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

Summer Faerman, with Salvation Army Major Cece LaLanne, got the idea for Little Free Food Pantries as she distributed books to a Little Free Library in Boca Raton. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

Summer Faerman had an epiphany while replenishing books in her Boca Raton neighborhood’s Little Free Library.
Faerman, the director of the Meryl and Ron Gallatin Tzedakah, Learning and Chesed program at B’nai Torah Congregation, called her friend Penina Bredoff to come help distribute books that were taking up space in her garage.
At the last stop, the two sat down to rest and Faerman remembers thinking, “I need to fill one of these boxes with food.”
Bredoff called her husband, Shane, who, using trash left out for bulk pickup, built a prototype.
“It’s a safe way to help people,” says Faerman, 42. “If you have, you give; if you need, you take. There are no hurdles, no judgment, no obstacles, no paperwork, no age or income restrictions.”
According to Feeding South Florida, more than 184,110 people in Palm Beach County are food insecure, many of them children, families and older adults, and the pandemic has made the situation worse.
“Our B’nai Torah com-munity has the means and wants to give back,” Faerman says. “They don’t always want to write a check and this enables them to be hands-on.”
Bredoff, director of the Florence Melton School for Adult Jewish Learning at the congregation, says her “magic carpet” ride with Faerman began when the two met seven years ago.
“People want to help but don’t know where to begin,” she says. “If you know Summer and express a desire to help, she will find you a place to contribute.
“She’s a tremendous asset to the community,” Bredoff says.
Her whole family — including two sons, Spencer, 20, a junior at Washington University in St. Louis, and Nate, 18, a senior at American Heritage School in Delray Beach — got involved in the effort.
The first food pantry was installed at the Salvation Army at 300 SW Second Ave. in Boca Raton on Aug. 23, and Bredoff says the project has taken on a life of its own.
“People have been falling over themselves to either sponsor a pantry or to help build one,” she says.
The Salvation Army is next to Boca Elementary School, a Title 1 school. Kids take food on their way to and from school, says Bredoff. Other Boca locations include Advent Elementary & Middle School and Ebenezer Church.
B’nai Torah also has little food pantries on Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach and on Lantana Road and plans for others in Boynton Beach, Margate, Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach.
The pantries are stocked with bottled water, granola bars, oatmeal, beans, pasta, beef jerky, cans of Chef Boyardee, Kind bars and GoGo squeeZ fruit snacks.
Faerman has partnered with the Salvation Army, Advent Lutheran Church and the Fusion Academy.
Jessica Ballas, ministry director at Advent Lutheran Church, says, “I was so taken by Summer’s enthusiasm, I had to get involved.
“It’s an amazing concept,” she says. “I’m in awe of Summer’s passion and what she has accomplished.
“Look what we can do if we pitch in a little,” Ballas says. “Just imagine what we could do if we pitched in a lot.”
Faerman updates her Facebook page on which boxes need replenishing and people respond to her updates.
“It’s one thing to be involved in a food drive, but when you actually go out and put food in one of these pantries, it’s a very satisfying experience and makes the need in our community very real,” Faerman says.
“It’s a Field of Dreams situation,” she says. “This project was my dream and it brings joy to me every time I go.”

To learn more visit btcboca.org/littlefreepantry or on Facebook at TLC Little Food Pantry.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach City Commissioners fired their City Manager George Gretsas Nov. 20 by a 3-2 vote with Commissioner Adam Frankel and Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston dissenting.

After nearly five months, the vote to terminate with cause means the city will part ways with Gretsas without owing him any money.

“We are hearing allegations and not facts,” Frankel said. “I feel comfortable with the motion to terminate without cause, although I know there are financial consequences.”

Commissioner Juli Casale pointed out that doing so would cost “another $180,000 of taxpayer money.” She was referring to a clause in Gretsas' contract that required a $180,000 payment if he was terminated without cause.

Boylston said, “If I voted for what is best for the city, it would be the motion to terminate with cause. But I can’t make that determination based on what was presented today.”

Boylston called the city’s relationship with Gretsas “irreparable” and brushed aside the third choice of Gretsas returning to his job as the Delray Beach City Manager. Frankel also agreed that the relationship was broken.

Gretsas, who did not attend the hearing because he was in Montana, was suspended with pay on June 24.

On Oct. 21, Gretsas hired new attorneys and they asked for time to prepare his case. The termination hearing was moved to Nov. 20 from Oct. 23. In exchange, the city required Gretsas to give up his $265,000 salary and benefits on Oct. 23.

Following the terms set out in his Oct. 1, 2019 employment contract, the city followed the procedures when parting ways with Gretsas: approved the notice to terminate on June 24, accepted the written charges on Aug. 24 and accepted the investigative report on Oct. 20.

“We followed his employment agreement to the letter,” said City Attorney Lynn Gelin who participated in the hearing as a witness.

