2019 Palm Beach County Days in Tallahassee

This past week Rob Robinson (District Manager), Tim Sayre (BOS), Joni Martin (BOS) and myself attended Palm Beach County Days in Tallahassee to represent Indian Trail Improvement District and to lobby support for our appropriation bills. It was a great week meeting with Senators, House Representatives, Governor’s staff and many others. It is always neat to see the representation of Palm Beach County en masse, as well as the legislative process in action. Palm Beach County Days gives the County, municipalities and Special Districts an opportunity to participate in the legislative process. I witnessed our County Commissioners Melissa McKinlay, David Kerner, Mary Lou Berger and Mayor Mack Bernard in action. It made me proud to be a part of the leadership in Palm Beach County.

This year ITID has three appropriation bills

1. Corbett Levee ($5.7 million) HB2229

2. M0 outfall gate ($400,000) HB2231

3. Moss Pilot Project ($400,000) HB2313

All three bills are sponsored by Representative Rick Roth and supported on the Senate side by Senator Powell, as well Senator Harrell is co-sponsoring the Corbett Levee bill. We are very grateful for their support.

All three bills were referred to the House Agricultural Appropriations Sub-Committee. The bills for the M0 outfall and the Moss Pilot project have now passed the sub-committee and have moved on to the House general appropriations committee. The Corbett Levee bill was added late Friday to the Agriculture Appropriations sub-committee agenda next Tuesday.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Please take a moment to participate in the legislative process by sending a thank you note to Representative Rick Roth for sponsoring, supporting and continuing to advocate for ITID’s appropriation Bills. As well as a thank you to Representatives Holly Raschein and Kristin Jacobs for their support. Please also send a note thanking Senator Powell for supporting the three ITID appropriations as well as Senator Gayle Harrell for supporting the Corbett Levee appropriation.

Please also send an email to Senator Debbie Mayfield, Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government and Senator Wilton Simpson, Vice-Chair asking for their support for the Corbett Levee funding.

Lastly please send an email to our District 6 County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay thanking her for supporting and advocating for ITID’s initiatives this legislative year.

All email addresses are listed below. With community support, we can hopefully get these bills passed and our projects finally fully funded this year. I have included a one page document below that gives a short description on each of the projects. If you want more information on the projects, please feel free to contact me at bargue@indiantrail.com.

The Honorable Rick Roth
House of Representatives
209 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Rick.roth@myfloridahouse.gov

The Honorable Holly Raschein
House of Representatives
418 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Holly.Raschein@myfloridahouse.gov

The Honorable Kristin Diane Jacobs
House of Representatives
200 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Kristin.jacobs@myfloridahouse.gov

Senator Gayle Harrell
310 Senate Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
harrell.gayle.web@flsenate.gov

Senator Bobby Powell
211 Senate Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
powell.bobby.web@flsenate.gov

Senator Lori Berman
311 Senate Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
berman.lori.web@flsenate.gov

Senator Wilton Simpson, Vice Chair Appropriations
402 Senate Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
simpson.wilton.web@flsenate.gov

Senator Debbie Mayfield, Chair of Appropriations
322 Senate Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
mayfield.debbie.web@flsenate.gov

Honorable Commissioner Melissa McKinlay
301 North Olive Ave. Suite 1201
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Mmckinlay@pbcgov.org

Commissioner Melissa McKinlay Townhall Meeting February 13th

I want to thank Commissioner Melissa McKinlay for hosting the Townhall meeting last night at the Acreage library. Thank you also to all the County staff as well as State Attorney Dave Aaronberg for the information and questions you answered for our Community.

While there was an array of interesting information presented last night ranging from an update on the current status in Palm Beach County on the opiod crisis and the sober homes task force to the ground breaking of the new fire station, the hottest topic of the evening was saved for last, traffic and road improvements in the Acreage. David Ricks, the County Engineer presented a list of improvements/road widening on the County roads that are planned and the timelines we can expect right now. You can get the full document here District 6 Acreage Area Talking Points Cmmr McKinlay . It is clear the community is not happy that we are behind on improvements but I am happy to see that the County at least has construction plans in the works. We need to continue to advocate for some of these roads to be expedited including the extension of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road to the Beeline as well as the Avenir extension of Coconut to the Beeline. I look forward to on-going discussions with the County and our surrounding neighbors regarding the road needs in our area.

