Wells Fargo Bank is a Poor Neighbor

As the owner of the over 200 acre property formerly operated as the Ocean Breeze golf course, Wells Fargo bank has not been maintaining the property in compliance with city code and there have been numerous code violations over the past year.  Most recently they were cited for not mowing the weeds which had reached up to 2 feet in height before they had a local residential landscaper to use their small 32 inch mowers to slowly mow the weeds.  After over 2 weeks of mowing they resolved 90% of the problem, but with the rain and heat of our growing season they will need to start mowing again if they are going to be in compliance with city code.  Wells Fargo continues to be an IR responsible neighbor as clearly illustrated by driving along Jeffrey/Clint Moore Rd. East of I-95 &  seeing how they have allowed the property to become overgrown with vegetation.

It is recommended that residents call the city council (561-393-7708) to let them know how poorly Wells Fargo is maintaining the property.  Residents who want to complain about this problem to the leadreship of Wells Fargo should email their board of directors at: boardcommunications@wellsfargo.com

Considering the poor business practices of Wells Fargo bank that have been well documented in the media over the past year, maybe it should not be surprising that they are a poor neighbor.  But, residents should consider not doing business with this irresponsible financial institution since there are many banks that are available locally that are much more responsible than Wells Fargo.

High Weeds Violate City Code

It is time to call city council & complain about the high weeds on the Ocean Breeze golf course since there are many weeds over 12 inches high which violates the city code requirements.  Call 561-393-7708 to complain today.

If there is no cooperation by the city council on lending the required funds to the Beach & Park District for their acquisition of this property, then let's give these elected city officials a taste of the complaints they can expect to receive on an ongoing basis In Perperuity!

NOT A DONE DEAL!

The purchase of the Ocean Breeze golf property is contingent upon the city council approving financing to the Beach & Park District via an Intra-Local Agreement (ILA).  This means that the politics of the city are still a significant hurdle even tough the city is not buying the property.

A few vocal residents are opposing the purchase of the Ocean Breeze golf property due to the question on the purchase price of $24 million being higher than the appraised value.  But, the valuation should be compared to the multiple offers for the smaller municipal course for $73 million.  Generously estimating the value of the deed restriction at $10 million (cost to buyout 850 Boca Teeca  property owners versus $350,000 by MCZ for a 211 unit development on 30 acres) this would value the Ocean Breeze property at $63 million which makes the $24 million offer a bargain.

Taxpayers will get a net benefit of $40-$50 million once the current municipal course is sold for $73 million.  This is a major financial victory for all Boca Raton taxpayers.

Failed mayoral candidate Al Zucaro publishes his Boca Watch blog and he has shown a negative bias in publishing one Royal Palm Country Club resident's negative comments.  Several of Al's friends in central Boca have also posted negative comments on the financing required by the city.

It is important that supporters of this property acquisition call and email city council to voice your support for bringing a championship level "public" golf course into our city.

City of Boca Raton – 561-393-7708

Mayor Susan – Haynie shaynie@ci.boca-raton.fl.us
Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers – jrodgers@ci.boca-raton.fl.us
Councilmember Andrea O’Rourke – AORourke@ci.boca-raton.fl.us
Councilmember Scott Singer – ssinger@ci.boca-raton.fl.us
Councilmember Robert Weinroth – rweinroth@ci.boca-raton.fl.us

Beach & Park District Agrees to Buy Ocean Breeze

At today's meeting of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District the commissioners voted unanimously to execute the contract to buy the over 200 acres known as the Ocean Breeze golf course.  The district commissioners also voted unanimously to start the search for a golf course design firm via an RFP process.

Golfers and residents are looking forward to this process moving along with the financing coming via an agreement with the city council which is still prnding approval.  The contact closing is scheduled for late October with possible extensions nil the end of January 2018.  This process could be expedited if the city would approve the financing utilizing plentiful city reserves which are currently earning a measly 2% or less in savings accounts/certificates.

Thanks to Keep Golf In Boca representatives for their continued support of this important project which benefits the entire city.

