Need.
need. >>
need. >> good afternoon and welcome
to a regular meeting of the
boca raton city council on
monday, september 22nd, 2025
time is 358.
Our first item of business is
our first item of business is the application I will ask
councilmembers also to deliver
please.
please.
please. >> thank you
please. >> thank you mayor.
>> thank you.
Maybe we should do this earlier
maybe we should do this earlier in the day but nonetheless
heavenly father so thank for
the chance we have to conduct
the people's business here in
this fantastic city and we pray
that as we do that we do so
with your wisdom, with humility
with your wisdom, with humility and with the heart of servants
recognizing that we are here
not to be served but to serve
as the events of the last few
weeks and months have reminded
us there are divisions in our
city, our country and our world
and we pray that those
divisions be healed through you
and we're all you can do and
all of us here and all those
listening all become
instruments of your peace.
We give you all the reason the
we give you all the reason the glory.
glory.
glory. Amen.
amen.
amen. Now
amen. Now please rise.
now please rise. Join the pledge of allegiance.
join the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the united states
of america and to the republic
for which it stands one nation
under god, indivisible with
liberty and justice for
under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
This is what these mayors here
this is what these mayors here your deputy mayor necklace here
councilmember drucker here
councilmember thompson think
over here.
over here. Councilmember wicker, you're
councilmember wicker, you're all present.
all present. Thank you, senator.
thank you, senator. I know we got a request from
the applicant to postpone to
the date certain of the 1st
november excuse me?
>> the 2nd november meeting
november 18th the items at 11
b1 b2 concerning baccarat.
Is that correct?
is that correct? That's correct.
that's correct. All right.
all right. Thank you
all right. Thank you mr. Taylor.
thank you mr. Taylor. We can do a joint motion to
we can do a joint motion to amend the agenda with that
postpone it be a council
action.
action.
action. >> all right.
Thank you, council members and
thank you, council members and all I can make a motion to
postpone to the date certain
items 11 eight and 11 b1 b2 to
november 18th excuse me.
Sorry.
sorry.
sorry. 11
sorry. 11 now that's right 11 b one
and 11 b two to november 18th
2025 and then the agenda lastly
so moved for any further
discussion.
discussion. >> all those in favor please
say I I very good well now move
to the next we've got seven
sets of minutes workshop august
25th executive session august
25th regular meeting august
26th special meeting workshop
meeting of a budget hearing the
september 8th regular meeting
of september 9th 2025 any
questions or additions hearing
that will entertain a motion to
approve all business so second
thank you.
thank you. Any further
thank you. Any further discussion then?
any further discussion then? All those are all right.
all those are all right. All right as approved we have
all right as approved we have no proclamations or
reservations nor board
appointments and I don't
believe that any responses to
version of information
requests?
requests?
requests? No thank you.
no thank you. Let's turn to the consent
let's turn to the consent agenda with any councilmember
wish to and consent agenda item
one any member of the public
wish to comment on the consent
agenda only mr. Argent is
jonathan g and 65 on college
avenue.
avenue.
avenue. So what I would like to see
so what I would like to see adjusted me or pulled is item
resolution 145 2025 that is the
one that I think everybody had
a problem with here today.
I'm not sure why the city does
it why they can't skip a week
to then have a meeting that's
not a holiday week like many
other cities do as I'm sure all
of you would rather be doing
work.
work.
work. I
work. I had to leave for a while to
go to work while these people
like to do work as opposed to
being here from 10:00 till five
6:00.
6:00.
6:00. I
6:00. I think
6:00. I think that it's important to
have city business done city
council especially at a time
that outside of normal business
hours so I would hope that
council can consider that that
for instance this week's
meeting would us on to the next
week and then pushed back
thereafter to two weeks after
that.
that.
that. >>
that. >> I think that that would be a
good adjustment to the schedule
to involve the community as
they should in the meetings
that their meetings.
>> thank you.
Anyone else on the consent
anyone else on the consent agenda?
agenda?
agenda? >> see no one can afford to
close the consent agenda.
close the consent agenda. I would suggest that anyone
moving on the consent agenda
for a resolution 145 2025 make
make it with the changes we
discussed at the workshop and
the series move in those weeks
to adjust as is to say for
those weeks in january so moved
as discussed earlier at this
c.r.a. Meeting the calendar
changes to reflect mr. Brown
discussed with the council
thank you.
thank you. >> so the second that's all
right mr. Speaker thank you.
>> any further discussion and
just mr. Head we do meetings
sometimes we also have meetings
in consecutive weeks we try to
find policies we are so this is
not it can't be perfect for
everyone because I don't want
to say one conference or at
least we had back to back was
subpar but it is at least
positive here early.
So in that case would you
so in that case would you please call the roll mrs..
Now close yes.
now close yes. Trucker yes.
trucker yes. Thompson
trucker yes. Thompson yes.
thompson yes. >> wagner yes.
Singer yes.
singer yes. Motion passes 5 to 0.
motion passes 5 to 0. We now turn to item ten and I
we now turn to item ten and I don't believe you're going to
have any further presentation
from staff on the government
campus opportunity no.
Right.
right.
right. Any public comment on
right. Any public comment on this?
any public comment on this? It is mr. Burke all
any public comment on this? It is mr. Burke all right.
it is mr. Burke all right. Historically we'd like to come
historically we'd like to come out first to go
historically we'd like to come out first to go ahead.
Thank you.
thank you. Martha parker, 64 northwest
martha parker, 64 northwest seventh street.
seventh street. The past few meetings I've come
the past few meetings I've come before you and just really
trying to give you guys some
ideas on some things that you
can do to address public trust
that really was really
destroyed by by the attempts to
give away our public land
without a public vote.
And really honestly you guys
and really honestly you guys were going to do it without the
grassroots movement.
grassroots movement. I do want to say, fran, that I
appreciate you taking the time,
taking an hour of your time to
meet with me and my neighbor
and walk through and really
and walk through and really understand how the project
would impact the lives of the
people in my neighborhood.
You know the last council
you know the last council meeting you mentioned the
inclusion of ab3 in the c 23
strategic plan.
strategic plan. Clearly the
strategic plan. Clearly the city and the
clearly the city and the council did incomplete and just
flat out terrible job on the
public outreach related to the
nature and scope of that plan.
