Mary Kate Leming's Posts (477)

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By Mary Hladky

Former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie’s trial on public corruption charges has been postponed for the fourth time, and is now set to begin on Jan. 11, 2021.
Prosecutors and Bruce Zimet, Haynie’s criminal defense lawyer, agreed to move back the trial date from Oct. 26, citing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, additional time needed to complete pretrial discovery and the possibility that not enough potential jurors would be available.
Palm Beach County Chief Judge Krista Marx suspended all jury trials in April because of the coronavirus pandemic but issued an administrative order on Sept. 9 allowing a limited number of trials to begin after Oct. 9.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen ordered the new trial date on Sept. 11.
Haynie, 65, was arrested on April 24, 2018, on charges of official misconduct, perjury, misuse of public office and failure to disclose voting conflicts. She faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors contend that Haynie used her position on the City Council to vote on six matters that financially benefited James Batmasian, the city’s largest downtown commercial landowner, and failed to disclose income she received from him.
Haynie has pleaded not guilty. Zimet has repeatedly said she will not accept a plea deal.
Then-Gov. Rick Scott suspended Haynie from office, but she never resigned. Scott Singer won a special election to claim the position in 2018 and was re-elected in March.

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By Mary Hladky

Wasting no time, the City Council formally accepted the donation of the 167-acre Boca Golf and Tennis Country Club just eight days after the gift was announced.
In casting their unanimous vote on Oct. 14, council members brushed aside pleas from nearby property owners to postpone the decision.
Members of the Boca Golf and Tennis Property Owners Association complained they were never consulted or even told that the new owners of the Boca Raton Resort & Club were offering the country club to the city.
They voiced concerns about the loss of privacy and safety when the private club becomes public, increased traffic and whether the city had completed adequate due diligence.
“What’s the rush?” several property owners asked.
“We were surprised and shocked as to the clandestine and seemingly surreptitious agreements … we were not aware of,” said one resident.
But council members said the donation offer was too good to pass up.
It gives the city a golf course to replace the municipal course that is in the process of being sold to GL Homes for $65 million.
Golfers also won’t have to wait for the Boca National golf course to be built by the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District after a contentious battle with the city over control of the project.
“I think it is a slam dunk for the city,” said council member Andy Thomson.
Other cities would be “salivating” over such a gift, said Mayor Scott Singer, who described it as “the most generous donation” ever made to Boca Raton.
Responding to objections to the quick vote, City Manager Leif Ahnell said, “The donation is available now. … I am not under the impression it is available at a later date. This would be a fantastic opportunity.”
Thomson, who has taken an active role on golf course matters, said he did not consider the vote rushed. The city will assume control of the country club on Oct. 1, 2021, giving the city plenty of time to address concerns.
Ahnell said he expects Boca Raton will break even on operating the golf course, or possibly make a small profit.
The golf course, which Ahnell described as “first class,” was completely renovated in 2018, he said.
“It is our intent to operate it as a premier public facility,” he said.
The country club, located outside the city limits on Congress Avenue north of Clint Moore Road, includes an 18-hole championship golf course, tennis courts, clubhouse and pool. Deputy City Manager Mike Woika said it is debt-free.
The new owners of the Boca Raton Resort & Club — MSD Partners, formed by billionaire Michael S. Dell’s private investment firm, and Northview Hotel Group — acquired the country club as part of their purchase of the resort for $875 million in 2019.
The resort is now in the midst of a $150 million renovation. In announcing the donation, the owners said they want to concentrate on completing that project. They also said the country club had been underutilized for over a decade.
Under the deal, which is expected to close soon, the city will get title to the property and then lease it to the resort, which will continue to operate and maintain it as a private club until the city takes over.
Over the next 11 months, the city will meet with residents, create a budget for management and operations and develop user fee schedules.
Once it becomes a public facility, all city residents and visitors will be able to use it, as will members of the resort and the country club.
Those living in the country club’s residential areas, who are not city residents, will be able to purchase golf passes at the same rate as city residents. Premier members of the resort also will pay city resident rates.
Still to be resolved is what impact the donation will have on the Beach and Park District’s plans to build Boca National.
Ahnell said city and district officials will discuss this. Thomson expects that land to become a “first-class” park instead.
Beach and Parks Commissioner Craig Ehrnst, who attended the meeting, urged council members to accept the gift. “Donations like this don’t come around very often,” he said. “This really makes a lot of sense for the entire community.” Ú

