Worthing Place outlines construction plans; work could begin soon

By DAVID SEDORE, Palm Beach Business.com Staff

DELRAY BEACH — Worthing Place, the 217-unit condo project in the downtown, could be coming out of the ground soon. Very soon.

Project Director Chris Wheeler Jr. said Wednesday that there is no set date for construction to begin but the hope is to have it underway within 30 days. Work could take as long as 20 months to complete.

Consultant Mike Covelli presented city commissioners Tuesday with an overview of the project and how construction will affect the downtown. Worthing Place is to be built on south of Atlantic Avenue between S.E. 1st and S.E. 2nd avenues.

Perimeter streets will be the scene of considerable work early on I the project as utilities are routed and rerouted. That early phase will take about 70 days, according to the plan. The remainder of the project could take 16 months beyond that.

Commissioners thought the schedule a bit ambitious especially considering the labyrinth of agencies and private companies that must be dealt with in order to do the work. Cable, electric, phone, water and sewer lines have to be addressed.

“The idea is to get in here and get it done and not affect the perimeter for very long,” Covelli said. “We know it’s aggressive.”

Fenced off safety zones extending into both S.E. 1st and S.E. 2nd will be set up during the project. Both streets will become one way, with S.E. 1st handling south bound traffic and S.E. 2nd north bound.

Builders will use two cranes on site, but Covelli assured commissioners that they’re not the type involved in recent accidents in New York and Miami. They’ll also be used well below their maximum heights, which should increase safety as well.

An Unqualified Opinion

Delray’s finances received a fairly clean bill of health from outside auditors, Caler Donten Levine Druker Porter and Veil of West Palm Beach. The firm found a few issues that needed to be addressed, none serious. Highlights include:

— The city had total assets of $345 million as of Sept. 30.

— The fund balance increased by $15.5 million, though most of that came from bonds previously issued and will be used for capital projects.

— Cash on hand and investments totaled $77 million, not including pension funds.

— Revenue came in short of projections but Delray also spent less than budgeted. All in all, the city came out $2.8 million to the good.

— Auditors found no significant “weaknesses” in the way Delray handled its finances, and there were no problems in complying with rules and regulations.

— Auditors did find four relatively minor problems, two of which already have been fixed and the other two should be addressed within the next month.

“This is a good report,” auditor Scott Porter said. “The city is in good financial condition.”

Caler Donten issued an unqualified opinion with its audit, meaning the firm found nothing that could render the report inaccurate.

A Collaborative Effort

Commissioners gave an informal nod to establish the Creative City  Collaborative as a nonprofit that would act as an “umbrella” group for Delray’s various cultural events and organizations.  A committee representing many of the city’s cultural interests has been working to craft a mission for the Collaborative working from a plan drafted several years ago by the Coletta & Co. consulting firm.

The committee rejected many of Coletta’s recommendations because of budget cuts or because they overlapped what’s already being done by other groups.

The committee agreed that the Collaborative that as a nonprofit it could attract grants and donations and distribute that money to various groups.

However, it shouldn’t be involved in deciding who gets city financial support. The committee said it believes that city staff should be making those recommendations, given state-imposed budget constraints.

AV Upgrade

Anyone who has attempted to view a city commission meeting on the web, or who sat outside the commission chambers straining to follow the proceedings inside will appreciate this:

The commission informally agreed to spend about $50,000 to improve the audio visual equipment in city hall. Better sound on the web and in the “overflow” areas outside commission chambers will be one tangible benefit of the project.

The city will buy the equipment itself, while bidding out the wiring end of things.