05-23-57SpMtg MAY 23rd, 1957
A Special meeting of the City Co,mcil was held in 'the Co~mcil
Chambers at the City Hall at 11:00 A. M., with Mayor ~arren in the
Chair, City Manager W. E. Lawson Jr., City Attorney Harry T. Newett
and Commissioners Dugal G. Cam.~bell and Catherine E. Strong.
City Manager Lawson read an item which apneared in the morning
edition of the Palm Beach Times concerning two Bills, presented to the
Legislature, by the to~l of Ocean Ridge, relating to said Ocean Hidge
expressing desire for annexation of Lot 14, Block "A"· Palm Beach Shore
Acres· Which tract of land is owned by the City of Delray Beach· This
action auueared to be designed 4o nrevent the ~me of said land as a
>hmicipal Beach by the City of l)elray Beach, though said land has been
used by the City of Delray Beach as a municipal bathing beach for its
citizens since acquisition of the property more than three years ago.
Mayor Warren read a prepared telegram, shown below, and Commis-
sioner Campbell moved that same be dispatched to Senator F. O. Dickinson
Jr., and Representatives Emmett S. Roberts and Ralph J. Blank, Jr.
"The City Commission of Delray Beach, Florida,
unanimously opposes the two bills relating to
annexation of lands ovmed by Delray Beach, by
the town of Ocean Ridge. l]mse bills are de-
signed to sto~ use of the Municipal beach in
this area which has been provided by Delray
Beach for its citizens since 1954 and is now
in daily use. The future of our economy may
well depend upon how you vote on this issue.
We strongly urge you to oppose the two bills."
/si
Mayor
Motion was seconded by Commissioner Strong and unanimously carried.
Commissioner Campbell then moved that the following telegram be
forwarded to the llonorable LeRoy Collins· Governor of the State of
Florida:
"We call to your attention two pending bills re-
lating to annexation of lands owned by Delray
Beach, by the town of Ocean Ridge. These bills
are designed to stoo use of the M,micipal beach
in this area which has been provided by Delray
Beach for its citizens since 1954 and is now in
daily use. If passed these bills could wreck the
economy of Delray Beach. Our Negro citizens have
indicated this is the beach they wish to continue
to use. The City of Delray Beach urges you to veto
these bills if they are Uassed by the Legislature."
/s/
Mayor
Motion was seconded by Commissioner Strong and unanimously carried·
The City Attorney read Resolution No. 1050, which he had been
requested to prepare:
RESOLUTION NO. 1050.
A RESOLUTION OF TIlE CITY COUNCIL OF TIlE CITY
OF DELRAY BEACI[· FLORIDA OPPOSING TIlE ANNEX-
ATION BY Tit~ TOWN OF OCE~YN RIDGE, FLORIDA OF
L&NDS OWNS~D BY Tile CITY OF DELi{AY BEACH.
WHERFAS, the City of Delray Beach, Florida is the owner of 100
feet of ocean frontage Droserty located in Palm Beach County in the
vicinity of the Town of Ocean Ridge, Florida., and described as Lot
14, Block "A" Palm Beach Shore Acres, as in Plat Book 7, Page 15
· ·
154
~Y 23rd, 1957.
WHEREAS, the City of Delray Beach has owned said property at
all times since January 27, 1954, and said pronerty is now and has
been used by the citizens of Delray Beach, Florida as an additional
bathing beach for the residents of the City of Delray Beach; and
WIIEREAS, it l~s been re~orted by the news wire services that a
bill has been introduced in the Legislature of the State of Florida
to authorize the Town of Ocean Ridge, Florida to annex said property
within the corporate limits o£ said Town.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City
of Delray Beach, Florida:
SECTION 1. That the City Council of the City of Delray Beach,
Florida unanimously ovposes the enactment of any bill by the Legis-
lature of the State of Florida authorizing enactment by any municipal-
ity in Palm Beach County, Florida of the aforesaid property o~led by
the City of Delray Beach in the vicinity of the Town of Ocean Ridge
and now being used by the City of Delray Beach as a recreation area
for its citizens.
SECTION 2. That a copy of this resolution be furnished to
Governor LeRoy Collins, Senator F. 0. Dickinson, Jr., Representatives
Emmett S. Roberts and Ralph J. Blank, Jr., The County Zoning Board,
The County Commission, and the newspapers.
ADOPTED AND PASSED in Special Session this 23rd day of May,
1957.
/S/ George V. Warren
MAYOR
(StoL)
AT TEST:
...... /S/ R. D. Worthing City Clerk
Commissioner Campbell moved for adoption of Resolution no. 1050,
as read. Motion seconded by Commissioner Strong and unanimously carried.
Commissioner Campbell informed the Commission of having conferred
with Mr. Charles A. Crane, Chairman of the Financial Advisory Board,
concerning matters pertaining to possible re-financing and further bond
issue, and further stated that a meeting has been scheduled for Monday,
May 27th, to be attended by the Financial Advisory Board, Mr. C. T. Mc-
Creedy of Miami, and Commissioners Campbell and Strong, for the vurpose
of discussion relative to various methods providing funds for mm~icipal .-
improvements such as a possible re-financing program as well as deter-
mining if additional revenue certificate issues may be found possible,
and to further consider the advisability of disposing of certain city
owned land to achieve financial need.
