First Budget Hearing and City Council Mtg on Thurs 9/10 at 6pm

The meeting on Sept 10th will be the first of two City Council meetings in September in order to accommodate the required two budget hearings.  The second meeting this month will be on Thursday, September 24th at 6pm.

New Business – Ordinances and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 7, 2020 – Public Hearing for First Reading – Adopting the Fiscal Year 2020/2021 Budget.
  • Staff recommends a motion that the City of Palm Beach Gardens adopt a proposed operating and total millage rate of 5.55, which is greater than the roll-back rate of 5.4254 by 2.3 percent.
  • The proposed budget can be found here.
  • Finance Administrator Allen Owens has placed his budget presentation on Youtube.
  • See our analysis:  Modest 3.1% Tax Increase in 2021 Budget
• Ordinance 10, 2020 – City-initiated Text Amendment to the Future Land Use element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to incorporate a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) objective and associated policies based on the recommendations included in the City’s TOD Master Plan, prepared by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. – “The amendments will help provide transit supportive development, multi-modal transportation, a pedestrian-friendly environment, and an economically sustainable future. The proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment implements the TOD Master Plan concepts of TOD land use patterns, increased density, increased height, incentives for workforce and affordable housing, and other design strategies, as recommended in the report.”
• Resolution 51, 2020 – A request by Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) for Site Plan approval to allow the development of a minor utility electric substation. The subject site is 4.8 acres and is located west of the Coconut Boulevard extension, approximately 500 feet from the Avenir Planned Community Development’s (PCD) western boundary, within the Neighborhood District (Parcel A) of the Avenir PCD.
• Resolution 52, 2020 – A request from Northlake Place 11, LLC for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Amendment and Major Conditional Use approval to allow a 10,000-square-foot day care facility with 175 students and associated site modifications within the Banyan Tree PUD Phase II. The subject site is located at the northwest corner of Northlake Boulevard and MacArthur Boulevard. ” The Learning Experience day care will accommodate a maximum of 175 students. The facility plans to provide half- and full-day care and includes a 6,323-square-foot outdoor play area.”
• Resolution 53, 2020 – A request for a site plan amendment to approve single-family home floor plan models and architectural elevation themes, typical lot landscaping, an entry feature, and a model home and sales center for La Terre at Avenir (Residential Pod 2 – Site Plan #1) within the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD)

‘Old Business” – Second Reading and Adoption:

• Ordinance 8, 2020 – City-initiated Comprehensive Text Amendments to the Future Land Use, Transportation, Conservation, and Capital Improvements elements to provide internal consistency with the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Mobility Plan, and Mobility Fee.
• Ordinance 9, 2020 – A City-initiated request to amend various sections of Chapter 78 to provide consistency with the City’s adopted Mobility Plan and Mobility Fee.

Consent Agenda includes:

• Purchase award – Public Art – Repair, Maintenance, and Conservation – openly competed – 5 yr contract with no option to renew – $576K
• Purchase award – Replacement Air Conditioning Units for City Hall and Police Department – Piggyback/Access contract – $72K
• Purchase award – Installation of New Air Conditioning Units at City Hall and Police Department – Piggyback/Access contract – $181K
• Purchase award – Building Management System for New Air Conditioning Systems at City Hall and Police Department – Piggyback/Access contract – $67K
• Purchase award – Emergency Medical Services Expendable Supplies – Piggyback/Access Contract – 2 yr contract – $280K
• Purchase award – Fleet Information Management System – Piggyback/Access contract – 5 years – $234K
• Purchase award – Microsoft Enterprise License – Piggyback/Access contract – 3 years – $586K
• Purchase award – Group Health Insurance Plan (Self-Funded) – Stop Loss Insurance Coverage – openly competed – 1 year contract with no option to renew – $553K
• Purchase award – Technical Services Support for AEDs, CPR Systems, and Stretchers – Bid Waiver – ” Stryker Corporation is the manufacturer and seller of the equipment. For life safety reasons, the City is best served by having the manufacturer service the equipment to ensure compliance with servicing schedules, warranty, and patient safety standards. Based on these life safety concerns, the City will single-source the technical services support from the manufacturer.” – 3 yr contract with no option to renew – $234K
• Resolution 58, 2020 – Approving and ratifying a collective bargaining agreement between the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)/Florida Public Services Union (FPSU) and the City of Palm Beach Gardens for Fiscal Years 2020-2021 , 2021-2022, and 2022-2023. 3 year contract – $834K

Please check the agenda for any changes or additions prior to the meeting.