The city staff mentioned at the
the city staff mentioned at the last meeting waiting until the
end of this process to get an
appraisal of the value of land
and if the city and the council
used in 2023 that this is what
you guys were going to pursue,
you really should have known
what the value of the land was
at the onset of negotiations
and planning.
and planning. How else can you negotiate a
how else can you negotiate a fair deal for residents is a
complete and total disregard
of your fiscal responsibilities
to the residents of our city.
And I mean to get into a
and I mean to get into a discussion on how important it
is to maintain a public land
for public use it's just I'm at
a complete loss of four words
on the complete and total
approach to this project.
Clearly our city staff are not
clearly our city staff are not equipped to negotiate a deal
of this magnitude and are
getting bad advice from
consultants and it's not the
staff's fault this is not and
should not be their job.
And I think you said it about
and I think you said it about one of your town halls our
staff please firefighters are
among the best in the nation at
providing top notch civic
services, some of which have
fallen to the wayside as our
resources are being diverted
into this project.
>> let's get our city back to
providing services and focusing
on providing services to
residents.
residents.
residents. We don't need ap3 to take care
we don't need ap3 to take care of our government campus.
We don't need to spend tens
we don't need to spend tens of millions of dollars
relocating our park services
all across our city.
We don't need to chop down
we don't need to chop down hundreds of trees and the and
we don't need to destroy a
memorial park to have a vibrant
downtown.
downtown.
downtown. I do want to address those
of you who received some
campaign contributions from
tier four to be given back.
It gives the complete
it gives the complete appearance of pay to play in
our city and it compromises the
ability for us to trust you to
have a fair and impartial
evaluation of this deal.
Give them back scott you've
give them back scott you've done so much for the schools
of our city by working with the
school district to open new
schools with limited land that
we have in our city rebuilding
elementary schools to
incorporate to increase
capacity let this important
work that you've done for
education for future
generations of of boca raton is
be your legacy.
Don't take your legacy with
don't take your legacy with unnecessary and risky
conversions of public land.
>> thank
conversions of public land. >> thank you john roman for 98
northeast street it might be in
my speech earlier I discussed
how the city council and the
mayor and the city of boca
raton is misusing this city
wide email database as they
have from the start of the year
to promote propaganda and
advertising for the developers
interests with no reference to
the mass of opposition to this
project throughout the
community and where any summary
details or recognition of the
thousands of citizens who
signed the petition that was
submitted and have come forward
any such intelligent and
important points about why this
project should be scrapped and
does not make any sense for our
community as we did at the last
meeting.
meeting.
meeting. >> we have over 70 people
coming to everybody opposed to
the project except one person
over 70 people today we had
over 40 people maybe 35, maybe
over 40 people speaking
over 40 people speaking everybody in opposition to the
project I just received an
email from the city of boca
raton at 3:18 p.m..
raton at 3:18 p.m.. It says resident advertising
it says resident advertising the two charette so the
developer and it says residents
are encouraged to sign up in
advance for one of the two
sessions due to the capacity
limitation and the strong
interests of the project and
that is incredible.
>> truly incredible what what a
misrepresentation.
misrepresentation. I mean this is to say due to
the strong opposition to the
project that's what that means
to say can you maybe you need
to send the email also they
then have a link to one
boca.com the site of the
developer which has an
electronic form with it a
prepaid letter that says that
we you know it's prepaid that
you put in your name and your
email address.
email address. It could be from anybody in the
it could be from anybody in the world that you know not nine
boca.
boca.
boca. Meanwhile we have to go out
meanwhile we have to go out onto the ground throughout the
city on the streets spending
hours sweating in the summer
heat to collect signatures in
pen on a form that has to be
notarized with people writing
full address and everything and
they have an electronic form
that anybody can can from
anywhere in the world can and
what are you going to use that
for?
for?
for? Are
for? Are you going to be accepting
are you going to be accepting these just to show that there's
support for this project and
you're directing them to one
you have the going to their
website one boca.com why don't
you have a link to see bogota.
>> org yeah let's let's let's
send out an email let's let's
send out an email and let's
start talking about the truth
of what's happening this is
propaganda why are you
advertising for them with this
citywide database the city wide
email base that's corruption.
>> let's let's let's try it out
let's let's share an email was
able to show some pictures
of what's really happening some
photos of the party room out
there with people sitting on
the floor thank you and anyone
else wishing to speak strongly
else wishing to speak strongly yeah jonathan and 65 or 1
congreso yeah so I kind of call
them with a little different
stance.
stance.
stance. I
stance. I understand where the city's
going with this.
They decided to do engage in a
they decided to do engage in a three they picked their partner
but they didn't involve the
community and that's where I
had a problem.
>> they did say at the end
of this process that there
would be a vote.
>> that's where I had a problem
.
.
. >>
. >> the
. >> the reality is the feelings
of the people I don't think
that it should be scrapped.
I think that you all and the
developer who wants to have
this project have an obligation
to the people of the city and I
think that these threats that
are coming up need to be framed
in a way that the you're not
going to win over everybody but
you need to win over a lot
of these people and how do you
do that?
do that?
do that? There
do that? There needs to be a
there needs to be a constructive discussion not
just a developer led discussion
coming up in these threats to
come up with an idea and a plan
that you can win over more and
more of the people that frankly
this council I believe didn't
want them included if they
really wanted community
involvement, if they really
wanted community engagement it
wouldn't be meetings that are
here in a silo.
>> I mean maybe maybe one
of 100 people that watch these
meetings come to these meetings
on a biweekly basis.
It's a silo that we're in here
it's a silo that we're in here and the reality is if you
really want community
engagement there would have
been yellow signs which
wouldn't have been needed
necessarily.
necessarily. You typically for a regular
you typically for a regular development but this is nothing
regular.
regular.
regular. There would have been mailers
there would have been mailers going to the people that do
live in the surrounding area
live in the surrounding area prior to the site plan approval
but that's in essence what this
was is we were working towards
a site plan, a plan that was
going to be going forward and I
don't think this council wanted
these people involved but they
really are now and if this
council wants to see something
meaningful that makes sense for
this council, the city, the
developer and most importantly
this community, these charrette
need to win these people over
and the plan needs to be
something that moves in a way
that works for the community
because that's who this is
because that's who this is about.
about.
about. Thank you.
thank you. So if you speak all right.
so if you speak all right. Thank you.
thank you.
thank you. Oh, good afternoon.
oh, good afternoon. >> my name is xander and
overnight southwest terrace
boca raton.
boca raton. >> I just have a message for
you guys.
you guys.
you guys. >> I've been knocking doors
almost every day and I have a
message because they told me
please tell the what our
username is that they arms
about you guys.
about you guys. They say please how we're
they say please how we're designed.
designed.
designed. That's not what
designed. That's not what they asked me
that's not what they asked me to sign.
to sign.
to sign. I said only to legal papers and
then they go when they sign and
everything they go how we can
get rid of them doesn't it?
