Riviera Beach voters approve $115 million in bond money for new facilities
Riviera Beach voters overwhelmingly approved a trio of ballot measures that will allow the city to raise $115 million in bond money to pay for a host of new facilities.
The votes were huge wins for city officials who, by state law, could not publicly urge passage but who privately acknowledged the pressing need for infrastructure improvements and new facilities.
“As voters in Riviera Beach cast their ballots on these decisive bond initiatives, we stand at the precipice of an extraordinary transformation," City Manager Jonathan Evans said Tuesday before the outcome of the votes were known.
➤Complete Palm Beach County municipal election results
"A collective investment of $115 million is directed toward equipping our city for the future — a future where public safety is fortified and our community life flourished. With $25 million designated for a cutting-edge fire station on Singer Island and $35 million for a new, advanced police station, we are poised to significantly bolster the resources available to our courageous public safety teams."
Riviera Beach, like other cities in Palm Beach County, has long needed infrastructure improvements, but fractious city councils and inconsistent staffing hamstrung the city.
Even as divisions on the council remain, the city has pushed ahead with a vast array of ambitious plans.
Council District 2: KaShamba Miller-Anderson wins fourth term
In addition to the ballot measures, voters gave Councilwoman KaShamba Miller-Anderson a fourth term. Miller-Anderson, a vice principal in the Palm Beach County School District, beat back a challenge from political newcomer Leroy Kelson IV.
Miller-Anderson got 53% of the vote, and Kelson got 47%, a strong showing for a newcomer.
Kelson said despite his loss, there is much hope for Riviera Beach.
"I want to congratulate and extend a proper concession — one that (Kashamba) has earned and deserves." he said. "It has been an honor to be a part of a process that has unified our community and inspired change. I am hopeful that this is just the beginning of our young people choosing to come back home and be of service.
"There is so much hope for our city, and it is my prayer that we continue to demand clean water, transparency, and opportunities for our young children — the future. God is good, and I feel blessed to have been supported by so many."
Safe drinking water, issues of management and development were the top issues in the race.
Residents were angered to learn in January that, in June 2023, a water in a well tested positive for E. coli, a fecal contaminant that can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and more serious health problems in people who are already sick.
The city's utility told residents it failed to notify them or the state within 24 hours of the positive test, as is required by law. No boil water alert was issued.
Mayor Ronnie Felder, who has launched an investigation into the positive test and the utility's response to it, said Palm Beach County water quality experts told him the contaminant was found in not one but two wells and it did make it into the drinking water supply, contrary to what residents have been told.
City officials have insisted the water is safe to drink, but they acknowledge the urgent need for a new water-treatment facility to replace the one currently in use, which was built in 1958.
Cost estimates for that new facility are now about $200 million, and it might not be operational until early 2027.
The city is exploring a variety of ways to cover the costs of a new plant.
Money from the bond measures won't go toward the plant. Instead, about $55 million will go to parks and recreational facilities. About $25 million will go to a new fire station on Singer Island, and $35 million will be used for a new police department headquarters.
The bond issuance is expected to cost about $292 for every $250,000 in assessed taxable property value. That will be on top of water and wastewater rates that have been increased sharply to pay for the current treatment facility and to lay the financial groundwork for the construction of a new one.
Residents were to have two City Council races and the ballot measures to consider Tuesday night. But District 4 incumbent Julia Botel was disqualified from running after an appellate court found that she paid her campaign filing fee with funds that were not drawn from a campaign account, as is required by law.
That ruling meant her erstwhile opponent, Glen Spiritis, becomes councilman-elect.
Spiritis, a former Long Beach, New York, city manager who now works in housing development, was scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday.
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Riviera election: $115 million in bond money approved for facilities
