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.

Martino: Local Government At Its Best

Once again, the City Council of Palm Beach Gardens along with its Administration has embraced the mantle of Leadership when its residents and business community are most in need of it. At its May Council meeting, to combat the coronavirus contagion with a unified response of care, concern, and compassion, Mayor Carl Woods, Vice-Mayor Maria Marino, Council members Mark Marciano, Rachelle Litt, and Chelsea Reed, created the Palm Beach Gardens Economic Recovery Act Grant Fund. This Act will provide financial assistance to our unemployed residents and small businesses that have been directly affected by the personal and economic devastations of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The Palm Beach Gardens Economic Recovery Act Grant Fund will be funded with $1,300,000 from the City’s budgeted Economic Development Fund. It consists of two Relief Funds to provide help and support to our jobless residents and struggling businesses.

The Palm Beach Gardens Unemployed Residents Relief Fund is designed to assist residents who have lost employment due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Unemployed Residents Relief Fund will receive $300,000. The fund will provide a one-time Publix gift card worth $250 to a limited number of residents to counterbalance daily living costs. A complete list of criteria is available on the City’s website.

In a further demonstration of their leadership and conviction that the defeat of Covid-19 will take a collective force, Mayor Woods and the City Council have joined with the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and the PGA Corridor Association for the inspiration and implementation of the Palm Beach Gardens Small Business Relief Fund. It will be funded with $1,000,000. The Small Business Relief Fund will provide one-time grant payments of $20,000 to 50 small businesses within the city affected by the Covid-19 shut-down. For eligibility businesses must be locally owned or independently operated. Businesses must have been licensed in Palm Beach Gardens for 18 months or more, and have 25 employees or fewer. Businesses may not have already have been approved or received Covid-19 relief funds from other sources, such as, the SBA Paycheck Protection Program. A complete list of criteria is available on the City’s website.

From my perspective, Mayor Woods, the City Council, and the Administration should be applauded and congratulated. They have recognized constituent needs, deliberated to understand them, offered solutions to fix them, and implemented actions to remediate them. That is local government performing at its best; we in Palm Beach Gardens should be proud and appreciative.

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.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday May 7 at 7pm

The next City Council meeting agenda doesn’t specify whether the protocol will be the same as in April; one can only 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 is a light one.

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

Announcements/Presentations: FY 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

Consent Agenda:

• Purchase Award: Annual Asphalt Milling and Resurfacing (2020), Piggyback/Access Contract, no option to renew, $394K
• Purchase Award: Renovation of Fire Rescue Station No. 1, openly competed, no option to renew, $462K
• Purchase Award: Construction of Fuel Stations, openly competed, $243K, description: The City owns property at 3704 Burns Road that is being converted to a new Logistics Center. The location also houses the main fuel station for City vehicles. Funds have been budgeted to upgrade the facility, and part of those plans involve renovating the existing fueling station. The current station has its dispenser on the outside of the property. The plan is to construct a new fuel station inside the property, with new dispensers, utilizing the existing underground tank. The City recently completed the construction of a new Operations Center at 4050 Johnson Dairy Road. Part of the development plans for this location is the construction of an above-ground tank for diesel fueling.
• Purchase Award: Emergency Operations Center Roof Restoration Project, Piggyback/Access Contract, no option to renew, $117K
• Purchase Award: Lease of Multifunction Copiers and Printers, Piggyback/Access Contract through June 30, 2022, $180K
• Purchase Award: Ancillary Health Benefit Plans – Dental Insurance & Employee Assistance Program, openly competed, 3 yr contract with option to renew for another 3 yrs, $30K/year.
• Resolution 27, 2020: Approving the Costco Wholesale Club Planned Unit Development plat. The proposed plat is consistent with the approved PUD plan for the project. Staff is recommending approval.
• Resolution 28, 2020: Downtown Palm Beach Gardens – A request by Excel Gardens LLC to exceed the maximum number of special events permitted by Section 78-187 of the City’s Code. Summary: The maximum permitted by the City of Palm Beach Gardens Code Section 78-187 for commercial/office plazas with 11 tenants or more is 12 special events per calendar year. This request is effectively increasing the number of special events per calendar year by 24, for a possible total of 36 special events.
• Resolution 31, 2020: Amending the Procedures for Quasi-Judicial Hearings and Ex Parte Disclosures. Background: The City Council is required by law to conduct certain development petition public hearings quasi-judicially. These hearings require the City Council to base its decision on the evidence contained in the record of the proceeding, which consists of the testimony adduced at the hearing and on the material contained in the official file of the City. Procedures have been developed to ensure that the City Council quasi-judicial hearings are conducted in accordance with the law. The City Council has determined that it is appropriate to incorporate additional disclosure requirements into the review process preceding a quasi-judicial public hearing. See Attachment A in the resolution for changes to the procedures.

Public Hearings and Resolutions

• Ordinance 4, 2020: Amendment to the City’s Land Development Regulations – Second and Final Hearing
• Resolution 17, 2020: Approving appointment of regular members to the Budget Oversight Review Board. For more details see the resolution.

