City of Lake Worth Beach April 30 2020 COVID 19 Update 2

Lake Worth Casino Building and Beach Complex 4/28/20

Although some parks are reopening tomorrow the #LakeWorthBeach Beach Park and Complex is not. The beach complex will only be open to those collecting curbside pick up orders from Benny's (at the weekends) and Killwin's (call ahead).

Please do not endanger Ocean Rescue and other beach staff by attempting to come to the beach unless you are collecting a curbside pick up order.

PBSO District 14 -Covid 19 Update - LWB - Parks Boat Ramps and Golf Course

This is your weekly update regarding District 14 – Lake Worth Beach. I just spoke to the city staff. They will be opening parks, boat ramps and the golf course as follows and per the county order. (A copy of the county order is attached). This is a fluid situation. I will notify you of any changes as I receive them: 

Golf Course – Will be open on Saturday and Sundays , Starting May 2nd. Will follow all county order requirements 

Boat Ramps – Will be open starting tomorrow morning. Will follow all county order requirements 

Parks – Following all requirements of the county order. *** The beach park will not be opening yet**** 

Pier – LWB Pier will not be opening yet. Stay tuned 

LW Beach – Not open yet. Again, stay tuned 

Hopefully many of you saw the county press conference yesterday. The Sheriff delivered a strong message regarding the reopenings.  We all want to be able to enjoy the above facilities after this long period of closure. We do not want people to violate the emergency order. This will likely cause a spike in cases and a return of the closures. This will also generate more calls for service which takes us away from patrolling for burglars, robbers, etc. While our preferred method of handling Covid related calls is to “educate and persuade”, we will make arrests when necessary to avoid a spike in cases and closures of the above facilities. Please help us help you by using good sense and abiding by the current requirements.  The sooner we do so the sooner we get back to something near “normal”. 

In other news, the food giveaway at the CRA went really well today and will continue again next week.

Crime was down a bit this week which is good. 

There are an increasing number of scams out there both online and in person – be careful 

Please fill out your census forms. Our numbers are dismal so far but there is time to turn that around. We will have to live with these numbers for ten years 

My quarterly commission presentation is during the next virtual meeting on May 5th. 

I hope everyone is doing okay. 

Thanks and be safe, 

Captain Todd Baer
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
Commander – District 14 – City of Lake Worth Beach

City of Lake Worth Beach Municipal Golf Course will Reopen

Lake Worth Beach, FL – In response to Palm Beach County Executive Order 2020-05 the City of Lake Worth Beach Municipal Golf Course will reopen on Saturdays and Sundays starting May 2. At this time the course remains closed Monday - Friday. 

Further information and details of additional openings related to the order will follow.

BREAKING NEWS: PALM BEACH COUNTY RECREATION FACILITIES TO RE-OPEN (DOES NOT APPLY TO PUBLIC POOLS)

WHILE ADHERING TO CDC DISTANCING GUIDELINES. This was in an email from County Vice Mayor Weinroth.

Click here for link to Executive Order No. 5

It is important to read the entire document found at the above link. For example, here are the special requirements for community pools:

Community Pools:

Guidelines, including all social distancing guidelines, are adhered to. In addition

the following restrictions shall apply:

B. Community pools shall reopen provided that CDC guidelines are maintained.

1. Pool capacity shall be limited to ensure that social distancing in

accordance with CDC Guidelines is maintained at all times.

2. Locker room and shower facilities shall remain closed. Restrooms

shall be cleaned and disinfected regularly throughout the day. Soap

and water or hand sanitizer and/or disinfectant wipes shall be provided

in each restroom.

3. Pool deck seating or lounging shall be restricted to ensure social

distancing in accordance with CDC Guidelines.

4. One or more facility staff or management must be present at each

facility location to monitor and ensure compliance with the restrictions

within this order.

Also note it does not open "beach parks."

