Drew Martin running for Lake Worth commissioner sends out Campaign Letter

Drew says--

A vote for Drew is a vote for YOU!

Vote Drew Martin for Lake Worth City Commission

I am Drew Martin, candidate for Lake Worth Beach City Commission. I am asking for your vote on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

Drew Martin studied international business and computer technology. He was tasked with improving customer service and customer satisfaction at his first job. What did he do?

First, Drew formed and chaired a committee that established a company-wide customer service policy.

The second step was to increase the use of technology.

Third, Drew introduced his energy conservation plan to provide the cost savings that funded the implementation of the new technologies.

As a city commissioner…

Drew wants to restore the public pool at the beach to improve the revenue from the casino and bring more family visitors to the beach complex. The city derives revenue from commercial rent and from parking fees at the beach. The city should retain full public ownership to retain maximum revenue.

Drew wants Lake Worth Beach to have a balanced budget that funds the city’s expenses and the upcoming pension costs. Lake Worth Beach can improve its financial management and thrive.

Thanks for your vote. I look forward to your input and hope I can represent us all.

Drew Martin

You can vote for Drew by mail or March 9, 2021 at your poll.

Visit: www.DrewAMartinLakeWorth.com
Paid by Drew Martin for City Commission

Letter to the Editor - Drew Martin on Solar in Lake Worth (Beach)

Letter to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
July 17, 2019 2019
Lake Worth throws shade on rooftop solar power

Twenty years ago I served on the Climate Change Committee for Lake Worth. The purpose of the committee was to establish policies that would make the city, now called Lake Worth Beach, more resilient to climate change.

Lake Worth Beach is now attempting to institute policies to discourage residents from installing solar power systems on their homes. On plastic single-use, the city has failed to take action to reduce its vendors at the Lake Worth Casino from offering single use plastics.

On solar installation, the city will vote to adopt a policy to discourage rooftop solar. It will put a solar limit of 10 kilowatts on city residents and businesses. It will not permit battery storage with solar installations, with the result that citizens will not have battery-stored power during outages. This will endanger the health and safety of residents. Solar provides a non-polluting and ultimately less expensive form of energy. With solar installations, citizens and businesses can profit from selling electricity back to the city utility. They will help prevent the long-term negative impacts of sea-level rise by reducing carbon.

Drew Martin, Lake Worth Beach

Editor’s note: Martin is conservation chair, Loxahatchee Group, Sierra Club.

This was discussed by the public during public commentary at last night's commission meeting.

POINT OF VIEW
The Palm Beach Post
May 26, 2018

Restore wetlands, natural shorelines to reduce threat

Thank you for your recent editorial requesting funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to update the South Florida Water Management District’s aged flood-control system. (“Aging flood-control systems can’t protect South Florida from sea-level rise,” May 7)

I agree with your premise, but I think it is important for people living here in South Florida to understand that there are no engineering solutions that will protect us completely from sea-level rise.

We need instead to restore the Everglades, and protect and restore wetlands as well as natural shorelines. We can also make sure our sewer systems have protection so that increasing water tables during storms will not force flooding up into our houses. Septic tanks may also be impacted by rising water tables.

Sign up for The Palm Beach Post weekly Opinion newsletter: Text Opinion to 444999

We must accept that the drainage system that we have had in place for the past several decades may ultimately fail because it is based on the notion that sea level is downhill from the canal system, meaning all water pumped into canals will flow out to sea over time. This, in combination with storm surge, could put canal levels lower than the ocean. With incoming storm surge, the ocean could travel inland.

Engineering adjustments cannot change this fact. You cannot out-pump the ocean.

Because South Florida has an extremely porous land surface, berms and dikes such as work in the Netherlands will not work here. The ocean will push up under the dikes or around them. The expense of trying to build such a system would be a waste of money.

