By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge is looking for ways to rein in nuisance construction projects.
During a three-hour joint workshop on Oct. 19, the Town Commission and the Planning & Zoning panel considered code changes that would tighten building rules.
Town Manager Tracey Stevens said the goal was to “gain an understanding of current town regulations” and “determine whether they’re working.” From there, Stevens said, she hopes officials can develop new measures soon.
“We want to maintain the character of the town,” said Mayor Kristine de Haseth, “while also protecting homeowners’ property rights.”
Among the construction issues considered for revisions:
• Project time frames: Residents and officials have complained that too many projects have received building permits but then languished for months without activity.
• Demolition: Commissioners say they want to ensure that tear-downs and renovations are as minimally disruptive to neighborhoods as possible and that debris is quickly removed.
• Site management, construction fences, flood mitigation: Homeowners have often complained that job sites are inadequately screened from view with temporary fencing.
• Property maintenance, abandonment: The town manager should have adequate authority to enforce the handbook of ground rules for contractors, who are required to keep sites orderly and protect the rights of adjoining property owners.
• Landscaping, tree canopy protection: Commissioners consulted a recent Boynton Beach tree study looking for ways to protect the town’s canopy.
• Light nuisance: Revising regulations for the location and direction of outdoor lighting.
Ocean Ridge is one of the few communities its size with a full-service, in-house building department, including a full-time inspector and clerk. Most small South Florida municipalities hire outside vendors for inspections and permit work.
The resurgence in the state’s real estate market in recent years has led to a surge in permit requests for renovation work throughout the town.
In September, the Ocean Ridge Building Department received 288 permit applications and performed 233 inspections.
In 2019, the town took in nearly $667,000 in building permit revenue. The downside of that construction boom was disruption in neighborhoods and building sites that were eyesores.
Stevens said the staff has completed work on recommendations for changes and will bring them to the Planning & Zoning Commission for review, with the Town Commission looking at passing new ordinances, probably early next year.
In other business:
• The West Palm Beach law firm of Torcivia, Donlon & Goddeau has named Pamala Ryan as the replacement for former Town Attorney Brian Shutt, who resigned in September to join another firm.
Ryan has 22 years’ experience in municipal government work, having represented several South Florida communities, including Riviera Beach.
She was appointed to the Florida Bar’s City, County and Local Government Certification Committee from 2014-2020.
In April, she co-hosted a webinar on the challenges of complying with Florida Sunshine laws during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The town canceled plans for a December indoor holiday event because of the pandemic.
However, plans for a Santa Claus “ride-around” are in the works, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12, from 3-5 p.m.
The time and date are subject to revision, and the town’s website will announce details or changes.
The idea is to have Santa ride in a vehicle through as many streets as possible and throw candy and dog biscuits to residents and their pets who are maintaining the proper social distancing. Ú

Paulette Dale of Highland Beach says she made President Donald Trump blush when she complimented his smile. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Paulette Dale wasn’t planning to tell the president of the United States he had a great smile — not in person and certainly not on national television with 14 million people watching.
But that’s exactly what the retired former Miami Dade College professor did during an October town hall meeting with President Donald Trump, which aired live on NBC.
“It was my honest reaction,” said Dale, whose compliment heard around the world quickly drew criticism — and praise — and was even parodied on Saturday Night Live.
The last of several people on the broadcast chosen by NBC to address the president, Dale had practiced her question about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before heading to Miami for the town hall presentation.
“I simply prepared myself to say, ‘Good evening, Mr. President,’ and follow with my question about his plans for DACA,” said Dale, who lives in Highland Beach.
Then the president smiled at her while waiting for her question and she reacted.
“I thought his smile was warm and welcoming, so I said so — on national television,” Dale said. “Holy smokies. My sincere compliment went viral on social media.”
Within minutes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and dozens of other social media sites were peppered with comments about Dale and her compliment.
Her words, Dale said, even made the president blush — although you couldn’t really see that on TV.
Among those chiming in to show their chagrin were actress and singer Bette Midler, who suggested that Dale would benefit from better eye care. There was also an altered photo of Dale’s face on the body of someone in a straitjacket.
It was a Saturday Night Live skit, in which Dale was portrayed as somewhat scatterbrained, however, that may have brought most attention to her words.
That portrayal couldn’t be further from the truth.
After earning a doctorate in communication sciences and disorders/linguistics, Dale has taught and mentored hundreds of students who have entered careers as speech therapists. She has also taught thousands of students basic interpersonal communications skills as well as public speaking.
In addition, the 68-year-old professor has spent time working as an English language specialist for the U.S. Department of State, teaching workshops and training educators on how to teach American English to non-native speakers. During school breaks, Dale has traveled to South and Central America and the Philippines on the government’s behalf.
A native New Yorker, who like Trump grew up in Queens, Dale came from a working class family and learned that education would become the key to success. Her involvement in education — and with students who were brought here illegally by their parents — in some ways played a role in her being asked to participate in the town hall with the president.
Her interaction with those students led to her writing the question about the DACA program when she was contacted by Ask Miami, a focus group she had signed up with several years ago, to submit questions for a possible appearance at the town hall session. She had mixed emotions when an NBC representative contacted her and told her she should prepare to ask her question of the president on live television.
“I thought, ‘Oh boy, now I’ve done it,’” she said. “I was excited but also wondered what did I get myself into.”
Despite the criticism of her smile comment, Dale says she was encouraged by people who were happy to see someone compliment a candidate who wouldn’t likely get her vote.
“I would say that the vast majority of individuals realized that the compliment was genuine,” she said.
So would Dale ask a question at a town hall meeting again if the opportunity presented itself?
“Absolutely,” she says. “Certainly not for the attention but to get a very vital message out. The ability to pay the president a sincere compliment and simultaneously disagree with his political and philosophical views should not be mutually exclusive.”
— Rich Pollack

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you? 
A. I grew up in Queens, New York City. I left New York after graduating from Queens College at the age of 20 to attend the University of South Florida for my M.S. degree in speech pathology — before attending the University of Florida in Gainesville for my doctorate in communication sciences and disorders/linguistics. I’ve lived in Florida for 48 years, 43 of them in Miami. Growing up in New York has prepared me for all of life’s challenges. After all, like Frank Sinatra said, “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”

Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of? 
A. As a college student, I worked summers as a showroom model in the New York City garment center. Other part-time jobs throughout the years included waitressing, being a receptionist and a switchboard operator. I was a speech pathologist in Broward and Miami-Dade County public schools before becoming the director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic at Miami Dade College. I was a full professor at Miami Dade College for 35 years, teaching courses in public speaking, phonetics, communication disorders, and general speech communication.
I am immensely proud that many of my professional efforts have helped people to live better lives. I am proud that I was able to be a role model for thousands of college students during my teaching career.

Q. How did you choose to make Highland Beach your home? How long have you lived here? 
A. I’ve lived in Highland Beach for five years. My son and daughter-in-law moved to Boca about five years ago for a career opportunity. There was absolutely no reason for me to stay in Miami any longer.

Q. What’s your favorite part of living in Highland Beach? 
A. The safe environment, low (if any) crime rate, the wealth of services within close proximity — the beach, library, post office, Police Department, fire station — the cleanliness and the physical beauty of the area.

Q. What book are you reading now? 
A. I just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Before that The Alice Network, about a ring of female spies for the Allies during World War I.  My favorite genre is historical fiction. I’m currently reading Ken Follett’s latest book, The Evening and the Morning.

Q. What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired? When you want to just sing along out loud? 
A. Amazon Alexa is great. I just ask it to play whatever I’m in the mood for — Céline Dion, Adele, Simon and Garfunkel, for example. My favorite relaxing music is piano oldies. When I want to just sing out loud, provided nobody is around, I will listen to the Beatles. 

Q. What advice do you have for young people today? 
A. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” If you set your goals high and try to reach them, you will still end up being successful, even if you don’t attain your original goals. If you strive for excellence, you will end up accomplishing so much more than if you just settle for mediocrity.

