Like Deja Vu All Over Again. . .

Stormy Seas. . .

It appears that the Altar of Objectivity might get a little wet tonight.

C.D.B.G.

The City Commission met at Compass last night to determine the allocation of the Community Development Block Grant money for three city projects.  As expected it was a long and at times contentious meeting as the public and the Commissioners expressed their views on what the priorities should be and what percentage of the funds should be assigned to each.

Mayor Varela opened the discussion by expressing his view that a housing program was vital to combat our deteriorating housing stock and a key to revitalizing the west side of the city.  Commissioner Maxwell was opposed to any sort of housing program and stated his preference for concrete infrastructure improvements.  Commissioner Golden was also in favor of the housing program and pointed to the City Manager’s successful experience with these types of initiatives.  Commissioner Jennings did favor the housing program as well, but took care to look at the past C.D.B.G. projects that were previously funded but not completed and if they should be reprogrammed into this year’s projects or completed.  Commissioner Mulvehill, also supported the idea of a housing project, but expressed her leanings towards parks, including a dog park as well.

While it was clear from from the opening discussion that the the housing program would top the list, when it came to public participation it was also clear that the audience had other ideas.

Mary Lindsey produced what she claimed was an e-mail thread proving that the total amount of the current and unused C.D.B.G. amounted to closer to $740,000 versus the $600,000 stated in the backup material.  She accused the City of withholding information and asked how could they run a housing program if they didn’t even know how much money they had.  Her claims were completely put to rest by Community Development Director Wayne Bergman when he provided a chronological accounting of the funds that was confirmed by the county.

Other residents spoke for the need to put an addition on the gymnasium, the desire for parks in the Tropical Ridge neighborhood, improving the sidewalk situation around Highland Elementary as well as the need for traffic calming.  Many also spoke out against the housing program often stating that they did not think the City should function “as a bank” and that the additional staffing and administration required would be prohibitive.  It was also pointed out by the public and Commissioner Maxwell that the amount of money dedicated to a housing program would likely be too little to have a worthwhile impact. City Manager Stanton did her best to allay those concerns citing her prior experience with similar projects and by pointing out that the funds for the housing programs could be leveraged by private and public programs, sometimes as much as receiving 7 dollars for every program dollar.

At the end of public comment the Commission’s discussion turned to identifying three projects, resulting in the housing program, the addition to the gymnasium and traffic calming being chosen.

Next they turned to the amount of funding to be allocated to each.  With the $250,000 from the current funding cycle and 350,000 that could be reprogrammed from previous C.D.B.G. funding the task was to divide the resulting $600,000 in a manner that would assure successful outcomes for all three projects.

The cost of gymnasium was estimated to be between $125,000 and $200,000 dollars and the Commission debated the actual amount needed, with Commissioner Maxwell asking several time, what would happen if the allocated funds were not enough to complete the job.  Options such as using CIP funds and any unspent money from projects now in progress were suggested as a way to assure the proper completion of the gymnasium.  Commissioner Maxwell promised that if there was a problem with its completion there “would be a discussion, and it wouldn’t be pretty”.

After several failed motions the end result was that the $250,000 from the current cycle would be divided evenly between the gymnasium and traffic calming, and the remaining $350,000 in funding being reprogrammed to the housing program.

Knee Jerk. . .

There is a special Commission meeting is to discuss the Community Development Block Grant  application priority list at the Compass Center at 7:00 PM tonight.

At the last meeting for public input on the priorities that should be assigned to the CDBG there were a lot of good ideas put forth, including expanding our gymnasium by adding a multi-purpose room.

At the same meeting residents  of  Tropical Ridge and others expressed their desire that none of the CDBG monies be used for “affordable housing”.

Looking over the back up material (click here to view),  you will see this:

Click Image to Enlarge

Further reading of the backup material including the City Manager’s input shows that the “Housing Element” is geared toward assisting and increasing owner occupied home ownership.  There are few, if any, more pressing concerns in Lake Worth.  Dog parks are great, fixing sidewalks is important, however assisting people to maintain or improve their properties, or better yet helping people to buy and occupy there own homes should be a priority.

There is a hue and cry in this city that the ratio of renters to home owners is one of the major contributors to blight and crime and it seems that the CRA has focused its efforts on the commercial side of the street.

Using the CDBG funds to help people buy, maintain and improve the homes they own and live in will address one of our city’s biggest problems.

Another Response to Accentuate The Positive

A reader sent this in response to the Accentuate The Positive post:

This is one of the pictures I took at our Holiday Parade.  My favorite part was watching the children’s faces as they read their little red raffle tickets to see if they won. It was amazing to watch, on several occasions, some children who won gave their bicycle to other children.

Just A Reminder. . .

It’s darned cold this morning, so cold in fact it makes it hard to believe that this photo was taken about a week ago, when it was warm.

It’s Lake Worth, Count On It. . .

Lake Worth Christmas Parade Video

This was just posted on You Tube.

Bonfire. . .

Last night’s  City sponsored bonfire at the beach saw a large crowd dancing and swaying to the music as they gathered around the flames.  With no rain and moderate temperatures it was a perfect evening for the first of 4 scheduled bonfires at the beach.  With so many people having a good time the event was extended from it’s original 8:00 closing until 9:00.

The dates for the upcoming bonfires are January 22nd and February 5th and 19th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

Oh, The Huge Manatees Of It All. . .

This is pretty cool, Click Here to go to the FPL Manatee Cam at the Riviera Beach power plant.  Note, you can’s see anything when it’s dark out!