BCC Briefs

At the October 16, 2007 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:

Solid Waste Authority – sitting as the Solid Waste Authority Governing Board, members voted to terminate a contract with The Tower Group, Inc. due to delays in getting a new transfer station near Lantana built.

Elections – directed staff to begin negotiations with Sequoia Voting Systems for the purchase of optical-scan voting machines to replace the paperless touch-screen machines currently in use.

Sector Plan – tentatively agreed to repeal the Central-Western Communities Sector Plan with final action anticipated November 26. The document, adopted in 2005, was to help guide future development north and west of Royal Palm Beach. But the state DCA never approved the plan, and a state administrative law judge refused to grant more time to reach a settlement.

Employee Benefits – approved a 15 percent increase in premiums for employees with dependent health-care coverage and a new premium of $10 per pay period for employees enrolled in the individual HMO plan. Previously there was no charge for single HMO coverage.

Budget Forums – agreed to hold night-time forums throughout the county in January to gain input from residents on the proposed FY 2008-2009 budget. Commissioners will receive a follow-up report in February.

Osprey Oaks – continued to November 20 a request to establish a community development district in the 208-unit Osprey Oaks residential development in District 3.

Roads – approved an MSTU special assessment for paving and drainage improvements for Foss Road in unincorporated Lake Worth, and awarded a contract in the amount of $825,000 to Charles S. Whiteside, Inc. for construction; also approved on preliminary reading and advertised for public hearing on November 20 amendments to the Five-Year Road Program.

Voluntary Annexation – approved a modification to an annexation ordinance pertaining to unincorporated rural communities. For any one of them to be annexed into a municipality would require the support of at least five County Commissioners and a majority of registered voters in the community.

Army Corps of Engineers – opted not to hire a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee to review permit applications for County beach, road, airport and water utility projects.

L-8 Study – agreed to continue to participate in a Conceptual L-8 Feasibility Study with five other lower East Coast utility systems in Palm Beach and Broward counties to evaluate the potential of using water from the L-8 Basin to meet potable water demands.