Ocean Breeze update

The May 8th joint workshop meeting by the city council & the beach & park district was very well attended by over 200 residents who clearly supported the acquisition of the closed ocean breeze golf course.  The final outcome was a verbal commitment by the city council to provide the required cooperative financing for the beach & park district to buy the over 200 acres formerly operated as the ocean breeze golf course.

The next step is for the city & park district to agree to the official terms or their lending agreement and approve an ordnance by the city council at upcoming meetings.  The estimated closing on the purchase is October 31st with final development completed in approximately 2 years.

Thank You To Boca Teeca Residents

All golfers and property owners in Boca Raton should be saying thank you to Boca Teeca Residents.  Why?  Because if the owners in Boca Teeca were to follow the suggestions of some misguided officials to eliminate the deed restriction on their adjacent golf course, then this property would be expected to be valued in excess of the $73 million the city is expected to sell a similar sized golf course located west of the turnpike.

So, thank you to Boca Teeca property owners for NOT amending or eliminating your deed restriction on the adjacent golf course so that the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District has the opportunity to buy these 200+ acres and bringing 27 championship level golf holes (3-nine hole course) that will greatly improve the recreational attractiveness within the city limits.

It makes no sense to try to eliminate a deed restriction in order to have the perception that the value of the property exceeds the price being paid for the property.  The size or characteristics of the property do not change by the elimination of the deed restriction.  Accordingly, the best interest of the community is to support the acquisition of the property by the GBRBPD for $24 million and thank the Boca Teeca property owners for NOT changing/removing their deed restriction.

Large hotel coming to Boca Teeca?

At this week's meeting of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District there were several important issues discussed by the commissioners and the executive director:

1) Executive director Arthur Koski indicated that a 110-120 room hotel would be planned for the current hotel property at NW 2nd Ave & Jeffrey St.  Mr. Koski indicated that he was working with hotel companies who informed him that this would be the minimum size that they would be interested in building on this site using a ground lease agreement with the owner of the building
* Is this in the best interest of the Boca Teeca residential community?
* It would be expected that this size of a hotel would require additional parking - where?
* This would be expected to require widening of NW 2nd Ave.-is this what residents want?

2) New commissioner Craig Ehrnst asked if the Boca Teeca residents would consider removing the deed restriction so the District could use part of the golf course for other park uses, as he stated that residents should be expected to compromise
* Is this new commissioner really asking Boca Teeca residents to remove the deed restriction?
* Is commissioner Ehrnest suggesting that an 18 hole golf course would generate more revenue than a 27 hole golf course?  He had been inquiring about the financial impact of acquiring the property for $24 million at previous meetings so this would be very inconsistent to question the financial impact and then suggest reducing the revenue capability by 33%.
Residents may send their comments directly to this commissioner at: cehrnst@mybocaparks.org

3) Mr. Koski assured residents in attendance that the city was not going to select a winner for the bidding the the sell of the current municipal golf course until after a deal is reached by the District & Lennar on the purchase of the Ocean Breeze property.
* No contract has been signed by the District to purchase the Ocean Breeze property, so residents are being asked to trust Lennar in this process.
* Did Mr. Koski see the last city council meeting?  Apparently not, as the city council  considering selecting a winning bidder and it was obvious that the majority of the council were leaning to the selection of GL Homes over Lennar.  There is no legal agreement that Lennar's current offer to sell the Ocean Breeze property to the District for $24 million will continue to exist in the future, especially if they lose the bidding process for the city golf course.

4) There will be another joint meeting with the city council & Park District on May 8th at 4:30pm at 6500 Congress Ave.  It is expected that a more thorough presentation by the Park District will get the financing approval process started with the city - requires a 2 council meeting approval process as an amendment to the city budget.  The city plans to issue bonds for these funds with an agreement with the Park District to pay the city all principal and interest on these bonds.  This is a similar process to how the Park District has acquired other properties in the past.  The Park District executive director has stated that there will be no requirement to increase taxes to pay for any estimated costs in acquiring the Ocean Breeze property.