This facility is conveniently located at 2728 Lake Worth Rd. between Palm Beach State College and the County’s John Prince Park.
T-Rec will remain open until September 28th. The pool is available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 a.m.– 1:00 p.m. and open 1:00 p.m.–6:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. The price for adults is $3.25 plus tax but only $26 for a 10-visit pass. Parking is FREE.
Here are the weekend days the pool is open this season.
Click on image to enlarge:
Please note City of Lake Worth residents: There is a slim possibility a small pool facility of some sort (e.g., a paddling or wading pool), could be constructed at the City’s Beach in the future. However, the prospect of a new pool and/or aquatic center somewhere else within the City limits is much more likely.
Keep The Faith!
Some day in the future we’ll have water exercise classes once again here in this little, vibrant City of Lake Worth. The only difference the pool will be more conveniently located in the City and will have FREE parking too!
There used to be water exercise classes in the former pool at the Lake Worth Beach but the hours were very limited and the bathrooms were in very poor condition.
Can you spot Yours Truly?
To learn more about “Aqua Motion” exercise classes at T-Rec click on this link.
“Save money, buy a Seasonal Pass!”
There are water jets at this pool too, a very nice feature.
A project called “The MID” at 1601 N. Dixie Hwy. (see press release below).
The latest news is this project was enthusiastically received by the Lake Worth City Commission, the funding portion of initial infrastructure costs and providing a tax increment rebate, and passed unanimously on First Reading last Tuesday, May 1st. Second Reading will be on May 15th. If you can please show up at City Hall and show your support for this project.
Please Note: This project still has to go through the Planning & Zoning Board for the site plan and recommendations to the City Commission on rezoning to a “Planned Development District”. After which the City Commission will have two more readings on the rezoning application. There will be plenty of time for public input and addressing community concerns.
“The MID apartment residences”
This property on North Dixie Hwy. “[M]easures 5.6 acres and is the largest privately owned property in the CRA District.”
Here is the press release from the CRA:
The development of the City’s commercial corridors continues to be a priority for the CRA. Our main thoroughfare, Dixie Highway, has seen limited development over the years. This is due to a myriad of issues including high land costs and a lack of contiguous assembled properties for larger projects. The CRA played a role in several successful developments including Publix at 1101–1113 N. Dixie and the Shops at Downtown. In addition the CRA invested in numerous properties in the form of façade and tenant improvement grants. Despite CRA initiatives, large-scale, mixed-use developments did not make it past the conceptual phase until now. In late 2017, founding partners of Affiliated Development, Jeff Burns and Nick Rojo proposed a project on the 1601 N. Dixie site to the CRA Staff. The property, known as the “Regency site,” has sat idle for at least the last ten years. It measures 5.6 acres and is the largest privately owned property in the CRA District.
Click on image to enlarge:
“The MID will provide new, attractive housing opportunities in the
district that will attract professionals and couples . . . and also provides an
opportunity for the attraction of additional retailers to the area.”
Affiliated, aka 1601 Dixie Holdings Inc., plans to build The MID, a multi-million dollar, mixed use development that includes 1 and 2 bedroom market rate apartments along with live/work units, a clubhouse, pool and other amenities. In addition, the two-hundred plus unit development will pay special attention to the character and fabric of the community by including public art and environmentally-friendly elements. Although the CRA and other developers have completed housing developments in the last eight years, most of the units were built specifically for households making less than 120% of area medium income. For instance La Joya, containing 55 units was completed in 2016 with CRA subsidy. It is restricted to households making 80% or less of area medium income.
An aerial rendering looking to the west, the intersection of 17th Ave. North and Dixie Hwy.
Questions? Use this link to contact the CRA staff, call 561-493-2550 or visit the CRA offices at The HATCH located at 1121 Lucerne Ave. on Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
One of the CRA’s goals in the Redevelopment Plan is to encourage market rate housing opportunities in the redevelopment area. The MID will provide new, attractive housing opportunities in the district that will attract professionals and couples who will support not only the commercial component of the project, but also businesses on and near Dixie highway and the downtown. The MID also provides an opportunity for the attraction of additional retailers to the area. The CRA will provide support to the project by funding a portion of the initial infrastructure costs as well as providing tax increment rebate. The amount of the rebate will depend on the ultimate size of the project and the value it brings to the City. The project is expected to go through the City’s approval process during the Summer with construction beginning as early as late 2018.
