A good time for a spiritual...

Other things we learned at the Lake Worth 2020 presentation at the College Park N.A. meeting...

If you didn't or don't have time to watch the videos, here are some interesting factoids and revelations that I heard from the city:

• The city's taxable property value is 1/3 of what it was before 2007.
• $2 million more comes from the utility as a transfer to support the General Fund than comes from property tax revenue.
• There are 11,636 residential units in the city. About 2,000 are vacant.
• 82% of residential properties in the city have less than a $100,000 taxable value.
• 97% of residential properties in the city have less than a $200,000 taxable value.
• The presentation was finished late yesterday, is not currently on line and focuses on the impacts to District #3 given the location of the meeting.
• Commissioner Szerdi and Vice Mayor Maxwell attended the meeting.
• They are now working on a project period of 7 years instead of 5 years to complete the projects.
• In the Full Plan, the Park of Commerce time horizon for completion of infrastructure is 13 to 14 years.
• Steve Carr said, regarding the Full Plan, that they prepared it to determine what all the needs were and then are attempting to determine whether it is affordable. "When looking for a car, not everyone can afford the convertible with everything."
• Sidewalks may or may not be included. Sometimes to replace bad sidewalks along a good street would mean tearing up the street. They are still looking at options.
• The plan does not move utilities out of the alley, except in limited cases. It is not moving all utilities to the street. The alley system will remain and may be improved with shellrock.
• Streets and Storm Sewer Department has four people...period. They are the ones fixing potholes. It takes two of those people to run the street cleaner, which is why we haven't seen it out recently. Potholes are a priority. The new budget has two additional part time positions.
• City has very limited resources. Whatever happens will require a vote of the electorate - too much to fund out of general revenues.
• Bornstein: "I spend all day choosing which child to feed."

Nice, professionally produced video by the CRA promoting the Urban Arts Lofts...

Olivia Newton-John calls in exorcists at multimillion-dollar home where shooting suicide took place | Mail Online

Seems to be a rather drastic, emotional reaction to what happened at the home. To those that sell real estate in Florida, do you have to disclose whether or not there was a death through violent act at a property that is for sale? It seems to me that some states require that sort of information. Click title for link to article.

From the College Park Neighborhood Association Meeting 9/23/13 - Presentation by City Staff on Lake Worth 2020

Last night, the College Park Neighborhood Association held a neighborhood meeting where City Manager Michael Borntstein and other city officials made a presentation on the Lake Worth 2020 Master Plan.

The city showed a revised PowerPoint presentation from the original that was used during the August 24, 2013 Visioning Meeting. The video switches between the screen and the speaker. We were told that this version used last night would also be posted on the city's website. I will monitor that and share it when it appears. Until then, I suggest you watch the video in "full screen" mode. Some of the print used on the handouts was too small to read on the sheet or on the screen. I scanned some sheets that were passed out last night and posted them below. I've tried to make them a little more readable. Click on the images to make them larger.

There were about 25-30 people from the general public that attended last night. In the third video of the playlist, you can see the general assemblage of people during the question and answer session. We found out that this is very much still a work in progress and there is no guarantee that it will be on the March ballot. If it is, it might be structured in different ways.

Steve Carr, Finance Director and Jamie Brown, Public Services Director each made part of the presentation.

Base Plan

Full Plan

Millage Estimator

One note here. There are errors in these charts. One glaring one is the $1,050 first year payment for properties with a taxable value of $50,000. This is a definite work in progress that is updated daily.

From the Tropical Triathlon...

TROPICAL TRIATHLON 2013 from grapeseeker on Vimeo.

Martin County vs. The World: Here Come de Judge | Sunshine State News

Martin County is facing six administrative challenges to its amended Comprehensive Plan. From the sound of the article, it seems like some of the same "opinion is fact" that we contend with around Lake Worth is at play there too. Who needs the experts! We know what we want. Well, it also costs you money on attorneys fees and is the "over-development" wolf really at the door of Martin County? This is from the article, click title for link.

