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Happy Labor Day and enjoy the holiday.
The end of August and Labor Day means the end of summer!! For me, it has always been a sad yet exciting time. Summer is gone; everywhere but Florida, swimming pools close. But fall begins. Kids return to school; Football season arrives; anticipation is in the air. At this time of year, I always remember the beginning of football practice. It was a challenging and exciting time. The above picture is my high school starting line. The year - 1956. For some unknown reason, an old classmate sent me this picture a few months back.
What memories does the end of summer and the beginning of fall bring to your mind, or what is your favorite fall memory? Email them to us (news@pbstownhall.org) along with a picture of you in the good ol’ days of yore. We will publish them in the September newsletter along with a line or two about your favorite fall memory.
Turning to Town business: August was a busy but productive month. The month’s workshop was devoted to the second budget hearing. The Commission did a line-by-line review of department budgets and a second review of 2023 capital projects. Because we have a very large capital budget this year, which includes paving the three perimeter roads, Lake, Inlet, and Bamboo, the Commission decided to keep the property tax millage rate at the long-standing rate of 6.35%. The capital projects included in the proposed 2023 budget are:
- New Accounting Software - $30,000
- New F150 Pickup truck for Public Works - $40,000
- New Exhaust System for the Fire Department - $30,000
- Repaving Lake, Inlet, and Bamboo - $1,660,000
- Outfall Tidal valve at Lake and Tacoma - $75,000
- New Beach Playground Equipment - $90,000
- New Lift Station Pump - $18,000
The Community Center kitchen renovation project will be funded from the Randy Frick bequest to the Town. The bequest was earmarked for the Community Center. The cost of this project will be between $140,000 and $175,000, depending on the stove and hood configuration.
The good news is, once these projects are completed the large capital projects will be behind us, and for the next several years, the capital demands will be for maintenance projects.
One last Budget related item: due to the significant inflation we all are experiencing; a staff salary increases of 8% has been included in the budget. Most North Palm Beach County towns and cities are also giving their employees 8% salary increases, except for Palm Beach, which gives them an increase of 8.8%.
The August Commission meeting dealt largely with housekeeping items, except for the discussion and vote on the Community Center kitchen renovation. The main point of discussion has been whether or not to include a six-burner stove in the project scope. A stove requires a professional grade hood/ ventilation system. Even a smaller stove requires a hood, which in turn requires major new vitalization work. The Commission decided to approve the project and proceed in phases. The first phase will be electrical rewiring, new plumbing, and renewing the wall covering. The kitchen will be wired to accommodate the stove. Once this is done, the Commission will make final decisions on the stove issue.
The last item on the meeting agenda was a request by the Buccaneer for approval of offsite parking to accommodate increased dock slips. The request was approved. The parking will be located at the old PNC bank building on Blue Herron (which has the same owner as the Buc). The Buc parking at that site will be a permanent restriction on the property Blue Heron title and will travel with the land should the property ever change hands.
Watermain Project: As anyone who is in Town knows, the water main replacement project has begun. Initial progress has been considerably slower than planned. This was because the contractor ran into several difficulties, such as a broken storm sewer line in Riviera Beach and a separating storm sewer line at Lake and Bamboo intersection. Also, special water lines for fire suppression sprinklers in a larger buildings, like Captain’s Walk and Cannonsport, were omitted from the engineering drawings and thus not included in the contractor’s bid price. This took several weeks and a number of high-level meetings to sort out. Now, all that is behind us, and the contractor should begin to move south at a faster pace.
During the initial phase, traffic detours were a bit confusing and disorganized. Having the Lake and Blue Heron intersection closed and using Park Ave. to access Blue Heron has proved to be a bit of a challenge. Within the next few weeks, Lake Drive should be repaved from Bamboo to Blue Heron, which will eliminate the need to use Park Ave to leave Town. We all really appreciate your patience as we work on sorting out the traffic issues.
The project is scheduled to last until the end of November.
AT&T: The fiber cable pulls have been completed on the south end of Town, with the exception of the southernmost five lots on the west side of Lake Drive. A short run of conduit was missing. That run will be done, but there is no specific date at this time. The service will be available for customer sign-up, some during the month of September. At this point, AT&T can’t be more specific. Similarly, the wire removal on the north end of Town will be done sometime in September, probably the first half of the month. We will send out a notice when both of these events happen.
And that is all, folks.
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