As hoped in the March Newsletter, April brought much-needed showers. The Town is "greening up," bushes are growing, and soon, summer will be here. As the weather changes, our northern residents are slowly migrating to the northland, and the street traffic is starting to thin out.  

However, here in Town Hall, things are not slowing down. As you read, you will see that the pace of events is not slowing down even a little bit. We are busier than ever.  In the Building Department, things are hopping; we have four new houses either under construction or about to begin construction, along with a steady stream of smaller projects. Public Works Department is now back in full force. They are busy with various maintenance projects, such as street light repair, cleaning up the Inlet Park from the last storm event, keeping up with events in the Community Center, and monitoring all the infrastructure projects underway in Town.  

Amidst all this, we are now dealing with two lawsuits: the first dealing with the Inlet Park, specifically, ownership and use of the land at the western end of the Inlet Walkway. The other case was just served on the Town. It stems from the denial by both the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) and the Town Commission of a Special Exception request by Dish Wireless and Mayan Towers to place new 5G telecommunication antennas on the Mayan Tower's roof. Three days following the Commission vote (on Monday, April 24th), the Town was served with a Civil Action Law Suit by Dish, filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida. 

And sadly, Thursday (April 27th) was Wendy Wells' last day serving as the Town Accountant/Treasurer and, for the previous three years Town Administrator. Wendy was with the Town for 18 years. This is a great loss for the Town. She was more than a very skilled professional; she was a friend and valued associate for all who have worked in Town Hall. However, it is said that all good things come to an end; and no one is irreplaceable. With this in mind, Darlene Hopper has assumed the position of Town Treasurer. Darlene was born in Canada but is a naturalized U.S. citizen. She lives in Palm Beach Gardens and is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada and a Certified Public Accountant in Florida. She has all the skills needed to serve the Town well. Fortunately, she had the opportunity to overlap with Wendy for two weeks, so she will hit the ground running when she takes over on Monday.

Turning to other Town business, the April Commission meeting dealt with the following items.

• The first two and half hours were consumed by dealing with the Special Exception discussed above. Seventy-five residents were in attendance, and 40 more joined by video.  Public comment consumed two hours and 22 minutes. The commentary was emotional, passionate, and unanimously against approval of the Special Exception.
•  A vote to approve an agreement with the County to handle certain maintenance on town fire vehicles.
• A vote to modify the landscaping contract with Foliage Concept. The price of their service has been reduced pending the final outcome of the Inlet Park lawsuit. (The cost of maintaining the park was included in the new contract. This work has been suspended pending the outcome of the suit).
• The Commission approved the appointment of Darlene Hopper as the Town Treasurer and to handle some administrative business concerning the authority to sign checks.

And that is a wrap for the Commission meeting.  The following is a rundown on the status of the various infrastructure project underway:

• AT&T's final planning is underway to remove ALL remaining wires from the north half of Town. Once this is done, we will contact FPL and see if they will remove the town poles in two phases. Progress on bringing fiber service to the Condos on the south end of Town is slow. Each building requires an individual conversion plan. Most of the individual homes are converted. We will keep plugging away at the process. Another sales event will be held on Wednesday, May 10^th, on the 2^nd floor of the Community Center from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
• Watermain Project: As you all know, this project is at a standstill. However, on April 19th, the RB Council approved the final funding necessary to complete the project. The contractor is awaiting payment before recommencing work. Hopefully, they will start sometime next week, but the restart could be delayed another week. The new completion date is the end of August.
• Road Paving: Ninety percent completed plans and cost estimates will be finished in the next ten days. With these in hand, the final plan adjustments will be made, and we will begin the contractor selection process. At this point, the target date for actual paving is in the early part of September. Of course, this is dependent on the completion of the water main project. Stay tuned.
• Dredging Project: Nothing to report at this time. Tune in to the Mays Newsletter.

And the month of April is in the book!

OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:

COMMUNITY RISK REDUCTION:

The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane season is rapidly approaching. The season runs from June 1 through November 30, 2023. Forecasters are predicting between 11 and 15 named storms this year, with up to half reaching hurricane strength. We know that these forecasts are predictably unpredictable. Nevertheless, it’s a good time to dust off the hurricane preparation checklist and get a head start on the season. A helpful guide can be viewed at https://discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/PDF/Hurricane-Guide.pdf

FIRE DEPARTMENT: 

• Thank you to all those who came out to support the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  Special thanks to Elizabeth Keuchenmeister and the entire committee for a job well done! We could not have enjoyed such a successful event without the support and generosity of our business community and community organizations. The Sailfish Marina and Resort, Marriott Ocean Pointe, The Islander, and Singer Island Rotary, among others, made the parade and celebration a memorable event for all.  