Section 7. Public Parks and Natural Areas. All public county and municipal parks, and natural areas, with the exception of beach parks, in Palm Beach County shall reopen as set forth in Attachment 4 entitled “Public Parks and Natural Areas Reopening Guidelines.”

Help for homeowners facing COVID-19 related financial hardship

Many agencies are experiencing increased calls from households concerned about making mortgage payments due to COVID-19 related financial hardship. The Sun Sentinel has a great article on this subject but the most important information to give any homeowner is the following:

Homeowners must contact their servicers and let them know they cannot make your payment due to a COVID-19 related hardship. Servicers will not assume anything so they must let them know otherwise loans will be become delinquent. Most servicer websites will give multiple options for making contact.

Homeowners should know who owns (backs) their loan. Homeowners can check on Freddie Mac or  Fannie Mae online or check with their mortgage company. And Credit Counseling Agencies can provide assistance - they are used to dealing with mortgage questions and contacting servicers so call them for assistance.

2020 Quick Hospitality Covid-19 Emergency Grant - Lake Worth Beach CRA

In an effort to help stabilize local hospitality businesses currently open and operating within the CRA District due to effects from COVID-19, the Lake Worth Beach CRA is offering a Quick Action Emergency grant program. Although Federal funding is available through the SBDC, many of our small, local businesses are struggling to keep employees and must work around increasingly restrictive requirements.

Local, small, for-profit businesses with between 3-20 full time employee’s (FTE’s) can apply on-line for up to $2,500 (in $500 increments) in working capital grants. Our goal is to fund businesses that require face-to-face interaction with customers and have been severely impacted by the virus. 

Click here for link. 

SIDEWALK PRESSURE CLEANING TO BEGIN APRIL 27th IN DOWNTOWN LAKE WORTH BEACH

Lake Worth Beach, FL - The Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is
partnering with Lake Worth Beach Public Services department to provide the power washing of
sidewalks throughout Downtown during the current lull in pedestrian traffic. This effort will take
place beginning Monday April 27th and extending over the next two to three weeks, weather
permitting.

Sidewalk cleaning will take place along both sides of Lake and Lucerne Avenues from the
round-a-bout at ‘A’ Street extending east to Federal Highway and along various side-streets in
the downtown. Merchants and property owners are advised to temporarily move all signs,
planters, tables and chairs during the pressure cleaning period. The CRA and City will not be
responsible for any damage to these items.

Please contact the Lake Worth Beach CRA or Lake Worth Public Services department if you
have any questions regarding this project.

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PREVENTION

Individuals in Lake Worth Beach who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, should call the Florida Department of Health at 305-324-2400. If you have a medical provider, call them. If traveling to a medical office or facility, call ahead.

For questions about COVID-19 in Florida, please call the Florida Department of Health at l-866-779-6121.

Join us for "LUNCH-OUT" Friday, April 24th • 1pm to 4pm

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Click here to make a donation for this effort!

Location: LILO'S - 701 Lake Avenue

Drive-ups only. The CAR-ONLY SERVICE line begins at SW corner of K Street (one-way northbound). You will be directed to the pickup zone.

Join us for “Lunch-Out," a community effort to provide meals to local Lake Worth Beach. Any money donated hospitality workers or others who have lost jobs as a result of will go to helping local hospitality Covid-19. First Responders Welcome as well! Meals provided by workers that have DRIVE-UP SERVICE ONLY to comply with CDC social distancing
been laid-off and guidelines. No walk-ups accepted. All meals will be placed for future food in trunks. Meals available on a first-come, first serve basis distribution events. and meals are limited. Donations appreciated and accepted.

SAFER AT HOME Do your part to prevent the spread of COVID-19

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Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans | Full Documentary | Direct...

Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans | Full Documentary | Directed by Jeff Gibbs

Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late. 

