WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Top Stories - Abandoned home becomes neighborhood dumping ground

This appeared as a follow-up story to a problem Lake Worth property on South E Street. What is frustrating is that there was not a response from the city and the reporter vowed to check back to see if the city's administration - or anyone - has addressed the issue. I know that it is a complicated one, but where is the city's response in social media in answer to this inquiry?  It is not a flattering picture to have as the lead story at 6 p.m. Click title for link. 

There are solutions here that may not be the responsibility of the city. Let's keep that in mind too.

Pictures of and around the FEC Freight Depot

The south end of the building, the one current targeted for re-use as an artist workshop as described in the recent Palm Beach Post article, has a covered open area.

The building is difficult to get to. You can see it from East Coast Street but can't get there. It is just west of the tracks and best accessed off of South F Street, but you have to use one of the numbered streets to get close to it.

It was built in the mid 1920s to accommodate shipments of building supply materials to fuel the building boom that was on at the time.

 This is the most interesting facade, but still a plain and utilitarian building. 

There was this small memorial at the edge of the gravel and the grass along the right-of-way. It is dated 7/26/13. Anyone recall the circumstances?

 

The area immediately surrounding the building is a mix of run down industrial and residential structures. Not the garden spot of the world in its current state, but it does have potential.

Boynton to discuss old high school lawsuits | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Different city, place, names and property, but something brings this to deja vu all over again. Click title for link to article. A key part of it appears below:

“The city made a commitment to do something which is in the eyes of many a wonderful thing to do,” Sales said, adding that just because the commission had new members who were not around when plans for the old school site were debated should not mean the board can now say “so sad, too bad” to the project days before the developer was set to break ground.
In the second lawsuit, where Boynton Old School Partnership LLC is asking the court to reverse the zoning decision which ultimately eliminated the project, court records show the city has filed a request for mediation.

So noted...

From the West Palm Beach city website...

This is the graphic they use above whatever announcement is current on their News Page. The one here happens to be about the Mayor addressing the 45th Street Flea Market. There was a shooting there recently. The graphic shows six different Internet based platforms that the city uses to reach out to its residents. It actually is missing one since the city uses YouTube quite regularly too.

Pay Parking Back in Effect on Downtown Surface Lot at L Street and Lucerne...

This is how many people were taking advantage of the space this past Sunday afternoon. The lot is owned by Lucerne Holdings, LLC.

Council to hear coastal financing ideas | www.palmbeachdailynews.com

The Town of Palm Beach is weighing options on how to finance coastal protection and beach re-nourishment projects. They are playing with different formulas depending on whether a property is oceanfront and trying to gauge who benefits from the work.The $85 million number is near what Lake Worth is considering for general infrastructure improvements. Click title for link to the Shiny Sheet article. The Town Council will be discussing this tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30 p.m.

Realtors tout international sales, but fight over insurance could come back | The Florida Current

We heard this from Jack McCabe last Friday on High Noon in Lake Worth, at least the part about foreign buyers playing heavily in the real estate marketplace. Do you think they have a point here? Click title for link to article.

“Floridians should not be financially responsible for the property insurance needs of homeowners who live out of the state or country. To continue to require all Floridians, including Florida’s business community, to subsidize homeowners property insurance for these individuals is unfair and unjust,” said Tom Feeney, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, a business lobby that's part of the coalition.

We need a solution to bike storage downtown...

I don't think that our Foxtail Palms and Live Oaks appreciate the abuse. But there are no other alternatives right now

This is a common scene any day of the week. These pictures were taken on a Sunday.

Glassworks, foundry would anchor Lake Worth’s art district | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This is a great project and will help to solidify the city's arts branding efforts. It also blends well with our historic profile as it represents part of the boom period from the 1920s. This was an FEC warehouse that was to be used to store building materials - making the boom possible. However, the end of that era came soon after this depot was built. This is from the Lona O'Connor article and click title for link.