Gretsas sent a text after the hearing that read: “No professional City Manager would have sat by quietly after discovering serious issues with the drinking water and corruption at City Hall.

“Although getting fired for speaking the truth is not what’s supposed to happen in America, I did what I had to do to protect the health and safety of the residents of Delray Beach.”

But the three commissioners who voted to fire Gretsas see the issue differently.

“The circus was created by Mr. Gretsas,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia. He created a paid Facebook page and sent documents to the media about water quality problems in the city.

“We want to take this moment and move on,” she said. “The city is running well, and people feel safe.”

Boca Raton residents Amanda Clark (l), 20, and her mother Kate Clark are battered by the winds and rain of Tropical Storm Eta as they observe the power of the storm from the pavilion of South Beach Park in Boca Raton Nov. 8. The intense wind and horizontal rain made it necessary for most observers to hide behind the support poles for protection. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Strong winds and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Eta caused beach erosion and damage to the the beach access mat at South Beach Park in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Boca Raton resident Natalie Conte walks her two dogs Nico and Rocky along the flooded sidewalk in Highland Beach Nov. 9. Heavy rain and strong winds from Tropical Storm Eta caused localized flooding, downed trees and power outages throughout South Florida. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Drivers on State Road A1A in Highland Beach Nov. 9 navigated their way through flooded roads to get to their destination. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Delray Beach resident and fisherman Peter Moccia appears to be missing the lower part of his body due to the significant beach erosion caused by Tropical Storm Eta. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A member of Delray Beach Fire Rescue navigates his ATV up and over the beach erosion caused by Tropical Storm Eta. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Billy Blackman, owner of Able Tree Service, secures broken sea grape and coconut palm branches on Old Ocean Boulevard in Ocean Ridge as Tropical Storm Eta left its impact on Coastal Star communities. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A family takes a group selfie on the north Jetty of the Boynton Inlet Nov. 8 as Tropical Storm Eta unleashed strong winds and torrential rains on South Florida. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Contractors are staged to restore power along State Road A1A in Manalapan Nov 9. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A man removes pylons from the flooded roadway along North Atlantic Drive in the Hypoluxo Island portion of Lantana on Nov. 9. Heavy rains flooded the road and yards. While the road was passable, the water was at least 8 inches deep in places. Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart, who lives in the neighborhood, says this is nothing new. “When you have the king tides, there’s always flooding in certain areas of Hypoluxo Island,” he says. “It’s been that way since I moved here in 1977. You can’t control Mother Nature.” Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A man walking his dog gets along Beach Curve Road on the Hypoluxo Island portion of Lantana gets caught in one on the many squalls associated with Tropical Storm Eta. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Marybeth Hegarty grabs hold of her hat as she walks down toward the beach to check on the impact of Tropical Storm Eta Nov. 8. "Our beach is gone," she exclaimed a moment later as she got near the surf. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Mary Thurwachter contributed to this report

Beachgoers rinse their feet near the sea grapes that form a canopy along the shore in Delray Beach. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Consensus emerges that
trims are better for dunes

By Larry Barszewski

When it comes to managing sea grapes at the beach, what’s an environmentalist to do?
Should the growing trees and shrubs be left alone to provide a friendly habitat for birds and small animals and shield the beach from man-made light that can disorient sea turtle hatchlings?
Or should the sea grapes be trimmed to stop them from crowding out other plants and allow for a far more diverse beach ecosystem?
In September, Delray Beach commissioners voted 3-2 to cut away, approving a plan to slash some remaining untouched sea grapes — five arbors up to 20 feet tall — to a height of 4 feet. These sea grapes were spared this summer during an extensive trimming at the beach, where they form canopies that create green tunnel pathways for beachgoers.
Nearby residents, whose views of the ocean have been blocked by the tall sea grapes, complained the tunnels are dangerous, house homeless people and should be cut back.
Others see the beach’s sea grape archways as iconic, creating a more natural look that should be preserved.
Leaving the conflicting aesthetics debate aside, many coastal experts say the city is moving in the right direction from an environmental viewpoint.

Some residents were upset in May when sea grapes were trimmed from tree height to waist high. They have since resprouted leaves.

Explosive growth
“You have this one species that is exploding, and it outcompetes and kills everything underneath it,” said George Gann, the chief conservation strategist for the Institute for Regional Conservation based in Delray Beach. “The sea grapes have not only grown up, they’ve also grown out. They’re overwhelming so much of the biodiversity on the dune.”
Gann compliments past dune restoration work at the city’s public beach, saying it is “one of the most biodiverse and successful beaches in Southeast Florida.” But, he cautions, “the sea grapes threaten the good work that has come before.”
In addition, Gann and coastal management consultant Rob Barron said the sea grapes have brittle wood and shallow root systems, increasing the chances they could blow over or become projectiles in a major hurricane. They’re also not great at capturing sand or providing erosion resistance, Gann and Barron said.
At the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Dave Kieckbusch says you can trim or not trim in environmentally friendly ways depending on your preference. But the sea grapes are invasive, he said. Even though they are native, they can grow prolifically and potentially harmfully.
“You plant the sea grapes, they’re very nice looking, but they’re very fast-growing and they can shade out the [other] native plants,” said Kieckbusch, an environmental specialist who serves as the department’s field inspector for Southeast Florida.

