By Mary Thurwachter

    A poll of Hypoluxo Island property owners by the town of Lantana showed 60 percent favored extending a natural gas line to the island. But not everyone was happy with the result or the voting process.

    Many islanders appeared at the March 10 Lantana Town Council meeting to express their concerns. The town, anticipating a big turnout, brought in extra chairs and even set up bleachers outside. The bleachers weren’t necessary, but most seats inside were occupied and individual speakers were asked to limit comments to three minutes.

    The town sent letters to all 309 property owners in October asking for a yes or no vote on the issue. By the Feb. 15 deadline, 197 yes votes came in, 11 more than the 186 required for passage.

    At a February meeting, several residents who opposed the gas line complained about being “strong-armed” by proponents to change their votes. A look at the town’s spreadsheet with tabulated results revealed that 22 no votes were indeed later changed to yes votes.

    How could that happen?

    The poll was a straw vote, Mayor Dave Stewart explained. And once the votes arrived at Town Hall they became public record and anyone could look at them. Proponents of the gas line did just that and then went back to some of the no voters to try to get them to change their minds. 

    Town attorney Max Lohmans said the poll was basically a straw vote to gauge public opinion. The only votes that really mattered, he said, were those from the five council members.

    All council members save Malcolm Balfour, a Hypoluxo resident, voted in favor of the gas line extension. Balfour said that he had, as a resident, voted yes, but after talking to some voters who said they didn’t want and couldn’t afford the gas line, he changed his mind for the council vote.

    “It just doesn’t seem fair,” he said, that some on a limited budget are having the expense forced on them.

    Property owners will owe about $260 annually for 10 years to pay for the line. The estimated construction cost for the line is $534,396. The town agreed to create a special assessment to provide financing of running the lines to the property boundaries. Once in place, Florida Public Utilities will assume ownership, operation and maintenance.

    Property owners will pay additional costs to complete the gas line connection to their properties. 

    If money is coming back to the town from Florida Public Utilities, the annual fee to residents could be reduced after five years.

    The drive for natural gas was led by Rod Tennyson and Robert Barfknecht, who put together a team who went door-to-door. They said that natural gas would be a good enhancement to the island, saving residents energy and money. 

    But at the March 10 meeting, one by one residents got up to speak for or against the gas line. A few wanted to change their vote back to no after having been encouraged to vote yes. But the voting deadline had closed on Feb. 15.

    Daniel Hiatt, who said he walks the island regularly and spoke to several residents who opposed the gas line, said he examined the votes and found several irregularities. He said it appeared that “a dead man voted” as did a woman who lived in a foreclosed home. He questioned the validity of several votes and said he was certain he could find more irregularities if given more time.

    A widow who said she lived on a fixed income was moved to tears as she told the council she simply couldn’t afford the annual fee.

    Tennyson defended the voting and said there were “island angels” poised to help the few residents who could not afford the yearly fees.

    Town Manager Deborah Manzo said a few votes were sent to Special District Services for examination. But even if those votes were tossed out, there would still be 60 percent in favor of the gas line. 

    Stewart, who also lives on the island, said people were “strong-armed.” He said he’ll never use natural gas, but knows that when he wants to sell his property, it’ll be good to have it. 

    “I’m concerned about the cost and that some residents will never live to see the benefit of it,” he said.

   The city has won the right to force Waste Management Inc., to competitively bid for the right to serve the city after a judge ruled the city broke its own rules when it approved a 10-year, $65 million, no-bid contract with the waste hauler in 2012.

    That means the city can seek bids from other waste haulers in an effort to get a better deal for taxpayers.

    Mayor Cary Glickstein and Commissioner Shelly Petrolia campaigned in 2013 promising that if elected, they would work to get the contract rescinded and allow the city to seek competitive bids.

    The city hired outside legal counsel to pursue the case to Palm Beach County Circuit Court, where Circuit Court Judge Meenu Sasser ruled in favor of the city late last month.

    Waste Management spokeswoman Dawn McCormick said the hauler was “disappointed with the ruling” but added that the company will “continue to do the right thing and service the residents and not let garbage pile up in the streets.”

    Glickstein said he was pleased with the judge’s ruling. “It confirms the Waste Management deal was contrary to state law, our local rules, and was a bad deal for taxpayers.” 

— Staff Report

By Mary Thurwachter

    During the first week in March, Gov. Rick Scott signed off on the sale of A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana to a Boca Raton developer for more than $15 million.

    “Now it is in the private sector and the devil is in the details,” said Mayor Dave Stewart at the town’s March 10 City Council meeting.

    Developer Ken Endelson, of Southeast Legacy Investments, and urban planners are drawing up plans to develop the 80-acre property with commercial and residential space.

    Just east of I-95 at Lantana Road, the property housed a hospital for tuberculosis patients until state legislators closed it in 2012 following complaints about the $10 million yearly operating cost and the age of the building.

    Expecting the sale for several years, Lantana officials have made revisions to its comprehensive plan so they would have some control of what happens on the property.

    One concern for the town is what will become of the 23-acres Lantana leases in the front of the property on Lantana Road for its baseball fields. Lantana has said it would move the fields if Endelson will pay for the construction and development of the fields at a new location. The town’s current lease for the ball fields extends to 2024.

    The town, Stewart has said, would like to have residences and commercial development that will increase the town’s tax base.

    Endelson’s Kenco Communities built Wycliffe Golf and Country Club in Lake Worth, Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach and the Oakes at Boca Raton. 

Chris Carter Davies grew up on the Jersey shore watching her mom be an active community member

and volunteer. Now she does the same thing as a Gulf Stream resident of the South Florida shore.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Successful fundraisers are persistent and dedicated, and that seems to describe Chris Davies to a “T.” She’s been writing letters, making phone calls, and otherwise shaking the bushes for charitable donations for 20 years.

    Beneficiary organizations include the Lupus Foundation of America, Southeast Florida chapter; the Delray Beach Historical Society; and the Sandoway House Nature Center in Delray Beach.

    Davies, of Gulf Stream, is co-president of the Sandoway House board along with Ann Heilakka, and the two also are co-chairing this year’s annual fundraising gala on April 11.

    “Doing a fundraiser is a lot of work,” Davies says, “and you think it’s just impossible, but the night of the event when it all comes together, it’s great. We raised about $50,000 last year, which was the highest ever. We want to top that this year.”

    A native of coastal New Jersey, Davies travels home frequently to see family. She says her hometown on the Jersey Shore was “ground zero” when Hurricane Sandy swept through in 2012.

    “My aunt lived in her house for 65 years and it was totally destroyed. And more than 100 of my friends were displaced by Sandy,” Davies says.

    She met her husband, Jay, in Florida — even though he’d been a summer resident of her hometown. 

    “I didn’t know him, but I knew all his friends who went to my high school,” she says. “We met the first night he arrived in Florida — and that was that!” 