How can we get rid of this
how can we get rid of this council?
council?
council? I said well the only way you
will have the vote this coming
election in march so
unfortunately and he said all
along is not you are going to
fight against you all of you
together for this may your
position right no good news you
guys all up there in the sun in
the rain I don't care but I am
out there.
out there. I am in a dilemma every single
basically week we guys and you
guys approach me you could be
this miss universe including
mr.
this miss universe including mr. Universe by the people you
gain nothing you gain only this
place people are upset with you
guys are very upset and that's
why I am.
why I am.
why I am. I don't understand why you keep
on spending our time wasting
your time wasting my money.
I can in order for me to be
sorry for the terror unfreeze
me.
me.
me. It
me. It is
me. It is rare and a grass root
it is rare and a grass root person who lives in boca raton
feeling sorry for a billionaire
company because you guys are
punishing them.
punishing them. I spoke with mr. Crazy today
even and he goes well I'm here
because we have to be here.
Why?
why?
why? Because you are pushing him to
because you are pushing him to do it.
do it.
do it. If
do it. If you come up pick up the
if you come up pick up the phone.
phone.
phone. I
phone. I say
phone. I say listen, please let us
stop this.
stop this. I'm
stop this. I'm sorry but are we going
we're going to hire you only to
build the places that no
beautiful city hall nothing is
.
.
. Please
. Please be mindful once more
please be mindful once more
please be mindful once more about your people saying mr.
Mayor yes I do.
mayor yes I do. You are here.
you are here. You are so good you are
you are so good you are excellent speaker you it isn't
me with the idea of going to
the garbage no to the recycle
bin because when you listen to
us it is not correct.
>> so mr. Novelas and mr.
Bayoumi zucker also going to
bayoumi zucker also going to offer something you guys
unfortunately the people are
not with you.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Thank you.
thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak
anyone else wishing to speak right closes I have a problem
requests for you to at least
of them as far as common by the
time of the appraisal in order
to properly appraise the
property that we will be
conveying we need to know
exactly what property we could
be conveying and he uses that
would be proposed for that
property.
property.
property. So until we actually have a
so until we actually have a fairly tied down plan it's not
reasonable to make an appraisal
right and just as you said
earlier, didn't even want to
see meeting the turf.
There's a conversation about 31
there's a conversation about 31 acres, 18 acres we're looking
at actually a lot less few
fewer acres than that but no
actually be conveyed.
>> yes.
>> yes.
>> yes. Yes.
yes.
yes. All
yes. All right.
all right. Thank you.
thank you. Any other responses to the
any other responses to the workshop information or to the
speakers?
speakers?
speakers? I think it's
speakers? I think it's comments.
>> no, I think so.
You know.
you know.
you know. All right.
all right. I will know that by the way,
the email came from the city's
interest in the project.
>> he didn't say support for
the project so people are
invited to come out regardless
interviews and we expect that
they will.
they will. >> that concludes item ten will
now turn to quasi judicial
unrelated public hearings and
I'll read title resolution 141
2025 resolution number one 4125
a resolution of the city
of boca raton considering the
approximately 0.51 acre
property generally located at
one four northwest 20th street,
it conditional use approval to
authorize approximately
authorize approximately 10,560ft2 of retail use an
10,560ft2 of retail use an existing building in the m2
general district excuse me an
end to general industrial
zoning district providing for a
buehler planning effective
date.
date.
date. >>
date. >> thank
date. >> thank you.
They were asked to review the
they were asked to review the quality control procedures that
will govern public hearing.
Sure this matter is quasi
sure this matter is quasi judicial and accordingly the
judicial and accordingly the following rules apply each
applicant requesting approval
relief or other action from the
council shall disclose at
commencement or continuous
public hearing any
public hearing any consideration payment provided
or made directly or indirectly
on behalf or agreement to
support or withhold objection
to the proposed relief action.
This afternoon a summary of the
this afternoon a summary of the procedures governing this
procedures governing this proceedings attached to the
agenda is available in the
lobby.
lobby.
lobby. An
lobby. An online
lobby. An online copy can also be
an online copy can also be obtained from the city clerk.
>> thank you.
This point last council members
this point last council members have had an expert in the
communications business
communications business starting in this part of the
world I have no expertise.
Thank you.
thank you. Thank you for supporting this
thank you for supporting this writer and I know as well.
>> so I just want to ask anyone
who wishes to see this matter
please rise with the clerk and
administer the oath.
Please raise your hand.
please raise your hand. Do you swear or affirm that any
do you swear or affirm that any testimony you made before this
public hearing will be truthful
and accurate?
and accurate? >> thank you,
and accurate? >> thank you, sir.
Thank you.
thank you. Mayor heather hanson's plan
mayor heather hanson's plan with adult services department
will make the presentation
resolution one 4125.
Yes.
yes.
yes. Thank you.
thank you. >> good afternoon.
For the record, my name is
for the record, my name is heather hansen and I have been
sworn in.
sworn in.
sworn in. The half acre property is
the half acre property is located in two general
industrial district just west
of dixie highway and four east
coast railway tracks on the
northeast corner of northwest
20th street and northwest first
20th street and northwest first avenue.
avenue.
avenue. >> the building was
avenue. >> the building was constructed
in the 1950s and is
nonconforming regarding
nonconforming regarding
nonconforming regarding setbacks and a number and
design of off street parking
spaces between the 1950s and
1978 retail with permitted use
in this district.
>> in 1978 there was a
code amendment that allowed
retail uses between 1000 and
20,000ft2 as a conditional use
in that district.