We can also not build sea walls to stop storm surge. The ocean will push up underneath these structures. They also provide a false sense of security. Natural shorelines with native plants such as mangroves that hold the soil provide a much better solution. Unfortunately, Florida continues to permit destruction of natural shorelines.

Florida also continues to permit building on the seaward side of the Coastal Construction Line (CCL). This means buildings are being built today that could be in the ocean during storm surge and high tide. This increases homeowner’s insurance policies and the cost of flood insurance.

The solution is to restore the Everglades in Central and South Florida so that fresh stormwater can be pumped to the center of the state, not into the ocean. Extensive treatment areas would be required to clean this water so it could flow south without damaging the sensitive Everglades National Park with too-high nutrient levels.

The influx of fresh water would raise the land levels in the center of the state as it hydrates the muck soils. Once clean this water would then flow downhill to Florida Bay as it did historically. This would raise the water table of fresh water that would act as a barrier to sea level rise. If canals did not exit to the ocean they could not be a conduit for sea water to flow inland. This is a new way of thinking that will require a new set of rules.

The second thing we need to do is stop building on open space and wetlands west of the coastal ridge. There are plenty of areas for infill, but we must protect the remaining ag and preserve areas.

These actions can protect us from storm surge and flooding when our existing canal system begins to fail.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH

Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chair of the Loxahatcheee Group of the Sierra Club.

Politics can be a Cesspool of Corruption

Contributions from the latest G3 Report--

Mayor Pam Triolo: $40,031
Drew Martin:  $7,383 had 18.44% of what the Mayor had and the final vote showed it.

Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell: $49,245
Sarah Malega:  $19,340 had 39.27% of what the Vice Mayor had.

That's a big difference when you are trying to win a campaign, walking all over town knocking on doors and all the big money is against that effort, not to mention the unions, PACS and influence peddlers (and we have a ton of those). When you want to build infrastructure all over town, develop ball fields and rip out a pool, they come out of the woodwork.

It used to be you could run for office in our small city for around $8-9,000.  Those times are over as Scott Maxwell reminded us at his last election when he raised a small fortune from people all over the country.  There is way too much corruption and influence being peddled. And the longer you are in office, the more connections you get and the more tempting the money is and the odds of overturning an incumbent are nearly impossible but certainly unfavorable.

This is a word of advice to all you grassroots people who still believe in honesty and ethics in elections--don't waste your little $25 or $50 contribution that used to mean something. Politicians don't need your money; they get untold amounts from those looking for some sort of pay-back or influence.

Think about our national politicians.  They go into office with little assets and come out as multi-millionaires.  So, politicians learn on the job how to amass wealth and "friends."  And the same thing often happens on the local level.

Our elected officials have a lot to lose if they should be voted out of office such as their higher salaries that they voted in for themselves and their $6,000 a year car allowance not to mention health care and 401k's. People are afraid to go up against them as the odds are stacked to kick them out of office. Their main goal is to sustain their power, status and wealth and vote the way they want, not what the people want. How do I know?  They never ask me or even return e-mails. That's a form of corruption in my book. In the case of Lake Worth, it is to vote the way the city manager wants and Scott Maxwell.

And no, Pelican Pete, it's not that we can't ever be satisfied as long as our candidate is not elected--it is all about those in power making decisions that they feel is best without asking us, without our approval and of course we can't forget that they overturned the height referendum or voted to give the Atlanta Braves 100 Acres of John Prince Park They listen to their core group, the city manager and their drinking pals and that's about it.

Some of the companies that gave big contributions to Triolo and Maxwell are:

Delray New Wave LLC:  Located at 10 SE 1st Avenue, Delray Beach gave a fundraiser for Pam Triolo when she was running a few years ago. They are also registered at 102 N Swinton Avenue in Delray. Right down the road is Hudson Holdings at 20 S Swinton Avenue--Connect the dots.