    A retired chef, Jay once worked at Maurice’s Italian Restaurant in Palm Beach. Jay’s shrimp scampi was a favorite of many a well-heeled diner, including the late Ted Kennedy.

    The Davies will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this year.

— Paula Detwiller

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you? 

A. I grew up in Brick, a small town on the Jersey shore. My dad was the mayor for many years, and my mother was involved with every organization in town. I went to Brick Township High School. As a senior, I was president of the Keyette Club, which was all about volunteering. I attended Ocean County College for two years before transferring down to University of Florida in 1976 to get my degree in early-childhood education.

Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

A. I always wanted to teach underprivileged children. After I got my teaching degree, I saw a job opening at the Alyce D. McPherson School for Girls in Ocala. My mother thought it was a ritzy boarding school. I went to apply and got hired on the spot, and when the principal gave me a tour of the campus, I realized it was actually a reform school! And it was co-ed. My job was to teach juvenile delinquents how to swim, and also be their swim coach. 

After a year there, I got a teaching job at Pine Grove Elementary School in Delray Beach. I taught at Pine Grove for eight years.

Today I have a little side business arranging orchids. I do them for my close friends’ special occasions, but mostly I donate them to silent auctions. I’m really good at symmetry, so I incorporate shells, air plants and other things, and make them seashore-ish. So that’s what I’m most proud of these days. 

Q. As co-president of Sandoway House Nature Center, what do you see as the toughest challenges the center will face this coming year?

A. Transportation to bring schoolchildren to the Nature Center is one of our biggest challenges. The school district doesn’t have the funding to provide buses. We’d love to have more school kids come here on class trips, but we’d need our own bus to bring them. Our goal is to get a large grant, hopefully from the Impact 100 organization, so that we can provide that transportation.

Q.  Tell us a little about your involvement with Sandoway House Nature Center. Why is it important to you?

A. I helped start the Center 17 years ago. I met Laura McCormick and Mary Lou Schillinger in a “Mommy and Me” class when our kids were little, and Laura introduced me to Carolyn Patton, whose idea it was to turn this old house into a nature center. I also met other people who were helping out: Tom Lynch, Nilsa and Frank McKinney, Lisa Tiernan, and Alieda Riley, Carolyn’s mother. In those days we spent most of our time in a trailer out front. I’ve been working to raise money for the center all these years. It’s important to me because of my experience in teaching underprivileged kids in Delray. I know the need for young local kids to learn about their own beach, which some have never seen.

Q.  How did you choose to make your home in Gulf Stream?

A. We moved here 19 years ago when my son was small, mainly to be close to Gulf Stream school. Our neighborhood had lots of young families, which was great because my son was an only child. After school, three or four kids would come home with him to play.

Q.  What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?  

A. I love the fact that it’s so close to Delray Beach and the excitement, but I can come home to peace and quiet. And all my neighbors are so nice and friendly.

Q.  What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?  

A. I have very eclectic tastes in music. I like to keep current, so I listen to the latest music on Pandora or iHeartRadio. But I also love classical piano music. In fact, my mom almost became a professional classical pianist, but then she married my dad and had three boys and me. 

Q.  Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions? 

A. My mother was my mentor. She just did it all. She was a volunteer for every committee in town, so I got my philanthropic side from her. She could play the piano, she could play tennis — she played until she was 86! She was a golfer, a painter and a cook who could make a cake without a recipe. I didn’t inherit her hand-eye coordination, so I can’t play tennis … but I like to ski and scuba dive. 

Q. Who/what makes you laugh?

A. My friends. When we get together, we just laugh and have fun. Also, I’ve been really close to my cousin Virginia. She’s 10 years younger than me, but as we’ve grown older, we’ve gotten really close, almost like sisters. That’s why I go up to New Jersey so much, to spend time and laugh. 

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?

A. Jennifer Lawrence, if she could make herself 40 years older! I just love her spunk. And she’s never forgotten where she came from.

IF YOU GO

Where the Wild Things Are 

What: A fundraising gala to benefit the Sandoway House Nature Center.

When: 6:30 p.m. April 11

Where: Benvenuto Restaurant, Boynton Beach

Includes: hors d’oeuvres, open bar, 3-course meal, live music, dancing and silent auction.

Tickets: $160

For more information or to purchase tickets: 

274-7263

By Steve Plunkett

    The old Boynton Beach high school will be a part of the city’s future at least a little longer.

    City commissioners decided to keep the school’s local historic designation April 1 but restored its land-use designation to public and private governmental/institutional.

    The commission in 2013 changed the parcel’s land use to mixed use to accommodate architect Juan Contin’s plan to turn the school into an event and destination venue.

    City Attorney James Cherof, who met with commissioners in a private attorney-client session to discuss the breach-of-contract lawsuit Contin filed against the city, urged that the land use be changed.

    “I think that restoring the land use puts the property back into the configuration that it was,” Cherof said. “I think it benefits the city’s position in the litigation.”

    The change passed on a 3-2 vote with Commissioners David Merker and Mack McCray dissenting.

    But a proposed ordinance to cancel the school’s historic designation failed on a 4-1 vote with Mayor Jerry Taylor on the losing side.

    Because it was the first reading of the ordinance, the public was not allowed to speak.

    On March 18, when the measures were first discussed but tabled, residents spoke primarily about restoring the high school.

    “I believe it would be a tremendous mistake to destroy that building, and these couple of resolutions which are on the agenda certainly point it in that direction,” resident Charles Gaulkin said.

    History teacher Susan Oyer, of the pioneering Boynton Beach family, said residents cannot go forward as a city if they do not maintain their past. She had her students send letters to the commissioners opposing the measures, she said.

    “I haven’t met a single person who wants to see something bad happen to this building,” Oyer said.

    But Taylor called the school, which opened for classes in 1926, a health and safety hazard.

    “That building is loaded with asbestos. Anybody going into that building needs to be wearing a hazmat suit,” he said at the March 18 meeting.

    Taylor said the school would collapse if a hurricane struck and that another developer or the city would need $8 million to recondition it. That, he said, is $8 million the city doesn’t have.

Sacred Heart student Martina McManus, below with her mom, Kathleen, took this

prize-winning photo at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

Photos provided

By Emily J. Minor

    She’s 11, which means she likes miniature golf and ocean waves, dance parties and spring break.

    “She also loves to eat,” says John McManus, the father of fifth-grader Martina, a spit of a thing with her cute, short hair and happy smile.

    Other stuff Martina McManus loves? iPads, iPods, iPhones. “Especially iPods,” says Martina, who recently won a photography contest after a school trip to the Everglades. 

    Of course, these days, everyone’s a photographer, right? Pink-and-blue sunsets and birds floating away on air. It’s easier than ever to capture the world around us, and share it with others.

    But Martina — who placed third in the photo contest sponsored by the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for The Everglades — has been doing it (at least part of the time) the old-fashioned way. With a digital camera and no Instagram filters.