>> while there have been
various retail uses in the
building since the 50s, the
building was recently occupied
by boca raton small engines a
landscape equipment supply
business which was permitted
under a combination
of machinery and farm
implements, sales and repair
implements, sales and repair garages without a square
footage limit the applicant
requested a business license
for an auto zone store which is
when it was determined that a
conditional use approval is
required since the retail uses
more than 2000ft2 as far as
parking back then the code well
the code currently provides
that won't existing use of a
portion or all of the
structures change additional
off
structures change additional off street parking facilities
shall be provided to the extent
that off street parking
required for the new uses
exceed the street parking for
the previous use.
>> however, while the previous
use was not classified entirely
as retail in terms of use it
has been classified as retail
for the purpose of parking
since at least the mid 1980s so
the new use does not increase
the code required parking is
not required to comply with the
current code requirements for
parking but they are proposing
some improvements which I'll go
through to the existing parking
lot as well as to the
landscaping.
landscaping. So the current conditions this
so the current conditions this is an aerial view you can see
that is a barren site on a very
visible corner.
visible corner. >> there's two queen palms
along northwest 20th street
right up in here there's
asphalt driveway.
asphalt driveway. >>
asphalt driveway. >> there's some point I don't
know if they got approval for
it or what happened exactly but
there's an excellent work
driveway right here that goes
straight into where the parking
spaces are and there's pavement
and then this sort of grassy
area to the south and to the
south of that is an auto repair
facility.
facility.
facility. And then
facility. And then between the building
and then between the building and the railroad tracks there's
just
and the railroad tracks there's just gravel.
just gravel. >> so the proposed site
>> so the proposed site improvements they're going to
add more ponds and foundation
and plants along northwest
20th.
20th.
20th. >>
20th. >> so these are the existing
ones and so they're adding this
they're removing that asphalt
driveway so instead of that
driveway will be there will be
landscaping.
landscaping. They're increasing
landscaping. They're increasing the parking
they're increasing the parking spaces from 10 to 12, one
of which will be an ada
accessible space.
accessible space. >> there's an addition
of canopy trees and shrubs on
the south side so it will be
screening that auto repair
place and they're going to put
in the dumpster will go here
with a dumpster enclosure and
there will be shrubs around the
to screen and then they also
are putting a hedge all along
here several years ago there
was a very dense, tall close
year hedge on the railroad side
of the property and since then
the railroad decided to remove
it for whatever reason.
>> so now it's very visible but
they did a originally they just
proposed having a decorative
rock in there and they had a
preliminary review by the city
who recommended putting in
hedges and they agreed to do
so.
so.
so. >>
so. >> it
so. >> it staff's
so. >> it staff's opinion that
given that autozone is moving
into an existing building on a
site that basically looks the
same as it did when it was
developed in the 19 50s, the
improvements they are proposing
are significant for what is
essentially a change of use.
Let's go quickly through the
let's go quickly through the existing conditions of the
street view just very, very
quickly.
quickly.
quickly. >> so
quickly. >> so that's how it looks on
the corner there.
>> that's where that driveway
is that goes straight from the
20 20th into the parking spaces
that will be removed.
Here's what it looks like on
here's what it looks like on the northwest first avenue side
they are going to replace
there's not room to do anything
else other than parking.
The site is very small so it's
the site is very small so it's very constrained.
very constrained. They're going to put in a
they're going to put in a garage opening here for
garage opening here for deliveries and then this is
that south side that I
mentioned.
mentioned. So there will be a dumpster
so there will be a dumpster enclosure here and then trees
and shrubs along the side and
this is the site adjacent to
the railroad tracks which will
have that hedge put that will
look a lot nicer.
So the applicant meets the
so the applicant meets the code criteria for approval of a
conditional use that is
compatible with the existing
and planned development and the
character of the district is
suitable for the use the
existing building property and
infrastructure adequate for the
use and no adverse impacts are
anticipated and so the
development services department
and the planning and zoning
board recommend approval that
there are october 20th october,
there are october 20th october, august 21st meeting the
planning board discussed the
application voted six zero to
recommended approval and a
cbi's preliminary review.
They did review it and the
they did review it and the applicant was very responsive
to their recommendations and
made some adjustments to the
landscape plan so we recommend
approval of the conditional use
permit subject to the
conditions set forth.
>> thank you councilors any
>> thank you councilors any questions seen on will open up
the public hearing are you from
the applicant or if you'd like
you'd like if you'd like to
speak you can no one else
wanted to speak but no one
else.
else.
else. No
else. No one else wanted to speak.
no one else wanted to speak. But you can make a reservation
but you can make a reservation if you like.
You may not you may not want to
you may not you may not want to make a very long one based on
weekly radio address.
>> I don't have a presentation
any and if you have any
questions regarding the project
at all I'm with the design team
otherwise broken and I know or
at least that we do want to our
20 20th street.
Thank you councilors any
thank you councilors any questions?
questions? The applicant all right thank
the applicant all right thank you.
you.
you. Anyone else wishing to speak
anyone else wishing to speak and so just confirm that since
no one else spoke you all
concluded remarks you don't
want to report yourself.
He indicated that.
he indicated that. So at this point we'll close
so at this point we'll close the public hearing will
entertain a motion to adopt 141
2025 moved to move on to the
second second mr. Thompson any
further discussion and seeing
none since please wager yes
thompson yes.
thompson yes. Singer yes.
singer yes. Trucker yes.
trucker yes.
trucker yes. Necklace yes.
necklace yes. >> motion passes five votes to
zero.
zero.
zero. Thank you again.
thank you again. Item 11 b was postponed or 2nd
item 11 b was postponed or 2nd november meeting substitute
item 12 regular public hearings
please be title of ordinance
5750 ordinance number 5750 an
ordinance of the city of boca
raton relating to the general
employees pension plan
providing for a one time lump
sum payment paid for certain
retired or disabled general
employees providing for a
peeler providing an effective
date.
date.
date. >>
date. >> thank you
date. >> thank you mr..
Thank you mayor jim service r c
thank you mayor jim service r c f o w city manager will make
the presentation ordinance
number 5750 thank you mr.
