Virgin Trains impacts, Mobility Plan, 2019/2020 budget max millage and more

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The agenda for the July 11th City Council took the max allotted time of 4.5 hours. Council Member Marino was not in attendance and all Ordinances and Resolutions passed 4:0. Since most attendees probably did not last until the end of the meeting here are a few highlights.

• City Manager Ferris was offered a new contract (as discussed at the June 2019 City Council Mtg); Council Member Woods proposed that on top of the 3% cost of living increases that the City Manager (and staff and thus the Council) have been getting over the last several years, that Mr. Ferris be given a one-time 6% increase.
  July 11th

  Mr. Ferris’ current salary at $239K is only less than the City Administrator of Palm Beach County at $270K, Boca Raton’s city manager of $240K and West Palm Beach at $240K. The Council’s rationale was that the top city in Florida to live in should have a city manager earning a top salary. There was no analysis of number of employees, city population or anything else.

• The maximum millage for the 2019/2020 Fiscal Year Budget was set at 5.55 – it can be lowered but not raised. The operational budget has been at 5.55 for several years as well – and given continued rising valuations, this will most likely be a tax increase for most property owners. The proposed budget can be found here. The first public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2019/2020 Budget will be held on September 5, 2019, at 7:00 pm in the City of Palm Beach Gardens Council Chambers.
• Representatives of Virgin Trains gave an update on service to Orlando, expected by mid-2022. Their plans are still to have 16 round-trips per day to Orlando. See  the Palm Beach Post article here for a summary of the update. Of note and not in the article – each crossing in the City will have to be closed for up to 10 days each, with the Kyoto Gardens intersection having to be closed twice for up to 10 days each. Plans are to not have adjacent crossings closed at the same time and to have well marked detours.

• The Palm Beach Gardens Mobility plan and updated fees had considerable discussion. There is only so much that city roads can be widened, so alternative modes of transportation will need to be considered. Most of the discussion however was due to a letter sent from Palm Beach County Administrator Verdenia Baker opposing modifications to the current transportation concurrency/road impact fees with a transition to Gardens’ mobility fees. Natalie Crowley, Director of Planning and Zoning outlined what PBG considered as wrong assumptions in the County’s letter. Patrick Rutter, Assistant County Administrator outlined the County’s issues; Nick Uhren, Director of Palm Beach County Transportation Planning Agency and Dr. Kim Delaney, Director of Strategic Development and Policy for the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, both spoke in full support of the City’s plan and fee approach.
• FPL sought approval for changes to its plans for the office building on Kyoto Gardens Drive. See the article for more details. Several members of the business community spoke in support and a resident inquired about the heliport stop.