Lake Worth Commissioner Maier and the important role of liaison to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC).

One of the roles of a City commissioner is to provide liaison reports, e.g., from councils, neighborhood meetings, Sober Home Task Force, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) are just a few. Very important information for the community.

The next TCRPC meeting is on February 17th. That will be Commissioner Ryan Maier’s last official liaison attendance. Maier has opted not to run for re-election and another commissioner will be tasked with attending these very important meetings following the elections next March.

The Blueway Trail on the C-51 Canal between the cities of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach is another example of an ongoing and very exciting project the TCRPC is tasked with addressing.

The preliminary agenda for the upcoming TCRPC meeting is now available, use this link. Here are some interesting items to be discussed:

• Town of Lake Clarke Shores Comprehensive Plan Amendment
• Town of Palm Beach Comprehensive Plan Amendment
• Village of Palm Springs Comprehensive Plan Amendment
• Resolution Addressing Locally Preferred Option for the Loxahatchee River Restoration Project

Commissioner Ryan Maier’s report to the City Commission about the TCRPC meeting on January 20th was very interesting, especially for cities in South Florida with a beach. The topic? Sand. No community has enough quality sand any more, especially for future needs.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the TCPalm dated Jan. 23rd titled, “Eroded Treasure Coast beaches, sand issues to be discussed in Washington”.

This was a very big topic of discussion at the TCRPC and Maier reported this at the last City Commission meeting on Jan. 24th. Representative Lois Frankel is a big supporter of importing dredged sand from the Bahamas and Maier is very supportive of this idea as well:

The Treasure Coast this year will take a second shot at changing federal law so Florida communities can buy sand from the Bahamas.
     Doing so could provide a solution for rapidly eroding Florida beaches and could help protect the Treasure Coast’s sand, which has been eyed by Miami-Dade County, where sand reserves are depleted.
     Earlier this month, sand advocates saw a partial victory with passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, St. Lucie County Legislative Affairs Manager Nicole Fogarty told the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council on Friday. [emphasis added] 
     The law allows the study of purchasing sand from foreign countries. For Florida, that country likely would be the Bahamas, Fogarty said.