Dredging crews have been gathering sand and rocks from

the Boynton Inlet for months to improve the navigation there.

Some the the materials are being used to create the

Grassy Flats project west of the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course.

Large rocks are being used to armour the inlet jetty.

Photo by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

Graphic from Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management

By Cheryl Blackerby

    It was serendipity that excavation of the Boynton Beach Inlet sand trap happened to coincide with the building of two mangrove islands called Grassy Flats in the Lake Worth Lagoon.

    On one hand, county officials had non-beach-compatible sand and rocks that needed to go somewhere and, on the other hand, an eco-project for which they were about to spend $500,000 for sand. 

    That was an aha moment for Dan Bates, deputy director of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, who saw the happy coincidence of two projects coming together and the chance to save a half-million dollars in the process.

    “We couldn’t have planned it better. As the inlet project was going on, Grassy Flats was coming up, and we had a great opportunity. The sand and rock byproduct that can’t go on the beach was perfect for this project,” said Julie Bishop, environmental director for the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management.

    The Grassy Flats Lake Worth Lagoon Restoration Project, which will create 10.5 acres of seagrass habitat and 1.1 acres of salt marsh, will increase the food and nursery habitat for fish, manatees and wading birds while improving water quality. Work is expected to be completed by the fall of 2014.

    Starting in mid-December, one to two barges a day loaded sand and rocks at the inlet and transported it four miles north to the Grassy Flats project on the east side of the lagoon near the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course.

    Rocks that are too big for the new islands will go to an artificial reef near the inlet, she said. Beach-compatible sand is put on nearby beaches.

    The sand and rocks from the inlet sand trap will be pumped onto the islands to cap the muck sediments that had created a “dead zone” with poor water quality and very little plant habitat. 

    About 1 to 2 feet of muck sediment — including pesticides and fertilizers —was deposited in the lagoon over time by the C51 Canal. Some of the sediment came from Lake Okeechobee and the rest from the canal basin. 

    “We actually get discharges to Lake Worth Lagoon from three canals,” she said, adding that the area is far from ocean inlets, and there’s not a lot of natural flushing of the lagoon water.  

    The new sand will create two islands where 2,900 red mangroves and 25,000 plugs of cordgrass will be planted, which will support wildlife and oyster habitat and improve long-term water quality.

    The total Grassy Flats project cost is $2.5 million.

    “We’re getting wonderful support from grants,” she said.

    Grants include $110,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection, $777,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the county is expecting an award of $842,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The balance will be made up in matching funds from Palm Beach County, she said.

    “We’re going to cap those muck sediments with clean sand and restore a natural sand bottom with over 10 acres of seagrass habitat, and we expect water quality improvement,” she said. “We will create mangrove islands and a ring of rock to provide oyster habitat.”

    The area won’t be called the “dead zone” again, she said.

    “That is changed. We’ve done over $20 million in restoration,” she said. “We will have a great positive impact on this area. We will see a return of wildlife, wading birds, manatees and mangroves, which work as fish nurseries,” she said.

    The two mangrove islands will be exposed at low tide and underwater at high tide when completed, she said. The cordgrass will go in first, acting as a stabilizer until the mangroves take hold in one to two years. 

    The county hopes volunteers will help plant the islands this summer.

Pipes and heavy equipment needed for the renouishment project

have been staged on the beach in Ocean Ridge waiting for calmer seas.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    A sand dredge moved from the Port of Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge Dec. 19, but the beach renourishment project was delayed by weather and the holidays.

    The dredge returned to the port and is expected to start work in Ocean Ridge Jan. 3, according to Dan Bates, deputy director of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.

    After delays from bad weather including high winds during most of November, the beach renourishment project in south Boca Raton finally started the day before Thanksgiving and finished pumping sand on 0.9 miles of beach Dec. 9.

    “The dry beach was widened 60 feet on average the entire length,” said Jennifer Bistyga, engineer with the city of Boca Raton.

    The dredge is expected to go to the north Boca Raton beach at the end of February and early March after finishing beach renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach, she said. 

    Sand will be dredged from borrow areas about 1,800 feet offshore onto 1.1 miles of beach in Ocean Ridge, said Tracy Logue, coastal geologist for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management. 

    The Ocean Ridge project is expected to take 34 days barring any weather delays. Sand will be put on the Ocean Ridge beach starting at the Ocean Club just south of the southernmost groin and end at Edith Street, she said. 

    Another Ocean Ridge project, the modification of five T-head groins, was completed in mid-December. These are the southernmost of eight groins  south of the Boynton Inlet.  

    The groins were built to keep sand to the south of the inlet from eroding too much. “The sand, which comes from the sand transfer plant and is deposited on the south side of the inlet, is supposed to filter through,” Logue said. However, “the groins were trapping too much sand.” 

    About two feet of the top layer of rocks of the groin “stems” perpendicular to the beach were removed to lower the groins and allow more sand to drift over them to the south. 

    “We took one rock layer off the top so sand can go through more easily,” Logue said. 

Erosion a problem

    Beaches located directly down-drift of inlets can experience persistent erosion, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Recession of the shoreline can occur at a high rate, and breaching becomes a possibility at inlets on barrier islands.”

    The groins are built of granite boulders, about 2 to 3 feet wide and tall, and are sunk into the ground about 8 feet below the sand floor and stand about 4 and a half feet above the sand. 

    All eight groins are south of the inlet, and the five that were modified are south of the sand discharge pipe. The modified groins are all behind private property. 

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed the project and used seismic testing to  monitor vibration from the excavation, she said. “Since they were running heavy equipment on the beach, they wanted to make sure there was no damage to a house, and no vibrations that could cause a crack in a pool, for instance.”

    Excavators were used to remove the big boulders, some of which were deposited inside concrete panels to help reinforce the north jetty.

    “Rocks had settled inside the concrete panels and there was space to put more rock in. The more rock you have, the more it weakens the force of the waves. The rest of the boulders will be stored and will probably go into artificial reefs,” Logue said.

    The beach renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach and north Boca Raton are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach projects. The Army Corps deadline for those projects is April 30, and the work should be finished well before the deadline if seas remain calm, said Bistyga.  

    The south Boca Raton beach renourishment is not an Army Corps project but the city used  the same contractor to save money, she said.