Reserves.
reserves.
reserves. >> yes good afternoon mayor
section 12 dash 123 of the
code.
code.
code. The
code. The code of ordinance provides
the code of ordinance provides that a biennial review of the
retirement and disability
benefits under the general
employees pension plan be made
to determine whether such
benefits have been eroded by
increases in the cost
of living.
of living. This is done on a bi annual
this is done on a bi annual basis.
basis.
basis. Staff has reviewed the cost
staff has reviewed the cost of living increases and
determined that they have been
eroded and is recommending
recommending a one time lump
sum payment for retirees before
october 1st, 2015 of 5% and
october 1st, 2015 of 5% and before october 1st 2020 and
after october 1st 2015 of 3%
the total cost of those lump
sum payments are $490,465.
>>
sum payments are $490,465. >> the the plan as proposed
would be for the pension plan
to make those payments to the
pensions and for the city to
pay the pension plan the same
amount at the same time thus
having no net impact on the
unfunded pension liability.
And there is an actuarial
and there is an actuarial statement to that effect
included in the agenda item.
I'm available to answer any
questions.
questions. Thank you council members.
thank you council members. Any questions?
any questions? Well the public hearing last
well the public hearing last call course is a public hearing
on ordinance 5750 will
entertain a motion to adopt
entertain a motion to adopt some of that.
Any further discussion I'll
any further discussion I'll give it to mr. Rader on the
second any further discussion?
Mrs. Roll drucker yes.
mrs. Roll drucker yes.
mrs. Roll drucker yes. Waiter yes.
waiter yes. Necklace?
necklace?
necklace? Yes.
yes.
yes. Singer yes.
singer yes. Thompson
singer yes. Thompson yes.
thompson yes. >> motion passes five votes to
zero.
zero.
zero. Thank you.
thank you. Would you please read the title
would you please read the title of resolution item excuse me
resolution one 4725 as item 12
b resolution 147 2025 a
resolution of the city of boca
raton authorizing the city
manager to execute a
telecommunication rights of way
use agreement with kelsey's
cable usa inc for the purpose
of use of certain public rights
of way for the
telecommunications purposes
telecommunications purposes
telecommunications purposes providing for severability
voting for a future providing
effective date.
effective date. >> thank you
effective date. >> thank you mr. Thanks to ms.
Zack b r p w director will make
zack b r p w director will make a presentation on resolution
one 4725 thank you.
Mr. Beer yes good afternoon
mr. Beer yes good afternoon mayor and city council the
applicant sent forward an
updated right away use
agreement for the use of the
city's right away for any
existing chelsea's cables to
update their existing right
away agreement so these
contracts have been in place
and the city is moving forward
the resolution to update the
cost per linear foot and also
add an updated lease agreement
and be happy to answer any
questions.
questions. Thank you.
thank you. Council has any questions open
council has any questions open up the public hearing john
perlman for 9890 c street on
please confirm this is the same
this is the same company that's
bringing cable through spanish
river park.
river park. >> is that correct?
Actually mr. Pro and just so
actually mr. Pro and just so your state your remarks and
then yes.
then yes.
then yes. >> so this is this is the same
cable coming through.
This is the same company and
this is the same company and that they are an easement
agreement was approved at a
prior meeting to allow this
company to come through with
cable to no one knows the
methods or the mechanics of how
they install it through a
ecologically sensitive area and
very well trafficked main beach
of boca raton and that I was
approved at the prior meeting
on this company.
So mr. Shad was here at the
so mr. Shad was here at the meeting when it was approved
and questions were and also
another a woman I don't
remember her name it was and
they were making the
they were making the presentation they asked her did
did the cable have any benefit
to to the citizens of boca
raton and to remind you at a
prior meeting to that mr. Shad
recognized that the only
benefit was financial.
>> this
benefit was financial. >> this was this was two
meetings ago because this is
the third time this is coming
up.
up.
up. So
up. So she said that it did it did
so she said that it did it did happen.
happen.
happen. It did but but it you know it
it did but but it you know it came out that no, it doesn't
have any benefit.
This
have any benefit. This cable is servicing hotels
this cable is servicing hotels and infrastructure in one
of the on the islands in the
caribbean and so this cable is
not is there's no benefit
there's no service being
provided to the citizens
of boca raton.
of boca raton. Additionally mr. Shad
additionally mr. Shad recognized therefore there's no
there's no benefit to the
citizens from the
infrastructure mr. Shad
recognized the only benefit is
$2 million which they're paying
for the easement because they
need $2 million.
>> we're we're sitting on over
600 million cash.
We bring in over 500 million a
we bring in over 500 million a year.
year.
year. So
year. So now there's a second string
so now there's a second string of approvals, a second string
of rights of way to enable this
company to now come through our
streets in various portions
of the city.
But it's not benefiting the
but it's not benefiting the people other than a measly 2
million which doesn't mean that
much given how much cash
reserves we have and how much
revenue we bring in.
>> so I guess the question is
what why are you why are you
giving so so many privileges to
this company when it doesn't
have a benefit to the people
and there's no service being
provided to the people other
than this this chunk of cash
which again isn't going to make
or break us.
It's it's not it's really
it's it's not it's really pennies pennies to bulga so I
think I think there needs to be
some type of an explanation on
this about why they're allowed
to come in through the issue
that me and each and panel and
allowing them to come through
our streets throughout our city
why are we allowing this?
>> can you maybe you can ask
that anyone else wishing to
speak mr.
that anyone else wishing to speak mr. Virgin jonathan 65
one congress avenue be super
brief the only part of the last
meeting that he was referencing
I have talked about millions
of dollars to the all.
I think it's a bad thing.
I just think the timeline
should be looked at when you
close on property, when you do
things you don't get it like
four years later.
I think that the timeline
should be expedited
significantly that the city
should get these funds and not
have it be many, many, many
years later that you're
allowing this.
allowing this. >> that's the only thing I
leave.
leave.
leave. Thank you.
thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on
anyone else wishing to speak on this matter?
this matter? All right.
all right. Well, close the public hearing
well, close the public hearing about five factual inaccuracies
that I hope we can clear up.
We can set aside the opinion
we can set aside the opinion of whether $2.6 million in
payments is coca cola money or
not.
not.
not. But
not. But let's see all the facts
but let's see all the facts here first mr. Beer, it was
alleged first I think we're
talking about two different
complete rights of way.
>> so can you clarify that for
the public here we have
existing telecom wires here,
right?
right?
right? >>
right? >> sure.
