Avenir and $64 Million in City Projects the ‘Big Ticket’ items at the 1/10/19 Council Mtg

The first meeting of 2019 included several presentations, a progress report on Avenir, an update on City Projects, and the usual first budget amendment of the year.

City Projects

David Reyes, CS Administrator/Dir. of Emerg. Mgmt, gave a comprehensive update on City Improvement Projects including those funded by the 1 cent sales tax. The over $64 million in projects are project managed by the team of Mr. Reyes, Angela Brown, Deputy Community Services Administrator, and Jennifer Nelli, Operations Manager, while simultaneously performing their current responsibilties. City Manager Ferris pointed out that other municipalities frequently hire additional staff to oversee such projects, but the Gardens instead is using current staff. Involved in every one of these activities is Todd Engle, City Engineer – who Mr. Ferris described as ‘the Everready (Energizer) Bunny” and the ‘Tasmanian Devil’ for Mr. Engle’s ability to be everywhere at once. A list of the activities can be found at Current City Projects  with a section for One Cent Sales Tax items. Among the items coming before the Council in February are the City Hall Remodeling and Expansion (estimated completion Spring 2020), Police Station Renovations (estimated completion Summer 2019) and the Tennis Center Clubhouse (estimated completion Summer 2019).

Avenir

Ken Tuma, Managing Principal, Urban Design Kilday Studios, reviewed the Conceptual Master Plan of the Avenir Site, before presenting the waivers sought in Site Plan #1 – which will consiste of 4 gated subdivisions. While a golf course has been mentioned before, Mr. Tuma went into slightly more detail on an extremely high-end ‘core golf course’, with 228 homes – similar to ‘Old Palm’. He also showed the placement of two Crystal Lagoons, one which will be incorporated into a subdivision, but the other which will be located in the Town Center, with a beach club, restaurants, a hotel and other items around it. Fifty-one percent of the property is dedicated to ecological restoration and open space, and over 2000 acres are restricted, under the auspices of the South Florida Water Management District. The preserve area, with nature trails, as well as all non-gated areas (subdivisions) will be open to and acessible to the public. View Mr Tuma’s presentation here.

Other items:

• Allan Owens, Finance Director described Ordinance 1, 2019, detailing the $39 million brought forward from 2018 projects
• City Manager Report – Among the topics discussed, Joe Corrao, Director of Public Services, described the transition from Pubic Auction of used city items, to selling such items online, via the GovDeals.com auction website. It operates similarly to Ebay and items can be purchased by anyone. Check it out!
• Presentations included:
  • RECOGNITION OF THE PALM BEACH GARDENS GATORS: 2018 POP WARNER FOOTBALL JUNIOR VARSITY DIVISION SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS.
  •  WEISS SCHOOL UPDATE ON THE LAUNCH OF THE CUBE SATELLITE.
  •  HONDA CLASSIC COMMUNITY IMPACT PRESENTATION.
  •  VETERANS ADMINISTRATION PRESENTATION.
  •  USTA UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION AWARD TO THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS TENNIS CENTER AS THE MEMBER ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR AWARD.
  •  UPDATE ON CIP AND ONE CENT SALES TAX PROJECTS
• During Items of Public Interest and Board Committee Reports, Council Member Lane suggested that there be a Workshop in the near future on what he called Essential Services Housing strategy – which we assume means “Workforce Housing”.

All Resolutions and Ordinances passed 5:0.  There was no City Attorney Report.

Next City Council Mtg on Jan 10 at 7pm

Public Hearings and Resolutions (not in order):

