Saturday, October 1, 2016

So sad. The architecture, structure, and amenities the little City of Lake Worth could have had at the Beach

On the heels of the latest news (scroll down or use this link) about our municipal pool at the Beach being closed. . .

If you've read this blog, the Herald, and other reports you know the Lake Worth Casino complex and pool are a story again, and not in a good way. All these years of mishaps and embarrassments could have been avoided. Instead of the Casino adding money to our City's tax base it's the other way around now. To make matters even worse some want to raise electric rates to clean up this mess:
That's right. As recently at August 9th (at a City Commission workshop) the same answer to every problem: "raise rates".

Instead of a functional, visually stunning Casino complex such as in the image below. . . thanks to Commissioner McVoy, former commissioners Cara Jennings, JoAnn Golden et al we're instead left with a boondoggle.
This is the Greater Bay site plan. Note the Casino is located in the center of the property with a new pool north of the building. 

Most people are aware there are a multitude of problems at the Casino complex. What most don't know is the basic flaw of the Casino is the very same flaw the previous structure had: THEY WERE BOTH BUILT IN THE WRONG PLACE. As in the image above, the plan by Greater Bay was to have the structure in the center of the property along with a parking garage. That way there are no ADA issues, nearly every parking spot is close to the building, and access for emergency vehicles is dramatically reduced. 

Any normal weekend at the beach and you can clearly see the flaw having the Casino on the north of the property. In addition, were the Casino in the center of the area a new building would have been constructed with pilings. The current building DOES NOT HAVE PILINGS.

A clear ocean vista is what one would have seen when cresting the bridge if the Greater Bay plan prevailed. Instead, what you see now is the back of a boxy building. How very charming.

The Greater Bay plan was for the new construction behind the Coastal Construction Control Line. I don't think I need to remind you that the City tore down the former building for the NEW casino building that exists today. The Greater Bay plan also shows a single deck parking area just west of the Casino building which would have provided direct access to both levels of the building. This site plan shows a total of 780 parking spaces and a significant amount of green area in the southeastern part of the property.

And guess what! The eyesore of a pool building is gone with this site plan. Unfortunately, this planor worthy elements of itwere never allowed to see the light of day in terms of being formally reviewed by the city.

You could say this plan by Greater Bay (which you were never shown) cost the City around $2.5 million$1.6 million in a settlement payment to Greater Bay and around $900,000 in legal fees defending the City's indefensible position. It also represents a high degree of opportunity costs: we have to live with a less functional beach property now and deal with the consequences.

We've all seen parents pushing strollers up the dune to get to the Casino, elderly struggling to make it to the top, and bridesmaids having to walk all the way from their parking spot trying not to sweat too much and it didn't have to be this way. A previous city commission failed us and now we all have to pay the price for their mistakes.
These are the 'visionaries' that have left us all with "egg on our faces". Now it's left to the current City Commission majority to fix all this mess.

Please Note: The Pool Party scheduled for today (Saturday, 10/1) at the Lake Worth Casino has been cancelled

See the following press release from the City.

Press Release from City of Lake Worth: TEMPORARY LAKE WORTH POOL CLOSURE

September 30, 2016
Contact: Juan Ruiz, Leisure Services Director
Phone: 561-586-0361
Email: jruiz@lakeworth.org

It is with deep disappointment that the City of Lake Worth has announced a temporary closure of the Lake Worth Municipal Pool. In a recent routine safety and risk analysis inspection performed by Ben Few & Company Inc., Risk Managers for the City, it was determined that the deteriorating condition of the pool pump room, spalling concrete ceiling and walls constitutes a dangerous and possibly life threatening condition to city employees needing access to the pump house due to large chunks of ceiling falling unexpectedly.
The City was directed to immediately close the building to all employees and guests until the building can be returned to a safe working environment.

The pool pump room is the heart of the pool operation and must be entered on a daily basis to check for proper water chemistry and to ensure the essential equipment is functioning properly. In addition other important daily pool pump room functions that have to be monitored include:
  • Check scan- troll chemical feeders
  • Check chemical readings on scan-trolls
  • Check and or adjust chemical feeder function
  • Check water levels in balance tank levels
  • Add chemicals, sodium bicarb and algaecide
  • Check chlorine and PH levels out of return ports
  • Once a week for at least 3 hours- Back wash
  • Check plumbing for any leaks that may have formed
  • Check chemical feed lines to ensure no acid or chlorine leaks
  • Adjust valves to maintain proper water levels and water flow rates
A contractor has been hired to complete the repairs to the pool pump room, repairs are scheduled to begin October 4, 2016. Estimated time for completion of the repairs is one week.