>> sure.
>> sure. So historically a few decades
so historically a few decades ago the city was actually an
early adopter and work with sub
aqueous transcontinental
aqueous transcontinental telecommunications companies to
be one of the leading providers
and have the telecom company
land there.
land there. So the aqueous transcontinental
so the aqueous transcontinental cables in the united states
have over a dome so they need
or got early payments for those
landings historically and now
the time has come to restore
those existing agreements.
So an easement is over the
so an easement is over the spanish river property which is
separate and apart from the
right of use agreement.
So the city has I believe
so the city has I believe already received certain
payment for that easement I
have it's I saw an email come
through that it was wired in so
the payment has already been
remitted for the first portion
of that and are working through
the close of sale that's
related to the easement over
spanish river park.
Those have existing cables that
those have existing cables that have landed and they were
horizontally directionally
horizontally directionally drilled and had to have gone
through the army corps
permitting process.
permitting process. They have gone all the way to
they have gone all the way to the highest state.
It's my understanding that the
it's my understanding that the governor's office had to review
that subset of permits which
was why it was important to get
it on the docket for a high
level of review to make sure
that that was an appropriate
action.
action.
action. Additionally,
action. Additionally, the equipment
additionally, the equipment that was set up is likely to
not show any impact whatsoever.
So it's done through
so it's done through technically do horizontal
directional drilling where they
go several hundred thousand
feet below the surface and then
land cables and existing
switching yard that takes it
into existing conduit to two
facilities that I won't name in
the facility for facility for
security reasons those are
secure
security reasons those are secure telecommunications and
the right way agreement is the
portion that extends out
of spanish river park and then
the city right away that the
city gets an annual payment
of around $65,000 for these
cables in congress to be just
within the cities right away.
So from a public works
so from a public works perspective it's always great
to have any interim revenues
coming in for the expenditures.
We're always happy to get any
we're always happy to get any revenue of any amount to other
assertions made.
assertions made. Why don't you just clarify it?
why don't you just clarify it? Someone said no one knows how
someone said no one knows how this is done.
No one knows the technical
no one knows the technical technology on this or something
to that effect.
>> clearly it's very well
known, is it not?
Oh that's correct.
oh that's correct. It is been time tested and the
it is been time tested and the city of boca raton even to
restore the gumbo limo system
had to set up an almost
identical situation and
horizontally directional drill
out several thousand feet in
the ocean to restore the
pumping system.
pumping system. It's done almost the same and I
it's done almost the same and I assure you all environmental
permitting and ecological
considerations
permitting and ecological considerations were taken.
We actually consulted with our
we actually consulted with our coastal specialists to review
our sensitive coral systems and
also our borrow pits for our
dredging because that's an
important resource for the city
to continue to our beach
nourishment.
nourishment. The consultant
nourishment. The consultant actually
the consultant actually relocated and rerouted the
cables at the city's request.
So we have been coordinating
so we have been coordinating very closely with our
engineering team to be able to
deliver this right.
Thank you.
thank you. And I'm getting back to this
and I'm getting back to this particular resolution which
deals with our wires that are
already existing in our rights
of way and in some cases have
been there for several decades.
Would it be fair to say that
would it be fair to say that there is a benefit to the users
in the city who tap into those
lines?
lines?
lines? Yeah, I would just say from a
yeah, I would just say from a personal perspective this is
just a curiosity.
I'm a career person so I asked
celsius and it is
transcontinental that goes
through the caribbean to the
yucatan and then also
distributes to brazil.
So my family actually lives
so my family actually lives partially in brazil and the
company identified it.
If you're doing a face time in
if you're doing a face time in any one of those countries are
likely using that cable to
transmit the information back
and forth at high rates
of speed to communicate with
the people.
the people. So I would say yes, this idea
so I would say yes, this idea of over time does get a benefit
of having those cables is
something benefits in addition
to these other financial
benefits?
benefits?
benefits? That is correct.
that is correct. Any of the questions of staff
any of the questions of staff right at this point the public
hearing supposedly in a motion
to adopt resolution 147 2025 so
moved second thank you.
Any further discussion?
any further discussion? Mr. Thomson yes.
mr. Thomson yes. Singer yes.
singer yes. Waiter yes.
waiter yes. Necklace?
necklace?
necklace? Yes.
yes.
yes. Drucker yes.
drucker yes.
drucker yes. Motion passes by those two
motion passes by those two zero.
zero.
zero. Thank you will now turn to
thank you will now turn to public requests as we have no
regular public hearings or
settlements any further public
settlements any further public requests.
requests.
requests. John
requests. John polman for 98 northeast
john polman for 98 northeast eighth street.
eighth street. >> so I was at the financial
advisory board meeting with mr.
Service and he he he
service and he he he misrepresented what happened
there.
there.
there. So
there. So as you know, they only
so as you know, they only approved $125 million bond on
approved $125 million bond on there was they recognize that
there was so much cash in the
coffers of our city that they
actually started the chief
of the head person the the boss
of the financial advisory board
of the financial advisory board started to proceed with a vote
of only 100 million and he
started even lower before he
even got to 125 because he knew
that there's so much cash
around.
around.
around. You know, mr. Jervis gave that
you know, mr. Jervis gave that explanation at a prior meeting
of saying how about 677
million?
million?
million? We only had about 30 million to
we only had about 30 million to use, you know, for various
purposes.
purposes.
purposes. So he narrowed it down from 677
so he narrowed it down from 677 to 30 million of use.
>> but the financial advisory
board disagreed with with that
view of that and they started
100 it went to 125.
>> mr. Jervis said that on that
it was a split vote.
>> it wasn't it was a 4 to 3
definitive or that voted for it
125 million dollar bond that
you've overridden so you're not
taking the advice of them which
is unfortunate.
is unfortunate. I mean unfortunate because you
know, when I was at the meeting
they had such incredible
insights and they had spent
such a long amount of time to
review all the information and
to be honest part of the reason
why they wanted to start with a
lower number of bond is because
of what's happened as a result
of this government campus
of this government campus because the people may no
longer have faith in what
you're doing.
you're doing. >> so they're they're actually
they were very concerned very
worried that if you came to the
people with $175 million bonds
that day, they would turn it
down which could happen because
everyone's on alert here now
everyone's way on alert and
that's the reason why they
started lower.
started lower. They were afraid the bond was
they were afraid the bond was going to be turned out and it
could be a possibility.
