BCC Briefs

At the November 6, 2007 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:

Airport vendor – awarded a contract to Paradies-Palm Beach, LLC through 2022 to operate retail shops at PBIA. Paradies submitted the only bid.

Fire-Rescue – approved on first reading ordinances to include the Town of Lantana and the unincorporated areas of the Glades Regional Fire-Rescue MSTU in the County’s Fire-Rescue MSTU and restating provisions describing the Jupiter MSTU.

Scripps Florida – approved an agreement with the owners of the 683-acre Briger parcel in Palm Beach Gardens to help pay for land planning services needed to develop the tract, including 70 acres owned by the County for expansion of the Scripps-Florida campus and 100 acres for bioscience development.

Film Festival – approved a $135,000 grant for the Palm Beach International Film Festival. Under the agreement, the festival is required to match the grant through private funding, recruit and review 250 films, provide scholarships and hold seminars on film industry issues.

Economic Development – approved a $99,000 agreement with the World Trade Center Association Palm Beach, Inc. to assist the Office of Economic Development with promoting Palm Beach County to foreign-based companies and investors and help local businesses expand internationally; also approved an agreement with FAU in the amount of $84,243 to assist with implementation of the County’s Strategic Economic Development Plan.

Maritime Academy – approved a grant agreement with the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy in the amount of $80,000 for the Palm Beach County Marine Tech Prep Program. The charter school will be required to increase enrollment by 10 percent in the 2008-2009 school year, provide training for immediate hiring into the marine industry workforce, increase counseling services to students, conduct eight educational field trips, and organize four classroom projects.

Federal lobbyist – approved a $129,009 contract with U.S. Strategies Corp. for federal lobbying on behalf of the County. The amount approved for FY-2008 is $5,000 less than the current annual contract.

Roads – approved a $1.6-million contract with Ameriseal Northeast Florida to supply and install pavement reflectors and traffic paint on County-owned roads; awarded two contracts totaling $4.453 million to Superior Landscaping & Lawn Service and Vila & Son Landscaping Corp. to supply, install and maintain landscaping and irrigation systems along County-owned roads.