Jetport II, LLC:  This company has the same corporate agent as Delray New Wave. JetPort is one of Sun Recyling's many companies that was acquired by Waste Management. Do you remember how Southern Waste Systems infiltrated our local elections back in 2008 and Retha Lowe was fined $2,500 for filing false reports regarding them? She got off lightly--this was a small price for her to pay for these days of honest services fraud. Sun companies have been lurking around our politics for years with campaign contributions to certain candidates that they feel are favorable to their cause.

Republic Services of Florida LP:
Republic is a large national corporation and Southern Waste Systems is privately owned and local. In 2011, Southern Waste Systems was awarded a contract for Broward's trash business through a sub-contract deal with Republic. "We are really excited about the partnership on this contract with Republic Services and to have city staff and commission support on the collaboration," said Charles Gusmano, President and CEO of SWS and Sun Recycling.

Waste Management $400
The Sun Recycling connection. Just can't get rid of Sun in this city.

There were many $1,000 contributions and large ones from various Unions, Developers, Contractors, Engineers, Mark Foley, all sorts of attorneys giving big bucks, including one Palm Beach County commissioner, Dave Kerner giving a total of $750 to Maxwell and at least $500 to Triolo and the usual suspects who give a lot of money because they aren't happy with our little city and want to change Lake Worth as well as cement in our pool.

Here's to Term Limits

Winners and Losers

Click to read--

The results are what they are. And in a statement attributed to Abraham Lincoln, "In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." It's hard to beat an incumbent unless he has committed misfeasance.

Sarah Malega lost by 243 votes.

In West Palm Beach, Shanon Materio lost by 183 votes.

And think about it--these two candidates got the Palm Beach Post endorsement. I remember years go when Barbara Aubel got the Post endorsement and lost to Dave Vespo.

Scott Maxwell took that non-Post endorsement to heart and used every thing in his playbook to come out on top. He blitzed everyone to death over the last weekend (I was wondering why he was saving his money) up through election day, keeping his message and face before the electorate reminding them that it was he who set a successful path for Lake Worth. This is how he won.

One of his mailers came in yesterday's mail and he even did another robo call around Noon. It wasn't the fact that he raised more money or that the firefighters helped him out at the polls that he won. He got energized at the end of the campaign. It was his dogged determination and full court press to turn it around and stay in office.

The real losers are all the voters who stayed home--about 80% in Lake Worth who have no knowledge or interest as to what's going on. They believe the hype or just don't give a damn. Our city's direction is decided by less than 3,000 voters.

The last Neighborhood Association Candidate Forum

The Bryant Park Candidate Forum took place on Monday night at the Beach Club located at the Lake Worth Golf Course. The place was packed. The only bad thing about it all was the fact that the facility did not have toilet tissue in the ladies room. In fact, after telling them about this slight problem before the meeting had started, they never did a thing about it. Someone who had been pointed out to me as the manager told me to tell the cleaning crew. For real.

There was misinformation spewed by several candidates but all in all it was an interesting but a long forum. It was supposed to end by 9pm but lasted until around 9:40.

Sarah Malega, who was well prepared, spoke extemporaneously, answering the questions never referring to notes. She said that the pool is an asset to our city and that everyone wants to be friends of the Lake Worth pool, unless, of course, you are Scott Maxwell who wants it gone. Drew Martin made an interesting point when he asked " if you can't keep the pool opened, how do you manage a $43 million road project? Pam Triolo says she likes the pool.

The most interesting and annoying question, brought up once again, was, "Do you support changing the name of the city to Lake Worth Beach?"

Lake Worth has been its name since 1912 and named after the Lake Worth Lagoon--its name for 96 years. Candidates condensed answers to this question were as follows:

• Pam Triolo: "Investigate it."

• Sarah Malega: "Put it on the Ballot."

• Drew Martin: Showing fiscal responsibility, "Name changes cost a lot of money."

