Newsletter: January 28th, 2024

Delray Beach Inaugural Quarterly Town Hall Meeting

Citizens want engagement and City Commissioner Angela Burns first answered this need by her “Burning Conversations.” Commissioner Burns, who ran for office on public participation, has had eleven public Meet and Greets since May of 2023 across a wide range of topics.

Since then, the city has joined in with their new quarterly Town Hall Meetings.

On Thursday January 25, Delray Beach held its first quarterly Town Hall Meeting at the Delray Beach Municipal Golf Course.  These meetings are a civic engagement opportunity for ALL residents.

The town hall was facilitated by City Manager, Terrance Moore and featured a panel including Chief Keith Tomey from the Delray Beach Fire Rescue, Missie Barletto, Public Works Director and Anthea Gianniotes, Director of Development Services.

Chief Tomey presented an overview of the services provided by the fire department. The department protects 70,000 citizens in an 18 square mile area from 6 stations. The department has 160 firefighters and ninety-nine percent of which are dual certified, both firefighters and paramedics.

Delray Fire Rescue earned a class 1 rating for the I.S.O. (Insurance Services Office) Public Protection Classification. The Public Protection Classification (PPC) program is a community fire protection scoring system based on a Fire Suppression Rating Schedule.  The I.S.O. classification is done every 5 years.

Delray Fire Rescue is also Internationally accredited. Agencies become accredited after peer review of their accreditation documents, completion of an onsite assessment, and participation in a public hearing before the Commission of Fire Accreditation International.

Out of 29,537 Fire Departments in United States, only 112 departments have both, Class 1 rating for I.S.O. PPC and an International accreditation.  Delray’s Fire Rescue stands out as one of the best in Florida and the country.

Missie Barletto spoke of the construction progress for Fire Station 113 located at 651 West Linton across from Whole Foods. The project is replacing single story building which was no longer safe to house firefighters.

The new building is a 2 story 15,857 SF 3-Bay Station which can house 13 firefighters. It is designed for Cat Hurricane complete with emergency generator. The cost for Fire Station 113 is $11,478,146. Construction began December 4, 2023 and projected completion of the building is February, 2025.

Director of Development Services, Anthea Gianniotes spoke of the newly instituted electronic plan review permit process which allows applicants to apply online for permitting and significantly expedites the approval process.

The building department takes in 500-700 building permits each month. Residential single family is the majority of the permits.

Giannoites said there is a robust workforce housing program including 273 added recently or being built.  She also noted that in the last year there were 576 zoning certificates of use for new businesses opening in Delray.

She spoke of several upcoming developments that have been approved.

A question answer session followed. This meeting was lightly attended by the general public but the city hopes for more participation in the upcoming quarterly meeting on April 25, 2024.

January 25, 2024 Town Hall Meeting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NVcD3NP4DE

Best Regards,

The Friends Of Delray Board

Judy Mollica - President

Steve English - Treasurer

Gregg Weiss