• Ordinance 1, 2019 – An amendment to the Fiscal Year 2018/19 budget to adjust fund balance carryovers to actual amounts; re-appropriate amounts committed from the FY 2017/2018 budget for outstanding purchase orders and open projects; and for other purposes.   This is done every year – however this is also where ‘interesting’ uses are found for the General Budget Stabilization Reserves, such as a transfer of $1,600,000 from the Budget Stabilization Reserve Account to construct a Fire Training Tower located at the Public Safety Training Center on Richard Road. There is also the comment: “It is important to note that the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) contract is currently under negotiation and the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) contract will be negotiated in early 2019. The ultimate cost of these agreements could materially affect the balance in the Budget Stabilization Reserve. In addition, the balance in Unassigned Reserves does not reflect any potential settlement cost related to the Sears litigation; any such cost could significantly impact this balance.” Read the details here. 
• Resolution 3, 2019 –  A request for Site Plan approval for 416 single-family dwelling units within Parcels A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4 of the Avenir Planned Community Development (PCD). The subject site is approximately 230.49 acres and is located in the southeast portion of the Avenir PCD. Each individual parcel is a separate gated neighborhood with access from Spine Road #4 with separate recreation and open space amenities. 
• Resolution 4, 2019 – A request for a Miscellaneous petition to approve building identification signage for the Divosta Towers project within the Gardens Corporate Center Planned Unit Development (PUD). The Gardens Corporate Center is located on the northeast corner of PGA Boulevard (PGA Bypass) and Alternate A1A
• Ordinance 26, 2018 – Second Reading and Adoption of a request for a Voluntary Annexation of two segments of the Northlake Boulevard Rights-of-Way totaling 23.48 acres, more or less, located between Grapeview Boulevard and Avocado Boulevard and between 130th Avenue North and 120th Avenue North west of the Sandhill Crane Municipal Golf Course, from Palm Beach County

Items for Council Action/Discussion:   

• None listed

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

Hilltop Property Sale Resolution Cried Out for a Workshop

The September 20th City Council meeting was the second of the month, primarily due to the need for the final hearing on the Budget. Budget related items went quickly, all passing 5:0. Comment was made by resident Barb Grossman regarding the money spent on the Charter Referendum campaigns.   For more on the budget see “$2.5 Million Increase in 2019 Budget“.

Last on the listed agenda was Resolution 60, 2018 – Sale of the city-owned Hilltop Property.  The 6-acre property currently contains 3 Seacoast Utility wells and the property is adjacent to another Seacoast well field. Seacoast provides water to Palm Beach Gardens.  Everything about the item was handled in an unusual fashion.

• There was no staff presentation until Purchasing and Contracts Director Km! Ra did a brief review of the bidders.
• Mayor Marino referred to the packet that all the Council had. Obviously we in the public did not have such a packet unless it was what was submitted as part of the agenda. (Inquiring minds want to know.)
• Comment cards were handed in during the presentation, and all three bidders were allowed to speak – almost in a free form fashion when addressed.
• Speaking for Gardens Business Center One LLC was Steve Craig; speaking for Johan Kriek’s and Ira Saferstein’s Tennis Academy proposal were Johan Kriek and Wendy Link; speaking for Seacoast Utilities was Rim Bishop, Executive Director of Seacoast Utility.
• There was no expert testimony – all on Council deferred to the remarks made by the Seacoast’s Mr. Bishop. He made many what seemed to be ‘off-the-cuff guestimates’ that were used as facts with lifetime use of the wells ranging from 30-35 years to 50 years to 100 to over 100 years….
• No future advances in technology or usage were technically addressed.

For those interested – view council deliberation on Resolution 60, 2018 here.

The discussion was wide-ranging and would have lent itself to expert testimony, further input and preparation by the potential buyers before having the Council decide. In fact – this was the closest to a real workshop that this Council has had – however the right action, speaking as an observer, would have been to have held off and had further discussion prior to awarding the property to Seacoast Utility (of which the City is part owner).

After the peak of the discussion, Mayor Marino made a motion to offer the property to the highest bidder, the Tennis Academy and challenge City Manager Ferris to negotiate the best deal allowing for maximization of sites for future wells for Seacoast; if that didn’t work out then they would go to the next highest bidder (Gardens Business Center One) and negotiate the same way. Council Member Litt, citing her representation on the Water Resources Task Force had an issue with a public utility being beholden to a private property owner for future well usage. Council Member Woods was exploring private deals between the bidders that could get the Tennis Academy. Council Member Marciano didn’t want to challenge the science, deferring to the comments by Mr. Bishop and protecting the water supply. Council Member Lane also leaned to Seacoast and prioritizing the water supply. Lane made the motion to negotiate with Seacoast, Litt seconded it and it passed 5:0. Ferris clarified that he would be executing a letter of interest with Seacoast, the low bidder. Mayor Marino ended the discussion with the statement “Water Trumps All”.   See Sarah Peters article “Gardens Selling 6 acres to utility” in the Palm Beach Post for additional information.