Professional Development:

• PBSFD Shift Commanders attended an Officer Development Program sponsored by the West Palm Beach Fire Department. Topics of this program included: Goal Setting, Roles and Responsibilities, Developing Expectations, Accountability, Fundamentals of Leadership, Decision Making, Managing Company-level Conflict, Effective Communications, Delivering Company-level Training, Team Building, Mental Wellness, and Strategy and Tactics for initial incident scene operations. The PBSFD Shift Commanders are the Officer in Charge for their respective shifts and guide the daily operations of their crews. Thank you to the West Palm Beach Fire Department for providing this free-of-charge professional development opportunity to our personnel. Three PBSFD members also attended a Firefighting & Leadership Conference in Indian River County to hone emergency scene strategies and tactical decision-making skills.

EMS Transport Services:

• The Town is coming down the home stretch in negotiations with the City of Riviera Beach to renew the EMS (Ambulance) Transport service agreement. Once the final few details are resolved, the proposed contract will be forwarded to the respective municipal bodies for approval.  

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt. We (hid) 4 thousand eggs on the parkway. As always, it is a combined effort that makes it work. Rotary and Seasiders were the cooks and servers for the 300 Hamburgers, 250 Hot dogs, 250 Ice creams, bottled water, and soda provided by the Sailfish Marina, and the POA helped hide the eggs.

The Town rented the bounce house. Sheriff Bradshaw purchased the four thousand eggs and provided the Therapy dogs and the 8 (eight) deputies to assist. The Fire Department provided their bay to eat at and assisted us through the event. The Public Works Department was there throughout the day for set up and break down, and Town Hall helped get the message out. Easter Bunny was a hit; it took two people to do the job. It was a sweltering day.

The suspects opening unlocked car doors and taking rods and reels from boats were identified and arrested, and they gave a full confession. One person had an outstanding warrant that he fled from in Arizona involving the same crimes. After stopping at area pawn shops, our deputy was able to return many of the stolen items to the owners. These two subjects also opened unlocked car doors in the Town of Lake Park. Unfortunately, the following week, (2) two more suspects took their place. We have video from our cameras and ring cameras belonging to our residents in the area opening unlocked car doors. We believed we had located him using the helicopter but could not find him. Hopefully, all that activity will move him on, but we are actively seeking the subject.

An inebriated individual brandished a firearm at a group of fishermen near the pump house. The individual was arrested. Also, another involved individual was arrested as he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Please remember to lock your car doors. Very rarely will they break a window. It's always open doors they are looking for. 

If you are going away for the summer, please give us a call and let us know so we can put you on the closed-house list. Mary is here Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Here when you need us, Thanks, Steve Langevin

TOWN HALL MEETINGS - 2023

(Visit our Town of Palm Beach Shores Website and connect to our virtual meetings.

DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING

NO DRC



COMMISSION WORKSHOP/BOARD MEETING

MAY 8, 2023 @ 7:00 P.M.

MAY 22, 2023 @ 7:00 P.M.

PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING

MAY 24, 2023 @ 6:30 P.M.

2022-2023

Beach Parking Passes are available for purchase in Town Hall. Parking Passes expires on June 30th

Read more

Click Here To Read The Schedule

The Bookmobile is Available!

Obtain a Library Card with proof of local address and check o ut Library materials

Environmental Committee News

Coming soon! New customized aluminum plant identification tags with the colorful town logo.

The committee and the Department of Public Works is collaborating on this project that includes a town tree inventory, pertinent information for each tag, and tag placement.

Thank you to the residents that participated in the Earth Day Beach Clean Up!

We sponsored a beautiful Arbor Day ceremony March 31. Visit the photo gallery. Arbor Day Photos.

In addition, we received our Tree City USA certification. This is our 20^th year!

Town beautification continues.  This was a recent garden party on the parkway.

Upcoming events

• Garden Party- Thursday May 11, 9:00, meet at the Bravado Lane butterfly garden
• EC Meeting- Friday, May 19, 9:00 meet at the Town Hall