Strategic Priority: Safe and Resilient Community

Strategic Focus Areas:  

• Provide a framework for supporting the Town of Palm Beach before, during, and after a natural or man-made disaster. 
• Safe, Clean, On-Demand Drinking Water | The Town’s drinking water is healthy, both for consumption and the environment. It is readily available without worry or limitations. The utility infrastructure is sound and meets current and future needs to provide reliable and sustainable management of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater.

Strategic Objectives:

• Complete and review a water feasibility study that evaluates the water supply and distribution options, emphasizing service needs, quality, and cost. 
• Develop an implementation plan per the feasibility study findings and negotiate a contract with the provider.
• Continue the review of ambitious and adaptive safeguard methods identified through the Town's Coastal Flood Vulnerability Assessment, prepared by Woods Hole Group, and update as necessary based on available data. 
• Use new data to determine revisions to the Level-Up Palm Beach Coastal Resilience Implementation Plan with input from the Mayor and Town Council to mitigate the potential impacts to both public and private property within the Town.
• Continue the review of the second phase of the Woods Hole Group resiliency study.
• Complete townwide utility undergrounding. 
• Develop a modern and secure information technology infrastructure that will meet the ever-growing needs of the Town operations.
• Examine opportunities to minimize the Town’s natural disaster vulnerabilities.
• Develop hazard-specific communication plans, along with templates to ensure expeditious communication and information-sharing during an emergency.
• Develop and implement an emergency response support system that will enable the Town to rapidly mobilize and successfully respond to emergencies.
• Establish a new Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that is specifically drafted for the Town’s unique needs, including the Marina, cybersecurity, pandemics, etc.  
• Evaluate emergency management policies and staffing levels for increased preparedness.
• Establish and maintain reliable contracts to mitigate and react to a natural or man-made disaster. 
• Develop a state-of-the-art public safety communication command center.
• Ensure wide-scale adoption of Crisis Track and other systems, such as F-ROC, to allow for quick and efficient FEMA reimbursement applications, including preventing denials by having sufficient and detailed backup documentation to support all claimed expenses. 
• Update stormwater management standards.
• Enhance the Town's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System for storm/sanitary sewer pumping stations to provide redundancy and resiliency. 
• Mitigate the infiltration of groundwater into the sanitary sewer collection system through Cured in Place Pipe (CIPP) Lining and investigate the needs of CIPP lining through TV inspections.
• Establish and maintain reliable contracts related to drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater.
• Continue the exploration and optimization of interactive emergency service software solutions, such as the Town’s first-in-county use of Prepared Live. 
• Ensure consistent administration of the Flood Prevention Code
• Continue participation in the Community Rating System (CRS), allowing Town customers to achieve flood insurance premium savings. 
• Continue proactive review of Ordinances and application of best practices. 
• Explore public safety educational and informational opportunities.
• Evaluate and implement best practices of emergency purchasing thresholds.
• Continue exploration and implementation of participant tracking software, such as ProCare.
• Increase AED and CPR training for all Town staff.
• Optimize and coordination of software (i.e., Lucity, Crisis Track, ArcGIS, esri, etc.).