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Town of Ocean Ridge |
Town Hall: |
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Town Hall Building & Zoning Police Department
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Memorandum Date: May 3, 2007 To: Mayor & Commissioners
From: Kenneth Schenck, Town Manager Re: Town Update – May, 2007 _________________________________________________________________________________
I am providing you with brief updates on some of the Town’s continuing projects and events. Stormwater Drainage Project - South Phase – On April 18, 2005 Chaz Equipment Company, Inc. (Chaz) was given the notice to proceed to start work on the South Phase of the stormwater drainage project. At the January 8, 2007 Town Commission Meeting a change order in the amount $61,250 was approved for Chaz Equipment Company for the installation of the control panel to the south property line of the Turtle Beach Condo. The remaining items that were to be completed included the installation of the pumps and control panel for the Tropical Drive pump station. At this time the pump manufacturer FPI, Inc. has installed the pumps on Tropical Drive and C.R. Dunn, Inc. has installed the control panel at Turtle Beach. We are waiting for the installation of the electric meter by Florida Power and Light and the completion of the wiring by C.R. Dunn, Inc. The pump station should be operational by the middle of May. We have purchased a portable generator to operate the Tropical Drive pump station in case of a power failure. The Town Commission had previously authorized $35,000 for the purchase of the generator. This amount would have provided a 50KW generator which would have run the 40hp pump. We were able to secure a 135KW generator for $41,250. This generator will run the 100hp pump which will empty the Tropical Drive wet well 3 times faster. As this generator provides a much higher level of safety for the severe storms and there was only one in stock, we felt it was prudent to purchase the larger unit. The final walkthrough of the Woolbright Road pump station will be done this month. The entire drainage system should be complete and operational by the end of May.
Woolbright Detention Area Landscaping – Mark Tomberg Irrigation and Landscaping, Inc. (Tomberg) has completed all of the installation of the landscaping, irrigation and fencing for the Woolbright Road detention area. They have started the regular maintenance of the site during the establishment period of the plant material and are providing a one (1) year warranty for the plant material. Tomberg has completed the replacement of some of the pink muhly grass that had died. The dead palms that were put in by Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful have been replaced. The Town has hired the firm of Aquagenix to plant aquatic vegetation throughout the bottom of the detention area. Aquagenix has planted about half of the plants and they have removed the Algae from the bottom of the area prior to planting. They have turned down the rest of the plants from the nursery because they felt the drought had affected their quality and will finish the planting as soon as they can obtain good quality plants. Because of the drought, it is not a good idea to finish the plantings until we start getting some rain. Once the plants are established they can withstand a drought but as initial plantings it is difficult for them. When the rains start again the planting will be completed. The dedication memorial rock has been delivered and is on the site at the corner of A1A and Woolbright Road.
Temporary Relocation – At the July 25, 2006 Budget Meeting the approval was given for the staff to start preparations for the construction of the new Town Municipal Building. The Town Hall and Police Department will be relocating to two (2) portable buildings for the duration of the construction of the new building. The two (2) portable buildings were delivered, located and installed on the north side of the garage at the end of December. The parking lot and road to provide access to the portable buildings directly from A-1-A have been completed. Florida Power and Light has installed the feed for the power at the bottom of the power pole and the electric meter. The Town’s electrical contractor was responsible for the installation of the underground electric service feed from the power pole to the garage. The electrical contractor is in the process of finishing all of the electrical work in the portables and the garage. Bell South has completed the installation of the cable for the telephone lines. The wiring for the computers, telephones and cable TV is almost completed. The wiring of the radios and all of the electrical equipment in the Communications Center needs to be completed. The portables are in the process of being cleaned to make them ready to be occupied. The May Town Commission Meeting will be located in the portable building. The Town Clerk’s and Town Manager’s Offices will be relocating in the next two (2) weeks. The Police Department will be relocating in a couple of weeks after that. The temporary relocation should be completed by the beginning of June.
The Town advertised and received ten (10) submittals of general contractors with their qualifications to pre-qualify them for submitting bids for the construction of the new building. Seven (7) of the ten (10) general contractors had been qualified and selected to bid on the construction. Two (2) contractors have dropped out but we still expected to receive five (5) bids. The bid packages were available on March 6th for them to submit bids for the construction. Bids were due on March 29th but the time was extended to April 19th to enable the contractor to come up with the best cost. We received bids from three (3) contractors. The low bidder is BSA Corporation at $4,151,000. The approval of their contract will be on the agenda. We have met with the Bank of America and they agreed to see how the bids are before concluding the loan. We’ve received word from FEMA that they have started the paperwork on our grant. The amount we expect is $372,789. We also have grant applications submitted to the State and Federal governments for $1,000,000 each. I don’t know what our chances are as it depends on the appropriation budgets.
Hurricane Funding – On January 12, 2007 President Bush approved an increase in the Federal Share for disaster funding for Hurricane Wilma from 75% to 90%. The State provides one-half (1/2) of what the federal share does not pay. Therefore the new cost shares will be 90% Federal and 5% State so a net increase of 7.5% will be received by the Town for disaster funding for Hurricane Wilma. On April 1, 2007 the Town received a check in the amount of $13,205.46 from FEMA for the increase of 7.5% for disaster relief funding for Hurricane Wilma. The total amount that the Town has received from FEMA for Hurricane Wilma is $232,016.73.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
May 7: Town Commission Meeting – 6:00 pm
June 4: Town Commission Meeting – 6:00 pm
June 5: Code Enforcement – 10:00 am
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