    “I like that everything looks closer,” said Martina, who said she loves flowers in bright colors such like purple, blue, yellow and pink.

   The daughter of John and Kathleen McManus of South Palm Beach, Martina has an almost uncanny way of seeing the world, and here’s why: She was diagnosed with profound deafness at age 2½. For a few years, she wore hearing aids, with limited success. “You can’t speak until you hear,” said her dad.

    Then, before Martina’s fifth birthday, she was equipped with a cochlear implant — a device embedded behind the ear that delivers electrical stimulation to the auditory nerves. In Martina’s case, the cochlear implant brought sound and speech into daily life. 

    She’s still hearing-impaired — a cochlear implant can only do so much. But today, she attends regular classes with her younger brother, John, 9, at Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth — a small, private school with a strong technology and environment-focused curriculum.

    “It’s a godsend,” said her dad, about the cochlear devise.

    “Whenever we lose a sense, the other senses take over,” says her father. “Her eyesight is absolutely phenomenal. Her powers of observations are just tremendous.”

    And so it was that Martina traipsed off for the contest — called “The Everglades Through the Eyes of Children” — which gave students at Sacred Heart a chance to explore the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. 

    The McManus family didn’t realize it was a contest, said John, until they got a letter “out of the blue” that Martina had won.

    Her third-place photo — a time-elapsed image that looks more like an impressionistic painting than a photograph snapped by a kid — was on display at the Worth Avenue Wally Findlay Galleries, where the winners and their families were honored with a reception in January.

    Her prize? “A very nice digital camera,” said her father — so their little girl can go out there and capture the world, listening as she goes. 

By Ron Hayes

    MANALAPAN — Robert P. Strauss loved his family, opera, ballet, museums — and the town he called home for 27 years.

    “My father truly loved being in Manalapan,” his daughter, Kimberly Strauss, recalled recently. “He and my mother took a lot of pride in being here, knew all about the town, knew their neighbors. He took a lot of personal pride in helping out any way he could.”

    Mr. Strauss died peacefully on March 20, surrounded by his family. He was 82, and lived in Mia Encantada, the oceanside estate he purchased in 1987 after he and his wife, Eugenia, retired to the area.

    When Mrs. Strauss died in 2010, the couple had been married 52 years.

    “They lived happily ever after here,” his daughter said.

    Mr. Strauss could have lived anywhere. 

    His father, Maurice “Moe” Strauss, was an original founder of the successful Pep Boys chain of auto supply stores. Mr. Strauss served as a regional vice president for the company in Dallas, then returned to Philadelphia, his birthplace, to serve as a company executive for 30 years.

    In the mid-1980s, he sold his company stock, used the income to enter capital investment management and amassed an even greater fortune.

    “They had very nice things, but they didn’t flaunt it,” his daughter said. “They weren’t loud and felt no need to show everyone what they had. I think he saw Manalapan as a quieter version of high-profile society.”

    In retirement, Mr. Strauss indulged his love of culture and philanthropy. 

    Locally, he was a supporter of Palm Beach Opera, the Red Cross Ball and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. He was also a donor to Miami City Ballet and the Fuqua School of Business at his alma mater, Duke University, which he attended on a basketball scholarship.

    “He was a refined, true gentleman, and the best father ever,” his daughter said. “The best father ever. I said that to him right before he entered hospice.”

    In addition to Kimberly Strauss, he is survived by another daughter, Wendy L. Strauss of Winnetka, Ill.; a son, Baron K. Strauss of Calabasas, Calif.; and grandchildren George, Ryan and Brody Dowd.

    A funeral service was held March 23 at Rubin Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach.

    The family suggests that donations in Mr. Strauss’ memory be made to Palm Beach Opera, 415 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33401.

The Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa strives to maintain the same great service

and amenities from its days as a Ritz-Carlton.

Dignitaries and attendees take part during the March 7 unveiling of the Eau Palm Beach’s new sign.

Guests relax in the lobby as they check out some of the resort’s offerings.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

INSET BELOW: The beach bag and flip-flops that each resort guest receives.

By Steve Pike

    The Palm Beach estate-style lobby basically is the same. The restaurants have the same names — Angle and Temple Orange — and Eau Spa remains one of the world’s great luxury spas. But dig a little deeper at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan and you’ll find a greater wealth of guest experiences and awareness than when the 309-guest-room hotel operated as The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach.

    At least that’s what John Bradway, Eau Palm Beach director of marketing, hopes guests will find. Bradway came to the beachfront property in August and has been hard at work ever since, building the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa brand. 

    The hotel ownership group — RC/PB Inc. — de-flagged the hotel as a Ritz-Carlton property in July after a long dispute with Ritz-Carlton parent Marriott International. 

    The hotel was renamed Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa — the name coming from its 42,000-square-foot Eau Spa, which is recognized as one of the top spa brands in the world.

    “The spa did build some credibility in the property, but ultimately my job is to get (guests) loyal to the Eau brand,’’ Bradway said. “We’ve put together a comprehensive sales-and-marketing program and we’re advertising throughout the Northeast in newspapers, on TV and in lifestyle publications. And we’ve launched a new website.’’

    That’s all great, but in the world of luxury hotels and resorts, brand loyalty plays a major role. Guests often are loyal to one hotel brand — for example, the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons or St. Regis. Taking away a favorite hotel brand is akin to taking away their favorite flavor of ice cream and replacing it with another.

    “We’ve converted so many people’’ who were concerned about the management change, Bradway said. “All we say is, ‘Come give us a try.’ It’s about getting people through the front door. Once they see the improvements we’ve made and the place hasn’t (visually) changed dramatically, they like it.

    “A big part, too, is that 92 percent of the staff stayed on. People are loyal to brands, but they’re also loyal to service and loyal to people.’’

    It also helped that Bradway knows the Palm Beach luxury market, having spent 14 years at The Breakers Palm Beach, where his roles included assistant club operations manager, director of reservations, director of strategic marketing and, ultimately, director of innovation. Bradway also served as director of marketing at Round Hill Hotel & Villas in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and most recently was senior director of brand management at Denihan Hospitality Group in Manhattan, a family-owned hotel company with a portfolio of 14 hotels.

    “The opportunity to come back to Palm Beach, where I started my career and launch a new brand was something I couldn’t resist,’’ Bradway said. “We’re building all new marketing programs from scratch. The previous marketing (under the Ritz-Carlton flag) was all outsourced. Now, being an independent hotel, everything is done internally.’’

    That’s where the deeper guest experiences come in. For example, each guest receives a beach bag with flip-flops; a Keurig coffee maker in each room and an Illy espresso maker in the suites and a new Mediterranean breakfast buffet.

    Each guest receives a wet-bathing-suit pouch the night before departure for swimming the day of departure; and the lobby “turndown’’ at 5:30 p.m. daily features more than 100 candles and a toast to what Bradway calls “the new-fashioned” Palm Beach.