Real numbers tend to kick the legs out from under her argument sometimes. But, hey, no problem. Citizens notice traffic, not numbers.
For example, Martin County growth has always been slow, between 2 percent and 4 percent in the most active years since 1980. According to the last U.S. Census, between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2012, Martin grew 1.7 percent, as opposed to 2.7 percent for the whole state, and as opposed to neighbors Palm Beach County at 2.8 percent and St. Lucie County at 2.2 percent. Doesn't matter which kind of commission majority gets elected, the Martin County growth rate stays slow.

At the end of the article, Richard Grosso - a land use attorney that teams up with no growth types - is mentioned as having reviewed the changes put forth and put his stamp of approval on them. This is the same gentleman that gave Lake Worth advice on its Comprehensive Plan back in April of 2009, Susan Stanton's first week on the job. Height limits? Sure you can do whatever you want he said. That's when we had a Comp Plan that limited everything to two-stories. It proved to be unworkable and was changed, but now usually pointed to by those in favor of extreme height limitations as an example of how they were able to compromise.

Right. 

Villa Epecuen: Argentina's Ghost Town - weather.com Ghost Town Emerges from the Deep

Eerie scenes from an Argentinian ghost town caused by inundation by a salt lake some 30 years ago. The haphazard remains are appearing again after a record drought over the past decade. Make sure to look through the slide show and watch the video. Click title for link.

This sounded like it could be referring to the Herbert Hoover dike and Lake Okeechobee, but for the salt part.

But soon Villa Epecuen's growth would come to a screeching halt. In 1980 the area experienced a slow but drastic climate shift that dumped large amounts of rain in the lake. Because Lago Epecuen had no outlet to drain the influx of water, the lake slowly swelled, according to NASA. By 1985 the lake's waters were already testing the limits of the dike that protected the village. On November 10, 1985 a severe storm blew through the area, causing the water level in Lago Epecuen to swell until it broke through the dike. A torrent of water cascaded into town, inundating the streets.
Over the next eight years the lake would continue to grow, until eventually, in 1993, Villa Epecuen sat 33 feet below the surface of Lago Epecuen.

Bloggers cover Lake Worth, quibble | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

It's here. Click title for link to Lona O'Conner's article on Lake Worth blogging.

Unusual traffic calming device and a colorful character too...

Tonight!

Florida as seen from the International Space Station.

From "The Real Florida" on Facebook

New strategy helps West Palm go after neighborhood eyesores | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Good summary of West Palm Beach's successes with a new way to assess code enforcement fines. Lake Worth enacted many such code enforcement ordinances over the past year. Now we just have to get the staff together and address the Internal Auditor's recommendations. Click title for link to an article by Eliot Kleinberg of the Post:

If the city had more in liens on a home than a potential seller wanted to pay for it, then no one wants it and it continues as an eyesore — and grows worse. But if the city agrees to reduce the lien to move the property, the owner “just got away with three years of really bad behavior and everybody who lived around there had to endure it.”
Other Palm Beach County cities say they’re looking into West Palm Beach’s success and Lake Worth has adopted a similar program.
Statewide and nationwide, “There seem to be more jurisdictions moving towards having them considered special tax assessment liens, because of the presumed ease of collections,” said Michael Titmuss, chief code enforcement officer of city of Fort Myers and president of the Florida Association of Code Enforcement.

Model to visualize redevelopment on Royal Poinciana Way wins... | www.palmbeachdailynews.com

Royal Poinciana Way in Palm Beach has gotten a lot of attention over the past few years. Some feel that there is a need to redevelop the area; others think that was is there is just fine. A new zoning designation of "PUD 5" is on the table to determine and control what will happen in the future. The University of Miami's architecture department is going to help provide some visual evidence of what the changes would look like with the new zoning tool. Click title for link.

Lake Worth availed itself of the services of the same architecture department in modeling what 6 story hotel buildings would look like in our downtown on the relatively few lots that are prone to redevelopment. I would say looking back that the exercise had limited success. It was perceived by some that "oh my God, we are going to have half a dozen six story hotels east of Federal. That was not the point of the exercise and the finer assumptions and conditions were lost on some.

Germany, 'Veggie Day,' and First Lady Michelle Obama - POLITICO.com

A little political acid reflux as it relates to telling people what to eat. Click title for link. On a related note, you might want to check out what is really in a fast food hamburger and how much meat (or how little) is in it.