This was not the end of the meeting however. Council Member Litt wanted to discuss creating a formal City Council Resolution on an issue that has come before the Palm Beach County Commission regarding the Bear’s Club property and change in designation, supporting County staff in their recommendation to not accept a payment for property. While all on the Council did agree with the concerns, the conclusion of the discussion was that each on the council should write to the County Commission individually rather than taking a formal position. City Manager Ferris did point out that this Council has waded into political issues before.

Next City Council Mtg and Final Budget Hearing on Thursday 9/20

City Manager Report:  Nothing listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Resolution 48, 2018 – Adopting a tax levy and millage rate for the City of Palm Beach Gardens for the Fiscal Year commencing October 1, 2018, and ending September 30, 2019 and Ordinance 21, 2018 – Public Hearing for Second and Final Reading Adopting the Fiscal Year 2018/2019 Budget. 
• Ordinance 23, 2018 amends the FY 2018 Budget by transferring accumulated fund balance from the Extra Duty Fund to the General Fund, and recording the financial transactions related to the lease purchase of Fire Department vehicles. 
• Resolution 60, 2018 – Recommendation for the Sale of City-Owned Property at 9290 Park Lane (Hilltop Property).  City Administration seeks guidance from City Council and delegation of authority to the City Manager to execute the Letter of Interest and any subsequent contracts, agreements, or required forms with the interested party that City Council determines has made the best offer for the property, and which offer best serves the current and future needs of the community and the residents of the City of Palm Beach Gardens. 

Items for Council Action/Discussion:   

• None listed

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

When is a tax increase not a tax increase?

A lot of ground was covered in Thursday’s (9/6) City Council meeting.

We’ll start with the Fiscal Year 2018/2019 Budget Hearing – the first hearing of two, the second of which is scheduled for 9/20/18 at 7pm. There was no public comment and the proposed budget and tax rate passed 5:0.

As usual, Finance Administrator Allan Owens presented a thorough, easy to understand presentation of the proposed budget. His presentation can be seen here. What was out of the ordinary, however was Mr. Owens’ exception to some headlines in the Palm Beach Post discussing the City’s budget as a tax increase.

He stated that the headlines were misleading and that they were confusing to the Budget Oversight Committee.

Equally perplexing is this line from the Budget Oversight Committee’s final report “The City has taken affirmative steps to avoid a tax increase for the FY 2019 Budget”.  When operational millage stays flat (as it has at 5.55 and in the proposed out years), and valuations rise – then taxes – the actual dollars taken in, and the actual costs to the tax-payers GO UP. The slight decrease in debt service millage has little influence on the taxes paid by the tax-payer. As former County Commissioner Jess Santemaria used to say ” It’s the dollars not the millage”. PBGWatch’s article entitled  $2.5 Million Tax Increase in 2019 Budget , as well as our agenda item note “(Note – this means that as property valuations increase, your property taxes will go up accordingly – at differing rates depending on whether or not you own a homesteaded property). ” are in full agreement with the Palm Beach Post’s headlines. We hope that the wording in the Budget Oversight Committee’s report is a typo and that it should read “……steps to avoid a tax rate increase’….

The Election Results were approved 5:0 and 3 of the Council chose to speak on the topic during Items of Resident Interest and Board and Committee Reports. Mayor Marino, Vice Mayor Woods and Council Member Marciano, all somewhat defensively, reiterated that it was right to place the charter questions on the ballot and letting the voters decide, even if it was the ‘unpopular’ thing to do. Marino stated that Matthew Lane also wanted to alter term limits to 2- 4 year terms. Yes – that was true during discussions on what, if anything, to place on the ballot. However Council Member Lane voted NO on placing each/any of the charter referendum questions on the ballot both in March and August. The other 4 council members voted YES on all. During Public Comment, Fred Scheibl noted that he’d never seen such uniformity of results, with almost every precinct in the city rejecting questions 1 and 3 by over 15 points, and suggested the Council never do this again. Sid Dinerstein also discussed his assessment of the Election results, and stated his objection to the “… city treasury being used as the Council’s campaign account”.

