Showing posts with label Public/Private Partnerships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public/Private Partnerships. Show all posts

Monday, May 4, 2020

Lake Worth (Beach) into the Future

Lake Worth Beach in 2030: City hopes to hit 50,000 residents, keep beach-town feel

When you get planners involved, this is what they envision for our city. We are one of the densest cities around already! On top of that, the city can't manage anything and wants a public/private partnership at our beach. They are posed and ready to do this.

Commissioners continually tell us that we are a city of 7 square miles. We are, but some of it is water. We are under 6 square miles with around 38,000 people living on the land and 10,777 are not even citizens.

Area
 • City6.67 sq mi (17.27 km2)
 • Land5.88 sq mi (15.22 km2)
 • Water0.79 sq mi (2.05 km2)  12.69%

So they want to increase our city by 24%...people living on top of people. Where are the people going to come from? Do they really think they will attract moneyed people who want to live on top of their neighbor? Is this the 'Build it and They Will Come' theory? Where? More structures, more services and more costs across the board that they ignore. But I guess they have that figured out like everything else.

Read about it... You are led to believe that William Waters runs this place but it's the city manager who has all these commissioners dangling on strings who approve everything he wants.

And they want to keep our small town charm?

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Our Pool is a Political Football


Back in October 2014, Andy Amoroso appointed himself to be on a special committee.  The city (Bornstein who already said our pool was a White Elephant) formed an Evaluation Committee that  included one commissioner (Andy Amoroso) and one member of our Finance Advisory board.

The city was desiring public/private ventures (in other words we own the property but someone else makes the money) at our Beach Complex and Casino to manage, maintain, operate, redesign, etc. and/or implement creative ventures. We can't/WON'T manage or operate it ourselves and the city wanted to turn over our beach complex to someone who could manage it.

And that's why you heard Herman Robinson, candidate for District 4, bring up intralocal partnerships [public private partnerships] several times at the South Palm Park Forum.

One of the options under consideration back then was to modernize the municipal pool operation that would attract adult-aged visitors during the afternoon and evening hours (e.g., restaurant, tiki bar, cabana rentals, beverage service and/or other commercial type ventures). With this option, the City prefers to maintain public pool access in the morning hours; however, creative alternatives will be considered. The municipal pool and supporting facilities cover approximately 34,000 sq. ft.

So now what do we get?  A proposal to tear out our Olympic pool and put in an aquatic center for millions.  We don't have the money to maintain our pool but now we can afford $5 million plus for an aquatic center?  And the consultant giving the proposal would be the one behind the aquatic center? Has everyone gone mad?

It just keeps getting screwier.

Read the Palm Beach Post

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Public/Private Partnerships

Comment Up

Did the city once again get wind of some bill that might help out their goal with Hudson Holdings as it did for the heights amendment that they wanted to crush and ended up holding the results by not sending them to Tallahassee until that law was signed three months after the vote?

But perhaps the bill won't fit the bill--

Hudson Holdings is going to take advantage of HB85 if they can. But what we can surmise is that we have some in our city government working for their self-interests. Although the P3 bill states that public entities must perform an independent analysis of the proposed P3 and demonstrate its cost-effectiveness and overall public benefit, we know, without a shadow of any doubt, that the analysis will show favorable results for Hudson Holdings' goals. Does the city even have to accept their proposal as the ITN is closed? Supposedly this latest offer, two weeks after they withdrew from the ITN, is a totally separate offer. Who asked them to do this? Several meetings ago, commissioner Amoroso wanted to officially close the ITN but he was shut down by the Mayor.

In the bill:
(b) For the preservation, maintenance, and improvement of park land, the property must be at least 20 acres with contiguous public facilities that are capable of seating at least 5,000 people in a permanent structure.

Read the Bill: CS/CS/HB 85

On June 27th, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law that gives counties, municipalities, school boards and other political subdivisions in the Sunshine State authority to enter into public-private partnership (P3) agreements for facilities that “serve a public purpose.”  The bill – HB 85 – authorizes P3s for a wide range of facilities, including education facilities, transportation facilities, water / wastewater facilities, roads, highways and bridges, healthcare facilities and sporting or cultural facilities.  The bill does not cover the Florida Department of Transportation or other Florida state agencies. Source:  Infrainsightblog.com

CS/CS/HB 85: Public-Private Partnerships

GENERAL BILL by Appropriations Committee ; Government Operations Subcommittee ; Steube ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Edwards ; Mayfield ; Moraitis ; Pilon ; Williams
Public-Private Partnerships; Provides legislative findings & intent relating to construction or improvement by private entities of facilities used predominantly for public purposes; provides for procurement procedures, requirements for project approval, project qualifications & process, notice to affected local jurisdictions, comprehensive agreements between public & private entities, use fees, financing sources for certain projects by private entities, & applicability of sovereign immunity for public entities with respect to qualified projects; authorizes counties to enter into public-private partnership agreements to construct, extend, or improve county roads; provides requirements & limitations for such agreements; provides procurement procedures; requires fee for certain proposals; revises limit on terms for leases that Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority may enter.
Effective Date: 7/1/2013
Last Action: 7/1/2013 - Chapter No. 2013-223
Location: Became Law
Bill Text: PDF


Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Hudson Holdings Letter to the Mayor

Comment Up

To read the 16 page letter in its entirety, Click here.

The letter was hand-delivered to City Hall sometime on Monday and opened by the Mayor's secretary.  Pam Triolo's secretary had every intention of going over her mail with her on Tuesday but it never happened. I was told that the mayor had not yet seen the letter by Tuesday night's special meeting and therefore was unaware of Hudson's intent.  Silvina did say that it was also e-mailed to the Mayor and that Michael Bornstein had an original of the same letter hand-delivered to him on Monday.

As this was an extremely IMPORTANT letter, it is difficult to understand why this letter was not transmitted quickly to the recipients and leaves one to wonder if they already knew the contents.

Hudson Holdings plans on taking advantage of a law enacted in 2013 on public/private partnerships.