Chris Felker's Posts (1524)

Sort by

By Jane Smith

    The modified site plan for the Atlantic Crossing mixed-use development downtown was turned down in late January by a Delray Beach board.
    Senior city planner Scott Pape told the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board that his department had hired yet another traffic consultant from outside the county to review the site plan modification. The modified plan called for either a one-way road into the garage or a two-way surface road for internal traffic.
    “They concluded that the Jan. 21, 2014, approved plan was the optimal design,” he said. The one-way and two-way drives into the garage created too much internal conflict along NE Seventh Avenue without benefiting the traffic flow inside the project, Pape told board members. The alternate routes were designed last summer at the behest of the City Commission.
    The city’s planning department had recommended denial. The board went along with that recommendation by a 5-1 vote. Board member Jim Chard, who voted no, proposed a complicated motion that would have allowed the project to move forward.
    The development already had its site plan approved in 2014. That plan shows a two-way road into the garage.
    The developers’ attorney, Brian Seymour of the Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart law firm, agreed that the two-way access road proposed last summer was dangerous. “We are not going to create anything dangerous,” he told the board members.
    Bruce Leiner, president of the nearby Harbour House Homeowners Association, questioned whether the Atlantic Crossing developers have title to all the land they need to build their project. At issue, he said, is the ownership of two alleys.
    “No title certificate was filed as of today,” he said on Jan. 27.
    Most of the residents who spoke at the meeting were concerned about traffic. Retailer Bruce Gimmy, who owns the Trouser Shop on East Atlantic, called the area where Atlantic Crossing sits “a dead zone to the bridge.” He hoped it could move forward.
    Karen Granger, of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, said she was “looking for a way to move this project forward because of the jobs and tax dollars it would bring.”
    Board member Jim Knight said at the end of the meeting, “We spent all this time when the best solution was already out there.”
    The proposed $200 million Atlantic Crossing sits stalled on 9.2 acres at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and East Atlantic Avenue in the city’s downtown. The project, developed by a partnership between Ohio-based Edwards Companies and Ocean Ridge resident Carl DeSantis, will contain 343 luxury condos and apartments plus 39,394 square feet of restaurants, 37,642 square feet of shops and 83,462 square feet of office space.
    The developers sued the city in June, claiming the city has not issued a site-plan certification that was approved in November 2013 and affirmed by a previous City Commission in January 2014.
    In the fall, the lawsuit was moved to federal court. The developers recently filed their third amended complaint and the judge put the case on hold until March 1 to allow the project time to go through the city’s approval process.
    “We understand SPRAB’s action, which is consistent with the opinion of every traffic engineer who has reviewed access to and from the site, and we look forward to the City Commission review of this decision,” said Don DeVere, vice president of Edwards Companies.
    As to the lawsuit, he said: “We hope the City Commission will work with us to reach an amicable settlement so we can finally get underway.”

Read more…

By Dan Moffett

    Lawyers for the town of Gulf Stream are pushing an aggressive trial schedule they hope will resolve by the end of this year all the lawsuits filed by Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare.
    That’s saying something, because the two residents started the year with close to 50 cases pending against the town.
    “We’re ready to tee them up and go to trial,” said Joanne O’Connor, an attorney with the West Palm Beach law firm of Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs, representing the town. “We expect to win them all.”
    At least seven lawsuits, mostly involving public records disputes between the town and the two men, are expected to be heard in nonjury trials in Palm Beach County Circuit Court during the first half of the year, O’Connor said. She and Robert Sweetapple, a Boca Raton lawyer hired by the town, are representing Gulf Stream.
    O’Connor says she and Sweetapple intend to list as many cases for trial in Circuit Court as possible in the months ahead. “I think more than 40 of them can be resolved,” she said.
    The town’s lawyers think many of the lawsuits, perhaps dozens of them, will never make it to the courtroom because judges are likely to dismiss them as frivolous or legally insufficient. O’Connor thinks the town’s goal of clearing the deck of its legal cases in 2016 is achievable.
    “I can’t imagine they would go into next year,” she said.
    O’Boyle and O’Hare have criticized the town for not showing good faith in efforts to negotiate a settlement, a charge town officials deny. An attempt to bring the parties together for negotiation talks in December fell apart at the last minute, sources said.
    Mayor Scott Morgan has said for months that the town is willing to negotiate, but O’Boyle and O’Hare must agree to drop all their lawsuits as a condition of a settlement.
    Morgan, who had a long career as a trial lawyer in Pennsylvania, was elected mayor in 2014 on the promise he would oversee an aggressive defense of the town in the courts. He said 2015 was a good year for Gulf Stream and he was expecting that to continue. The town has set aside about $1 million in its budget to cover legal fees.
    “We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far,” Morgan said. “For some reason, they (O’Boyle and O’Hare) don’t want to resolve these cases. We want to resolve these cases.”
    The town had a significant setback in June when a federal judge threw out a racketeering suit against O’Boyle and O’Hare that alleged a conspiracy to use public records laws to defraud municipalities across the state. Gulf Stream is appealing that decision.
    However, Morgan can point to several victories in the federal courts — rulings that went against O’Hare or O’Boyle in cases involving allegations of civil rights violations concerning campaign sign rules, police behavior and fees for public records. The town’s lawyers also successfully defended Morgan against allegations of slander.
    Gulf Stream also won rulings in state court cases involving O’Hare’s rejected permit requests for a solar roof on his house and a shooting range, and O’Boyle’s complaint about utility lines crossing his property.
    Elsewhere, the Florida Commission on Ethics issued three rulings that went the town’s way, rejecting O’Hare’s complaints against Town Attorney John Randolph, Morgan and Sweetapple.
    Jonathan O’Boyle, Martin’s son, says Morgan has wrongly accused the O’Boyles and The O’Boyle Law Firm of criminal and unethical behavior.
    “Morgan made those same accusations in a 2014 bar complaint,” Jonathan O’Boyle said. “The Florida Bar dismissed that complaint on May 20, 2015, and I became a Florida attorney shortly thereafter. Morgan squandered taxpayer dollars in attempting to prove criminality and prevent me from obtaining my license. ... Morgan says that he has ‘denuded’ my firm. Not true.”
    The town got some encouraging news from Tallahassee in January when a Florida Senate committee approved a bill that puts new restrictions on attorney fees in public records lawsuits.
    The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee unanimously approved SB 1220, sponsored by Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Miami. The bill removes the requirement that judges must give attorney fees to people who win public records suits against state or local government entities. Under the legislation, it would be left to the courts to decide whether payment of fees is warranted.
    The Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties have lobbied for the bill, citing Gulf Stream’s costly fight with O’Boyle and O’Hare as justification. The First Amendment Foundation and other open government advocates are opposing the change, calling it the most serious threat to the state’s Sunshine Law in its 40-year history.
   Vice Mayor Robert Ganger testified to state lawmakers in support of the bill. “It’s clear we need some kind of relief from the Legislature,” he said.
   The legislation faces an uncertain future as it moves through more committee hearings.
    “At least they’ve noticed us,” Morgan said.