 Clusters of sea grapes dwarf all other vegetation in some areas, creating a monoculture.

Sea turtle concerns
One of the main environmental arguments against trimming is that the taller sea grapes shield the beach from artificial light emanating from buildings along State Road A1A, light that could disorient sea turtle hatchlings and discourage female sea turtles from nesting. Kieckbusch said trimming permits require lighting surveys before and after the work is done to assure light along A1A won’t get to the beach during nesting season.
Even a February consulting report prepared for the city — one that recommended leaving the remaining tall sea grapes untrimmed — said “the ultimate solution is for upland homes and buildings to comply with the city’s lighting ordinance and install turtle-friendly lighting.”
It took until 2017 for the significant light issues immediately north and south of Atlantic Avenue to be resolved to protect sea turtles and hatchlings, making it possible to do the remaining trimming that has now been approved, Barron said. He has been involved with the city’s beach management for decades and was a leading proponent of the trimming.
For Kieckbusch, a big environmental problem along the coast is private property owners who trim illegally and expose the beach to artificial light sources.
“This is starting with the snowbirds coming down. This is our busy time of the year” for permitting and enforcement, Kieckbusch said.

Shadows on the beach
From a sea turtle’s perspective at the municipal beach, Barron said the taller sea grapes don’t make a difference. Delray Beach’s sandy dunes themselves block out lighting that’s lower than the tops of telephone poles, he said.
But David Anderson, the sea turtle conservation coordinator at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, doesn’t dismiss the benefits of taller sea grapes — even if direct light sources aren’t an issue.
Tall sea grapes not only shield the beach from light along A1A, but also can help block out the ambient glow created by light from cities to the west, Anderson said. To the extent sea grapes cast a shadow on the beach from the ambient light in the night sky, they provide darker spots that will attract nesting sea turtles, he said.
“Those turtles are just offshore, sticking their head out of the water, looking for a dark beach,” he said.
The narrower strip of beach next to Red Reef Park in Boca Raton, for example, next to high dunes and with shading from tall sea grapes, has made nesting density greater there, Anderson said. In the same way, tall beachfront condos with turtle-friendly lighting actually have a beneficial effect, attracting nesting sea turtles by casting shadows that block the ambient light, he said.

George Gann of the Institute for Regional Conservation works with Keith Buttry of Neglected Plants LLC to plant sea lavender in a more diverse stretch of the Delray Beach dune. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Delray’s sea grape history
Sea grape plants are native to Florida, but historically hadn’t been a significant part of the region’s beach dune system, which was full of grasses and saw palmettos, Barron said.
In the early 1970s, beach erosion had ocean water lapping near the edge of A1A, prompting the city to do a beach-widening project, Barron said. When blowing sand from the new beach caused problems of its own, the city initially rejected a proposal to plant sea oats — an idea derided at the time as “hayfields on the beach,” he said.
Sea oats, which conservationists say are one of the most effective beach plants at trapping sand and building up dunes, were eventually planted in the mid-1980s and are now a significant part of the beach’s foredune.
The sea grapes west of the oats, between the foredune and the sidewalk, were planted earlier in the 1980s and started thriving after the sea oats were introduced, Barron said. They doubled their footprint about every nine years and quickly overtook the community of plants in the coastal strand portion of the city’s beach ecosystem, he said.
Gann wants to see numerous plant species returned to the beach’s coastal strand once the sea grapes are trimmed and the exotic vegetation removed. That will create a habitat for dozens of species of butterflies and birds and rejuvenate the natural ecosystem, he said.
At the end of October, the city began adding new native vegetation following the trimming and the removal of exotics done during the summer. The plantings include bay cedar, golden beach creeper, Walter’s ground cherry and sea lavender.
Some argue the sea grape trees near A1A provide a fertile habitat for small mammals and migratory birds, but Gann said there’s not much place for the mammals to hide and the sea grape fruit is attractive only to larger birds, such as blue jays. Trees are typically part of a maritime hammock to the west of the coastal strand. But that type of hammock, which is in place at the city’s Atlantic Dunes Park, is not present at the municipal beach.
Gann compared the sea grapes at the beach to cattails in the Everglades.
Just as the cattail population explodes as a result of nutrient-rich agricultural runoff flowing into the Everglades, the sea grapes take advantage of excess nutrients near the beach to proliferate out of control, he said.
“In hindsight, it would have been a lot better to plant other things,” he said.