Two others made Public Comment: Gerald Richman – speaking for Sears regarding Dick’s Sporting Goods and continued issues with the Forbes Company (see Why There’s Still No Dick’s Store at the Gardens Mall ); Steen Ericksson, representing the Fire Chiefs Association of Palm Beach County inviting people to the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at Christ Fellowship Church in Boynton Beach at 7pm.

Allan Owens and the Finance Department were awarded the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Award for the 21st Consecutive Year by Shannon Ramsey Chessman, Acting COO of the Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller’s Office. Mr. Owens thanked his team and specifically Mary Anderson-Pickle, Deputy Finance Administrator.

City Manager Ferris reported:

• The City’s Budget Department (Km! Ra) was awarded the Annual Achievement in Excellence Procurement Award
• Chief Frank Kitzerow of the Palm Beach County School District Police Department spoke on the outstanding support received from the City regarding the City’s supplying police for elementary school patrol and helping in the high schools as well.
• City Manager Ferris  also read many letters of Commendation and thank you letters from residents to the Police Department, Parks & Rec, Building Department, Tennis Center, Code Enforcement and the Fire/Rescue Open House.

Ordinance 22, 2018 – The Bonnette Hunt Club PUD Site Plan Approval discussion resulted in some heated disagreements between Mayor Marino and Council Member Lane. At issue was the very high density and the number of waivers being approved for this very small (6.78 acres) parcel. Also making public comment was John Guastella, President of the Mirabella HOA representing 492 homes – and that this was the first time he was seeing these plans in the entirety and wished the HOA would have had the opportunity to see it. He also expressed concerns about the landscaping on the berm, the two-story homes impact on Mirabella property values. First reading of the ordinance passed 4:1 with Lane voting No.

The Consent Agenda and all other resolutions and ordinances passed 5:0.

There was no City Attorney Report so no status on the two outstanding Elections lawsuits regarding the Appeal to the 4th District Court on the March Election or the status of the lawsuit regarding the August Special Election. See Gardens Election Lawsuit Continues.

Save the date – Thursday September 20th at 7pm for the Second City Council Meeting and Final Reading and Approval of the FY 2018/2019 Budget.

$2.5M Tax Increase in 2019 Budget

The 2019 PBG Budget raises $2.5M in new taxes, up 4.3% over last year. See the Proposed Budget here.

When the new budget was introduced to set the millage at the July meeting, it contained a generous increase in reserves, and had led one to hope that there was room for at least a token millage reduction, even with the potential for the passage of Amendment 1 in November. (Amendment 1 would increase the homestead exemption and reduce the tax take of the counties and municipalities.)

That is less likely now, as the Council (with a room full of uniformed officers staring them down) unanimously passed an emergency 12% raise for the Gardens Police in August. This was done with little advance notice and with little discussion, other than that the Sheriff was hiring with big bucks and many of the officers would be leaving the Gardens if they didn’t get more money. The net result (since the maximum millage had already been set) was to fund it from reserves.

You may recall that prior to the passage of the sales tax surcharge in 2016, PBG staff had said they didn’t need any additional sources of funds, and if it passed, would return some to the taxpayers in a millage reduction. That too changed of course when the full 10 year revenue stream was captured in a bond and allocated to projects starting immediately, including $11M for a new park.

Assuming the flat millage budget is passed, it will raise about $62M in Ad-Valorem taxes, up over 4% from last year. In the last year, inflation has increased by 2.8% and population by about 1.7%, so the increase is not out of line.

Since 2005, the population of Palm Beach Gardens will have grown by about 16% to its 2019 projection of 56,590 (est.) Inflation, measured by the consumer price index, will be about 33%. Taken together, TABOR would suggest a growth in city spending and taxation of about 55%. (see graph below).