Read more…

By Dan Moffett

    Organizers of a coastal fire district study are reaching out to the county pocket, believing its residents might benefit if a new arrangement for delivering emergency services goes forward.
    Consultants are studying whether it is feasible to build a fire station in Briny Breezes as part of a coastal district plan. A Briny station would dramatically reduce response times to the pocket, which over the years has had reliability issues with mainland fire-rescue providers.
    Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger, who has played a leading role in initiating the study, says the county pocket has to be considered in the decision-making going forward.
    “I would like to be assured that the folks in the county pocket are at least apprised of what’s happening,” Ganger said. “The county may not view them as important as they view themselves. It is conceivable that the new facility could really be across the street from where they live.”
    Ganger said that if a district plan proves feasible, the participating municipalities — Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and South Palm Beach — would likely seek an interlocal agreement with Palm Beach County to handle fire-rescue services for the pocket.
    Roughly 150 residents live in the sliver of county land between Gulf Stream and Briny Breezes, and in 2009 they got a hard look at the deficiencies in their emergency services. Bill Dunn, a 48-year-old longtime resident in the pocket, choked to death while it took Palm Beach County Fire Rescue almost 13 minutes to respond to the 911 call.
    “Anyone knows you can’t provide lifesaving service with a response time like that,” said Mike Smollon, one of Dunn’s neighbors. “We theoretically have service from the county, but we have the worst service and don’t get what we pay for. But it’s not about money. We don’t get adequate service at any price.”
    Smollon brings expertise to the table. He is a former Boynton Beach firefighter who retired as a battalion chief after 28 years with the department. Smollon says he pays the county roughly $1,500 in property taxes each year for fire-rescue services and thinks the district idea is worth exploring.
    “It’s definitely something people in the pocket could benefit from,” he said.
    After Dunn’s death, Boynton Beach and the county signed a mutual aid agreement in the hope of improving response. But for pocket residents, no provider on the mainland compares with having a station in or near Briny Breezes.
    Matrix Consulting Group of Keller, Texas, began its study of the coastal municipalities in December and is expected to deliver its report on the fire district’s feasibility in March.
    The consultants are inviting all coastal residents to participate in an online survey and voice their opinions about the fire district proposal. The Matrix survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/BarrierIsland.
    Or, residents can contact the company’s lead project analyst, Robert Finn, by email at rfinn@matrixcg.net.
    The survey takes five to 10 minutes to complete and all responses are anonymous.

Read more…

7960626878?profile=originalFour columns in the library’s children’s area

were made to look like trees with faces on them.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Contractors are finishing the new children’s area of the Delray Beach Public Library.
    They’ve added 5,000 square feet to the department, with space for a designated family reading center with a panther statue, a recording studio and a robotics club under the name of the Lynda Hunter and Virginia Kimmel Children’s Library.
    An invitation-only grand opening will be held Feb. 18 and community grand opening will be held Feb. 27.
    It will be a grand space, most everyone agrees.
    At the same time, the library director and a board member began a process to address what they’ve come to call the “Marvin Gaye question”:
    What’s going on?
    Prompted by Mayor Cary Glickstein, who wants the library to justify the use of nearly $2 million in tax dollars, Director Alan Kornblau and library board member Brian Cheslack made the rounds of community organizations in the fall. They told the groups, including the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, Old School Square and the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative, about the library’s offerings.
    In response, they often heard, “I didn’t know that,” Cheslack said.
    In October, they began to host monthly community forums to help the library create a detailed strategic plan. About 25 people came to the first meeting, Kornblau said.
    They reviewed national data provided by the Pew Research Center. That data showed libraries ranked first on importance to the community — above military, police and public schools. That trend played out locally when the Delray Beach library surveyed its patrons and residents.  
    Kornblau also showed state data that revealed that Delray Beach spends less per 1,000 residents on its library compared with Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, but ranks higher on visits and adult program attendance.
    “That’s where we want to be,” Cheslack said.
    “We’re not a Barnes and Noble for the well-to-do, but we are a free public library,” he said. “If the Laugh with the Library event would go away, that would be sad. But if the tax dollars go away, we would be in trouble.”
    On Jan. 25, based on the community input, Kornblau unveiled three areas where the library will concentrate this year: children’s programs, the business resource center and joint programs with community organizations.
    The programs also will include the Downtown Development Authority, Community Redevelopment Agency, Historical Society and the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum.
    The library is upgrading the children’s section through its Foothold on the Future campaign, begun in October 2014.
    “We came up with that name because we are ‘selling’ each square foot of new cork floor for $50,” Kornblau said.
    The new children’s area will cost about $500,000 to redo. The area was named for the head children’s librarian and Virginia Kimmel, who along with her husband, Harvey, offered a $100,000 matching grant. The campaign also received $100,000 from Mark and Becky Walsh, $25,000 from an anonymous donor and the rest from the community.
    Plans call for the children’s section to be moved downstairs beginning Feb. 14 and finishing on Presidents’ Day when the library is closed. That will free space on the second floor for the business resource center. The library will hire a business librarian to staff it, Kornblau said.
    At the Jan. 25 community meeting, Todd L’Herrou, chamber vice president, said meeting space was at a premium in the downtown and suggested providing that as a possibility. CRA Executive Director Jeff Costello said business retention should be addressed, and Kornblau talked about working with two organizations to create an online calendar of all events downtown.

Increased usage a priority
    The library knows it must continue to keep interacting with the community to increase its use, which currently is about 22 percent of residents, Kornblau said.
    He also said patron visits were down 7 percent this budget year compared to last, which was down another 15 percent. He theorized this year’s drop was from the children’s department being on the second floor. Last year’s decrease came about for two reasons: the nearby South County Courthouse is closed on Fridays and more competition for leisure time.
    The library held steady on its electronic requests, he said.
    The library has status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. It has a board that governs what the library does and raises money for projects such as the Foothold for the Future program. Tax dollars support the operating budget.
    The library, along with the city’s other nonprofits, will be able to keep the same level of tax dollars in the next financial year, city commissioners learned in early January.
    What’s the future of Delray Beach library?
    “I don’t want the library doing things they are not good at — suddenly deciding we’re a business incubator or we’re going to rent out space and become landlords,” Cheslack said. “I see the library as an economic equalizer. ... We need to create a library that responds to the community.”


If You Go
Invitation only:
Grand opening of the new Lynda Hunter and Virginia Kimmel Children’s Library
When: 6 p.m. Feb. 18
Where:
100 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 266-0194 or www.delraylibrary.org
Info:
Foothold on the Future campaign renovated and expanded the children’s department.

Public event:
Grand opening of the new Lynda Hunter and Virginia Kimmel Children’s Library
When:
10 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 27
Where:
100 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 266-0194 or www.delraylibrary.org

7960626895?profile=original

Read more…

7960626273?profile=originalA private security camera took this image of a newer model, gray BMW convertible in the area

of Ridge Boulevard in Ocean Ridge. The subject exited the vehicle and checked for other unlocked cars

to either burglarize or steal, police say. Anyone who recognizes the automobile or has additional information

is asked to contact investigator Richard Jones at 732-8331.

