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!

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.

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”.

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.

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.

“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)

 

 

 

Vice Mayor Litt Asks for the Mayor Job

The March City Council meeting ended with Items for Council Action and Discussion. During the February Council meeting, Mayor Marciano had stated that while he was honored to have served as Mayor, he did not want to be selected by the Council for the position again. (FYI – each April, the City Council selects its Mayor for the upcoming year.) The council members all thanked Mark for his service and praised his actions during the past year. While the results of the Group 3 Election will not be available until March 17 (incumbent Matthew Lane vs Chelsea Reed), the remainder of the Council will be unchanged and a new mayor will be chosen at the time. Vice Mayor Litt  spoke to her accomplishments and requested that the Council consider her for the next Palm Beach Gardens Mayor. Meanwhile, Council Member  and former-Mayor Maria Marino said that she looked forward to working with Mark (and everyone else) for the next couple of months. Since she is currently running for Palm Beach County Commissioner District 1, one can only assume that she was referring to ‘resign to run’. Mayor Marciano also alluded to upcoming discussions that will occur on how to fill the vacancy.

The meeting was called to order and closed out by “Mayor for the Day” Barron Roberts, a precocious and accomplished second grader from the Weiss School. Barron is already advanced in three forms of martial arts and trains for many hours in the week. His favorite part of being Mayor for the Day was visiting with the Canine Unit.

Vice Mayor Litt gave an update on the Palm Beach State College bus stop safety issue that she discussed last month. Palm Beach Gardens will pursue solutions on Campus Drive, while Palm Tran has asked for 4-6 weeks to look at possible route changes. Later, Brendan Rodriguez, speaking for the Student Government association, described the positive experience working with the City and other entities to come up with possible solutions.

Council Member Marino thanked a long list of the City’s employees who made the Honda Classic such a success and City Manager Ferris added to the list during the City Manager Report. He also showed the latest update from Brightline on the upcoming intersection construction and detours. The dates will continue to shift and the city will post the changes as they occur. You can always check by yourself at https://www.gobrightline.com/railroad-construction for updates. Mr Ferris also described the actions taken by the City for corona virus COVID-19.

Key on the agenda was Resolution 13, 2020 – Denouncing Anti-Semitism which had been discussed during the last couple of meetings. The Council adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of Anti-Semitism. See the Palm Beach Post article for more details.  Laurence Milstein, Director of AJC Palm Beach County, thanked the Council for adopting the definition and voting for the resolution.

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

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

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

The City Manager report included:

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

Public Comment:

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

Presentations included several charity related topics:

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

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

Participate in the 2020 Census! and more…

Here are some highlights from the January 9, 2020 City Council Meeting.

Announcement and Presentations:

• Rich Bartholemew of the League of Women Voter’s urged the Council and City to inform the residents of the importance of the 2020 Census. He noted that notifications will start coming in the mail on March 12. And for the first time, people will be asked to respond by phone or electronic devices – including computers/smartphones, as well as the traditional mail. Those who haven’t responded will receive in-person visits in the May time-frame.
• Ken Kennerly, Executive Director and Andrew George, Tournament Director of Honda Classic gave an update on the impacts of the 2019 Honda Classic both to the marketing of Palm Beach Gardens and direct impacts through Honda Classic Cares to charities in South FL, and updates on the upcoming Honda Classic.

Public Comment was made by residents:

• Ed Dolezal – speaking about 5G technology. He has made comment on the topic before, but this time was requesting that the City form an advisory board to explore the health and wellness issues. Mayor Marciano said this was really a Tallahassee issue since state preempts the local municipalities.

• Alan Goldberg and his daughter Sheryl Wysockey, residents and proprietors of a small hot dog stand “Chicago Hot Dogs” in front of Home Depot, on Northlake Dr. spoke on code enforcement and the inability to advertise adequately in PBG. Even with permits – can only stand somewhere with visibility for 6 days a year! He’s willing to pay more for more days. The codes, as written, discourages the mom and pop, small businesses.

Consent Agenda:

While the Consent Agenda passed 5:0, Mayor Marciano pulled Resolution 10, 2020 for discussion – this was the culmination of the discussion from the prior two City Council meetings to create a resolution in support of the Senate Bill 182 and any companion bills. While Marciano and Vice-Mayor Litt have stated many times that this resolution is primarily in support of Home Rule – they also have voiced their support for the banning of single use bags and polystyrene materials. At some point, this ‘issue’ will surely arise in future Council meetings – and the impacts on business and residents. Stay informed!

All other ordinances and resolutions passed 5:0

City Attorney Lohman requested authorization (5:0) to counter sue Sears should the need arise between the January and February Council meetings, in the ongoing dispute between the entities. See Palm Beach Post’s “Palm Beach Gardens to Sears, Gardens Mall: See You in Court”.

Palm Beach Gardens has a Satellite in Space!

Well – not the city – but the Weiss School. Students currently involved in the program gave an update on the current WeissSsat-1 CubeSat and future projects. See the school’s website for details on their projects. 

Don Kiselewski, Sr. Director of External Affairs, Florida Power & Light Company (Palm Beach) – outlined FPL’s 3-year pilot project to harden neighborhoods – one of which is in Palm Beach Gardens.

Palm Beach Gardens Community Services Administrator David Reyes gave an update on the Capital Improvements funded by the ‘Penny’ Sales Tax. See the Palm Beach Post’s summary here.

The Consent Agenda and the Resolution 67, 2019 regarding approving Avenir Pod 1 and Pod 3 site plan amendments, passed 5:0.

The Council resumed discussion, started last month by Mayor Marciano and Vice-Mayor Litt, about adopting a resolution in support of a resolution by the Town of Palm Beach to Tallahassee in support of Florida Senate Bill 182 asking the legislature to pass something to re-allow municipalities to pass single-use plastics resolutions. Marciano and Litt couched support for such a resolution as a home-rule issue. However, while council members Lane, Marino and Woods supported the home-rule aspect of what Palm Beach was trying to accomplish, they were more skeptical of its value, corroborated by City Attorney Lohman who said there was virtually no support for SB 182. It was clear that an ordinance prohibiting single use plastics in Palm Beach Gardens would be a distinctly different effort requiring input from both business and the public and what fits the needs of our City. City Manager Ferris was tasked with coming up with a draft of the support of Palm Beach resolution.

City Attorney Lohman said that the City had recently severed ties with the restaurant operator of the Golf Club and that there were ongoing discussions to resolve contractual issues. He sought the Council’s authorization for him to file a lawsuit if necessary, with the City Manager’s support – should the negotiations with the operator prove unsolvable without litigation. The Council voted to authorize 5:0.

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