Over the same period (2005-2019), ad-valorem taxes grew 76% and total expenditures (budget less debt payment, capital and transfers) grew 69%. Both are above the TABOR line, but note that in 2013, reductions in tax collection had actually returned to the trendline. It is only since then that we seem to be off to the races.

It should be noted that ad-valorem taxes fund only a part of city expenditures, the rest made up from impact fees, fees for services, other taxes, intergovernmental grants, etc. and have varied from 66% of the total in 2005 to about 69% now. That is why taxes and expenses do not track each other on the chart.

Another useful measurement is taxes per capita – Ad valorem taxes divided by population and then inflation adjusted. By this measure, in 2005 we paid $936 per person to our city and in 2019 it will be $1060 (2018 dollars). It should be noted that as property owners, we pay taxes to other entities besides the city – county, schools, health care district, etc. In 2019 the Palm Beach Gardens portion of the amount on our TRIM statement is about 27% of the total.

So if you trust TABOR, or per-capita as measuring sticks, is this growth in taxation excessive? You be the judge.

City Council Meeting and 1st Budget Hearing on Sept 6th

• Resolution 50, 2018 – City applied for and received grant for $250K for Stormwater Maintenance, Repairs and Operation Program. 
• Purchase Award – Mowing and Landscaping Services – Streets and Parks – Openly competed – did not choose option to renew – 5 year contract with option to renew for another 5 years – total 5 year contract value $3.7 million.

City Manager Report:  Nothing listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 21, 2018  – First hearing of Adopting the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018/2019.  The Operational millage remains flat at 5.55 and debt service millage is reduced .0503 for a total millage of 5.6003.  Property valuations are up 4.41% over last year.  It is the intention to maintain flat operational millage for several years.  (Note – this means that as property valuations increase, your property taxes will go up accordingly – at differing rates depending on whether or not you own a homesteaded property). 
• Resolution 56, 2018 – A request from Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management (PBCDERM) for a Major Conditional Use approval to allow various improvements for passive recreation activities and a small public parking lot within a portion of the Loxahatchee Slough Recreation Facility area located off of the Beeline Highway approximately one-mile north of the PGA Boulevard/Beeline Highway intersection.
• Resolution 57, 2018 –  A request from PGA Commons 2, LLC and PGA Commons 3, LLC for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Amendment at PGA Commons PUD to allow a new outdoor bar for Spoto’s Restaurant
• Ordinance 20, 2018 – First Reading of a request from 11940 Highway One Realty, LLC for a Voluntary Annexation of a 5.74-acre parcel located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Juno Road and U.S. Highway One approximately 0.5 miles north of the intersection of PGA Boulevard and U.S. Highway One. Most of us know this as Carl’s Plaza; it is in the long-term annexation plan for the City and is currently vacant.
• Ordinance 22, 2018 – First reading of Bonnette Hunt Club – Planned Unit Development (PUD) Rezoning and PUD Site Plan Approval – The Applicant is requesting approval of a PUD Site Plan to accommodate the development of a 24-unit single-family residential subdivision. The property is located on the south side of Hood Road, between Florida’s Turnpike and Jog Road. 

Items for Council Action/Discussion:   

• None listed

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

Police Life-Saving Action and 12% Salary Increase Bookends Council Meeting

The August 2nd Council Meeting began with an update by Sherri Pla (the City’s Head PGA Professional) on the Junior Ryder Cup Challenge Trip to Scotland. Also covered during Announcements and Presentations were the Florida Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Award (where the Gardens won first place in the category for departments with 101-200 officers) and American Heart Association’s Mission Life Gold Plus Award to Fire/Rescue for the 4th year in a row. Throughout the beginning of the meeting the exclamations of a young child could be heard. Thus Mayor Marino segued to an early City Manager Report.

Quick action by Officer Robert Ayala saved the life of young Lucia Graham while Officer Rafael Guadalupe called for Fire/Rescue and comforted her mother. See Gardens Cops who Saved Choking Baby…. for details and watch the segment of the Council Meeting recounting the event and honoring of these two officers here.

