Next City Council Mtg on Thursday, August 1st at 7pm

The next City Council Meeting will be on Thursday August 1st at 7pm in City Hall.

Presentations include:

a. GOLD STAR MEMORIAL MONUMENT.
b. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EMS PROVIDER OF THE YEAR.
c. AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION GOLD PLUS AWARD.

Consent Agenda includes:

• Resolution 58, 2019 – a request by Avenir Development, LLC for approval of Avenir Site Plan 2 Pod 5 Plat – consistent with the approved site plan for the project approved by the Council on October 18, 2018.
• Purchase Award – Accounting and Financial Services – The Deputy Finance Administrator will retire in July 2019. The Finance Administrator submitted a proposed plan to the City Manager for the reorganization of the Finance Department, and to hire a consultant to work directly on the budget preparation process. An analysis done by the Finance Department showed that the reorganization of the department and hiring the former Deputy Finance Administrator, as a consultant, will realize savings of $97,000 each year for the City. Not openly competed. Contract term: 41 months; cost per fiscal year: $95K
• Purchase Award – Citywide Telephone System Replacement – The City is in the midst of several capital improvement projects and is using the opportunity to replace the existing telephone network with a voice-over-internet-protocol communications network. Piggyback/access contract for $280K

Public Hearings and Resolutions – New Business/First Readings includes:

• Ordinance 17, 2019 – An amendment to the City of Palm Beach Gardens Police Officers’ Retirement Trust Fund.
• Resolution 43, 2019 – A City-initiated application to submit the One-Year Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. In accordance with U.S. HUD requirements, the City must submit a One-Year Annual Action Plan and application for grant funds that confirm the projects on which the current year’s grant allocation is proposed to be spent during the upcoming year. The City is eligible to receive approximately $228,608 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. Staff is recommending approval of the City’s FY 2019 CDBG application to U.S. HUD.
• Resolution 48, 2019 – Adopting the Fiscal Year 2019/2020 Fees and Charges Schedule. The new fee schedule will be effective October 1, 2019. See the resolution here which includes the proposed fee changes.
• Resolution 50, 2019 – Award of a Contract to Musco Sports Lighting, LLC to Supply and Install Outdoor Sports Lighting for the Gardens Park Baseball Expansion Project. The City’s total compensation to the Contractor for supplying and installing outdoor sports lighting for the Gardens Park Baseball Complex Expansion project shall be Four Hundred Forty-Three Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars ($443,900) – Funding from Current Fiscal Year Budget.
• Resolution 53, 2019 – Award of a Contract to Jahnke & Sons Construction, Inc., dba WHP Trainingtowers, for the construction of a Fire Training Tower at the Public Safety Training Complex on Richard Road. Total Cost: $1,468,411.86 The Fire Rescue Department has budgeted funds this fiscal year for the construction of a fire rescue training tower. This multi-story fire training tower will be used by fire rescue staff to conduct training on the suppression of different classes of fires; practice victim location and extraction; other search and rescue techniques; practice in different environmental scenarios and events; create realistic smoke; practice fire truck operations, safety, and training, including ladder use; practice rappelling and rope rescue, and confined space rescue; and other fire rescue training.

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

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

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.

Next City Council Meeting on Thursday July 11 at 7pm

The next City Council meeting will be on Thursday, July 11, at 7pm.

The meeting has quite an extensive agenda covering a lot of topics. For those interested in Brightline, there will be a presentation on Future Plans for Train Service to Orlando.  Additionally, there will be a 2019 Legislative Update by State Senator Bobby Powell.

Presentations and Announcements also includes recognition of Wendy Tatum as Manager of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association.

Consent Agenda includes:

• Purchase Award:  Financial Advisory Services – exercising option to renew existing contract for 5 years – $120K over 5 years
• Purchase Award:  Group Health Insurance Plan (Self-Funded) – Stop Loss Insurance Coverage – exercising option to renew for remaining 1 year of contract – $562K.
• Purchase Award:  Independent Auditing Services  – openly competed – 5 year contract total $447K
• Purchase Award:  Switches and Related Equipment for New Telecommunications System – Piggyback/Access Contract for  $118K

Public Hearings and Resolutions – Only first readings and new business listed below:

• Ordinance 12, 2019 – An amendment to the City of Palm Beach Gardens Firefighters’ Retirement Trust Fund.
• Ordinances 14/15, 2019 – Bay Hill Estates – First reading – city initiated ordinances to update Large-Scale Comprehensive Map and Zoning for  the recently annexed area
• Ordinance 16, 2019 – Mobility Plan and Mobility Fee – First reading – city initiated – request for approval and adoption of the Mobility Plan and Fee, which also has an impact on traffic concurrency agreements
• Resolution 44, 2019 – a request by PGA Marina to install three sets of automated crossing arms within the marina site
• Resolutions 45/46, 2019 – A request by FPL for an amendment to the PGA Office Center to combine Parcel A and Parcel B, realign the northern 400 feet of RCA Center Drive for a new intersection location at Kyoto Gardens Drive, and to add 1.3 acres of lake area to Parcel A. The request also includes site plan approval for a 270,000-square-foot office building, three-story parking garage, and helistop within 37.74 acres of affected area on the south side of Kyoto Gardens Drive. 
• Resolution 52, 2019 – A request from Nuvo Riverside, LLC to enter into a Miracle League Field Funding Agreement with the City of Palm Beach Gardens.  This agreement will result in the Applicant providing a one-time payment to the City toward the funding of the Miracle League fields.
• Resolution 29, 2019 – Gold Star Families Memorial Monument at Veterans Plaza – A request to install a Gold Star Families Memorial Monument at the City of Palm Beach Gardens’ Veterans Plaza
• Resolution 39, 2019 – Adopting a proposed maximum millage rate for the City of Palm Beach Gardens for FY 2019/2020, and setting the date, time, and place of the first public budget hearing.

Items for Council Action/Discussion includes discussion of a City Manager Contract – requested by Council at last month’s evaluation of the City Manager.

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