City Updates on Brightline, FEMA Extreme Flood Maps and Presentations Dominate Council Mtg

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As expected, Second Hearing on all of  the listed ordinances and their associated resolutions, as well as the Consent Agenda, were passed 5:0.

During Items of Resident Interest, Vice Mayor Litt described a meeting with PB State College, where students voiced concerns about the existing bus routes which drop off them off across from the campus on PGA Blvd and also on Campus Drive, forcing 400-800 students to cross these busy and dangerous thoroughfares daily. The City and Palm Tran will work to help and solve the issue.

The City Manager report included:

• Virgin/Brightline Train Crossing Update – City Engineer Todd Engle described the upcoming crossing closures for construction. The closures will begin in May, be staggered and are scheduled to be completed by July 3. The tentative dates can be found in this Palm Beach Post article, and updates will be published on the City website and on the Brightline website as well.  The representatives of the railroad were asked about the old FEC railroad ties which are the source of a lot of resident complaints. It was not clear that any direct action would be taken by Brightline. The fiber optic lines and cable lines (for all providers) will be located on the east side of the tracks. The second line of tracks will be built on the west side – until Kyoto Gardens Drive, where they will switch to the east side.
• FEMA Extreme Flood Maps – Mr. Engle continued with a report on FEMA flood zones. In 2017 the maps were updated and all units in PB Gardens were removed from the requirement of flood insurance. But in 2014 FEMA began a project to assess extreme floods – ‘500’ year floods where a worst case scenario with a ‘perfect storm’, king tides and other adverse conditions happen simulteously. In a recent public meeting on their new maps, 305 units in the City would once again would require flood insurance if there were mortgages on those units. The areas that would be affected are in Marina Gardens, Harbour Oaks, Nature’s Hideaway, The Meadows mobile homes and one road in Prosperity Oaks. The City will continue to monitor and be involved with the map changes, which will probably take several years to be approved.
• Litigation: City Attorney Max Lohman gave an update on the four different lawsuits brought forward by resident Sid Dinerstein on the City Charter.  Lohman wanted to address what he considered to be misinformation being spread on the subject. He said that the total cost to the City was less than $100K (although at a standard commercial rate it would have amounted to $250K). While the City prevailed in the last lawsuit appeal at the 4th DCA, Mr. Dinerstein plans to appeal to the FL Supreme Court. While Mr. Lohman would love to go before the FL Supreme Court, he didn’t think it likely that they would take the case. He proclaimed that Sid was representing himself, not the people, and it was in fact he, the City Attorney, who represents the ‘people’ in these cases as they passed the various amendments. As to the expense of the claimant – Mr. Lohman said that he understood that the attorney representing Mr. Dinerstein was working pro bono – so any misinformation one hears about what it cost to bring forward the suit was a lie by someone. Council Member Lane praised the City Attorney’s defense at the 4th DCA, but also defended Mr. Dinerstein as having good intentions in bringing forth the law suits. Mr. Lohman said he would update the Council on the status of the ongoing lawsuits with Forbes and TransformCo (the new Sears) in private.

Public Comment:

• 211 Helpline – Patrice Schroeder of the 211 Helpline out of Lantana publicized 211 Awareness Week from February 11 – February 17. She pointed out that as a crisis hotline, calls to the Veteran’s Crisis line roll over to 211, and that they have Veterans that can take those calls.
• Palm Beach County Library – Doug Crane – Dept Director for Palm Beach County Library gave a brief update: all late fines were dropped last year – if a book is lost then the person must pay for the book; the libraries will be a key resource in the Census as each branch has wifi as well as computers where people can complete their census forms; as in the past, the libraries will serve as early voting locations in the March, August and November elections.
• PGA Corridor – Steve Mathison, representing the PGA Corridor, voiced the organization’s support of the City’s Mobility Plan and related actions.

Presentations included several charity related topics:

• The West Palm Beach Veterans’ Resource Center was presented with a check for $39,025.97 from the 2019 Mayor’s Veteran Golf Classic
• Closest to the Pin – Sandhill Crane’s Golf Club’s ‘Closest to the Pin’ for Charity is celebrating it’s first anniversary – donors give $5 collected at the golf course for the competition event for that month, and the winner receives 20% and the charity receives 80% of the proceeds.
• Police and Fire Rescue Foundation – In 2018, the Palm Beach Gardens Police Foundation’s mission was expanded to include the City’s Fire Rescue services whereupon the Palm Beach Gardens Police and Fire Rescue Foundation was formed.
• Operation 120 Inc – Empowering Female Veterans,  discussed the issues of female veterans and how they were often more reluctant to seek help than their male counterparts, because many times they are single parents and afraid that they could lose their children in the process. The organization has found acquired its first housing unit. See Operation120 for more information.

A discussion on a resolution regarding awareness and opposition to anti-semitism was postponed for more in-depth discussion next month.