    “It’s a new way of positioning Palm Beach so it’s not the old, traditional kind people expect,” Bradway said. “We put the emphasis on the unexpected.’’ 

    SOUTH PALM BEACH — Natalie A. Kahler of South Palm Beach passed away on Feb. 5. She was 86.

    Mrs. Kahler was born May 21, 1927, in Toledo, Ohio. Shortly after World War II, she was vacationing with her parents, in Hollywood, Fla. As she was strolling with her baby sister at the beach, she met the man who would become her husband, Walter Kahler. 

    It was a typical passionate post-war marriage. Walter ended up building his own house in Lantana for Natalie and their four children.

    The children were all born in the late ’40s-early ’50s at St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach and all graduated from Lake Worth High School. 

    Natalie and Walter, who preceded her in death, also owned a summer camp in New Hampshire. Later the family summered in that state in a house that was also built by Walter.

    In the children’s teen years, they relocated their summer place to Long Beach Island, N.J.

    Natalie was a stay-at-home mom, but with a husband who thought outside the box and four children, she had quite a challenging life, nevertheless. She was a devoted wife and mother.

    Mrs. Kahler is survived by her four children and her sister (that baby she was strolling!)

    The family is planning a celebration of Natalie’s life at a future time. Both her and her husband’s ashes likely will be scattered in New Hampshire.

    Natalie passed away peacefully, in the Lantana home her husband built, in the loving care of her daughters and Hospice.

    Her neighbors at Barbican, in South Palm Beach, all cherished Natalie. She was a quiet and gentle person. In this day and age, we can all appreciate that.

— Obituary submitted by the family

A cement truck travels through the intersection of East Royal Palm Way and Southeast First Avenue

on the east side of a new apartment complex being built by Kast Construction for Ram Residential.

Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star 

By Steve Plunkett

    Construction on downtown rental projects made cranes the high points of Boca Raton’s skyline this tourist season.

    Work continues on the 261-unit Camden Boca Raton complex, at 131 S. Federal Highway, and on The Mark at CityScape, just behind 120 E. Palmetto Park Road, which will have 208 units. Billboards proclaim Camden will be ready to lease this summer, while the 12-story Mark anticipates opening early next year.

    But the construction cranes will remain a part of the downtown scene. The 350-unit Via Mizner, at Federal Highway and Camino Real, should be ready for renters by the end of next year or early 2016, architect Derek Vander Ploeg said.

    And Tower One Fifty Five, a condominium project he designed for young adults, should open at the northwest corner of Mizner Boulevard and Boca Raton Road before the 2015 tourist season begins, he said. The building will have 192 mostly one- and two-bedroom units and be 100 feet high.

    Via Mizner, the first building to be approved under the city’s interim design guidelines, will rise 140 feet. 

    Vander Ploeg said demand for apartments at the Heritage complex across from City Hall is proof that renters want to live in Boca Raton. The complex, which developed from a failed condominium project known as the Eden, now has a waiting list to get in.

    “It’s doing quite well,” Vander Ploeg said.

    Also on the drawing board to punctuate the city’s skyline is a proposed 13-story Hyatt Place Hotel for the southeast corner of Federal and Palmetto Park Road. Planners call the corner the main location in Boca Raton for a landmark building of architectural significance.

    Meanwhile, construction crews at 855 S. Federal Highway are busy building the city’s new Trader Joe’s. The California-based grocery chain has said it hopes to open by May. Its website says only that the Boca Raton store is “coming soon.” 

    All quiet on the construction front is the controversial Archstone site on East Palmetto Park between Third and Fifth avenues, which originally planned to be built and open by now.

    Charles Siemon, an attorney for the developer, Archstone Palmetto Park LLC, said this project was in the midst of being sold with an early April closing anticipated.

    The nine-story, 378-unit structure was also approved under the interim design guidelines at 100 feet high, but with balconies 13½ feet from the right of way instead of 20 feet.

    Archstone Palmetto Park LLC, the developer, got the legal go-ahead to proceed Jan. 29 but has not filed any construction drawings with the city yet, Development Services Director John Hixenbaugh said.

    The project won City Council permission in 2012 but was mired in court when residents upset by the high density and potential traffic petitioned to have a referendum on the approval. The city first said voters have no right to review a development order, a circuit judge ruled the citizens could put the issue on the ballot, the city appealed, and the 4th District Court of Appeal finally overturned the lower court Jan. 29.

    In the meantime, Archstone asked for an extra year to begin construction. The extended approval expires Feb. 27, 2015.

    “I feel they will move quickly to finish the construction plans,” Siemon said of the new owners, estimating the groundbreaking to be six months away.

    Michael Marshall, attorney for the developer, did not return a call by press time.

    As planned, Archstone Palmetto Park will be one building that appears to be three towers, with 13,448 square feet of retail on the ground floor, mostly for restaurants. The site is nearly 5.8 acres. Amenities will include a pool, clubroom, fitness room and landscaped courtyard.

Susan Bain and Laura Gawne, owners of www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com.

2013 third place-winning wedding dress

designed by Carol Touchstone. 

Photos provided

INSET BELOW: Rick and Pat Howard, owners of Sklar Furnishings, will be named Small Business Leaders of the Year by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce at its annual Business Awards Luncheon in May.

Photo provided

By Christine Davis

    Hurry and go buy some Charmin; it’s time for 10th annual Cheap Chic Weddings Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, a www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com competition started by the site’s owners, sisters Laura Gawne of Boca Raton and Susan Bain of Weston with their mother, Roxie Radford, who lived in Boca Raton for many years before she passed away in August.

    Deadline is 11 p.m. May 13.

    Here’s how it works: After planning a design, contestants must put together a wedding dress with tape, glue or needle and thread, using Charmin Ultra Strong, Ultra Soft or Basic as the “fabric” (there is a strength and texture to suit all needs, the sisters say). To help offset the cost of designing these creations (which can use up to 50 rolls of toilet paper), Charmin is providing coupons via the Cheap Chic Weddings website. 

    Contestants must make the dress and headpiece on their model or dress form and take digital photos (front, back and side), and submit the photos to Cheap Chic Weddings at TPdresscontest@gmail.com. There is no entry fee. 

    A panel at Cheap Chic Weddings will judge the digital photo entries, and the top 10 will be showcased at a live event June 12 at The Sanctuary Hotel in New York City.

    The contest was created to bring readers to their website, www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com, Bain explained, and it has turned out to be a real winner.

    “Our contest’s sponsorships go from $25,000 to $125,000, and our top sponsor pays over $100,000.”

    Some of that money, of course, goes for prizes: $10,000 for the grand prize, $5,000 for second place and $2,500 for third place.

    The first year, a few hundred people entered the contest. This year, Bain said, she expects more than 1,500 entries.