• Scott Maxwell: Wants it changed as we get attributed to crimes in suburbia Lake Worth. "This is a new Lake Worth," he said. This is a ridiculous reason to change the name of our city not to mention the tremendous cost as well as dishonoring our history.

Remember to vote on March 13. 

Candidate Debate and our Electric Rates

The debate at the Lake Worth Playhouse was much more interesting than I had ever expected.  It didn't have the excitement of the past--no banner waving or hordes of people milling around with their political t-shirts.

It is difficult being an opponent to any incumbent especially to Mayor Triolo and Vice Mayor Maxwell. Both of them have been in office for years and have all the connections and answers down pat. Both opponents, Drew Martin and Sarah Malega were outstanding, up on the issues and gave them a run for "their money."

One thing that the incumbents bragged about more than once was their rate parity to FPL. They claim that we are now even with FPL's rate, even under it.  We sock it to commercial establishments with high rates and it's  no wonder the incumbents never mention it...we are so much higher than FPL and lowering this rate would attract more businesses which I would think is the goal.

Click the link below and see the true figures as Candidate Sarah Malega suggested.

Florida Municipal Electric Association--latest figures.

G.L. Land Swap Bad for County

OPINION EDITORIAL
Palm Beach Post
August 8, 2017
By: Drew Martin

Why the GL Land Swap is Bad for the County

There have been several letters published in favor of a land swap from the Agricultural Reserve for land in the Loxahatchee/Acreage region. This would be damaging to the Ag Reserve, and a money-loser for the county. Taxpayers voted to put $100 million toward preserving land in the Ag Reserve. The northwest county land folks want to swap is of far less value than the land in the Ag Reserve. It is also already agricultural land, so the county would gain no benefit. But the county would lose extremely valuable agricultural land in the Ag Reserve.

Years ago, we attended workshops on the Ag Reserve where we sought reduced development there to reduce traffic. Many of the nursery owners and farmers who complain about traffic have been the same ones who ask to increase development percentages on their lands. You can’t have it both ways. If you are concerned about traffic, then increasing development will only increase traffic problems. These owners are seeking zoning changes that will increase their land values but decrease the land values of the surrounding properties by taking away open space and agriculture.

Flood insurance rates in the county are tied to maintaining undeveloped land in agriculture that can retain floodwaters during storms. If these lands are developed, they are no longer available to retain floodwaters or recharge the aquifer. In addition, the Ag Reserve has always been a valuable producer of winter vegetables.

One of the letters noted only a 1- or 2-degree difference between the Ag Reserve and the proposed land in the north. But the difference between 33 degrees and 31 degrees is the difference between keeping a vegetable crop or losing a vegetable crop. When farmers came here they recognized the benefits of the Ag Reserve. That is why this area has remained historically an important farming area. Palm Beach County is the largest agriculture-producing county in Florida.

The Ag Reserve is not an ideal area for affordable housing because of its distance from the major transportation systems such as Tri-Rail and Interstate 95. It risks flooding, and it is already crowded with too much traffic. Affordable housing should be close to the main highway and railway links to downtown areas.

Finally, we cannot diminish our ability to feed ourselves by removing farmland for housing. We need to reject this swap idea and protect the Agricultural Preserve within the Ag Reserve.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chairman for the Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club.

Drew Martin - Op Ed in the Palm Beach Post

POINT OF VIEW
Palm Beach Post
July 13, 2017
By:  Drew Martin

Flooding problems are the result of too much development

In The Palm Beach Post story, “Water can flow into endangered sparrow territory” (June 29), discussing the seaside sparrow versus flooding north of the Tamiami Trail, it was suggested that only two solutions existed for reducing flooding: either the protection of the deer in the conservation area or protecting the endangered cape sable seaside sparrow, pitting them against each other resulting in flooding of the conservation area.

The story did not present the underlying causes leading to this flooding. It is the result of development policies impacting excess water, leaving us with only bad choices. This is the result of our constant filling in of wetlands, and the dredging of creeks and rivers, tuning them into free flowing canals, among the other things.