The last item on the Agenda was Resolution 45, 2018 approving and ratifying an agreement with the Police Benevolent Association granting an immediate 12% increase across the board and bringing the City to 2nd in salary only to Boca Raton among the local municipalities. This was presented to the Council as a ‘Fait Accompli’ and it was interesting that none on the Council even questioned the agreement nor addressed the implication on future labor negotiations. The only comments addressed impact on the budget, and then only as a done deal.  See details from the Palm Beach Post here.

All resolutions passed 5:0 including Adoption of 2018-2019 Fees and Charges, the Annual Community Development Block Grant Action Plan, and the first of many to come presentations before the Council on Avenir. City Attorney Lohman also gave an update on the Rustic Lakes Annexation lawsuit, where Rustic Lakes has 20 days to respond to the latest ruling against their suit.

There will be two Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Budget Hearings on September 6th and 20th.

Please vote on the three Charter Amendments on the ballot on August 28th!

Next City Council Mtg on August 2nd at 7pm

• Purchase Award – Life Insurance, AD&D, and Long-Term Disability  – 3 year contract with option to renew for 3 years – openly bid with estimated annual amount $112K
• Purchase Award – Group Health Insurance Plan (Self-Funded) – Stop Loss Insurance Coverage – annual renewal – but representing a 35.5% increase over last year’s rate, for $579K
• Purchase Award – Group Health Insurance Plan (Self-Funded) – taking option to renew for 3 years, no additional options to renew – $1.045 Million for the 3 years.
• Purchase Award – Property Maintenance Services for Code Compliance – openly competed – 5 year contract total $100K
• Purchase Award – Police SWAT Support Vehicle Unit – Piggyback/Access Contract – $123K
• Purchase Award – Modifications to Johnson Dairy Road (Amendment No. l) – piggyback/access contract – $108K

City Manager Report:  Nothing listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions: 

• Resolution 37, 2018 –  Adopting the Fiscal Year 2018/2019 Fees and Charges Schedule. This schedule includes recommended changes from departments to ensure that fees charged are sufficient to cover the costs of providing services.
• Resolution 38, 2018 – 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) 2018. The City must submit an 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 $221,943 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.
• Resolution 44, 2018 – A request from Avenir Holdings, LLC for approval of an amendment to the Avenir PCD to make modifications to the approved parcel configurations, internal roadway network, development standards and conditions of approval. 
• Resolution 47, 2018 – Approves an lnterlocal Agreement (Agreement) between the City and Palm Beach County to annex portions of the Northlake Boulevard Right-of-Way (ROW) adjacent to the City’s Municipal Boundary west of the City’s Sandhill Crane Golf Club. This Agreement will authorize the City to provide traffic enforcement and lifesafety services along the entire section of  Northlake Boulevard from Grapeview Boulevard at the western boundary of the Avenir PCD to the eastern boundary of Carleton Oaks.
• Resolution 45, 2018 – Aware that several employees are considering leaving the City’s Police Department to join another law enforcement agency, on June 22, 2018, staff requested meeting with the PBA to address this salary issue as quickly as possible. The City and PBA representatives met on July 3, 2018, specifically to open Article 32, Salaries, in the current collective bargaining agreement. During this meeting, the parties successfully reached a Tentative Agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to amend the Salaries Article, to provide all bargaining unit members a 12 percent salary increase effective the first full pay period following ratification, and to increase the salary ranges for each bargaining unit position. As a result, upon approval and ratification, all bargaining unit members will receive the 6 percent wage increase scheduled for October 1, 2018, under the current  contract, plus an additional 6 percent wage increase for a total of 12 percent, starting August 6, 2018, which will be reflected in their paychecks dated August 24, 2018. These salary increases are projected to cost approximately $1,665,000 in FY 2018-2019, and an additional $277,443 in the current year’s Police Department Budget. Because this MOU amends salaries for the last year of the existing contract, there would not be an additional wage increase for FY 2018-2019.