Q. What do you do in your free time?
A. I’m a strong believer in volunteerism. I am a trained volunteer crisis counselor for the Crisis Text Line. I do individual crisis counseling for teens and adults experiencing suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression.
I am also a trained volunteer arbitrator for the BBB Auto Line. I arbitrate Florida Lemon Law cases. It’s very interesting and challenging. So far, I have decided in favor of the consumer about 50% of the time, and in favor of the manufacturer approximately 50% of the time.
I’m an avid pickleball player. I love to play canasta and Rummikub with friends. During COVID we play online. I love to FaceTime friends around the world as a way to stay close and in touch with them.

Q. What makes you laugh? 
A. Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday Night Live. Except, I didn’t think the SNL skit about me telling the president he had a great smile was funny. Maybe because I was the subject of the parody!

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would play you?
A. Sarah Jessica Parker. She is a kind, down-to-earth, generous person. That’s more important to me than having a physical look-alike.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer wears the model of mask selected for distribution to residents. A secure fit and easy breathing fabric make it her favorite.
The ones given to residents will have the town seal.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

The South Palm Beach Town Council has approved buying thousands of high-quality face masks to distribute to all residents in response to the growing rate of COVID-19 infections in South Florida.
The council, during a November special meeting, authorized spending about $10,000 to supply each resident with five masks by December.
This is the town’s second mask distribution campaign. Last spring, shortly after the pandemic began, South Palm Beach handed out 3,000 masks, with Mayor Bonnie Fischer personally delivering most of them to each condo building.
“I’m willing to do that again,” Fischer said. “There’s not a lot we can do, but giving people masks is something, and it’s very important.”
The town has brought in the Palm Beach County Health Department’s mobile testing unit three times this year to screen residents, and another test day is scheduled for Dec. 11. The last visit was Nov. 6, when 102 residents were tested and offered ice cream outside Town Hall for their participation.
Fischer said making masks available has helped make them more acceptable and has played a role in reducing the spread of the coronavirus. South Palm Beach has had seven confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the Health Department testing and reports from condo managers. There are two known resident deaths from the disease.
In other business, town officials are reviewing options to find alternate easements for beach access, so South Palm Beach’s long-awaited sand restoration project can begin early next year.
The plan to haul in up to 1,000 truckloads of dredged sand from neighboring Palm Beach has stalled because property owners near the two towns’ borderline have balked at allowing easements for access to the beachfront. Officials are hoping that either Lantana will support opening a southern pathway for the trucks near Municipal Beach Park, or condo owners in the southern end of Palm Beach will allow access. “It could mean bringing the sand farther,” said Fischer, “but it’s one of the different options we’re working on at the moment.”
It’s been a tough summer and autumn for South Palm Beach’s beaches. The combination of an active storm season and king tides has swept sand away and damaged condominium sea walls.
“There’s no beach in places,” Fischer said. “This time of year we lose a lot, and that’s just the nature of the beast.”
Besides cooperation from Lantana, South Palm Beach is heavily reliant on cooperation from Palm Beach.
“They’re basically doing us a huge favor,” she said.
Palm Beach has an expansive beach restoration dredging project underway and has committed to selling South Palm the sand it needs to replenish its beaches — at a cost of somewhere between $700,000 and $900,000. The town has the money set aside and needs only an access route to deposit the sand.
The project is scheduled to begin sometime between February and April, and it must be completed before the turtle nesting season begins in May. Ú

South Palm Beach holds an in-person Town Council meeting late last month, but with social distancing measures in place and a thermometer to screen attendees. The town also has allowed residents and council members to attend via phone. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Resident Glenn Gromann thinks Boca Raton got it wrong when the city disregarded an edict from Gov. Ron DeSantis that required municipal governments to essentially abandon virtual public meetings and return to in-person meetings beginning Nov. 1.
Gromann, a frequent participant in city meetings, says the city is overstepping its bounds and, in the process, doing a disservice to people who want to see their government in action, up close and personal.
“I want to go to a public meeting and I want to be able to participate,” he said.
While Gromann argues that his City Council is exceeding its authority, the city and a growing number of other municipalities — including Boynton Beach and Palm Beach — say a combination of emergency powers invoked during the pandemic and the principle of home rule allow them to decide how their public meetings can take place.
In a resolution authorizing the continuation of virtual meetings after Nov. 1, Boca Raton cites a Florida attorney general’s opinion that local governments can meet without a quorum if “the in-person requirement for constituting a quorum is suspended during a state of emergency.”
Armed with that opinion, Boca argues that it can then invoke the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act and at its discretion suspend any in-person meeting requirements because it has declared a state of emergency.
The city also points out that although some attorney general opinions say local governments must have an in-person quorum at public meetings, no actual Florida law mandates in-person attendance.
“There are a lot of gray areas here,” says Glen Torcivia, a longtime municipal law attorney whose firm represents Highland Beach, Ocean Ridge, South Palm Beach and other towns.
So far no legal challenges have arisen to cities holding virtual meetings, but Torcivia says those governments could be taking a risk should a judge rule in favor of mandatory in-person meetings.
“If the meetings are determined by a court to be in violation of state law, then any action taken at those meetings could be determined to be invalid,” he said.
With that in mind, several municipalities are moving cautiously, with some choosing to hold only in-person meetings, while others are holding hybrid versions in which elected officials meet in person but make public participation available with programs such as Zoom.
In Delray Beach, commissioners were meeting in person with limited availability for public attendance, but late last month the city announced it would go back to virtual meetings effective Dec. 1.
Boynton Beach city leaders were the first to utilize the home rule provision to avoid meeting in person, deciding in late September to continue meeting virtually until the end of the year. In the interim, the mayor conducts meetings — with residents able to attend — at the City Hall community room while commissioners attend virtually.
In Briny Breezes, where elected officials now meet in person, Council President Sue Thaler is concerned about the rising rate of COVID cases. She is asking residents to write the governor, asking him to once again allow virtual meetings, and she plans to write him and local lawmakers herself.
Thaler says that while residents can attend the meetings or can listen by phone, council members aren’t afforded that option.
“We are the only ones required to be there in person,” she said, adding that the town’s attorney has advised against going back to virtual meetings.
In Highland Beach, which uses a hybrid setup with commissioners meeting in person and accommodating a small number of residents in person while allowing public comment in person and by Zoom, commissioners balked at holding their meetings virtually because of the possible legal ramifications.
They are, however, looking into the possibility of allowing two advisory boards — financial and natural resources preservation — to meet virtually since neither makes final decisions that could be overturned.
While safety is a key reason some municipalities are pushing to hold meetings virtually, logistics may also be a driving force, says Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
“There are some cities that because of their physical configuration, can’t hold in-person meetings,” he said.
In South Palm Beach, where in-person meetings take place in a small auditorium, spacing requirements could be difficult to meet, although two council members participated by phone last month and residents can do the same.
“When you’re trying to maintain six-foot social distancing the room fills up fast,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said.
Boca, for example, was considering a move from tight chambers at City Hall to a larger room at another city building, if the council were to go to in-person meetings.
Gromann believes that space limitations and other obstacles should be overcome and in-person meetings should be held to accommodate people who may not be able to take part virtually.
“In order to participate, you have to have a computer, you have to have the internet and you have to know how to use the technology,” he said.
Torcivia, for his part, counters by saying that not everyone can attend in-person meetings.
“Aren’t you limiting in-person meetings to those who can get there?” he said, adding that hybrid meetings may be a way to address both concerns. Ú