City Manager Lawson then read a letter, just received, from B.J.
Van Ingen & Co., Inc., pertaining to recent conversation with this Bond
and Investment house and partidularly with Mr. Fred B. Clark, of the
YanIngen Co., with whom the Commission is familiar, concerning the
financial structure of the City of Delray Beach; Letter follows -
"May 21, 1957
Mr. William E. Lawson,
City Manager
City Hall
Delray Beach, Florida
Dear Bill:
>L~Y 23rd, 1957.
In reference to our conversation of last Thursday, pertaining
to the financing of various improvements for your city, we would
like to suggest the following ideas:
Inasmuch as you Currently have an improvement fund, in the amount
of aonroximately $50,000 and feel that you would need an addition-
al $150,000 to make a good start on these improvements, we have
given the means of raising the additional money considerable thou-
ght.
Since we were the p,~rehaser of your $110,000 Special Franchise
Tax Revenue Certificates of 1955, we would like to suggest a
second lien franchise tax issue as the means of accomplishing
this financing. We feel sure that an issae of this type would
be saleable and could he sold to the advantage oC tile City with-
out the problem of tying up other sources of income that may be
required for financing in other areas at a later date.
Your franchise with the Florida Power and Light Company expires
March 7, 1967, we understand, so ~onsequently the length of life
of this issue wo,~ld have to he within a nine year period. The
Florida Power ~nd Light Company furnished us with the amount of
y~ur 1957 Franchise Tax payment of $36,361.72, which would cover
the Debt Service of $13,640.00 on the outstanding certificates
and aD~roximately $20,000 per year, which would be required to
pay off this additional $150~000. However, the coverage would
be rather thin and it might be necessary to find some means of
using a portion of the lien money lhat would be coming in, ~s
ad.]itional security, to make the bonds attractive to a buyer.
The issue could be set un using two different approaches, inso-
far as repayment of the Debt is concerned. You would have to
determine which method would best suit your proposes and your
budget.
(1) We suggest that the Franchise Tax in its'
entirety be used for the payment of these
bonds, with all of the long maturities being
called as ra~idly as possible by using revenues
in excess of Debt Service requirements for this
purpose.
The present rate of growth of your Franchise f~x income indicates
that you could have all of the bonds paid off by 1963. Using this
method of paying Debt Service with the Franchise Tax money wo,~ld
mean, as your assessment monies came in you could retain them to
be used for additional work in other areas and consequently, over
a neriod of years have an imnrovement revolving f~md, in the a-
mount of $200,000. Of course, this assumes your assessments would
be 100~ against the abuting pro.nerties, and if your assessment
liens were levied for ~ayment in a three year ~eriod, our experi-
ence has been that 50 to 75~ are paid the first year, consequent-
ly leaving you a sizeable sum of working capital at all times.
(2) An issue of bonds secured by the Droceeds of
the Franchise Tax with a plan to use the as-
sessment money for payment of these bonds as
rapidly as the assessments are paid.
This would leave a portion of yo~r Franchise Tax money free to be
used in the budget. Probably the rate of return of money from as-
sessments ~ould be adequate to pay off the Bondm and .lot require
all your surplus money from the Franchise Tax. This plan would
have the advantage of rapid repayment of the ~150,000 and any
money left out in liens against property would be payable to the
City, at an 8~ rate, which would hel~ offset the bond interest
rate. The disadvantage would be that upon payment of the bonds,
there would be no f~md from which expenditures could be made in
other areas, and it would be necessary to go into the market and
borrow additional funds, as new improvements were desired.
156
MAY 23rd, 1957.
Of course, the aforementioned proposals hinge upon the City making
100~ assessment for the improvements against affected properties.
In the event that the Council should prefer that the City pay a
portion of the improvements, and the balance be paid by the pro-
perty owners, then money available for prior ~ayment of bonds, or
maintaining a Revolving Fund would be reduced by the amount the
City would pay of the cost of the improvement.
ge would sug2est that you ~ive this matter some serious thought
and decide whether or not ~150,000 would be sufficient money for
you to work with and the length of time you would give the assessed
property to make their payments and whether or not you would be
willing to make a 100~o of the imnrovement assessment against the
property affected.
If it becomes apvarent that you would require a larger amount of
money, the Franchise Tax in its' present amount, would not be an
adeauate source of security and other sources of repayment would
have to he exvlored. On the other hand,if a lesser amount such
as ~100,O00 would be adequate to do the necessary job, then the
Franchise Tax wo,lld be an excellent source of repayment.
If you have further questions pertaining to this, I would be glad
to discuss it with you on the telephone or Mr. McCreedy and I
would be glad to meet with you.
Yours very truly,
B. J. VAN INGEN & GO. Inc.,Miami
MeCREEDY & COMPANY, Inc., Miami
By; /S/ Fred B. Clark"
The Manmger Further advised that copies of this letter would be
furnished to members of the Financial Advisory Board and the Com-
missioners for study prior to, and reference at the scheduled
Monday meeting re£erred to herein.
Meeting adjourned.
/S/ R. D. Worthing
City Clerk
APPROVED:
MAYOR