Short summary:

SR 7 Extension – FDOT – The construction contract was bid and awarded by the FDOT, however the construction is currently on hold pending a new court hearing regarding the City of West Palm Beach’s challenges to the permits issued for the project.

CURRENT DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. from Orange Blvd. to S. of Northlake Blvd., Northlake Blvd./Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. Intersection, Northlake Blvd. from E. of Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. to East of Hall Blvd.

  • Construction funded for current FY 2019, construction to begin in early 2020

Northlake Blvd. from E. of Hall Blvd. to Coconut Blvd.

  • Construction funding is programmed in FY 2020 and 2021

Northlake Blvd. from Coconut Blvd to SR 7 Extension – AVENIR Development

  • Phase 1 is Avenir’s East Entrance located approximately 2,850 ft. east of Coconut Blvd. and expect to complete work within the next year

Royal Palm Beach Blvd., from the M-Canal to south of Orange Blvd

  • This project will widen 1 mile of RPB Blvd to a 5-lane undivided roadway section.
  • Construction is scheduled to begin in FY 2020

Royal Palm Beach Blvd and Okeechobee Blvd Intersection Improvement

  • This project will add a 3rd southbound left. Construction is planned for FY 2020

FUTURE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

60th Street N, from Avocado Blvd to east of 120th Avenue North

  • Construction slated for FY 2022

60th Street N, from west of 140th Avenue North to Avocado Blvd Study

  • This project will study the right-of-way impacts of the future widening of this section of 60th St N. The study is not slated to begin until FY 2020

Coconut Boulevard, from south of 78th Place to south of Northlake Blvd.

  • This project will widen 1.3 miles of Coconut Blvd from its existing 2-lane roadway to a 5-lane roadway. The project will include the addition of drainage and sidewalks.
  • Construction is slated for FY 2023

Royal Palm Beach Blvd., from Persimmon Blvd to the M-Canal

  • Construction is not yet funded in the Five Year Road Program

Royal Palm Beach Blvd/Orange Blvd/Coconut Blvd from south of 68th St N to s of 77th Place N

  • Construction is not yet funded in the Five Year Road Program

ITID Traffic Calming

For those interested in the on-going discussion ITID BOS, staff and traffic engineer and County Engineer have been having regarding accidents and traffic calming on ITID roads, please see the attached memo as well as an exhibit which has maps with the most current data as presented at the December, 2018 meeting showing the distribution of accidents throughout the District.

2018-1205 bos 121218 item 16.6.1 agenda memorandum

itid memo exhibits dec 2018

Also below is the crash data and County analysis (Nov 2018) at Hall and Northlake.

2018_1105_pbc-nl_hall accident graphics

As a result of this data, recommendations from the engineer was to request a new traffic study by the County at this intersection. The County Engineer has approved doing one. The Engineer also recommended renewing the rumble strips on the north approach of Hall to Northlake. That has been completed.

In addition, our District Manager Rob Robinson recommended lane delineator posts to change the approach view and to keep cars in their lanes. The Board also requested to install LED stop signs at the location for increased visibility. These measures were all approved by the ITID BOS and will be installed in the coming months.

As always, we welcome input from the community. The ITID Board of Supervisors first priority is the safety of our roads. Safer roads also means that drivers need to pay attention while driving. We hope that the combination of the measures we are taking and the awareness we are trying to create in our community, will reduce the crashes and accidents that are occurring.

R3-How many Miles and What Roads?

There have been many questions about how many miles and what roads will be paved under the R3 Road Plan.

The total number of miles is calculated as 9.5 miles. To see the listing of streets proposed and the length, look here 2019_0107_R3 Rd Lengths

For a map showing the location of each of those roads, you can find it here H_R3 Roads_2018_1214

This will be presented at the Board of Supervisors workshop Saturday, January 12 at 9 am as well as at the public hearing meeting on Thursday, January 31st at 6 pm.

