Council steers $125 million police headquarters bond toward a ballot question that names a downtown facility
Plus a 5-0 vote for a downtown private club and three Boca high schools on the state's excellence list.
This past March, voters turned down a $175 million police headquarters bond. The next try carries a $125 million cap in all four ballot versions, and the city has until Dec. 4 to settle the wording.
Staff drafted four versions of the question for the March 2027 election, differing mainly on location. City Manager Mark Sohaney recommended leaving the headquarters site open while adding a dedicated downtown facility to what the bonds would fund. All four ballot versions carry the same $125 million cap.
The Oct. 13 workshop produced direction, not a vote; a resolution comes back for a council vote Oct. 27, and ballot wording is due Dec. 4.
This plan is smaller than the $175 million police headquarters bond voters rejected this past March. The revised project's total estimate is about $121.08 million, down from an earlier $190 million estimate, for roughly 100,000 square feet instead of 165,000. The city's Financial Advisory Board unanimously backed the referendum Sept. 28 but said its support did not cover location, design or cost. A yes vote would approve the borrowing before the main building has a site.
The council also declined to start temporarily filling Council Member Yvette Drucker's Seat C after she resigns next month.
Trump's first Mar-a-Lago visit of the season means extra planes at Boca Raton Airport
Boca Raton Airport sends nearby residential communities notices to expect more air traffic. President Trump arrives at Mar-a-Lago this weekend for his first seasonal visit, and while Air Force One is parked in West Palm Beach, Boca takes as many extra aircraft as its runway allows. A VIP temporary flight restriction runs Friday, Oct. 16, through Sunday, Oct. 18, covering aircraft within a 30-nautical-mile outer ring.
Airport staff meet with the fixed base operators and control tower manager to prepare. Executive director Clara Bennett said new airspace changes over Mar-a-Lago do not affect the airport. A public observation area for takeoffs and landings sits at 903 NW 35th St., beside the administration building.
Council undoes its wildlife-feeding ban less than two months after adopting it
What happens to the $100 minimum civil penalty for breaking the ban is still unsettled. The council set that fine in August; the city manager's memo said a resolution repealing it would accompany the repeal, but none was on the Oct. 13 agenda.
The repeal passed 4-1, undoing the Aug. 25 ban, adopted 3-2, that covered pigeons, iguanas, rats and mice. Mayor Andy Thomson, the lone no vote, proposed dropping only the pigeon rule, but no one seconded him. The repeal, Ordinance 5809, also drops the rule from the direct-citation list.
At the same meeting, the council approved Park Tower at Broken Sound, an eight-story, 97-unit apartment building, 3-1, with Thomson abstaining.
CRA approves The Sanborn, an eight-story private club across from Sanborn Square
A shared parking study, which assumes the club's uses won't all peak together, sets The Sanborn's need at 183 spaces, or 279 counted use by use. The automated underground garage holds 85 cars. Up to 98 more would come from the garage at Aletto, a 10-story project under construction about 60 feet south across East Boca Raton Road.
Commissioner Michelle Grau objected that more than half the parking would depend on an unbuilt garage. Ellie Zacharitis, the applicant's lobbyist, said the club cannot get a certificate of occupancy without parking; if Aletto isn't built, it must find other parking and seek city approval.
The Community Redevelopment Agency approved the club 5-0 on Oct. 13 after residents raised traffic, parking and density concerns. Developers paid $10 million in March for the existing two-story building at 100 N.E. 1st Ave.
Boca Raton Community, Spanish River and West Boca Raton Community highs make the state's School of Excellence list
The label rewards staying power: a school must rank at or above the 80th percentile among peer schools of the same type statewide in two or more of the past three school years. Other Boca-area schools on the list include Addison Mizner, Omni Middle, Verde K-8, and the Calusa and Del Prado elementaries. Announcing the list, Superintendent Mike Burke said that while one good year deserves celebrating, "sustaining it year after year is a remarkable accomplishment."