Next City Council Mtg on Thursday, Nov 4 at 6pm

The November City Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 4 at 6pm. You can watch it livestreaming either during or after the meeting, if you are unable to attend.

Announcements and Presentations:

• An Update by Weiss School Students from the Wolfpack Cubesat Development Team and the Aerospace and Innovation Academy.
• PBG Police Department recognized as the 2021 1st Place Winner of the Florida Traffic Safety Challenge.

Consent Agenda Includes:

• Resolution 63, 2021 – Emergency Purchase of Communication Radios from Citation Communications, Inc. by accessing a Contract with the Palm Beach County School District for the City’s Public Safety Operations – necessary to purchase 70 OpenSky radios due to an expected shortage and change in systems – $191.4K
• Purchase Award – Lease of Front-End Loader – Piggyback/Access Contract – 3 year contract with no option to renew – $131K
• Purchase Award – LED Sports Field Lighting Systems for Several City Parks – Piggyback/Access Contract – $337K
• Purchase Award – Installation of LED Sports Field Lighting Systems for Several City Parks – Piggyback/Access Contract – $244K

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 12, 2021 and associated Resolution 58, 2021 – 2nd reading and adoption – for a new convenience store with gas sales and an accessory car wash on 1. 76 acres. The property is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Northlake Boulevard and Congress Avenue. First reading was 5:0
• Ordinances 13/14, 2021 and associated Resolutions 60/61, 2021 – PGA National – PGA Resort Core – Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Amendment, Rezoning, PCD Amendment, and PUD Amendment. “The subject 2.08 acres of PGA National golf course property surrounds and abuts the PGA Resort Core property boundary. The requests to change the land use and zoning will allow these golf course areas to be incorporated into the commercial resort property. However, the existing functionality and compatibility of the PGA Resort Core and the golf courses is not fundamentally changing. The expansion of the resort property serves to enhance the amenities that are specifically provided for use by golfers, such as the member’s club and golf teaching facility. The use and function of the 2.08 acres of affected golf course property is not being negatively impacted.
• Resolution 55, 2021 – Site Plan approval for a 27-lot single family lot subdivision on approximately 26.82 acres within Panther National Master Plan Pod 13 located in Parcel A of the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD).
• Resolution 56, 2021 – Site Plan approval for for a 52-lot single family lot subdivision on approximately 41 .68 acres within Panther National Master Plan Pod 14 located in Parcel A of the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD).
• Resolution 62, 2021 – PGA Station – A request from PGA Building 6, LLC and PGA Building 9 & 10, LLC for approval of a PUD Amendment to modify the uses on Pods Band C, including a new 8-story, 396-unit multi-family building with a 606-space parking garage on Pod B, modify Building 9 on Pod B, and revise Pod C to include a new 200,000-square-foot, 8-story office building with a separate 998-space parking garage that includes 7,049 square feet of retail space along the north and west facades of the parking garage. The PUD is 30.03 acres, located on the south side of PGA Boulevard, east side of RCA Boulevard, and west side of Alternate A1A.

Please check the agenda before the meeting for additions or modifications.

“Infrastructure is Destiny”

Is there a ‘mobility infrastructure’ sur-tax in the County’s future?  There will be if Nick Uhren, Director PBC TPA, and associated municipalities in the County succeed in getting it on the ballot and passed, most likely in NOV, 2024.  During Presentations, Mr. Uhren gave an in-depth presentation on mobility plans for the County, with the theme “Infrastructure is Destiny”.  The current ‘Penny’ sales tax sunsets in 2026, or earlier if maximum revenue targets are reached before then.  He described the County’s current sur-tax as looking backward, doing repair and maintenance on existing projects.  The proposed sur-tax would be looking forward, to a ‘car-optional future‘.  Apparently, Palm Beach County is behind several major counties (Miami-Dade, Broward, Tampa, and Orange) in having such a tax – and it takes local dollars to bring in the necessary state and federal dollars required to implement major projects, by requiring ‘local matching dollars’.  Both the Council and City-Manager Ferris were all on board and the City’s mobility plan fits right in with the proposed concepts.  So ‘watch this space’….