End of press release.
Once again, the vote at the City Commission on May 1st at First Reading was unanimous, 4-0 (with Vice Mayor Pro Tem Scott Maxwell absent). Second Reading is coming up on Tuesday, May 15th.
Meet your mayor and commissioners for Districts 1–4:
To contact your elected leadership click on this link and let them know you support “The MID” and also support the continued redevelopment of Dixie Hwy. in this City of Lake Worth.
By the end of September that big 55-gallon green/yellow recycling bin won’t be worth a hill of beans, right? Wrong!
Be creative and start thinking of ways to re-purpose that big container. Before long the City of Lake Worth and the Solid Waste Authority will be rolling out a public relations campaign to inform the public about the upcoming changes to the City’s recycling program.
Wouldn’t this be an excellent time for the City to roll out its new official Facebook page? Anyhow, check back soon for more helpful tips, things you can do to reuse that big recycling bin.
Last week (Thursday, April 26th) was the City’s public meeting about the “Historic Preservation Design Guidelines” held in the Ballroom at the Lake Worth Casino. If you weren’t able to attend but would like to learn more about these design guidelines for historic structures in the City here is your contact information:
Mark E. Stivers, AICP, Assistant Director for Planning & Preservation: Call 561-586-1617; email: MStivers@lakeworth.org
“Since adoption [in 1996], Lake Worth has designated six local historic districts
and four structures significant to the local history with several
recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.”
More photos and information gleaned from this meeting. . .
Here’s a view from the 2nd floor of the Casino building (click on image to enlarge):
Poor design. Because parking was not adequately addressed during the planning in 2008–2010 cars still park in the bike lane. Just one of many items overlooked during the ‘renovation’ of this structure.
However, the City staff at the Casino must be commended for rising above all the deficiencies and they continue to make lemonade out of lemons.
To learn more about Casino building and staff at this complex click on this link. To schedule a tour call Emeric Jeancome at 561-533-7395 or by email: ejeancome@lakeworth.org
Do you remember when the ‘renovated’ Casino was turned over to the City in 2012 and all the problems and deficiencies that were later discovered? Just one of those issues was water leaking into the building.
A view of the presenters and public in the Casino Ballroom:
Hopefully our City Commission will stay focused on the priorities and not be distracted. The turtles on the Beach are doing just fine! It’s the residents of this City everyone should be focused on and having this Beach property realize its true potential.
Happy to report the state of our representation in Tallahassee is one to be proud of.
The City’s YouTube video and photos from last night’s City Commission meeting are below.
Following the Legislative Update from State Senator Lori Berman at the City Commission on April 17th we all can be confident our City and County are being represented quite well going forward.
Several times Sen. Powell made mention of our City being “one man down” last night due to former State Sen. Jeff Clemens’ resignation last year. The good news is with the election of State Sen. Lori Berman we can expect full and worthy representation in Tallahassee going forward.
By the way. . .
A few years ago when a young man named Bobby Powell said he wanted to run for the Florida House of Representatives:
Mr. Powell came to the City of Lake Worth and met with a fella named Herman Robinson. Mr. Robinson is now District 4 Commissioner Herman Robinson. Yours Truly looks on.
And then in 2016 Powell ran for the Florida Senate. . .
The results speak for themselves.
More information from last night’s Commission meeting follows.
What was expected to be the big item of the night, the proposed housing project called “The MID” passed on a 4-0 vote with all of the electeds showing strong support for the project (Vice Mayor Pro Tem Scott Maxwell was absent). But stay tuned for news about recycling. In brief, those green/yellow recycling cans are going away later this year. The City of Lake Worth and the Solid Waste Authority will have a public relations campaign in place soon to educate the public about what will be happening vis-à-vis “single-stream recycling” which ironically was introduced to the City by former Mayor Jeff Clemens.