Items for Council Action/Discussion:   

• None listed

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

Palm Beach Gardens Looking to the Future, and in the News

Optimally timed to coincide with his annual evaluation, City Manager Ferris had a comprehensive City Manager Report including an update on a subset of the $54.5 million in Capital Improvement Projects (covering key projects in the City’s budget as well as those funded by the Sales Tax Surtax), a set of news clips from WPTV (click here to watch them) covering a variety of subjects – baseball tournaments, electric cars for Fire/Rescue, free smoke alarms), and an update on the ability for those needing to call 911 to do so by texting when unable to make a phone call. There are definite limitatons to texting including no location provided. Please see this article for more on the ability.

Each of the Council, towards the end of the meeting, gave Mr. Ferris a glowing evaluation with the concensus being that they hoped he stayed as long as he wishes.

The Council also came to agreement on Resolution 26, 2018 – Firearm Legislation – after spending another 30 minutes discussing changes initiated by Council Member Litt to the current draft. They passed the resolution 5:0. Prior to their discussion, resident Paula Magnuson gave heartfelt and patriotic support for the Second Amendment. Mayor Marino once again demonstrated that some are indeed ‘more equal’ than others, by encouraging the members of Moms Demand Action to applaud the passage of the resolution while at the same time exclaiming that they should understand why she sent them emails telling them why they can’t applaud. (The rules, time and again, clearly seem to apply only to those with whom the Council disagrees.)

City Attorney Lohman gave an update on the Rustic Lakes legal challenge to the Annexation which occured in March, 2018. See Rural Rustic Lakes Just Annexed Sues...  Mr. Lohman explained various techicalities and missed deadlines by Rustic Lakes.  Council Member Litt inquired into the status of the appeal of Question 3 from the March 2018 referendum. Mr. Lohman said that he filed for an extension and the City must reply by August 22, after which Mr. Dinerstein has an opportunity to repond. He also expected that another lawsuit would be filed on an emergency basis right before the August 28th referendum.

Another item first brought up at last month’s Council Meeting was the Security Agreement with the School Board of Palm Beach County. Resolution 42, 2018, passed 5:0, allows the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an agreement for the City’s police to provide security at the Palm Beach Gardens elementary schools – where the police providing the security would be paid overtime and do so on their time off, complying with their maximum hours allowed. Council Member Lane recommended that, if feasible, all public schools within the City be covered in the same manner. Staff’s response is that it could be evaluated at a future time, and cost and man-power would definitely be an issue.

The tentative maximum millage rate for the 2018/2019 Fiscal Year Budget was set at flat operational millage of 5.55, and a decrease in the debt service millage for a total millage of 5.6003 which is down from the current millage of 5.6678. The rates can be lowered during the budget hearings but not raised. The first Public Hearing will be on September 6, 2018 at 7pm. Resolution 31, 2018 passed 5:0 with no discussion.

Nick Uhren, Executive Director of the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, explained who the TPA is, it’s transition from Metropolitan Planning Agency (MPO) and the two related Resolutions 39, 2018 and Resolution 40, 2018 before the Council, which passed 5:0. Mayor Marino currently serves as TPA Board Vice-Chair; County Commissioner Valeche serves as Chairman. A subset of the municipalities in the Councy are participants on the board, and those cities are agreeing to pay per capita member dues to the agency starting in 2019 and into the future. In addition, the Council approved an interlocal agreement for administrative services for the TPA. For background on the TPA see this PB Post article on the decision to transition from under the County to an independent agency, Clerk Bock’s assessment of pros/cons of the move and a link to the TPA website). The TPA has in impact on all things transportation related and thus impacts everyone in the City.

Public Comment was made by resident Paula Magnuson, as President of her HOA, about a dumpster on an adjacent community which was not meeting code.

The Palm Beach Gardens Police Explorers were recognized for their first place finish in regional competition, and the Gardens Spirit Team presented a $500 check to the Florida Guardian Ad Litem Program.  Congratulations to both!  Electric Cars and the Fire/Rescue Mobile Training Facility were on display outside the building prior to the meeting.

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