Monday, December 7, 2009

This is what was supposed to be in the previous message from the City:

CDBG Public Meeting

A Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Public Meeting will be held Monday, December 21, 2009, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the Osborne Community Center, 1699 Wingfield Street.

During the meeting, City staff will describe approved uses of CDBG funding, provide a list of possible CDBG projects, and hear public input on the best uses of this funding opportunity.

For more information, please contact the Community Development Department at (561)586-1687.

Highly Informative E-mail from City!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

I got a kick out of this skit...but still a serious matter...

Special City Commission Meeting re BEACH - 12/8 @ 7 p.m.








Click title for link to complete back-up material.

Glimmers of hope...

This is the agenda for the City Commission work session scheduled for Tuesday. Note that these meetings had been taking place during the afternoon, making it difficult for the public to attend or listen. This one is scheduled for 6 p.m. Click title for link to City's website for a .pdf agenda and links to back-up material.

The presentation by the County on the Snook Islands access project should be interesting. This has been slated for a while but I haven't heard an up-date on timing of the improvements. Included here would be day docks and walkways that would create links between Bryant Park and the south part of the golf course to the recently created Snook Islands. The former bridge still needs to be removed by the City and we will hopefully get that done soon as it is an attractive nuisance. This sort of improved access to the water makes sense. The back-up material does not contain any graphics showing the improvements, so I will keep an eye out for those.

The Commission will also be discussing digitizing their packets in order to eliminate, or severely reduce, the amount of paper and materials used under the current way to distribute agenda back-up material. The Clerk estimates that this will save a little more than $400 a year in paper - which I know is way too low. It will be interesting to have a true accounting of the savings once it's been in effect for a year or so. I think we will all be astounded. Coincidentally, I mentioned this in a previous post "Greenwashing - Lake Worth Style" a few weeks ago as an easy way for the Commission to show a commitment to the Climate Control Task Force recommendations. At last Tuesday's Commission meeting, Pangiotti Tsolkas brought up the need for a report on how the City is doing at meeting it's stated environmental goals. Apparently, someone is listening. Let's hope this leads to a more exhaustive effort and check on the City's performance in this area.

The next item regarding the East Coast Regional interlocal agreement appeared on the Commission's agenda last Tuesday. This is about a thirty year extension of an existing agreement related to our regional sanitary sewer system. The staff has prepared some extensive back-up, so refer to that if you want some more detail. What's important to note is that the Commission, at Commissioner Jennings' suggestion, wanted to discuss this in greater deal so that they could assess how this affects the City strategically in the on-going conflict among municipal members. This is where the City was not collecting maintenance money as it should have been from other client municipalities, discovered it and then billed them all the full amount at one time. That did not sit well. Item E on the agenda explains the status of the default on the bond covenant violation - which is a matter related to this whole affair. The good thing about this is that it appears we are getting a handle on this and we are aware of our relationships with other municipalities. Where have we heard this before?

Also at last Tuesday's meeting, at the urging of Commissioner Maxwell, the Commission voted to suspend the second deposit provision if someone made a late payment to the utility. It turns out that the City has approximately $4.6 million in deposits, of which almost $1 million relate to the second deposit assessment. There's almost $6 million in unrecovered billings dating from many years ago - all still in collections. I encourage you to read the entire back-up material, but the sheets below provide a good summary overview of the process/timeline before and after the change.





Lastly, there is discussion regarding a day-long retreat to discuss the City's mission and mission statement. City Manager Stanton believes the "Working Together" slogan and associated current mission statement doesn't reflect the City's soon-to-be focus on customer service. By the way, if you have ever seen the current "Working Together" statement hung on various City Hall office walls, you know that it is completely illegible as they used black letters on a dark background - it's illegibility says a lot, period. Let's hope that this new discussion leads to something that can be the basis for concrete action and improvement.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Emily Dickinson

"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without the words --
And never stops -- at all --

And sweetest -- in the Gale -- is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm --

I've heard it in the chillest land --
And on the strangest Sea --
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb -- of Me.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Pedal-powered Christmas tree lights Copenhagen

Click title for link to article on Copenhagen climate conference.

Left under post re utility billing:

Anonymous said:

A day late & A dollar short they cut me 2 day (includes an additional $300.00 water deposit.)Because of a water leak that wasted over $350.00 in water (re; new block billing)Didn't matter that $740.00 was paid on my account last month and I wasn't 30 days late on Dec. payment of approx. $350.00.

They have cut me many times in the past (including my water) knowing, I have children on breathing equiptment. I had provided doctor letters in the past and they just made me give them another one last week (noterized) and still cut me.

Oh yeah what happened to the $11.00 late charge now mine ranges from $15.00 to $40.00

So, much for single parents...

Thank God Mr. Maxwell is addressing this issue!!!

IMPORTANT: I shared this message with Commissioner Maxwell and he would like whoever left it to contact him immediately.
His e-mail is: smaxwell@lakeworth.org

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Unbelievable! Received Add/Delete for tonight's City Commission meeting at 5:35 p.m. today...


And look what is on the agenda: The Revised Beach Site Plan and the Casino and Decal Parking issues. How can the City get away with such short notice on such important topics that have generated so much public interest? These were presented by the City Clerk and a motion was made to add these to the agenda. No one objected. Listening right now.

This is the last that I have read about the beach project - from the November 20th City Manager's Report:



Notice that the last line talks about having a workshop and then a meeting for the City Commission execute the new Interlocal Agreement. When did that workshop happen?

Here is the site plan referred to in the City Manager's report.

Yeah for Mayor Varela for bringing up the importance of having information available for the public well in advance of a City Commission meeting. It's supposed to be heard for a vote after the workshop scheduled for next Tuesday. There are two options - I'll get more information - but it's a choice between 50 or 90+ decal parking options. The County is more agreeable to the 50 space decal plan and would cost the City much less than the 90 decal space option due to having to include design costs that wouldn't be reimbursed by the County money.

They set a "time certain" of 7 p.m. next Tuesday the 8th to take final action on the agreement. The Casino building was not discussed at this meeting tonight.

Mayor Varela has moved public comment to immediately after a motion and a second - before Commission discussion, staff comments or reports and then Commission discussion. This is how it was during the early part of Mayor Clemens' term. Public comment should come before the vote and after discussion by the Commission - it was working fine before.

This is a great idea put forward by Commissioner Maxwell for tonight's (12/1) meeting...

The last item under new business at tonight's City Commission meeting would potentially bring an end to the imposition of additional deposits when late on utility bills. The money doesn't figure into the revenue for the utility anyway and is a tremendous burden on people who already may be suffering financial hardships. There has to be a more compassionate way to handle this situation for people who are having bona-fide difficulty in making ends meet. The City is all too quick to turn off electric and water for late or non-payment. According to Commissioner Maxwell, it is against public health laws to turn off water into homes due to sanitation reasons and a basic human need for fresh water. Perhaps this will be discussed as well.