Monday, June 7, 2010

City Commission Work Session All Day tomorrow (6/8)

Click title for complete back-up.  The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. and the morning consists of reviewing the scope of the Request for Proposal (RFP) for future power supply.  This topic carries an estimated time of three hours.  After lunch, around 12:30, there's the Beach Casino financing plan and after that review of the scope of work for architectural firm REG's contract.  I just had time to review those two items today and I have some observations.

For the Casino financing plan, staff mentions in the transmittal memo that they looked at the "market value of the commercial property" in the Casino.  Rates of $25 to $40 square foot for restaurant space and $20 per square foot for retail space are being used after the rehabilitation of the building.  A second story restaurant at $40 a square foot is included in the analysis. These square footage lease rates were "researched...with a commercial real estate expert...based on compatible properties in the region."  We are not offered a copy of the marketing analysis - one presumes the one talked about during various meetings and at the architect interviews.  This was to be performed by a firm out of Broward County and done under the $15,000 limit that the City Manager can approve on her own.

Also important would be whether or not a percentage based rent or hybrid should be used for restaurant tenants.  The market analysis should have addressed that, as well.

Needless to say, the integrity of this analysis depends largely on the assumptions and procedures used in that market analysis.  Not to have that report as part of the basic back-up information and easily available to the general public leads one to be suspect.  Just knowing what "compatible" properties were used is an important consideration.  It is a public document, anyway, why not include it?

One of the points I made in previous posts about the pluses and minuses of rehabilitating the old structure versus building a new building was the impact to the tenants during the construction period. In fact, throughout the RFQ process in selecting an architect, the Commission repeatedly asked questions of the architects related to whether or not tenants could continue operating while rehab is underway.  I always maintained that it really wasn't practical in this case and, therefore, was one of the reasons to build new.  Tenants could stay in the old building, paying rent along the way, and then move into the new building once it was completed.

Well, it seems that the staff has come around on this issue and the analysis specifically assumes that the tenants will vacate the building during the June 2011 through September 2012 construction period.  Huh, if only we knew this beforehand...So, the tenants will be out of business during this time frame and the city will not be earning rental income.

In reviewing REG's contract, the two documents don't share the same construction timeline.  The financial analysis has the construction period beginning in June 2011 - the REG contract has it beginning in August 2011.  The same group of people pretty much worked on the same documents so the discrepancy is not easily explainable.  That two months (or three depending) might make a difference in the bottom line - if not the city's, then certainly with the tenants' bottom line.

The revenue from parking at the beach will be one of the main sources of support for a $6 to 6.5 million loan - with upper parking at $1.75 an hour and $1.50 for lower level parking.  Meters are still the devices, according to this analysis, that will be used to collect money from parking.  Based on our past experience with reliability and enforcement of the meter system, I think we need to look at gated parking with an attendant.  I know this adds a level of administrative costs, but it might be worth the revenue lost from the other methods.  It would also give the city another set of "eyes" on the parking area for both crowd control and vehicle security.

The other odd thing about the REG draft scope of work is that REG is marked out of most of the copy included in the back-up and Living Designs Group is in its place.  Wonder what the story is about that.  Rick Gonzalez doesn't seem concerned.

Tune-in or attend tomorrow.  Public comment, of course, is not accepted during workshops.  Why would the Commission want to hear from the residents anyway?

65 Decibel Noise Ordinance Downtown? Click here for new "targeted" industry...

Or how about this agriculturally based industry?

Lake Worth leaders puzzle over fixes to fallen property values

Click title for link to Palm Beach Post article.  No where is mention made of the enormous amount of vacant and fallow property throughout the city - or our vacant downtown storefronts.  Seven years ago we started a Master Plan/Visioning process that the city spent over $1 million, oodles of staff and volunteer board review, only to have it hi-jacked by "Just Say No" Commissioners Jennings, Golden and Mulvehill.  They led the charge for a "low rise city" that provides no incentive for redevelopment along our major transportation corridors.

We still do not have a working set of land development regulations (zoning code) that is based upon the Master Plan effort.  What would someone refer to if they wanted to redevelop anything or invest in property?