And the 2018–2019 Election Season here in the City officially kicked off last night. Election Day is March 12th next year. District 2 Commissioner Omari Hardy and District 4 Commissioner Herman Robinson have already declared their intent to seek re-election without much drama last March. You can expect just the opposite from any challengers, if any do step up, or just opt to go on “huffing and puffing” instead.
Looking back, the decision by City Manager Michael Bornstein to put the question on the ballot last year to increase terms for elected officials from two years to three years makes him look even more brilliant. Once we get through this next election season there will not be another election for candidates until 2021. So enjoy the upcoming dramatic acts to come everyone!
State Sen. Bobby Powell at the City Commission meeting last night:
To learn more about Sen. Powell and to contact his staff click on this link.
One of the many slides provided by Sen. Powell’s staff:
Opioids and the heroin epidemic were a big topic of discussion and so was “wet sand/dry sand”.
State Rep. David Silvers:
Use this link to learn more about State Rep. David Silvers and to contact his staff.
Strongly encourage everyone to watch this Legislative Update. A tremendous amount of very good information was provided.
The City of Lake Worth has hired a Director of Information Technology!
Ten years ago Lake Worth City Hall was a Black Hole. Information went in but information never came out. Things have gotten much better over the years especially so after 2012 when Michael Bornstein was hired to be the city manager. On reading this latest press release (see below) my first reaction was to retrieve a video from my YouTube channel, the one that’s always used to herald in great news:
Enjoy the video!
Press Release.
For more information please contact Mr. Ben Kerr, the City of Lake Worth’s Public Information Officer with any questions at 561-586-1631 or by email: BKerr@lakeworth.org
Lake Worth, FL — Hiring of Lee Menke, Director of Information Technology.
The City of Lake Worth* has hired a new Director of Information Technology, Lee Menke, who will start today [Monday, April 30th]. Lee comes to the City with 15 years of state and municipal government experience in Information Technology leadership, management and project development.
Lee is leaving a position as the Information Systems Manager for the Broward County Board of County Commissioners where he directed the IT Operations of the 9th largest library system in the country. In this position he maintained 99.9% uptime† for an extensive data center; developed cloud and local based capital projects that improved efficiency and productivity; managed the Digital Divide project which provides internet access to economically disadvantaged residents and deployed 450 hotspots to provide internet access to retired and active military personnel and their families. “As technology has changed and improved, Lake Worth has had a difficult time keeping up. Limited resources and implementation issues have hampered our capabilities, however having someone like Lee come on board will propel us into the future.” —Quote. City Manager Michael Bornstein.
*“We are LAKE WORTH. A hometown City that is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service through a commitment to integrity, hard work and a friendly attitude. We strive to exceed the expectations of our citizens, our businesses, our elected officials and our fellow employees.”
†Uptime is a measure of the time a machine, typically a computer, has been working and available. Uptime is the opposite of downtime.
Very big item on the agenda: The proposed housing project called “The MID”.
“Executive Brief Title: Economic Development Incentive Agreement for 1601 N. Dixie Highway.”
To look over this item for yourself (which includes the backup material) click on this link and scroll down for “Agenda and Backup” to download the agenda. Once the download is complete look for items 12A, B in the left-hand column (pp. 140–171).
For those of you short on time, here is the summary for this agenda item (two excerpts):
The Agreement will provide Infrastructure Improvement and Utility Revenue Incentives to the Owner/Developer
of 1601 N. Dixie Highway for a proposed multifamily project with 230 units (divided among eight buildings),
299 parking spaces and 4,800 square feet of amenity space.