    “I’m still enamored by our first winner,” Bain said. “She made colored-toilet-paper flowers all over the dress and working buttons out of toilet paper, too. She set the precedent.”

    The bottom side of this contest is all the potty jokes.

    “We do say, ‘No yellow. No brown.’ No pun intended, but we don’t want to become the butt of a joke,” Bain said. “It really does, though, start flying at morning talk shows when the bathroom jokes get out of control.”

    One last tidbit: It’s probably not a good idea to actually get married in one of these creations.

    “We did a promotion in 2007, where one of our previous winners made a dress for one of our readers, and that couple got married at the Charmin public restrooms in Times Square. However, they are getting divorced.”

    The 52nd annual Delray Affair, April 25 through 27, will be bigger and better than ever, with more than 700 arts-and-crafts vendors, fine art, food and entertainment. 

    The event will stretch 12 city blocks, from the Intracoastal to Northwest Second Avenue. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

    New this year are mobile “Art of the Automobile at Delray Affair” collections, featuring different cars each day; and “Rendezvous at the Affair Media — Entertainment Lounge & Broadcast Center,” sponsored by PeterMark Salon Foundation, a VIP area with food tastings by local restaurants, hair and fashion show, chair massages, tanning salon, giveaways, music, dancing and an after party at Delux Nightclub, at the VIP Block on Northeast Fourth Avenue and Atlantic. Price is $20 Friday and Saturday, and $10 on Sunday.

    Garlic Fest champ Bruce Feingold, executive chef of Dada, and AJ Benacquisto, sous chef of 32 East, went head-to-head in February to battle it out in Delray Beach’s 2014 Garlic Chef Finals. They were presented with a mystery item, tofu, and given 15 minutes to create a vegan menu. Then they were instructed to switch sides, and cook up an interpretation of their competitor’s menu. In the end, Feingold’s rendition and execution won him the title once again.

    Following the recent State of the Union Address where President Obama championed raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, a number of businesses have publicly endorsed the higher rate and have already started to raise pay of their lowest-paid employees.

    “Caffe Luna Rosa of Delray Beach is proudly joining their parade, and we are doing so because we believe it is in the best, long-term financial interests of both the restaurant and our loyal, hard-working staff,” founder/partner Fran Marincola said. Approximately 20 employees will get raises.

     Over the years, Caffe Luna Rosa has helped employees set up bank accounts with direct deposit, navigate the process of obtaining their first mortgages and buying a car, and helped employees become American citizens, Marincola said. 

    “As a direct result, most of our workers embrace Caffe Luna Rosa as more than just a job. We are part of their family, and this almost always translates into their providing our guests with superior customer service.” 

    Luna Rosa is at 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. Hours are  7 a.m. to 11 p.m.  

    A rare Mickey Mantle watch, signed and worn by the Yankees slugger, is the latest addition to the Delray Beach Public Library’s baseball memorabilia collection, thanks to a donation by Caffe Luna Rosa’s founder/partner Fran Marincola, who wanted to share his artifacts of baseball history with other aficionados. 

    Other items in the collection include a contract that shows that Mantle was paid $21,000 in 1954, and autographed photos of Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell and Don Larsen. 

    Marincola said he bought the bulk of the items at a discounted price from Delray Beach residents Jim and Jodi Murray, who knew the memorabilia would be donated to the library.

    No matter what the thermometer reads, it’s always cool in Delray Beach. That’s the message the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative sends out with its new “Hot Here: It’s Always Cool in Delray Beach” summer marketing campaign.

    Created by executive director Stephanie Immelman and associate director Stephen Chrisanthus, the campaign targets in-state travelers as well as residents of cities with nonstop flights to Palm Beach International Airport. It is designed to drive customers to visit www.VisitDelrayBeach.org/hot, where they will find local hotel specials and other useful information. The Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative is a partnership among the city of Delray Beach, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. 

    Cole Leavitt of Coldwell Banker, Delray Beach, was presented with the Office Deal of the Year award by the Realtors Commercial Alliance for the sale of the former National Enquirer site in Lantana. Leavitt brokered the $3.55 million deal last summer to Palm Beach Maritime Academy. The seven-acre property, at 600 E. Coast Ave., was owned by a Louis J. Appignani trust and had been vacant for three years. 

    Crane’s BeachHouse Hotel & Tiki Bar in Delray Beach takes the Stay and Play concept to a whole new level by offering guests The Bucket List Experience, a whole array of fun activities, so take your pick.

    Bucket List Experience 1: Get Your Feet Wet. Among the many possibilities: Visit the world famous Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens or Lion Country Safari. Take a cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway. Luxuriate at an exotic spa, take a class in gourmet cooking, learn how to meditate or do yoga, enjoy an incredible dining experience, or gamble the night away in a flashy casino.

    Bucket List Experience 2: Take the Plunge. Among the many possibilities: Go jet-skiing or paddle-boarding, ride a mechanical bull, drift-fish the day away, explore the Everglades, ride a motorcycle or a horse, go nose-to-nose with a dolphin, play paintball or learn how to surf.

    Bucket List Experience 3: Ultimate Thrill Seeker. Among the possibilities: Deep-sea fishing, parasailing, scuba diving, take a helicopter ride, run a marathon or get a tattoo.

    To book The Bucket List Experience call (561) 278-1700 or visit www.cranesbeachhouse.com.

    This past year was busy for the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce, which announced new vision and mission statements. The chamber aims to be “recognized as the premier organization of choice representing and promoting the business community; and to connect business to everything that creates success.” In line with these intentions, the chamber announced three affiliation programs:  

    • The Lynn University Tuition Discount Program, which entitles chamber members to a 20 percent discount toward graduate degrees and evening or online bachelor’s degree programs. A 10 percent discount is available for immediate families of chamber members.

    • Seaview Radio affiliation, which gives new and renewing chamber members the opportunity for 20 free 30-second radio commercials aired on 95.9, 106.9FM and 960AM.  

    • Brooks Brothers Corporate Membership Program, which entitles chamber members to a 15 percent discount on merchandise.

    Thanks to its recent expansion at its Plaza del Mar location, the Plaza Theatre will present an additional lineup of cabaret and comedy: 

    “Close to You — An Evening of Karen Carpenter” on selected dates in April; “Broadway’s Second Bananas” in May; “Follow The Yellow Brick Road: The Music of Yip Harburg” in June; “Moon River: The Songs of Johnny Mercer” in July; and in August, “Oy Vey … It’s Broadway!” Pricing for the new series is $30 for each cabaret show, and $125 for all five shows.

    Open-mike comedy nights are scheduled at 8 p.m. April 26, May 31, June 28, Aug. 2 and 30. Tickets are $15. The theater also announced some new shows to its main stage lineup: Exceptions to Gravity, Forever Plaid, She Loves Me, The Assembled Parties, Phantom and That’s Ballroom. For information, visit the box office, 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, call (561) 588-1820, or visit www.plazatheatre.net.