By Rich Pollack

In what may be more a shot across the bow than a serious salvo, Highland Beach is again signaling it does not want sand off its coast used for another city’s beach restoration project — even though it has no legal claim to the sand.
In its latest effort to preserve the sand off its coast — should it be needed onshore — Highland Beach is taking aim at a Delray Beach renourishment project set to begin late next year.
Even though some leaders privately acknowledge that the town could benefit from the project as sand is driven south by currents, Highland Beach voiced its objection in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has permitting authority over the project.
The letter comes after the Corps of Engineers, which is helping to fund the project, contacted Highland Beach as part of its requirement to seek public comment on a permit modification for the restoration project.
“The Town of Highland Beach objects to the city of Delray Beach project that seeks to renourish its beach with sand dredged from a borrow area located, in part, off our shoreline,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie wrote.
In response, Delray Beach officials point out that the borrow area from which sand is taken extends only about 700 feet south of city limits.
“The city is following all state and federal guidelines and is coordinating with all the regulatory agencies,” spokeswoman Gina Carter said. “The permit modifications proposed will support the city’s long-term beach nourishment program and provide the sand source for the city’s sixth periodic beach nourishment project planned for winter 21-22 and subsequent renourishment events.”
Delray Beach will use about 1 million cubic yards of sand to restore about 2.8 miles of beach from above Atlantic Avenue to just south of Linton Boulevard, according to the Army Corps.
Highland Beach’s objection comes several months after dredging off the town’s coast for a Boca Raton restoration project caused an uproar among residents and community leaders.
After doing research, town officials learned that Highland Beach did not object to the project years before, when it received notification from permitting agencies. The town also learned that it has no legal claim to sand off its shores, which is in state waters, and little power to stop properly permitted projects.
Highland Beach town staff has been in contact with staff in Boca in hopes of having input on future restoration projects.
In his letter to the Army Corps regarding Delray Beach’s project, Labadie spells out several reasons for the town’s objection, including environmental concerns such as potential damage to offshore reefs and disturbances to turtle nesting sites.
He also addresses concerns about the dwindling amount of beach-compatible sand off the Florida coast due to beach restorations. Without enough sand available offshore, some cities, especially in Miami-Dade County, are forced to truck in sand, which is more expensive.
“Continued sand dredging in a borrow area located offshore of the town is compromising our ability to effectively and efficiently restore our beach areas following large storm events and/or damage resulting from other climatic and sea-level rise impacts,” Labadie wrote.
Town officials recognize that their efforts to stop Delray’s restoration project have only a slight chance at success but say they are hoping to send a message to state lawmakers and regulators about flaws in the permitting process.
“The town is hoping the state will rethink the way they’ve been doing this for the last 30 years,” Labadie said. “We’re not trying to be a bad neighbor, we’re just concerned about the long-term ramifications of this process.” Ú

By Larry Barszewski

The lead developer of Boynton Beach Town Square wants to put its mark on a second city-owned property critical to downtown revitalization.
E2L Real Estate Solutions LLC would create a destination spot with walkways running through a hotel and two apartment buildings — all three providing ground level shops and restaurants — and alongside outdoor landscaped and gathering areas. The project between Federal Highway and Northeast Fourth Street would also include a parking garage and potentially a train station.
The E2L proposal — called Banyan Oasis — puts the company in competition with a separate group of developers that submitted its own ideas in August for the land immediately north of Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant on Ocean Avenue. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency purchased the 2.6-acre site for $3 million in 2018.
“The current situation of 2020 has taught us that outdoor areas and recreational spaces are necessary for the mental and physical health of the community. This urban development brings contemporary ideas for the design of the future,” says the E2L proposal. Company President Mark Hefferin wrote that his proposal takes into account “post-COVID‐19 considerations.”
City commissioners, who make up the city’s CRA board, have not reached consensus on how to move forward with the CRA’s 115 N. Federal Highway property. The site is several blocks east of Town Square, which includes a new City Hall and library and renovation of the Old Boynton Beach High School as a cultural center.
Commissioners discussed but took no action on the earlier proposal at the CRA’s Nov. 10 meeting and didn’t review the Banyan Oasis proposal, which had been received only a day earlier. Both proposals were unsolicited.
Commissioners could decide to work with the developers of the original proposal, consider the additional proposal or have the city come up with its own ideas for the site and put out an official request for proposals, or RFP. An RFP would invite others to propose how they would develop the site to meet the city’s goals.
“I haven’t been swayed one way or another. I’m more in neutral in all this,” Commissioner Christina Romelus said at the end of the commission’s discussion about the property.
The original proposal, submitted by a group called Ocean Avenue Residences and Shoppes LLC, has run into resistance from Hurricane Alley owner Kim Kelly, who says the downtown area doesn’t need another mixed-use development. She said the plan, developed by William Morris of Southcoast Partners and Max and Harold “Sonny” Van Arnem of Van Arnem Properties, won’t attract the people needed for downtown businesses to prosper. She started an online petition that has amassed more than 4,200 signatures opposing the plan and mixed-use developments in general.
Kelly had not reviewed the Banyan Oasis proposal yet, but she has talked with Hefferin and thinks the hotel it includes is critical to downtown’s success.
“We’re going to get more business from tourists than people that are living here,” Kelly said. “We feel for the whole downtown, that a hotel would be much more beneficial to all the businesses around here, rather than just another mixed-use, another 250 apartments.”

Business coalition forms

Kelly, concerned that business voices aren’t being heard, in November began forming the Downtown Business Coalition for a Brighter and Better Boynton Beach. She said it has been a long time since a group represented downtown business interests. Within a few days, she said, she had positive replies from about 10 businesses and she planned to hold the group’s first meeting Dec. 1.
The coalition’s meeting was scheduled so that it could take place prior to the CRA’s Dec. 8 meeting, when commissioners are expected to discuss the two proposals.

Comparing the projects

Banyan Oasis proposes 220 apartments, 34,000 square feet of retail space, a 130-room hotel and a 686-space garage, while the Ocean Avenue Residences plan calls for 229 apartments, 18,000 square feet of commercial space and a 544-space garage.
Banyan Oasis would provide 150 public parking spaces in the garage and Ocean Avenue Residences 120, but both say they could add more based on the city’s desires.
Ocean Avenue Residences estimates its project at $65 million, while Banyan Oasis pegged its development at about $107 million, including $14 million in public financing for the parking garage.
Each includes an eight-story building as its tallest structure.
The Ocean Avenue Residences proposal currently encompasses just the city-owned property, while the Banyan Oasis developers include the integration of the Davis Camalier Federal Highway property rented out to Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery.
Both proposals contemplate a Brightline train station if the city were to secure a future stop on the passenger rail service line. The two plans incorporate the city’s Dewey Park on Ocean Avenue into their overall designs and turn the alleyway behind Hurricane Alley into a dynamic part of their pedestrian experiences.
Commissioner Justin Katz said he is leaning toward supporting an RFP, while Mayor Steven Grant said he would be comfortable trying to work with the first proposal from Ocean Avenue Residences.
“I don’t want to just keep on doing studies and RFPs. I’d like to see what we can do with the developer on hand,” Grant said.
Commissioner Woodrow Hay disagreed.
“I don’t want to rush this because this is going to stand for the next hundred years or more,” Hay said. “I don’t want it to be said that we did anything that was shady, not that I’m suggesting that anything is shady. … Let’s get the best package that would be best for Boynton. If it takes a little bit longer, it takes a little bit longer.”
Commissioners are also interested in expanding development of the site to include other adjacent properties between Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard.
“We need to work with a partner to expand the CRA’s portion of the land, as the center portion excludes the valuable property along Boynton Beach Boulevard, Ocean Avenue and has a very small frontage on Federal Highway,” Grant said.
Both project teams say they are willing to pursue additional parcels.
Sonny Van Arnem told commissioners his team would issue nonbinding letters of intent to adjacent property owners to purchase parcels to increase his project’s footprint. He also said he had spoken to a representative of the Oyer family, which owns three adjacent parcels on Ocean Avenue, including Hurricane Alley. Van Arnem said he was told the two closest to Dewey Park were negotiable, but that the Hurricane Alley property would not be for sale.
“I think it’s perfect where it is and should stay where it is,” Van Arnem said of Hurricane Alley.
The Banyan Oasis proposal also would leave Hurricane Alley where it is.
Hay said other adjacent properties, which include the Ace Hardware store on Boynton Beach Boulevard, should also be considered.
“The property at the north end of [the CRA land], it would be ideal to have that,” Hay said.