Reclaimed water project lacked ‘institutional control’

Related Stories: Cleaning of drinking water tanks set to finish this month |Timetable unclear on reclaimed water issues

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach has not had “institutional control” over its reclaimed water program, according to a forensic review released on Oct. 23.
The program has not had the appropriate resources, funding, oversight, policies and internal expertise in place to effectively manage its parts, Fred Bloetscher, president of Public Utility Management & Services Inc., wrote in a report the city hired him to do.
One of the most serious findings was that without city personnel apparently present, water customers had “converted back” to potable water on their own by hiring a plumber to go into the meter box or connect to the city’s water main to re-establish potable water service for irrigation.
“It’s all or nothing with reclaimed water in residential areas,” Bloetscher said. “You can’t have residents opting out on their own. It’s a criminal act if they tamper with the city’s public water system.”
Bloetscher’s Hollywood-based firm was hired by Delray Beach in late April to review its reclaimed water program. The city agreed to pay $20,000 for the study. His work experience includes utility department positions in two Broward County coastal cities: Dania Beach and Hollywood.
Delray Beach has relied on consultants to design, construct and monitor the estimated $30.59 million reclaimed water system since its beginning in 2003.
Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that can be used only for lawn irrigation, but it is not suitable for human or pet consumption.
Public Utility Management said its investigation was hampered by a lack of records available prior to 2018. That’s one reason the firm focused its report on the final area where reclaimed water was installed on the barrier island.
The work included the installation of residential reclaimed connections and other utility infrastructure such as potable water mains as well as sewer and storm water mains. The project ran from January 2018 to March 2019. Within this area there were reports of cross connections and contamination between reclaimed water and drinking water and of residents opting out of the program with no city oversight.
The area studied in the report included Lewis Cove south to Del Haven Drive on the west side of State Road A1A and along the east side of A1A from Casuarina Road south to Del Haven.
After reading the review, Mayor Shelly Petrolia agreed that the city needs to strengthen its mandatory reclaimed water ordinance.
New Utilities Director Hassan Hadjimiry concurred.
His department is working closely with staff from the city’s Development Services, Code Enforcement and Attorney’s Office. That approach will allow for greater oversight of the reclaimed water permitting process and enforcement of the city’s ordinance, according to Hadjimiry, who responded via email.
“Customers who chose to disconnect without proper oversight are potentially endangering the safety of the public water provided to other city customers,” he wrote.
In addition, he stated that he already has addressed many of Bloetscher’s concerns.

Culprit not identified
The report also found that the city allowed backflow prevention devices to be buried, making them difficult to access. The buried devices were cheaper to install and their underground placement meant they were out of sight.
“Esthetics are not important when you are protecting public health,” said Bloetscher, associate dean for undergraduate studies and community outreach in environmental engineering at Florida Atlantic University.
The city staffer or consultant who made that decision was not identified in the report.
Bloetscher suggested the city replace its dual-check valves, which cost about $500, with the more expensive devices, called reduced pressure zone devices, which sit above the ground. The RPZs cost about $1,800 each.
To help with ongoing costs of the upgrades, Bloetscher suggested the city replace the devices over time as they wear out.
Dual-check valves and RPZs are backflow preventers that protect the drinking water supply from contamination. RPZs are better because they dispose of any backward-flowing water if their valves fail.
The area studied in the report was found to have 21 missing backflow devices out of 136 locations.
The project area just to the north was missing 54 backflow devices out of 150 total. Work in that area began in May 2016 and ended in February 2017. In a separate contract, awarded to another firm, backflow devices supplied by the city were installed in the adjacent area.
In all, 194 backflow devices were found to be missing on the barrier island.
Most cities in the county, including Delray Beach, use the cheaper dual-check valves because they are allowed under the state’s Administrative Code. Dual-check backflow preventers cannot be tested and must be replaced every five years, according to Hadjimiry.
Delray Beach requires larger residential buildings and commercial sites to use RPZs, Hadjimiry wrote.
The American Water Works Association, an international nonprofit aimed at improving water quality, recommends using an RPZ for its superior protection of the public water supply.
One of the most troubling concerns Bloetscher’s report found was that Delray Beach does not have a point person in charge of the installation of backflow preventers and inspection at each reclaimed water location.
City documents included in the report state that the city would provide oversight for inspections and that a “cross-connection specialist” was to perform the inspections, but no position within the city was found to exist and there was nothing on file to show the inspections had been done.
Since arriving in early June, Hadjimiry has created a regulatory compliance section within his department to implement the cross-connection control and industrial pretreatment programs. An existing open position is being reclassified to a cross-connection control coordinator to oversee that program, Hadjimiry wrote.
Bloetscher also noted that city staff added a change order to the construction contract in August 2018, adding backflow preventers at a cost of just over $26,000. The original contract did not include them for the installation of reclaimed water in the southern portion of the barrier island. Whether the devices were part of the original contracts for the other four barrier island areas of the reclaimed water project is unknown.
Petrolia found the review hard to read and lacking in key information. “Who was responsible for adding the backflow preventers?” she asked. “I thought that was the purpose of spending $20,000 on the forensic study.”

