Next City Council Meeting on Thursday April 4 at 7pm

There are no Announcement/Presentations or City Manager Report listed.

• Purchase award for Fuel Card Services.  Currently fuel has been delivered to the Public works/Fleet Facility, which is for sale. The City needs an alternate source or arrangement to access fuel during the one-year period it will take to construct the new fueling station at the Public Services Operations Center.   After extensive market research, the City plans to implement a fuel card system that will allow the purchase of fuel at any service station in the country.  Piggyback/Access Contract – $1 million for 1 year – no option to renew
• Purchase award for Rootzone Mix for Gardens Park baseball compex – Bid Waiver – $132K
• Purchase award for Replacing the 20-year-old clay roof tiles on the Police Station with metal sheet roofing. Piggyback/Access Contract – $415K
• Purchase award for  Furniture for Public Services Operations Center – Piggyback/Access Contract – $180K

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 2,3 2019 and related Resolution 12, 2019 – 2nd reading and adoption – small scale comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning for 2 parcels located on Alt A1A .5 mi south of Hood Rd for Convenience store and gas station, and car-wash/detailing facility
• Ordinance 4, 2019 – 1st reading – Seacoast Utility Authority – Planned Unit Development Rezoning, Site Plan, and Major Conditional Use – “The subject site has been operating as a water treatment plant since 1975 and has been modified several times before and after annexation in 1988. The existing administrative buildings were built in the early 1980s and are no longer meeting the needs of the Seacoast Utility Authority (SUA). As such, SUA is seeking to replace and demolish the existing buildings in the administrative complex, construct additional storage buildings, and enhance the overall functionality of the administrative operations. 
• Resolution 23, 2019 – Approving and ratifying a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City and the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of Palm Beach County, Local 2928, IAFF, Inc., for Fiscal Years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021.   There are significant salary increases.  See details here.  

Items for Council Action/Discussion:  Appointments to External Boards and Committees

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

2019 Municipal Election Results

The March 12 municipal election in Palm Beach Gardens was a clear win for incumbent Vice Mayor Carl Woods over challenger Howard Rosenkranz. Woods won every precinct except 1246 (Shady Lakes, Bent Tree, Garden Lakes and the Gardens of Woodbury), and 1296 which includes Marina Gardens and Brookdale around the intersection of PGA and Prosperity Farms Road.

Ballenisles (1252) and Frenchmans (1194) should be congratulated for over 20% turnout, but turnout overall was a very light 9.5%, with the winner getting votes from only 6% of the eligible voters. It was not the lowest on record though – that honor goes to the Jablin/Easton race in March 2011 where only 7.6% (2775) turned out, but it was the second lowest since 2002 on a percentage basis. (See: PBG Elections for a summary of the elections from 2002-2019). Interest was low – neither candidate campaigned much past a few mailers, and there were no forums.

At least this race was a contest – in the Group 2 race, Mayor Marino had no challenger and won re-election by default.

Group 4

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Group 4
Strong Woods	Weak Woods	Very Close	Weak Rosenkrantz	Strong Rosenkrantz
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

Precinct	Registered	Votes Cast	Turnout %	Woods	Rosenkrantz	Woods Margin
1186	1509	103	6.8	60	43	58.3
1188	932	54	5.8	38	16	70.4
1189	100	11	11.0	7	4	63.6
1190	4036	265	6.6	186	79	70.2
1192	1498	108	7.2	89	19	82.4
1194	2137	479	22.4	349	130	72.9
1228	460	46	10.0	37	9	80.4
1238	1772	173	9.8	106	67	61.3
1240	2561	229	8.9	174	55	76.0
1242	2616	322	12.3	246	76	76.4
1244	1611	139	8.6	106	33	76.3
1246	2472	242	9.8	99	143	40.9
1247	241	32	13.3	27	5	84.4
1248	1564	173	11.1	112	61	64.7
1250	66	8	12.1	6	2	75.0
1252	2351	475	20.2	248	227	52.2
1254	470	31	6.6	20	11	64.5
1260	1302	135	10.4	92	43	68.1
1266	486	3	0.6	3	0	100.0
1268	319	9	2.8	6	3	66.7
1272	1975	156	7.9	112	44	71.8
1274	1631	128	7.8	89	39	69.5
1280	400	36	9.0	24	12	66.7
1284	2383	143	6.0	96	47	67.1
1288	35	2	5.7	0	2	0.0
1290	2188	181	8.3	140	41	77.3
1292	79	7	8.9	7	0	100.0
1296	774	27	3.5	11	16	40.7
1324	1318	63	4.8	52	11	82.5
1326	558	59	10.6	43	16	72.9
1340	15	3	20.0	3	0	100.0
1352	2262	154	6.8	111	43	72.1
1360	900	92	10.2	59	33	64.1
1372	178	5	2.8	3	2	60.0
6062	844	114	13.5	82	32	71.9
6064	123	5	4.1	3	2	60.0
Total	44190	4212	9.5	2846	1366	67.6