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

“Zooming” It In***

The ‘novel’ corona virus resulted in a novel approach to conducting the April 2 Palm Beach Gardens City Council meeting.  While most in-person meetings were cancelled in the City, the council meeting was going to be held in the council chambers with minimum representation and adequate social distancing.  Council members Mark Marciano, out-going Matthew Lane, Rachelle Litt and in-coming Chelsea Reed participated remotely.  Council members Maria Marino and Carl Woods were in the chambers, along with City Manager Ferris, and minimal staff.   The Council was mostly visible on the livestream screen, along with presentation materials as needed, and the meeting proceeded fairly smoothly.

Congratulations to new Mayor Carl Woods, Vice Mayor Maria Marino, Vice Mayor Pro-Tem Rachelle Litt and new Council Member Chelsea Reed!   See the Palm Beach Post article for more information on the selection of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor and the meeting.

Public Comment was made via email and read by Mayor Woods:

• Marsha Thrower  – urged the City to issue a Stay At Home order and to close all non-essential businesses
• Former Mayor Marcie Tinsley – wished every well, thanked Matthew Lane for his service to the City and welcomed Chelsea Reed

City Manager Ferris described the adjustment to City Operations – schedules and staffing, summarized in his status report which can be read here.  He also thanked all the first-responders as the  heroes in these unusual times and that we all owe a lot to them.  He also thanked all the other employees who have been making everything work despite the limitations.  The City has reached out to Gardens and Jupiter hospitals who have adequate supplies.

Consent Agenda passed 5:0.  Council Member Reed asked that Resolution 11 be pulled – regarding future sidewalk and bike-path on Kyoto Gardens Drive – giving kudos to staff for their application to TPA and for furthering the City’s mobility plan.  Council Member Litt asked that Resolution 29 be pulled to have City Manager Ferris or City Attorney Lohman explain the purpose of the Resolution.  It would allow the City Manager to have the authority to continue the Covid-19 Emergency status as long as necessary, rather than needing council approval every seven days.  Both pulled items also passed 5:0.

Both Ordinance 4, 2020 first reading regarding updating land-use regulations to be consistent with recent state legislation, and Resolution 23, 2020 regarding Nuvo Business Center at the Gardens, passed 5:0 with minimal comment.

The Council then segued to external board and committee appointments, after which a discussion ensued regarding how to better inform the Public about Covid-19 related issues.  Most on the Council were getting questions from the Public – unrelated to the operations of the City and described their attempts to communicate with current information.  When it seemed that they were going to assign the task of dealing with the issue to the City Manager – he pushed back.  His job was to run the city, and he recognized that people were frustrated and scared about all kinds of things related to Covid-19.  He is not a physician, nor should the City be trying to get information on the location of affected patients, nor where is toilet paper.  The information on those kinds of issues are on tv, the radio, on the internet and social media.  He said that he gives the Council all the information he has and it’s their role to use what communications media they have to respond to their constituents.  Mayor Woods agreed, as did the Council, to continue to direct the public to the information they did have.

The business of the city goes on and all should be commended for their flexibility and patience during these unusual times.

(*** we have not confirmed that the City used Zoom for the City Council Meeting yet – but will update this comment if we’re able to find out which application was actually used)

 

 

 

Martino: Message to Small PBG Business Owners

If you are a small business owner that has been ordered by the government to shut your doors because of the Covid-19 virus pandemic, there is a glimmer of hope for you. The President and the United States Congress, your Federal government, wants you to remain in business with your employees intact. They realize that it is the small businesses around our country that help to provide fuel that drives the engines of our great American economy. Our Federal, State, and Local governments understand that nearly 70% of the American work force is employed by small businesses. Through no fault of their own, these small businesses have been severely and dangerously disrupted by the Covid-19 virus.

The President and the United States Congress recently passed into law the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Using $350,000,000 of those funds, they created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP orders the Small Business Administration (SBA) to loan monies from these funds at extremely low interest rates. The Federal government wants the PPP monies disbursed quickly. If you meet the modest conditions of the loan the entire loan amount may be forgiven.

Conditions and qualifications to receive a PPP loan for your business are minimal with little to no red tape. However, this is a no frills loan. It must be used to underwrite normal business operations, such as, payroll for you and your employees, money for rent, mortgage obligations, utilities and other debt obligations you may have. Starting Friday, April 3rd, these monies will be available for small business owners with 500 employees or less. This can be an S Corp, C Corp, LLC, sole proprietorship or independent contractor.

If you are a small business owner who has worked 24/7 to build a viable and successful business, I urge you to investigate this loan opportunity. If it makes sense to help save your business, then take advantage of the SBA rescue money. It’s available at most FDIC banks, your bank or any local bank of your choosing. Bring the obvious business records with you.  Click on the link more information on the Paycheck Protection Program .

I am sure that I share the same expressions of care and concerns of all Palm Beach Gardens residents for our stressed business community. We want our local businesses to be there when we once again can avail ourselves of their products and services. It is true; the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our daily lives, temporarily. Normalcy will return. For our small businesses, please know that we anxiously wait to once again see your sign…

YES, WE ARE OPEN

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