City Manager Report

• The Gardens Green Market opened on October 3rd and is on Sundays from 8-1pm with live music
• Palm Beach Gardens Fall Festival will be on October 23 from 6-8PM.  See here for more details.
• Salute to Veterans on November 11 at 11am in Veterans Plaza – featuring the 13th Army Band

Consent Agenda related presentations:

• Natalie Crowley – Director of Planning and Zoning – Resolution 64, 2021 – Opposing Palm Beach County’s Comprehensive Plan Amendment to widen Northlake both East and West.  The County’s plans do not take into account turning lanes and would affect many communities in the City.  It also is premature, since Avenir is in the process of constructing a Connector Route between Northlake and Bee Line, which is designed to relieve traffic.  The western portion of the County’s plan is on the BCC Agenda for Nov 3 – NCNC and Carlton Oaks have already expressed opposition to the plans.  Residents can write to the Board of County Commissioners or come to the meeting.  Palm Beach Gardens plans to object through established inter-local agreement processes.
• Purchase Award for the Design and Construction of the Burns Rd Aquatic Center –  Km! Ra – Purchasing Director gave a brief overview of the purchase award.  Moneys for the construction came from the existing penny Sales sur-tax.

Consent Agenda Passed 5:0

Ordinances and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 12, 2021 – first reading – regarding a new flag-ship 7-11 featuring fresh food/Laredo Taco to be built on the site of the long-vacant Applebees on the northeast corner of Northlake Blvd and Congress.   The store would be more like a local market than a convenience store.  A deceleration lane would be added to the entrance which would aid traffic both to the 7-11 and Pep-Boys.  Passed 5:0
• Board appointments were made and/or reapproved for AIPP, Parks and Rec, PZAB and Fire Pensions – all passed 5:0
• Resolution 53, 2021 – approving and ratifying the collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of PBC local 2928 for fiscal years 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024.  Sheryl Stewart, HR Administrator made the presentation;  Jeff Green, PBG Resident, firefighter and District VP for Local 2928 made public comment praising the agreement which was reached with little strife and very quickly.  Passed 5:0

There was no other business discussed nor was there a City Attorney Report.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday October 7 at 6pm

The October City Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 7 at 6pm.   You can watch it livestreaming either during or after the meeting, if you are unable to attend.

Presentations: Funding for countywide mobility by Nick Uhren, Director PBC TPA.

Consent Agenda includes

• Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Three-Year Small Enterprises Agreement (County and Municipal Governments) with Environmental Systems Research Institute Incorporated (ESRI) for a Geographic Systems Enterprise License for the Planning & Zoning Department’s GIS Division. Max $152K, This Resolution authorizes the City Manager to execute future license renewals, as is the normal practice with other proprietary software application agreements.
• Resolution 60, 2021: Lease Purchase of a Combination Pumper from Seagrave Fire Apparatus, LLC under a Contract with the Houston-Galveston Area Council Cooperative Purchasing Program and Financed by Truist Bank for a Period of 10 Years. Total Contract Price: $876,207.40
• Purchase award – Design and Construction of Aquatics Center DEPARTMENT: Community Services Building at Burns Road Community Center – openly competed – $2.6 million
• Purchase award – Power Store Data Storage Appliance – piggy back/access contract, $97k

Ordinances and Resolutions

• Ordinance 12, 2021 First reading – McPhail Associates, LLLP is requesting approval of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Plan Rezoning of Northlake Square, which encompasses 3.89 acres, as well as a PUD Site Plan and a Major Conditional Use approval for a new convenience store with gas sales and an accessory car wash on 1.76 acres. The property is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Northlake Boulevard and Congress (old Applebee’s site). Accompanying companion resolution 58, 2021
• Resolution 53, 2021 – Agreement between
  the City and the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of Palm Beach County, Local 2928, IAFF, Inc., for Fiscal Years 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024. Agreement includes: “Starting the first full pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2021 , all employees will receive a wage adjustment to their base salary as a result of being slotted into the current pay ranges, resulting in an average increase of 7.5 percent. In the second and third years of the Agreement, starting the first full pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2022, and 2023, all employees
  will receive a 2 percent market adjustment to base salary, and in addition, a 3 percent increase to base salary up to the maximum for their position. The pay range minimums and maximums for all positions will be increased by 2 percent in the second and third years of the Agreement. The new salary plan eliminates the lump sum payments for those who exceed the maximum salary of their position’s pay range, re-allocating those funds for the first year’s slotting and wage adjustments. The proposed salary increases will cost a total of approximately $2,868,875 over the three-year Agreement, including pension, FICA, and paramedic pay adjustments.
• Several appointments to advisory boards.

Please check the agenda check the agenda before the meeting for additions or modifications.