Photo courtesy of Ocean Ridge Police Department

By Rich Pollack

    Opportunistic thieves have been stealing cash and valuable items from unlocked cars in a rash of Palm Beach County burglaries during the last three months, with the town of Ocean Ridge being hit particularly hard.
    In a 12-week period, Ocean Ridge police have received 40 reports of thefts from vehicles, as well as 10 reports of stolen cars that appear to have been related.
    “We’re seeing an increase in auto burglaries that is being seen throughout Palm Beach County,” said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins. “The vast majority of these crimes are being carried out because vehicles are being left unlocked, sometimes with the keys in them.”
    Hutchins said that of the 10 stolen cars, all had been recovered by police in other jurisdictions, in some cases almost immediately after they were reported missing.
    “There was no indication that the cars had been stolen by any other means than by using a key,” he said.
    In several cases, he said, car theft victims either left a spare key in the car or keys in the ignition.
    Hutchins said that in one case, thieves entered an unlocked car outside a home and used a garage door opener to get access to the garage, where they stole a car with the keys inside.
    Investigators from several jurisdictions believe the thefts are the work of two or three groups of individuals that include both adults and juveniles. One arrest has been tied to a stolen car in Ocean Ridge, Hutchins said.
    Police in Ocean Ridge recently distributed a photo of a possible suspect in an orange jumpsuit captured on video getting out of a late-model, two-door BMW sports car and checking for unlocked doors on other cars.
    Several other coastal communities, stretching from northern Broward County to Palm Beach and north, experienced a rash of auto burglaries as well.
    Police in Boynton Beach say they’ve seen a major increase in auto burglaries in recent months throughout the city, with unlocked cars a major target.
    Delray Beach police say they, too, have experienced an increase in auto burglaries, as have residents in Highland Beach.
    In that town, the biggest problem occurred before the December holidays when thieves smashed car windows to gain access to parked vehicles.  
    The cases in Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes, which
Ocean Ridge police also patrol, mostly involved unlocked automobiles.
    “We live in a safe community, and sometimes we tend to let our guard down,” Hutchins said.
    The thefts, he said, occurred mostly at night and took place in private driveways, condominium parking lots and even inside gated communities.
    “It appears they’re looking for anything of value,” he said.
    Hutchins and others in law enforcement, including Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann, say the best way to avoid becoming a victim of an auto burglary is to be vigilant and take simple precautions.
    “Lock your car, lock your car, lock your car,” Hutchins said.


How to fight back
    Here are five steps from Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins to prevent auto burglaries:
    • Lock your car doors and don’t leave car windows open.
    • Don’t leave valuables in your vehicle, especially in plain sight.
    • Avoid leaving any key, including a spare, in the car.
    • Take your garage door opener with you when you leave the car if it’s parked outside the garage.
    • Be sure to set your car alarm if you have one.

Read more…

By Jane Smith

    Two historic homes on Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach are moving closer to becoming restaurants.
    For the Magnuson House at 211 E. Ocean Ave., the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board approved a 60-day extension in January for the Local Development Corp. to explore a new restaurant concept.
    “The original concept of an Italian restaurant would not work in this location,” said broker Tom Prakas, who represented the Philadelphia-based Local Development Co. Instead, the buyer is proposing a casual, hip beer garden with barbecue areas and lots of outdoor activities.
    They plan to serve “smoked barbecue to complement the craft beers,” said architect Jim Williams when showing his sketch plan of the outdoor areas for the eatery.
    The buyer wants to respect the historic nature of the house, Prakas told the CRA board.
    CRA Executive Director Vivian Brooks said she supported the extra time beyond Jan. 4 because the house was never renovated to be a commercial structure.
    Local Development has agreed to pay $255,000, the appraised value of the Magnuson House. The firm also will receive another $200,000 to build out the restaurant.
    For the Little House, at 480 E. Ocean Ave., the sale is expected to close in April.
    Mike Simon, assistant CRA director, told the board that a company created by Ocean Ridge Commissioner Richard Lucibella and partner Barbara Ceuleers signed the contract in December to purchase the historic home for $335,000.  
    The site plan is due by March 31 and two weeks later the sale will close, Simon said. The money already sits in an escrow account managed by agency’s law firm.
    Lucibella still plans to lease the restaurant to Lisa Mercado, who owns the Living Room eatery on Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach. She plans to serve tapas and beer and wine.
    The new version of the Little House can open by December if the latest construction schedule holds. As to the name, Lucibella said he would leave that to Mercado to decide. She could not be reached for comment.
    The two houses carry local historic designations, meaning the city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board would have to approve any renovations.
    In other CRA-related action, Boynton Beach City Commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick named his selection to the agency’s citizen advisory board. At the first City Commission meeting in January, Fitzpatrick picked Paula Melley, a consultant who runs Timeless Beauty Institute. Fitzpatrick was not at the December commission meeting when his fellow commissioners picked the other six panelists.
    The advisory board members will make recommendations to the CRA board about activities, programs and financial issues in the CRA area.

Read more…

By Rich Pollack

    Plans to have Delray Beach continue to provide fire and rescue services to Highland Beach residents after a current contract expires next year hit a snag Feb. 2 when Delray Beach commissioners rejected a proposed agreement in which the small town would pay an annual fee of $3.3 million.
    In what amounts to a counter-proposal, Delray Beach representatives will now go back to the town with a request for an additional 20 percent administrative fee, which would raise annual costs to Highland Beach by about $660,000.
    Under the original proposal, in the works for several years, Delray Beach would have continued providing services to Highland Beach at what had been calculated as the city’s costs.
    But Delray Beach commissioners expressed concerns with the cost estimates, saying they weren’t quite accurate because they did not include intangibles such as training expenses nor did they address variables in staffing expenses and pension costs.
    “This doesn’t work for me,” said Delray Beach Vice Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who proposed a 25 percent administrative fee. “They’re benefiting off of our city.”
    Other commissioners agreed.
    “There’s no reason for us to do this if we’re breaking even,” said Commissioner Mitch Katz. “I agree with the vice mayor that there has to be some administrative costs.”
    Mayor Cary Glickstein said he was not completely comfortable with charging Highland Beach a 25 percent fee, which would have brought the town’s annual bill up to over $4 million.
    “I don’t like the concept of profiting off of another city,” Glickstein said.
    But Petrolia said she didn’t think that was the case. “I don’t think it’s profiting,” she said. “I think it’s recovering our costs.”
    Delray Beach Finance Director Jack Warner and Fire-Rescue Chief Danielle Connor told commissioners that they did not think Highland Beach officials would accept the 25 percent increase. That led Glickstein to ask if there would be a negative impact to the city if it no longer served Highland Beach.
    Connor said the city would need to absorb about 22 positions that it currently has assigned to Highland Beach and would no longer be able to rely on apparatus stationed in the town as a back-up. Overall, she said, the city would not suffer greatly if it no longer provided fire service to Highland Beach.
    “They probably need us more than we need them,” she said.
    In the end, commissioners agreed on a 20 percent administrative fee and also on a laundry list of conditions that would allow Delray to recoup many unplanned costs.
    Under the current contract, Highland Beach pays Delray Beach Fire-Rescue to provide staffing for a ladder truck and a rescue truck, which operate out of a town-owned fire station.
    Highland Beach now pays $8,500 a month to use a Delray Beach ladder truck, but continues to operate its own 10-year-old rescue truck. As part of the original proposed agreement, Delray Beach would have bought new apparatus and leased it back to the town over a 10-year period.
    Prior to the signing off on the now-rejected agreement with Delray Beach, town officials had spoken with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and fire rescue departments in both Boca Raton and Boynton Beach. It was deter-mined, however, that Delray Beach would be the most cost effective and efficient option.

