From All Aboard Florida: A typical urban passenger train crossing

All done within 45 seconds. This is at a slower speed than advertised. Might be what the speed of the train would be in urban areas, or a worst case scenario. This is an effective facsimile.

Point of View: All Aboard has shared with appropriate agencies | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Strong letter from a Jupiter resident reminding us that All Aboard Florida's financial information is private. He uses an interesting analogy. Click title for link.

Let’s try to put this in more familiar terms. If you go to the bank and apply for an FHA mortgage, who do you give your tax documents to? You give them to the bank, and the loan officers review them. Can the neighbors next door to the house you’re trying to buy sue the bank to get your tax records because they don’t like you? No, they can’t. The information in your financial data is not their business. It doesn’t matter that you’re applying for a loan from the U.S. government, nor that your property will be next to theirs.
The business plans for All Aboard Florida are not public records, plain and simple. That doesn’t mean that those who need to see them can’t. It only means that you and I can’t see them. If you believe differently, than please provide better logic than I’ve provided above.

Featured Properties | West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority

West Palm Beach's DDA is showing off its renovated building in which it resides, along with other quality tenants. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and was originally Hatch's department store, then Burdines, then other uses. I remember it as largely vacant, but for the first floor retail, when I worked in downtown WPB. Click title for link.

Carlin sand plan may mean 12,000 truck trips through Jupiter | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

These beach renourishment projects are having a difficult time finding sand, and with that costs increase. Keep in mind that a renourished beach has a life of maybe three years. There will come a time when it will be cost prohibitive to keep this up. Click title for link.

Bids for the Carlin Park program came in much higher than expected – ranging from $23 million to $27 million. “That’s almost double what we’d hoped for,’’ said Dan Bates, deputy director for the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management office.
The problem, Bates said, is that the “borrow area,’’ in about 75 feet of water a half mile off shore from Singer Island, contains sand with rocks that need to screened out, a process that drives up the costs.
Now, the county is considering a cheaper option — to mine inland sand from St. Lucie County and truck it to Carlin Park, where the beach stretches for roughly one mile south from the Jupiter Inlet.
“We are taking ancient beach sand and taking it out to the present beach,’’ Bates said.

Volunteers to clean Henry Flagler train depot in Jupiter on Saturday | Northern Palm Beach County

Part of the Florida East Coast Railway history is being saved in Jupiter and may be put into use as a museum or public meeting space. Click title for link.

Boynton Beach’s residents land in top five for conserving water

Lake Worth Utilities is the second lowest consumer of water on a per person per day rate at 98 gallons, compared to other water utilities in Palm Beach County. The article notes that part of the reason for that may lie in the fact that we have mostly residential land uses and not a lot of commercial and industrial uses. This also affects our taxable property value. Redevelopment along Dixie Hwy. and getting the Park of Commerce on line might change these numbers. Click title for link.

[And,] according to Boynton Beach Utilities Department Director Colin Groff, that’s one of the ways Boynton Beach’s residents have been able to land in the top five — behind Palm Springs, Lake Worth Utilities and Wellington — in using the least amount of gallons of water a day in Palm Beach County. Residents in Boca Raton, Highland Beach and Manalapan use the most, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
“We are pretty low compared to most of the (communities),” Groff said. But, “we’ll have a goal of less than that.”
Boynton Beach uses an average of 131 gallons of water per person a day, according to the water management district’s Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan. The plan was released in 2013 and is based on 2010 numbers. The county’s average is 166 gallons, which is less than other municipalities including Jupiter, Riviera Beach, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Tequesta.

County to decide future of closed Mizner Trail golf course - Sun Sentinel

The issue that won't go away land in the County Commission's lap again this Thursday. What is there now, nobody is happy about. We'll see what happens this time. Click title for link to the Sun Sentinel article.

George W. Bush was president, "Grey's Anatomy" debuted on TV and Hurricane Wilma knocked out power across South Florida.
That was 2005 and that's how long it has been since the Mizner Trail Golf Course nearBoca Raton closed and triggered lingering uncertainty over what to do with the land.
Developers have pushed for building houses on the 130 acres of overgrown fairways and putting greens that wind through the Boca Del Mar neighborhood.
But a large contingent of nearby residents instead wants to protect the golf course views and open spaces they thought would remain forever.

