Notes and observations from the College Park neighborhood meeting last Thursday, October 20th

The main item of interest was the presentation by the City on the upcoming November 8th bond referendum (more information about that below). About 30 people were in attendance at CWS Bar + Kitchen in the Downtown. Prior to the presentation there were other items discussed you'll find interesting.

• The Sheriff's update reported there were no major incidents in College Park during the previous month other than residential and auto burglaries, mostly due to unlocked doors. We learned the Eagle (PBSO's helicopter) is now doing night patrols when there is not an active pursuit with a night vision camera to spot unusual activity. For example, people going around to different properties trying to open car or home doors. There was an apprehension in a grand theft case involving $10 million in artwork and paintings. We were reminded that the victim of a crime has to follow through and press charges in order to get a conviction.
• City Manager Michael Bornstein gave another presentation on the street bond ballot issue. The ballots are printed and sample ballots are arriving in mailboxes. Important to note the Lake Worth ballot item appears on the back of the last page. Such a position may make it easy for some people to forget and not turn the page.
• Brent Whitfield of ADA Engineering, responsible for the roadway assessment, talked about how they quantified the condition of the City's roadway network. For a more thorough description, you can click here for that presentation last Monday night at the Parrot Cove neighborhood meeting.
• In short, after the survey performed in 2013 the average condition of all roads was around a pavement condition index (PCI) rating of 70. Ten percent of the City's roads are in a state of complete failure. The goal of this program is to rebuild roads under a 55 PCI. Whitfield reminded us the road project is made up of five components (click on photographs below to enlarge).
  
• Whitfield also pointed out maintenance in the 15th year after a road is completed makes it less expensive to repair and gives the road a much longer lifespan. This is shown in the chart below:

• This is the projected roadway maintenance budget going forward into the future. The increases will allow the City to keep up maintenance of the roads:

     There is a calculator for your particular property on the City's website you can access here. Follow the instructions to determine your property's taxable value (net of any deductions for homestead, senior, etc.).
     Regarding the County's proposed 1¢ sales tax increase for infrastructure, 50% will go to the school district, 30% to unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, with the remaining 20% to be split proportionately among the municipalities. If the sales tax vote passes then more City roads can be added to the program.