Read more…

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge commissioners didn’t have to look far to find the  successor for retiring Town Attorney Ken Spillias. They realized the right man for the job was already working in Town Hall.
    Glen Torcivia, who has served as the town’s special magistrate for code cases over most of the last decade, was commissioners’ choice for the position.
    Mayor Geoff Pugh said choosing Torcivia allows “the easiest transition” during a period in which Ocean Ridge has also had to replace its police chief, clerk and manager. Pugh said that besides Torcivia’s knowledge of the town’s code and issues important to the commission, he already has relationships with staff and residents.
    Commissioner James Bonfiglio, a lawyer, said Torcivia’s knowledge of Ocean Ridge will save the town money because  of the research he doesn’t have to do. Bonfiglio said commissioners are also getting a seasoned trial lawyer.
    “I’ve known Glen for years,” he said, “and the thing that impresses me is that he has tried hundreds of cases, both jury and non-jury.”
    Torcivia told the commission that while he loves trying cases, his goal for Ocean Ridge will be to avoid it.
    “I love the courtroom,” he said. “There’s no place I’d rather be than in a trial. But it’s the worst place for a client.”
    Torcivia earned his law degree from Union University in Albany, N.Y., in 1979 and started a law firm in West Palm Beach (Torcivia, Donlon, Goddeau & Ansay) after a five-year stint as an assistant attorney for Palm Beach County. He also was the Palm Beach County Health Care District’s first attorney.
    Torcivia is also the attorney for Highland Beach, Lake Worth, Palm Springs and Belle Glade, among other municipalities.
     Commissioners held a special meeting Jan. 24 to interview candidates for the opening, and Torcivia told them the expertise of colleagues at his firm would benefit the town. Carolyn Ansay is a specialist in environmental law who worked for years as general counsel to the South Florida Water Management District. Ansay’s experience could be useful as Ocean Ridge grapples with sea level rise and a developer who wants to build in the mangrove lagoon behind Town Hall.
     Another lawyer with the firm, Brian Shutt, worked nearly 20 years as Delray Beach city attorney and has a background in labor law and civil rights cases.
     “You don’t just get me,” Torcivia told the commission. “You get our team.”
     Spillias, a former Palm Beach County commissioner, has served as the town’s attorney for 16 years and plans to leave in March. Unlike Spillias who is working this year on a $90,000 salary, Torcivia will work on a flat hourly rate of $190 an hour, and $225 hour for court cases.
    The commission interviewed three other law firms: Corbett, White, Davis & Ashton of Lantana; the Lohman Law Group of Palm Beach Gardens; and Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Cole & Bierman of Fort Lauderdale.
    Vice Mayor Lynn Allison had favored hiring Corbett, which also represents Manalapan and Atlantis. Commissioners named Jennifer Gardner Ashton of Corbett to replace Torcivia as special magistrate. Ashton also holds that position with the City of West Palm Beach.
    In other business: An anonymous donor picked up the $2,500 tab for retiring Town Clerk Karen Hancsak’s farewell luncheon Feb. 29 at the private Ocean Club of Florida.
    On the invitation-only guest list of 45 were all current full-time town employees, commissioners and a half-dozen former employees.

Read more…

By Dan Moffett
    
    Ocean Ridge commissioners and developer William Swaim have moved a step closer to clashing in court over access to the mangrove lagoon behind Town Hall.
    For months, Swaim has been trying to persuade the Town Commission to allow him an easement to property he wants to develop behind the building.
    Commissioners have steadfastly refused, saying before they discuss granting an easement, Swaim first would have to win permitting approval from state agencies and resolve access issues with the owners of lots next to his — prerequisites the developer has been unable to satisfy.
    In December, Swaim’s attorney, Alfred LaSorte, wrote Town Attorney Ken Spillias and demanded action on the developer’s request. LaSorte laid out three options for the town: Immediately allow the easement road that would run from A1A south of Town Hall, behind the building, west and north to the lagoon sites; agree to be bound by lawsuits Swaim’s Waterfront ICW Properties has filed against the other adjacent property owners; or, be named as a defendant in a lawsuit.
    Spillias told commissioners at the Jan. 4 town meeting that they should maintain their current position and take no action: “Do nothing further than that what you have already done.”
    Spillias said there were too many moving parts within Swaim’s multiple legal disputes to get involved now. “At this point in time, there are a number of unanswered factual issues in play,” he told commissioners, saying that an easement from the town “does not constitute the missing link to access” that might make action necessary.
    In other words, let Swaim settle his disagreements with everyone else. If he decides to sue Ocean Ridge, the town will defend itself then, Spillias said.
    And there are plenty of other disputes pending. In November, Swaim told Wellington Arms Condominium homeowners that property he owns includes submerged land in the lagoon that stretches up to the condos’ seawall. LaSorte has told Wellington Arms that the homeowners should remove their docks from the water or agree to an access deal with Swaim.
    Then there is Jeff Eder, who owns a house on North Ocean Boulevard north of Town Hall. Eder felt so strongly about the environmental sensitivity of the lagoon that he bought a lot between Swaim’s parcel and A1A to prevent him from developing. Eder has repeatedly denied Swaim’s requests for access.
    And there is the South Florida Water Management District. In May, an administrative law judge in Tallahassee sided with water district attorneys and cited environmental concerns and potential impediments to boaters as reasons for denying Swaim’s requests for a permit exemption that would allow his access road.
    Environmental activists and Swaim’s neighboring opponents say it would be a tragic loss of a pristine wetland to allow his plan to dredge and fill the lagoon for construction of a single-family home.
    Swaim has argued that engineers created the lagoon decades ago to control mosquitoes, and it should not be considered environmentally important. He said construction damage to mangroves would be minimal.