The warehouse, built in the 1920s, was a station on the FEC railroad line. In 1972, Dennis Thies and Bruce Mills bought the building and used it as a beer distribution center. They donated the building at 1105 Second Ave. S. to the city in 2011. Its appraised value at that time was $535,000.
The gift came with some costs, however. Removing it from the tax rolls costs the city about $3,000 a year in lost property taxes and assessments, based on collections for the 2010-11 budget year. It costs about $35,000 a year to maintain the warehouse.

Let''s all admire Lynn Anderson's Photoshop expertise again...

Everything is coming up lollipops and rainbows on her blog due to Domestic Violence Awareness Month - and the fact that the media spotlight shined on her handiwork.

Click here for help if you are in a threatening domestic situation. Don't know if they have a special section that applies to this kind of threat. It's all purple lights at Lynn's condo.

Urban art installation or Adult Playground - Thomas Heatherwick's 'Spun' installation in Southbank Centre Square, London

Photos from yesterday's bike trip to the 1928 Hurricane Mass Grave site...

Bill and I were looking for a place to ride to yesterday that would be a bit longer than our usual bike ride. So we decided to head north into West Palm Beach, go through downtown and head towards the Northwood area. We had heard of a WPB city park that honored the victims of the flood caused by the 1928 hurricane over Lake Okeechobee. You can read a little bit about it here.

I can tell you that it was a little off-putting to see a CRA redevelopment sign at the southwest corner of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue. It had been there a while too since Mayor Frankel's name was on it and few of the current city commissioners. In the background of the sign, there is a general map of the area called Coleman Park, of which this burial site is a part.

Here is some other signage at that corner indicating where you are and what the park is about. If you go there by bike from Lake Worth, it ends up being around a 20 mile round trip. We took Flagler Drive there and back - going through the downtown for a quick errand. There is some on street parking if you want to drive there.

If you do bike there, go with someone and don't prattle around too much. As Bill was taking some of these pictures, a homeless man who had sort of set up camp under one of the small pavilions there told him to "Be careful. Someone in this neighborhood would shoot you for that bike your riding." Sage advice.T

As you walk around the park, there are various monuments and the feeling is solemn, much like a cemetery. It is general well-kept, with only some normal maintenance items needing some attention.

The area above, closest to 25th Street was separated from the rest of the area. There wasn't much explanation as to why, but you got the idea that was the place where most of the bodies were buried at the time.

There are various markers as you pass the corners where the monuments are commemorating those that lost their lives during this tragic historical event.

I wonder what is in this time capsule. We have some time to wait before it is opened. This is right next to the state historical maker. The site made it on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This was after a long period of indifference shown for the site.

Above is the actual historical marker which tells the grim story of the hurricane and its aftermath. Below, you get a sense of the size of the area.

I was surprised how much land was devoted to it. All in all, a nice weekend bike ride.

Joe Negron Calls for Feds to Turn Over Control of Lake Okeechobee | Sunshine State News

Some of the upshot from the Florida "fly-in" to Washington, D.C. this week. A good summary of what went on. This from the article, click title for link.

Speakers from South Florida governments and environmental organizations testified in support of restoration projects that will redirect the overflow from the lake. A few residents, given time to speak, pushed for the federal government to acquire agricultural land south of the lake where the overflow could be stored and cleaned before it reaches the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., defended the farmers, ranchers and sugar growers south of the lake, saying they have reduced pollutants from exiting their land.
Negron, one of four state legislators who spoke during the session, pitched his idea for the state to take control of the lake, saying the intent is to have more consensus from different state agencies before releases are made.
"The Army Corps of Engineers has been running this project for decades; they have failed, and they need to be replaced with those of us in Florida that we can vote for or against and people that have our best interest at heart," Negron said.

Man Uses 'Water Bike' To Commute Across San Francisco Bay & Hudson River

Cool - reminds me of our raft race. Not sure how time effective this is, but hey. Click title for link and check out the video.