Avenir and $64 Million in City Projects the ‘Big Ticket’ items at the 1/10/19 Council Mtg

The first meeting of 2019 included several presentations, a progress report on Avenir, an update on City Projects, and the usual first budget amendment of the year.

City Projects

David Reyes, CS Administrator/Dir. of Emerg. Mgmt, gave a comprehensive update on City Improvement Projects including those funded by the 1 cent sales tax. The over $64 million in projects are project managed by the team of Mr. Reyes, Angela Brown, Deputy Community Services Administrator, and Jennifer Nelli, Operations Manager, while simultaneously performing their current responsibilties. City Manager Ferris pointed out that other municipalities frequently hire additional staff to oversee such projects, but the Gardens instead is using current staff. Involved in every one of these activities is Todd Engle, City Engineer – who Mr. Ferris described as ‘the Everready (Energizer) Bunny” and the ‘Tasmanian Devil’ for Mr. Engle’s ability to be everywhere at once. A list of the activities can be found at Current City Projects  with a section for One Cent Sales Tax items. Among the items coming before the Council in February are the City Hall Remodeling and Expansion (estimated completion Spring 2020), Police Station Renovations (estimated completion Summer 2019) and the Tennis Center Clubhouse (estimated completion Summer 2019).

Avenir

Ken Tuma, Managing Principal, Urban Design Kilday Studios, reviewed the Conceptual Master Plan of the Avenir Site, before presenting the waivers sought in Site Plan #1 – which will consiste of 4 gated subdivisions. While a golf course has been mentioned before, Mr. Tuma went into slightly more detail on an extremely high-end ‘core golf course’, with 228 homes – similar to ‘Old Palm’. He also showed the placement of two Crystal Lagoons, one which will be incorporated into a subdivision, but the other which will be located in the Town Center, with a beach club, restaurants, a hotel and other items around it. Fifty-one percent of the property is dedicated to ecological restoration and open space, and over 2000 acres are restricted, under the auspices of the South Florida Water Management District. The preserve area, with nature trails, as well as all non-gated areas (subdivisions) will be open to and acessible to the public. View Mr Tuma’s presentation here.

Other items:

• Allan Owens, Finance Director described Ordinance 1, 2019, detailing the $39 million brought forward from 2018 projects
• City Manager Report – Among the topics discussed, Joe Corrao, Director of Public Services, described the transition from Pubic Auction of used city items, to selling such items online, via the GovDeals.com auction website. It operates similarly to Ebay and items can be purchased by anyone. Check it out!
• Presentations included:
  • RECOGNITION OF THE PALM BEACH GARDENS GATORS: 2018 POP WARNER FOOTBALL JUNIOR VARSITY DIVISION SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS.
  •  WEISS SCHOOL UPDATE ON THE LAUNCH OF THE CUBE SATELLITE.
  •  HONDA CLASSIC COMMUNITY IMPACT PRESENTATION.
  •  VETERANS ADMINISTRATION PRESENTATION.
  •  USTA UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION AWARD TO THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS TENNIS CENTER AS THE MEMBER ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR AWARD.
  •  UPDATE ON CIP AND ONE CENT SALES TAX PROJECTS
• During Items of Public Interest and Board Committee Reports, Council Member Lane suggested that there be a Workshop in the near future on what he called Essential Services Housing strategy – which we assume means “Workforce Housing”.

All Resolutions and Ordinances passed 5:0.  There was no City Attorney Report.

Next City Council Mtg on Jan 10 at 7pm

Public Hearings and Resolutions (not in order):

• Ordinance 1, 2019 – An amendment to the Fiscal Year 2018/19 budget to adjust fund balance carryovers to actual amounts; re-appropriate amounts committed from the FY 2017/2018 budget for outstanding purchase orders and open projects; and for other purposes.   This is done every year – however this is also where ‘interesting’ uses are found for the General Budget Stabilization Reserves, such as a transfer of $1,600,000 from the Budget Stabilization Reserve Account to construct a Fire Training Tower located at the Public Safety Training Center on Richard Road. There is also the comment: “It is important to note that the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) contract is currently under negotiation and the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) contract will be negotiated in early 2019. The ultimate cost of these agreements could materially affect the balance in the Budget Stabilization Reserve. In addition, the balance in Unassigned Reserves does not reflect any potential settlement cost related to the Sears litigation; any such cost could significantly impact this balance.” Read the details here. 
• Resolution 3, 2019 –  A request for Site Plan approval for 416 single-family dwelling units within Parcels A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4 of the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD). The subject site is approximately 230.49 acres and is located in the southeast portion of the Avenir PCD. Each individual parcel is a separate gated neighborhood with access from Spine Road #4 with separate recreation and open space amenities. 
• Resolution 4, 2019 – A request for a Miscellaneous petition to approve building identification signage for the Divosta Towers project within the Gardens Corporate Center Planned Unit Development (PUD). The Gardens Corporate Center is located on the northeast corner of PGA Boulevard (PGA Bypass) and Alternate A1A
• Ordinance 26, 2018 – Second Reading and Adoption of a request for a Voluntary Annexation of two segments of the Northlake Boulevard Rights-of-Way totaling 23.48 acres, more or less, located between Grapeview Boulevard and Avocado Boulevard and between 130th Avenue North and 120th Avenue North west of the Sandhill Crane Municipal Golf Course, from Palm Beach County

Items for Council Action/Discussion:   

• None listed

Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting here.