At the October 2, 2018, Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:
 
Village of Valor – conceptually approved Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funding of up to $2 million and approved impact fee credits totaling $272,306 and $115,000 in housing tax credits for the Village of Valor project. The 148-unit rental development will be located on vacant land on the north side of 2nd Avenue North, east and west of Keller’s Canal in Lake Worth (east portion) and Palm Springs (west portion). The project entails new construction of 130 apartments and 18 townhomes for very low-, low-, and moderate-income persons with a priority given to veterans and their families, including the disabled, homeless, and those at risk of becoming homeless.
 
Equal Business Opportunity – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on October 16 the Equal Business Opportunity Ordinance. This ordinance is intended to further ensure that Palm Beach County is neither an active nor passive participant in private sector marketplace discrimination, and to actively promote equal opportunity for all segments of the contracting and business community to participate in county government contract opportunities through race- and gender-neutral and race- and gender-conscious remedies.
 
Purchasing – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on October 16 an amendment to the Purchasing Code to include necessary references to the Office of Equal Business Opportunity, the Equal Business Opportunity program, and Equal Business Opportunity policies and procedures.
 
Local Preference – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on October 16 an amendment to the Local Preference Code to include necessary references to the Equal Business Opportunity program and Equal Business Opportunity policies and procedures.
 
Direct File – directed staff to draft a resolution in support of Direct File reform, which would eliminate mandatory direct filing of 14- and 15-year-olds and revises the list of crimes for which prosecutors can decide to send children of any age into the adult court system. Florida leads the nation in the number of children prosecuted as adults and is one of only three states that does not involve a judge in those decisions.
 
Supplemental benefits – discussed offering a full suite of voluntary supplemental benefits to Palm Beach County employees. Currently, dental and life insurance, and short-term and long-term disability are offered on a voluntary employee-paid basis only. Staff was directed to bring back a detailed proposal.
 
Fire hydrants – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on October 16 an ordinance amending the boundaries of the Riviera Beach municipal service benefit units (MSBU) to include 141 properties that were previously missing. Commencing with tax year 2019, the special assessment for fire hydrant maintenance and rental on the previously missing parcels will be levied and collected on the tax roll as a part of the MSBU-Riviera Beach. This ordinance also updates and restates the boundaries of the MSBU-Riviera Beach and updates certain provisions relating to the adoption of the non-ad valorem assessment roll and the rate resolution.
 
Park bench – approved installation of a park bench with an engraved plaque indicating “The Tom and Ann Conner Serenity Garden” into the serenity garden at the Senator Philip D. Lewis Center in recognition of a $250,000 donation from the estate of the Tom and Ann Conner Trust to the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc.
 
Parks & Recreation – announced that the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation Department received the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA) and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). The prestigious Grand Plaque was presented to Palm Beach County on September 25 at the annual NRPA Congress and Exposition in Indianapolis.