Today's Water Aerobics at the Lake Worth Municipal Pool

Taken Today: The Casino Building's Gritty Underbelly...

From a vigilant reader...

Reason to worry? Time to explain the 'threat' of sea level rise in the 2020 debate

On June 20, 2014, Steve "Fire Ant" Ellman wrote a story in the Broward New Times in a clear attempt to bolster the argument against the Lake Worth 2020 bond issue. Commissioner Christopher McVoy and ex-Commissioner JoAnn Golden warned, at a public meeting, that spending money on infrastructure improvements was unwise taking into account the supposed imminent 'threat' of sea level rise.

Ellman is clearly using the bullet points Commissioner McVoy used from the commission dais opposing the bond issue: Sea Level Rise lawsuits, drainage problems, an insurance company "in Illinois," and other twisted logic to make his point.

Mr. Ellman in classic fashion begins his fiction with a quote: " 'Apres moi le deluge,' Madame de Pompadour supposedly said, shortly before the people of France rose up and removed her head: 'After me, the flood.' "

Possibly Mr. Ellman had two or more stories going at the same time and got the opening pull quotes mixed up

Anyway, Ellman goes onto say in a burst of lucidity, "South Florida's coastal cities are beginning to say the same. But one hopes there will be better results. They're recognizing that climate change is for real, that sea level rise will follow, and that precautions are in order."

The Lake Worth 2020 bond issue up for a vote this August has nothing at all to do with coastal protection. Most of the infrastructure improvements will occur at least one mile from the beach. For some reference, the Lucerne building on Lake Ave in Lake Worth is at 18 feet above sea level. Most areas west of Dixie average 19 feet above sea level. Commissioner McVoy lives in one of the highest elevations in the city.

For some reference how sea level rise will affect Lake Worth I present the "Anticipated Impacts of Sea Level Rise" from the Sea Grant Florida.

Here is how Sea Grant Florida presentation explains Sea Level Rise:

Let's do the math:
3 Millimeter each year times 30 years = 90 mm
90 Millimeter converted to inches = 3.5 inches

And it is quite germane to point out that Mr. Ellman is not a reporter making independent observations from Broward County. It is customary for reporters to inform the reader of pertinent facts such as these. But then again we are referring to the 'Fire Ant' and for this reporter facts are merely inconvenient truths.

Also interesting to note are the massive beach renourishment projects in Broward and Miami Dade counties. FPL will be building two new nuclear power plants at Turkey Point. Miami also has several major projects being built.

Oh, that's right - we are the hill.

Evidence of a meth lab leads to arrests, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says - wptv.com

This is an area that is part of unincorporated Palm Beach County, but still a stone's through from the other blogger's neighborhood. Click title for link.

Pool Times and Entrance Fees

 In another example of clear instructions from the city, we are advised "Cash Only Please" under a sign that says "No Checks under $100."

These are the current pool times. Sally Welsh's water exercise classes are Thursdays at 8:15 a.m., Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. You sign in at this booth at the pool entrance, tell them you are here for the exercise class and they will give you an orange pass that says "WATER AEROBICS." You also give them your name. Then, you need to sign in with Sally Welsh and give her $5 - no resident discount, which is no big deal. She now has to rent two entire lanes for $15 each. So, if she has more than 6 students, she is in the black. The classes have been about 20 or so people. But be sure to sign in twice.

Here are the Summer season pass rates:

I guess if you are the Brady Bunch, you would get the "Unlimited Family Member" option. Over that 12 week period, you would have to go to the pool at least three times a week for this to pay for itself at the Lake Worth single resident rate. And this pass stays at the same rate and isn't prorated. It costs the same June 22nd as it would August 15th. I don't think they will be selling many of these. But, apparently, you can write a check for these.

We know the city has a difficult time communicating basic things...

Here is the schedule for the day of the Fourth of July activities. Why are the events listed in reverse order? One might think that the raft race is at 1 a.m., or that Fireworks start at 9 a.m. Odd.

Group fights to make West Palm’s ‘Mickens Village’ a reality | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This is a worthy idea. The history of the local African-American population is important and this village concept has a lot of appeal. It seems that people have recognized and it may evolve to be. Click title for link for an Eliot Kleinberg article about the idea.

Those identical commishes...

From the Tom McGow archives.