City Of West Palm Beach Accepts Coronavirus Housing Relief Funds From The State

From the City of West Palm Beach:

September 9, 2020

Below is a summary of some of the approvals and decisions made by the City Commission at a meeting on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. To watch meetings live or to watch recorded meetings on-demand, please visit: https://www.wpb.org/government/communications/wpb-tv18/watch-wpb-tv18-live or https://www.wpb.org/government/communications/wpb-tv18/watch-the-latest-city-commission-meeting

• Approved an agreement with the Palm Beach County Food Bank, Inc. to provide weekend meals to children at the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. The Mandel Public Library has been providing summer weekday meals since 2016. By partnering with the Palm Beach County Food Bank's Food4OurKids programs, children and teens visiting the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach will receive a backpack filled with meals that will feed themselves and their family. The Mandel Public Library hopes to reach 10,000 youth annually with this year-round program.
• Approved ratifying the submittal of a grant application to the Florida Department of State for funding for expanded outreach programming through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) pursuant to the provisions of the CARES Act. The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach has applied to receive up to $62,000 to increase outreach efforts to the community, specifically focusing on local childcare centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. If the library receives CARES Act funding, the library plans to enhance our digital presence with improved tools and equipment for producing elevated virtual programming to better serve the community at large.
• Approved authorizing the acceptance of Coronavirus Relief Funds from the Florida Housing Finance Coalition and appropriating funds for the program. The City of West Palm Beach has been awarded $390,562 of Coronavirus Relief Funds by the State. The program funds will be used to assist City of West Palm Beach residents that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and are in need of rental assistance, utilities assistance, mortgage assistance, and/or any other eligible assistance until December 31, 2020.
• Approved authorizing the naming of the park land which runs parallel to Pinewood Avenue between 38th Street and 40th Street and along the C.S.X. Railroad as Pinewood Community Park. In late 1990s, several properties along Pinewood Avenue were appropriated for the purposed of creating a park and for the development of the Northwood Community Center Complex, which included the West Palm Beach Boys and Girls Club. At the request of the Pinewood Neighborhood Association, a proposal to formally name the park as "Pinewood Community Park" was brought before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee on March 10, 2020 and received unanimously PRAC approval to forward the request to the City Commission for consideration.
• Approved the implementation of a rainbow-colored crosswalk in Northwood Village at the intersection of Northwood Road and Spruce Avenue. The LGTBQ community and members of the Northwood business community requested a rainbow-colored crosswalk to reflect the Pride Flag at the intersection of Northwood Road and Spruce Avenue. The City Commission desires to recognize all members of the City community, including all LGTBQ members and finds that the requested Rainbow Crosswalk implements the Commission’s desire. The installation is expected to take approximately 40 days.

For a complete list of the approvals and decisions made at the September 8, 2020 City Commission Meeting, please click here to view the pass/fail agenda.

This press release was produced by the City of West Palm Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.