Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management Announcement - Post-Hurricane Dorian

After detailed discussion with the National Weather Service and Hurricane Center, a reentry order lifting the mandatory evacuation orders for Zones A and B will be effective at 4:00 pm.

County offices will be closed on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 and resume normal operations on Thursday, September 5. 

Residents may begin exiting shelters. Shelters will remain open overnight and close at 9:00 am Wednesday morning.

EOC will de-escalate to a Level 2 (partial) activation effective 7:00 pm tonight and will remain at that level until approximately 7:00 pm tomorrow, September 4, 2019. 
Palm Tran will resume full service Wednesday, September 4 starting at 4:30 a.m.

For continuing information on Hurricane Dorian contact the Emergency Information Center (EIC) at 561-712-6400. For more information on the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management and hurricane preparedness, please visit: ReadyPBC.com
Follow us on Twitter @PBCGOV and watch PBC-TV Channel 20.
#PBCGov #Dorian #ReadyPBC

Scam Alert from the REAL City of Lake Worth Beach...

Please note: @Cityoflwb is a fake account and has no affiliation with the City. This is not a real offer. Please be careful of scammers.

Palm Beach County Ordering Evacuations and Opening Shelters

The eastern half of Palm Beach County is now under a Tropical Storm Warning due to the approach of Hurricane Dorian. A Tropical Storm Warning means tropical storm winds are expected in the area within 36 hours. Due to this, mandatory evacuations are being ordered for residential structures in Zone A and Zone B in Palm Beach County, effective at 1 P.M. Sunday, September 1, 2019. The Palm Beach County Emergency Information Center number is 561-712-6400.

Zone A includes mobile homes, sub-standard housing and low-lying areas prone to water intrusion.

Zone B generally includes the barrier islands, land areas north and south of the Jupiter Inlet, and other surge-vulnerable areas south along the Intracoastal Waterway to the Broward County line.

If you choose to not evacuate to a shelter, please evacuate miles not hundreds of miles. Most of Palm Beach County is not being evacuated and residents should shelter within the county if possible. With the unpredictable nature of Hurricane Dorian, evacuating north is not recommended.

To determine if your home is in a storm surge evacuation zone, go to readyPBC.com or download our free app “PBC DART.”  If you are not in an evacuation zone, please shelter in place.

At 1 p.m. today, Sunday, September 1, Palm Beach County will open seven general population shelters, as well as the special needs shelter at the South Florida Fairgrounds and the pet-friendly shelter at West Boynton Recreation Center.

The seven general population shelters are:
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elem. School, 1501 Avenue U, Riviera Beach
Independence Middle School, 4001 Greenway Dr., Jupiter
Lakeshore Middle School, 425 W Canal St N, Belle Glade
Pahokee Middle School, 850 Larrimore Rd, Pahokee
Palm Beach Gardens High School, 4245 Holly Dr., Palm Beach Gardens
Palm Beach Central High School, 8499 Forest Hill Blvd, Wellington
Park Vista High School, 7900 Jog Rd, Lake Worth

The special needs shelter is located at 9067 Southern Boulevard, West Palm Beach. If you are registered, you should have received a notification. People with special medical needs should register for our Special Needs Program by calling (561) 712-6400 or visiting our website www.readypbc.org.

The pet-friendly shelter is located at 6000 Northtree Boulevard, Lake Worth. This shelter is available to Palm Beach County residents residing in a mandatory evacuation zone or in mobile homes. Proof of residency is required. Space is limited and restrictions apply. Each pet must be accompanied by only one owner who will stay at the shelter. Other family members will need to stay at nearby Park Vista High School, 7900 Jog Road, Lake Worth,

The available space for each person at a general shelter is 20 square feet. That’s 4 feet by 5 feet of floor space. Please bring snacks with you to the shelter, only dinner will be served Sunday evening. Shelters will be opening in The Glades and residents from Zone A can evacuate to those shelters.

Palm Tran serves many shelter locations. Additionally, all Palm Tran services will be free on Sunday.

The Sheriff’s Office assures they will not be checking the immigration status of any person coming to a shelter.

If you choose to go to a hurricane shelter, please bring the following:
•          3 day supply of water
•          2 changes of comfortable clothes
•          Flashlight with extra batteries
•          Cell phone and a battery-operated charger
•          Medications and prescriptions
•          Snacks/Special diet foods
•          Cash
•          Photocopies of valuable documents
•          Games, books and playing cards for entertainment during your stay
•          Space is limited, so please pack accordingly
•          Weapons are prohibited in shelters

For continuing information on Hurricane Dorian, and for more information on the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management and hurricane preparedness, please visit: www.pbcgov.com/dem, follow us on Twitter @PBCDEM and watch PBC-TV Channel 20.

