Council rejects bond money

Parks & Recreation, Feb, 2005

Council members of Wellington Village in Palm Beach County voted to reject $500,000 of a $50 million recreation and cultural bond because the villagers do not want to allow non-residents to use their park without paying a fee. The bond money was approved in November 2002 for the county to help build and improve museums, theaters, parks, nature centers and other cultural and recreation sites.

Because the bond money is a county-wide initiative, any money received would allow anyone in the county to use the park. Wellington officials do not want to open their multi-million dollar project to just anyone, so a fee was introduced to offset potential operating costs. But accepting the money would not allow Wellington to institute a nonresident fee. Wellington was to receive $500,000 to help offset the cost of 68 acres of land it bought in September 2003.