Barbara Molina

By Dan Moffett

    Five years and countless hours of deliberation in the making, the Briny Breezes’ comprehensive land use plan officially became the blueprint for the community’s future when it won the unanimous approval of the Town Council on Dec. 19.
    The plan would enable the town to expand beyond its mobile-home-park heritage by allowing traditional one- and two-story single-family structures, a commercial corridor of small businesses and low-rise multistory condos and rental units on the west side of State Road A1A.
    It is the most significant course-setting for the seaside community since the $510 million Ocean Land sale fell apart in 2007 and left residents wondering what their future should look like. It is the first update of the town’s land-use plan since 1989.
    Jerry Lower, the chairman of the town’s Planning and Zoning Board that developed the plan, says Briny will benefit from allowing more storm-worthy housing — homes that are more insurable — and having the flexibility to make changes if it wants.
    “Right now our zoning says we have two businesses, we have some public facilities, we have some parking lots,” said Lower, who is the publisher of The Coastal Star. “We don’t have a lot of freedom in what we can allow ourselves to do. So this whole comprehensive plan is set up with the idea of giving ourselves the freedom to evolve if and when we choose to.”
    But changes will occur only if Briny Breezes Inc., which owns the park, wants them. The corporation is a co-operative of residents who own voting shares based on the size and location of their lots. It will be up to the corporation to decide how the new 117-page document is implemented.
    “The comprehensive plan allows change but doesn’t mandate it,” said Alderman Sue Thaler.
    The plan now goes to the state for final approval and adoption.
In other business:
    • The Town Council had to do some scrambling to fill seats and have a quorum for the December meeting after the abrupt resignation of newly minted Mayor Gerard Devine.
    The day before the meeting, Devine sent an 11-word fax to the town: “Effective immediately, I hereby resign as Mayor of Briny Breezes, Florida.”
    Council members said they were blindsided and have no idea why he quit. “Who knows, it could be anything,” said Alderman Nancy Boczon.
    With Alderman Pete Fingerhut absent, Devine’s exit forced the council to install Alderman Thaler as its president and move Sharon Kendrigan from president to mayor, a position she said she will hold for only a day. Kendrigan said she was standing by her plan that the December meeting would end her seven-year run on the council.
    “She will be missed,” said Boczon, who said she asked Kendrigan to stay on as mayor.  “She’s a workaholic. She’s a smart woman who knows how to organize. You couldn’t ask for anybody better.”
    Kendrigan said her appreciation for government and public service was kindled during her early years in southern Minnesota farm country when she held office in her local 4-H. “I have learned a lot about government in the last seven years,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it and now I wish everyone good luck.”
    • On another 3-0 vote, the council unanimously approved Barbara Molina to fill the council seat vacated by Kendrigan.
Molina first visited Briny in 2002 and moved to the community full-time in July. For two decades, she lived in Kaiserlautern, Germany, and worked as a civilian teacher for the children of U.S. military members at Ramstein Air Base. She taught French and Spanish and is also fluent in German.
    “I think it’s important to be active in one’s community,” Molina said. 

South Palm Beach patrol officer Nick Alvaro is retiring

after 30 years of public service.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

South Palm Beach patrol officer Jason LaForte (center)

displays his life-saver medal with (from left)

his mother Rosanna LaForte, acting police Chief Carl Webb,

his daughter Gianna LaForte and Mayor Donald Clayman.

Photo provided

By Dan Moffett

    The South Palm Beach Police Department is quietly going through an unprecedented overhaul after the recent departures of two of the most experienced officers in the town’s history.
    In November, police Chief Roger Crane retired after 28 years with the department, including nearly two decades as its leader.
    Then in December, Lt. Nick Alvaro retired after a 30-year career in law enforcement, 13 of them in South Palm Beach.
    Alvaro was one of the department’s most versatile contributors. Besides serving as a road patrol supervisor, he was a certified fire inspector and evidence specialist. Members of the Town Council might have appreciated him most, however, as a grant writer who helped secure tens of thousands of dollars in subsidies for the town.
    “Through his diligence and his grant writing, most of it done on his own time, we’ve probably obtained between $70,000 and $80,000 worth of police equipment over the years,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello. “He is a lieutenant who gets the job done with no fanfare, and he will be sorely missed.”
    With two vacant positions in the eight-officer department, Town Manager Rex Taylor and acting Chief Carl Webb are busy screening candidates to hire. Taylor says they have some promising prospects, and he thinks they’ll be able to fill the openings relatively soon.

Honoring one of its own
    At its Dec. 17 meeting, the Town Council acknowledged the fine performance of another of its officers.
    Patrol officer Jason LaForte was making his rounds not long before dawn on a November morning when he noticed a resident having a medical emergency in a condominium parking lot. LaForte quickly assisted the elderly man and summoned help.
    “We’re a quiet force,  but every once in a while, something comes up,” Webb said.
    The chief said the resident was able to survive the incident only because of LaForte’s alertness and fast response.
    “His direct action saved the life of one of our residents,” Webb said. “Without that, it’s guaranteed that resident wouldn’t be here today. What a great job.”
    LaForte, 41, is a 14-year veteran with the department. The town honored him with a life-saver medal and plaque.
“I’m happy I was there to help him,” LaForte said. “I feel good that he made it all right and he’s still around to be with his family.”
    In other business, the council voted unanimously (4-0, with Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan absent because of illness) to send $1,000 to the town of Lantana to help defray the cost of the fireworks display during December’s Lantana bridge opening. “The fireworks were spectacular,” said Councilman Robert Gottlieb. “All our residents enjoyed them.”

The group that owns the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn is focusing

on immediate issues, such as restoring the sea walls.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Once a political hot button for the town of South Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn is getting an image upgrade under its new owners.

    An investment group paid $8.25 million for the 1.1-acre site in November 2012. Since then, they hired Trust Hospitality of Coral Gables to manage the 58-room hotel and run the oceanfront Tides Bar & Grille.

    “We kept the menu. The food was one of the best things about the hotel when we bought it,” said Gary Cohen, CEO of Paragon Acquisition Group LLC in Boca Raton.

    They’ve done minor renovations to keep things running and are mulling what to do with the property. “The long-term prospects for that piece of land are as condos, not a hotel,” said Cohen, without saying when that would occur.

    The land underneath the hotel has nearly doubled in taxable value in the past year, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.  It was appraised at $5.8 million for the 2013 tax year. 

    The 59-year-old hotel is known as the Hawaiian to locals because of its Polynesian-style architecture with a winged roof. Its bar was popular happy hour place with National Enquirer reporters when the tabloid was based in Lantana. And it was known for victory parties hosted by Town Council candidates.

    In 2002, the Paloka family, through Kosova Realty, paid $3.3 million for the two-story motel, then called the Palm Beach Hawaiian Inn. 

    In 2006, they sought approval to build a $250 million, 14-story project with two underground parking levels, but it was rejected the following year, pitting condo owner against condo owner.

    A second attempt in 2009 for a scaled-back 10-story, 99-unit design also was rejected.

    In 2010, town voters made zoning changes more difficult by requiring a referendum. The current zoning for that slice of oceanfront property allows 33 units to the acre, according to Rex Taylor, town manager. 

    A more dense project, such as the Palokas’ second version, would now require a referendum.

    But for now, Cohen’s group is concentrating on more immediate problems, such as restoring the sea wall that protects the hotel from the ocean’s waves. He hopes to have that permit in 60 days. 

     His group also has hired coastal engineers to advise them on rising sea levels and what can be done to protect the hotel. “They are looking to Palm Beach to see if what they are doing, in terms of sand, can be done to rebuild the beach in front of the inn,” Cohen said.

By Jane Smith

    The town of South Palm Beach will offer its popular Spotlight series of lectures and music, starting Jan. 8 with a piano concert by the Tokyo-born Yoko Sata Kothari.

    The music selections are offered twice a month on Wednesdays through March. Robert Sharon, a concert pianist who is a Juilliard School of Music graduate, oversees the rest of the musical dates.

    “I asked him to change up his music series each time,” said Rex Taylor, South Palm Beach town manager. “I believe he’s done a good job of it.” The culture program is in its 18th year.

    Sharon, who chaired the Performing Arts Division at Wellington High School and received the William T. Dwyer Award of Excellence in Education, has this lineup scheduled: Tenor John Matz on Jan. 22, The Mims Family Singers on Feb. 5, bass singer Dean Peterson on Feb. 19, pianist Sharon on March 5 and musical theater on March 19.

    On the alternate weeks, attendees can choose current affairs lectures on Wednesdays or Thursday nights. 

    This year, Taylor visited Florida Atlantic University’s Lifelong Learning Program to hear the lecturers speak.

    “I try to offer a variety of speakers who can give more in-depth information than you’ll find on the local news,” he said. 

    He is also fond of catchy titles, such as “Why do intelligent people often behave so foolishly?” That lecture by psychologist Bert Diament will kick off the lecture series on Jan. 15 and 16. 