Turnpike Widening by 2024, Relief Fund and Capital Improvement Updates

The Consent Agenda and the only resolution on the agenda – Resolution 47, 2020 updating the fees and charges schedule passed 5:0 with no discussion. The bulk of the meeting was related to presentations and the City Manager report.

Turnpike Widening Project

The turnpike will be widened from 4 to 8 lanes to serve anticipated demand by 2040. The presentation was specific to the area affecting Palm Beach Gardens from the Beeline Highway exits to Indiantown Rd. Due to the widening, all overpass bridges will need to be replaced. The new lanes will be added on the west side of the turnpike. The questions by the Council and the City Manager were specific to noise levels and the project will be doing ‘noise wall’ needs assessments. While this was a short update, there will be meetings with those in impacted areas as well as public meetings in the 2021 time-frame.

Mission Lifeline Gold Plus award from the American Heart Association

This is the 4th consecutive year that PBG Fire/Rescue has received this award which is given to Fire and EMS agencies that meet strict guidelines when treating patients suffering a heart attack. Congratulations to the department! Cory Wilder, Director of Public Services, spoke about the award, and also reiterated that no one should hesitate in calling 911 – the hospitals and Fire/Rescue are safe!

City Manager Report

• City Manager Ferris summarized how many companies and people were aided by the Small Business Relief Fund and the Unemployed Resident Relief Fund
  • In total $989K went to 69 small businesses
  • 1248 residents received $200 Publix gift cards for a total of $312K with the efforts of a lot of volunteers – city staff, council and Christ Fellowship Church
• Covid-19 update
  •  Since March 10 – Fire/Rescue has had 179 covid-19 encounters (calls – not necessarily positives); 2 F/R personnel in quarantine
  • PBGMC has 32 Covid positive patients, 43 beds available but none in ICU – 4 deaths in total
  • Jupiter Medical center – 24 covid patients, 73 beds available, 7 beds in icu – 26 deaths in total
  • The city has 9 ALF/nursing homes with 1439 residents – current status 3 covid-19 patients
• Capital Improvements Update
  • Deputy Community Service Administrator Angela Brown and colleague Jennifer Nelli presented. See the Palm Beach Post article outlining the status of the major projects they covered here.

During items of Resident Interest – Council Member Reed encouraged everyone to Vote!

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday August 6 at 6 PM

Note that from now on Council Meetings will commence at 6pm.  The meetings are also streamed live or as a video archive. Go to Livestream.

The August 6 City Council Agenda is relatively short. The listed items are:

• Presentation – Florida’s Turnpike Widening Project by Brandon Bobo of HNTB
• Presentation – 2020 Mission: American Heart Association Lifeline EMS Award
• Public Hearings and Resolutions – Resolution 47, 2020 –  Adopting the Fiscal Year 2020/2021 Fees and Charges Schedule
  • Parks and Recreation – New fees are reflected for new facilities, such as the showcase baseball field , covered cages, and Miracle League field, no fees increased, chart streamlining;
  • Fire Dept: Removal of Motor Vehicle Accident and Fire Fees;
  • Police Dept: Increases hourly rates for extra-duty personnel as follows: Captain or Major – from $57 /hr. to $65/hr.

Consent Agenda includes:

• Resolution 32, 2020 – Replacement of the Business Management and Community Development software module for the City’s Enterprise Resource Planning Solution through a Software as a Service Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc. – Contract cost: $854,525; $150,800 Subsequent Fiscal Years (Recurring License Fees).
• Resolution 50, 2020 – Establishing the regular meetings of the City Council to convene at 6:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.

Please check the agenda for any changes or additions prior to the meeting.