Director wants to add jobs
Despite rumors swirling on social media, the City Commission was found to have little involvement with the reclaimed water system, according to the review.
Mark Lauzier, who was city manager in December 2018, updated the commission at its Dec. 11, 2018, meeting. He talked of a cross connection in the final area of the reclaimed water installation, which led to a boil-water order for the southern portion of the barrier island.
Cross connections happen when reclaimed water lines are connected to drinking water pipes.
Lauzier stated “staff will address the communications issues and require maps for these type of things in the future.”
In February, then City Manager George Gretsas told commissioners how he shut down the reclaimed water system to avoid a citywide boil water order. That was done to satisfy Florida Department of Health inspectors. They were investigating a complaint from a South Ocean Boulevard resident who did not think she was adequately informed of the December 2018 cross connection.
In early May, Gretsas rated the reclaimed water program a D-minus in his presentation to the commission.
Delray Beach has another problem with how it tracks the reclaimed water program, Bloetscher found.
The city has two methods to record locations, installation dates, tests and photos for each reclaimed water site. Some staffers use Excel spreadsheets, while others use graphic information system maps. The GIS method is preferable, according to the review.
As part of the cross-connection control program, Delray Beach will use a web-based system for testing, tracking and reporting of backflow preventers, according to Hadjimiry.
At the Nov. 17 City Commission meeting, he will seek commission approval to add four new positions — professional engineer, plan reviewer/engineer and two inspectors — to the department’s engineering section. The change will require a budget amendment, Hadjimiry wrote.
Delray Beach also plans to educate its reclaimed water customers, following AWWA guidelines, by providing annual notifications to make sure customers know about the origin, nature and characteristics of reclaimed water, according to Hadjimiry.
“The city’s website has been updated to include educational information and videos on reclaimed water and its uses,” Hadjimiry wrote.
Barrier island resident Chris Heffernan was not surprised by any of Bloetscher’s findings.
“The city manager form of government is clearly not working. Delray Beach has outgrown it,” he said of a system in which the commission makes the policies and an appointed manager runs the city. In other places the elected mayor runs the city.
“We are a city run by bureaucrats and part-time politicians,” Heffernan said.

Army veteran Ed Manley, 98, receives two ready-made meals, a loaf of bread and container of juice from John Sallee at his home in Briny Breezes. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

On June 6, 1944, a U.S. Army paratrooper named Ed Manley jumped into Nazi-occupied France on a D-Day mission to blow up the cannons overlooking Omaha Beach.
He was 22.
On Sept. 11, 1944, he jumped into Holland during Operation Market Garden, on a mission to capture roads and bridges in the vital communications city of Eindhoven.
On Dec. 17, 1944, he was in Bastogne, Belgium, helping to hold off Hitler’s Fifth Panzer Army in the Battle of the Bulge.
And on Oct. 9, 2020, Ed Manley was at home on Hibiscus Drive in Briny Breezes, waiting for someone to bring his lunch.
He is 98.
“I was lying in a ditch,” he explained, “and John came along and said, ‘Can I help you?’”
The ditch is a metaphor, of course, but the help John Sallee brings is real. Like the U.S. Army’s 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches has a mission.

