BCC Briefs

At the June 17, 2008 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:

Roads – reviewed the mid-year adjustment of the Five-Year Road Program; agreed in principle to keep the proposed Roebuck Road extension in the plan with mitigation options.

Haverhill Linear Park – authorized staff to negotiate an agreement for the exchange of 12 acres of a narrow strip of county-owned land known as Haverhill Linear Park for 10 acres of adjoining property owned by Palm Beach Atlantic University and directed staff to suspend work on an affordable housing project on the park property, pending completion of the land swap.

Snook Islands – approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Lake Worth regarding the Snook Islands Natural Area boardwalk project. In return for the city creating 20 car/boat trailer parking spaces on Golf Course Road, the county will pay the $225,000 for demolition of the old Lake Worth Bridge located within the boardwalk project area.

Iguanas – agreed to consider at a future meeting a resolution calling for state wildlife officials to place iguanas on the list of “reptiles of concern.”

Palm Tran – approved the donation of eight retired Palm Tran buses to the following nonprofits: Barton’s Boosters, Inc. (2); Bridge the Gap Empowerment Center, Inc. (1); Omnipotent Outreach Ministry, Inc. (1); Street Beat, Inc. (2) and the City of Pahokee (2).

Courts – approved a budget transfer of $45,025 to fund the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court’s civil traffic hearing officer program from July 1 through September 30, 2008.

Legislative Affairs – received a final report on Palm Beach County’s 2008 legislative funding priorities and appropriations.

Aviation Cluster – adopted a congressional resolution regarding the national strategic importance of maintaining spaceflight expertise at the Kennedy Space Center. The county’s aviation cluster industry employs nearly 11,000 people at more than 175 businesses including Florida Turbine Technologies, Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne, Sikorsky Aircraft and Belcan.

Housing & Community Development – approved on preliminary reading and advertised for public hearing on July 22 the draft Palm Beach County Action Plan which includes federal community development block grant (CDBG) recommendations; also adopted a resolution authorizing the county to join with 28 participating municipalities in the Urban County Qualification Program to facilitate access to federal CDBG and HOME funds.