Elections, NCNC Annual Meeting and March City Council Mtg

Elections:

Vice Mayor Carl Woods was re-elected to the Council Group 4 in a relatively low turnout election. Congratulations to Mr. Woods, and thanks to his opponent, Howard Rosencranz for running. We of PBG Watch believe that every incumbent should have an opponent, and understand how much effort it takes to campaign – not just for the candidates but for their families. We will have a details precinct analysis when the Supervisor of Elections publishes the precinct results. See the Palm Beach Post coverage here.

NCNC Annual Meeting:

We attended the annual meeting of the North County Neighborhood Coalition. The event was attended by about 200 people including members, elected and newly elected officials, sponsors and other invited guests. NCNC President Sal Faso kicked off the meeting with some key facts about the NCNC and its impact. Member communities have a significantly higher rate of voter participation than is found generally in Palm Beach County, which is a testament to the information that is provided to the voters via their monthly meetings and outreach. The keynote speaker was Teresa Urquhart, CEO of Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, who gave an overview of hospital. Following was a panel on the Opioid Crisis consisting of County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, State Attorney David Aronberg and Dr. Kenneth Scheppke, who serves as State EMS Medical Director for the FL Department of Health. All three on the panel have had an intense involvement in finding solutions to the opioid crisis.

Check out the NCNC website and goals.

March City Council Meeting:

The Council had a very light agenda. The Consent Agenda and all Ordinances and Resolutions passed 5:0.  Sixth-grader James Delano, of the Weiss School was Mayor for the Day and he opened and closed the meeting.

Of note:

• Council Member Lane pulled the purchase award for Paving of Public Service Operations Center and Adjoining Areas so that the Council and the public could be informed about the large expenditure of over $800K and why it was done as a piggyback/access contract
• Resolution 6, 2019 – was for the development of a 10,000 sq foot state of the art indoor training facility at Gardens Park. This will be a public private partnership with Cressey Sports Properties, LLC, it will have no financial impact to the city, it will house an office for PBGYAA, and the City will own the facility after 31 years.
• City Attorney Max Lohman gave an update on the three most prominent cases:
  • Dinerstein #1 – challenge to the March question on 3 year sit-out – he stated that the City prevailed in the 4th DCA, a motion for rehearing and a motion for rehearing en banc was filed and summarily denied.  He’s waiting for the mandate to  issue on the case after which he will file a motion for costs, to try and recover some of the costs entailed.
  • Dinerstein #2 – challenge to question 2 from the August Election (charter replacement) – Judge Keyser ruled in City’s favor on motion for summary judgement.  Lohman is waiting to see if they appeal.
  • Summary judgement on Sears case on August 28th – judge granted alternative relief which was to find the Sears motion for attorneys fees to be legally insufficient, and directed Sears to refile a motion by April 1.

 

Group 4 Municipal Elections – Tuesday March 12th – VOTE!