    Robert Watson, who is a professor and coordinator of American Studies at Lynn University, will speak on “America’s first crisis: The war of 1812” on Feb. 26 and 27.

     “Dr. Watson has a following,” said Taylor, who looks for lecturers who can give an interesting talk.

    Not every lecturer has a doctorate. Frank Cerabino, the local columnist for The Palm Beach Post, has a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. He’s known for finding the humor in news, and that will be his topic when he speaks on Feb. 12 and 13.

    Lecturers and musicians receive an honorarium between $1,000 and $2,000, Taylor said.

    The Spotlight series, held in the town’s council hall, is open to the public. The lecture and music series cost $70 each. Individual tickets are sold if there is space available. For information, call 588-8889.

Jeannette Bogart of Boca Raton hosted a popular cable-TV cooking show

in New York and has written several cookbooks on preparing healthful fare.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Many years ago, Jeannette Bogart was a stay-at-home mom in New York’s Westchester County who had an interest in healthy cooking. When her children grew up and left home, Bogart’s interest took on a whole new dimension. 

    She began writing cookbooks and making cooking-demonstration videos, eventually landing her own show on a cable TV station near her home in Mamaroneck, N.Y. 

    Soon she was taking her show on the road. When her husband, Fred, a gold trader for a prominent New York City bank, went on business trips, she went along.

    “Let’s say we were going to Spain,” said Bogart, who lives in coastal Boca Raton. “I would fax ahead to our hotel, let the chef know I was coming, and arrange a videographer. The first one I did like that was teaching the chef of the hotel how to make a bread.”

    But wouldn’t a European chef already know how to “make a bread”?

    “He knew how to make bread, but not my way,” says Bogart. “My way is using the grains — flax seed, wheat germ, oat bran, a lot of grains that you didn’t find so easily then.”

    Bogart — known as Nana Nettie to her two grandsons — wrote a cookbook titled Nana Nettie’s Special Recipes for Healthier Living that caught the attention of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. She was asked to teach a couple of cooking classes at Hadassah College in Jerusalem. 

    Sensing the international appeal of these healthy recipes (no added salt, no added sugar, no white flour), Bogart had the book translated into five languages.

    A subsequent book, Nana Nettie’s Natural Recipes for the Kid’s Kitchen, was written at the request of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Bogart donated 100 of the books to the Greater Palm Beach County Chapter, which made the books available to families and children.

    “Jeannette really cares about kids,” says Esther Swann, JDRF senior development coordinator. “She wanted to create healthy recipes that kids with diabetes could enjoy making and eating.”

    As proof that Bogart, 77, is in tune with today’s youngsters, directions for every recipe start with the words “Cell phones off.”  Bogart does not sell her cookbooks. She prefers donating them to worthy organizations. Last year 1,000 copies of her books were donated to the School District of Palm Beach County for its employee wellness program and for use in the classroom.

    With five cookbooks under her belt and three more in the works, Nana Nettie’s activities continue to be a labor of love, and a way of giving back, she says.  

    “My family came to the U.S. in 1940 from England, when England was being bombed by the Germans,” she says. “We arrived here on a ship. I was only 3. My parents were so joyful to be in America.

    “Like my parents, I have always been thankful to this country. So I prefer to serve my country this way.” 

— Paula Detwiller

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?

A. I went to public schools in New York City, high school in Asbury Park, N.J., and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland for about a year. I was a French major. 

Q.  What are some highlights of your life?

A. Having three wonderful daughters, traveling all over the world with my husband on business, and producing and hosting my own cable TV show for 10 years. It was a cooking show on LMC-TV (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) in Westchester County, N.Y., where we have a home. I’m known as the “bread lady” in our community of Mamaroneck. I used to make videos showing how to bake things, and I would pass them around to my friends. One of the videos got into the hands of LMC-TV, who gave me the opportunity to have my own show.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Boca Raton?

A. We had family in South Florida, and we were attracted to Boca Raton. We rented a condo at first, and after meeting all the nice people in our condo, we decided to stay.

Q.  What is your favorite part about living in Boca Raton?

A. The ocean! 

Q.  Do you have a favorite healthy recipe? What is it and why?

A. Yes, it’s my recipe called Newest Munchie Crunchy. It’s full of good grains. The recipe is included in a cookbook I’m now working on called Finest Foods for Friday Nights and Holidays.

Q. Do you have a favorite cookbook? Why?

A. My favorite cookbook is The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, edited by Dorothy Marsh.  It’s very thick. You can look up any dish you want to make and they’ll have it, along with the nutritional information. I lifted it out of my mother’s closet, along with her sewing machine.  

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

A. For inspiration, I listen to music from the ’60s. For relaxation, I like the music from La Boheme.

Q.  Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?

A. “Don’t ever give up.”

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

A. The women in my family — my grandmothers, my aunt and my mother — were wonderful bakers and homemakers. They made beautiful dinners. 

People were always coming to our home for dinner parties. I guess these skills came to me by osmosis, and now my daughters are following in my footsteps.

Q.  Who/what makes you laugh?

A. My grandson Freddy. He says some really funny things.

Newest Munchie Crunchy

A recipe from Jeannette Bogart, AKA Nana Nettie

¾ cup oats

¼ cup flaxseed flour

¼ cup wheat germ

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup Splenda

1 whole egg

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup nonfat milk

½ cup raisins

½ cup walnuts (optional)

¼ cup water

    Line a cookie sheet (approximately 10- x 16-inch) with aluminum foil. Mix together oats, flaxseed flour, wheat germ and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, mix together egg, oil, milk, Splenda, and water. Stir the contents of the smaller bowl into the larger bowl. Add raisins. Spread mixture on the cookie sheet. Top with walnuts (if desired). Bake at 350 degrees for 42 minutes.

    Nana Nettie’s nutritionist, Joyce Goldstein, RD, CDN, says: Oats help lower cholesterol in the blood. This recipe also offers the benefits of flaxseed (and walnuts) with Omega-3 fatty acids, known to lower total cholesterol and LDL, boost metabolism, provide optimal cognitive function and strengthen the immune system. You get all that plus important vitamins and minerals in this sweet treat.

    Nana Nettie says: You can substitute sugar for the Splenda, but I wanted to lower the carbohydrate level in order to help diabetics.

By Sallie James

    Using treated wastewater for lawn irrigation was a hard sell seven years ago when Victor Majtenyi first became Delray Beach’s deputy director of public works. But water restrictions changed that perspective forever.

    “Now I can’t sell the product fast enough. It’s like gold,” Majtenyi said.

    The reason? Reclaimed water isn’t subject to water restrictions like potable water.  It’s also a little bit cheaper to use.

    To keep up with demand, the city’s ongoing program to use treated wastewater for landscape irrigation is expanding, this time into the barrier island area, where water usage tends to be high, Majtenyi said.

    In August, the city completed a $1.47 million installation of distribution pipes and meters in the area bordered by Atlantic Avenue, Casuarina Road, Gleason Street and State Road A1A. The city will start connecting residents to that system in early 2014.  A $170,000 South Florida Water Management District grant helped fund the project, Majtenyi said.

    Another section to the west, bordered by Atlantic Avenue, Casuarina Road, Gleason Street and the Intracoastal Waterway is slated for construction in March 2014. Completion is expected in September 2014, Majtenyi said. Another SFWMD grant is providing a $100,000 toward project’s second phase, which is expected to cost about $1.3 million.

    Expansion into areas bordered by Casuarina Road south to Poinsettia Road, and Lewis Cove south to Linton Boulevard are planned for the future but not yet scheduled.