Background and Justification:
As recognized by the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency (“CRA”), there is a need to improve
and/or re-develop the City’s commercial corridors, including Dixie Highway. The CRA has been working with
the founding partners of Affiliated Development, Jeff Burns and Nick Rojo, to bring forward a new multifamily
development at 1601 N. Dixie Highway, which is within the CRA District. The property, for at least the last ten
years, has sat idle. The proposed multifamily development of 230 units to be called “The MID” will be a multimillion
dollar, mixed use development to include one and two bedroom market rate apartments along with
live/work units, a clubhouse, pool and other amenities. On March 13, 2018, the CRA Board considered a financing commitment for The MID to assist in funding the
development in two ways: (1) $1.4M to assist with pre-development and infrastructure costs over the next three
years; and, (2) a tax-increment rebate. The CRA Board approved the financing commitment on March 13, 2018. In recognizing the positive impact that The MID would bring to the City of Lake Worth through the timely
development of a new market-rate housing complex on Dixie Highway; which will provide much needed
housing to existing residents, attract new residents and stimulate growth and development along the Dixie
Highway corridor; the City has worked with Affiliated Development on the Agreement. The Agreement will
provide two economic development incentives to the Owner/Developer of The MID in order to bring the project
to fruition.
and. . .
The payment of the economic development incentives under the Agreement will not occur during this fiscal year,
but are anticipated to occur (in part) in Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020. The City has agreed to propose the
economic development incentives in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget (and beyond as needed), but the obligation of
payment of the economic development incentives is subject to the full budgeting and appropriation process of
the City. A full impact analysis of the project will be provided as part of both the FY 2019 and FY 2020
budgets, which are the annual budgets to be affected by the Agreement. The MID is to be developed and owned by 1601 Dixie Holdings, Inc., and 1601 Dixie LLC, affiliated entities of
Affiliated Development.
MOTION:
I move to approve/not approve Economic Development Incentive Agreement for 1601 N. Dixie Highway.
“The Resolution advocates for common-sense policies that keep guns out of dangerous hands while respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and strongly believes that Congress and state governments should take action to close deadly gaps in the NICS.”
Was Resolution 17-2018 enough two weeks ago? Or does the little City of Lake Worth need to do more? Like maybe spend $10,000 on attorney’s fees?
Click on image to enlarge:
Whatever the outcome tonight at the City Commission the good news is this item is near the end of the agenda, #14A, up for discussion after most of the public will have gone home. So our electeds are free to pontificate all night long if they want and maybe, if they’re lucky, a few of them will get quoted in the paper or on TV.
If you’ve never given public comment before understand that it is very easy. And you are not required to complain! It’s actually permissible to say good things or maybe even express how grateful you are for something the City did or didn’t do.
Tip:
Once you’ve made your point at public comment don’t go on and on
repeating yourself. You don’t have to keep on talking until the little
bell rings. When you’re finished say, “Thank you” to the chair and make
way for the next person in line.
However, it is required that all comments MUST be directed to the “Chair” of the meeting which will be Mayor Pam Triolo at the City Commission who is tasked with this essential duty.
How to give public comment and two instructional YouTube videos are below.
One video is HOW TO give public comment as demonstrated by Catherine Turk. Note that Turk has since become a member of the City’s Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board. The other video is of Mr. Ryan Hartman from 2016, an excellent example HOW NOT TO give public comment.
Please note: The time limit for public comment at the City Commission is two (2) minutes. The exception is “nonagendaed items”, which is a three-minute limit.
For a bit of historical context, it was whilst Jeff Clemens was mayor that some former commissioners, including Cara Jennings, pushed for lowering the time limit from three minutes to two minutes at the City Commission. Last year the Commission raised the time limit for public comment on “nonagendaed items” back to three minutes so consider this a test!
If the civil and polite behavior by the public at City Commission meetings continues to go well, then possibly the time limit will be raised once again to three minutes for all items on the Commission agenda.
But only. . .
If. . .The public can remain civil, behave themselves, and respect the Chair at public meetings.
Remember. . .You are NOT REQUIRED to use all the time allotted you. If you’ve made your point, it’s perfectly OK to smile, say “Thank You” to the Chair, then return to your seat giving way to the next person waiting in line.
So, “How do I give public comment?”
Below are two instructional video examples of public comment. This first one is uncivil and un-charming public comment by Ryan Hartman followed by civil and respectful public comment by Catherine Turk (the second video).
Watch this video for how not to give public comment:
Now for an example of civil and respectful public comment.