Public Affairs Manager Becky Robinson, Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County

No waste collection and solid waste facilities closed in PBC Monday and Tuesday
While regular operations will continue through Saturday, Aug. 31, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County will CLOSE all facilities and operations on Monday, Sept. 2 and Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, in anticipation of impacts from Hurricane Dorian. No garbage, recyclables or yard waste collection will occur. No onsite drop-offs will be accepted.

The SWA is monitoring conditions and will send information regarding the resumption of normal operations following the storm. SWA facilities will be evaluated for damage as soon as it is safe so they can open and begin receiving garbage.

If a resident finds that their recyclables and/or yard waste was not picked up on their regular collection day, they are asked to take them back into their house or secure them in some way until after the storm passes. Residents are also able to bring their debris to the SWA landfill or an SWA transfer station before the end of business Saturday.

Hurricane Dorian Special Update 3 from the City of Lake Worth Beach

At this time it is becoming more likely that the City of Lake Worth Beach is going to experience a significant weather event over Labor Day weekend. You should be finalizing your preparations and ensuring you are ready to enact your personal hurricane plan if necessary. The City for its part is continuing to make preparations to ensure that we are as ready as possible to respond to whatever comes our way.

Please continue to watch for updates and follow the advice of the Governor and other officials.

City staff have been working hard to prepare the City in case the storm is to hit Lake Worth Beach. You can expect multiple information releases to come from the City before, during, and after the storm.

If you haven't already followed us on social media please click the links below and look out for regular updates.

We are all in this together, Irma didn't beat us and neither will Dorian! We are Lake Worth Beach, a strong and resilient community that will stick together no matter what the weekend brings!

Hurricane Phone line

As Hurricane Dorian makes landfall if you need to report anything storm related to the City please feel free to call (561)586-1695. The City has out of state call center teams who will be able to keep taking calls and providing information even if City staff lose phone service.

Please note that if you have a fire, medical, or law enforcement emergency you should contact 911, not call the City.

Lake Worth Beach Casino and Ocean Complex
(Including Beach, Pier, Casino Building, and Parking lot)

The City of Lake Worth Beach will be closing the Lake Worth Beach Ocean Complex for the public’s safety at 11:45pm on Saturday, August 31st. No one will be granted entry after this time and any cars remaining will be towed. This is to allow staff to make final preparations prior to the hurricane's arrival.


After the storm the entire complex including the beach, pier, and casino building will remain closed until further notice. Palm Beach police will not allow anyone who is not a resident of the Town of Palm Beach on to the island so please do not attempt to cross the bridge going east, you will be turned back.

Lake Worth Beach Parks

The City of Lake Worth Beach will be closing all parks for the public’s safety at sunset on Saturday, August 31st. Parks will remain closed to the public until after the storm has passed and the damage has been assessed and made safe.

Municipal Library

The City of Lake Worth Beach Municipal Library is now closed due to Hurricane Dorian. The library will reopen after the storm has passed and it is safe to do so.

Know your Hurricane Evacuation Routes and Zones!

For more detailed information, click here for the Palm Beach County Hurricane Guide.

Hurricane Dorian Message from the Lake Worth Beach Electric Utility Director Ed Liberty

"As you are already aware there is a potential for Dorian to make landfall near the Lake Worth Beach electric utility service territory.  We are tracking the storm’s progress and making necessary preparations to respond to outages as quickly and safely as possible.  We strongly encourage our customers to prepare their homes and properties, as well as take precautions for their own well being should the storm impact our region.

Maintaining electric service throughout the service territory is our priority.  To that end, I have communicated to our crews and staff to prepare to work through the coming weekend. In addition I have confirmed the availability of our overhead line construction and tree-trimming contractors to assist us if needed.  Should we need even more assistance we have the ability to reach out to utilities across the state and even nationwide, to obtain additional help under already established mutual aid agreements.

For your part, we ask that you remain indoors during periods of high winds and lightning.  We will be monitoring the condition of the electric system from our System Operations Center, and from there we will be able to identify any outages as they occur using our remote monitoring system that includes the electric meter on your home.  Customers will be able to monitor the locations of electric outages using our on-line outage map on the City’s Hurricane Website.  If your power goes out you can notify us using the on-line outage-reporting tool from your smart phone (https://hurricane.lakeworthbeachfl.gov/) recognizing however that we may already be aware of the event.  You can also confirm that we know your power is out by referring to the on-line outage map (https://hurricane.lakeworthbeachfl.gov/ ) to see if your neighborhood is highlighted.  And you can always call us to let us know, but be aware that you may experience long wait times during storm events, and again, we likely already know that your power is out.