    Rick and Pat Howard, owners of Sklar Furnishings, will be named Small Business Leaders of the Year by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce at its annual Business Awards Luncheon in May. And here’s some more news about the Howards: They’ve just opened two innovative galleries in their contemporary furniture showroom and design center. The Stressless Gallery features a seating line with recliners endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association, and Il Loft Gallery offers a collection of custom-designed furniture by Giorgio Saporiti.

    Sklar Furnishings works with selected high-end furniture, accessory and lighting suppliers from North America, Italy, Scandinavia and the Far East to offer customers the opportunity to express their personal style. Customers can create their own designs by specifying the exact color, fabric, wood finish, shape and size of their furnishings, from sofas available in increments of one inch to dining tables, chairs and wall units.

    A report released February by Healthgrades named Boca Raton Regional Hospital one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for 2014, the fourth year in a row for the recognition.
In order to earn a place on the list, a facility had to have mortality and complication rates low enough to place them in the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for the last seven consecutive years.
    The organization, which considered nearly 4,500 hospitals, used seven years of Medicare data and looked at the 27 most common diagnoses and procedures in the Medicare population to do its analysis.
    Boca Regional has also been named as a Healthgrades 2014 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence for the 10th year in a row, placing the hospital among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance. 

    Also in February, officials at Boca Raton Regional Hospital announced that Fitch Ratings has affirmed the hospital’s investment-grade credit rating of BBB, while concurrently upgrading the organization’s rating outlook from stable to positive.

    Recently, Boca Raton Regional Hospital paid $1.65 million to Signet Real Estate Holdings for the 4,084-square-foot office building at 610 West Glades Road. The property, on 1.27 acres near the hospital’s parking lot, was last bought for $871,827 in 2003.

    The property became available after Tristate Imaging Group acquired 11 imaging centers from Signet Diagnostic Imaging and an additional five from Elite Imaging in October. Since the deal included two centers in Boca Raton, one of them was closed and sold.

    In March, the Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation held its fourth annual Women of Worth Stiletto Awards Luncheon at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach.  Speakers included Scripps associate professor Courtney Miller and Dena Sisk Foman, a partner at McLaughlin & Stern, LLP. The event is held annually to recognize and celebrate women in leadership who have made a valuable contribution in Palm Beach County. The 2014 winners were: Corporate: Aleida Socarras, Florida Public Utilities; Entrepreneur: Deana Pizzo, IT Solutions of South Florida; Young Professionals: Caitlin Mertzlufft, NextEra Energy Resources; and Nonprofit: Diana Stanley, The Lord’s Place, Inc.

Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her cdavis9797@comcast.net.

Lifeguard Dylan Kosten with the wandering goat.

Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

    It took a while, but Dylan Kosten finally got his goat.

    After work early last month, Kosten, a part-time lifeguard for Boca Raton Ocean Rescue, was heading to a beachfront party near Spanish River Park with other lifeguards when an elusive goat — yes, goat — that had been in the area for several weeks, made a guest appearance. 

    Fearing for the animal’s safety, Kosten and two other lifeguards decided it was time to do what they do best. They sprung to the rescue — only to discover that corralling a frightened goat had the potential to be as challenging as saving a struggling swimmer. 

    When a makeshift lasso didn’t work, Kosten, who grew up on a farm, decided to take a direct approach and lunged at the goat.

    “I grabbed him by the horns and lifted him off the ground,” Kosten recalls, adding that the goat immediately calmed down. “It was like holding a cat.” 

    After an hourlong chase, Kosten and his roundup partners, lifeguards Johnny Santosuosso and Greg Ryan, grabbed the goat and brought it back to the festivities. 

    “We walked it to the barbecue like it was a dog,” Kosten said.

    At the party, the goat got a lot of attention and he seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

    “The goat was a special guest,” said Ocean Rescue Capt. Clint Tracy.

    After the barbecue, the goat got a lift to the home of another lifeguard, who made a place for him in his yard.

    But the goat with a fancy for freedom soon figured out a way to escape and was discovered early the next morning by a neighbor, who tied him to a tree and called police. 

    Officers, somewhat surprised to find a goat in the northeast Boca Raton neighborhood, came and took it into custody.

    For now the little fellow is enjoying living on the farm of a Boca Raton detective who has temporarily adopted him. 

    “It’s got a good life now,” Kosten said.

    Where the goat came from and how he ended up in Spanish River Park, where lifeguards speculate he made himself a home, remains a mystery. But a tag on his ear that read “meat” may have been an indication of what could have be in store for him down the road. 

     For the lifeguards, who have seen foxes, skunks and iguanas in the park and on the beach, rescuing a goat is a first. 

    “It’s the most absurd thing,” says Kosten. “Who would have thought I’d be chasing a goat in the dunes, especially in Boca Raton.”

By Cheryl Blackerby

    The Palm Beach County chapter of the nonprofit International Dark-Sky Association gave 23 Boca Raton condominium associations awards for making their lighting more efficient and turtle-friendly.

    The awards were presented at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s Sea Turtle Day Festival on March 1 in Boca Raton.

    “We’ve noticed an increase in people asking us what they should do about lighting,” said Kirt Rusenko, marine conservationist at Gumbo Limbo. “We tell them to use full-cutoff light fixtures, which put the light on the ground where you need it, not shining up into the sky.”

    The associations and homeowners who change lighting notice immediate benefits, he said. 

    “You usually save roughly 60 percent on the electric bill when you use these fixtures. And condo members say they notice the decks and pools are brighter, making them safer, even though the buildings are darker,” he said.

    With full-cutoff lighting, nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings safely find their way back to the ocean, guided by reflected star and moonlight instead of the bright lights of condo buildings.  

    Rusenko and IDA are encouraging cities and inland residents, as well as coastal homeowners, to use full-cutoff lights to stop “sky glow,” the light that looks like an orange smog at night over cities.

    In Florida, excessive lighting disrupts the biological cycles of wildlife. “Light pollution” can drive sea turtles from nesting on the beaches, chase fish away from the shoreline and interfere with the mating habits of frogs. 

    The Council of Science and Public Health reports studies that show nighttime artificial lighting adversely affects humans, too. It disrupts circadian biological rhythms that can increase cancer risks and some chronic diseases, and even contribute to obesity. 

    If homeowners would cut down on the amount of light used at night, less money would be wasted by governments, businesses and homeowners, and more nocturnal animals would be able to live their lives as nature intended, said Rusenko.

    He tells Florida residents to look for Dark-Sky approved lighting at all Lowe’s and most Home Depot stores.