Recent attempts to change the zoning restrictions to open up the Agricultural Reserve to more homes — by removing existing preserves and permitting preserves north of the Ag Reserve to be used as preserve land rather than the 60 percent preserve requirement in the Ag Reserve that now stands — will change flooding patterns. These changes alter to a great extent how water moves naturally across the land.

Roads have also blocked important fresh water flows. One of these roads is Tamiami Trail, built almost 100 years ago when people did not understand the importance of letting fresh water flow into the Everglades, Biscayne and Florida Bay. We have drained the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. After the deadly 1928 hurricane, the lake had a permanent berm built around it. We are taking away the open lands that provide the space to hold the floodwaters.

If the GL Homes proposal were approved, it would move all the preserves out of the Ag Reserve by using preserved land in other tiers of the county to meet preserve requirements. This would contribute to the problem. The Ag Reserve would no longer provide a buffer to the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge.

It would no longer provide a place to hold floodwaters or to recharge the aquifer. It would no longer be the winter vegetable provider for the eastern United States. It would become another crowded urban area with all the urban difficulties. Not the refuge that many who purchased there sought. And these floodwaters from the Ag Reserve will then contribute to the dilemma of flooding the conservation area north of the Tamiami Trail by adding even more floodwaters.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH

Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chair for the
Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club.

Better think Again on Alligators

Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
June 1, 2017
By: Drew Martin

‘Nuisance’ gator? Better think again

Your article, “A nuisance gator may be closer than you think” (Monday), indicated the drawbacks of alligators but not their benefits.

Alligators are our defense against invasive species such as pythons, iguanas and monitor lizards. Alligators and crocodiles are the top predators in the Everglades ecosystem. If we remove them, we will open the door to these other invasive species. While alligators may seem threatening, they are far less threatening than pythons. Alligators are much more visible in the environment. Pythons and boa constrictors are harder to see and could be more dangerous in the future. They are also harder to control.

Alligators are not a nuisance; they are a benefit. We have moved into their environment. They were there before us. If we follow simple rules of not feeding them and keeping a close watch near water such as ponds, lakes and canals, we can all be safe. We can enjoy alligators from a safe distance.
If we remove the alligators from our areas we could end up with much more dangerous predators that we cannot see and not control.

DREW MARTIN
LAKE WORTH

Preserving our south Florida soils, uplands and wetlands

POINT OF VIEW
Palm Beach Post
May 22, 2017 Local News
By:  Drew Martin

Preserving our South Florida soils, uplands, wetlands

Currently, Southeast Florida continues to destroy many of its remaining open areas for development.

These areas hold native plants, soils and habitat for migratory birds. We continue to focus on growth rather than quality of life. A large amount of the water in our area is ground water.

In order to have clean ground water we need to have open areas where water can reside and percolate into our aquifer. Open areas also provide a place for storm water to accumulate, which helps to prevent flooding. Development plans are failing to protect the open areas. Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) with (planned) golf courses are now permitting the golf courses to be developed thus removing more open space.

The more we remove open space and natural areas the more we reduce aquifer recharge and increase aquifer contamination. An example is Century Village off Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach. The development was planned with a large golf course. That golf course is now being eliminated. Where will the water that accumulated on this golf course during storms go? Most likely more water will be pumped out into the ocean during heavy rains. This will damage our coral reefs. New scientific models show the reefs off Palm Beach County and northern Broward County are particularly valuable to reducing storm surge damage. How many billions in dollars of property value are put at risk by building on open space.

The Agricultural Reserve in western Palm Beach County is being destroyed by small cuts, by constant changes in development zoning. The loss of open space will negatively impact drinking water and increase the risk of flooding. At the same time, the loss of native trees and shrubs increases the heat of the day. Migratory birds need these open areas to rest between flights.