By Steve Plunkett

State Rep. Mike Caruso easily won re-election to his District 89 seat, buoyed by in-person votes both early and on Election Day.
The final margin was 56% for the Republican incumbent to 44% for Democrat Jim Bonfiglio.
With 98% of the vote counted (the last point that election officials posted a breakdown), Bonfiglio outpaced Caruso in the vote by mail, 28,673 to 21,121. But Caruso was the early voters’ choice, 20,918 to 11,312, and the Election Day favorite, 13,427 to 4,335.
“Delray seaside I basically tied, and Delray Beach is a Democratic stronghold, so I feel pretty good about that,” Caruso said.

Bonfiglio said pre-election polls showed him winning and led his campaign strategy astray.
"The messaging was wrong and we didn't get the votes we thought we were going to get," he said.
The outcome was a far cry from their first matchup in 2018, which included an automatic machine recount, a state-required recount by hand and a lawsuit by Bonfiglio to have the result tallied before the governor’s contest was counted. Caruso won by just 32 votes out of 78,474 cast.
This year’s official ballot total, with 100% of ballots counted, was 101,577, and Caruso enjoyed an 11,241-vote cushion.
House District 89 extends north from Boca Raton along the barrier island to Singer Island.
Caruso said he’s had little chance to wind down from the campaign following the decision by his wife, Tracy, to run for mayor of Delray Beach.
“What I thought was going to be a calm post-election proceeding has turned into a pre-campaign crisis for lack of a better term,” he said.
Bonfiglio said it was "not definitive but probable" that this was his last political campaign.
"I'm 67 and it's time for me to take some time off," he said.Ú

By Jane Smith

Boynton Beach wants a circuit court judge to declare the city has met its obligations to the private developer in the city’s public/private Town Square development project, according to a Nov. 19 lawsuit.
At issue are three items the developer disputes: natural gas lines the city says it has supplied to each of the three parcels, geotechnical reports the city says it has made available saying each parcel is cleared and ready to be developed, and verification that contractors for the public portion of the project have removed their equipment and materials from each parcel.
The items are part of the March 19, 2018, developer’s agreement the city made with John Markey, principal of JKM Developers. Markey plans to build mixed-used residential buildings with retail and restaurants on the ground floor. He has agreed to set aside public parking spaces in two garages.
By affirming the city has met its obligation, the suit claims Markey has not upheld his part of the contract, which gave him 18 months to finish one parking garage and 24 months to finish the other.
At the Nov. 4 commission meeting, City Attorney James Cherof told the commission that lawyers for both the city and Markey were going to maintain their positions on the stalemate and it was time for a judge to say which party was correct. The commission then agreed to file the lawsuit, estimated to cost $10,000 to $20,000 to initiate.
JKM has until Dec. 31 to respond to the suit.
JKM gave no definitive deadline in the contract for the construction of the two garages the city needs for staff and public parking, Cherof said. Boynton Beach’s combination City Hall and Public Library building was finished in July and officials hoped to have at least one of the parking garages completed when it opened to the public.
“The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on construction debt lending are unknown and indeterminate in nature,” Markey wrote in an Oct. 2 letter to the city. Boynton Beach, like other cities around the country, temporarily shut down in mid-March in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, a respiratory infection that can be fatal.
Markey added that he hoped to get financing in the first quarter of 2021.
Cherof, though, called that statement “wishful thinking” at the Nov. 4 meeting.
“It’s not anything you can hang your hat on,” he said. Cherof referred commissioners to a Dec. 17, 2019, letter sent by the city to JKM, saying the city had met its obligations.
But JKM's attorney wrote the city on Oct. 2 saying the city's obligations had not yet been met.
The city gave JKM three parcels that total about 8.6 acres, $1.9 million in cash and new water and sewer lines and underground utilities at no cost in its Town Square project.
Town Square is a private-public partnership between the city and its Community Redevelopment Agency and private developers. The 16.5-acre area sits between Boynton Beach Boulevard and Southeast Second Avenue.
When complete, the $250 million Town Square will have a mix of municipal buildings and privately developed apartment buildings, a hotel, restaurants and shops. The city’s share is slightly more than $118 million.
The south garage was supposed to be finished by June 5, 2021, Colin Groff, assistant city manager, said in July. The north garage was to be finished by Dec. 5, 2021.
“The timelines are completely gone,” Markey said at the time. Ú

By Rich Pollack

Change may soon be coming to the processes many pilots use as they arrive and depart the airspace surrounding the Boca Raton Airport, but chances are they’ll hardly be noticeable to most residents.
For months, the Federal Aviation Administration has worked on a project to implement satellite-based processes to modernize air routes across the county, and it has created the South and Central Florida Metroplex as part of that project.
When the FAA begins implementing the plan early next year, pilots flying in or out of the Boca Raton Airport using instrument navigation will find new arrival and departure procedures designed to improve safety and efficiency.
Because the procedures closely mirror the ones currently in use, according to the FAA, there is expected to be little change to flight paths used by planes as they prepare to make their final approaches to the airport or as they depart.
Scott Kohut, deputy director of the Boca Raton Airport, says that satellite navigational technology will replace ground-based technology as arriving planes get closer to the airport and as departing planes get closer to their flight paths.
“Before, to get from point A to point D you had to go through points B and C,” he said. “Now you can go directly from point A to point D and skip B and C.”
In the past, Kohut said, planes were assigned routes to get them into or out of the airport’s airspace and those routes were often changing.
Now, he said, pilots will be assigned one of the standardized routes every time they approach Boca Raton airspace or leave it.
He said that the FAA has told airport representatives that no changes will occur below 3,000 feet, so any noise impact would be minimal.
Using standardized procedures based on satellite technology adds a level of precision to departures and arrivals and can reduce the interaction needed between pilots and air traffic controllers, according to the FAA.
“The technology provides a smoother and more efficient way to manage aircraft and reduces both the controller and pilot workload by minimizing the complexity of air traffic procedures,” an FAA spokesperson said in an email. 
Although the South and Central Florida Metroplex project has been controversial in some parts of South Florida, specifically Miami-Dade County where residents feared additional noise, few if any concerns have been voiced about changes that will occur surrounding the Boca Raton Airport.
Kohut believes that could be because no major changes are coming to this area and because large commercial planes do not fly into the local general aviation airport. Ú