    For more information about the South Florida chapter of International Dark-Sky Association: idasouthflorida.org

Condo kudos

Turtle-friendly lighting won these condos awards:

San Remo

Yacht and Racquet Club

Villa Oceana

Ocean Club

Ocean Reef Towers

Brighton

Marbella

Boca Mar

Beresford

Excelsior

Sabal Shores

Sabal Point

Presidential Place

Boca Beach Club and Condo

Cloister del Mar

Cloister Beach Towers

Addison

Placide

Whitehall

Luxuria

Stratford Arms

Whitehall South

3000 South

The twin arches of Sanborn Square were dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 28.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

    Two distinctive arches that Boca Raton officials hope will become downtown landmarks now greet visitors to Sanborn Square Park.

    The steel arches, mounted on stone-and-tile columns, arc over Northeast First Avenue at Northeast Second Street and Palmetto Park Road. The section of First Avenue was renamed Sanborn Promenade as part of the festivities.

    All five City Council members attended a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 28.

    Money for the arches came from cash left over from the Downtown Promenade Project, which saw pavers replace asphalt and sidewalks on First Avenue and Second Street as well as sidewalks on Boca Raton Road. Benches, bollard lighting and new trees also were part of the streetscape improvements designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly.

    The steel for the arches was fabricated in Alabama and shaped in North Carolina. It is painted the same dark green as the streetlights along the promenade.

    The center of each arch is 16 feet high. The original 1955 Sanborn Square dedication plaque will eventually be featured on one base.

    The Downtown Boca Raton Advisory Committee recommended First Avenue’s renaming and helped guide the project through Community Redevelopment Agency approvals.

    Assistant City Manager Mike Woika said residents and businesses downtown like the new arches. “I think they’re well on their way to becoming landmarks,” he said.

By Cheryl Blackerby

    The last of four beach renourishment projects is underway, and it’s up against an April 30th deadline that may not be met if rough seas continue. 

    Work on the project at Boca Raton’s north beach started March 23. The dredge was forced to stop pumping sand March 25 because of strong winds. 

    “We had to pull off because of the weather. We hope to start back as soon as the winds calm down,” said Jennifer Bistyga, engineer with the City of Boca Raton. 

    Boca’s north beach as well as beaches in Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach renourishment projects. The Army Corps deadline for those projects is April 30, and if the project is not done by that time the city of Boca will have to apply for a new permit. (The fourth project was south Boca Raton beach, which is not an Army Corps project, but the city used the same contractor to save money.)

    “If we don’t meet the deadline, we would have to go for a formal permit extension because the Florida Department of Environmental Protection doesn’t allow us to dredge beyond April 30,” she said.

    The city would probably only be able to get an extension into mid-May because of turtle nesting season, she said. 

    But the dredge has already placed about 40,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach in its first two days, a good head start, she said. “We feel confident we have more than enough days to get the job done before the deadline.” 

    Meanwhile, winds and surf have carved out high escarpments on Ocean Ridge’s beach, a renourishment project that was finished Feb. 9. 

    “At the southern end of Oceanfront Park, there’s an escarpment about 1,550 feet long and 4 feet high, and places that are 6 feet high. It’s the biggest escarpment I’ve seen in Palm Beach County,” said Tom Warnke, a member of the executive committee of the Palm Beach chapter of Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit environmental group that works to protect oceans and beaches.

    The county is aware of the escarpments, said Tracy Logue, coastal geologist for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.

    “We’ve been monitoring the escarpments and updating the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on the conditions,” she said. “If necessary, a knock-down will be conducted as late as possible to minimize additional scarping during the peak (turtle) nesting period.”

    The county sea turtle experts will make the decisions on whether or not to relocate any newly deposited nests near an escarpment, she said. 

    The county has a small window of opportunity to move a nest. “According to state permit conditions, nests requiring relocation must be moved no later than 9 a.m. the morning following deposition,” she said.

    The non-profit Reef Rescue group has been researching the turbidity produced by the sand pumping at all four beaches, and saw few problems with Delray Beach but a big problem at Boca’s north beach.

    “They were able to keep the silt plumes under control in Delray Beach. This company has a smaller piece of equipment than the big dredge used last year, and they could control the amount of of silt generated. I don’t think we have any impacts to reefs,” said Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue.

    Boca’s north beach is a different story, he said.

    “With just one day of pumping, we saw a massive amount of turbidity. We could see turbidity coming off the beach and going all the way to Boca Inlet,” he said. “Unlike the other projects, this is a critical habitat for endangered staghorn coral. I’m very concerned about this project.”

    On March 25, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel came to Ocean Ridge to make a ceremonial check presentation for the $12 million in federal money that Congress is contributing through the Army Corps to the county’s beach projects, including Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge and north Boca Raton beach — enough to cover about 60 percent of the work. The rest is coming from the state, county and city governments.

By Rich Pollack

    It is a Palm Beach County tourist season best defined by storms.

    Snowstorms in the rest of the country, no storms to speak of in South Florida and the perfect storm of an improving economy plus pent-up demand and strong promotions all having come together to help break tourism records.

    “At both our restaurants, this is the best season we’ve ever seen,” says Luke Therien, whose family has owned and operated the Banana Boat in Boynton Beach for 35 years and the nearby Prime Catch for 10 years. “We’re seeing a much higher traffic count.”

    At local hotels, occupancy rates are booming, with guests booking earlier and staying longer.

    In February for example, hotel occupancy in Palm Beach County reached 90 percent and at Crane’s Beachhouse, a boutique hotel in Delray Beach, February was as close to being sold out as you can get with a 98 percent occupancy rate, up from 87 percent last February. 

    “February occupancy was a record,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches, which is responsible for promoting tourism throughout the county.

    Many of those visitors came by air, with Palm Beach International Airport seeing more than 1.1 million passengers flowing through its corridors, a 6.7 percent increase over the same period last year.

    All of this translates to good news for local businesses, which depend on tourists to help bolster their winter sales.

    The Boca Raton Resort and Club is having an outstanding season, according to Troy McLellan, president and CEO of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.

    “The success of the hotel in its group and leisure stays equates to success for our local retailers and restaurants,” he said. “And the hotel is having a phenomenal year.” 

    In Delray Beach, tourism-related businesses such as Delray Yacht Cruises, which offers Intracoastal sightseeing tours, have also benefited from the influx of visitors.

    “It’s been a very busy season,” said Vice President Meghan Christian. “It’s been busier than last season.”

    Much of the credit for the increase in visitors to South Florida can be given to Mother Nature. Just about everyone in the local hospitality industry points to the miserable winter in the Northeast and much of the rest of the county as the main reason tourists are flocking to the area.

    But Peter Ricci, director of the hospitality management program at Florida Atlantic University, says other factors have also played a key role, including the rebounding economy, pent-up demand and a significant increase in tourism promotion at the state, county and local level.

    “It’s like a perfect storm of several factors coming together,” he said.

    Ricci says a commitment by the state and strong promotional efforts by county organizations such as Discover the Palm Beaches and the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative have also helped drive numbers up.