The City will issue updates on the situation via social media and press releases. We apologize for any inconvenience to our residents and visitors, and we appreciate your understanding that the safety of our employees is a top priority.

Friday, September 30, 2016

"City of Lake Worth releases Bond Tax Calculator". Once again, NBC5/WPTV picks up slack* for the rest of media in Palm Beach County.

Did you miss this from yesterday? See excerpts from the WPTV news (that aired last Wednesday, 9/28) below this image and caption:
Please note how much Mr. McNamara paid to fix his car and how much it will cost Mr. Richert (see below) to fix the potholes on his street. Try looking at a "Yes" vote on November 8th as preventive maintenance.

Kudos to Alex Hagan (use this link for his bio) for stepping up and being accurate as well.† Without further ado and sans comment from Yours Truly here is the news story which aired last night (9/28), two excerpts:

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - A crucial vote deciding the fate of Lake Worth's roads is coming soon.
     On November 8, voters will decide whether to approve a 40 million dollar bond referendum.
     The city posted a tax calculator on their website‡ to give residents the chance to estimate how much more in taxes they would be paying the next few years.
     "Time for new roads."
     David Richert is clearly aware of the issue, but as he plugs in the taxable assessed value of his home he's not too thrilled about the dollar amount.
     "Looking at $109 annually." [emphasis added]

[and. . .]

     However, Mike Luciano is okay with how much he would have to pay.
     "$187," says Luciano. "It's not so bad for the service that we'll be getting. Think it will bring more investment."
     City leaders say this is the best way§ to fix the deteriorating roads in Lake Worth.

*Please note a video also accompanies this news story.
For more news about the upcoming referendum use this link.
Use this link for the "calculator" and more news you can use.
§The "best way" is not entirely accurate. "Only" is more like it. With only 40 days until the vote no one, including critics such as Commissioner Chris McVoy, PhD, have come up with an alternative to fix our roads, even though he's had over two years to do so. The proof? Hear citizen/reporter Peggy Fisher ask McVoy as he passed by at the 1:35 mark in this video, "I want his [McVoy's] plan. I haven't heard his plan." His answer? Silence.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

From the Post's Alexandra Seltzer: Lori Durante's Culinary Tour and Lake Worth is featured. And there's a deal at Bealls today!

For this Saturday's (10/1) Culinary Tour use this link. This week's tour features Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, and. . . "Tour is 4 to 5 hours and includes bus riding and walking. The non-profit Taste History Culinary Tour of Historic Palm Beach County is an engaging experience that travels to family-owned bakeries and eateries for food tastings including trips to historic buildings, emerging art galleries featuring local artists, trips to emerging art districts and off-the-beaten-path."
There's a Bealls coupon on today's (9/29) front page, above the fold! 

Here are two excerpts from the article by Alexandra Seltzer:

     Cannolis. Sugar cookies. Rainbow cookies. Rum balls. You name it.
     It was one of the Boynton Beach stops on Lori Durante’s Taste History Culinary Tours. I had heard of the tour before, and have seen the news releases, but never went until my colleague Lulu Ramadan, the Post’s Delray Beach reporter, asked if I wanted to go.

[and. . .]

     The Delray/Boynton tour was the first of the fall 2016 season. Taste History is the first culinary tour in Palm Beach County, and the nonprofit was started in 2011. The tours rotate trips to West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Lantana, Delray and Boynton. The next tour is Saturday in West Palm Beach and Lake Worth. [emphasis added]

If you use Twitter, "Follow" Taste History Culinary Tours:

The Miami New Construction Show until Saturday, October 1st

Here is one interesting panel discussion (click image to enlarge):
For more information use this link.

In case you missed this: Referendum coming up and dirty tricks. . . a look back. Remember those deceitful "Dear Friend" letters?

The closer we get to the November 8th referendum to fix our roads in Lake Worth is one day closer to the start of dirty political tricks in this little City. Let's take a look back to what happened leading up to the elections last March:
Prior to election day last March a flurry of first-class letters were dropped in Lake Worth mailboxes like this one from District 2 Commissioner Chris McVoy (more on this below).