By Mary Hladky

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down as unconstitutional Boca Raton’s and Palm Beach County’s bans on the controversial practice of conversion therapy.
The 2-1 ruling on Nov. 20 held that the bans violate the free speech rights of therapists who offer “talk therapy” to children who have “unwanted same-sex attraction or unwanted gender identity issues.”
“This decision allows speech that many find concerning — even dangerous,” Judge Britt Grant wrote for the majority. “But consider the alternative. If speech restrictions in these ordinances can stand, then so can their inverse.
“Local communities could prevent therapists from validating a client’s same-sex attractions if the city council deemed that message harmful.
“People have intense moral, religious and spiritual views about these matters — on all sides,” she wrote. “And that is exactly why the First Amendment does not allow communities to determine how their neighbors may be counseled about matters of sexual orientation or gender.”
In her dissent, Judge Beverly Martin wrote that conversion therapy — which seeks to change a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation — is known to be harmful. She cited many professional medical organizations that have warned it causes anger, anxiety, depression, guilt and hopelessness.
“It was reasonable for the localities to enact the ordinances based on the existing evidentiary record as to harm,” she wrote, while also noting that the ordinances were narrowly written to apply only to children.
Grant and Judge Barbara Lagoa were appointed to the 11th Circuit by President Donald Trump. Martin was elevated to the court by President Barack Obama.
Jamie Cole, an attorney representing Boca Raton, said the city “is analyzing the decision to determine how to proceed.”
“This is a difficult legal issue, as evidenced by the split decision,” he said. “The city is disappointed with the majority decision but agrees with the well-written and well-reasoned dissent.”
County Attorney Denise Nieman told commissioners they could accept the ruling or ask for a hearing before the entire 12-judge federal appellate court, The Palm Beach Post reported. If the plaintiffs lost there, she predicted they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Boca Raton passed its ordinance, proposed by then-Mayor Susan Haynie, in 2017. It was based on a model ordinance drafted by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
Two therapists, Robert Otto and Julie Hamilton, sued the city and county, arguing the laws violated their free speech rights. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg did not grant their request for an injunction, and they appealed to the 11th Circuit.
Otto and Hamilton were represented by Orlando-based Liberty Council, a religious liberty organization that provides legal services on religious issues and is opposed to LGBTQ rights.
Twenty states and many cities, including Delray Beach, have passed similar ordinances on grounds that conversion therapy not only causes psychological harm but wrongly presumes that homosexuality and gender nonconformity are mental disorders that can be “cured.” Ú

Dave Stewart, who has been Lantana’s mayor for 20 years, received a 20 Years of Service Award from the Florida League of Cities during a meeting of the Town Council. Stewart was president of the Palm Beach County League of Cities in 2007-2008. His association with the leagues, Stewart said, ‘taught me a lot and I would not be as effective as I am without the Palm Beach County League of Cities and the Florida League of Cities.’ ABOVE: (l-r) Sam Ferreri of the Florida League of Cities, Stewart and Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities. Mary Thurwachter/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

It’s been a long time in coming, but work is imminent on rebuilding the trail at the Lantana Nature Preserve. Left in shambles by Hurricane Irma in 2017, the 6½-acre preserve at 440 E. Ocean Ave. is on track for a new concrete pathway.
The original trail was made of shell rock.
At the Nov. 9 Lantana town meeting, council members unanimously voted to accept a $144,494 contract with American Design Engineering Construction Inc. to build a new walking trail and repair the retaining wall at the preserve. American Design was the lowest of four proposals, with bids going as high as $193,922.
The town will use $76,800 it has collected in maintenance revenues from the Carlisle assisted-living facility next to the preserve, and borrow the balance, $67,700, from town reserves. Money taken from reserves is to be repaid from future maintenance revenues from the Carlisle.
According to an agreement made when the Nature Preserve was being developed in the late 1990s, the town cannot spend any more on the property than the $50,000 annual payment it receives from the Carlisle.
The Carlisle had purchased 13 acres (including the preserve) from the town. The annual cost to maintain the park is about $20,000, leaving $30,000 to spend each year on needed improvements.
Town Manager Deborah Manzo said the Department of Environmental Protection has approved the permit for the concrete walkway and retaining wall.

In other action, the town:
• Approved the Lantana Chamber of Commerce’s request to manage the Centennial Adopt-a-Tree Program. Businesses or individuals who adopt a tree will pay $150 toward the tree and an individual plaque. The town will be responsible for choosing locations and planting the trees.
• Approved a request from the Chamber of Commerce to install a memorial stone at the Veterans Monuments at Bicentennial Park and to hold a dedication ceremony open to the public at a later date.
“We feel this final stone will make the experience of viewing the Veterans Monuments even more meaningful,” said Dave Arm, the chamber president.
The stone will read: “To honor all who served in times of war and peace and in memory of those who gave their lives for our freedom.” Ú

GULF STREAM — Marthajane Kennedy died Sept. 9 at her home in Gulf Stream. She was 98.
Ms. Kennedy was born Dec. 17, 1921, in Washington, D.C., to Thomas and Clephane Arnot Kennedy. After attending the Maret School, Marthajane graduated from Goucher College and Washington College of Music, magna cum laude.
Ms. Kennedy fondly remembered childhood trips abroad with her parents by ocean liner, and continued her travels well into her later years. She never married or had any children, but enjoyed many friends throughout her life.
In 1925, her father founded the Benjamin Franklin University in Washington, D.C., and it was the first American school dedicated solely to the instruction of accounting. Ms. Kennedy served as president of BFU for many years. She was a lifelong patron of the arts, and loved dogs. As a child, she had a bulldog named Happy, a name that aptly described Ms. Kennedy herself, even through her last days.
There will be a private service and burial.
— Obituary submitted by the family

GULF STREAM — Kenneth C. Ambrecht died Sept. 25 in Boston. He was 74.
With his evident zest for life, he will be missed by many. In his seven decades, he enjoyed friendships, philanthropy and world travel. Mr. Am-brecht was born Dec. 7, 1945, in Rockville Centre, Long Island, and in 1969 married Susan Bogart. Mrs. Ambrecht survives him, as do his children: Justine and Michael Mullin, K.C. and Kimberly Ambrecht, Reeves and Amy Ambrecht, and Townsend Ambrecht as well as nine grandchildren: Sloane, Charlie, Quinn, Oliver, Ireland, Reeves, Colton, Mercer and Miller.
Mr. Ambrecht developed a strong work ethic at an early age, delivering newspapers and cutting grass. After graduating from C.W. Post College, he joined a sales training program at Xerox Corp. in New York City. Eventually, Mr. Ambrecht made it to Wall Street, where he worked for Lehman Brothers for 20-plus years, retiring as a managing director.
Mr. Ambrecht’s likable presence and tasteful style earned him the nickname ‘The Senator” among his friends and colleagues.
In the back half of his career, he built a successful business financing global initiatives. Such bespoke deals resulted in his funding Fortescue Metals of Australia as well other projects around the world. He held various board positions in addition to Fortescue, including American Financial Group and Great American Financial, both of Ohio, and Spectrum Brands Holdings in Wisconsin.
But Mr. Ambrecht considered his greatest accomplishment his family. His grandchildren would often rise early for his famously thin pancakes and crispy bacon. He also loved spending time with his family around a fire pit or wearing his custom raccoon fur coat in Austria, with an Obstler drink in one hand and a fine Cohiba cigar in another.
Mr. Ambrecht was a true patriarch and his family adored him. He was a magnificent husband, father, Pop-Pop, best friend and gentleman. He will be remembered for his generosity, integrity and proudly wearing his shades on the dance floor.
In lieu of flowers, the Ambrecht family would appreciate any remembrances honoring Ken directed to the Lindner Center of Hope, 4075 Old Western Row Road, Mason, OH 45040.
J.S. Waterman-Langone Chapel, 580 Commercial St., Boston, MA 02109, is in charge of arrangements. For more information or to leave an online condolence, visit www.watermanboston.com.
— Obituary submitted by the family

BRINY BREEZES — Michael W. Hill died Nov. 6, surrounded by his three children. He was 73.
Mr. Hill was born in Detroit to Albert and Pat Hill, and spent his formative years in northeast Ohio. He is survived by his three sisters: Susan Sack, Kathy Barbero and Peggy Hill.
Mr. Hill received his bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in 1970. While there, he met his first wife and mother of their three children: Clinton Hill, Bronwyn Koopman and Brecken Danner. 
At Kent State he found his passion for law, and received his law degree from the University of Akron in 1973.  
Mr. Hill was a member of the Ohio, Illinois and Florida bar associations, and had a successful 25-year career in banking, before going into private practice. Active in local politics, he served on the Highland Beach Town Commission, as vice mayor of Highland Beach, and as mayor of Briny Breezes.
Mr. Hill settled in South Florida with the love of his life and wife of 32 years, Shirley Smith-Hill. Mike and Shirley enjoyed traveling and were active in their support of various charities.  Shirley preceded Mike in death in 2016. 
The Hills were proud of their children and enjoyed watching them marry their spouses — Leslie Hill, Mike Koopman, and Kyle Danner — and start families. Mr. Hill is survived by three children and 12 grandchildren. 
— Obituary submitted by the family