    “There are people who used to come to Florida regularly but who might have been lured away to other places,” he said. “Now Florida [marketing] is in their face.” 

    Discover the Palm Beaches promoted the area in the Northeast and the Washington D.C. area through its “Winter in the Palm Beaches” campaign, which hit at about the same time as the bad weather up North.

    In Delray Beach, one of the few local cities with its own organization focused specifically on tourism, the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative has been working closely with state and county groups to bring visitors to town.

    At Crane’s Beachhouse, General Manager Cathy Balestriere sees the upswing in tourism continuing into the summer. 

    By early March, Crane’s had already booked 118 room nights for June compared to just eight at the same time last year.

Protesters chanted in the fountain area between Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club and

the Boca Raton Resort to protest George Zoley, president of the GEO Group.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

    About a dozen human-rights activists protested outside the entrance to the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club in Boca Raton on March 24 and voiced support for hundreds of unauthorized immigrants on hunger strikes at several privately run detention centers.
    Why choose the yacht club for the demonstration? Because one of the residents there is George Zoley, president of GEO Group of Boca Raton, which operates eight detention centers for federal immigration officials in a half-dozen states.
    “We want Zoley to stop retaliating against the hunger strikers and recognize this as a human-rights issue,” said Britni Hiatt, a Florida Atlantic University graduate student and one of the protest’s organizers.  “We’re here to vocalize the injustice and stand with people who are being punished for no reason.”
    The hunger strikes began in early March with about 700 detainees at the GEO-run Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Wash., and have provoked similar strikes and protests at facilities in at least two other states. The detainees want better conditions — better food, medical care and higher pay for work inside the centers — and also are calling on the government to change a federal deportation policy which they say breaks up immigrant families.
    “These inhumane conditions have to improve,” Hiatt said. “The detainees deserve just treatment.”
    On March 13, President Obama ordered the Department of Homeland Security to review the government’s deportation laws and see if immigration officials can enforce them “more humanely.”

    Immigrant activists have complained that authorities and prison managers have retaliated against the hunger strikes by putting participants in solitary confinement and threatening to disrupt their immigration cases.
    “We want to bring the demands of the hunger strikers to Zoley’s doorstep,” says Cici Claar, one of the organizers at the yacht club demonstration. “The whistle has been blown. It’s time for GEO to address these offenses and stop engaging in retaliation and suppression.”
    Zoley also is the former chairman of the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees who last year helped kindle a firestorm on campus when he proposed naming the school’s athletic stadium after his prison company.
Neither GEO nor Zoley responded immediately to requests for comment on prison conditions and the protests.

Highland Beach Town Clerk Beverly Brown swears in Commissioner Dennis  J. Sheridan

during a special commission meeting March 12.

Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star 

By Rich Pollack

    Incumbent Highland Beach Town Commissioner Dennis Sheridan narrowly defeated political newcomer Rhoda Zelniker, winning by just 18 votes in an election in which close to 1,000 ballots were cast. 

    Of the 3,404 registered voters in Highland Beach, 975 ballots were cast — a 29 percent voter turnout.

    “This was a well-fought election on both sides,” said Sheridan, who garnered 495 votes to Zelniker’s 477.

    Now entering his second three-year term, Sheridan has been a strong supporter of the $850,000 renovation of Town Hall as well as the purchase or lease of a new ladder truck to replace the town’s existing fire truck, which he says is 18 years old and functionally obsolete.

    “I am very appreciative of the voters who had the faith and trust to elect me for another three-year term,” Sheridan said. “Although Rhoda is new to town government, she has a great interest in protecting our beaches and shores and our environment and I commend her for that.” 

    Also sworn in last month for another three-year term was Mayor Bernard Featherman, who was unopposed.

By Rich Pollack

    The long-awaited $850,000 renovation of Highland Beach’s Town Hall is finally underway. Construction crews began demolition late last month.

    Expected to continue through the fall, the project is designed to unite the Police Department, which is now in separate building, and will include upgrades to the Town Commission chambers and other facilities.

    As the construction continues, the Highland Beach Police Department will be working out of a trailer behind Town Hall, while most meetings usually held in the commission chambers have been moved to the library.

    The majority of other town functions will not be directly impacted by the renovations.

    “Despite the construction, we expect the level of disruption to be minimal,” Town Manager Kathleen Weiser said.

    As a part of the project, a hallway that made it possible to access the town’s small post office by walking through Town Hall has been temporarily blocked. Visitors still can get there, however, by either driving or walking around the construction area.

    In addition, the public will not have access to temporary police facilities, but visitors can go to the front desk of Town Hall during regular business hours and request that an officer or department representative meet them there. To minimize parking problems during the construction, the town has arranged for construction crews and some town employees to park at nearby St. Lucy Catholic Church.

    “The church has been really good about helping us and we’re very appreciative,” Weiser said.

    Town officials say that once completed, the renovations will improve efficiency and provide much-needed additional space for the Police Department. Previously, commission chambers and part of the Police Department were housed in an older building to the south, while administrative offices and the rest of the Police Department were housed is a building to the north.

    The idea of renovating buildings and making more room for the Police Department first surfaced in the 2005-2006 budget, according to town officials, but it was later withdrawn. The project continued to be discussed over the years and was placed in the budget in 2010, but again funding never was made available.

    New life was breathed into the project in 2012 when the town hired an architect to draw up plans. Town commissioners, however, delayed the project again that year during the budgeting process.

    The current commission, in passing the 2013-2014 budget, agreed to take the estimated $850,000 for the project from reserve funds.

    “These renovations will really make a big difference and make it possible for us to better serve the residents of Highland Beach,” Police Chief Craig Hartmann said.

    The book of a lifetime – the life of Boca Raton philanthropist and community activist Florence A. “Flossy” Keesely — will soon be available.

    The memoir that’s been more than a year in the making, will be unveiled on Keesely’s 100th birthday April 18, in front of the statue/fountain she donated to Mizner Park.  

    The statue, created by Boca sculptor and artist Yaacov Heller, depicts Keesely reaching skyward for a star.

    The Rotary Club of Boca Raton will be selling the book for $25 from 1 to 6 p.m. on April 18. 

    Proceeds will be donated to Flossy’s Dream Foundation scholarships.

    Keesely has been a member of the Rotary Club since 2011.

    The book is called “Thru the Footsteps of Time,” and traces her life from her youth in Philadelphia through her 67-year marriage to Nicholas “Nick” Keesely and the years following his death during which she continued to contribute to the community and many charitable organizations.  She organized and sponsored five “Pathway to the Stars” concerts at Mizner Park from 2009 to 2013.

    “Thru the Footsteps of Time” was written by Dale King and his wife, Julia Hebert. Document research was done by Bettie McMillan. The book was designed by Scott Simmons and published by Jerry Lower of The Coastal Star. Information and the collection of photos for the book were provided by Flossy Keesely. 

— Dale King