    On average, Delray Beach customers use about 16.5 million gallons of water a day. The city is currently producing a little over 2 million gallons of reclaimed water a day, Majtenyi said. The March expansion will up that rate to about 2.25 million gallons of reclaimed water, he added. 

    “We will keep expanding it. Once we get the barrier island done, we will go west of Interstate 95 in some of the other northwest sections of town,” he said.

    One reason the barrier islands were selected is that there already was a partial outfall pipe in place, Majtenyi said. Pipe installation for the next phase will be in the city’s right of way, mostly in the roadway. The new meters for the reclaimed water will be installed near the existing meters for potable water.

    The city has been using reclaimed water to irrigate Delray Beach golf courses, city parks and roadway medians for years.

    It’s slightly cheaper to irrigate with the reclaimed water, which costs $1 per 1,000 gallons compared to the approximate $1.25 per 1,000 gallons of potable water, according to Majtenyi.

    “The intent is not to be cheaper but as an alternative water source,” Majtenyi said. Delray Beach began using reclaimed water years ago to irrigate because South Florida’s potable water supply is limited,  and it provided a sensible alternative for irrigation, Majtenyi noted.

    Installations that allow the use of reclaimed water for irrigation include two meters — one for potable water and one for reclaimed water, because the two cannot be mixed, he said.

    According to the Palm Beach County Utilities Department, reclaimed water shouldn’t be used to fill swimming pools or spas, or for drinking by people or pets. But because it’s highly filtered and disinfected, there’s no threat from accidental contact like being sprayed by a lawn sprinkler.

    Reclaimed water is used in the ponds at Delray Beach’s Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 13026 Jog Road, and at the Green Cay Wetlands and Nature Center, 12800 Hagen Ranch Road, Boynton Beach, according to the Palm Beach County Utilities Department.

Benefits of irrigating with reclaimed water:

• Maintains vegetation on golf courses, residential lawns and common areas, and rights of way

• Provides not only water, but also residual nutrients to enhance plant growth

• Reduces withdrawal of water from aquifers and conserves this water for human consumption

• Helps to recharge groundwater supply after it is filtered by soil and sand layers

• Reduces reliance on deep injection wells for disposal of effluence 

• Delays capital costs needed for potable water expansion projects

• Regulated by the Florida Dpartment of Environmental Protection

Source: Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department

By Steve Plunkett

    Boynton Beach has dashed its dreams of soon seeing a thriving law firm, two residential towers and a flagship hotel downtown.

    After almost a year of negotiations, the Community Redevelopment Agency on Dec. 10 withdrew its request for proposals that envisioned construction on its property at 222 N. Federal Highway. 

    “We put everything we could on the table. We offered money, we offered land, we offered as much money as we had and as much land as we could,” Mayor and CRA Chairman Jerry Taylor said. “We tried our hardest to make this deal come to fruition.”

    Kanner and Pintaluga PA and the CRA started working last January to find a spot for the ambitious Delray Beach law firm to build a 50,000-square-foot headquarters. The lawyers said they would bring 200 jobs downtown by 2015.

    The CRA hoped to package its half-acre parcel at Federal Highway and Boynton Beach Boulevard with additional land owned by Davis Camalier through his One Boynton LLC. In July, the parties announced a tentative agreement. The CRA in September offered to give Camalier its parcel as well as $1.3 million and the historic Magnuson House and Little House properties to make the deal work. But Camalier wanted $2.5 million, and the law firm wanted the CRA to build $8.6 million of covered parking. Vivian Brooks, the CRA executive director, said the parking would not generate enough additional tax revenue to pay for the project.   

    “We’ve spent a lot of time back and forth, back and forth between the three parties, the CRA, One Boynton and Kanner Pintaluga. And where we’re at at this point is, we’re too far apart,” Brooks said.

    Taylor said the Delray Beach lawyers wanted “everything basically for free. They wanted the land for free, they wanted us to pay for parking, they brought nothing in.”

    Brooks said the agency would continue to work with One Boynton, which owns most of the land fronting Federal Highway between Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard. “We’ve always said since I’ve been here to Mr. Camalier, when you have a development we’re willing to work with you to make that happen,” Brooks said.

    "She forwarded the One Boynton site as well as one on North Federal fronting the Intracoastal Waterway to the Business Development Board, which is looking for a place for a 200-room hotel. But she also told CRA board members “there are no other prospects for development on this site in the near horizon, according to One Boynton’s representative.”

By Jane Smith

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Frederic J. Puttlitz, 69, died Dec. 13 at Boca Raton Regional Hospital from pancreatic cancer. 

    Mr. Puttlitz was born Aug. 15, 1944, to Adalbert and Elizabeth Agnes Puttlitz. 

    He met his wife, Dorinda Lawhead, on her first day of class at a college in Farmingdale, N.Y.

    “I said, ‘Excuse me, sir,’ because he was balding and looked older, ‘where is the cafeteria?’ ” Dorinda “Din” Puttlitz said. Her parents had just dropped her off and she was hungry. He escorted her to the cafeteria and soon they were constant companions. 

    They married in September 1968 and moved to Florida from Albany, N.Y. Because she had multiple sclerosis, her doctor had advised a warmer climate. 

    Mr. Puttlitz, who was working for IBM, knew the company had a new plant in Boca Raton and told his wife not to worry, they were moving near the ocean.

    He worked as an electrical engineer for IBM and gave up promotions because he did not want to move me to a colder climate, his wife said.

    A devout Catholic, he was an active member of St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach, where he was treasurer of the Men’s Club and took charge of many of its social events and fundraisers. 

    “He baked bread every week for the church to serve on Sundays,” his wife said. St. Lucy’s had a social hour after Sunday Mass where members would gather for coffee and pastries. 

    The last bread he baked was cranberry walnut pumpkin bread, she said, and he also loved baking Sacher Tortes, a classic Austrian chocolate layer cake. 

    Mr. Puttlitz liked a good cabernet wine and enjoyed cruising across the ocean to Europe where they often took an apartment for a week in Vienna or Amersterdam, his wife said. 

    In addition to his wife, Mr. Puttlitz is survived by three brothers: Albert (Marie), Donald (Barbara) and Karl (Dianne) Puttlitz; Donald and Patricia Lawhead, in-laws; and many nieces and nephews. 

    A memorial Mass was celebrated Dec. 16 at St. Lucy’s. Glick Family Funeral Home handled cremation arrangements. Entombment at Boca Raton Mausoleum was private. 

    Instead of flowers, his family requests donations in his name to St. Lucy Catholic Church.

By Ron Hayes

    BRINY BREEZES — During her 11 years in Briny Breezes, Elaine McCormick took part in community shows, parades and clubs. She was also active at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church and VFW Post #5335.
    And she earned a certificate from a clown school.
    “She loved clowns,” recalls her husband, James. “She said, ‘I’m a natural,’ so she got a diploma. She was a fun lady.”
    Mrs. McCormick died Dec. 12 at home. She was 79 and had battled leukemia.
    “She died peacefully,” James McCormick noted. “There was no pain.”
    Born Jan. 25, 1934, in New York City, Mrs. McCormick attended Saints Peter and Paul Grammar School, followed by the Special Surgery of New York City, where she worked for five years after completing her nursing training.
    After moving to Keansburg, N.J., with her husband, Mel Rosario, she worked at King James Nursing Home and did private duty nursing in Colt’s Neck, N.J. She was active in the Middletown, N.J., Elks Lodge #2179 and president of its Women’s Auxiliary, where she organized travel vacations, fashion shows and auctions to benefit local charities.
    She moved to Briny Breezes in 2002, after her husband’s death, and married James McCormick, a longtime family friend from the Keansburg Elks Lodge.
    “She carried the water for anybody,” Mr. McCormick said. “She would help anyone, known or unknown, with no accolades expected. And she was a go-getter. She loved Briny Breezes. She loved the people here.”
    In addition to her husband, Mrs. McCormick is survived by three stepsons, James McCormick Jr., Patrick McCormick and Sean McCormick, a stepdaughter, Jennifer Colon; a grandson, John Quinn; and a great granddaughter, Amelia Quinn.
    A funeral Mass was held Dec. 20 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, with interment at Fairview Cemetery in Keansburg, N.J.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Hospice of Palm Beach County.