By Brian Biggane

BOYNTON BEACH — When longtime friend and colleague Chris Rubsamen was asked how to describe what John Ingles brought to teaching tennis, his answer was one word: passion.
“He was one of the most passionate people I’ve known,” Rubsamen said. “He was really good with junior players especially. He knew how to teach them, and teach them life lessons as well.”
Mr. Ingles, whose local stops included the Ocean Club, Rainberry Bay and a long association with St. Joseph’s Episcopal School in Boynton Beach, died of cancer Nov. 13. He was 70.
Born June 10, 1950, in Port Huron, Michigan, and raised in St. Clair, Mr. Ingles enlisted in the Navy in 1968 and served in Vietnam from 1968-71. While he rarely opened up about that experience, longtime friend Ron Pugliese said he was very proud of it.
“You’d hear about it after a few beers: ‘I went to the Vietnam War.’ He was proud about being a veteran, but that was about as much as you got.”
Near the end of his service, he was on the USS Okinawa when it recovered the Apollo 15 capsule in August 1971 in the Pacific Ocean.
Mr. Ingles earned a tennis scholarship and played under legendary coach Kent DeMars at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, then headed south to Tampa in 1977 to work at the Saddlebrook tennis academy under another legend, Harry Hopman.
Ian Laver, the brother of 11-time Grand Slam champion Rod Laver, hired Mr. Ingles upon opening Laver’s International Resort in Delray Beach in 1979, and the two became best friends until Laver died in a plane crash in 1985. The day before, the two played in a doubles match that went long, forcing Laver to miss his flight from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas. The next day Delta Flight 191 crashed in Dallas; the youngest of the 27 survivors was Laver’s son Richard.
Pugliese met Mr. Ingles while working at Boca West in the ’80s, and the two worked on and off together for many years.
“I knew a lot about him because he’d worked with many guys I played against as a kid,” Pugliese said. “We moved his junior program into Broken Sound (in Boca Raton) for two or three years, then established an inner-city tennis foundation in Delray Beach, where we provided assistance for kids who didn’t have the means to pay.”
In the mid-’90s, Mr. Ingles struck up a relationship with St. Joseph’s, which has five tennis courts, working with children after school. That lasted until this year.
“He brought so much experience from his past as a professional player, and really helped our students advance their game,” athletic director Andrew Wideroff said. “His firm but loving approach will certainly be missed.”
Kathy Baffer had two daughters, Grace and Ava, who played for Mr. Ingles at St. Joseph’s and followed him to the Ocean Club.
“John was an excellent coach, so great with the kids,” Baffer said. “He taught them the importance of school, to have good grades. … He taught a lot of life lessons.”
Chet Maymon was general manager at the Ocean Club when Mr. Ingles worked there from 2015-18.
“He had a pretty gruff exterior, but once you got past that you found a pretty nice guy inside,” Maymon said.
“He worked with all the members, but as time went on his focus tended to be more on the kids. He really enjoyed them.”
Mr. Ingles left to open Beach Tennis, a shop on South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, in 2018. He was diagnosed with rectal cancer in the summer of 2019 but kept the shop open until his condition deteriorated the past few months.
“He never even seemed like he had cancer,” said Rubsamen, who helped him in the shop. “He was just a strong, gnarly dude. He didn’t want people to know he was sick, to feel bad for him.”
Funeral arrangements are being handled by All County Funeral Home in Lake Worth, with plans for burial at the VA Cemetery, also in Lake Worth.

By Christine Davis

With the novel coronavirus not abating, Chambers of Commerce report how they and their members are prepping for the holidays and tourist season. Here is how they are facing the challenges ahead:
Troy McLellan, CEO of the Boca Chamber, noted his staff has been back at the chamber’s office since June, following very specific protocols. “It’s working well for us,” he said.
He’s seeing that at larger organizations, a number of employees still work remotely, and some companies stagger shifts. While these methods are also utilized at smaller businesses, a number of their employees have returned to work, as well.
For tourists, “I don’t think anyone thinks we are going to have a normal season,” he said. “People are simply not going to travel at the volume they normally would. Will they travel? Yes. At the same volume as before? No.
“The smaller restaurants, retailers and hotels are doing everything they can to service the clients they get. They are not staffed like they were before, so it’s a bit of a strain on their workforce. You will see promotional campaigns and strategic advertising with an emphasis on the drive market — people comfortable driving in their own car to come here and stay and eat.”
Stephanie Immelman, president and CEO of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, said that her staff returned to the office in August. Many of the chamber’s committee and board meetings are conducted via Zoom, and weekly Lunch & Learn webinars, roundtables and symposiums have drawn large audiences, she said — noting that the Government Affairs First Friday Forum will remain virtual.
As for tourist season, she said that many seasonal residents never left in April and are still here. The real estate market is booming with people moving permanently from the Northeast. But tourism is still a bit slow on the uptake.
“I don’t predict the influx we usually see from Canadian and British tourists,” she said. “This is primarily because our country has not gotten a handle on COVID-19. There is a lot of pent-up demand for travel, however, and we are recommending that our tourism partners reach out to the drive market,” meaning places two to four hours from Delray Beach.  
Driving business to downtown Delray in a responsible way continues to be the Downtown Development Authority’s main focus, said Laura Simon, the organization’s executive director.
“We have been working closely with all of our businesses to prepare for the holidays and beyond. Our hope is to see a trend in positive economic impact as well as provide some much-needed cheer this holiday season, and challenge residents and visitors alike to shop local in downtown Delray Beach. Be sure to check out our Holiday Gift Guides curated with fabulous finds from unique boutiques, salons, spas, art galleries, cultural centers, restaurants, hotels, professional services and more.”
For more information, visit www.DowntownDelrayBeach.com/holidays.
All businesses are following CDC recommendations related to COVID, and masks are required in all stores and where social distancing is not possible, Simon said. She added that many merchants are promoting shopping by phone and providing pickup service. New businesses in town, as well as some that have moved to new locations, include Dereal Mystical, Vicki Soble Couture and Aqua Swimwear. 
David Arm, president of the Lantana Chamber, reported that his staff is still working remotely.
Its next planned event? “We don’t have one,” he said. “We are waiting to see. We would like to get back to our luncheons and happy hours, and fingers crossed on our annual Fishing Derby in May.”
Lantana’s annual Winterfest, an event put on by the town in conjunction with the chamber, will be held as a drive-thru starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at Lantana Sports Park.
Will tourists come down this season? “I own Lantana Fitness, and we have already seen a few of our seasonal members coming back, but not as many as usual,” Arm said.
New restaurants, he said, include Uncle Louie G Lantana, and Fire & Ice and Los Pancho’s Tacos and Tequila Bar in Lake Worth Beach.
“I’m proud and happy to say, in our chamber, not one restaurant has gone out of business,” Arm said.

People looking for skills in an economy impacted by COVID-19 will find scholarships and accelerated training opportunities at Palm Beach State College, thanks to a Florida Department of Education $1.3 million grant. Called “Get There,” the grant enables the college to invest in new equipment and technology for programs, hire additional faculty and advisers, and provide $250,000 in scholarships.
“During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and time of economic uncertainty, we are gratified to be able to enhance our career program offerings and focus on helping adults in Palm Beach County earn a short-term certificate or credential,” said Roger Yohe, vice president of academic affairs at PBSC.
“Our goal is to help people get a job, keep a job or be promoted in a job, and this grant will help us do just that.” 

Florida Atlantic University scientist Patrick Grant, Ph.D., has designed a compact portable sanitizing device for face masks and other items that can be used at home or at work, and it has received a provisional patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 
The new device uses a hanging rack and UV-C light that can sterilize up to six masks and other items simultaneously and quickly, killing bacteria, yeasts, mold spores and viruses. The device has been efficient against pathogens such as E. coli, which was eradicated in about one minute.
Grant anticipates that the cost of the device will be under $100 once it hits the market.

