Climate change—locally
From Paris to Delray Beach, it’s a big week for discussing the response to climate change.
In the French capital, representatives of 200 countries are meeting through Dec. 11, with the goal of working out at least a preliminary plan for collectively reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse” gases that have caused the Earth to warm. Those higher temperatures have caused ice caps to melt and seas to rise.
One day before the COP21 conference opened, Bill Gates and other billionaires announced that they would finance the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. It will seek to develop new sources of clean energy that don’t emit greenhouses gases and don’t produce the dangerous waste of emission-free nuclear energy. As with the effort in Paris, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition has participation from many countries—even Saudi Arabia.
If their focus is on the cause of climate change, Delray Beach is dealing with the effects. This fall’s King Tide events caused the city to close the Veterans Park docks because of damage. Water covered the docks, and wave action created what the city’s sustainability officer, John Morgan, called a “piano keys” effect – planks popping up and down from wave action. Pilings were damaged. The city also closed a stretch of Marine Way near the park.
Morgan will discuss Delray’s response to that problem and the wider challenge of rising seas this week at the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit in Key West. Morgan will present the city’s Resilient Redesign 2 concepts for dealing with the effects of rising seas not just in the near term but over the next century. That’s the necessary horizon for coastal cities.
In an interview, Morgan explained that the main problem in Delray Beach will be the Intracoastal Waterway, which is rising as more water comes in through the Boynton Inlet to the north and the Boca Raton Inlet to the south. “Already,” Morgan said, “water comes over the seawall. It’s going to be higher, and it’s going to be higher on a more frequent basis.”
Delray is upgrading pumps around the city’s marina. Backflow preventers in low areas can “buy us some time,” Morgan said. Among the other, long-range ideas are elevated roadways and underground storage for storm water, which later is pumped out. The city will have to consider changes in seawall heights.
Fortunately, Delray Beach is thinking and planning now. Morgan said the city considers climate change when crafting budgets for public works projects. Ideally, the city will incorporate rising sea plans into regular upgrades; the cost just may be a little higher. There will be expenses for private property owners, not just the city. “Twenty years ago,” Morgan said, “we didn’t have to think about climate change. Now we do.”
In January or February, the Rising Waters Task Force will present to the city commission its recommendations. Chairman Ana Puszkin-Chevlin told me that the group wants to stress the many benefits of a fast, effective response, not to promote a “doomsday scenario.”
Communities that stress sustainability, Puszkin-Chevlin argues, will be more attractive than those that don’t and thus in a stronger position economically. Delray Beach also has built-in advantages. The city has no septic tanks, which can be susceptible to saltwater intrusion. Delray preserved the beach dune line, which can reduce the power of storm surges.
Puszkin-Chevlin called the task force “a slow, simmering fire” on climate change. She expects the recommendations to align with the city’s program. The first recommendation will be for a consultant—preferably from Florida—to compile a citywide assessment of Delray Beach’s vulnerability.
Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale have been leaders on this issue. Elevations are lower south of Boca Raton, so cities to the south have had to respond faster. Delray Beach can’t control what happens in Paris, but the city can control the local response to the problem. The sooner the response, the cheaper and more effective it will be.
El Rio update
Boca Raton has mostly settled on a plan for the second phase of Hillsboro/El Rio Park.
At last week’s workshop, the city council agreed that the park would have nature trails, a place on the El Rio Canal to launch boats that don’t have motors, a playground, picnic pavilions and restrooms. Unlike the athletic fields in the section of the park north of Southwest 18th Street, the south portion of the park would close at dusk.
It will take roughly $4 million to make between eight acres and 10 acres suitable for development. The land once served as the city’s landfill. Boca will need to obtain permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Building the facilities will cost between $500,000 and $1 million.
The city will seek more public comment early next year. The part could open by the summer of 2019.
A related issue is the homeless people who live on the property, which is about 30 acres. Mayor Susan Haynie told me that they live south of the area to be developed and come in from that direction. Park rangers, Haynie said, will patrol during the day.
Barak talk
Wednesday night’s appearance by one of Israel’s best-known public figures underscores the area’s international clout when it comes to the Middle East.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak will speak at St. Andrews Country Club in West Boca, addressing high-level donors to the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. According to a federation news release, Barak will speak for 30 minutes, and then will take questions.
Though he has not held political office for two years, Barak is hardly out of politics and public life. In an interview last summer, Barak said that during his time as defense minister—from 2007 until 2013—Israel nearly bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the interview, Barak portrayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as indecisive. The comment prompted speculation that Barak, at 73, was considering one last political campaign. He led the Labor Party as prime minister.
Barak—the most decorated soldier in his country’s history—arrives at a tumultuous time for Israel. Netanyahu’s attempt to defeat the Iran nuclear deal split American Jews. In recent weeks, knifings by Palestinians has divided the Knesset and military and security officials on how to respond. Before that came attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians. European countries are labeling products from the West Bank.
In Palm Beach County, the Middle East is local news. It will be interesting to see whether Barak, in speaking to his audience here, also is speaking to his audience in Israel.
Real estate recovery news
The Corcoran Group offers new numbers to show the South Florida real estate market’s continued recovery.
According to the company’s latest report, homes for the third quarter of the year were up 4 percent from the same period in 2014. Houses also were on the market an average of 14 percent less time. The median sale price countywide was $259,000.
In Boca Raton alone, there were 1,201 closings between July and September—up 5 percent. Houses were on the market an average of 81 days, and the median price was $312,000. There were 493 sales in Delray Beach, with homes on the market for an average of 80 days and a median sale price of $283,000, a slight increase.