Read more…

7960624278?profile=originalMayor David Cheifetz receives a round of applause after thanking the Strauss Foundation for the new library space.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

    When the cellist Yehuda Hanani fills Manalapan’s J. Turner Moore Memorial Library with the beautiful melodies of Schumann and Saint-Saëns at his Feb. 11 lecture, the audience will no longer suffer the sour note of hearing lovely music in a very cramped space.
    What was once a stretch of front porch is now part of a larger community room. What was once the back porch is now an enclosed storage room. Carpeting is now wooden flooring, and a new sound system is on the way.
    On Feb. 18, the community room will be dedicated as the Robert & Eugenia Strauss Lecture Hall.
    “All these improvements are thanks to the generosity of the Strauss Foundation,” Mayor David Cheifetz told about 60 residents and library members who dropped by last month for an open-house preview of the renovations. “Their daughter, Kimberly Strauss, spearheaded the efforts to create this wonderful new lecture hall in honor of her parents.”
    Cheifetz praised the contractor, Jeffrey Lewis, for completing the job on time and on budget. He declined to reveal the exact amount of the foundation’s gift, but the couple’s affection for the town was boundless.
    Robert Strauss was the son of Maurice “Moe” Strauss, a founder of the Pep Boys chain of auto supply stores. Eugenia Strauss, who died in 2010, was a former dancer and actress. They moved to the town in 1987 and soon became two of its most enthusiastic supporters.
    “My father truly loved being in Manalapan,” Kimberly Strauss told The Coastal Star at his death in March 2014. “He and my mother took a lot of pride in being there, knew all about the town, knew their neighbors. He took a lot of personal pride in helping out any way he could.”
    The guests praised the expansion as they enjoyed hors d’oeuvres from Thaikyo restaurant and were entertained by an acoustic duo dubbed Counseled and Composed.
    “Now we’ll be able to set up the chairs in the new alcove,” said Lisa Petersen, who serves as both library director and town clerk. “I think we got the most bang for the buck we could possibly get, and I’m thrilled to be part of the community.”
    Sophia Isaac, who directs about 10 volunteers as the “library liaison,” was equally impressed.
    “I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said. “Before, there was a clash of people and bottleneck at the lecture series. Now it just sweeps right through.
    “The Strausses have given us a whole new energy that will make a huge difference, not just as a library, but as a community center.
    “We’re so appreciative.”

If You Go
What: Dedication of community room
When: 6-8 p.m. Feb. 18
Information: For a schedule of the library’s 2016 lecture series, visit www.manalapan.org or call 585-9477. Lectures are free to library members.   

Read more…

Meet Your Neighbor: Lucille Flagello

7960621062?profile=originalLucille Flagello organizes casino trips in South Palm Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    Lucille Flagello had no idea about the new home and community that were waiting for her when she moved to South Palm Beach in 2006.
    “All I knew I was going to a nice warm climate with blue skies,” says Flagello, 75. “My husband bought the place a couple of years before we retired. We used to visit here.”  
    The Flagellos lived in Suffern, N.Y., not far from Tuxedo Park and the pharmacy where Joseph Flagello Sr. began working in 1961 and later became owner.    
    Bears, raccoons, wild turkeys, deer and red foxes would visit their back yard in New York.  
    After her husband died in 2005, Flagello moved to South Palm Beach.  
    “He died one month before our 45th anniversary,” Flagello says. “He was only 65 years old.”
    The town of South Palm Beach is just 5/8 of a mile long and is bordered by the town of Palm Beach to the north and the town of Lantana to the south.  
    With 3,000 residents during the winter and between 800 and 1,000 residents during the summer months, it has a small-town feel Flagello really appreciates.    
    “There’s always something going on. It’s fun. It really is,” Flagello says of her Florida hometown.  “You walk in the street and people smile at you and say hi.”
    Flagello loved the friendliness of her new community so much that she jumped in to support it.  
    She is co-chair of Community Affairs Advisory Board, organizes the town’s monthly casino trips to the Hard Rock Casino, and was co-chair of the town’s 60th anniversary celebration, which was held at Mario’s Ocean Ave., 225 E. Ocean Ave. in Lantana.  
    Flagello started attending town hall meetings with her son, Joseph Flagello Jr., not long after she moved south from New York.
    “That’s how I got involved,” Flagello remembers, from her fifth-floor condo with views of the ocean and Intracoastal.
    Flagello embraced the change from New York with one exception.
    “The one day I don’t like being in Florida is Christmas.  No matter how you decorate a palm tree it doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. Otherwise, I am happy here the rest of the year.”
— Lucy Lazarony

    
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    
A. I grew up in Brooklyn and I went to St. Athanasius elementary school. I went to St. Michael’s Academy in Manhattan for high school. I had good parents who gave me good advice and that was a good combination with what they taught me in school. After I graduated high school, I went to Woods Secretarial School in Manhattan. For college, I did go to Pace. I had 2½ years of that.

    
Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
    
A. I was a private secretary in an advertising agency, Ted Bates Advertising, and when I worked there they were the fifth largest. After I got married, we moved to Suffern, N.Y., and I worked at the Washington Avenue School for the director of elementary education and then after that I worked for my husband and that was at the pharmacy. I did invoicing and I did all the ordering, other than prescription items. I really enjoyed working at the advertising agency. I got to know products coming out. I worked in marketing and merchandising there.
    
    
Q. How did you choose to make your home in South Palm Beach?
    
A. The community gave me a feeling of being in a special place.

    
Q. What is your favorite part about living in South Palm Beach?
    
A. Everyone is there to help. They’ll come do whatever needs to be done. If you have a problem, you have more than one friend. Everyone is so nice here. I have friends here that we’re so close we’re like family.

   
Q. What’s your favorite part of organizing casino trips for residents and how many people typically go along?
    
A. I enjoy going to the casino and I took over from somebody who was doing it before me. She couldn’t do it (anymore) and rather than seeing the trip go belly up I said I would do it. It’s always the third Tuesday of every month. The bus company won’t pick up unless we have 10.

    
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
    
A. I’ll listen to Frank Sinatra who is my favorite, and when I was in grammar school I was in the Tony Bennett fan club because the girl in my class, (her) father was his manager.  When he wasn’t on the road, he would come to our meetings and sign autographs.
    
    Q.
Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
    A.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

    Q.
Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
    A.
My parents. My parents would do anything for anybody if they needed help and they did.

    Q.
Who/what makes you laugh?
    A.
Funny comedians. I have some friends who will talk, who are not trying to be funny, they are just funny in the things that they say.

    Q.
Is there something people don’t know about you that they should?
    A.
I can’t do it now but I took dancing lessons from when I was 4.  I took piano lessons from when I was 6. I did have a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York when I was 15, three boys and myself. I opened and closed it. I played the piano.

Read more…

By Dan Moffett

    South Palm Beach is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a nostalgic look back at classic American cars.
    The town is expecting at least 40 vintage autos from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s at the Plaza del Mar shopping center in Manalapan on Feb. 27, to rekindle memories of old coastal Florida during the days of doo-wop and bobby socks.
    Sponsored in part by the Palm Beach County Classics Car Club, the show is free and open to the public.
    “We could get as many as 100 cars,” said Jean Lopane of Boynton Beach, the club’s founder. “We’ll just have to see who all shows up.”
    Nicknamed “Car Show Jean,” Lopane is known for driving a 1955 Pontiac Star Chief, a car that rolled off the assembly line the same year South Palm Beach was incorporated.
    “This is a great event for the town of South Palm Beach and surrounding towns,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “There should be lots of nostalgia and fun for everybody.”
    Councilman Woody Gorbach led the way in planning the event, Councilman Robert Gottlieb donated $500 to help promote it, and the town’s Community Affairs Advisory Board kicked in another $500.
    “This is something the whole family can enjoy,” Gorbach said. “It’s great that the town got behind it and everyone pitched in to help."