Bowlero, a national bowling operator with 300 centers, is hoping to open a new facility next year. The company is converting the vacant Strikes bowling alley into a bowling and entertainment venue offering blacklight bowling and arcade games, along with food and cocktails.
Roxanne Register and Jon Cashion of Katz & Associates represented the landlord, with Jeff Evans and Michael Silverman of The Comras Co. representing the tenant in a deal to bring Bowlero in a long-term lease for a 62,000-square-foot space at 21046 Commercial Trail, Boca Raton.
“We’re excited to help bring Bowlero to Boca because of the high-end entertainment factor and the sport of bowling. Bowlero will bring hometown leagues together and will attract national bowling events, which will bring economic benefits to our lovely city,” Register and Cashion said in a statement. “There are also still approximately five acres available for development adjacent to the new Bowlero.”

Seaside Builders, in collaboration with Richard Jones Architecture, has demolished the building at 1177 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach, and plans to build 1177 Moderne, an enclave of 16 luxury residences, according to Seaside Builders’ website.
This follows the $5 million purchase in July of the 27,528-square-foot, five-story office building on 1.3 acres at the site.
Amenities will include water features, a resort-style pool, a barbecue area, sitting areas with fire pits, fitness center, private storage for each owner, a dog park with a pavilion, and two covered parking spaces per unit, as well as parking for guests.
Each residence will have a private cabana and a semi-private elevator, along with three bedrooms and 31/2 baths. Model outside-corner units will consist of 2,479 total square feet. Model B interior units will have 2,438 total square feet. Model C inside corner units will have 2,946 total square feet.
Prices will start at $1.795 million. The project is slated for completion in 2021. For more information, call 561-272-9958 or email reception@seasidebuildersfla.com.

Florida investor and former financial media CEO Mason Slaine sold his 11,000-square-foot Intracoastal home with multi-yacht dockage at 850 Lake Drive, Boca Raton, to Jillian Avella, trustee of the Countryside Trust Agreement, for $12,025,000. The sale was recorded on Nov. 14.
Slaine bought the property in 2016 for $11.5 million. According to Realtor.com, Senada Adzem Schweitzer, an agent with Douglas Elliman, represented both buyer and seller in the transaction.
Property records show Slaine still owns a condominium at the Ocean Residences at Boca Beach Club.

A plethora of estates valued at $10 million or more in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club have sold since late September. They include:
• Recorded on Sept. 28, billionaire building-supplies businesswoman Maggie Hardy-Knox bought a new home at 444 East Coconut Palm Road for $15.85 million. Sellers Bernard and Maggie Palmer bought the property in 2018 for $4.6 million, tore down the existing home, and built a new 9,735-square-foot, six-bedroom waterfront home, constructed by SRD Building Corp. David W. Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented both sides of the deal.
• Recorded on Nov. 4, Jeffrey Baskies, as trustee of 160 Key Palm Trust, sold the estate at 160 Key Palm Road for $13.936 million to Stuart R. Morris, as trustee for 160 W. Key Palm Road Land Trust. David W. Roberts represented both sides in the deal. Built in 2020, the five-bedroom home has 11,275 square feet.
• Recorded on Nov. 2, John F. and Joan Inganamort sold their seven-bedroom, 17,169-square-foot home at 378 E. Alexander Palm Road to New Jersey-based HomeBridge Financial Services CEO Peter Norden and his wife, Barbara, for $12.95 million. It was listed and sold by David W. Roberts. The Inganamorts paid $925,000 for the property in 1981 and built a home that they completed in 1997, records show.
• Recorded on Nov. 4, Adam and Samara Cohen, managing partner and co-portfolio manager, respectively, at Caspian Capital LP, purchased a home for $12 million at 151 W. Alexander Palm Road. The property, purchased through M.Y.N. Investments LLC, was originally bought by Nadav Houri in 2017. Highlights of the five-bedroom, 8,904-square-foot home include 120 feet of water frontage, a 600-bottle wine room, a putting green and rooftop viewing deck. The home was listed and sold by David W. Roberts.
• Recorded on Oct. 28, Janet Vargas, trustee of the CC Coconut Land Trust, sold a five-bedroom, 8,266-square-foot home at 239 W. Coconut Palm Road to Berenberg Bank managing partner Riehmer Hendrik for $10.6 million. CC Coconut bought the property in August 2018 for $10.2 million. According to Realtor.com, the seller was represented by Senada Adzem Schweitzer, and the buyer was represented by Miles V Brookins, EXP Realty, LLC.

The Opal Grand Oceanfront Resort & Spa is to open early next year in the former Delray Beach Marriott. ABOVE: The renovated lobby features a circular skylight, flanked by water walls, living green walls and swinging chairs. BELOW: The Spanish Mediterranean look is gone, replaced by a more contemporary American-Caribbean aesthetic.
Renderings provided

The Delray Beach Marriott, at 10 N. Ocean Blvd., is nearly transformed into the new Opal Grand Oceanfront Resort & Spa, with scheduled completion early in 2021. Featuring an American/Caribbean laid-back aesthetic and contemporary amenities, it will have 277 large guest rooms that will include 89 suites; more than 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space; a restaurant, and a spa.
“The new Opal Grand is a signature Opal Collection property,” said Mark Walsh, of Ocean Properties Hotels & Resorts. “The renovation and rebranding will make the landmark hotel one of the best in South Florida — offering all the amenities, services and the newest technology, creating a new standard of hospitality as we welcome guests to Delray Beach. Opal Grand will set the bar for all other hotels to reach for.”
For more information or reservations, visit www.opalgrand.com or call 866-240-6316.

The Invading Sea, a Florida editorial board collaborative, secured a one-year, $50,000 grant from the Environmental Defense Fund to raise awareness about climate-change threats, with a focus on engaging the business community.
Started in May 2018 by the editorial boards of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post, with assistance from WLRN Public Media, the project has expanded to encompass 25 editorial boards, representing almost every Florida newspaper, including The Coastal Star.
Besides publishing shared editorials, the Invading Sea has published and syndicated more than 400 viewpoints from Florida politicians, academics, business leaders, neighborhood groups, activists, scientists and young people. 
The media collaborative plans to produce a weekly “Voices of Business” feature as well as webinars highlighting businesspeople who want to see a plan for reducing the state’s climate risk and protecting its economy. 
“We applaud how the Invading Sea has engaged the people of Florida on climate change and support its desire to better engage business leaders on the challenges coming our way,” said Dawn Shirreffs, Florida director of the Environmental Defense Fund.
The state’s real estate and tourism businesses in particular face serious challenges in the decades ahead from increased flooding, said Tom O’Hara, editor of the Invading Sea. He said that unless state leaders take steps to reduce or control flooding, insurance costs will rise, property values will fall, and banks may stop issuing 30-year mortgages. 
On a positive note, climate change has generated business opportunities as governments and individuals spend money to respond to the threats. For information, contact O’Hara at thomasohara043@gmail.com.

On Nov. 20, employees of Boca Raton-based Pebb Capital, a real estate and private equity investment firm, took part in an event at Pine Grove Elementary School in Delray Beach to plant pine trees and live oaks.
When the company received site approval for its Sundy Village mixed-use project from the city, Pebb Capital agreed to remove and relocate a number of trees, but they weren’t in good enough condition, said Jim Boyce, Pebb Capital’s director of development.
“So rather than relocate 35 trees, we got together with Community Greening and the city to plant about 220 trees around Delray Beach,” he said.
Some of the trees had already been planted, and on Nov. 20, 50 more were planted at the school.
The trees will go in city rights of way, public parks and at schools, as well as in some neighborhoods. “There’s a big emphasis on the need for trees in lower income neighborhoods where there isn’t a great tree canopy,” Boyce said.
“Overall benefits to planting trees include better air quality, water filtration, and soil stabilization, in addition to their aesthetic beauty and the shade they provide.”
Sundy Village, a seven-acre project at 20 W. Atlantic Ave., is under development in the area surrounding the Sundy House, and will contain dining and retail venues as well as office space.
Pebb Capital acquired the property for $40 million in October 2019, and Sundy Village, which will be developed in phases, is expected to be completed in 2024.