Both City Hall and Tennis Center 1-Cent Sales Tax Projects Revised

Construction bids for the City Hall Renovations (Resolution 7, 2019) and Tennis Center Renovations (Resolution 8, 2019), both funded by the 1% sales tax, exceeded the budget for the projects. So the City downsized the ambitious plans somewhat to fit both projects within their original budgets and worked with the lowest bidders to adjust plans and materials. These resolutions provided for the City Manager to negotiate and execute with the selected bidders for both projects. The City Hall Renovations will impact both traffic patterns and entry/exit points to the Municipal Complex.

Ordinance 1, 2019 – 2nd Reading and Adoption Budget Amendment – Finance Administrator Allen Owens informed the council that the sale of the Public Works Property did not go through, so the amendment was changed to delete $1.38 million from the budget stabilization reserve fund accordingly, now at $2.4 million.

Both Council Members Lane and Litt each pulled two items from the from the Consent Agenda for further discussion and presentations, but those items and Consent were all passed 5:0. One of Mrs. Litt’s items was a Proclamation by the Mayor on behalf of 211 Awareness Week, which was read aloud. More information on the 211 Helpline can be found on their website.

All Ordinances and Resolutions passed 5:0.

During Items for Council Action/Discussion, Council Member Marciano brought up the topic of Workforce/Essential Services Housing and how more work is needed on the subject. (In January’s meeting, Council Member Lane had said that a workshop will be held on the subject some time in the near future. ) Mayor Marino raised the subject of speed of the traffic on the western portions of Northlake Boulevard.

City Attorney Max Lohman gave a brief status on both lawsuits by resident Sid Dinerstein. When asked how much the two cases have cost the City so far, his response was in excess of $70K.

• 4th District Court of Appeals ruled on behalf of the City on Question 3 (3-yr sit out before running again) from the March, 2018 election – but is being asked for reconsideration
• 2/11 – Hearing for Summary Judgement on Question 2 (the Charter repeal/replace) from August, 2018 election, with the City taking the position that the case is without merit; at the hearing both sides were given additional time to provide the judge with additional information.

Other Upcoming Events:

• February 24 – March 3 – The Honda Classic
• February 28 – Beeline Highway FDOT Public Hearing at Burns Road Community Center (see http://www2.dot.state.fl.us/publicsyndication/PublicMeetings.aspx/publicmeetings)
• March 12 – City Elections – Group 4 (Candidates:  Carl Woods and Howard Rosenkranz).  See the City Elections site for more details.

 

 

 

Next City Council Mtg on Nov 1 at 7pm

• Resolution 41, 2018 – Lease of Two General Motors (GM) Minotour School Buses from Matthews Bus Alliance, Inc. that will be financed through Leasing 2, Inc. 5 year lease valued at $122K
• Resolution 65, 2018 –  Agreement with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) for Vote Processing Equipment Use and Election Services – contracting for the March 2019 Municipal Election
• Resolution 69, 2018 – Approve a Lease Agreement with the School Board of Palm Beach County for City purposes, including overflow parking for Mirasol Park and the Honda Classic Golf Tournament. 
• Resolution 75, 2018 –  Agreement between the City of Palm Beach Gardens and the Big Heart Brigade, Inc. for Use of Facilities and Provision of In-Kind Support Services in Implementing the Thanksgiving Feast Event. 
• Resolution 76, 2018 –  Appoint the Supervisor of Elections, or designee, as an additional member to the City’s Canvassing Board for the March 12, 2019, Municipal Election.
• Purchase Award – Renovation of Baseball Fields at Gardens Park – Openly competed – no option to renew – $106K

City Manager Report:  Nothing listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions (not in order):

