By Dan Moffett
Briny Breezes Town Council members are exploring the possibility of expanding their control over a roadway that could be critical to a proposed residential development nearby.
Town Manager Dale Sugerman told the council during its meeting on Sept. 27 that, based on his conversations with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office, the town actually owns only the northern 30 feet of the 45-foot-wide Briny Breezes Boulevard right of way.
Sugerman says the county still maintains ownership of the 15 feet that make up the south side of the street.
The boulevard has gained importance in recent months as a main access road to Gulf Stream Views, a proposed development that would build 14 luxury three-bedroom townhouses on about 2 acres of unincorporated land.
Sugerman said the county might be willing to convey ownership of the 15 feet to Briny Breezes. Though the town would have to take over maintenance of the additional section, Briny Breezes would gain more leverage in regulating the road’s use.
“I would rather control the roadway,” Sugerman said, and the council agreed.
Council President Sue Thaler told the manager to talk to county officials about turning over their part of the road to Briny. Sugerman said that if the county agrees, it could take months for a transfer to take place. Construction on Gulf Stream Views is expected to begin soon. Sugerman said the developers are still working on getting all their building permits from the county.
In other business:
• Sugerman said he is continuing negotiations with Boynton Beach Utilities on getting the town lower water rates. But it’s growing more complicated.
Boynton officials said, after an inspection of Briny’s layout, that it isn’t possible to install individual water meters for each unit — a change that would have promoted conservation and allowed residents to pay according to their levels of consumption.
“There is no room physically to do it,” Sugerman said. “It just won’t work.”
Sugerman said Boynton Beach wants to change the contractual relationships with all the municipalities it serves, not just Briny Breezes. Because meters are not feasible, the utility wants to continue selling the town water in bulk distribution but offer Brinyites the in-city rates that Boynton users pay. However, utility officials are proposing to charge the town bulk in-city rates for 488 users, instead of the current out-of-city rates for 351 users.
“Bottom line is our rates will be changing in the near future,” Sugerman said. “But what I still don’t know is whether our water and sewer bills will be going up, or going down based on the proposed changes in the rates.”
• The council gave unanimous approval to a final tax rate of $10 per $1,000 of assessed taxable property value, the statutory maximum that has been in place for the last decade.
Property values in Briny rose about 10.3 percent during the last year, from $44.9 million to $49.5 million, appreciation that should bring the town roughly $30,000 more in tax revenue.
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