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

Mayor Scott Singer said that ‘Hoy es Hoy’ is almost too lifelike to grace a park entrance. Photo provided

By Mary Hladky

Boca Raton Museum of Art Executive Director Irvin Lippman has offered to lend the city four significant sculptures to adorn the new Wildflower and Silver Palm parks.
The City Council could have graciously accepted the gift and thanked Lippman for his civic spirit.
Instead, council members morphed into art critics, even though several conceded they know little about art.
Critiques of the offered artworks spanned the Oct. 26 and Nov. 10 council meetings. No decision was made on whether to accept the loan offer.
“I am not sure any of us know what we are looking for,” Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke said on Nov. 10.
Mayor Scott Singer said he wants art with a “placemaking sense” that says “you are in Boca Raton.”
Council member Monica Mayotte is hoping for “something Instagramable” with a South Florida look and feel.
The options Lippman presented “don’t really yell out at me South Florida waterfront or park,” said council member Andy Thomson.
In her maiden voyage as a City Council member, newly appointed Yvette Drucker agreed the art should “signify Boca Raton. … I think we could do something a little better to welcome people.”
“We need to think of selfie moments,” O’Rourke said.
Lippman offered to lend four sculptures now at the museum’s art school for three to five years. The time could be extended, or the council could choose new works when the loan term ends.
“The museum is happy to go beyond our walls,” he said.
Installation would cost $10,000 and annual sculpture maintenance would also cost $10,000, city officials said.
Council members were generally OK with three of the sculptures Lippman presented Oct. 26, but did not like a bronze by Javier Marin titled “Hoy es Hoy” that Lippman proposed for the entrance to Silver Palm Park.
“It almost is like the bust of an actual person,” Singer said. “It is striking, but I will be honest, a little more austere. What message does it send?”
Lippman defended it as “dramatic” and a “significant work of art.”
But seeing that council members weren’t exactly thrilled, Lippman said he would offer additional choices Nov. 10.
Council members didn’t greet those with rapture either.
Yet they repeatedly thanked Lippman for his generous offer.
“I couldn’t be more grateful,” O’Rourke said.
Even so, she asked if the city has enough money to buy a sculpture for Silver Palm Park.
Council members quickly agreed with City Manager Leif Ahnell’s suggestion that the city seek options from EDSA, the consultant that has designed the adjoining parks on the Intracoastal Waterway at Palmetto Park Road.
Asked after the meeting what city officials had asked him to do, EDSA principal Kona Gray said he will see if the museum has other sculptures it can donate. He also can identify artists that EDSA or the city could approach for a sculpture.
When art is loaned, it must fit the spirit of the park, Gray said. “It can’t be any piece of art.”

By Steve Plunkett

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District is hoping to tap residents’ collective imagination to decide what to put on the former Ocean Breeze golf course.
District commissioners have long planned to build a new 18-hole course, along with a short course, expansive putting green, lighted driving range and a learning academy.
But the recent gift to the city of nearby Boca Raton Country Club scrambled that vision. At the district’s Nov. 16 meeting, Commissioner Craig Ehrnst proposed asking the community how to proceed.
“We’ll get a lot of ideas and proposals, and out of that we’ll have some guiding principles,” he said.
The deadline for submissions is the end of March 2021. Commissioners also agreed to allow people to offer ideas at all their meetings until then.
Ehrnst said he still likes the plan for the short course, driving range and other amenities on the east side of Second Avenue, straddling Jeffery Street.
“But I just want to make sure it fits with what’s going on just 2 miles away. I mean, it’s a big deal to have two driving ranges next to one another,” he said.
The country club’s range is not lighted, other commissioners noted.
Commissioner Robert Rollins wanted the residents of the Boca Teeca condominiums surrounding the parcel to help push for the city to abandon Jeffery Street. City leaders instead want to build a railroad crossing to connect Jeffery to Federal Highway.
“I can’t imagine a major thoroughfare going through the middle of their community (and) in the middle of our property,” he said.
Boca Teeca resident Harold Chaffee, who is president of the group Keep Golf in Boca, suggested stocking a large drainage lake, with fish, on the west side of the property.
“You can have fishing contests. You can place your benches around it, walking paths. There’s so many things that we could do with this property,” he said. Ú

By Mary Hladky and Steve Plunkett

The City Council has denied a request by the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District to be exempted from making annual tax payments to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency that have been used to pay off Mizner Park bond debt.
The district had sought to be relieved of this financial obligation, which is just one of many bones of contention between the city and district.
District commissioners, meeting six days after the council’s unanimous Nov. 10 vote, voiced their disapproval of the council’s action.
Commissioner Craig Ehrnst said city staff’s “circus” presentation omitted any feedback from the district and that Briann Harms, the district’s executive director, was “unfairly muted.”
“Those kinds of things don’t play well and I think it’s unfortunate,” he said.
A 1986 interlocal agreement between the CRA and district obligated the district to make payments for acquiring, operating and maintaining park and recreational districts in the downtown.
It was amended in 1989 to allow the CRA to use the district payments to help pay off $68 million in bonds that financed the construction of Mizner Park, which opened in 1991.
But those bonds were paid off in March 2019, and the district contends there is no need to continue making payments. This year’s payment was $1.4 million.
Instead, the district wants to use the money to pay for park and recreation projects in the city and district. The district’s boundaries include the city and areas west of the city limits to Florida’s Turnpike.
In a June 30 letter to City Manager Leif Ahnell, Harms noted that the district, under pressure from the City Council, opted not to increase its tax rate in 2019, leaving it financially strained. If exempted from making the tax payments, the district would be better able to pay for park projects, she said.
But city officials countered that the district is not entitled to an exemption.
The satisfaction of Mizner Park debt does not negate the district’s obligation since the money also may be used for acquiring and operating park and recreation facilities within the CRA, Ahnell said in Nov. 2 memorandum to council members.
The district also failed to provide additional information that could have buttressed its argument, the memo said.
If the district were to stop its payments, the CRA would lose nearly $7.5 million that the district is obligated to pay through 2024-2025, Ahnell said at the Nov. 10 meeting.
Council members voted to deny the district’s request with little discussion.
“Obligations are obligations,” said Mayor Scott Singer.
They insisted their decision does not signal their unwillingness to work with district officials on park and recreation projects.
“We will continue to work together,” Singer said. “We appreciate your partnership.”
At the district’s Nov. 16 meeting, Harms said part of the district’s rationale in seeking to end the CRA payment was a 2019 audit of the agency showing a healthy reserve fund.
But in between April, when she started the application, and September, the city saddled the agency with bills for Mizner Park and CRA maintenance “all the way back to 1996.”
“And they’re going to start charging for holiday lights and the skate park and Memorial Park,” she said, leading her to believe the council will extend the CRA’s existence past 2025.
Commissioner Steve Engel agreed with that assessment and said municipalities are “very, very reluctant” to give up revenue streams. 
“They’ll squirm and do all kinds of acrobatics to keep the money,” Engel said. 
Ehrnst said the current arrangement is unfair to district residents who live west of the city limits and must pay nonresident rates to use the Downtown Library and the parks and tennis courts around City Hall.
Harms said she began to discuss making the fees equitable when she realized city staffers would not approve the application, but they “rejected any notion that district residents should be treated fairly.”
Commissioner Robert Rollins disputed Singer’s characterization of the city-district relationship. 
“As an organization that continues to refer to us as a partner, it doesn’t make me feel like I’m very much a partner in this deal,” Rollins said. Ú