If You Go
What: Classic Car Show Where: Plaza del Mar, Manalapan
When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 27
Details: No pre-registration is necessary to show a car. The first 30 car owners to arrive will receive $10 gift certificates from John G’s restaurant in the plaza. Top 10 entrants will receive trophies.
Info: 704-0669

Read more…

    South Palm Beach Town Manager Bogdan “Bob” Vitas Jr. said the remainder of the dilapidated Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn should be demolished this month.
    Vitas said the Oceanfront Inn property, located across from Town Hall at 3550 S. Ocean Blvd. and owned by Paragon Acquisition Group, should be cleared of debris and “shovel ready” for new development by March 1, the beginning of sea turtle nesting season.
    The 1960s-era hotel closed in September 2014. Some of its buildings were demolished in October.
— Willie Howard

Read more…

South Palm Beach: New clerk sworn in

7960628088?profile=originalSouth Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer, left, congratulates new Town Clerk Maylee De Jesus

after De Jesus was sworn in during the Jan. 26 council meeting. With De Jesus are her daughters, Marializ, left, and Veronica.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

    With more than a dozen family members and friends watching, Maylee De Jesus was officially sworn in as South Palm Beach’s new town clerk during the council’s Jan. 26 meeting.
    De Jesus has been working for the town since Jan. 11. In addition to serving as clerk, she will serve as assistant to Town Manager Bogdan “Bob” Vitas Jr., who started working for the town in November.
    Her $50,000 annual salary will increase to $52,000 if she successfully completes a six-month probationary period in July.
    De Jesus comes to South Palm Beach from the village of Palm Springs, where she spent nearly nine years as assistant deputy clerk. She replaces former clerk Yudy Alvarez, who resigned in December.
    Also during the Jan. 26 meeting, the Town Council:
    • Scheduled a workshop meeting with the town manager to discuss plans and goals, including the town’s budget and a long-term strategic plan. The workshop, open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at Town Hall.
    • Discussed a possible beach-access agreement with the Palmsea condo and neighboring property owners who have rights to the easement. Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, who serves as president of the Palmsea association, said the condo’s board would consider a town easement for emergencies and beach restoration, but not for repair of seawalls at neighboring condos. Liability also was a concern, he said.
    • Heard Vitas’ report on efforts to secure easements from town property owners for a comprehensive beach stabilization project. Vitas said he hopes to have the easements in place by June. The beach stabilization work is not expected to begin until 2018.
    • Approved a resolution supporting efforts by the town of Lake Clarke Shores and neighboring towns to build a boat lift at the Lake Worth Spillway that would give small boats access to the Intracoastal Waterway from the lakes and canals to the west.
    • Heard a police report on car burglaries. Police Cmdr. Robert Rizzotto showed a security camera video (available here) of thieves checking car doors in the parking garage of a town condo. The thieves found only one car unlocked and took a jacket from the trunk, Rizzotto said. They later stole a car in Palm Beach. Police Chief Carl Webb urged residents to lock their cars, remove valuables and to call the police if they notice something unusual.

Read more…

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge residents turned out in droves to complain about Mayor Geoff Pugh’s ideas for overhauling Old Ocean Boulevard.
Pugh didn’t mind that at all. He said the main thing he wanted was for them to turn out in droves.
    “It just goes to show, when it’s controversial, everyone shows up,” the mayor said, and told a packed Town Hall he was trying to use “an idea that’s so out there that people will turn out.”
    The turnout for the Jan. 26 workshop on Pugh’s proposal to change Old Ocean into a promenade showed how much residents care about their town’s future and dealing with growing neighbors, the mayor said, and that’s the conversation he wants to start.
    What will Ocean Ridge do to deal with robust development in Boynton Beach that is sure to bring more people to the town and its beaches?
    “Let’s face it. The town to our west is leaning on us,” Pugh said, and cited published calls from Boynton Beach Mayor Jerry Taylor to “bring on the development” and the city’s recent approval of two large residential projects on Federal Highway.
    “They call themselves a coastal community,” Pugh said. “They are not a coastal community. They’re an Intracoastal community. We are a coastal community.”
    He said he was committed to doing what he could to “keep the town the same quiet sanctuary that it is, but accommodate the traffic” that mainland growth will bring. Pugh showed the audience a snapshot of himself as a child growing up in Ocean Ridge during the 1960s.
    “My idea is not to change things,” he said, “but to keep them as they were in 1969.”
    His idea for an Old Ocean Boulevard promenade was dead on arrival. Of the 26 residents who spoke during the workshop, 22 spoke against the proposal, one supported it and three expressed no opinion. A sampling:
    “This is not a controversial issue,” said Bob Weisblut, who lives on Sailfish Lane. “I think people want everything left like it is.”
Rosemarie Peterson of Harbour Drive concurred: “I think if we took a vote here tonight, everybody would say to leave it alone.”
    Earl Jones of Sailfish Lane said blocking off side streets  would create problems. “Any of you who think dead-end streets are neat, you’re nuts,” he said.
    Tropical Drive residents said they worried about the high volume of traffic the plan would funnel onto their street. Chris Currie said he’s traveled on Old Ocean for 45 years and never had a problem. He said the mayor’s idea would give Old Ocean “quasi-private status” at the expense of Tropical Drive. “It’s not going to fly,” he said.
    Said Chuck McIntyre, who lives on Old Ocean: “Forget this whole idea.”
    The only resident willing to support the plan outright was Barbara Souther, who lives on North Ocean. “I’m in the minority here,” she said. “I’m with Geoff on this.” Souther said one-way traffic would make it easier for people to enjoy the beach.
Gary Kosinski of Old Ocean gave the town a detailed plan for overhauling the street that he said is “exactly the opposite of Mayor Pugh’s idea.” Kosinski proposes blocking off no side streets and making no streets one-way. “What we do is stop people from driving the whole distance of Old Ocean,” he said. He proposes dividing the road into three sections. The town put the plan on its website.
    “I think Gary Kosinski’s plan is worth looking at,” said Commissioner Richard Lucibella. “I don’t think we should take it off the table.”
    Other ideas from the workshop that commissioners said they would consider in upcoming meetings include improving beach signage, installing traffic calming devices, exploring shuttle service from Boynton Beach to Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park, and improving the lighting on Old Ocean.
    Commissioner James Bonfiglio said residents’ overwhelming support for the status quo shows that the town has had sound leadership for decades.
    “You’re not saying we want change,” Bonfiglio said. “You’re saying we want things to stay the same. We’ve done things right for about 20 to 25 years to get to this point where everybody that’s here likes living here and likes the quality of life here.”

