Earlier this month, the Town Council made a sound decision by making it clear that sometimes saving money isn’t everything — especially when determining the look of the town’s special places.
Palm Beach residents and visitors deserve a grand setting for Royal Poinciana Way, the historic “main street” that has graced the town as a scenic and vital entrance for more than a century.
It’s admirable that the Garden Club of Palm Beach has again stepped up to help the town revitalize the landscapes on Royal Poinciana’s medians — just as the nonprofit group has done for many years — and that a contractor is providing free work. The club also donated $575,000 to help cover the originally announced cost of the project, making it one of the largest donations ever for a town beautification project.
The club’s design included a first for the street: crushed-shell pathways on the grassy medians between North County Road and Bradley Place, so that pedestrians could more easily get from one side of the street to the other. The project won the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission before getting the go-ahead from the Town Council. But the plan to use the crushed-shell nearly went by the wayside once the town began grappling with growing cost of materials.
READ MORE: Gravel mixup for Royal Poinciana Way beautification project prompts delay
In a push to save money, town staffers decided to switch to concrete paths for the final design and convinced the Garden Club to choose a concrete sample developed by the contractor. But town staff neglected to get landmarks approval for the change, and then were unable to get approval from that board’s chair when the mistake was discovered.
On Sept. 9, the council rejected concrete for the pathways and voted to approve a $131,216 change order to revert to crushed shell — bringing the total budget of the project to nearly $1 million.
The council directed staff to complete only the west median before Nov. 1, when crews will pause construction and clean up the east median until work can resume in the spring. That will avoid the possibility of ongoing construction adding to the congestion expected as season begins.
Once completed, each median have a walkway around the outside, along with five mid-block plantings with native holywood trees at their center. The iconic royal palms that line either the north and south sides of the medians will remain.
Council members said they strongly preferred crushed gravel as a more visually appealing alternative to concrete and noted that it’s important to preserve the look of Royal Poinciana Way, where there are many pedestrians. When it comes to the look of such an important street, they said, money shouldn’t be the only issue in the mix.
“We’re awash in cash,” Council President Pro-Tem Lew Crampton said. “The $131,000 … isn’t going to be a problem.”
Though the town’s mistake turned out to be more costly, it came with an important lesson for town staff and organizations that propose similar projects that blend public and private funds: Thorough communication among all stakeholders is key.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Town Council right to spend wisely on Royal Poinciana Way medians | EDITORIAL
Reporting by Palm Beach Daily News Editorial Board / Palm Beach Daily News
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