NEWS UPDATE FROM TOWN HALL

{Click here to view this email in your browser.}

FEB.

2023

ALAN FIERS- MAYOR

First let me apologize for the lateness of the February Newsletter. It is late for two reasons: First, the last week of February was really short, two days, and the entire week was exceptionally busy. I just did not have time to focus on my opening comments. Secondly, when I did have time to focus, I found it really difficult to motivate myself to write. To me the disagreement and in some cases anger between neighbors is disconcerting and disheartening. We all come to the Shores because it is geographically unique and unique in its comradely and friendliness. We need to keep it that way.

With a pending lawsuit at play, there is little I can say about the details of the disagreement, but I truly hope that we can find a path forward and we all work together to find a solution - as we have always done in the Shores.

The St Patrick’s Day Parade is this weekend! The festivities begin at 11:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday, March 11th. The Parade is fun for all, young and not so young. I urge you to come out and join in the festivities. The parade route is, as always: marshal in the beach parking lot; proceed west on the beach access road; turn left, our south on Ocean Drive; turn right or west on Inlet Way and proceed to Atlantic Ave; then north at Atlantic Avenue to Bamboo Road; from there south on Ocean Avenue and return to the beach parking lot. After the parade there will be food and drinks for sale in the lower level of the Community Center. Again, come out and join the fun.

Turning to the February Commission Meeting:

After approval of the Consent Agenda, Town Lifeguard Ben Demonstranti was given special recognition for an extra ordinarily difficult life saying effort. Ben rescued two victims who were caught up in a rip current off the shore of one of the Marriott buildings. He had previously warned the victims of the dangerous conditions, but they later entered the water anyway. One victim was submerged and the other was still above water. He pulled both to shore simultaneously. One victim survived, the other despite resuscitation efforts sadly did not. The degree of skill and courage Ben Demonstranti exhibited in this rescue is truly extraordinary.

Singer Island Dredging Project: There were three housekeeping type items on the agenda dealing with this project. The first was approving the signatures of the FIND grant agreement. The approval was passed pending resolution of certain wording the agreement document. The second dealt with an interlocal agreement with the Town of Lake Park. Lake Park will buy the sand that is removed from the channel. The interlocal agreement deals with the terms of this arrangement. (Where to put the 70,000 cubic yards of dredged sand has been an open question). Under the agreement, Lake Park will take all the sand. They will pay for the sand and its transportation from Peanut Island to Lake Park Marina. The third item was a resolution giving the Mayor the authority to sign a document Authorizing the transfer of the Department of the Army/ Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection permits to the Town of Palm beach Shores. All three were approved by a 5-0 vote.

Ordinances No.-O-1-23 was passed on first reading by 5-0 vote. This ordinance changes the method for measuring building height in zoning District D. Currently height is measured to the beam and then 5 feet are allowed for the roof structure. But because flat roofs are the norm in District D the beam and the roof are one in the same. This ordinance eliminates this language and approves measuring District D building height to the roofline. This change does not affect any other zoning district.

Project Updates

Watermain Replacement: This project continues to move towards completion, albeit slowly. The new lines are currently being water tested. Several leaks were found. The repair of these required opening the roads again and correcting the leaking joints. Once this process is completed, the roads will be patch paved. Then the contractor will return to Lake Drive and begin the connections of the service lines that run behind the homes, or on the west side on Lake and the southside of Inlet the meter connections will be made. When each connection is made, the water will be turned off for a period of time, probably an hour or two. Then folks will be required to boil the drinking and cooking water for several days after the connection is made. You will be notified in advance when your street will be impacted and you will be given precise instructions on boiling requirements.

AT&T: The north end of Town is almost completed one house and two multi units building remain to be completed. In the south, conversions continue in the single-family homes. In the condos and multi-units building the progress has been slowed by the layoff of the engineer with whom we had been working. Alan Welch and I are working to address this slowdown.

Public Comment: There was a spirited exchange of opinion concerning the Inlet Park expansion topic. In my view, it was a healthy exchange of thoughts, concerns, and opinions.

And that is a wrap.

TREVOR STEEDMAN

PBS FIRE CHIEF

OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:

Community Risk Reduction:

As part of our ongoing Community Risk Reduction initiatives, the PBSFD is coordinating with the POA to provide the following presentation and hands-on training opportunities for our residents this winter / spring:

Home Fire Extinguisher Selection, Use and Maintenance
Community CPR / AED / Basic First Aid

Dates will be provided as soon as they are confirmed.

FIRE DEPARTMENT:

Thank you to all those who came out to support our Volunteer Firefighters Association annual fundraising cookout. Attendance was phenomenal, and we could not have done it without all the generosity from our residents, visitors, and business community, especially the Sailfish Marina and Resort! Bryan Cheney and the Staff at the Sailfish went above and beyond to support the fundraiser yet again. Bryan previously served as a Volunteer Firefighter in Palm Beach Shores and still consistently supports the PBSFD and Palm Beach Shores community today. Special thanks also to our PBSFD Ladies Auxiliary and to the Marriott Ocean Point.

Professional Development:

PBSFD Members received advanced gas line emergency training from a representative from Florida Public Utilities. This training provided a greater perspective regarding the specific types of pipelines and residential/commercial services we have here in the Shores.

On March 1, 2023, six PBSFD members will attend a conference in West Palm Beach that focuses on emergency response and operations in tall and large buildings, both under construction and occupied. The information gained through this train-the-trainer format will be used to develop and provide advanced training to the entire department.