• Ordinance 24, 2018/Ordinance 25, 2018 – First Hearing – Carl’s Plaza Property voluntary annexation was approved at the October 4th, 2018 City Council Meeting.  These two ordinances are primarily an administrative function required pursuant to Chapter 171 , Florida Statutes, that assigns a Commercial land use and General Commercial zoning designation to the parcel. 
• Resolution 67, 2018 – The subject petition is a request for a site plan approval for a 469-unit age-restricted single-family residential subdivision on 195 acres within the Avenir PCD. The neighborhood is proposed to be a gated community with a clubhouse parcel and recreational amenities. Staff is recommending approval of the Site Plan. 
• Resolution 74, 2018 –  Sale of City-Owned Property Located at 3704 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens, known as the Public Works Property, to Stor-AII Acquisitions, LLC for $3,800,000.  Funds realized from the sale of this property are earmarked for use in the City’s capital improvement projects. On completion of the sale, the City will have until July 2019 to vacate the premises and turn it over to the new owners. The new Public Services Operations Center is scheduled to be completed by June 2019. 
• Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 19, 2018 (Procedures for governing memorials and monuments) and Ordinance 23, 2018 ( Amending the City of Palm Beach Gardens Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning October 1, 2017 and Ending September 30, 2018.) 

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.

The Voters Speak: A Resounding NO! to More Terms for Council Members

On August 28, almost 12,000 residents weighed in on the three PBG charter questions. This was almost three times the participation in the March election at which the Council first sought to resolve the questions.

In March, 2 questions were thrown out by a circuit court judge for being misleading, and they were clarified and put back on the August ballot as questions 1 and 2, with one issue (City Manager residency) separated out into question 3. March question 3 (Run Again) was allowed to go forward and did pass, but is still being challenged at the court of appeals.

The city had spent $35,000 for the March election, and then another $65,000 for August, ostensibly to “educate” the voters. Unfortunately, the campaign that resulted used misinformation to influence the voters to vote YES on all three questions, and this expenditure is being challenged in yet another lawsuit. The city’s actions, and the challenge to them, caught the attention of many residents through articles in the Palm Beach Post, and citizen’s sharing the news on social media and in emails.

The vote was definitive. Much as the original term limits question was passed with 80% in November 2014, voters said NO to the Council’s desire to have three terms instead of two (question 1), and they rejected the repeal of the City Manager residency requirement (question 3). Both of these were rejected by close to a 2 to 1 margin, and almost every precinct in the city voted NO by more than 15 points.

Question 2, which dealt with a general cleanup of the Charter passed with 60% of the vote.

Given the split vote (The city wanted YES to all, opponents wanted NO to all), you can probably conclude that voters were willing to trust the city to a certain extent that the charter rewrite was necessary, but soundly rejected the Council’s desire for more time in office.

It should be noted that a typical Gardens’s election shows a strong variation in the vote of different parts of the city. There are differences between gated and non-gated communities, eastern and western sections, older and newer areas, those with strong HOAs and those without. The March election showed these differences, but pointedly, the August election did not. It should be noted that March elections where city races are usually decided, have smaller turnout and tend to draw those that are most aware of city issues. City issues are incidental in August and November elections which primarily are deciding state and national races. The larger electorates at these times are likely to decide based on a “policy filter” (eg. “we like term limits”), rather than a personal one (eg: “I trust the Mayor so will vote her way”). Of course, whether you follow city issues or not, if you live in Palm Beach Gardens, your vote is as good as any other, and higher turnout is good for Democracy.

Hopefully, the city and Council will respect the wishes of the voters this time and we can put this all behind us.

Below are the results from the August election:

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Question 1 – Three terms instead of two?

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Question 1 – Three terms instead of two
Strong Yes	Weak Yes	Very Close	Weak No	Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