Below is another video, an excellent example how to give public comment at a City Commission meeting from January 2017. Note how City resident Catherine Turk approached issues of importance to her.
Read the bullet list and then watch the video for yourself:
At the 10:50 mark (click play and go to the minute marks) she begins her comment at the January 10th City Commission meeting.
At the 11:50 mark she begins speaking about the issue of unanswered emails and phone calls.
At the 12:50 mark about the pay increase for elected officials, she says, “. . . the pay is well worth the hours you put in.” She should know having 25 years of experience in Human Resources.
Hope you find this video helpful. Click play and fast forward to the 11:00 minute mark):
One last thing: It’s always a good idea to prepare your remarks ahead of time and use a timer to make certain you will stay within the time limit for public comment. But if the little bell rings and you have not finished, hand your comment card to City Manager Michael Bornstein and he’ll make sure to have it all entered into the record for posterity.
And always be respectful and polite to the Chair running the meeting!
If you are, below is a press release from the City of Lake Worth.
The LWEU also services areas west of the City in suburban Lake Worth, e.g., the County’s John Prince Park and Palm Beach State College, and areas in the Village of Palm Springs as well.
Media and press inquiries: For more information contact Mr. Ben Kerr, the City of Lake Worth’s PIO* at 561-586-1631; email: BKerr@lakeworth.org
Please note: The news below from the City primarily concerns customers of the LWEU in suburban Lake Worth (outside the municipal limits) and utility customers in the Village of Palm Springs. To view the LWEU service area click on this link.
Press Release dated April 25th:
Lake Worth, FL† — The City of Lake Worth Electric Utility is currently performing work on a high voltage line as part of our system hardening and reliability improvement project. For the safety of the crews carrying out this work the automatic customer restoration features for this circuit will be turned off temporarily. While the City does not anticipate any outages during this period, if an outage were to occur it would affect customers located west of Congress Ave. from Melaleuca Lane to 10th Ave. North [in suburban Lake Worth and areas in the Village of Palm Springs]. To ensure that any outages are responded to rapidly, our crews will remain on standby to provide manual restoration until the automatic customer restoration feature is able to safely be turned back on. The work is being carried out between 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday [estimated end of project is Wednesday, May 9th].
*PIO = Public Information Officer.
†“We are LAKE WORTH. A hometown City that is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service through a commitment to integrity, hard work and a friendly attitude. We strive to exceed the expectations of our citizens, our businesses, our elected officials and our fellow employees.”
The editor at The Palm Beach Post knows about what happened in the City of Lake Worth that day.
The beat reporter for the Post knows all about what happened too. How is that known? Because former City Commissioner Retha Lowe told the whole world about what happened (see video below) and The Lake Worth Herald wrote a front page story about what happened too. The Herald article is a little later in this blog post.
But after this racist incident happened IN OUR CITY HALL, we all waited a few days for the editor at the Post to deal with this incident in a strong, forceful manner with no ambiguity and say, “There is no place for this kind of behavior in the City of Lake Worth.”
Day two came and went. Then day 3 and still silence from the Post editor. Day 4 passed and then we all knew.
Because of politics, the editor of the Post was going to ignore this racist incident because it would make two former commissioners, Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy, PhD, look bad. The person who used the word “n■■■■■” in public, in our City Hall was a supporter of Maier and McVoy and the editor had just recently endorsed them for election to the Commission a few weeks prior. It was a little awkward you see.
So this incident was ignored by the Post. At the very least they could have offered kudos to City Manager Michael Bornstein and all the other City leaders for how they dealt with this incident. But they didn’t even do that.
Below is a newspaper clipping from a former tabloid in 2015 that has since gone defunct.
Click on image to enlarge:
The Post should have come to the defense of our elected leaders and City management. But instead, they sat on their hands and did nothing.
Below is a video of former Commissioner Retha Lowe on March 24th, 2015, at the City Commission meeting following that incident which occurred 2 weeks previously, on March 10th.
This was a major news event in the City of Lake Worth but the Post news division and editorial board decided to squash the story instead.