Renaming City Hall, Potential Tax Hike, and More

Many disparate subjects were covered in the July 16 City Council Meeting. A quick summary can be found in the Palm Beach Post’s “Gardens council caps property tax rate at last year’s level… what it means for your taxes”    All Resolutions and Ordinances were passed 5:0.

Please note that at the end of the meeting, Mayor Woods suggested and the Council voted to start future monthly City Council Meetings (and special meetings such as the bi-monthly budget workshops in September) at 6 PM.

Additional items not covered in the Palm Beach Post article and comments:

• Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link updated the Council on the upcoming elections. Over 300K vote by mail (VBM) ballots have been sent out so far. Every ballot is counted. VBM ballots received by Monday night as well as early voting results are posted at 7 right after the polls close on Tuesday. Those that arrive on Tuesday are counted with the rest of the election day results. VBM is postage prepaid; can be dropped off at the 4 SOE offices and also at any of the 18 early voting sites. Early voting is at 18 sites, from 10am-7pm on 8/3 – 8/16; wait times will be posted for early voting. Real time voter turn out is posted and updated every 15 minutes throughout the day – down to the precinct level. On Election day polls are open 7am-7 pm and one votes in one’s own precinct. Safety precautions will include: Temperatures will be taken of pollworkers and filling out health survey; masks, facial shields, gloves, hand sanitizer will be used. Voters will have to wear masks unless for a health reasons.  SOE will provide if don’t have masks. Voters will also be given single use pens and gloves for holding the stylus to sign in. There will be transparent shields between the inspectors and the voters and social distancing will be marked off. Ms Link also described the ‘Adopt a Precinct‘ program – where an organization can use their volunteers to staff a precinct, and use the money that would normally go to the poll-workers as a donation to their organization.
• City Manager Report:
  • City Manager Ferris gave an update on Covid-19 status as of Thursday July 16 – PBGMC had 35 covid cases, 53 beds available, 6 icu beds available and total of 4 deaths; Jupiter Medical Center had 30 cases; 68 beds available and 10 icu beds available with 23 deaths total;  of the 1449 residents in ALF/Nursing Homes there are 26 covid patients among 9 homes.
  • Charlotte Presensky.. Leisure Services Coordinator played a video entitled ‘we are parks and recreation’ celebrating what her team and the City does for the community in honor of Parks and Recreation Month.
  • Mayor Woods and Vice-Mayor Marino honored Candice Temple, Public Media Relations Manager and Madelyn Marconi for their work in creating the State of the City video presentation – which can be seen here.
• Proposed Millage for 2020/2021 and setting the date for the September Budget hearings: PBGWatch will do a more in-depth article prior to the September hearings.   But it needs to be noted that by holding the maximum Operational Millage flat at 5.55 for the last few years, the Council has been RAISING YOUR TAXES. Despite the political ‘device’ Vice-Mayor (and aspiring County Commissioner) Marino uses every time the budget is discussed by exclaiming that ‘we are lowering the millage and your taxes only go up because the value of your house went up’, taxes go up because the Council votes to raise them.  Taxes are the amount collected.  The City Council CAN VOTE TO LOWER THE TAX RATE – apparently a novel concept to all the recent Council Members other than Council Member Marciano, who has contemplated lowering millage in past years.
• Mayor Woods introduced Resolution 49, 2020 to name the City Hall, the Ronald M. Ferris Municipal Complex. He had Steve Mathison, Tom Kearnes (PGA Corridor), Noel Martinez (Palm Beach North CEO and President) and Tony Bedalla ( President – PBGYAA) lined up to offer their support. There was no advance notice nor opportunity for other Public Comment. See Iris Scheibl’s opinion piece – A Disturbing Trend.
• PBG Mobility Plan – While the two ordinances regarding changes made to existing documents to accommodate the City’s Mobility Plan were administrative in nature, Palm Beach County, represented by Khurshid Mohyuddin, Principal Planner, Transportation Planning Dept, made Public Comment objecting to the City’s Mobility Plan.