Read more…

By Jane Smith
    
    Guy Harvey hoopla has overtaken Boynton Beach.
    “Who doesn’t like Guy Harvey?” Tom McClure responded when asked about a possible hotel going up in Boynton Beach. He is president of Boynton Intracoastal Group, which represents 2,400 residents living along the Intracoastal.
    Guy Harvey Outpost, the hotel brand affiliated with the fisherman/wildlife artist/conservationist, has Florida resorts in Islamorada and St. Pete Beach. A St. Augustine location will open this spring and an RV resort and marina on Lake Okeechobee will open in winter 2018, according to the company’s website.
    The Guy Harvey excitement started last fall when the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board learned that its executive director had cold-called the company. Vivian Brooks told the board, “I reached out to Guy Harvey resorts and they are interested in downtown Boynton.”
    Brooks sent the resort representative possible sites, including a parcel on the east side of Federal Highway that is owned by Davis Camalier and is near the Boynton Harbor Marina.
    Mayor Jerry Taylor, who sits as the CRA chair, could hardly contain his enthusiasm.
    “That is so exciting,” Taylor said. “If we can get him to bring a hotel here, that would be so tremendous. It would be a good fit with our marina.”
    The marina has two waterfront restaurants — Two Georges and the Banana Boat — offers waterfront living at the Marina Village condos and water activities, including fishing charters, scuba diving charters and watercraft and boat rentals.
    Another possible site is the city’s Town Center, west of Federal Highway, which houses the Historic Boynton Beach High School, City Hall and its police station.
    In mid-January, a representative came to the CRA offices where the mayor met him.
    “I happened to be in the CRA office on Friday when a rep from Guy Harvey, the big sports fisherman, sent their representative to look at what we have available for a hotel in Boynton,” Taylor told the commission audience on Jan. 19. “That would be fantastic if we could pull it off.”
    Kevin DeNell, a Guy Harvey executive vice president in Fort Lauderdale, said, “It’s just too far out there to comment.”
    But that no-comment comment fueled the talk.

Read more…

Manalapan: Audubon bridge project making gains

By Dan Moffett

    Work on Manalapan’s Audubon Causeway bridge is picking up momentum, Vice Mayor Peter Isaac said, and the project appears to have a chance to be completed on schedule and under budget.
    After meeting with the project’s builder and engineer, Isaac said “both are very optimistic that they’ll finish the bridge on time, before the end of July.”
    He said temporary barriers to close traffic for demolition of the south half of the bridge are scheduled to go up by mid-February, leaving an 8-foot lane open for one-way traffic on the north side. The hope is that by April, workers will have finished the south side and opened it to traffic without weight restrictions, allowing heavy trucks and service vehicles to cross.
    Florida Power & Light Co. is scheduled to move power poles to the north side of the bridge in February to make way for demolition.
    Isaac said the project engineer thinks the town will save about 20 percent on the cost of installing pilings because they will need to be set only 20 feet deep, instead of the preliminary estimate of 25 feet. The town still hopes to hold construction costs to about $800,000.
    In other business:
    • Town Manager Linda Stumpf says she is still waiting for the results of a feasibility study on the proposed sale of the town’s water utility system to Boynton  Beach.
    Consultants have had difficulty finding accurate consumption numbers for customers in Manalapan because the town charges a base fee, with a flat per-gallon rate for high usage. Most municipalities, including Boynton Beach, use a tiered system with increasingly higher thresholds of charges based on specific consumption levels, Stumpf said.
    “We need to be sure we know how much our customers would pay if we go through with the Boynton deal,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of big users in Manalapan. If the costs are too high, we won’t do it.”
    • Police Chief Carmen Mattox got a standing ovation from town commissioners and officials during the Jan. 26 meeting.
    In December, Mattox graduated from Palm Beach State College with a bachelor’s degree in public safety management, fulfilling a commitment he made to the town to finish his education. Mattox earned an associate’s degree as a lieutenant and completed the bachelor’s work during his last three years as chief. “It’s quite an accomplishment to have a full-time job, and a family, and go to school at night,” said Mayor David Cheifetz.

Read more…

Obituary: Flossy Keesely

By Scott Simmons

    HIGHLAND BEACH — A little more than five years ago, Flossy Keesely sat down in her Highland Beach penthouse with The Coastal Star to talk about her long life for a profile.
    She greeted her interviewer, prepared lunch and pooh-poohed the notion of calling her Mrs. Keesely, saying simply, “I’m just Flossy.”
    She was 96 at the time, and it goes without saying that after living to be nearly 102, she was more than “just Flossy.”
    Flossy, born Florence Bosenkopf, on April 18, 1914, in Philadelphia, died Jan. 28, 2016, in hospice care.
7960619281?profile=original    In the century she lived, Flossy married the love of her life, pioneered the first television talk show and founded a performing arts awards program.
    The walls of her penthouse were covered with autographed photos given to her by friends who included Dale Carnegie, Arthur Godfrey and other household names of another era.
    Her parents, Ludwig and Anna Bosenkopf, had emigrated from Austria in 1910. Flossy, an only child, fondly remembered the return trips her parents took to Europe to visit relatives.
    In the 1930s, she began dating Nicholas Keesely, who worked in the broadcast industry. They married June 25, 1932, and it was a love affair that continued until Nick’s death in 1999.
    In the 1940s, the couple moved to New Rochelle, New York, and Nick transitioned from radio to television. Flossy teamed with Kathi Norris to become the first personalities to host a television talk show, Your Television Shopper, on the old DuMont Television Network. Norris went on to become one of the original hosts of NBC’s Today show.
    Nick retired in the ’60s, and the couple moved to Florida, first settling in Fort Lauderdale, before making a home in Boca del Mar. Flossy moved to Highland Beach after Nick’s death.
    She remained involved in community affairs, produced a “Pathway to the Stars” talent contest, and in her 90s became a member of the Boca Raton Rotary Club, from which she received a Lifetime Achievement Award during the club’s annual OPAL (Outstanding People and Leaders) Awards presentation.
    As she neared her 100th birthday, the tiny Flossy assumed she would die soon after passing that milestone.
    She lived on nearly two more years, and left a lasting legacy in the form of a statue and fountain at Mizner Park in Boca Raton that depicts her reaching for the stars, with her little dog Schatzi sitting at her feet.
    See it and smile.

Read more…

Obituary: Judith Bartlewski

By Steven J. Smith

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Teaching, mentoring and placing students into the workforce were the central missions of Judith Bartlewski’s life and truly defined her, said Paul Bartlewski, her husband of 43 years.
    “Judi had such a passion and such a way with her kids, it was amazing,” he said. “She was so devoted to them and I know she changed all of their lives for the better.”
    Mrs. Bartlewski’s health began to decline in recent years as she developed heart and mobility problems. She died Jan. 17 at the age of 72.
7960618093?profile=original    Born in Lowell, Mass., in 1943, Mrs. Bartlewski grew up in Westford and graduated with honors from Elms College in Chicopee, Mass., with a B.A. in history. She earned her master’s in education from Rivier College in New Hampshire.
    “Judi was a teacher in Chelmsford, Mass., and met me in 1971 on a blind date,” her husband said. “We were married not long after. Even though she had an impressive education résumé — with a master’s degree and a job as a counselor in the Chelmsford school system — she followed me into the Connecticut school system. That’s just how it was back then. The wife went where the husband did.”
    She started out as a career counselor at Bloomfield High School in Connecticut but soon became pregnant with the couple’s son, Paul. When he was born in 1973, Mrs. Bartlewski stayed home with him until he reached school age. Then, after several years as a substitute teacher, her career took a dramatic turn in the early 1980s.
    “Judi became a career counselor of the New Britain High School World of Work Program in Connecticut, where she found a job for every student in that program,” her husband said. “I’m talking about at-risk students, who were not focused on education. She went from business to business and knocked on so many doors to get these kids very good jobs in construction companies, banks, you name it.”
    When funding for that program ran out, Mrs. Bartlewski started a new program focused on ninth-graders who were potential dropouts. When that program ran its course, the school once again saw its dropout rate rise. So Mrs. Bartlewski created the New Britain Diploma Program — from scratch.
    “It was a great success,” her husband said. “In fact, that program is still going.”
    Mrs. Bartlewski also was a gifted interior decorator, he said.
    On their 25th anniversary, the couple decided to spend their golden years in Biddeford Pool, Maine, and Highland Beach; after she retired in 2009 they moved to Highland Beach permanently in 2011.
    “I’ll most remember her for her smile, her passion, her humor,” her husband said. “She was so well-rounded and such a hard worker. She had great passion for what she did in life, and she loved her job. That’s rare.”
    Mrs. Bartlewski’s funeral was Jan. 29 in New Britain, Conn. She is survived by her husband and her son. Share memories at www.ericksonhansen.com.