Proposed R3 Road Plan

Yesterday many of you received a notice from ITID regarding the R3 Road Plan Public Information Meeting for Thursday, January 31st at 6 pm. I want to provide a more detailed explanation to answer many of the questions or concerns I have seen to date.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not to pave all the dirt roads. If you have a complaint about your road maintenance, please put in a maintenance request.

This is simply a plan that gives us the legal mechanism to pave roads that all residents benefit from in the district, i.e. roads where there are schools, parks, ITID facilities, fire station, county facilities such as library and the back road that leads to it, and one other criteria is roads that are taking the brunt of cut through traffic off of busy County roads (Northlake, Seminole Pratt, Orange Blvd. E, Coconut Blvd., Royal Palm Beach Blvd. and SR7). Please note that many of the roads in the proposed plan, have already been paved using”other” dollars rather than tax dollars or an alternative method of millings, but were not put in a water control plan ie. 110th Avenue. In order for ITID to re-pave the road or to pave a millings road, we need to have the road in a plan for the future.

Currently, if a road is not included in a road plan such as the R1 or R2, then they are in the Unit water control plan which means that any improvements and maintenance are paid for by the residents in that unit. In order to pave a road using tax dollars, ITID must amend the unit water control plan or have a new road Plan. Since there were so many roads which shared a common theme, that is that they served schools, parks, ITID facilities and county facilities throughout the whole District, the development of the R3 Plan made sense to address the inequity of the residents in those units directly impacted burdening the cost when the benefit is to everyone. In addition, doing a major amendment or creating a new water control plan is an expensive process. It is more cost effective to do this one time rather than for every unit where a road exists. The Board and staff have drafted this Plan over the past year and were very careful to only put roads we felt were necessary to based on the specific criteria set out.

For those of you looking for the proposed R3 Plan, click here R3 Road Plan – Proposed Draft

Click here for the map which you can zoom in on

R3 Road Plan Map – Proposed

I urge residents to attend the meeting however, we understand not everyone can attend. The meeting will be livestreamed and it will be available afterward for viewing later. If you are unable to attend, you can call the District or email any or all of the board members with your questions or concerns. My email address is bargue@indiantrail.com

2019 New Board

Wednesday night at ITID began with the swearing in of our two new board members Michael Johnson and Joni Martin who were elected last month.

We then celebrated and thanked the service of two board members; Ralph Bair, who served for 18 of the past 20 years and Carol Jacobs who served for 12 years. We accomplished a lot in the 2017-2018 year. We tackled tough issues such as budget, road planning, traffic calming, negotiated an escrow agreement for 640 acres with GL Homes that will help with additional drainage and water storage, significant progress towards completion of Phase I of Acreage Community Park South expansion, a renewed focus on drainage infrastructure with the planning, budgeting and creation of an in-house culvert crew, to name only a few things.

We also presented awards to employees for years of service ranging from 5-20 years and employee of the year went to Javier, a park employee with the district for a year and a half, for his outstanding service, always going above and beyond, to the district. While I can think of several employees who have gone above and beyond this past year, Javier is the one who leads with accolades and unanimous staff support. I am proud of our employees and look forward to seeing their performance over the next year.

The new board then got down to business and received presentations on investments. We requested further information be provided to the board at the January meeting for direction. We also received a presentation report on traffic calming status.

The officers were also nominated and appointed. I am happy to serve as the president for 2019 with Jennifer Hager as vice-president, Tim Sayre as treasurer, and Michael Johnson and Joni Martin as assistant secretaries to board secretary and attorney, Mary Viator.

We have a lot to accomplish in the coming year. I look forward to working with the new board and to strategic planning continuing our commitment to improving drainage and infrastructure improvements as well as operating more efficiently and cost effectively as a District to serve our constituents.

Town Crier 2019 Board

ITID Supervisors Elect Orientation

On December 4th at 6:30 pm, at the ITID Administration building, we will have our first of several orientation workshops for the new Board members. The public is welcome to attend however, we will not have public comment. This will be a great opportunity for the public to understand what the responsibilities and authority of ITID are and how ITID functions

The purpose is to present to the new board members the foundation to serve as successful board members starting with the Florida Statutes that we are governed by, our own charter, policies for supervisors, and the Florida Sunshine Laws.

I am really looking forward to working with the new and old board members this coming year.