Annie Davis recently opened

Palm Beach Travel.

INSET BELOW: Ron Reshefsky

Photos provided

By Christine Davis 

    Plaza del Mar in Manalapan is the new home for Palm Beach Travel and Allstate Insurance.

    Annie Davis, owner of Palm Beach Travel, opened her travel agency afer seeing a need for a local agency. An American Express affiliate, her agency specializes in Platinum and Centurion travel as well as cruises, tours and family reunions. 

    Hillary Longo opened her Allstate franchise in September to fill what she saw as a void in the community. Her agency offers coverage for auto, life, residence and more, and her team includes four licensed producers with more than 80 years of combined insurance and financial services experience. 

    For information about Palm Beach Travel, call 585-5885. For information about Allstate in Plaza Del Mar, call 293-4277. 

    One tenant has been in the 1981-era, 12,000-square-foot office building at 4600 North Ocean, Boynton Beach, from the very start.

    That would be attorney Erik Joh, whose firm Hinman, Howard and Kattell, was the first non-bank tenant in the building.

    “We opened on April Fool’s Day 1981,” Joh said. “The primary tenant and the group that caused the building to be built was the old First National Bank in Palm Beach.”

    He recalled other past tenants: Payne-Webber, Alan Bush Brokerage Company, Prudential Bache. “Also some retired gentlemen had offices here: the former owner of the Baltimore Colts, who had a major national beer distributorship, Becks Beer; and we also had one of the founders of Friendly Ice Cream in here.”

    The second floor of the building was to be an executive office suite, Joh said, and he took over some of the space when he arrived from Binghamton, N.Y. (where his firm’s main office is located) to open a branch here.

    In November, the building was bought by Ben Yomtob, a commercial landlord. 

    “It’s a fantastic location. Between Deerfield Beach and Palm Beach, there are only four commercial buildings this size in that stretch, so demand is high and the supply is low, and everybody wants to be a block from the beach,” Yomtob said. 

    He is currently focusing on bringing the building up to his standards “and not look like a 1980s flashback.”

    The nonprofit  Boca Raton Regional Hospital will establish its first facility in Broward County after recently breaking ground in Deerfield Beach. The 25,000-square-foot ambulatory care center will handle primary care, urgent care, radiology and breast health, and will have 25 to 30 employees.

    Also, the hospital is building the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on its main campus, scheduled to be completed in spring 2014; and following that, it plans to break ground on the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute. 

    The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce announced that Yvonne Boice, owner of The Shoppes at Village Pointe and Fugazy International Travel, will receive its 2014 Diamond Award. She will be honored at the sixth annual luncheon on Feb. 21 at Woodfield Country Club, Boca Raton. Approximately 200 guests are expected to attend.

    For information on sponsorship opportunities, corporate tables and tickets, call Chasity Navarro at 395-4433, Ext. 233, email her at  cnavarro@bocaratonchamber.com, or visit www.bocaratonchamber.com.

    It can’t get any easier to enjoy a great meal at Caffe Luna Rosa, because the Delray Beach restaurant has partnered with SnappyEats.com to offer quick and easy online ordering and pickup. Visit www.caffelunarosa.com, place your order, and drive to the restaurant’s valet station, where you can park for free to pick up your lunch or dinner.

    Offering a slightly modified menu (taking into account foods that travel well), items include selections of meat, poultry and seafood as well as homemade pasta, bread and desserts, even gelato. It’s simple and satisfying, says partner/founder Fran Marincola. 

    Caffe Luna Rosa offers online ordering 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for lunch, and 4:30-9 p.m. for dinner Monday through Thursday; and 4:30-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Caffe Luna Rosa is at 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.

    Insurance brokerage veteran Ron Reshefsky has started a new risk management and insurance brokerage firm in Boca Raton, Century Risk Advisors. The firm provides businesses, public entities, professional service providers and individuals with insurance and risk management services. Reshefsky, who serves as chairman, has launched the new agency with his son, Gary Reshefsky. 

    To provide its clients with great services, Reshefsky has recruited key individuals from his previous company, Century Financial Services, along with professionals from other insurance companies. The firm also is hiring more top property and casualty sales executives. Qualified applicants can visit the website for more information.

    Century Risk Advisors is at 2600 N. Military Trail, Suite 240, Boca Raton. For more information, call 409-2420 or visit www.centuryriskadvisors.com.

    The senior living community Abbey Delray South in Delray Beach has completed a $6.5 million renovation that includes the creation of three dining venues.

    “Dining is huge among today’s seniors and the aging baby boomer population,” said David Randazzo, executive director of Abbey Delray South. “They want it to be a culinary experience and they want options.”

    The renovations, designed by c.c. hodgson architectural group, create a resort atmosphere with amenities. New dining venues include a bistro with attached bar and lounge, a formal dining room, and a garden dining setting. A new 5,000-square-foot gourmet kitchen also expands culinary choices for residents. 

    The Seagate Country Club unveiled a multimillion-dollar renovation of its 18-hole championship private golf course in November 2013.

    “The Hamlet Golf Club was purchased and renamed The Seagate Country Club in November 2012, and was then fully renovated to create a world-class golf facility to complement the award-winning Seagate Hotel & Spa and Seagate Beach Club,” said E. Anthony Wilson, Seagate Hospitality Group CEO.

    As the original home of the first Golf Digest School, the renovation preserved the original Joe Lee-designed course while enhancing the course with state-of-the-art grasses and technology that were not in existence when the course was designed in 1973.

    The club features a practice facility that offers a fully outfitted driving range, putting green, short game pitching and bunker areas, as well as a staff of PGA professionals who are available for private lessons, including Darren Panks, Andy Anderson, Whitney Young and Craig Harmon.

    Annual golf members and resort memberships are available. Contact Kate Park for additional information on memberships at Kpark@seagatedelray.com. 

    Black-tie galas have a long history in Palm Beach, but the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce has a different color in mind. Its first eco-chic Green Gala will be held Jan. 25 at The Omphoy in Palm Beach.

    Green living, sustainability, community and creative culture will be showcased, Omphoy Chef Michael Wurster is creating a special home-grown menu, and guests will bid at an environmentally conscious silent auction. Entertainment will feature fire dancers, garden fairies, belly dancers, stilt walkers, dancers from Groovolution Dance Studio and a DJ. 

    Jonathan T. Porges has been named the new president and CEO of the Boynton Chamber. Porges has served on the chamber’s board of directors since 2009 and as its chair for the past two years. 

    Ethel Isaacs Williams, regional manager of corporate external affairs at Florida Power & Light Co., has been named the 2014 chairman of the board of directors. Williams has been a board member since 2010.

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

Carol Wittenberg

Rev. David Franco installed a charging station and meter

in his condo building for his Nissan Leaf.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    Carol Wittenberg loves her 2013 Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid that runs on both gas and electricity.

    “It’s environmentally friendly, it’s economical and it’s comfortable and quiet,” she says. 

    But when Wittenberg and her husband, Larry, returned to their condominium in Highland Beach last month, the Volt remained in the garage of their Michigan home. 