Read more…

Three areas between Lake Worth and Boca Raton proposed as no-take zones where fishing, lobstering could be banned.

By Willie Howard

    
Divers, anglers, boaters and others who enjoy South Florida’s coral reefs came to the Delray Beach Public Library Jan. 29 to comment on dozens of proposals intended to protect the reefs from threats such as pollution, anchor damage and high water temperatures.
    Recommendations for protecting South Florida’s coral reefs range from improving education to creating marine protected areas along the four-county area where fishing, lobstering and other consumptive uses could be prohibited.
7960630865?profile=original    High water temperatures, pollution, silt from beach restoration work, vessel groundings and anchor damage all threaten the delicate coral colonies that build the reefs.
    “It’s really death by a million cuts,” said Francisco Pagan, manager of the state’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.
    Although reefs in the Florida Keys are protected by a national marine sanctuary, including several no-take areas, there are no special regulations in place to protect the northern section of the Florida Reef Tract, which extends 105 miles from the north end of Biscayne National Park to St. Lucie Inlet near Stuart.
    The recommended management actions, or RMAs, were developed by a working group of about 50 volunteers who have been discussing   South Florida’s reef problems and possible solutions since March 2014.
    If they become policy, the proposals could reduce sources of reef-damaging pollution; improve coral reef education for students, boaters and anglers; boost law enforcement on the water; create coral reef gardens; halt plans to expand Lake Worth Inlet for port traffic; and reduce the harvest of herbivorous fish that remove algae from the reefs.
    About 25 people came to each of the two Jan. 29 workshops to ask questions and submit comments about plans to protect South Florida’s reefs.
    Seasonal Delray Beach residents George and Gigi Mankoff said they would like to see more coral reef education in schools as well as hands-on educational opportunities for children.
    “If you’re a Floridian, you need to be concerned about the reefs because they’re such a beautiful resource,” Gigi Mankoff said.
    Among the proposals drawing public interest during the Delray Beach workshops were the 13 “areas of interest” selected for possible marine protected areas, or MPAs.
    One of the group’s recommendations: Protect 20 percent to 30 percent of the reef tract from “extractive use,” meaning no-take areas.
    Seven areas of interest for MPAs are being proposed along the coast of Palm Beach County, including five south of the Lake Worth Pier. They are:
    • The Lake Worth to Manalapan area, proposed as an MPA but not a no-take area. It would stretch from just south of Lake Worth Pier to Manalapan and extend from the beach to the outer edge of the reef. It covers popular dive destinations, such as Horseshoe Reef.
    • The Gulf Stream Reef, a proposed no-take zone along the reef tract with its center off the Boynton Beach water tower.
    • The MV Castor wreck, an artificial reef off Gulf Stream known as a Goliath grouper spawning area. It’s being proposed as a location for seasonal fish-spawning closures.
    • Fink’s Delray, a proposed no-take zone stretching from the beach to the outer edge of the reef tract. It extends from George Bush Boulevard in Delray Beach south to Toscana Towers in Highland Beach. The area is known for good hard coral cover and sites with relatively large numbers of fish.
    • Fink’s Grouper Hole, a proposed no-take zone known for its ledges and areas with large numbers of fish. Unlike Fink’s Delray, this proposed MPA would not cover the area between the reefs and the beach. Its approximate location is from Jasmine Drive in Delray Beach south to the north end of Lake Wyman in Boca Raton.  
    The possibility of closing 20 to 30 percent of the South Florida reef tract to fishing and other consumptive uses has drawn strong reaction from fishing organizations.
    The recreational fishing group CCA/Florida sent an email to its members expressing concern over the proposed MPAs and urging them to attend the Our Florida Reefs workshops.
    CCA/Florida said it does not support MPAs unless they are scientifically justified, have stated goals and are used as a last resort.
    The recreational fishing group also disagreed with a proposal to create a national marine sanctuary along the coast of the four-county area, noting that would be an unneeded delegation of state authority to a federal agency.
    “The state has an excellent record of managing its fisheries and resources,” said Trip Aukeman, CCA/Florida’s director of advocacy.
    No-take zones should be considered “only when recreational fishing poses a clear and demonstrated threat to the sustainability of fisheries resources,” the American Sportfishing Association said in response to the Our Florida Reefs proposals.
    “The main threats to our coral reefs in Florida come from increased water temperatures, water quality and sedimentation — not fishing activities,” an ASA memo said.
    But the Our Florida Reefs working group memo says the possible MPAs — including no-take zones, no-anchor areas, restoration areas and areas closed to fishing during fish spawning seasons — would improve the condition of the region’s coral reefs.
    “There are user conflicts, unsustainable uses of the resource, direct impact to reefs from ships, boats, debris and anchors and disruptions to spawning (fish) aggregations,” the memo says.
    “We need areas that are completely set aside that don’t have any consumptive uses,” said Dave Gilliam, a coral reef ecologist and assistant professor of marine biology at Nova Southeastern University.
    Selling no-take areas to the public is likely to be difficult, said Tom Campbell, a Lighthouse Point diver who attended one of the Delray Beach workshops. Nonetheless, Campbell believes limited no-take areas could boost fish populations. “The fish have to have a place to go and spawn,” Campbell said.
    No-take areas, the working group says, could create better fishing outside the closed areas and could attract divers who want to see abundant marine life.
    But the working group’s memo also notes that maintaining no-take areas would require “a large amount of enforcement effort.”


It’s not too late to comment
    The public is invited to comment on proposed management actions, even if they don’t attend one of the workshops.
    Comments must be received by March 1. They can be submitted online through the Our Florida Reefs website, www.ourfloridareefs.org (Click on “get involved” and pull down to “comment on management recommendations.”).
    Hard-copy comments, including comment cards from the workshop meetings, can be mailed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 1277 NE 79th St. Causeway, Miami, FL 33138.
    A report containing final recommendations, expected this summer, will be presented to agencies that would be charged with reviewing the reef-protecting measures.
    Any recommendation that requires a rule or policy change would have to undergo its own separate review process before it could be implemented.

Read more…