Our communications team will be providing regular updates throughout the weekend on our website and social media.

Lake Worth Beach - Hurricane Dorian Update #2

The City of Lake Worth Beach is well under way with hurricane preparations for Hurricane Dorian. Many people assume that the Mayor and City Manager are privy to information about the storm that isn't available to the public but the reality is that there is no more information available about the path of the storm than that which is on reputable news stations or websites such as NOAA. The City Manager's website of choice for looking at the models is Mikes Spaghetti Models which provides a good cross section of the available models. At this time the City will be following the guidance of the County, if you would like to stay up to date with the County download the PBC Dart app in your app store.

City staff have been working hard to prepare the City in case the storm is to hit Lake Worth Beach. You can expect multiple information releases to come from the City before, during, and after the storm.

If you haven't already followed us on social media please click the links below and look out for regular updates.

Together we can make it through whatever comes our way, we are Lake Worth Beach!

Hurricane Website

The City of Lake Worth Beach has launched our Hurricane Resource website. This site is designed to be clean in its design with minimal images so it is easy to load on a mobile device. Please bookmark:
 https://hurricane.lakeworthbeachfl.gov/.

We hope this will be a useful resource for all our residents to quickly find hurricane information from the City. On this page you can also access the outage tracker as well as the outage report form.

Lake Worth Beach Pier

The City of Lake Worth Beach will be closing the Lake Worth Beach Pier for the public’s safety at 6am on Saturday, August 31st. The pier will remain closed until further notice due to dangerous wave heights expected from hurricane Dorian.

Golf Course

The City of Lake Worth Beach will be closed as of Saturday, August 31st due to Hurricane Dorian. The course will reopen after the storm has passed and it is safe to do so.

Lake Worth Beach: Hurricane and storm preparedness.

Here is Dorian Special Update #1 from LWB City Hall:


As Tropical Storm [now Hurricane] Dorian approaches it is important to remain calm. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst!

As of this moment there is no certainty of the track of the storm with regards to South Florida. We encourage all residents to continue to monitor the situation through television, radio and the internet. City staff are doing the same and will continue to release information as we learn more. For now make sure you continue your hurricane preparations and do not become complacent. If you live east of Federal Highway this includes preparing for evacuation in case an evacuation order is given; as such it is essential you have a full tank of gas in your evacuation vehicle (do not wait until the order to fill up).

City staff have been working hard to prepare the City in case the storm is to hit Lake Worth Beach. You can expect multiple information releases to come from the City before, during, and after the storm.

If you haven’t already followed us on social media please click the links below:

• For more information included in the latest update click on this link.
• To follow the official City of Lake Worth Beach on Twitter use this link.
• For the official Lake Worth Beach page on Facebook click on this link.
• For the City’s official Hurricane Resource page.

Together we can make it through whatever comes our way, we are Lake Worth Beach!

Start Preparations. International Talk Like A Pirate Day (ITLAPD) is 1½ fortnights away.

ITLAPD is always held on September 19th.

“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”

—Quote. Mahatma Ghandi, 1928.

Those who knew Ghandi well understood his sense of humor and that humor, “was one of his strongest features and one of the things people most liked and admired about him.”


“Whereas, it is fun to talk like a pirate by using words like Arrrrr, ye and bilge rat”

—Excerpt. International Talk Like a Pirate Day proclamation at Lake Worth City Commission on Sept. 19th, 2018 read by Lake Worth Beach Mayor Pam Triolo.

Ghandi and bilge rats and silly proclamations!
How did we get here? 

Here’s how the scheme went down. Former Palm Beach Post reporter Willie Howard, on learning of the first annual ITLAPD coming up on September 19th, 2012, reached out to a City resident who called this annual celebration in the L-Dub, “juvenile, nonsensical — a day that might occur in a kindergarten class.”

Then Willie Howard in his 2012 article titled,
“ ‘Talk like a pirate day’ in Lake Worth
has some up in arms” continued. . .

She [City resident] said the city should not waste time on such foolishness because it has serious problems. Bornstein [City Manager Michael Bornstein] responded in part with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi:

“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”

     “I’m so sorry you find this fun, silly proclamation anything more than that,” Bornstein wrote in his response to [former commissioner JoAnn] Golden. “I could easily become consumed with a sense of over correctness in almost everything involved in government. However, I refuse to become devoid of all the wonderful human emotions including, most importantly, humor.”

