Palm Beach County opposes cities’ efforts to get part of fees developers pay for roads.
This story originally ran Tuesday in StetNews.org.
The fight between cities and counties over who gets the money developers pay for road work could be decided this year by the Florida Legislature.
Cities back a bill that would give them control of the money that otherwise goes to counties. Counties object.
At stake in Palm Beach County: $20 million a year in developer fees that go to roads.
Continue reading “Gardens takes fight over county road money to Tallahassee”‘You didn’t tell us you were coming. You didn’t ask if we wanted you to come and now that we’ve told you ‘no,’ you’ve refused to leave.’
Dozens of Palm Beach Gardens neighbors picketed Wednesday outside City Hall and lined up to tell the City Council they do not want their homes to be part of the city.
They object to being part of an annexation of 1,300 acres east of Interstate 95 containing an estimated 8,300 residents.
The City Council told the opponents their messages were heard before voting against them, taking the final steps to place annexation on the March 19 ballot.
“I respect your passion, and I appreciate every one of you and what you had to say and delivered to us,” Council Member Carl Woods said. “You guys are my neighbors. This isn’t us against you, by no means. If you don’t want it, don’t vote for it.”
Continue reading “‘This isn’t us against you’ — Gardens puts annexation on ballot”All five Palm Beach Gardens City Council members won their current seats without facing voters.
Three Palm Beach Gardens City Council members started new terms Wednesday, rounding out a council in which all five members won their current seats without a single vote cast.
Mayor Chelsea Reed and new council members Bert Premuroso and Dana Middleton assumed the seats handed to them in November when no one filed to run against them.
A year earlier, Marcie Tinsley and Carl Woods started three-year terms under the same scenario.
Continue reading “The City Council nobody voted for “Palm Beach County drops road widening options for western section of Northlake Boulevard despite anticipated rise in traffic from large new communities.
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, the original story published Feb. 3, 2023, incorrectly attributed to Palm Beach Gardens City Attorney Max Lohman comments from the audience at the Jan. 13, 2023, Planning Commission meeting. The comments were made by Avenir attorney Brian Seymour, not Mr. Lohman. The story has been updated as of Feb. 5, 2023, to remove the incorrect information.
Palm Beach County planners and engineers, girding for construction of thousands of homes, are certain that sometime in the next 10 years traffic will dictate the eight-laning of parts of Northlake Boulevard.
Residents of the western gated communities in Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach are equally certain an eight-lane road outside their neighborhoods would be a disaster, eliminating slow-down lanes, decorative entryways and lush landscaping to make way for a dangerous speedway.
On Wednesday, the residents won.
Continue reading “No speedway here: Residents win fight to block eight-laning of Northlake”City Manager Ron Ferris defends proposal: ‘It isn’t about power. It’s trying to find the most efficient and effective way to deliver our services.’
In a debate shaped by an anonymous texting campaign to block “a dangerous plan” that “puts tax dollars at risk,” the Palm Beach Gardens City Council this month sharply reduced the city manager’s proposal to increase his spending authority.
The council cut City Manager Ron Ferris’ proposal in half, putting the threshold for staff to approve contracts for goods and services at 0.25 percent of the city’s budget, which amounts to $590,000, half of the $1.18 million Ferris sought. The threshold is still nearly 10 times the existing $65,000 limit and far higher than neighboring cities.
Continue reading “After anonymous text campaign, city manager spending threshold cut in half”Final vote upcoming on proposal to raise threshold for Palm Beach Gardens City Council review of contracts to $1.18 million from $65,000.
The Palm Beach Gardens City Council is on the verge of giving its city manager far more purchasing power than other top administrators in the county.
The proposal backed in October on first reading by the council would empower City Manager Ron Ferris to approve contracts for goods and services worth $1.18 million without council review, up from $65,000.
Palm Beach County’s threshold is $200,000. In Jupiter, it’s $50,000. In Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, it’s $100,000. Delray Beach is $65,000.
Continue reading “Power of the purse: Gardens council to give city manager more control”With uncontested elections of Chelsea Reed, Bert Premuroso and Dana Middleton, Republicans will hold council majority.
The March 2023 Palm Beach Gardens municipal election is over without voters casting a single ballot.
Incumbent Chelsea Reed, former Councilmember Bert Premuroso and Dana Middleton will take office in March after no one filed to run against them during the two-week qualifying period, which closed Wednesday.
Continue reading “No Gardens election in March: Reed, two new members handed seats”Three candidates lined up to run for three seats; deadline to file is Nov. 30.
The makeup of the Palm Beach Gardens City Council could be determined in the next two weeks without a single vote being cast.
Three seats are open for an election scheduled for March 14. Three people, including Mayor Chelsea Reed, have opened campaign accounts and begun raising money to run. But so far none have drawn challengers.
Continue reading “Gardens election could be decided without voting”Palm Beach Gardens residents with homestead protection will pay less, those without will pay more.
For city property owners with a homestead exemption, this year’s Palm Beach Gardens tax rate amounts to a tax cut.
For the rest, about 40 percent of city taxpayers, the rate set in September by the City Council means paying more in taxes to the city.
Continue reading “Tax relief for some: Gardens council trims tax rate“A $7.2 million infusion from the American Rescue Plan moves up construction at PGA Boulevard and Interstate 95 by two years.
The daily traffic snarl on PGA Boulevard at Interstate 95 took a significant step toward easing Thursday with the act of a local transportation planning agency.
State plans to improve traffic flow on the perpetually stalled southbound I-95 entrance ramp moved up two years with an infusion of $7.2 million from the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress in March.
Continue reading “Fix for PGA flyover logjam on fast track”