		Registered	Cast	Turnout%	YES	NO	Yes Margin%
1186	Mirabella	1436	417	29	138	257	35
1188	Westwood Gardens	895	263	29	80	169	32
1189	Old Palm – North	95	17	18	4	13	24
1190	The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton	3547	980	28	344	592	37
1192	Evergreen	1440	400	28	121	253	32
1194	Frenchmans	2023	616	30	257	329	44
1228	Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks	451	170	38	64	98	40
1238	Mirasol	1696	451	27	93	336	22
1240	PGA National	2454	750	31	266	449	37
1242	PGA National	2542	709	28	261	405	39
1244	PGA National	1537	503	33	185	291	39
1246	Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury	2382	610	26	146	442	25
1247	Old Palm – South	228	54	24	13	38	25
1248	PGA-east.	1497	499	33	152	330	32
1250	Gardens Glen	63	26	41	11	13	46
1252	BallenIsles	2288	802	35	294	475	38
1254	Hunt Club	445	154	35	39	106	27
1260	Elm Avenue	1294	472	36	118	338	26
1266	Union Square, Randolph Way	462	56	12	26	28	48
1268	Golfers Drive, Lilac	298	37	12	13	21	38
1270	Lilac Park	10	1	10	0	1	0
1272	Holly Drive, Riverside	1900	579	30	172	387	31
1274	Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way	1581	481	30	149	318	32
1280	Lake Catherine	392	129	33	57	69	45
1284	Gardens Mall area	2170	508	23	201	283	42
1288	Oakway Circle	38	13	34	4	8	33
1290	The Oaks	2084	633	30	196	408	32
1292	Nature’s Way	73	29	40	15	14	52
1296	Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens	727	149	20	54	84	39
1324	Oaks East, Sandelwood	1258	307	24	96	193	33
1326	Siena Oaks	557	206	37	68	129	35
1340	Landing Place	14	9	64	6	3	67
1352	Steeplechase, Montecito	2202	627	28	237	367	39
1360	Sunset	889	290	33	90	190	32
1372	Sandtree	162	32	20	10	22	31
6062	Bay Hill Estates	814	269	33	104	151	41
6064	Rustic Lakes	122	35	29	7	27	21
	TOTALS	42066	12283	29%	4091	7637	35%

Question 2 – Charter Cleanup?

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Question 2 – Charter Cleanup?
Strong Yes	Weak Yes	Very Close	Weak No	Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

		Registered	Cast	Turnout%	YES	NO	Yes Margin%
1186	Mirabella	1436	417	29	223	163	58
1188	Westwood Gardens	895	263	29	141	99	59
1189	Old Palm – North	95	17	18	16	1	94
1190	The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton	3547	980	28	582	305	66
1192	Evergreen	1440	400	28	222	104	68
1194	Frenchmans	2023	616	30	369	181	67
1228	Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks	451	170	38	102	44	70
1238	Mirasol	1696	451	27	217	203	52
1240	PGA National	2454	750	31	387	304	56
1242	PGA National	2542	709	28	423	233	64
1244	PGA National	1537	503	33	261	190	58
1246	Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury	2382	610	26	259	288	47
1247	Old Palm – South	228	54	24	33	11	75
1248	PGA-east.	1497	499	33	250	212	54
1250	Gardens Glen	63	26	41	15	9	63
1252	BallenIsles	2288	802	35	435	313	58
1254	Hunt Club	445	154	35	77	59	57
1260	Elm Avenue	1294	472	36	244	197	55
1266	Union Square, Randolph Way	462	56	12	37	13	74
1268	Golfers Drive, Lilac	298	37	12	22	11	67
1270	Lilac Park	10	1	10	1	0	100
1272	Holly Drive, Riverside	1900	579	30	287	257	53
1274	Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way	1581	481	30	232	214	52
1280	Lake Catherine	392	129	33	82	38	68
1284	Gardens Mall area	2170	508	23	335	121	73
1288	Oakway Circle	38	13	34	8	4	67
1290	The Oaks	2084	633	30	355	207	63
1292	Nature’s Way	73	29	40	20	6	77
1296	Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens	727	149	20	85	37	70
1324	Oaks East, Sandelwood	1258	307	24	160	117	58
1326	Siena Oaks	557	206	37	107	73	59
1340	Landing Place	14	9	64	5	0	100
1352	Steeplechase, Montecito	2202	627	28	366	200	65
1360	Sunset	889	290	33	155	113	58
1372	Sandtree	162	32	20	22	8	73
6062	Bay Hill Estates	814	269	33	177	57	76
6064	Rustic Lakes	122	35	29	15	17	47
	TOTALS	42066	12283	29%	6727	4409	60%

Question 3 – Repeal City Manager Residency Requirement?