The false claims about the Lake Worth beach (remember the red and white signs?), untrue allegations of Sunshine Law violations (by McVoy), and other political nonsense was delivered to Lake Worth residents via 'personal' letters designed to confuse and mislead the public. The very same people involved in this effort (that ultimately failed in the last election) were also the ones who scuttled the "LW2020" bond vote in 2014 and who also succeeded at pushing through the under-whelming, now "null and void" heights vote in 2013.

It's unclear what occurred last March when Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, and Commissioner Andy Amoroso were all re-elected in landslides. But this much we do know: Something happened to create a high level of panic in the leadership of the campaigns organized to defeat the incumbents.

Did they get a heads up about this in The Palm Beach Post?
And don't forget another Post observation: ". . . this is a testament to just how long previous commissions have ignored the city’s basic needs."

It was hard not to notice when a certain blog, another certain self-proclaimed 'journalist', and the leadership (aka, the "cabal") running the Frank McAlonan, Diane Jacques, Ryan Hartman, and Gary Antieau campaigns got very worried and frantic. There was an obvious and quick change in tactics. They went on a dis- and misinformation offensive pulling out all the stops. That is when the "Dear Neighbor" letters began arriving in mailboxes, handwritten envelopes complete with first class postage (see below).

Just like in previous election cycles, the cabal divvied up the City into sections and assigned trusted, high-level members who lived there to sign and stuff envelopes for bulk drop-off at the post office. Here are a few examples:
The text of the mass-produced, form letter is exactly the same; it's just "personalized" by a signature. Very clever. . . unless you understood the deception.

Below is another one using the same method from the 2015 election cycle. Again, these went out under different signatures, from different neighborhoods, in hand-written envelopes and were sent by the cabal to voters in their neighborhood:
A 2015 "Dear Neighbor" letter deceiving voters about 'selling the beach'.
Note the clever disclaimer.

Now to the "Dear Friend" letter sent by Commissioner McVoy

The letter below was delivered to mailboxes around the same time of the "Dear Neighbor" letters. The one big difference is the letter has no date. 
The "lack of transparency" was debunked. True: The Post did endorse McVoy in 2015.

Below is the bottom of the letter. Note the footnotes that merely direct the reader to the City's website:
What's important to note here is the disclaimer: "Paid for by Save Our Neighborhood, Inc., 2121 Collier Ave., Lake Worth".

Do the treasurer and chairperson of "Save Our Neighborhood, Inc." look familiar (see image below)? The chair of this PAC IS ALSO THE CHAIR of the PAC called Citizens Against Unfair Taxation (or 'CAUT'). That's right. The group that defeated the "LW2020" bond by 25 votes: 
Note this PAC had nearly no contributions in all of 2015. Then last March the contributions began to flow in. See for yourself: Use this link and scroll down to the bottom of the web page. Click on "G3 Amendment" under the "Save Our Neighborhood" PAC.

Below is from page 2 of the amended G3 report. Does that name sound familiar? Note the in-kind contribution of "copy paper".
"From the desk of" District Two Commissioner Chris McVoy. Remember this if he's on the ballot next March.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

News from NBC5/WPTV's Charlie Keegan: "Renters win court battle against landlord at Lake Worth's Breezeway Inn"

First, before we get to the former Breezeway Inn on North Dixie Hwy., a humorous story that followed a tragic event. Remember that horrific plane crash last year? The only reporter on the scene who got the location correct was Charlie Keegan. The only one.

While reporters from the Post, CBS12/WPEC, ABC25/WPBF, and all the others were bumping into each other, scratching their heads saying, "Where are we?", Keegan quickly did his homework and reported the crash happened in "suburban Lake Worth".
If the crash occurred just a short distance north, east, or west it would have been Palm Springs. Even weeks later many in the press couldn't figure out where this crash occurred, saying it was "in Lake Worth". Sadly, even their editors don't understand what the Lake Worth Corridor is.

It's not magic. The other local reporter that gets it right all the time is the Post's Julius Whigham II. Would guess he knows the trick too. Anyhow, to learn why the press is so confused all the time use this link.

Now to the former Breezeway Inn located at 2001 North Dixie. This news story subtitled, "Jury awards tenants monetary damages" has a video also. Here is an excerpt from the text:

     After nearly two years, a jury sided with the tenants; awarding eight of them at least $6,000 a piece.
     Alison Brown from the law firm Holland and Knight helped the Legal Aid Society in the courtroom pro bono. She said the judgement is about more than money.
     “It was, ‘I don't want this to happen to anyone else, I don't want these landlords, or any other landlords like that, to be able to do this to other people,’” Brown said.