The next City Council Meeting will be on August 6th at 6 PM.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday, July 16 at 7pm

The next Palm Beach Gardens City Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, July 16 at 7 pm. Highlights include a presentation by SOE Wendy Link, the setting of max millage for FY 2020/2021 annual budget, and approvals for Avenir related resolutions

Announcements/Presentations:

• Wendy Sartory Link – PBC Supervisor of Elections – Plans for the Upcoming Elections

Consent Agenda includes:

• Purchase Award – Janitorial Supplies and Chemicals – Piggyback/Access Contract for Parks and Public Facilities Dept – 2 yr contract with no option to renew – $210K
• Purchase Award – Renovation of Aquatic Complex (Main Pool) – Architectural Services – Openly competed – $196K
• Resolution 36, 2020 – Purchase Award – Lease of Golf Carts for Sandhill Crane Golf Club accessing an agreement awarded by the City of Kansas City, Missouri, under an OMNIA Partners Group Purchasing Organization Cooperative Agreement with Club Car, LLC and financed through Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, Inc. – Annual Lease Payments: $95,813.52 Total Cost (over 36 months): $394,984.00
• Resolution 38, 2020 – A partial abandonment of a 20-foot drainage easement along the east property line of 3551 Northlake Boulevard (west of the South Florida Blood Bank) to facilitate redevelopment of this vacant site. The subject parcel, 3551 Northlake Boulevard, is located in unincorporated Palm Beach County and has received approval from Palm Beach County to construct an Olive Garden and out parcel for a Chipotle restaurant.
• Resolution 42, 2020 – Setting the council mtg dates for September Budget Hearings to Sept 10 and Sept 24 respectively
• Resolution 48, 2020 – Approving Fee Agreement with Lohman Law Group, P.A. for City Attorney Legal Services. “Currently, the firm’s blended hourly rate for general representation is $220 per hour and $232.50 per hour for litigation and administrative hearings. Effective October 1, 2020, the firm will charge a blended hourly rate of $250.00 per hour for all legal services provided, except for bond work which is billed as a flat fee, negotiated prior to work commencing as issuers council. The blended hourly rate will be subject to a 3% annual increase, effective 10/1 each year.”

Public Hearings and Resolutions – New Business Includes:

• Ordinance 8, 2020 – First Reading – The subject petition is a City-initiated Comprehensive Plan Text Amendment to the Future Land Use, Transportation, Conservation, and Capital Improvements elements to provide internal consistency with the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Mobility Plan, and Mobility Fee. “On September 19, 2019, the City Council adopted Ordinance 19, 2019, amending Chapter 78 of the Land Development Code, Division 4, Citywide Impact Fees to incorporate the City’s Mobility Fee Schedule and related text changes, consistent with the City Mobility Fee Technical Report. With the adoption of Ordinance 16, 2019 and Ordinance 19, 2019, the City’s Comprehensive Plan is being amended to provide consistency with the adopted Mobility Plan and Mobility Fee.”
• Ordinance 9, 2020 – First Reading – A City-initiated request to amend various sections of Chapter 78 to provide consistency with the City’s adopted Mobility Plan and Mobility Fee.
• Resolution 40, 2020 – Avenir Master Signage Program Approval – “A request to approve a Master Signage Program for the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD) that includes design and theming criteria for PCD entry feature signs, PCD wayfinding signs, residential pod entry signs, non-residential parcel ground signs, and other various community signs
• Resolution 44, 2020 – A request for a site plan amendment to approve an entry feature with guardhouse, architectural floorplans and elevations, typical lot landscaping, and a model home and sales center for Regency (Residential Pod 5, Site Plan #2) within the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD)
• Resolution 30, 2020 – Adopting a proposed maximum millage rate for the City of Palm Beach Gardens for FY 2020/2021 – The proposed operating millage rate for FY 2020/2021 is 5.550, which is equal to the current year rate. Once the tentative millage is filed with the County, these rates can be lowered at the budget hearings, but they cannot be increased.

Please check the agenda for any changes or additions prior to the meeting.

