Lake Worth Lagoon Symposium

All I can say is "WOW!" Well, that's not entirely true. I plan to say a lot in a review and summary of the day's events that took place yesterday. Excellent presentations by professionals working on improving our namesake ecosystem - the Lake Worth Lagoon. I will have links to the PowerPoint presentations from the Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management website.

The good news: Things are improving and there continue to be significant efforts underway to improve conditions even further. One also got a sense of the importance of this ecosystem in the history of the area's development - and the importance of recreational fishing!

Look for more soon - expect multiple installments on various topics. Thanks to Colleen Rinaldi for the ride to and from!

And Thursday, if your commute is outside of Lake Worth...

Try Tri-Rail. Go to their site and print out this voucher for a free ride. I've taken Tri-Rail to Miami many times on the weekend and it's a great way to forget the car for a while. It's convenient if you or your spouse works north or south of Lake Worth. If you can integrate it into your own routine, even better.

It'll be even better when we establish transit service on the eastern (FEC) tracks. More updates on that later.

If you are planning on going to the Lake Worth Lagoon Symposium on Wednesday...

...shoot me an e-mail and we can arrange rides. It's an all day affair that will include lunch, so we shouldn't need our cars (or the trucks - see below) during the day. You can reach me at wesblackman@gmail.com.

City Commission Meeting: 5/15/07 - A Meaty Agenda

This should prove to be the most substantial meeting since the formation of the new Commission. The following items are of particular interest:

• Item V. E. - Report by the Stakeholders Advisory Committee - the Committee was formed to monitor the public input process in the formation of the vision for the Master Plan. That portion took about the first half of the three year process. Now, we will start seeing the tangible results of the effort - the product will be the Comprehensive Plan revisions (based upon the Evaluation and Appraisal Report) and the revised Land Development Regulations. The report also includes a recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Board that the panel be sunseted as the visioning process is complete. Further public input will come through the Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission meetings that will consider the changes based on the Master Plan vision. I also understand that the current chairman of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee will recommend the Committee's dissolution, as well.
• Item V. G. - Update regarding the City Manager search from the consultant. Should include information on time lines.
• Public Hearings - Items under VII. These are fairly perfunctory changes to the zoning code. You might want to check the back up on the City's website, but most of these are second readings or continuations of already initiated changes.
• Many items under new business: Commissioner Jennings has put together a proposal for an Ecology and Sustainability Board (perhaps a good idea - staffing might be an issue along with who will populate the board - another Affordable Housing Task Force?); discussion of the status of the Palm Beach County Health Department building and its use as a Day Labor Center; discussion of next year's preliminary budget (no Finance Director, property tax reform implications); and the response to the Objections, Recommendations and Comments report related to the creation of the Beach and Casino Land Use District (look for previous posts on this - you also might want to check out my archived "Truth Matters" shows. This item needs to be waved on and sent back up to the state as all the items have been adequately addressed).

I'll be there - hope to see you there tomorrow. I think we will get a sense of the chemistry of this Commission after the meeting. Stay tuned!

Water Restrictions - Updates

Continued Drought Conditions Force New Water Restrictions

Extreme Water Shortage Declared for Palm Beach and Broward Counties;

Severe Water Shortage Expanded to Martin & St. Lucie Counties

Link: Click Here

West Palm Beach, FL – With recent rains doing little to alleviate drought-related conditions across South Florida, the South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Governing Board today declared an extreme water shortage for eastern Broward and Palm Beach counties. The two southeast coastal counties are the first primarily residential areas to be placed in modified Phase III water use restrictions since the agency adopted a phased water shortage plan more than two decades ago. "During the past two months, the District has called upon local businesses, residents and our government partners to practice aggressive water conservation to stretch our municipal water supplies, and these efforts have made a difference," said SFWMD Executive Director Carol Ann Wehle. "Unfortunately, South Florida is facing one of the worst droughts on record. Four of our coastal wellfields are at risk of saltwater intrusion, and we simply need to do more to protect our regional water resources."

The following new restrictions will become effective at 12:01 a.m., Wednesday, May 16:
• Eastern Palm Beach, Broward, and a small portion of Martin County are required to follow Phase III restrictions, limiting outdoor water use to one day a week.
• Agricultural users in the Indian Prairie Basin will transition to Phase III restrictions.
• As part of a severe water shortage declaration in the District’s Upper East Coast Service Area, Martin and St. Lucie counties will be required to follow modified Phase II restrictions, limiting outdoor water use to two days a week.
• In response to concerns over elevated chloride levels in coastal wellfields along eastern Broward and Palm Beach counties, water utilities in Lake Worth, Lantana, Hallandale and Dania Beach are required to cease or shift pumpage from certain coastal wells.

Well, here we are...

Hi folks. I want to take this time and thank you for visiting my blog. On a previous post, I told you about some tracking software that I put on this site. You might be interested in knowing what other people think the popular pages are. So, I created this chart (above - you can click on it to see more detail).

The list reads from most to least visited. Some of the titles can be a little cryptic, especially those concerning dates - but after playing around with Excel for WAY longer than intended, this at least gets the point across - LOL!

One of the more popular pages has been the "Neat Links" that take you to the American Institute of Architects' site showing 150 of America's favorite buildings. That surprises me a bit, but have at it - Enjoy! It really is a neat site. There are some other good links there too, so check it out if you haven't already.

There are a couple of ways to navigate this blog. You can:

• Just scroll down the page and see what's current.



• Check out the entries indexed by date to the right - just below the pictures.



• Check out the items below the date index by topic.



• Do a keyword search in the area provided above the page.

Don't forget my TalkBlog that can be found at Lake Worth Talk.com - you can click on the link underneath the links section to the right. That will take you to the "Truth Matters" blog that corresponds with my show of the same name.

So, enjoy - I really appreciate you visiting here and I hope you find the information useful. Thanks again!