In Miami-Dade County, an area known as Pineland Rocklands is up for development for a Wal-mart store. Natural areas are what bring people to Florida. They enhance property values and improve the mental health of the residents.

We need to change our priorities and protect the environment first.

DREW MARTIN
LAKE WORTH

Accepting Climate Change

Read Drew Martin's OP Ed piece in the Sun Sentinel on climate change.

Drew says, "It is not too late to protect these open spaces, particularly the Ag Reserve in Palm Beach County and lands in the Western Part of Broward, Miami Dade, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

Drew Martin recipient of Award

Democrat of the Year Awards Event at the Mariner's Museum last night

Congratulations to the WPB Democrats of the Year Award winners

 Madelene Krasinski and Drew Martin!

Letters to the Editor - Senate Bill 10

Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
February 10, 2017

Senate Bill 10 a good first step


A recent article highlighted the reasons farmers oppose water moving south through the Everglades Agricultural Area (“Glades landowners say they won’t sell for Lake O reservoir,” Monday). The article failed to mention the most important facts.

Water in South Florida’s southeast coast has always flowed west toward the center of the state. Water must flow through the EAA, not out to the estuaries. Farmers in the EAA forget that they are benefiting from drainage systems that punish the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers. These discharges must be stopped.

The arguments that the water cannot be sent south are like arguing the Mississippi River should flow out of the ports of Boston and San Francisco.

Senate Bill 10 provides the beginning of a resolution of the problem. It allocates funds to buy new land or to purchase the existing contract with U.S. Sugar. It does not end agriculture in the EAA.

This bill provides the only real alternative to continuing to destroy these vital estuaries. Other sources of pollution exist, but the triggering event has always been the huge damaging releases from Lake Okeechobee.

The area south of the lake was permanent wetlands and has been converted from a floodplain that was basically a shallow river into a dry farming area. The problem is, it cannot stay dry forever.

SB 10 is the beginning of a common-sense approach.

DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH

Editor’s Note: Drew Martin recently departed the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation Board after serving for eight years.

SB 10: Water Resources

GENERAL BILL by Bradley

Water Resources; Providing an exception to the requirement that bonds issued for acquisition and improvement of land, water areas, and related property interests and resources be deposited into the Florida Forever Trust Fund and distributed in a specified manner; requiring the South Florida Water Management District to seek proposals from willing sellers of property within the Everglades Agricultural Area for land that is suitable for the reservoir project; increasing the minimum annual funding for certain Everglades projects under specified circumstances, etc. APPROPRIATION: Indeterminate

Effective Date: Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law
Last Action: 2/8/2017 Senate - Now in Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources
Location: In committee/council (AEN)
Bill Text: Web Page | PDF

Can Dog Hunting ever be ethical?

This week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is having their meeting that will be held over two days in Crystal River on February 8-9. This meeting is on rules changes.  One important change will be the use of dogs in the hunt for small animals on Florida owned land. Right now, anyone who wishes to hunt on private land with a dog must gain permission from the landowner. On private land, hunters may use free running dogs throughout the year to chase rabbit, raccoon, opossum, skunk, nutria, beaver, coyote, hog, fox and bobcat.

While Florida still allows dog-hunting throughout much of the state, even the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) has had to bend to the will of dog-hunting opponents in recent years. The culture is changing as to what people feel is ethical and that's why the public will be at this meeting to speak against dog hunting.

Drew Martin will be attending the Thursday meeting to speak against the use of dogs  because he believes that the expanded use of hunting dogs is detrimental to human and wildlife safety.

Dog hunting is not sport; it is murder. The animal has no chance to survive a pack of dogs to then be terrorized and killed by a hunter who loves the thrill of blood.

Everglades Conservation and Restoration Forum - was their solution a "dirty trick?"

The Everglades Coalition hosted its 32nd Annual Conference at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort in Fort Myers, Florida on January 5th with a three estuaries, one solution.