Council Approves Downtown Palm Beach Gardens ‘In Place’

The sole subject of the June 25 Special City Council meeting was Resolution 43, 2020 – to approve major changes for the “in place” portion of Downtown Palm Beach Gardens (aka Downtown at the Gardens). The resolution passed 5:0.

The applicant’s presentation was followed by a staff presentation. There was only public comment by one resident – Antionette Mauro, who lives in The Landmark. She voiced concerns that residents of the Landmark were led to believe that the carousel was going to be removed; when in fact it’s going to be moved even closer to their residence. Its new location would change the nature of that part of the lake from a meeting place and a serene space to an area with kids and an amusement ride.

The Council was convinced by staff’s assurance that the carousel must operate within city’s sound code limits and must stop at 8 pm during the week and at 9:30 pm on weekends with lights turned off at that time. The ‘choo-choo’ train is no more. The Council’s safety concerns about children running into the roadway to get to the carousel were also satisfied by the narrowing of the road and flashing signs at the crosswalks.

See photographs and other coverage of the plans at the Palm Beach Post article “New Downtown Palm Beach Gardens plans include interactive water feature for relocated carousel”.

Special City Council Mtg on Thursday June 25 at 6pm

There will be a single subject Special City Council meeting on Thursday for Resolution 43, 2020 – which is specific to Downtown Palm Beach Gardens (aka Downtown at the Gardens).

The Resolution reads: A request from Excel Gardens, LLC, owner of Downtown Palm Beach Gardens, to amend the Master Plan for the Downtown Palm Beach Gardens (DPBG) Planned Community Development (PCD) to realign the entry drive aisle from Alternate A1A; modify building elevations, hardscape and landscape plans; relocate the carousel to the Lakeside; provide a master signage plan; and update building square footages and use allocations. The Downtown Palm Beach Gardens site is 49.04 acres and is located east of Alternate A1A between Gardens Parkway and Kyoto Gardens Drive.

The complete package regarding the Resolution can be found here.

Check the agenda in case there are any changes made prior to the meeting.

City Establishes Food Services Stabilization Fund

First up, while a last-minute addition to the agenda, was Resolution 45, 2020 – the creation of the Food Services Stabilization Fund under the City’s existing $1 million Economic Recovery Act, which was approved last month. This second ‘wave’ of grants, amounting to $450K is targeted specifically to mid-size restaurants with 3-75 employees, in business for at least 18 months, owned by residents, and operational as of June 1.  As before – the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and the PGA Corridor, plus the City Manager and staff, were instrumental in defining the scope of the (up to) $15K grants.

The first wave of grants targeted smaller businesses; as of the meeting 54 applications were submitted, 21 were approved and approximately $404K has been paid out. There will not be a marketing campaign as was conducted for the first wave. Restaurants will be informed directly via the Chamber, PGA Corridor and the City of the new fund. Council Member Litt expressed concern about the accountability of the grant distribution if only the Chamber and PGA Corridor were spreading the word. City Manager Ferris assured the Council that all three organizations will use their lists and communications avenues to make sure restaurants are informed. Mayor Woods was concerned about the 18 month criteria and spoke on behalf of a specific restaurant that had been in business longer than a year but less than 18 months. Council Member Marciano expressed concern that there were other businesses not being covered by either program. Consensus in the discussion was that there would likely be a third ‘wave’ and a special City Council Mtg could be called to approve additional grants after the second wave grants had been issued, with other criteria. Here is a link to the Resolution  which passed 5:0

City Manager Report also included:

• A couple of videos capturing the City Staff and Council in the distribution of the $250 Publix Gift cards (of which 1124 have been distributed and the remaining 124 will be directed towards shut-ins who may not have been able to come in to apply); and the issuance of grants to small businesses.
• In light of the national focus on Police Departments, training and excessive force, Police Chief Shannon made a presentation on the City’s training and practices. He discussed the City’s certifications, 15 years of no non-compliances, multiple 1st line supervisors out in the streets all of the time, body-worn cameras, extensive review of any use of force, all officers are required to intervene with any other officer is using excessive or unnecessary force or doing anything outside policy. He also said that the City’s officers receive 10 times the amount of training that the state of FL requires and the policing policies stress the sanctity of life and the guardian mentality of the officers.