    “There isn’t a charging station nearby to make it worthwhile,” says Wittenberg.

    As the number of electric cars on the road continues to grow, condominiums with shared parking facilities and even small municipalities are wrestling with the question of how, if at all, to accommodate people like the Wittenbergs and others in a small group of electric-car owners looking for convenient ways to plug in.

    “It’s something that’s creating a buzz in our industry,” says Lisa Magill, an attorney who specializes in community association law for the firm of Becker & Poliakoff.

    At the heart of the issue is the question of who should pay for installations of charging stations, and then once they’re in, how to ensure residents of an entire building don’t end up paying for the electricity being used by just a few individuals to charge their cars. 

    Even municipalities are facing the challenge, with the town of Highland Beach deciding against the installation of a community charging station because the benefits for a few would not justify the expense paid by all of the town’s taxpayers.

    Compounding the problem for condo associations are the rules and regulations in condominium documents that can range from requiring a majority vote of the board of directors for approval of a charging station to a favorable vote by 75 percent of the unit owners.

    “You can’t spend everyone else’s money to benefit one individual or a small group of individuals,” says Ron Clark, a veteran condominium and association manager.

    As questions arise, condo boards and managers are seeking guidance on how to proceed. 

    “A week doesn’t go by when I don’t get a call from a condo manager,” says Anne-Lousie Seabury, electric vehicle program manager for Florida Power & Light Co. “They’re wondering where to start.” 

    The answer is not an easy one.

    “I’ve worked with a lot of condos and every one is different,” she says.

    The issue has come up so frequently that FPL has put together a fact sheet, available online, that includes a section on how to overcome the five biggest barriers to installing charging stations in multiunit buildings. 

    Those obstacles listed are:

    • Gaining approval from building management and the homeowners associations,

    • Determining who is responsible for equipment and installation costs,

    • Determining the most equitable payment system for electricity consumption,

    • Planning the most cost-effective installation, and 

    • Facilitating potential changes to assigned parking for lower-cost installation.

    For their part, condo association managers and leaders say that at this point there aren’t usually enough electric-car owners living in condos to make installations of community charging stations an issue.

    That was the consensus during the October meeting of the Beach Condominium Association of Boca Raton and Highland Beach, according to Jack Fox, president of the group, which includes the managers, directors and officers of 63 communities.

    “At this point the feeling is that there aren’t that many people with electric cars,” Fox said. “I think going forward, if electric cars become more prevalent, condos will respond to the demand.” 

    In the short term, he says, some condos are allowing owners to have charging stations in their garage parking spots, but they’re asking them to pay for the full cost of installation and the electricity they use. 

    That’s exactly what happened at The Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton. 

    During the summer, Rev. David M. Franco, O.S.F.S., a retired priest from Michigan living in a condo he inherited from his parents, purchased a pre-owned Nissan Leaf and went to his condo association to let the manager know he wanted to install a charging station that he could use in the garage. 

    “The manager said as long as I pay for the installation and my own electricity, it’s fine,” Franco recalls. 

    After doing a bit of research, Franco discovered that the costs of buying a Level 2 charging station —which can charge his Leaf in just a few hours — and installing it, were fairly affordable. 

    The charging station itself cost about $1,100, while running the necessary wiring from the garage electrical panel cost about $900. 

    In addition, Franco paid an extra $50 for a meter that measures the amount of electricity he uses. Every quarter he sends a check to the condo association, which pays for electricity used in common areas. The first check, written for four months, came to just $67.50.

    Since he installed the charging station, Franco has received inquiries from a few other neighbors with electric cars, including one in his building who has a parking spot close enough to Franco’s so that he could share the charging station. 

    Franco says he has a chart near the charging station so he and his neighbor, who hasn’t brought his electric car down yet, will be able to keep track of who uses what.

    While Franco’s is a success story, he says that the idea of a community-wide charging station —activated by credit cards — is not gaining much traction at the condominium.

    “The problem is people have to look at electric cars not as a novelty but as a mode of transportation,” he said. 

    For her part, Magill — the attorney from Becker & Poliakoff — says she hopes associations will seek ways to accommodate electric cars in the future and possibly see charging facilities as something that could attract other electric car owners. 

    “I would advise my clients to look at alternatives, because charging facilities are an amenity that could benefit the entire community,” she said. 

    Wittenberg, who is driving her gasoline-powered Toyota Prius while the Chevy Volt remains in Michigan, says she may bring the Volt down in the future if there is a charging station closer than the public charging stations in Delray Beach. “There should be something available nearby where we can pay for the electricity that we use and need,” she said. “If they build it, they will come.”

By Steve Plunkett

    A routine extension of the controversial Archstone project’s development approval gave the Boca Raton City Council an opportunity to vent about traffic tie-ups on East Palmetto Park Road. Council member Anthony Majhess, sitting as vice chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency, asked whether his colleagues could add a demand to include a left-turn lane into the planned nine-story structure.

    “It’s obvious that with 378 new apartments, people traveling down Palmetto that want to turn into the building are going to completely congest that left lane and basically turn that eastbound into a one-lane road when people are coming home,” Majhess said.

    But Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said left-turn lanes are needed more at Fifth Avenue and at Mizner Boulevard. 

    “That’s where all the congestion is,” Haynie said, noting she has spoken with residents of the barrier island who drive through there all the time. “We as a council beautified the roadway, took those turn lanes out and put those signals on split phasing, and that’s what causing the backup.”

    Haynie said she would support a traffic study of the roadway, but would not vote to link it to the Archstone extension.

    Council member Constance Scott, who chairs the CRA, said she walks along the thoroughfare several times a day with a stroller for her dog.

    “If we end up putting back the turn lanes I think we’re going to have problems with what we were trying to achieve, which is a pedestrian-friendly Palmetto Park Road and people being able to cross the street within the indicated time of the light change,” Scott said.

    City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said the agency could not add a new condition to the Archstone approval without new evidence, but could ask for a separate traffic study. Majhess withdrew his motion to link the two issues Dec. 9 after no one indicated support. 

    “I’m not going to deny an extension,” Mayor Susan Whelchel said. “We’ve never denied an extension to anyone who wanted an extension.”

    Charles Siemon, a lawyer for developer Archstone Palmetto Park LLC, said the turn-lane issue was discussed during the approval process as well as when the beautification of the road was approved. 

    “I happened to not support the four-laning and that would have left plenty of room, but with the four lanes there is no space,” Siemon said.

    The extended approval will expire Feb. 27, 2015. The CRA did not vote on whether to conduct a traffic study.

    Archstone has not started construction or even completed its construction drawings because of the uncertainty of pending lawsuits over the project, which lies east of Northeast Third Avenue between Palmetto Park and Boca Raton roads.

    The project has been tied up in court for most of the past year. A circuit judge ruled that citizens could have a referendum on the Archstone approval. The city appealed his decision and is waiting for the 4th District Court of Appeal to issue its opinion.

    A second lawsuit by three residents was withdrawn after the city pointed out they would be liable for Boca Raton’s attorney fees if they lost the case.

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

By Steve Plunkett

    Boca Raton will have to trim pension benefits for fire and police employees to get out from under an out-of-control financial burden, its outside pension consultant said.

    If the city does nothing, the money it pays into the pensions will drop from 44 percent of payroll this year to 15 percent over the next 30 years, Jacksonville consultant Actuarial Concepts Inc. said.

    But if Boca Raton adopts the consultant’s 11 recommendations, its police and fire contribution will drop to 2.9 percent of payroll in 2042, Actuarial Concepts said. “The recommended benefit structure is intended to be taken as a package to accomplish the stated objective [of affordability and sustainability] and is not intended as a ‘shopping list’ of changes,” Actuarial Concepts wrote.

