Page 8 - Boca Exposure - September '19

Page 8, Boca Exposure
Council Corner: 2019-2020 Priorities And Goals

By Andrea Levine O’Rourke, World-Class Municipal Services. Government master Wildflower Waterfront Park. Signature Events included the
Boca Raton City Council plan, city services and staffing. Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl at FAU, the Festival of the Arts
Member, Community Strong Partnership With Community. Public schools’ at Mizner Park and the Oasis Golf Championship at Broken
Redevelopment Chair safety structure; public schools’ strategy, advocacy and Sound. I hope you joined us for a couple of these great events.
As summer winds down, actions; partnership with Greater Boca Raton Chamber Rounding out our community with memorable opportunities
I hope everyone has enjoyed of Commerce, Greater Beach and Parks District, Florida such as these are not only great community builders, they
a wonderful vacation season. University Town & Gown… and other institutions. offer outstanding economic opportunities.
Boca’s City Council will Vibrant and Sustainable City: Comprehensive traffic Community Partnerships saw great success this year,
now resume its regular twice and connectivity planning; explore Midtown enhancements; beginning with the Palm Beach County School District by
monthly meeting schedule. revisions to land development plan; Downtown’s IDG/Pattern establishing a new temporary elementary school that will
However, even with the Book/4035; sustainability action plan. become permanent with the completion of the rebuilds
change of summer monthly Top Three Priorities: of Verde Elementary and Addison Mizner El. We value
meetings, the engine of our city never slows down! • Comprehensive Traffic and Connectivity Planning; and maintain communication with our city’s universities;
In mid-April the mayor, City Council, managers and • Public School Safety Infrastructure; Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University, Palm Beach
department heads participated in the Annual Boca Raton • Innovation and Business Technology Hub. State University. Important relationships include the Greater
Goal Setting Session. The purpose is to collaborate and form Drilling down into all of the above includes hundreds of Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce and Boca Raton Airport
the guiding principles, mission, visions and goals of our city ongoing and new initiatives and projects. Authority and the hospital.
going forward. As A City, We Are Proud Of The 2019 Accomplishments: Innovation, which was a top priority last year, saw great
With the guidance of a new professional facilitator, we Infrastructure Improvements included five major advancement. After a long search we hired a manager and
began by reviewing the past year’s successes and challenges. sidewalk repairs, six roadway projects completed with nine now have an Office of Innovation. We assisted and funded
We then took a 30,000-foot view of where we are today more in the works. Plus, we are following the Innovative FAU Tech Runway, collaborated with the FAU Research
in all aspects of our city, followed by consideration of Sustainable Infrastructure Program (ISIP), which is a long- Park, and introduced supporting STEM and STEAM
future challenges and goals. After active participation of all term initiative by our Utility Services Department using education in public schools and city programming.
attendees, including public comment, the facilitator organized technology and data to evaluate, prioritize and improve Sustainability also took great leaps this year. We hired
all of the ideas. Several months later the elected officials critical underground areas throughout the city. a manager and added an Office of Sustainability. That
reviewed, voted and came to consensus. Planning And Zoning Improvements included office introduced a Coastal Connection Program rewarding
Vision. “Boca Raton – a beautiful , prosperous, safe and expanding the over-the-counter permitting experience, a restaurant participants. We began working with 4Oceans on
vibrant coastal community.” downtown parking availability program, and rewriting the Intracoastal cleanup. Instead of handing out plastic water
Mission. “Responsibly providing outstanding services to sign code, to name several. bottles, we introduced a portable water station to have at
enhance our unique quality of life.” Economic Development offers interesting stats. Since events around town.
Guiding Principles: 2010 Boca has attracted 43 companies, added 10,139 new I am proud of our many steps forward in providing
•Financially Sound City; jobs, provided $5,333,600 of city incentives (matched by the services and infrastructure improvements to our city. Stay
•World Class Municipal Services; state with $15,003,030 and the county’s $3,091,200). tuned for my next report. I will have lots of new facts and
• Strong Partnership with Community; Recreational Service saw advances with the addition of stats and updates on further progress that I believe you will
• Vibrant and Sustainable City. the Art in Public Places Program (a personal initiative I’m find very interesting.
Policy Agenda: very proud of) and Gumbo Limbo boardwalk completed. It’s important to mention that the Virgin/Brightline train
Financially Sound City. Innovation business hub; We added youth sports programs, as well as beautification station proposal did not come before us until the end of July.
financial plan to address long-term impacts of growth; projects. Approved and began planning/development It offers opportunities to consider and add as a priority as
preparation for the next financial downturn. of Hillsboro El Rio Park, Lake Wyman Rutherford and more details become available.