Ordinances and Resolutions:

• Council approved first reading of Ordinance 5 and 6 regarding the approval of a storage facility to take the place of the empty Crunch Fitness site. There was much discussion of the difficulty of access to the site but excellent visibility – both of which are necessary to make such a facility viable. At the same time, the proposed usage would reduce trips to the site on Northlake Blvd. While none on the Council were thrilled with yet another storage facility in the City, they and staff agreed that this was a good use of the difficult location.
• Resolution 35, 2020 – Avenir Pods 6,7 and 8 were approved 5:0 as well. The most unique aspect of the proposed gated community is the land bridges between the pods. Rather than roadway with culverts, each roadway going over the water has a park-like setting – where residents can view wide expanses of water and relax close to their homes.

Items for Council Action/Discussion and Items of Interest:

• Council Member Marciano informed the public that Vice Mayor Marino had submitted her resignation letter (‘resign to run’) effective October 2, 2020. Her last attendance on the Council would be October 1. City Attorney Lohman explained that the Council has the choice of appointing someone to fill the vacancy between Oct 2 and March 2021 when there would be a special election to fill the remainder of Marino’s term, or to leave it vacant until the special election. Marciano stressed that anyone who wants to run for the March election should probably start working on their campaign financing and efforts soon.
• Council Members Litt and Reed made statements expressly regarding racial and social justice, Council Member Marciano echoed their statements and said that the City leads by example and turns crises into the positive.
• Annual Evaluation of City Manager Ferris – all spoke effusively of Mr. Ferris’ leadership, respect by his staff, his results, and his actions so far this year with the pandemic, the Economic assistance to the community and the handling of the most recent social stresses.

City Attorney Report:   The Palm Beach County Tax Collector is suing the City over her ongoing refusal to dedicate a 26′ right of way in the new tax collector’s office.  City Attorney Lohman will be issuing a response shortly.

There will be a second City Council Meeting on June 25, 2020 – but the topic was not discussed, nor is the agenda available yet.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday June 4 at 7pm

The next City Council meeting will be on Thursday, June 4.  One may assume that social distancing will be maintained in Council Chambers, the meeting will be streamed with minimum staff present and some of the Council attending via video conference. The agenda includes the annual City Manager Evaluation at the end of the meeting.

(In order to watch the meeting live or any past meeting as an archived video, one can always go to  Livestream.)

Consent Agenda

• Purchase Award – Prefabricated Metal Buildings for Logistics Center – Openly competed – no option to renew – $372K
• Resolution 39, 2020 – A City-initiated request to approve an AlPP-funded bronze sculpture for the Miracle League baseball fields at the City’s Gardens Park located on Burns Road.

Public Hearings – Ordinances and Resolutions

• Ordinance 5, 2020 – First Reading – A request initiated by Roan Lane LLC to amend the Northlake Boulevard Overlay Zoning district (NBOZ) section of the City’s Land Development Regulations, Chapter 78. The proposed amendment will provide for a new use of Self-Service Storage within the west, central, and east districts of the NBOZ. “The Applicant, Roan Lane LLC, is seeking to demolish the existing Crunch Fitness gym building located at 9055 Roan Lane and redevelop the site with a self-service storage building with an accessory office which is being reviewed concurrently with this petition.”
• Ordinance 6, 2020 – First Reading – A request from Roan Lane LLC to rezone one parcel of land totaling approximately 1.66 acres from General Commercial (CG-1) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) Overlay with an underlying zoning designation of General Commercial (CG-1), along with Site Plan and Major Conditional Use approval for a 74,936-square-foot self-service storage facility with a 1, 129-square-foot accessory office. The subject site is generally located on the northeast intersection of Interstate 95 and Northlake Boulevard.
• Resolution 35, 2020 – Avenir Site Plan #3 Site Plan Approval – A request for Site Plan approval for a 390 – single-family unit residential subdivision within Parcel A (Pod 6, Pod 7, and Pod 8) of the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD). The subject site is approximately 152.55 acres and is located in the northeastern portion of the development area within the Avenir PCD. The Avenir PCD is generally located on the north side of Northlake Boulevard, east of Grapeview Boulevard, west of Bay Hill Drive, and south of Beeline Highway.