Save the Date!

The 7th Annual ITLAPD in Lake Worth Beach is on September 19th.

Here is official text of the ITLAPD proclamation presented at the City Commission:

PROCLAMATION

Whereas, old pirate culture from the Caribbean is popular in TV shows, movies, literature, products, and rafting; and
Whereas, pirates are colorful, adventurous, mischievous and flamboyant; and
Whereas, two re-enactors, John Bauer and Mark Summers instituted International Talk Like A Pirate Day in 1995; and
Whereas, humorist Dave Barry liked the idea so much he promoted it in his nationally syndicated column in 2002, igniting a powder keg of followers worldwide; and
Whereas, it is fun to talk like a pirate by using words like Arrrrr, ye and bilge rat; and
Whereas, everyone would like to think they have a little bit of pirate spirit inside of themselves.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Pam Triolo, Mayor of the City of Lake Worth, Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim:
SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 as INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY and urge all citizens of Lake Worth as well as all the less worthy sailors and scalawags in other communities to celebrate in a hearty and fun loving way on September 19th!
IN WITNESS WHEREOF,
I have set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Lake Worth, Florida to be affixed this 19th day of September, 2017.

______________________
Pam Triolo, Mayor ATTEST

Palm Tran bus Rt. 62 is returning to the beach in Lake Worth Beach!

Mayor Pam Triolo and Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso have been working very hard for a very long time to bring back the public bus service to the public ocean beach and with the City agreeing to commit 250K to alter the traffic infrastructure and construct a new bus stop/shelter both the County Commission and Palm Tran are on board with the plan as well.

This information about extending bus Rt. 62 was provided by Public Works Dir. Jamie Brown at the work session last evening on discussion of sales tax proceeds (see video below).

Rt. 62 serves Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs, Palm Beach State College and all areas in between on Lake Worth Rd. In Lake Worth Beach the bus makes the turnaround on Dixie Hwy. near City Hall (except on Sundays when the turnaround is at Golfview Rd. just west of the Robert Harris Bridge). To download the existing Rt. 62 map and schedules click on this link. Connections with Rt. 62 are routes 1 (serving Dixie Hwy.), 40, 43, 46, 52, 61, 63, and 64.

With a new Palm Tran bus stop at the beach in LWB many more from the public will have public access to the ocean, e.g., Royal Palm Beach and West Palm Beach of which neither municipality actually has a beach for their residents to enjoy.

Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars according to Dir. Brown is the very high end of the cost estimate and he believes the cost to the City will be much lower. Changes will have to made to widen the circle traffic flow at the north corner of the Casino building and then the bus will proceed west off the dune towards A1A to a dedicated bus stop with a shelter and retaining wall next to the County’s Kreusler Park.

Mayor Triolo sees a huge benefit for the City in promoting a bus service to the beach and she explains so in the video. This discussion lasts just about ten minutes and strongly encourage everyone interested in public transportation to hear the entire discussion:

Elected leaders setting the bar high in Greenacres: Making education, families and children a high priority.

Just recently we learned the City Council led by the honorable Mayor Joel Flores and the administration in the City of Greenacres deserve a lot of credit for creating one of the best After School and camp programs in the United States and the honor of receiving Florida Gold Seal Designation as well. Here is recent news published on the front page in the Coastal and Greenacres Observer headlined, “Greenacres After School Program Receives National Accreditation”:


The Council on Accreditation (COA) has proudly recognized the City of Greenacres After School and Camp Programs (a licensed, year-round, K-12 grade program) as an outstanding provider.

National accreditation demonstrates that the program successfully implements high performance standards and delivers the highest quality services to all of its children, youth and families. In addition to this achievement, the City of Greenacres After School Program was expedited through the Pre-Commission Review Report (PCR) process as a result of not receiving any out of compliance ratings in any of the fundamental practice or core standards.

The assessors were extremely impressed with the City’s operations, extended learning and enrichment programs, community partnerships and resources available. They travel all over and country, and even internationally, and claimed it was one of the best programs they have ever assessed.

COA accreditation allows the City to obtain the Florida Gold Seal Designation, that provides for a higher per child/per day, rate of reimbursement, from the Early Learning Coalition. For more information on the program visit the City’s website at www.greenacresfl.gov or call 561-642-2193.

The COA is an independent not-for-profit international accreditor providing a full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and human service organizations.

Congratulations to the City of Greenacres!