The conference was attended by decision-makers from federal, state, local, and tribal governments, agency representatives, stakeholders and a vast array of public and private interests including scientists, educators, contractors, conservationists, the media, students and the general public. The conference is the largest annual forum to advance Everglades conservation and restoration. Our own Drew Martin was there.

Read about it...

This guy says they're all liars and

Read his letter

Ag Reserve Palm Beach County

Yesterday, the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting. As you know, we have two new commissioners--David Kerner, who was elected to the former seat of Shelley Vana who was term limited and Mack Bernard who defeated Priscilla Taylor.  Paulette Burdick was previously voted in as the new mayor.

The important item on the agenda was the SFWMD and its desire to sell off its interest in 571 acres it owns in the Ag Reserve. The District has a 61% interest in the property acquired with proceeds from the $150 million bond that was passed by PB County voters in 1999 with Palm Beach County owning the remainder. It seems to me that the residents of Palm Beach County are the owners of this land and what they say must have weight.

SFWMD says this acreage no longer fits its plan and they want to sell it and say if the county does not go along with their desire to sell, they will sue. Drew Martin, Chair of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee equated this to "blackmail."  It's definitely a strong armed tactic. This land needs to remain in the hands of the County, not some potential developer down the road in spite of easements that could be attached to the property.  We all know through experience that easements and land use can be changed from the dais.

Read about it... and the County's refusal to give an up or down vote on the sale of this land. Mary Lou Berger, Paulette Burdick and Mack Bernard voted against postponing a decision. They voted correctly.

The best thing to do is for the County to buy out SFWMD's interest in the land and let this acreage stay protected as agriculture as the voters wanted.

On the Agenda Palm Beach County - Purchase of Ag Reserve land

This is the first attempt to sell Ag Reserve Land purchased with the Tax Payer Bond Money, says Drew Martin

This property was purchased with bond fund money.
The Agenda for this Tuesday's meeting shows on Item 4E1. Tuesday at 301 Olive in West Palm in the County Commission Chambers at 9:30

E. FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS 1. Staff recommends motion to approve: a Third Amendment to Interlocal Agreement with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) authorizing issuance of an Invitation for Bids for the sale of the jointly owned 571 acre McMurrain Farm property. SUMMARY: The County (39.4%) and SFWMD (60.6%) jointly own the 571 acre McMurrain Farm property in the Ag Reserve.

The property was initially purchased for interim agricultural use with plans for SFWMD to construct an above ground reservoir as part of SFWMD’s Agricultural Reserve Reservoir program. SFWMD has since determined that the Ag Reserve Reservoir program is not feasible, has terminated the program, and has declared its interest in the McMurrain Farm property to be surplus. SFWMD desires to sell its interest in the property to recover its investment. SFWMD has obtained a 2015 appraisal valuing the property at $15,400,000, (SFWMD $9,335,000; County $6,065,000), and is currently updating that appraisal. SFWMD is requesting that the County participate in the sale of the County’s interest in the property.

While the property has an AGR Preserve land use and has no density, in order to provide additional assurances that the land remain in Agricultural production and not be developed, SFWMD proposes that the property be sold subject to a Perpetual Agricultural Conservation Easement in favor of the County and SFWMD, and that a separate Perpetual Agricultural Conservation Easement be granted the State Department of Environmental Protection. The Conservation Easements restrict use of the property to agricultural production and provide an added level of protection against change in use beyond what is in place today.

Loser Shelley Vana - Rudeness is her Virtue?

Comment Up

When replying to Drew Martin's comment yesterday at the Board of County Commissioners' meeting where he said that the commission should have listened to the voters about over-growth in our county, Shelley Vana, in her politically incorrect sarcastic manner said,

"What are you, like Trump? Do you want to build a wall around Palm Beach County?"

Please note that Vana supported Dave Kerner, Drew Martin's opponent for County Commissioner District 3.

Elect Drew Martin County Commission District 3

Comment Up