Items for Council Action/Discussion and Items of Interest

• Appointments to the Local Workforce Development Board
• City Manager Evaluation

Please check the agenda for any changes or additions prior to the meeting.

Council Moves to Assist Residents Impacted by Covid-19

The City Council once again conducted the May meeting via Zoom – with Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Marino, Council Members Marciano and Reed in attendance but socially distanced in chambers, and Council Member Litt via videoconference. Unlike last month, we were unable to determine whether there were any physical presentations as there was no split screen either on the Youtube or Livestream recordings of the meeting. (We hope that in June, split screens will resume – otherwise this may well simply have been an audio recording).

Presentations – Michael Futterman of Marcum LLC spoke to the external audit of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for 2019 – the CAFR (including the auditors’ summary on pages 1-3) can be found here.

Mayor Woods initiated a change, approved by the Council, to move Items of Resident Interest and Board Committee Reports, to the end of City Council Meeting Agendas every month. He’d received feedback from business attendees concerned that they have to sit through 45 minutes of reports while waiting for the business for which they came to being. (PBG Watch has always been for moving this portion of the meeting to the end, and former Council Member Lane, when he made a similar proposal in May 2017 to move both this section and City Manager’s Report to the end, was soundly rebuffed by then Mayor Marino and City Manager Ferris – see New Council Asserts Itself 

Resolution 37, 2020 was added at the beginning of the meeting and is entitled “Creating the Economic Recovery Act ‎(ERA)‎ Grant Fund”. City Manager Ferris described the intent, the procedures and the joint effort with Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, PGA Corridor, Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce and staff to brainstorm and come up with both the Palm Beach Gardens Small Business Relief Fund  and the Palm Beach Gardens Unemployed Resident Fund.  Both are intended to provide assistance to those who are suffering as a result of the Covid-19 shut-down and who have not qualified for other relief (such as the federal PPP). The $1.3 million for the grants are funded directly from the City’s budgeted Economic Development Fund (which will have a balance of $1 million remaining). See the Palm Beach Post coverage of the press conference that announced the effort last Friday, May 8, here.  There were further comments and discussion and the Council agreed to move to the Resolution immediately after the City Manager report and it was passed 5:0.

The Consent Agenda passed 5:0 after Council Member Litt requested that Resolution 31, 2020 Amending the Procedures for Quasi-Judicial Hearings and Ex Parte Disclosures be pulled from Consent; and Vice Mayor Marino pulled item S – Proclaiming Municipal Clerks Week. Resolution 31 resulted in a lot of discussion. Section B of the attachment formalized changes that were simply updates, as explained by City Attorney Max Lohman. However Section A 1 and 2 were new and were viewed as limiting and problematic by Litt and Marciano.

Section A 1 and 2 are as follows:

A. Pre-Hearing Procedures
1. All discussions between a Councilmember and an applicant or applicant’s representative about development proposals shall be held in the presence of the City’s professional staff.
2. Information about any private written, telephonic, or electronic communication received by a Councilmember about a development proposal shall be forwarded to the City Manager for inclusion in the official file in the Planning and Zoning Department.

The final motion was to pass Section B of the resolution, and Section A could be modified and discussed at a future Council Meeting to alleviate concerns but to still provide for the transparency that the City Manager and Attorney were trying to accomplish by the proposal. The final vote was 3:2 with members Woods and Marino objecting.

The proclamation was pulled in order for the Council to thank Clerk Snider for her service to the City.

Ordinance 4, 2020 (2nd reading and adoption of Land Development Regulations) and Resolution 17 – Reappointing members to the Budget Oversight Review Board – passed 5:0.

City Attorney Lohman said that due to Covid-19, the actions of the courts are moving at a glacial pace and Rustic Lakes and Sear related lawsuits were moving slowly.

Public Comment was made by resident Ed Dolezal – speaking about 5G technology. He has made comment on the topic before.

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