To learn more about the City of Greenacres click on this link.

And in other recent news Greenacres reopened their renovated gymnasium at the City’s Community Center at 501 Swain Blvd. You can learn more about that on the Greenacres official Facebook page.

For more information about all the public parks in Greeenacres, including helpful maps and directions, click on this link.

The Coastal and Greenacres Observer is a FREE weekly publication published by the Lake Worth Herald Press, Inc. To download the Observer click on this link and then use the Options tab to download the PDF. For more information contact the editor at 561-585-9387 or send an email to: Editor@lwherald.com

Heeding the advice below can save you a lot of time, money, and effort.

Are you considering a new project here in Lake Worth Beach? Or are you considering a renovation? A new restaurant? A new retail opportunity?

If so, you need to learn about the Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’ Council (NAPC). Find out
more about the NAPC below.

They can help you engage the neighborhood and the public prior to or even after approaching the City staff with your idea. The NAPC can help you engage the neighbors and neighborhood, provide as much information available at the time to the public, and maybe even quell the rumor mill from churning out one rumor after another.

How do I know this can actually be accomplished? Because there is a lot of proof that this approach works. Use this link for just one example:


The Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan unanimously and recommended the rezoning request be approved by the City Commission. These approvals were made with conditions which addressed many of the issues which had been discussed between the developer, the City and the neighborhood beforehand.

In the excerpt above, the words ‘and the neighborhood beforehand’ are what one needs to focus on.

So “beforehand” consider approaching the NAPC. What you’ll discover is that sometimes the neighborhood understands their neighborhood much better than the City does. For the NAPC website click on this link, for their Facebook page use this link, or send an email to: napcinfo@gmail.com

Sports news in Lake Worth Beach: Upcoming registration for youth basketball.

Support your LOCAL newspaper and LOCAL community journalism.

For most recent front page headlines click on this link. The Herald serves Lake Worth Beach, suburban Lake Worth and nearby cities, towns and villages here in coastal Central Palm Beach County.

The Herald is still just ¢50! For subscription rates use this link. Have community news or an update to share? Call the editor at 561-585-9387 or send an email to Editor@lwherald.com

Besides LOCAL meetings, events and club news also published in this week’s paper is the 2019 Lake Worth High School football schedule, the public school dress code for students (proper jackets, shirts, pants and shoes), and an article on school health requirements (immunization requirements and physical examination).

Here is the news about youth basketball registration:


The City of Lake Worth Beach will begin holding early registration for their Youth Basketball League August 31 through October 5. Ages 3–6, $45; 7–16, $65.

Regular registration will be held October 6–December 20. Ages 3–6, $50, 7–16, $75. Late registration, December 21–January 4. Ages 3–6, $55, 7–16, $85. The draft will be held on January 11. All games begin at 9:45 and are played at the Norman J. Wimbley Gymnasium located at 1515 Wingfield Street. Shirts will be provided.

You do not need to be a Lake Worth Beach resident to participate, however identification is required.

Registration will be available at the Wimbley Gym, at the Osborne Community Center located at 1699 Wingfield St., or online by using this link.

For more information contact Anthony Marshall at 561-227-4518 or by email at AMarshall@lakeworthbeachfl.gov

News vans are packed and ready for the next major storm.

Scenario.

You are a young and eager weather reporter.

The assignment editor wants you to do a quick news segment along the seawall at the beach in Lake Worth Beach but when you get to the scene nothing is really going on. Just a normal beach day but really crowded. But you have to do something because you’re a weather reporter!

But there is a solution. You can create your own weather if you want. Find out how below.

So a week or so earlier hotter than normal water and wind churned off the Ivory Coast and went heading west. Some claim they can feel a storm coming and those people are feeling something.

Being safe Lake Worth Beach sends out a press release advising the public to be careful of swimming in the ocean and of course everyone then heads to the beach. Not much is happening at the moment except for some brisk wind and surfers taking advantage of the higher waves. So the reporter, with his or her back to the ocean, needs something to air and quick!

What a reporter could do is just deliver the press release from LWB.

But another method will get you noticed called the “gale force” approach.

This approach is not advised in most situations but it certainly will get attention from the public (note the ‘gale force’ method may be encouraged in some newsrooms when assigned to report on anything that looks red-tidish or anything blue-green in the water).

So to quickly go Live with the news which isn’t news but you have to do something please take a few moments and watch a CNN segment, an example of the gale force method being employed.

“Don’t Do It!”

Hope you enjoy this video and remember,
“Don’t Swim In the Sea! Incredibly. . .”