>> the thing is is that when
the government campus goes to a
vote, it's it's not going to
pass.
pass.
pass. >>
pass. >> it's going to fail because
we've been on the streets like
we've collected.
we've collected.
we've collected. There's as richard warner said
there's as richard warner said and I love his speeches you
have little to no basically
little to no support for the
project.
project.
project. And when that happens on the
and when that happens on the capital fund by the way that
can be used for a police
station and in the next five
years mr. Service in his
presentation presented
years mr. Service in his presentation presented at 1.6
$1.2 billion is plan to be used
for public works and
engineering and utility
services and I mean as we know
and he'll probably deny it but
the reality is a lot of that's
going to be going towards the
infrastructure of the
infrastructure of the government campus need to
support the private buildings
of tariff so on and so forth
and when when the government
campus is turned down you're
going to be flush with cash and
you can probably even build it
on your own.
Mr.
on your own. Mr. Engine jonathan ag and 60
mr. Engine jonathan ag and 60 5a1 congress avenue so wanted
to thank the council members
that I had spoken with for the
vote quarter meeting being
vote quarter meeting being postponed I'm a fan a good
development not a bad
development not a bad development and not when it
impacts their neighbors.
>> but mr. Thompson's starting
off today and talking about the
times yesterday I spent a good
portion of my day watching
about charlie kirk which I have
a little daughter and I see
that and it hurts.
But the one thing I heard was
but the one thing I heard was restoring faith which I think
has been lost in this country a
lot but being accountable to
the people that you you
disagree with that you may not
see eye to eye with and what I
heard yesterday was charlie
kirk who has millions and
millions of followers would
leave a meeting such as this
and respond to his emails and
would respond to the people
that he disagreed with.
There are council members that
there are council members that I see up here that do that
amazingly, the mayor responded
to me last night and listen, it
was great that it got postponed
but there are council members
that I didn't hear from that I
did reach out to a number
of times for calls that I two
emails that I think would
surprise some of the people in
the city and I'm not going to
mention a name at this time but
I think that being responsive
to your constituents in a town
of 100,000 people that there's
a very, very few amount
of those people that do really,
really want your ear on
something that they feel
impacts them that they want to
speak to you.
And I think it's important that
and I think it's important that you take this office or any
other office that you have to
be responsive to your
be responsive to your constituents and there are a
number of you like I said that
that did do this that I that
did ask for staff and to be
involved and to have
conversations and I think
that's critical.
that's critical. And then the last point that I
and then the last point that I want to make is you do have
people that are for smart
development that are not
against anything that you want
to necessarily do there that
may say there's a lot of this
part of town that you're going
to leave here at rush hour.
Take a look at the traffic at
take a look at the traffic at the worst part of the day that
it makes sense for development
that we continue to not do.
But if you do want a successful
but if you do want a successful government candidate, if you
think there is any hope and I
have to agree with mr. Coleman
that what I see is not great
for this thing passing you need
to use voices in the city that
aren't necessarily council that
have lost the trust of the
people.
people.
people. The developer is never going to
the developer is never going to have the trust of the people
and you need to use the voice
of the people that could maybe
find something that may work
for the people because that's
the most important.
Thank you.
thank you. Anyone else?
anyone else? All right.
all right. We'll close the time for open
we'll close the time for open requests.
requests.
requests. >> mr. Brown.
Yes, mr.
>> mr. Brown. Yes, mr. Service, I would could
yes, mr. Service, I would could you please respond?
I know we again we get a
different opinions but I'd
rather get the facts.
Mr. Service, please sir.
mr. Service, please sir. Thank you, mayor on a couple
thank you, mayor on a couple just a couple of points
regarding mr. Berman statements
,so are the city's five year
capital improvement plan is
1.26 billion?
1.26 billion? That is correct.
that is correct. That is not just utilities and
that is not just utilities and public works and engineering.
That is the entirety of the
that is the entirety of the city's five year capital
projects and that is not just
money that we have that is
money from future sources
money from future sources grants, water revenues any any
sources.
sources.
sources. So that's that's
sources. So that's that's the totality
so that's that's the totality of the city's five year capital
improvement program.
improvement program. There's no
improvement program. There's no project on there
there's no project on there that funds anything related to
the downtown redevelopment plan
from territories me so that
plan is publicly available.
It's on our website.
it's on our website. It will be discussed it's being
it will be discussed it's being discussed in public.
It will be discussed again on
it will be discussed again on thursday if there's any project
on there that anyone has a
question about I'm happy to
answer that but nothing nothing
in that plan relates to the
territories b development
proposal.
proposal.
proposal. >> thank you.
And mr. Service, there were
and mr. Service, there were also some comments about quote
the boss and quote of the board
I think mr. The gentleman was
speaking about the chair of the
volunteer or financial advisory
board.
board.
board. >>
board. >> could you just again recap
what you said earlier?
Yeah, that's that's mr. Grout
yeah, that's that's mr. Grout the chair of the financial
advisory board.
advisory board. He did make a motion at $100
he did make a motion at $100 million to make a
million to make a recommendation a $100 million
bond issue that died for a lack
of a second.
A subsequent member made a
a subsequent member made a motion at $125 million and that
ended up passing on a 4 to 3
vote.
vote.
vote. So
vote. So it was a split vote as I
so it was a split vote as I mentioned earlier.
mentioned earlier. And the three dissenting votes
and the three dissenting votes had an opinion that a higher
bond amount was more
appropriate for the project and
so in mr. Was he one of the 4
or 1 of the three?
He was one of the four.
he was one of the four. He's second of the motion so he
he's second of the motion so he was at least 125 and the other
three indicated they would have
gone higher.
gone higher. Correct.
correct.
correct. Thank you.
thank you. All right.
all right. >> I think that because of that
we have no introduction
of ordinances we no quasi
judicial public hearings for
variances and appeals.
So attorneys city manager
so attorneys city manager reports and light of the hour
no report.
no report. >> thank you.
City reports no report.
city reports no report. Thank you.
thank you. Council members, any reports
council members, any reports of mr. Reader?