    Any changes in the pension plans would have to be negotiated with the unions. The fire and police pacts expire Sept. 30.

    Among the recommended changes are eliminating the inclusion of up to 300 hours of overtime for police pensions and lengthening the period of averaging pensionable pay to five years from its current two years.

    The consultant said maximum initial pensions should be limited to $100,000 rather than be unlimited. Also among the recommendations: lowering the guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments to 1.5 percent from the current 2 percent for police officers and 3 percent for firefighters.

    The 310-page report analyzes how the reformed pension would compare to the current plan if the assumed investment return is 8 percent, 7.5 percent and 7 percent. In each scenario the reformed plan cuts the city’s contribution dramatically.

    Under the least optimistic rate, the city would spend almost $16 million on pensions this year and $23.8 million in 2042. With the reforms in place, Boca Raton would pay $10.9 million in 2013 and $6.9 million in 30 years.

    “Significant reforms are necessary to achieve and sustain lower levels of city contribution requirements within city targeted contribution objectives,” the consultant said.

    The City Council made long-term sustainability a top priority at its annual goal-setting retreat in May. Council members told City Manager Leif Ahnell to hire an outside consultant to study the pension plans.

    Judith Teller Kaye and Betty Grinnan, founders of Boca Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, faulted Actuarial Concepts for using the 7 percent investment return in its calculations. That rate, they said in an email blast, is “far in excess of the system’s actual experience over the past 10 years of 4.1%.”

    Moody’s Investments Services recommends that Florida pension systems assume an average rate of 5.67 percent, Kaye and Grinnan said.

    But Actuarial Concepts pointed out that using a lower rate lessens the impact of future shortfalls but comes with an “opportunity cost.”

    “City contributions would initially be greater than if the current assumptions were used,” the report said.

By Rich Pollack

    Town leaders in Highland Beach want Delray Beach city officials to know how much they like the fire-rescue service the larger community provides to town residents at a cost just over $3 million annually — and they would like to keep it that way.

    While Delray Beach waits for a price quote from Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue to determine whether a county take over of its fire-rescue operations is feasible, Highland Beach officials are hoping that Delray will consider the partnership the town has with Delray Fire-Rescue before a decision is made. 

    A letter sent last month to Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein and signed by Highland Beach Mayor Bernard Featherman praised Delray Beach Fire-Rescue and Chief Danielle Connor for the outstanding service provided to the town and for the relationship that has been forged since Delray Beach first began providing service in 1993. 

    “On behalf of the Highland Beach Town Commission, staff and residents, we want to express that we truly value the relationship we have with your Fire Department and the working relationship we have with the City of Delray Beach,” the letter says. “Although we understand that there are many factors to be considered when analyzing the outsourcing of any service, we hope you will consider the rapport that has developed between our municipalities.”  

    Under a current contract, Delray Beach Fire Rescue provides the personnel to staff a fire station owned by Highland Beach and a fire truck and rescue wagon also provided by the town.

    Town Commissioner Dennis Sheridan said that, while Delray Beach is exploring it options for fire-rescue service, two key public-safety issues in Highland Beach have been put on hold.

    During the summer, Highland Beach agreed to switch the handling of its incoming 911 calls from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to Delray Beach in order to have both police and fire services dispatched by the same center. 

    Currently the town’s 911 police and fire calls are received by the sheriff’s office, which directly dispatches calls for the Highland Beach Police Department. Emergency fire or rescue calls, however, have to be transferred to Delray Beach dispatchers, which adds an additional step.

    Implementation of the plan to have all Highland Beach 911 calls dispatched by Delray Beach was put on hold after the town learned Delray Beach was considering contracting with the county for fire-rescue service.

    Also on hold is Highland Beach’s decision about how to replace its existing 17-year-old fire truck the town owns. One plan being considered was for the town to lease a truck from Delray Beach Fire-Rescue but discussions on that issue have also been put on hold. 

    “We’re kind of in limbo right now,” Sheridan said.

By Steve Plunkett

    Mayoral candidate Anthony Majhess has officially resigned his Boca Raton City Council seat to comply with the state’s resign-to-run law.

    “It is my intention to qualify for the office of mayor for the March 11, 2014, election and therefore I’m required to submit my letter of resignation from Boca Raton City Council Seat D,” he wrote City Clerk Susan Saxton.

    Majhess sent copies of his Dec. 16 letter to Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of State. His resignation will take effect March 31 when the city’s new mayor takes office.

    The qualifying period for the municipal election started Jan. 2 and ends Jan. 10. If all the people with active campaign accounts file official qualifying documents, the March ballot will have nine candidates seeking four positions.

    Majhess will face Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie in the race to succeed Mayor Susan Whelchel. Whelchel cannot seek reelection because of term limits. Haynie also is term-limited on her council seat.

    Lawyer and real estate investor Scott Singer and corporate treasurer Craig Ehrnst are running for Haynie’s council Seat A.

    Eric Gooden, a Lynn University senior, and Mohamed Abdalla, an admissions counselor at Lynn, are challenging incumbent council member Michael Mullaugh for Seat B.

    Political activist Rosetta Bailey, a retired bank officer, and small-business owner Robert Weinroth, who is also a lawyer, seek Majhess’ seat.

    This year’s ballot is unusually crowded. Normally Boca Raton has elections for two council seats one year, for the mayor and the two other council seats the next year, and in the third year of the cycle has no election.

    A mayoral debate, including candidates for City Council, will be held between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Bogarts of Boca Raton, 3200 Airport Road, Boca Raton. The Gold Coast Tiger Bay Club sponsors the event. Tickets for the luncheon are $35 in advance or $45 at the door. For reservations, see www.goldcoasttigerbayclub.com.

Dredge contractor Marinex Construction Inc. positions boats

to dredge material from near the Boca Raton Inlet to widen the beach to the south.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    After delays from bad weather, including high winds during most of November, the beach renourishment project in south Boca Raton finally started the day before Thanksgiving and finished pumping sand on 0.9 mile of beach Dec. 9.

    “The dry beach was widened 60 feet on average the entire length,” said Jennifer Bistyga, engineer with the city of Boca Raton.

    The dredge is expected to go to the north Boca Raton beach at the end of February and early March after finishing beach renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach, she said. 

    The dredge moved from the Port of Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge on Dec. 19 to start pumping sand from borrow areas about 1,800 feet offshore onto 1.1 mile of beach, said Tracy Logue, coastal geologist for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management. 

    But the project was delayed again by weather and the holidays. The dredge returned to the Port of Palm Beach and is expected to start work in Ocean Ridge on Jan. 3, according to Dan Bates, deputy director of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.

    The Ocean Ridge project is expected to take 34 days, barring any weather delays. Sand will be put on the Ocean Ridge beach starting at the Ocean Club just south of the southernmost groin and end at Edith Street, she said. 

    Another Ocean Ridge project, the modification of five T-head groins, was completed in mid-December. These are the northernmost of eight groins south of the Boynton Inlet.  

    The groins were built to keep sand to the south of the inlet from eroding too much.

    “The sand, which comes from the sand transfer plant and is deposited on the south side of the inlet, is supposed to filter through,” Logue said. However, “the groins were trapping too much sand.” 

    About two feet of the top layer of rocks of the groin “stems” perpendicular to the beach were removed to lower the groins and allow more sand to drift over them to the south. 

    “We took one rock layer off the top so sand can go through more easily,” Logue said. 