The slogan on a volunteer’s T-shirt states the organization’s goal.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, a team of five couriers leaves the organization’s kitchen on Old Okeechobee Road in West Palm Beach, bearing both hot and frozen meals to 40 volunteers, who deliver them to about 300 elderly clients living between Tequesta and Lantana.
Here comes John Sallee now. As his 2017 blue Ford Equinox stops on Hibiscus Drive this Friday morning, Manley eases down the steps of his mobile home to greet him.
Sometimes Chef Daniel Laudia prepares meatballs and mashed potatoes, salmon with rice and broccoli, or glazed pork and sweet potatoes. Veggie lasagna. Chicken piccata. Laudia cooked at a country club before coming to Meals on Wheels.
Today, it’s quiche, Tater Tots, a side salad, juice or milk and, October being National Cookie Month, extra cookies.
“The food is excellent!” Manley exclaimed. “I wasn’t eating enough vegetables and they give you a lot of grass. They give you spinach and carrots and peas and string beans.”
He paused.
“The only thing I don’t like is the beans, because they give me gas.”
Actually, Ed Manley’s Friday lunch didn’t really begin on Old Okeechobee Road that morning. It began back in September, when his caregiver at the VA Hospital called Debbie Emerick, Meals on Wheels program director.
“Ed was OK cognitively,” Emerick recalls, “but she had concerns about his nutrition. He’s homebound, his family’s in Washington state, and neighbors were bringing him groceries. As soon as I heard he was a World War II vet, I wanted to help.”
“I was getting old,” Manley said. “It’s that simple. I was cutting down to two meals a day.”
Now, to make sure this old soldier eats well, Meals on Wheel isn’t just going an extra mile. It’s going an extra five miles.
Briny Breezes is south of Lantana, the agency’s southern boundary, but Ed Manley is being served anyway, thanks to the Quantum Foundation, which gave Meals on Wheels a $75,000 grant last year to support its Meals For Veterans outreach. Most of the agency’s 95 vets, who had been paying about $7 a meal or less on a sliding scale, now pay nothing.
The organization’s $1 million annual budget comes primarily from donations and grants. Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches receives no government funding.
John Sallee is a courier, but because there’s not an official delivery route this far south, he delivers Manley’s meals.
“It’s very satisfying work,” Sallee says. “You get to know people like Ed. I’ve been doing this 2½ years, and I can only think of one person I didn’t like. And he moved into assisted living.”
After delivering the quiche, plus a frozen meal for the weekend and a big loaf of bread, Sallee didn’t speed off. He waited, smiling and nodding as Manley talked on. He listened.
“That’s our More Than A Meal model,” says Pam Calzadilla, the organization’s president and CEO. “You’re not just getting a UPS truck dropping a bunch of meals off. It’s making sure they’re well and giving them that social interaction.
“We provide check-in and report back to clients’ families. And we call 911 on occasion as well. Too many times.”
For clients who have pets, there’s Animeals. During hurricane seasons, there’s a box of shelf food to last three days. On birthdays, there’s a cake.
Before the COVID pandemic struck, meals were delivered five days a week. Now John Sallee and his colleagues arrive on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, with frozen meals to tide the clients over.
“We’ve had trouble getting some foods from vendors,” Calzadilla reports, “and we’ve had to change some of our meals because they had no stock or had furloughed employees.”
Manley is Briny Breezes’ only Meals On Wheels client, so far.
“Now that we’re there, we can accept more seniors who need the service,” Emerick says. “This is how we build. We find a need, then another, and establish a volunteer route.”
For Manley, old age seemed to come suddenly.
“Two years ago, I was hanging out with 45-year-olds,” he told Sallee. “I had a 6-year-old Mini Cooper with 9,000 miles on it. I went to Publix, the bank and the hospital. But I fell asleep twice while I was eating and woke up 45 minutes later, so I quit driving. I was afraid I could hurt somebody.”
Born in the Bronx in 1921, Manley grew up in an orphanage called Sheltering Arms at 129th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem.
“They used to give us two nickels every Wednesday to go down to the YMCA on the trolley,” he recalled, “and I’d hang on the back of the trolley to save the nickels.”
Before joining the Army, he played trumpet in an 11-piece band. In the Army, he played the afternoon dances for the noncoms.
After the war, he was a New York State trooper, and 40 years ago he arrived in Briny Breezes on a sailboat from Ocean City, Maryland.
Dorothy Ann died in 1984, after 31 years of marriage. His two sons and a daughter are far away. He lives alone.
“I’m a widower,” he said, “so I was cooking for myself.”

While recounting his younger years, Ed Manley breaks into dance on his porch steps. Manley says the Meals on Wheels food is ‘excellent.’ Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

On Jan. 3, 1945, Ed Manley was wounded in Bastogne, taken prisoner and imprisoned in Stalag 12A for 4½ months, until he escaped.
He has two Bronze Stars, from Normandy and Bastogne, a Purple Heart and two presidential citations.
In 1994, he jumped out of an airplane once more, to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
He was 72.
In 2009, he had a triple heart bypass.
“But I look around and I see other people,” he said, “and every time I think I’m hurting, I see how the powers-that-be have taken care of me. How many people live to be in their 90s?”
On Nov. 5, he will turn 99.
“Meals On Wheels was a big surprise,” he said, clutching this day’s delivery. “They surprise me all the time with this stuff.”
And then, turning to go back inside, out of the midday heat, he paused.
“When I was in shape,” he added, “you didn’t mess with me.”

To learn more, call 561-802-6979 or visit www.mealsonwheelspalmbeaches.org.

For those of you who know me, you know it is not in my character to ask our readers for anything other than a quote or permission to publish their photo in the paper.
But the challenges of 2020 have taken a toll on local businesses, The Coastal Star included. The impact of COVID-19 has been such a shock to our community that we have seen a significant drop in advertising. Most restaurants had to close for months and entertainment venues have had to delay their season’s plans till next year.
In our April edition, we asked you to help by paying for advertising to promote those local businesses, and many of you did. Thank you.
But the impact of the virus has been relentless and we were forced to publish in alternate months for the summer to avoid significant losses.
So now we ask again for your help.
The Florida Press Association is partnering with its members, including The Coastal Star, to launch the Community News Fund, creating a way for readers like you to make tax-deductible donations to support community journalism.
In many of the small towns that we cover, it has been more than a decade since any reporter, other than ours, has shown up to a commission meeting or other local events. We are filling that responsibility, and we enjoy it.
By donating to The Coastal Star, you will help our journalists keep our residents informed, hold officials accountable and cover the most important topics in our community.
For example, your donations will ensure that we have the space in the paper to report on philanthropy, the arts, the environment and health and medicine.
My friend Jim Fogler, the CEO of the Florida Press Association, put it well: “Local newspapers play a critical role in our communities, making us all stronger and more engaged citizens. Newspapers are dedicated to keeping you informed. Whether it is a local issue or a worldwide pandemic, they are there to provide consistent news coverage that you can trust.”
To contribute, go to https://fpf.column.us/the-coastal-star.
You can also visit our recently revamped website and click on the banner ad promoting this nonprofit giving opportunity: www.thecoastalstar.com