For those of you on Twitter, "Follow" Charlie Keegan to see his latest WPTV news reports:

It was a very large crowd at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center last night

Over 200 people came out last night (Monday, 9/26) to hear Asst. State Attorney Alan Johnson speak with Lake Worth neighbors about the Sober Homes Task Force and legislative actions to bring some kind of order from the chaos currently playing out in our neighborhoods all over South Florida. Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell and NAPC Chair Jon Faust hosted the evening. Commissioner Andy Amoroso attended (he's a member of the Task Force), other elected's, along with PBSO Capt. Todd Baer and Lt. Anthony Johnson.

Mr. Johnson pointed out that the use of the term "sober house" is not reflective of the reality what most of Florida is dealing with. That term is generally used to describe what is referred to as the Oxford house model. He said they were different models in that homes following the Oxford Model are made up of people who have been through drug treatment, sober, and wish to stay that way. These are not the "bad actors" plaguing many Florida neighborhoods.

For better or worse, Florida has become a "health care destination." The Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing and Affordable Care combined to form a series of unintended results which have spawned what is known as "Recovery Residences."

Mr. Johnson told the group that many are part of a sophisticated system that markets services to families in crisis due to addiction. The "1-800" numbers you see soliciting for drug treatment services are a way of getting people to various locations in Florida for "treatment." This takes that family member who is suffering from addiction out of the familiar home setting.

Generally unsupervised once they arrive the addict can quickly be influenced to use drugs once again, be kicked out of their housing and end up on our streets. Many contribute to the increasingly high overdose deaths experienced in Palm Beach County and in cities like Lake Worth and Delray Beach.

Please watch the videos on my YouTube channel. It was less of a formal presentation and more of a Q&A session on the work being done by the task force, attempts to create legislation that would regulate the 'recovery' industry, and the unethical (and sometimes illegal) practices that are taking place.

Once again, Thank You to Al Johnson, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, the Scottish Rite, and everyone else who helped to make this meeting happen.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Did you miss Mary Lindsey's Special Report in the Herald last week? "Lake Worth City Hall Annex Is Positively Blooming!"

Page 3 (local events page) "About Town", was filled with all sorts of special events and meetings in our little tiny City. The Herald is still only ¢50.

Look in the right-hand column for how to pick up The Lake Worth Herald, a true community newspaper. To have an event published send a fax to 561-585-5434 or email lwheraldje@gmail.com

Without further ado, an excerpt from Lindsey's article. . .

     Lake Worth Electric Utility Director, Jack Borsch said, “It’s important to all of us at Lake Worth Utilities to offer our customers the best in reliability and service in everything we do. Our customers are really the owners of this utility service and we want them to feel proud when they have occasion to come to our customer service offices. None of us were especially happy with how the grounds at the Annex Building looked and we decided our customers deserved something much more attractive.” 
     The landscape design is simple and elegant. A mix of variegated shrubs, deepest pink Dracaena, also called Red Ti along with yellow and green speckled Croton line the edges of the building in wide beds punctuated by pygmy date palms and some mature bird of paradise specimens that were retained.

Previously unpublished 2-minute video: Greg Rice on Jeff Perlman's book, "Adventures in Local Politics"

"If you find yourself catering to complainers that do not have solutions you are going to face a quick descent."
—Jeff Perlman


Community activist, reporter, elected commissioner, then elected mayor of Delray Beach, entrepreneur, and author Jeff Perlman was the speaker at a much-talked-about gathering here in Lake Worth. Use this link for a recap. It was an interesting event and many of the people who attended left with a new perspective.

While going through my YouTube channel recently noticed a previously unpublished video of Greg Rice talking about Perlman's book, "Adventure's in Local Politics". Rice talks about western sprawl, coastal communities left behind, and the consequences: damage to the environment being one. Use this link for my YouTube channel and click the red icon to become a subscriber; you'll get an email when new videos are uploaded. Along with being an excellent speaker, Perlman also has a blog and thought this was especially relevant now the City's referendum to fix all the substandard streets and all the potholes is only 48 days away (as of Tuesday, 9/20). Perlman wrote this:

     If you want to succeed in local politics–I can’t speak for state or federal office–determine who is busy making a positive impact and do what you can to help them. [emphasis added]
     Those people are not hard to find. They serve on boards, mentor children, seek to heal those who are hurting, raise funds for good causes, work hard to advance ideas and create jobs. They aspire. Oh, how I love that word. It makes all the good in this world possible.
     Please those folks. Work hard to help them succeed. Praise and support their efforts.
     As for the rest, well don’t go out of your way to anger them. (You wont have to, they wake up mad).
     Listen to your critics, sometimes they have something to teach you and other times they are simply full of it.
     But they do serve a purpose–they are usually wrong. Their batting average is terrible when measured against the doers in your city. Their predictions of doom and gloom rarely come true and their negativity usually doesn’t amount to much. The worse thing you can do is empower them; that will deflate the contributors and you can kiss progress goodbye.
     On the other hand, if you listen to those who aspire, who seek to do the impossible you’ll find that the word doesn’t exist.
     Oh, you’ll trip a time or two, you may even get some stuff wrong but you’ll be someone whose service mattered. It’s guaranteed. Or you can squander the opportunity and fail.
     It really is that simple.

Everyone is invited to attend upcoming Town Hall meetings in West Palm Beach, first one TONIGHT

Palm Beach County Commissioner Paulette Burdick, West Palm Beach City Commissioner Shanon Materio, and County School Board members Erica Whitfield and Chuck Shaw will be in attendance.

Some of the topics for discussion:
  • Update and information on the Zika virus
  • The heroin epidemic
  • Amendments 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the November ballot
  • Judges on the November ballot
Where and when:
  • Tonight (Tuesday, 9/27) at the Vista Center, 7:00–8:30, located at 2300 Jog Rd. in West Palm Beach
  • Thursday, 10/6 at the South Olive Park Recreation Center, 7:00–8:30, located at 345 Summa Rd. in West Palm Beach

Monday, September 26, 2016

In the Palm Beach Post: Lake Worth is just a "jumping off place"? Only "music and booze"?

The Post's beat reporter for Lake Worth takes another cheap shot at our City. This isn't anything new. This latest 'news' in today's print edition about Rolando Barrero's gallery has this untrue, unfair, and completely unnecessary quote about our City:
It’s a jumping off place for young people. Lake Worth is music and booze. [emphasis added] The art scene is more arts and crafts . . .
Hmmm.
Just "arts and crafts"? What about the Cultural Council in the Downtown? LULA and our CRA? The Core Ensemble at St. Andrew's? The Benzaiten Center? The McMow Art Glass Gallery? Flamingo Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery? The Lake Worth Playhouse? The Stonzek Theatre? And Art Al Fresco to name just a few.

Anyhow, Lake Worth is much more than just "music and booze". For example, there's the Cultural Council at the Robert M. Montgomery Jr. building at 601 Lake Ave:
  • 561-471-2901
  • Open Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00–5:00
  • Free street parking
  • Public parking lot east of the Cultural Council's building (across 'L' Street)
  • Cultural Council is a "VisitFlorida Certified Tourism Information Center"
Exhibits at the Cultural Council

Selections from the Armory Art Center until this Wednesday (9/28): 

     "This exhibition features new or unseen work by 41 talented artists that are current faculty at the Armory Art Center."

Artistic Visions: Women in the Visual Arts

     "Now through October 1st: Women In The Visual Arts (WITVA) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support professional women artists in South Florida. Founded in 1989, WITVA strives to share the visual arts with our community and to sponsor student artists with scholarships and awards."

And don't forget the Roe Green Uniquely Palm Beach Store is located in the Cultural Council building. Here is more information about this unique shop: 

     "The Roe Green Uniquely Palm Beach Store, located in the Cultural Council’s lobby, features beautiful artist-made jewelry, handbags, accessories and books. All items are made in The Palm Beaches, either by professional artists who live and work in this county or by cultural organizations in Palm Beach County. 
     Proceeds support the Cultural Council’s artist programs."

An idea for Lake Worth from our good friends in Boynton Beach:

Click on image to enlarge. On the subject of historic photographs and Lake Worth history. . .

At some point Lake Worth has to answer that question once and for all: "What is possible in this City?"

"Somehow just asking the question is taboo and I think that's what I keep hearing from people. Don't ask the question, 'What is possible in this City?' Don't ask the question about what is possible, be it the beach, be it road infrastructure. . ."
—Quote by City Manager Michael Bornstein at City Commission meeting on July 30th, 2015.