Meanwhile, we keep driving for basic goods and services outside of our city's borders - using the same oil that is spewing in the Gulf of Mexico in our single passenger motor vehicles - and we do the same in terms of exporting people in cars so that they can work in other places.  This is not a "green footprint" for a city - something that many in the city seem deluded into thinking Lake Worth has.

Under the "I want to..." tab on the city's website is a link under "Learn about business development" which then leads to a pdf document "Incentives for Opening or Expanding a Business in Lake Worth."   There we learn that the city has certain targeted industries:
  • Clean/alternative energy, research and manufacturing;
  • Aviation/Aerospace Engineering
  • Communications/Information Technology;
  • Business and Financial Services (non-retail);
  • Education and business incubator programs related to the above industry clusters.
 When were these decided upon and by whom?  How are we promoting the city of Lake Worth to these industries?  Of all the links provided, none is to the city's own CRA website.  Hmmm.

And then we say that the only area for development is the Lake Worth Park of Commerce - which is undergoing a study right now about long term infrastructure needs and really is not "ripe" yet for anyone large employer to take as a serious location alternative.  It also says that zoning density "increases" may be offered.  Really?  And if you aren't part of an industry on this list, would you get a return phone call?  Or even if you were?

Examples like this do nothing to entice anyone that Lake Worth is to be taken seriously as a redevelopment location.  Unfortunately, those private commercial interests will continue to choose other locations that are not as environmentally kind as our vacant and underutilized land in Lake Worth.

Ideally, we could take the lead in promoting redevelopment and advocating at every turn that the County enforce its Urban Service Area Boundary.  Until then, we will be red-lined by the investment community as a city of "no" with a drastically sinking tax base that cannot support basic municipal services.

Amendment 4 President's Use of Racially-Charged Term Draws Call for an Apology

Click title for link.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

For those of you that are experiencing stomach upset after reading Cara Jennings' fluff piece...

Profile: Cara Jennings, the radical cheerleader of Lake Worth

Fresh from the Ministry of Information (aka Palm Beach Post), click on title for a link to a "profile" article about our District #2 Commissioner, apparently awaiting beatification and is already on the fast-track to Sainthood. At least that is the impression left by this article in the Local News section of the paper.

Santa Cara will be running for re-election, you can be sure of that.  In fact, she has been running from the dais at least since January.  You can read her father's hand in the article and his public relations experience has significantly advanced his daughter's political career.  At the end of the article, it seems like Ms. Jennings is flipping through a brochure for campaign signs.  According to the City's website, she hasn't filed a campaign treasurer report yet - she hasn't officially filed so she doesn't need to.  But with a fluff piece like this, why does she need to?  Money can't buy this kind of coverage - another example of the many advantages incumbency ushers in.

In the meantime, the other people that live in Lake Worth, the ones that Cara Jennings doesn't talk to, are left with the bill for her two terms worth of decisions.  Over the past two years, the City experienced the second highest and, for the current year, the highest decrease in property values over every other of the 38 Palm Beach County municipalities.  Cara's crew would say that was due to all of the "over-development" in Lake Worth during the "boom" period.  Well, I got news for you, most of those other 38 municipalities experienced much more "over-development" than Lake Worth ever saw.  If anyone would like a tour of all the vacant and under-utilized land in the city, I'd love to show you.  I'll even pop the popcorn and make the lemonade.

According to Commissioner Jennings, being a Commissioner is a job that is a lot like taking out the garbage.  Let's hope that voters this coming November takeover that job for themselves.

Oh, and the power went out for about three hours last night. And, Cara must not have walked past this property at 902 N. "C" Street - a city-owned property less than a block north of Commissioner Jennings' own tropical oasis - on her way to her cafe con leche.

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Dalai Lama

Because self and others can only be understood in terms of relationship, we see that self-interest and others' interest are closely interrelated and there is no self-interest completely unrelated to others' interests. Due to the fundamental interconnectedness which lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest: in a deep sense, "my" interest and "your" interest basically converge.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010