News

By Steve Plunkett
   
Townsfolk apparently don’t like paying the interest that comes with installment plans.
    Gulf Stream took in $3.2 million in prepayments of the special assessment for the underground utilities project by the Nov. 1 deadline, Town Manager William Thrasher said.
    “The money was coming in so quickly at times that we thought we were desperately understaffed,” Thrasher said.
    The remaining $1.8 million will be paid over the years on property tax bills. The interest rate won’t be known until February, but Thrasher has said it should be close to 4 percent.
    Among those taking advantage of the prepayment savings was the St. Andrews Club, which is mostly in Boynton Beach but has tennis courts and a wedge of land on the Gulf Stream side of State Road A1A.
    Club President Helen Burns said St. Andrews paid $27,000 to cover assessments on its three parcels. It cast all three of its votes in favor of burying the utilities, she said.
    Gulf Stream paid the share St. Andrews condo residents just north of Little Club Road would have owed if they lived in town. Those owners contributed to the $27,000 bill along with the rest of the club membership, Burns said.
    “The condo owners actually did get a bye, but the club itself did not,’’ she said.
    Engineers are now in the field, determining where they will need easements to place equipment, Thrasher said. He expects the project to go out to bid between January and March, depending on how quickly Florida Power & Light Co. provides necessary information.
    Construction to bury the electric, phone and cable TV lines will begin next spring.