EMS Transport Services:

The Town is operating on an extension of the EMS (Ambulance) Transport service agreement with the City of Riviera Beach. The 1st round of re-negotiations is underway to renew the Intra-Local Agreement.

Save The Dates:

St. Patrick’s Day Parade – March 11, 2023

OCEAN RESCUE:

Beach Safety: Our Lifeguards want to remind everyone of the dangers of rip currents. Use caution near the shoreline as recent beach erosion has created a drop-off and dangerous shorebreaks.

Please use extra caution if you choose to enter the ocean outside of the guarded beach or before/after guarded beach hours. “It’s best to keep your feet in the sand until the lifeguard is in the stand”.

Beach Wheelchair: The Beach Wheelchair is a wonderful mobility asset that helps more people enjoy our beautiful beach. Please see the Lifeguard to sign out the beach wheelchair during guarded beach hours (10 am – 5 pm.)

As always, please reach out with questions or if we can be of any assistance. tsteedman@pbsfire.org or (561) 296-3380

JUDE GOUDREAU - TOWN CLERK

From the Town Clerk’s Office

Palm Beach Shores is having an election this year!

THE 2023 UNIFORM MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS ELECTION DAY IS MARCH 14, 2023

The polls are open on Election Day from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm.

We have three candidates and two seats, so we make sure you come out and VOTE!

The candidates are; Janet Kortenhaus (Incumbent) Tracy Larcher (Incumbent) and Mark Ward.

Helpful information:

Registered Voters living within Palm Beach Shores are eligible to vote in this election.

Deadline to register – Monday, February 13, 2023

Deadline to request that a VBM ballot be mailed to you - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, 2023
Deadline to return VBM Ballot - 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Early Voting - Not available

Voters who are already registered are encouraged to verify and, if needed, update their voter registration. This can be done several ways:

Online at RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov, have your FL Driver License or ID handy!
In person at any of the four Supervisor of Elections offices, Monday through Friday from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm.
By mail. Forms are available in person at any of the four offices or online at www.votepalmbeach.gov. Mailed forms must be completed and postmarked by February 13, 2023. Read More

SGT. STEVE LANGEVIN - DISTRICT #20

The commotion at the Intercostal entrance was due to the report of a missing diver. PBSO sent three (3) boats and a helicopter to search the area. The diver was missing for over an hour. We continued to search the area until he was ultimately located at Phil Foster Park.

This past weekend a group of individuals attempted to gain entry to the US via a good-sized boat. The group was intersected just east of our shores and eventually repatriated.

The “Conversation With A Deputy” was a hit. I believe many of you attended, which I very much appreciated. The adorable therapy dogs stopped by along with our marine unit and community policing team and the North end Major along with the District 3 Captain. I want to thank the Sailfish once again for their continuing assistance to us, this time donating the location along with coffee and pastries. Our friends at the Marriott Ocean Pointe brought plenty of the usual cop donuts! Thank you to all. Let me know if you would like to do it again.

I did enjoy myself at the annual Fire Department BBQ and the Dunk tank. Just a small point, you were supposed to throw a ball at the target to release the chair into the water, not walk up to it and push it!!

A boat was stolen in the rear of a home on Lake Drive. Our marine patrol responded with two(2) boats and a helicopter. As it proceeded south, a boat from Boynton Beach police responded, and the law enforcement boats were able to stop the individual and arrest him. The same subject had just been released from a Bahamian jail a week earlier for the same charge. Can’t make this stuff up, but it’s definitely going in my cop stories.

Back to scams, unfortunately, one of our residents fell prey to an email asking to click and fill out a look-alike internet address and fill in some information. The loss was 25 Thousand dollars. This one could not be recovered. Please be careful. These scammers are good.

Our annual St. Patrick’s Parade will be held on March 11 at 11:00 am. Sharp. It will go the usual route, starting at the Community Center, south on Ocean Avenue, west on Inlet Way, north on Atlantic Avenue, east on Bamboo, and finally, Ocean Avenue to the Community Center.

After the parade, we will end up back at the Community Center for some fun. We have 2 High School bands participating, as we did last year. We will have a DJ, food, and drink at the Community Center.

The Committee did great work on this, and it will be a great time.

PBSO will be on hand for all of it, and we will close and detour traffic as the parade winds through town. Please skip heading in or out from 10: 45 AM to noon or use Lake Drive as your main entry exit.

As always, we are here when you need us.

Sergeant Steve Langevin

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

Town of Palm Beach Shores.

TOWN HALL MEETINGS - 2023

(Visit our Town of Palm Beach Shores Website and connect to our virtual meetings.

DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING

MARCH 1, 2023 @ 2:00 P.M

COMMISSION WORKSHOP/BOARD MEETING

MARCH 16, 2023 @ 7:00 P.M.

MARCH 27, 2023 @ 7:00 P.M.

PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING

MARCH 22, 2023 @ 6:30 P.M.

The butterfly garden has been expanded!

Committee members added a diverse array of flowering plants to attract butterflies, including 16 different varieties of Florida natives.

The garden is designed to support the butterfly life cycle with nectar and host plants.

Join us at the annual Arbor Day Celebration. This is an integral part in our Tree City USA designation.

The ceremony will highlight a memorial tree dedication with a stately Buccaneer palm.

It will take place at the gazebo located on the inlet at the end of the parkway, Friday, March 31 at 10:00.

Chairs will be available and light refreshments will be served.

Thanks for all your assistance.

Take care,

Donna R. Ward

Environmental Committee Chair