— Jerry Lower, Publisher

Robin Deyo has worked on Junior League projects that have touched everything from hunger to family/child welfare and the community garden. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Sallie James

Innovative ideas. An amazing history of volunteerism. A techy background and a winning personality.
Those qualities and more are why Boca Raton resident Robin Deyo was named honorary chairwoman for the Junior League of Boca Raton’s 33rd annual Woman Volunteer of the Year awards ceremony, which this year will be virtual.
“I am honored to partake this year — it’s such a compliment,” said Deyo, a sustaining member of the Junior League and the former co-owner and co-founder of Cendyn, which provides technical assistance to more than 30,000 destinations and hotels in 130 countries. 
Instead of honoring a single volunteer, this year’s program will celebrate the Junior League’s decades of volunteerism. The virtual program, planned for 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 13, will celebrate 100 years of women’s voting rights, the Junior League of Boca Raton’s 50th anniversary and the contributions of 685 women who have been nominated for their community volunteerism over the years.
“We will … be sharing stories about people’s experience being volunteers in the community. There will be a historical perspective on the 19th Amendment and the 685 women nominated over the last 32 years,” Junior League President Cristy Stewart-Harfmann said.
Deyo’s background, dedication and years of involvement with the Junior League made her the perfect fit for honorary chair.
“She is amazing. She is level-headed, kind, thoughtful and a past nominee for Woman Volunteer of the Year,” Stewart-Harfmann said. “Virtual sounds so simple but it is not — that is one reason it’s been so nice she is here to help us. We have been able to really focus on the logistics and how we create the event.”
The Junior League’s aim is to develop women’s potential and better the community through the action and leadership of trained volunteers. And celebrating women is why Deyo has remained involved in the organization for 20 years.
“I have loved being honorary chair this year. I just jumped into the deep end in wanting to solicit sponsorships and ads and helping with the scripts for the presentation,” she said. “It’s just going to be a wonderful celebration of women.”
Deyo, 56, has worked on Junior League projects that addressed hunger, family/child welfare, the community garden and fundraising. The Junior League also provides assistance to Boca Raton’s Diaper Bank and Boca Helping Hands.
Deyo joined the Junior League while she was working in the hotel business. At the time, the Junior League had hired Cendyn to create a CD-ROM to accompany its annual cookbook. Thanks to Deyo’s involvement, the cookbook won a 2001 James Beard Foundation Award for excellence. 
Deyo called the project “a turning point” in her life.
“Junior League cookbooks around the world are well-known because they are really good. A lot of people collect them,” Deyo said.
Deyo served as vice president of finance, cookbook chair, international PR co-chair, fund development assisting adviser, worked on project development and planning as a board of directors member, and served as assistant chair for the Woman Volunteer of the Year event.
Deyo has continued her involvement as a sustaining member for the past six years, with this year’s work especially relevant because programming had to go virtual during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a good year for me to participate — it was in my wheelhouse,” Deyo said.
Junior Leaguer Dorothy MacDiarmid said Deyo’s contributions began the minute she joined and never stopped.
“When she joined we were publishing the first cookbook and she came up with the idea of putting the cookbook on a CD-ROM, which was a high-tech thing then. We had this beautiful coffee style cookbook on the CD-ROM. We were the only Junior League in the country that had a cookbook like that,” said MacDiarmid, a Junior League president in 2005 and 2006 and chair for Woman Volunteer of the Year in 2006.
“She is just amazing. Sometimes it is hard to find someone who has that really awesome technical ability and has so many people skills and such a soft side. This is the perfect year for her.”
When Deyo first joined the Junior League, her husband, Charles, jokingly called Tuesdays at work “nonprofit Tuesdays” because so many Cendyn employees were busy with their Junior League obligations that day.
“We gave everybody flexibility to be active and participate in their committee roles,” Deyo recalled. She said more than 15 of her employees were Junior League members and the company paid for all their memberships.
Her daughter Ryn, now 19, grew up volunteering at Junior League events. Deyo said she hoped to set an example.
“I always told Ryn my biggest rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated. I think volunteerism is just an extension of that. Give a lot of good and contribute to your community and I am sure it will come back to you,” Deyo said.
Stewart-Harfmann said Deyo’s lifetime of dedication is part of what makes her contributions so special.
“Robin has done so much for the Junior League and we are so happy we will be able to honor her. … She really epitomized what we hope all our members will be — women who are able to balance a career and also volunteer in the community.”