From The Desk Of from page 7 Amelia Gardens – approved a loan agreement with Amelia Fire hydrants – adopted a resolution establishing the
Gardens, LLC, (borrower) that restructures $598,448 in rate for the non-ad valorem special assessment levied
BCC Briefs. At the Aug. 20, Board of County State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) funds owed in against parcels within the Palm Beach County Municipal
Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action: connection with a previous loan agreement made in May 6, Service Benefit Unit in Riviera Beach for fire hydrant
Palm Springs CRA – continued to Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. a request 2003, for the construction of 22 affordable rental housing maintenance and rental for FY-2020. There are now 782
by the village of Palm Springs to create a new community units located on SW 14th Street in Belle Glade. The loan parcels within the MSBU-Riviera Beach subject to the
redevelopment agency with two sub-areas located on Lake agreement includes forgiveness of $109,050 in deferred and current non-ad valorem assessment rate of $52.86 per
Worth Road and Congress Avenue within the village’s accrued interest. These are SHIP grant funds that require no parcel.
municipal limits. local match. Right of way permitting – repealed and replaced two
E-cigarettes – approved on first reading and to advertise for SHIP – approved the allocation of $575,000 of program ordinances pertaining to the permitting and use of county-
public hearing on Oct. 8 establishment of the Vapor Free Public income from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) maintained rights of way. The ROW Permitting Ordinance
Park Playground Ordinance. The measure would prohibit program to be offered as the required local government was updated to address multiple revised practices
the use of vapor generating electronic devices including contribution for the following FY 2019-2020 affordable over the past 11 years, as well as new state laws for
e-cigarettes at county-operated public park playgrounds. housing strategies: purchase assistance $500,000; owner communications companies. The requirement to register
Project Signal – conceptually approved an economic occupied housing rehabilitation $500,000; emergency repairs with the county prior to applying for approval to install
development incentive of $19,200 over six years for Project $151,022; foreclosure prevention $45,000; project delivery facilities was expanded to all types of communication
Signal which is considering relocating its international $149,400; administrative costs $149,400. SHIP program companies and incorporates changes pursuant to the
headquarters to Palm Beach County. The company will invest income requires no local match. Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Deployment Act, which
$1.22 million to lease, renovate and equip a 7,500-square-foot Property conveyance – approved the conveyance of a relates to 5G wireless technology deployment.
facility, creating 32 new jobs over a three-year period at an .1263-acre residential property with a single-family home to Human trafficking – received an update on expansion
annualized average wage of $71,663. The estimated five-year the Riviera Beach Community Development Corporation, of training to county staff and community partners in an
local economic impact is $59.6 million. Inc. (RBCDC). The property located at 928 W. 7th Street effort to combat human trafficking.
Glades workforce housing – agreed to draft a letter in in Riviera Beach reverted to the county in 2017 and has an Racial equity – directed staff to look into mandatory
support of a proposal by the city of Belle Glade to use the appraised value of $56,000. The home will be sold to a family racial equity training for managers, supervisors,
former Gove Elementary School property in Belle Glade for earning no more than 80 percent of area median income at an department heads, administrators and employees who
a workforce housing project. anticipated sales price not to exceed $245,000. work in direct contact with the public.

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