Soon afterwards witness intimidation began and The Lake Worth Herald was attacked for publishing the story. This was no longer just about racism any more. Now citizens and government officials were being targeted in order to silence them.
Here is an email from Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein:
From: Michael Bornstein Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 12:55 PM To: 'Dee McNamara'; ryanmaier@lakeworth.org; Christopher McVoy; Lynn Anderson; Dennis Dorsey; Jesse Santamaria; Steven L. Abrams; Joseph Abruzzo; Katie Kkss21; Debra Smith Kimo; June Evans; judyking02@comcast.net; Jennifer Marchal; clemens.jeff@flsenate.gov; 'bobby.powell@myfloridahouse.gov'; 'ptaylor@pbcgov.org'; svana@pbcgov.org; Retha Lowe; Andy Amoroso; Christopher McVoy; John Szerdi; Pam Triolo; Scott Maxwell Cc: Christy L. Goddeau; Clayton Lindstrom; Dolores Key; Germaine English; Jamie Brown; Joan Oliva; Juan Ruiz; Larry A. Johnson; Pamela Lopez; William Waters Dee, Due to the your recent outburst in the City Hall Chambers involving a racial slur, not once but twice, I feel compelled to respond. The honorable thing to do is to issue a publicly stated apology for using the ‘N’ word in the Chambers. Lake Worth is proud of its diversity and openness, and I will not abide this kind of behavior in the people’s temple. Your nonfactual rants such as below about the elected officials and the staff will not be a distraction from this incident.
Monday [March 9th, 2015], prior to the start of the swearing in ceremonies, city staff placed signs on some of the pews in the commission chambers reserving seating for family members of Christopher McVoy, Ryan Maier and John Szerdi. According to a staff member, Dee McNamara complained and was told she should find another seat. McNamara asked the staff member if she expected her to sit in the back like a ■■■■■■. The staff member was deeply offended and McNamara pointed to the skin on her arm and asked if she looked like a ■■■■■■. The staff member demanded an apology and wouldn’t give in until McNamara apologized, which she, according to sources, finally did reluctantly. The staff member reported the incident to City Manager Michael Bornstein and City Attorney Christy Goddeau. Bornstein and Goddeau both confirmed they were apprised of the situation by the staff member. When asked about the incident, McNamara first said she was reserving a seat for Ryan. She then asked who was telling those lies about her and hung up the phone.
The editor at the Post criticizes the City of Lake Worth now and then for one policy decision or another. And that’s fine. But as the newspaper industry continues its decline and becomes more and more irrelevant all the time it’s important to remember there was a time three years ago when the editor at the Post could have made a big impact on our little City of Lake Worth.
The editor did nothing instead. But not reporting this news doesn’t mean that nothing happened to end up making this City a better place to live. Because of The Lake Worth Herald, City Manager Michael Bornstein, and a whole lot of work by a whole lot of other people, the racists and hate-mongers have kept their mouths shut ever since.
The blog post below is a brief overview about the Blueway Trail following the meeting held on April 27th at the STEM Education Center in West Palm Beach.
At this meeting were updates for those from the public and organizations interested in the future Blueway Trail via the C-51 Canal, bypassing the S-155 Spillway structure, creating more access for the public between the Inland Chain of Lakes and the Intracoastal (Lake Worth Lagoon). This meeting was widely noticed including being announced on this blog (click on this link to read the meeting notice).
Briefly, a recap for those of you unfamiliar with this exciting project:
The vision for the Chain of Lakes Blueway Trail experience is to finally link Palm Beach County waterways by providing two-way access for small boats and non-motorized watercraft [to and from the Intracoastal] . . . In Palm Beach County, 80 percent of registered small boats meet this criteria — and that doesn’t include the thousands of kayakers, paddleboarders, canoers and others who use the local waterways every year.
This short video has more information:
One more thing before we continue about the Blueway Trail Inc. meeting this week. Besides the City of Lake Worth having a resolution of support for the future Blueway Trail here are others who have shown their support as well:
City of Boynton Beach.
City of Greenacres.
Town of Lake Clarke Shores.