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Question 3 – Repeal City Manager Residency Requirement?
Strong Yes	Weak Yes	Very Close	Weak No	Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

		Registered	Cast	Turnout%	YES	NO	Yes Margin%
1186	Mirabella	1436	417	29	111	279	28
1188	Westwood Gardens	895	263	29	69	172	29
1189	Old Palm – North	95	17	18	8	8	50
1190	The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton	3547	980	28	255	642	28
1192	Evergreen	1440	400	28	109	221	33
1194	Frenchmans	2023	616	30	254	298	46
1228	Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks	451	170	38	47	105	31
1238	Mirasol	1696	451	27	119	305	28
1240	PGA National	2454	750	31	208	493	30
1242	PGA National	2542	709	28	230	426	35
1244	PGA National	1537	503	33	129	332	28
1246	Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury	2382	610	26	117	444	21
1247	Old Palm – South	228	54	24	18	28	39
1248	PGA-east.	1497	499	33	118	345	25
1250	Gardens Glen	63	26	41	7	16	30
1252	BallenIsles	2288	802	35	286	477	37
1254	Hunt Club	445	154	35	39	100	28
1260	Elm Avenue	1294	472	36	108	343	24
1266	Union Square, Randolph Way	462	56	12	16	34	32
1268	Golfers Drive, Lilac	298	37	12	10	23	30
1270	Lilac Park	10	1	10	0	1	0
1272	Holly Drive, Riverside	1900	579	30	128	417	23
1274	Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way	1581	481	30	106	349	23
1280	Lake Catherine	392	129	33	39	83	32
1284	Gardens Mall area	2170	508	23	149	310	32
1288	Oakway Circle	38	13	34	5	7	42
1290	The Oaks	2084	633	30	177	401	31
1292	Nature’s Way	73	29	40	12	14	46
1296	Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens	727	149	20	41	84	33
1324	Oaks East, Sandelwood	1258	307	24	76	201	27
1326	Siena Oaks	557	206	37	60	124	33
1340	Landing Place	14	9	64	1	4	20
1352	Steeplechase, Montecito	2202	627	28	197	373	35
1360	Sunset	889	290	33	78	189	29
1372	Sandtree	162	32	20	8	22	27
6062	Bay Hill Estates	814	269	33	84	149	36
6064	Rustic Lakes	122	35	29	9	23	28
	TOTALS	42066	12283	29%	3428	7842	30%

Martino: Hear the Messages

For the voters and City Council of Palm Beach Gardens the August 28th election has come and gone. Again in a loud and certain voice the voters sent two succinct messages to the City Council and its Administration. Approximately, 70% of the participating voters in the August 28th election affirmatively communicated…

DO NOT MESS WITH OUR TERM LIMITS

And

DO NOT MESS WITH THE CITY MANAGER RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

This City Council has been tone deaf when listening to the majority of the voters as it relates to these two issues. However, their hearing seems to be well tuned to the frequency of the developers and special interests whose money and attitudes are not in tune with the desires of the voters. The deceptive, political, and somewhat conspiratorial campaign that was waged against the above messages by the City Council bears witness to their deafness. To make matters worse the City Council used public tax money to support and pay for their crusade against existing term limits and City Manager residency requirements. Augmenting the City’s position in opposition to the messages above, a Political Action Committee, PAC, miraculously surfaced with an employee of the City’s public relations firm as its Treasurer, and lots of developer and special interest money underwriting it.

The reality of and results of the election apparently did nothing to improve the deafness of Mayor Marino. A City Council appointed Mayor, Marino’s comments in response to the results of the August 28th election suggest no improvement can be expected to her and the Council’s hearing. In a Palm Beach Post article she lamented “It looks like every five to six years, we’ll have a brand new council, so we’ll have a limited amount of institutional knowledge.” Marino blamed the term limit election results on a reaction to national politics. Apparently, Marino did not hear well the sounds of the election results concerning the City Manager residency either. She again opposed the voters’ desires as after some simplistic commentary she said, “That’s why it should be a contract item and not a charter item.”

My suggestion to the City Council is to listen and HEAR THE MESSAGES of the voters. Leave term limits alone, leave the City Manager residency as is, and quit messing with the City Charter. Enough is enough

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.

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