You can hear Bornstein for yourself in the video below at the 2:00 mark. This discussion had to do with the previous City Commission and their flawed business plan for the Casino complex and pool. Since that time many more disturbing facts have been uncovered about what occurred in 2008–2010:
Fast forward to March 2016, following the municipal elections Bornstein wrote the following in Worth Noting, the City's newsletter.* Here is an excerpt from the article:

     "City elections are over, the results are in, and now we move to the next chapter.
     The Mayor and Commissioners have wasted no time in laying out several ambitious items for the City staff to get to work on. Along with the ones we are currently implementing, the new list of projects will take a lot of effort and will require everyone to work together to ensure the best outcomes. Therefore, in the coming months, Lake Worth will be a place alive with activity and debate. We will be a community striving to explore exciting and wonderful opportunities and resolve longstanding and difficult problems. I encourage you to get involved and help create the best version of Lake Worth possible."


Bornstein writes that the "Mayor and Commissioners [emphasis added] have wasted no time in laying out several ambitious items", and Lake Worth will be a community working to "resolve longstanding and difficult problems." He's being very generous. The only ones on the City Commission sticking their necks out are Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, and Commissioner Andy Amoroso.

Keep this in mind leading up to the November 8th referendum to fix our roads and then the March 14th elections in 2017. We're at a pivotal point in our City's history when the answer to the question, "What is possible in this City?" will either be answered or the problems just "kicked down the road", just like what's been going on in this City for far too long.

*Use this link to sign up for the Worth Noting newsletter. It's free and delivered to your email inbox.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

A Post reporter got robbed—her article in the Sunday paper got pushed "below the fold"

Palm Beach Post reporter Kristina Webb got robbed. Her article in today's Sunday print edition titled, "Group aims to reduce risks pedestrians, bicyclists face" got pushed to the 'B section', below the fold. To learn the difference between "above the fold" and "below the fold" use this link:
. . . it reflects a decision, on the part of the editors, that the article is one of the day's most important. 
It's a matter of priorities you see. The 'big headline' article today is about red light cameras in Boynton Beach. Wow. Old tired news. To read more about this topic of public safety, pedestrians, and bicyclists in Palm Beach County visit Jesse Bailey's website called Walkable West Palm Beach:

"Mixing high speed traffic and people on foot or bikes is a recipe for disaster. The findings of a Palm Beach MPO study bear this out, showing the extraordinarily dangerous nature of the county’s arterial road network. Below is a map showing the hot spots identified. Thanks to Wes Blackman for reporting on this MPO meeting and recording it."

To watch these four videos use this link to my YouTube channel. Below is the original blog post from September 20th. Note that Kristina Webb attended this meeting as well:

I had the opportunity to attend a meeting on Monday, September 19th at the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). That is the government agency responsible for transportation improvements in Palm Beach County, helps go after federal funds for projects and, increasingly, is working on ways to make biking and walking safer.

This team meeting presented recommendations to remedy "hot spots" for bicycle and pedestrian accidents throughout the County. It turns out the entire Lake Worth Road corridor is considered "hot" from Jog Road to Lakeside Drive. Of course, that includes all the area within the City of Lake Worth from the western city limits (roughly east of the County's John Prince Park), right through our Downtown to the Robert Harris Bridge.

You can read Palm Beach Post reporter Kristina Webb's article on the meeting using this link. An excerpt:

     The Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Team commissioned a study with planning consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates to compile data and construct a heat map that details specific spots and corridors where incidents have occurred.
     The team used that analysis to help craft ideas to help improve safety in those key areas.

Accident data involving pedestrians and bicycles were looked over 4 full years from 2010 through 2014. The map below is called a "heat map" that was created by plotting the data. Certain patterns emerge:
The eastern, urban side of the county stands out. Look particularly at the center part of the map. That east/west blue line is Lake Worth Road. The road going north, making sort of an "L" shape represents Military Trail.

When you watch the videos you will hear and see representatives from Kimley-Horn go through each problem area in the County. At the 8:50 mark of the second video (below) is where they focus on the Lake Worth Road corridor. (I will be sharing the other three videos in future posts. You can watch all four of them on my YouTube channel. Click the red "Subscribe" button to become a subscriber.)

Refer to the legend above to interpret the symbols on this map:
Map of the Lake Worth Road corridor from Jog Road to Lakeside Drive (click to enlarge image).

Dixie Hwy. through the City of Lake Worth was not discussed but there is a lot of data for that major roadway. On both maps look at the number of incidents that happen at night. They are the ones that appear in gray:
Dixie Hwy. through the City of Lake Worth.

It was very interesting to find out the month of September stands out as a peak month for crashes:
I'll be posting more later on about ways to decrease the crash frequency. There are some novel approaches and many of them follow the complete streets concept.