Erosion a problem

    Beaches located directly down-drift of inlets can experience persistent erosion, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Recession of the shoreline can occur at a high rate, and breaching becomes a possibility at inlets on barrier islands.”

    The groins are built of granite boulders, about 2 to 3 feet wide and tall, and are sunk into the ground about 8 feet below the sand floor and stand about 4 and a half feet above the sand. 

    All eight groins are south of the inlet, and the five that were modified are south of the sand discharge pipe. The modified groins are all behind private property. 

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed the project and used seismic testing to monitor vibration from the excavation, she said. “Since they were running heavy equipment on the beach, they wanted to make sure there was no damage to a house, and no vibrations that could cause a crack in a pool, for instance.”

    Excavators were used to remove the big boulders, some of which were deposited inside concrete panels to help reinforce the north jetty.

    “Rocks had settled inside the concrete panels and there was space to put more rock in. The more rock you have, the more it weakens the force of the waves. The rest of the boulders will be stored and will probably go into artificial reefs,” Logue said.

    The beach renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach and north Boca Raton are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach projects. The Army Corps deadline for those projects is April 30, and the work should be finished well before the deadline if seas remain calm, said Bistyga.  

    The south Boca Raton beach renourishment is not an Army Corps project; but the city used the same contractor to save money, she said.

Matthew Bocharnikov, a 14-year-old photographer, exhibited his work,

including this photo (below) of a night heron taking flight,

in the Highland Beach Library’s Student Art Show.

Photo contributed

By Rich Pollack

    As art exhibits openings go, this one was not quite what you might expect to see at the Highland Beach Library. 

    Like most openings, this one had the artists on hand to meet visitors admiring their work, but many of these creative talents had just come from school. 

    Many of the artists posed for photos next to their work. A smile or two, however exposed a missing front tooth, perhaps just recently placed under the pillow awaiting the tooth fairy.

    And, of course, there were self-portraits, but these were done in crayon rather than acrylics or oils.

    This was the Highland Beach Library’s Student Art Show, which opened Dec. 17 and ran through Dec. 30, and which featured 19 works of nine young artists ranging in age from 5 to 16.

    “This is a great opportunity for people in our community to come and celebrate the creativity of young people,” said Suzi Hayes, the library’s events coordinator, who worked with Highland Beach resident Elizabeth Susskind to make the show a reality. 

    Among those displaying their art was Susskind’s nephew, Matthew Bocharnikov, a 14-year-old photographer whose late grandfather, Susskind’s father, Horst Susskind, came up with the idea for the show.

    “My dad, a resident of Highland Beach for decades, had seen Matthew’s work and thought we should do something,” Susskind said. 

    The idea of for the exhibit expanded beyond just Matthew’s work after Susskind met with the library’s Hayes and Pam Lipofsky, who coordinates children’s programs. 

    “We decided it would be nice to showcase work of all the children,” Susskind said. 

    Like the other artists, Matthew is relatively new to the world of art exhibits, having never had his photographs shown in public before. 

    “This is a new experience,  and it opens up an opportunity for kids to show what they can do,” said Matthew, who lives in Virginia but visits family in Highland Beach frequently. 

    Among the other exhibitors in the show was 7-year-old Joseph Capizola, whose talent attracted the eye of Delray Beach artist Vlad Prodanovich.  

    “Vlad saw a talent in Joseph and wants to help foster it,” said Joseph’s mother, Jean Capizola, explaining that Prodanovich helped provide Joseph with materials for his multimedia creation, which includes antique fabric from Italy on a painted canvas. 

    Also displaying his artwork was Joseph’s brother Nicholas, 5, who along with his brother frequently attends children’s programs at the Highland Beach Library.

    “It’s really important that kids have the opportunity to express themselves in art and share it with other people,” their mother said.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center technicians treat Meghan, an underweight

olive ridley turtle rescued at Lantana. 

Beachgoer Patrick Griffin removes the net

that was wrapped around Meghan.

Photos provided

Progress Note: 1/13/2014 - Meghan has been eating on her own for the past week. Her bloodwork is improving slightly. She is getting subcutaneous fluids daily as well as her prescribed antibiotics and iron injections.

By Cheryl Blackerby

    The rescue of the little olive ridley sea turtle, who made a likely 4,000-mile journey from around Brazil to Florida, was nothing short of a miracle.

    She probably drifted in the Gulf Stream — all four flippers tangled in fishing net — before landing on Lantana Beach, thrashing in the surf, on Christmas Day.

    She is in critical condition, but her rescuers are hopeful. She is the only documented olive ridley stranded in Palm Beach County and the first this far north, according to Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

    A couple who were eating at the Dune Deck restaurant saw the turtle and pulled her to the beach. They cut the fishing net off her flippers, which was the right thing to do. Then they did the wrong thing — put her back into the water on the advice of a passerby. 

    But Lantana lifeguards George Klein and Randy Reed kept a lookout for her and saw her struggling in the surf. They called Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which took her to the nonprofit Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. 

    Underweight and dehydrated, the turtle, named Meghan by the staff, is in grave condition. 

    “She has been sick for quite a while, and is underweight, anemic and has low blood sugar. Her condition is grave until we know exactly what’s going on,” said the center’s veterinarian Dr. Charles Manire.

    She weighs only 64.85 pounds. Adult olive ridleys generally weigh about 100 pounds.

    She has a very deep wound on her front left flipper from the net, but that is expected to heal, he said.

    “The wounds are minor in comparison to the other problems. We’re in the process of getting x-rays and blood work to determine what’s wrong,” he said.

    She is being treated for external wounds, given a glucose IV, antibiotics to prevent infection and iron to treat the anemia. X-rays showed no bone damage.

    The staff is conducting daily glucose tests until levels are stable. She was put into a shallow pool, and if she survives, will undergo rehabilitation, which will include a deeper pool and hydrotherapy to strengthen her flippers, for about two months, said Tom Longo, the center’s communications manager. 

    She will not be released in Florida, but probably in South America. The details will be worked out with experts, he said.  “We’re not sure where she will be released. But we can’t imagine her being released here.”

    There have been only three strandings of the endangered olive ridleys in Florida: one in Marathon in 1999, one in Key Largo in 2000, and one in Sunny Isles near Miami in 2001. All three turtles died. 

    The center’s staff is hoping Meghan will make it. Her Welsh name, after all, means strong and mighty. And Saint Meghan is the patron saint of victims of abuse.

    Florida Fish and Wildlife decides where rescued animals go, and the agency decided to take her to Loggerhead. “They determine who has the space and capability to care for the turtle. We have a surgical suite, state-of-the-art x-ray equipment, and we do in-house blood work,” said Longo.

    The center treated 80 sea turtles in 2013, which is “on the high end,” said Longo. The average number of turtles treated is 60 to 80.

    Meghan has a shell 26 inches in length. The olive ridley is named for its greenish color, and is closely related to the Kemp’s ridley with the primary distinction being that olive ridleys are found only in warmer waters, according to National Geographic. Olive and Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest of the sea turtles. Fishing nets have taken a large toll, frequently snagging and drowning the turtles.

    Visitors to Loggerhead MarineLife Center can see Meghan in her new shallow tank. And they will be able to monitor her progress if she gets stronger and is moved to the deeper pool.

    Of course, no one knows for sure where Meghan’s journey started, where she got tangled in the net, or how long she was adrift in the Gulf Stream. Experts speculate that she came from Brazil, the olive ridleys’ usual habitat in the Atlantic.

    Only she knows.

    But one thing is definite: Christmas Day was her lucky day, and as of Dec. 31, Meghan is getting the care she needs.

    Anyone seeing a hurt sea turtle or other marine animal, should call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).