Removed from the debate is the only thing that MIGHT save us: getting a grip on our out-of-control human presence and consumption. Why is this not THE issue? Because that would be bad for profits, bad for business. Have we environmentalists fallen for illusions, “green” illusions, that are anything but green, because we’re scared that this is the end—and we’ve pinned all our hopes on biomass, wind turbines, and electric cars? 

No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine"). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late.

Featuring: Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Richard Branson, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Van Jones, Vinod Khosla, Koch Brothers, Vandana Shiva, General Motors, 350.org, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Nature Conservancy, Elon Musk, Tesla.

Music by: Radiohead, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Blank & Jones, If These Trees Could Talk, Valentina Lisitsa, Culprit 1, Patrick O’hearn, The Torquays, Nigel Stanford, and many more.

Weekly PBSO Update - 04-21-20 - District 14 - City of Lake Worth Beach

Hopefully everyone is doing as well as can be expected. Here are a few updates from your local PBSO District: 

·         Please encourage friends and neighbors to go online and complete their census forms. I did mine in about ten minutes. You do not have to have the code that was mailed out.  These census numbers will be here for ten years and affect many parts of life. 

·         Our district has no personnel out with Covid 19 or awaiting test results. 

·         The food distribution at the CRA - Hatch Center is going well. I believe they are giving food to 700  + families per week in LWB. The volunteers have been awesome. 

·         Social distancing continues to look good in the city. 

·         Last week’s crime report was about the same as the week before – busy. Calls for service are up due to the pandemic and the unrelated crime. Auto burglaries and robberies to persons continued to be a problem. Half of the robberies were drug related. Other violent crime was down and arrests were up for the week. We made two nice arrests for auto theft using the cameras and tag readers. 

Hang in there. I am starting to hear some positive news on the virus. Hopefully we will be able to return to somewhat normal life in the near future. Please continue to social distance, be patient and kind. 

Yours in service, 

Captain Todd Baer

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

Commander – District 14 – City of Lake Worth Beach

City of Lake Worth Beach - City Commission Meeting - April 21, 2020 - NEW RULES AND FORMAT

Due to the pending Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Federal, State and Palm Beach County’s Declarations of State of Emergency, the City of Lake Worth Beach will be conducting the April 21, 2020 Regular Meeting via Communication Media Technology (“CMT”). Use of CMT will allow the City to have City Commission meetings as necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following specific information is provided as to the Tuesday, April 21, 2020 Regular Meeting:

(1) The meeting will be held at City Hall, 7 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Since City Hall is closed to the public, there will be no physical access points provided at City Hall. The City Commission will be attending the meeting through technological means.

(2) Persons interested in attending the meeting may access the meeting online at: https://lakeworthbeachfl.gov/virtual-commission-meeting/. The online meeting will also be posted on YouTube (normally within 24 hours with closed-captioning included). After the meeting, the audio recording will be available by contacting the Office of the City Clerk. Minutes of the meeting will also be available at a later date online or by contacting the Office of the City Clerk.

(3) If interested persons need more information regarding the meeting, they may contact the Office of the City Clerk at 7 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth Beach, FL; email the Office of the City Clerk at: dandrea@lakeworthbeachfl.gov or call the Office of the City Clerk at (561) 586-1659.

(4) In order to address the concerns with the COVID-19, for this meeting, public comment will be handled as follows: If an interested person desires to provide public comment, all comments must be directed to the Office of the City Clerk by going to our website and clicking on this link: https://lakeworthbeachfl.gov/public-comment-card/. The City will receive such public comment up to fifteen (15) minutes before the start of the meeting. If timely received by the Office of the City Clerk, the Chair or designee will read the public comment at the meeting. The Commission’s Rules of Decorum for all public comment will be strictly enforced. Any portion of a comment that violates the Rules of Decorum will not be read. All comments will be maintained with the City’s minutes of the meeting.

Consistent with section 286.0105, Florida Statutes, if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he or she will need a record of the proceedings, and that, for such purpose, he or she may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.