City of Riviera Beach.
Town of Haverhill.
Town of Hypoluxo.
Town of South Palm Beach.
Now let’s continue. . .
In August 2017 when the Blueway Trail group met the focus had turned to identifying the parties or entities which would be responsible for the operation and management of a combination kayak/canoe path, fishing pier and eventually a boat lift operation in Spillway Park (located in the City of Lake Worth). That responsibility seemed likely to fall to Palm Beach County. However, in formal and informal discussions with the County, there did not seem to be any interest from the County to play such a role.
In this view is the C-51 Canal.
West Palm Beach is to the north and Lake Worth to the south. Spillway Park and the S-155 Spillway structure are indicated in the yellow box (click on map to enlarge).
To visit Spillway Park in the City of Lake Worth take Maryland Dr. off Federal Hwy. to the park entrance at the end of the road.
Latest step forward: Formation of Blueway Trail, Inc.
At last Friday’s meeting we learned more about a redirection and the establishment of a non-profit entity called Blueway Trail, Inc. This is a fully-formed and registered 501c3 organization with a board of directors and by-laws.
The Board of Directors is listed below.
Here is a view from the proceedings.
Some very familiar faces for those of you involved in politics and planning here in Central PBC.
For example. . .
Lake Worth’s own inimitable resident Greg Rice and Shanon Materio, a long-time business owner in the City of Lake Worth and also a former commissioner in West Palm Beach.
Going forward this organization will be able to receive grant monies from a variety of sources — both public and private — in the pursuit of recognition of the Blueway Trail on state “blueway” maps. The “Guidelines for a State Designated Paddling Trail” are at the end of this blog post.
Blueway Trail Inc., along with its “partners, trail friends and supporters” will also be able to create more interest in the re-establishment of fishing piers along the C-51 canal which were very popular with local fisherman. Fishing piers were once located along Spillway Park in the City of Lake Worth and on the northern side of the canal in West Palm Beach.
The idea of a mechanical boat-lift is now something of consideration in the future but remains a high priority for many supporters of the Blueway Trail, notably the communities of boaters west of the Spillway in the Town of Lake Clarke Shores and other towns and cities further west in Central Palm Beach County.
Cover letter from yesterday’s Blueway Trail Inc. meeting.
Click on letter to enlarge:
Blueway Trail Inc. Board of Directors: President Richard Pinsky, Vice Pres. Greg Rice, Secretary Aaron Wormus, Treasurer Daniel Clark, and directors Chuck Collins and Mark Hightower.
Elected officials are excluded from being members on the board of Blueway Trail Inc. in order to avoid ethical and conflict of interest issues as the group seeks to raise money in order to meet its goals. The first step will be seeking official designation for the “Blueway Trail” that runs from Lake Ida to the south to the mouth of the Loxahatchee River to the north.
A map of all the blueway trails in the State of Florida was part of the meeting packet. The map below shows a surprising dearth of such “blueway” recreational areas in South Florida, especially inland west of the Atlantic Ocean coast.
Click on image to enlarge:
Just having an official designation of the “Blueway Trail” for inclusion on a state map
would promote eco-tourism in Cental PBC and create more public interest, fundraising and future improvements, e.g., a boat lift bypassing the Spillway on the C-51 Canal.
One of the first goals of Blueway Trail Inc. is to re-establish the fishing piers on both sides of the C-51 Canal east of the Spillway where wooden piers once existed for many years. Those have been removed due to their deterioration over time.
The preference would be to construct concrete piers closer to the water surface better suited for fishing and for the fish as well. The piers in place previously were too high above the water and the loud “Smack!” when fish were released was very unpleasant to hear and one would presume unpleasant for the fish as well. The former piers were also poorly designed. Often fish on the line would get stuck on the crisscrossed beams and die creating a very unpleasant smell around the piers.
New concrete fishing piers would have a life of fifty years or more rather than 8–10 years with wooden structures. The local fishing community here in Central PBC is very unhappy that one of the best and most well-known spots for snook fishing has been mostly inaccessible ever since those two fishing piers were removed.
