was “pretty big stuff for the volunteers”…adding VFD member Mikos would be in charge of the volunteers…
Marc Furth said at 3 pm the area would be shut down…he needed volunteers on the north and south side during the final setup and event…There will be both ATVs used for both sides as well and McIntee added the police would be “needed to back up the volunteers”…Marc replied “I want the volunteers”…that the whole area needed to”be secure”…Marc went on to explain that the morning of the event he needed to meet with the turtle people to check for nests…
McIntee said this is a community service event for the volunteers and they would change their drill day from Thur. to Fri. to accommodate and set up the posts needed for the orange temporary fencing required for the fireworks and the volunteers would also break it all down by 9 pm (as required by the DEP) the night of the 4th…
McIntee said his wife Moe and Gail Albohn would be in charge of the volunteering for the event…
Mikos (VFD member in charge the “troops”) …was most impressive in his questions and trying to work out a plan for times..and specifics…asking about the orange fencing…fire watch…engines…and crews at “blast zones”…on the north and south side….for his “troops”…
McIntee said they needed to “patrol and guarding crews on the beach , any people inside the area and they’ll shut us down!”…
McIntee asked the BSO Deputy if he could ask the police if they were interested in “helping”…again adding this was the first of several meetings…he went on to say the “volunteers all understand” what they need to do…the “manpower needed 30-50 troops the whole day”…
Mikos asked about time commitment…
Marc Furth replied about the fencing going up …an 8 am crew…adding Melrose (fire display company) would be setting up on the beach during the day and would set up a truck in the Minto sales office parking lot…
McIntee said the volunteers needed to ask their families to come and to also volunteer …all day…in shifts…
The fireworks are scheduled for 8:30 pm…and would be over at 9 pm …( we hear it is an approx. 15-20 minute show)…
McIntee going back to the synopsis said last years event was called Beach Blast…Marc said it would be the same this year…
McIntee said the volunteers would be riding all the VFD equipment in the parade…
They went on to the food…(previous post…the food was already ordered by Aruba through their vendor).. Jimmy said Peggy sent him there with “notes”…and relayed what she wanted…She wants the cooking to start a 10 am…McIntee said there would be no help from the volunteers who would be in the parade from 10-11 am…
Marc Furth said letters would be sent out to “all organizations” to help out with the event adding they would be recognized as sponsors…adding he needed help with the barricades at that same time for the car people arriving…He went on to show a newly revised site plan…May 16,2009…that there will be 3 kids rides..2 water and 1 climbing apparatus …along with a donated dunking tank courtesy of our new trash provider …Choice Environmental who will also be involved with the toilets, cans, bags …adding they are happy to be a sponsor to the event…He said he decided to stretch the event further down El Mar Drive due to the change in the medians and it would now end up in front of his Blue Seas motel…He also said he would have the keys to use Minto’s construction parking …for extra parking…but not for the public…
Marc Furth added the following..”Don’t count on the cops or the BSO unless we pay for it”…HMMM…shades of Comm. Clottey…He added he “didn’t think they were going to get into so much detail”…he thought it would be a general meeting..
Jimmy read more from his notes from Peggy…saying she wanted a list of people who would commit 1 hour to cooking and the ticket booths…
McIntee said….” The women should take care of that because it’s not a strenuous job.”…YIKES!…Even the young VFD members grimaced at his sexist remark!…OOPS!
Peggy also wants each Commissioner to spend an hour a piece to show they are volunteering…Jimmy went on to again say Peggy had the food and beer ordered that she just had questions about more water…Peggy also said a “shift” was 2 hours…
McIntee said they tried them out and they had “2 major grills” ..Marc corrected him and said one would be rented…
Jerry Sehl asked about the Publix donation of watermelon last year…and was met with some groans of the 3-4 hours it took to cut it up…getting trays…and having to give it away…Jerry will now see if Publix will donate water instead…
Marc said they have no raffle items yet…and Jerry Sehl again touched on the spacing of the raffles each hour…leading up the the big one at the end…12 items was what was decided on..
McIntee asked about fans in the tents this year…and Marc informed them they had fans last year…as well as by those cooking…
Marc added that he was “pestering” the Town for the electrical hookups…
It was mentioned they needed volunteers for the dunk tank…with Moe McIntee saying..”Dodd wouldn’t get in the dunk tank, he was supposed too.”…
BC- get rid of the dunk tank…or maybe certain “non-strenuous workers” could sit in it…if volunteers are needed?…
McIntee said he “neglected” to invite AMR but in “a official capacity” he asked them for set up help and they said yes… He said this is a one day event for volunteers ..
It was also brought up there would be “regular volunteers”…and also to call and remind them to show up…
McIntee said he would talk to “Esther” and get 20 radios that are in inventory to use to use that day….
The BSO Deputy asked for copies of the route and tree closures to be given to them…
Resident Yann Brandt, not being recognized by McIntee for a moment or two…offered to volunteer with the raffle …and he was thanked and will do so…
McIntee ended the meeting with saying…the next meeting “would be posted the same way.”…
BC- That final statement ….Co-ChairsMcIntee & Silverstone /Town Manager Colon/ Event Coodinator Furth….says it all!…
You keep shooting off “duds” when it comes to providing transparency with this July 4th Committee for the 2009 July 4th event!…
more to come……