Woman Volunteer
of the Year
What: Junior League honors 32 years of volunteering.
When: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 13
Where: Virtual
Tickets: $50
Info: jlbocaraton.ticket.qtego.net/tickets/list

The Witches of Delray hosted a ‘Witches Brew’ happy hour fundraiser at Tim Finnegans Irish Pub. Proceeds from the event benefited the Achievement Centers for Children & Families. The ninth Annual Witches of Delray charity bike ride was modified because of COVID-19 concerns. In place of a group bike ride through the city, the witches held various opportunities to ‘get wicked’ live and virtually throughout downtown Delray Beach. This year’s events raised more than $7,000. RIGHT: Lynn Korp shows off the bicycle she decorated and named ‘Day of the Dead.’ Donated for auction, the bicycle drew a top bid of $1,195. Korp is an artist who operates Renaissance Restoration Studio on Atlantic Avenue. Tim Stepien /The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

After months of meeting virtually, municipal government leaders throughout south Palm Beach County are about to take their seats on a dais — but they won’t be getting too close.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to end an order that allowed virtual meetings means that towns and cities that had virtually gathered elected officials are scrambling to come up with safe ways to hold meetings in person again.
Some towns and cities are moving to larger spaces to make social distancing easier during the coronavirus pandemic, while others will require visitors to get temperature checks before they can sit down in the council chambers.
“Everybody is taking a different level of precaution, but everyone is doing something,” said attorney Glen Torcivia, whose firm represents several coastal communities, including South Palm Beach, Ocean Ridge and Highland Beach.
With a deadline of Nov. 1, some communities were still finalizing preparations in late October, but one precaution that seems most common is the installation of plexiglass partitions between elected officials. All are also requiring face coverings, and most are providing hand sanitizer for those who attend in person.
Highland Beach officials plan to have commissioners and a limited number of residents attend meetings in person due to CDC guidelines and the capacity of the commission chambers. People wishing to attend will have a chance to register a day in advance and will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Residents and visitors will still be able to view and participate in meetings virtually, Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
“We’re moving closer to how it used to be, but with CDC guidelines it could be a little tricky,” Labadie said.
To help ensure the safety of those attending a meeting in person, the town will conduct temperature checks and require masks and social distancing.
Delray Beach has crafted a detailed protocol for visitors that is explained in a video posted on Facebook. Those wishing to attend a commission meeting will first see a sign outside City Hall with reminders on social distancing and mask wearing. Once inside, they will answer a series of screening questions to determine if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. They will then have their temperatures scanned before entering the commission chambers, where they will find many seats blocked off to ensure social distancing.
To handle an overflow, Delray will let people watch on television in the Civic Center.
Like many communities, Delray Beach will continue to make it possible to view the meetings online.
One exception is Gulf Stream, which recently discontinued online access and now offers only in-person attendance. For several months, the town offered hybrid meetings combining virtual access with in-person attendance.
Ocean Ridge has also been holding in-person meetings all along while still offering virtual access to the public. One commissioner, who has a summer home out of state, was attending remotely but that is likely to change, Town Manager Tracey Stevens said.
Ocean Ridge will also require actual attendance by residents wishing to comment.
“We will still provide live audio feed for people to listen to the meeting, but no public participation will be available unless it is in person,” Stevens said.
Lantana has also offered in-person meetings since the beginning of the pandemic but will now require all elected and appointed officials to be at Town Hall. The town will continue to broadcast meetings live via telephone and, like Ocean Ridge, make audio recordings available the day after the meeting.
Manalapan officials plan to hold in-person meetings and will arrange chairs to be socially distanced. Masks will be required, and hand sanitizer stations will be set up.
Although the state will require elected officials to attend meetings in person, Torcivia said there are exceptions and he believes commissioners or council members with health issues should be OK attending virtually.
That could be good news for elected officials in South Palm Beach and Briny Breezes who don’t want to chance contracting the virus.
In South Palm Beach, which is adapting the small Town Hall auditorium to accommodate social distancing, some council members could be attending the meetings by phone.
In Briny Breezes, where some council members have similar health concerns, virtual meetings have been held since the spring. The town plans to hold in-person meetings but will move them from the tiny Town Hall auditorium to the corporate community center, where it is much easier to social distance.
Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell invoked home rule authority on Oct. 27 to disregard the governor’s order and continue virtual City Council meetings.
In Boynton Beach, where a hybrid system is used with the mayor at a government building but commissioners accessing remotely, an emergency ordinance passed unanimously on Sept. 30 giving commissioners an opportunity to invoke home rule and continue holding virtual meetings until December. City leaders have yet to decide if they will meet in person before the end of the year. Ú