Friday, June 14, 2013

Park of Commerce -

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The only way the public knows what's going on within this city is when the city has to declare its intentions by law. Otherwise, we are totally kept in the dark--no city manager reports and no transparency. We can't even tackle the basics of eradicating slum and blight. We don't have the money to upgrade our shuffleboard court building or fix the pot holes correctly in our streets but we can spend money on engineering services on some dirt.  The Lotto anyone?

Engineering services through the years have cost the taxpayers tens/hundreds of millions of dollars.. just ask Mock Roos. Will this money for the Park of Commerce be coming out of the $63 MILLION  Roads improvement program that is on the table?  They haven't yet told us how we will pay for all of that. And infrastructure has been maintained for the last 100 years, Mayor. The city does the best it can with the revenue it has.  It is commission politics that has diverted us from sound decisions. Bad leadership has cost us millions in waste.

The RFP (RFP #12-13-200) for the Park of commerce Phase I engineering Services is due by 3:00pm on June 18th.

Infrastructure Improvements will center on upgrading Boutwell Road from 10th Avenue North to Lake Worth Road. These improvements also include intersection improvements at 10th, 7th, 4th, and 2nd Avenues North, and Joyce Avenue. Note that Boutwell Road is under the jurisdiction of Palm Beach County.

The consultant(s) shall provide engineering design services necessary for the development of Phase 1 of the Lake Worth Park of Commerce Infrastructure Improvements. The scope of work shall meet the recommendations described in the Infrastructure Needs Assessment and Preliminary Engineering Study, shall take into consideration the 2012 Operational Traffic Analysis performed by Pinder Troutman, and shall include the following Right of Way Needs Analysis, Feasibility Study and Implementation:
  • Transportation and Street Improvements
  • Storm water Collection System Improvements
  • Potable Water Distribution System Improvements
  • Sanitary Sewer Collection System Improvements
This development project is a dream of Scott Maxwell's and the Mayor's. Of course, the city doesn't have a pot to pee in but gosh, we just must have development at any and all costs even going so far as to lie about the need for heights to rise in our downtown because "no developer will build a hotel" with only 45 foot high limitations. How long will it take to recapture (in ad-valorem taxes) what the city plans on spending for engineering and infrastructure at the Park of Commerce? 

With all of the millions in expense that is being planned by this commission and all of it on the backs of the taxpayers, perhaps the city should play the Powerball.

7 comments:

  1. To the "person" who just attempted to comment here--please read the policy. If you can't understand something as basic as this policy or have a problem with reading comprehension, then stay the hell off this blog. Thank you very much. And have a very nice day. :(

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  2. Well, I am 51 now. so I think it will take them at least 30 years after they go out on a loan. So I will be long gone and my kids can worry about it but by then we will be completely under socialism and no one will have to worry about it.

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  3. Amazon is coming to Florida and working with the State Economic Dept to find places for their warehouses. Maybe Pam and Scott need to beat the pavement and sell them on our Park of No-Commerse

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  4. Well do you want development in our Park of Commerce or don't you? You are all over the board on this one. In order to attract development, we must have roads, water, storm and sanitary sewers.

    You normally like to have things studied to death. This is necessary for ANY large corporation to come in and build anything substantial.

    You should be happy that this commission actually LOWERED the maximum heights in the POC from 100 to 60 feet. I would think you'd be giddy about that.

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  5. I have always been for 100 feet at the Park of Commerce.

    Thanks for your insults...they just keep coming.

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  6. 4:38 p.m. look around. Inappropriate and offensive sarcasm does not change the facts. It isn’t that developing the Park of Commerce is a bad idea but the reality is with not enough money, too many slum landlords and three quarters of the residents who can’t or don’t give a damn the city cannot catch up and properly take care of what is ‘developed’. All of the infrastructure in the world won’t make what is dirty cleaner or what is scruffy a place where businesses or people want to reside.

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  7. With well over a million dollars in studies gathering dust in city hall there is no money to put them in practice. While we debate the downtown, hotel heights, hotel districts and vacation rentals the cities financial picture is dire. To fund any project do not look further than the utilities. Already they are funding the huge debt at the beach.Even with the best leases it will take years for the beach to break even. I predict the city will lower our electric rates. Remember OUC charges the city a wholesale rate which the city adds on to to balance the budget. Now where will the money come from? While lowering the rates the city will add assessments, you know, the charges at the bottom of the bill. Whether your home is worth a million or 50 thou. we will all pay the same. In some way the city has looked to get more out of people who pay low property taxes and conserve on utilities. assess equally will be the battle cry.

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