“Stay Tuned” as they say for more information and updates about the Blueway Trail and the work being done by Blueway Trail Inc. Thank You for visiting today and hope you found this information helpful and stay tuned for more updates and information to come.
In conclusion, below is a quote from The Palm Beach Post which is soon to be taken over by GateHouse Media. It’s interesting to note that following this news report published twenty-eight months ago a nearly two year news blackout ensued during which time the Blueway Trail was ignored by the editor(s) at the Post even though they had a beat reporter assigned to cover the City of Lake Worth.
Before the first shovel is turned, several other government entities must agree to the project. But many of them stand to gain by it. The mayor for one, Robert Shalhoub, of Lake Clarke Shores, told county commissioners before their vote on Dec. 15, “This is one of the strongest economic engines that can possibly be imagined.” —Article dated Dec. 24th, 2015 titled, “Lift at spillway [Spillway Park in City of Lake Worth] would allow boat traffic from inland lakes to ocean”.
Minimum Guidelines for a State Designated Paddling Trail*
A local, regional or state entity agrees to be the manager of the trail in terms of development and long-term maintenance. The manager must agree to monitor the trail at least once a year and clear up any logjams or other impediments as needed. A trail use plan shall be part of the agreement and an example can be provided.
The trail has scenic, historical or other unique qualities that make it attractive to paddlers.
The trail is at least three miles in length.
There is adequate public access.
Adequate information is provided in terms of difficulty, mileage, safety considerations and environmental conditions.
Signage can help to identify a trail for its users and provide direction, especially in confusing areas, but is not required. GPS points on a clear map will suffice.
Though desirable along many paddling trails, campsites and overnight stops are not required as long as public access points are less than 20 miles apart so paddlers can complete day trips in a reasonable amount of time.
*For more information contact Doug Alderson at 850-245-2061; email: dougalderson@dep.state.fl.us
The man of letters is, of course, the City of Lake Worth’s very own Mr. Drew Martin and it shouldn’t be long now before he regains his rightful place on the Post’s editorial page once again. Learn more about Martin’s prolific letter writing skills below which is really the benchmark for everyone who writes letters to the editor.
Why haven’t any letters or even a “Point of View” from Mr. Martin been published in the Post since late last year?
Ever since March 13th, after Drew Martin got pummeled in his ill-fated campaign for mayor of the City of Lake Worth, Mr. Martin has been free to resume his letter writing efforts, but as yet, none have been published.
Martin’s prowess and success getting letters published in the Post never helped him much in running and getting elected to a paid political elected office.
In a 2-person race, combining Mr. Martin’s race against now-County Commissioner Dave Kerner in 2006 (see below), Martin is averaging 29% of the vote.
It used to be the standard in Palm Beach County politics that, in a 2-person race, just having a pulse would get a candidate at least 30% of the vote.
Anyhow. . . If you didn’t know, candidates on the ballot are permitted to have letters published in The Palm Beach Post, however the other candidate(s) on the ballot have to be offered what’s called “equal time” and there isn’t a snowballs chance in hell the editor would ever publish a letter from Mayor Pam Triolo.
Mr. Martin was officially qualified to be on the ballot on Dec. 19th, 2017 and therefore barred from having letters published until the results came in on Election Day. That was 7 weeks ago. What’s the hold up?
It was one particular “Point of View” published by Mr. Martin in the Post, one that got the ire of a lot of people including former County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor about Senate Bill 10 last year vis-à-vis Lake Okeechobee and the fact that the Glades communities in western Palm Beach County were left out of the discussion for far too long. Commissioner Taylor wrote:
It is astonishing that no public discussion has taken place as to what will happen to the area [communities south of Lake Okeechobee]. What happens to the worker who has a child in school, or someone who is barely making it now? My question becomes even louder: “What about the human element of this bill?” [emphasis added]
So. If you are one of those who are fascinated, amused, or befuddled by the musings of Mr. Martin you’ll have to wait just a bit longer. Stay tuned, as they say.
Do you remember when Mr. Martin ran against then-Florida House Rep. Dave Kerner in the primary back in 2016?
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
