BCC Briefs

At the October 20, 2009, Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:

Lake Worth Municipal Beach – discussed the status of an unspent $5 million from the 2002 Recreation and Cultural Facilities bond issue designated for improvements to the Lake Worth Municipal Beach. The board agreed to wait until February when a new renovation plan is expected to be approved by the Lake Worth City Commission.

Transit Oriented Development – received a status report on a request for proposals (RFP) for development of the county-owned “wedge” property within the West Palm Beach transit oriented development (TOD) zone. Assuming pending traffic models show sufficient road capacity, the RFP would be advertised in December.

Palm Tran – approved the allocation of $2,123,500 in federal funds from the American Recovery and Investment Act to provide operating assistance to Palm Tran, including the hiring of one full-time bus operator to handle additional peak service on Route 44.

Fire Rescue – approved amendments to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) to include the City of Lake Worth and Village of Palm Springs, enabling PBC Fire Rescue to become the primary provider of advanced life support (ALS) emergency medical services in those two municipalities; also transferred to Tequesta Fire Rescue four COPCN zones previously served by PBC Fire Rescue Station 11.

Roads – authorized an MSTU to pay for paving and drainage improvements to Navarre Road near Greenacres and approved a contract in the amount of $128,226 with H&J Contracting, Inc. The affected property owners will be assessed $25 per abutting foot.

Affordable Housing – postponed to the November 3 meeting adoption of a resolution recognizing the need for affordable housing and the importance of financially supporting the preservation, redevelopment and creation of affordable housing.

Public TV – directed staff to draft a resolution in support of House Bill 3745, the Community Access Preservation Act, which addresses critical and immediate threats to public, educational and government television channels.