If you'll just be a quick thank
if you'll just be a quick thank you I'll go very fast to
there's been a long time.
>> I'm going to put it up oh we
got it okay well I to talk
about all of them but I just
want to before you go I know
some some people have a hard
stop.
stop.
stop. >>
stop. >> how long is your
presentation?
presentation? Roughly three minutes.
roughly three minutes. Okay.
okay.
okay. Tommy,
okay. Tommy, you run across anyone
tommy, you run across anyone else of a report we just ask we
all right.
all right. >> moderator thank you.
The only thing I'll talk about
the only thing I'll talk about is the way it construction
ordinance.
ordinance. I brought this up before we've
done research on this.
I've had my interns do research
on this.
on this.
on this. There are some significantly
there are some significantly delayed construction projects
in this city that can cause
structural mine safety risks
risk should be mitigated.
I won't go through them all but
there's structural hazards
water intrusion hazards, fire
inspection hazards, life safety
code hazards.
code hazards. Anyway, there's
code hazards. Anyway, there's some delayed
anyway, there's some delayed high rise projects for years
that have a at risk
of structural degradation mold
infestation fireproofing
infestation fireproofing waterproofing public safety
dangers, eventual non
code
dangers, eventual non code compliance in many cases
engineers should be doing a
forensic structural assessment
forensic structural assessment before this work can resume.
But I'm seeking consensus here
but I'm seeking consensus here in advance for before is
proceed that staff should
proceed with an ordinance that
requires an enhanced inspection
and compliance of significantly
delayed projects.
delayed projects. We don't need to go into this
we don't need to go into this today.
today.
today. We
today. We could bring it up for
we could bring it up for another workshop but I'd like
to see support and yes, it's a
long meeting but we do have
lots of other things as we do
in every meeting that we need
to get done and one of them is
projects that don't get
completed after they're
started.
started.
started. Okay.
okay.
okay. And
okay. And now you could potentially
and now you could potentially be a lifesaver risk.
So the idea is the intent
so the idea is the intent of this ordinance is to ensure
that construction sites that
remain inactive were exposed to
the elements for extended
periods of time are subject to
enhanced inspection remediation
and compliance measures before
the work resumes.
Work for the project
work for the project significantly delayed the other
things we could talk about
later but but but I really am
imploring my colleagues to get
some consensus here that staff
should be working on this.
It's not a complicated do
it's not a complicated do ordinance.
ordinance. I can draft it myself but it's
something that we should be
working on because there are
some projects here that are
open to the elements especially
after the rain that we've had
just these past several weeks.
It's a great concern of mine
it's a great concern of mine that these projects are not yet
writing and they could be at
risk upon completion and
there's nothing yet as my
understanding there's nothing
in our code which which details
it.
it.
it. So
it. So anyway those are my thoughts
so anyway those are my thoughts and I'm sorry such a late hour.
That's right.
that's right. Don't be sorry you you're
don't be sorry you you're there.
there.
there. We'll take whatever time.
we'll take whatever time. >> just wanted to ask in terms
of others mr. Brown staff is
evaluating the issue that mr.
Wheeler is identified and will
wheeler is identified and will be coming forward with the
recommendation.
recommendation. >> all right.
Thank you.
thank you. Thank you.
thank you. Appreciate it.
appreciate it. Start to be really quick 60s I
start to be really quick 60s I wanted to give an update on
trial we had an update from our
s c f rta chair marcy woodworth
who's also a commissioner for
district for the county and
their lobbyist has sent a
letter to the governor's office
to reinstate and to the speaker
of the house after you see the
asset part of the tribune which
is about $27 million and we're
still working through the gap
and that is going to be
addressed during the overall
legislature today the property
tax select committee was
meeting.
meeting.
meeting. We have two representatives
we have two representatives from our area gazette simon and
rob kelly skidmore are on
there.
there.
there. The meeting I think was until
the meeting I think was until four and it there's a little
bit of a meeting tomorrow
morning or the next day.
Lastly I mentioned earlier the
lastly I mentioned earlier the county wide transportation
master plan you can visit ww
dot pdc move.com to give your
opinion there's 3 or 4 surveys
from different angles whether
you're a resident, a user, a
business or a visitor.
So if you want to take off or
so if you want to take off or you can add a laugh or at least
I want to congratulate my peers
on and on a positive mr. Wagner
and it's not for me selected to
again for the league of city
policy committees we're having
policy committees we're having their thursday after budget
their thursday after budget thursday night after budget to
have our first meetings on
friday and start getting ready
for our legislative session.
Of course ciara is will be
of course ciara is will be discussed and out of law on
taxes so again thank you very
much and I just want to give
those couple of feedback and if
you're celebrating the holiday
like some of us are listening
so happy and three happy new
year.
year.
year. Be
year. Be safe out there.
be safe out there. Thank you.
thank you. Thank you, ms. Drucker and also
thank you, ms. Drucker and also congratulations and thank you
to as well who's been
reappointed to another
committees of schools.
>> very quickly I just wanted
>> very quickly I just wanted to thank everyone who who came
out today.
out today. I spent
out today. I spent a lot of time in the
last couple of weeks since the
last meeting meeting with
people, speaking with people
emailing, calling and I really
mean it if I had more calls to
make today when I go home or
meetings this week with people
you want to be heard you want
more than three minutes.
I have been sitting with some
people for hours so please let
me know reach out.
I'm completely open to meeting
with you and hearing your
input.
input.
input. I
input. I just also wanted to say we
were at the police department's
celebration of their 100 year
anniversary also this great
celebration at the alison and
thank you to the police
foundation edison for putting
that on and celebrating all the
good work that our police
department has done for 100
years.
years.
years. >>
years. >> thank you mr. Nelson norbert
thank you again, as I said
multiple times we appreciate
that we all come out as
business equals just said you
do not only have to come to
city council meeting in fact
I've seen a lot of people in
the last few months where who
have not emailed or not reached
out and please we encourage you
to do so.
to do so.
to do so. We understand it takes time to
we understand it takes time to be here and we are about to
respond in comments as well our
development partner on this so
please sign up for those
upcoming shuras and on all
issues whether it's the
downtown or otherwise you try
our best of be responsive and
accountable for celebrating the
new year like our family is a
happy healthy one and happiness
and healthy everyone in our
city