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By Mary Hladky

The city has received additional money that it is making available to residents who have fallen behind on their mortgage or rent because of COVID-19.
The state allocated the city $230,285 that it received through the federal CARES Act in mid-October. That is on top of $317,322 the city received in September.
The money is available to homeowners or renters who have experienced financial hardship, such as being laid off, furloughed or having work hours reduced.
The October allocation increases the amount that each household can receive from $5,800 to $10,000.
To be eligible for assistance, applicants must live within the city limits and have household income that does not exceed 120% of area median income. A family of four, for example, could have a maximum income of $105,360.
Additional requirements are listed on the city’s website under rental and foreclosure programs at https://myboca.us/1923/Rental-and-Foreclosure-Programs. Those in need also can call 561-544-8667 (or 561-393-7043 for the hearing impaired) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Applications will be accepted online only on the city’s website through Nov. 30. All the money must be distributed by Dec. 30. Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Residents who have received previous economic assistance from Palm Beach County or a nonprofit agency can receive additional money for months not covered in their previous requests.

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Obituary: Charles L. Siemon

By Sallie James

BOCA RATON — Charles L. Siemon, the land development attorney and visionary who helped design Boca Raton’s iconic Mizner Park and co-founded the Festival of the Arts 8087005479?profile=RESIZE_180x180Boca, died on Sept. 24 in the Florida Keys of complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. He was three days shy of his 75th birthday.
It was his proposal, along with business partner Wendy Larsen, to build a European-designed, open-air plaza on the site of the blighted Boca Mall, which had fallen into disrepair in the 1980s. Mr. Siemon’s ideas changed the city’s downtown forever, transforming it into a destination known for outdoor shopping, fine dining, cultural events and architecture.
“He designed the central plaza. He was very creative and very much a visionary. It was his idea to have the residences in Mizner Park. It turned out to be very successful,” Larsen said. “The face of downtown Boca was really shaped by Charlie.”
Larsen and Mr. Siemon met in 1975 when they worked together as young lawyers in Chicago. They started their own firm, Siemon & Larsen, in 1983, with offices in Chicago and Boca Raton. Mr. Siemon was hired by Boca’s Community Redevelopment Agency in 1985, where he worked with CRA Director Jamie Snyder to develop a downtown plan that the city adopted. Siemon & Larsen, which merged with the law firm GrayRobinson in 2014, were the first office tenants to move into Mizner Park.
“We worked in New Jersey and Louisiana and all over Florida and did the first of everything. Mizner Park, after it was built and became very successful, it became sort of like a slogan — people would say, ‘It’s a Mizner Park-like project,’” Larsen said.
Mr. Siemon and Larsen founded the Center for the Arts at Mizner Park, with a plan to build out the north end with cultural facilities. Their vision became reality.
“We talked the Museum of Art into coming downtown,” Larsen said. “They were originally going to go out west somewhere. They raised their own money and built their museum. Meanwhile we were raising money for the amphitheater.”
The $6.2 million Mizner Park Amphitheater opened in November 2002.
“He was always so proud” of Mizner Park, his daughter Lisa Ziels said. “It was always in the back of everything. It was a big deal to him.”
Mr. Siemon was born on Sept. 27, 1945, to Margaret and Robert Siemon in Washington, D.C., and grew up in West Palm Beach. His family moved to South Florida when he was a young child. He attended Ransom Everglades High School in Miami, then headed to Emory University in Atlanta, where he met and married Laura “Lolly” Magnuson. The couple remained together until she died of brain cancer in 2010.
Mr. Siemon attended graduate school at Florida State University in Tallahassee, followed by Officer Candidate School. He became a naval officer aboard the USS Shangri-La during the Vietnam War. Following his return to the States, he headed back to FSU for his law degree.
Ziels described her father as a stern man and workaholic who traveled a lot while she was growing up but was always there when it mattered most. Having grandkids changed his priorities.
Mr. Siemon “had always made this big deal about how he was never going to hold babies and when my daughter was born he could hardly wait to hold her,” Ziels recalled. “He said, ‘I have a new reason to live.’ Having grandkids changed his whole view on life. It absolutely softened him and gave him just a different view on life.
“It was the soft side of Charlie that most people in Boca didn’t know. He was a great dad and even better grandpa,” his daughter said.
Mr. Siemon was an avid baseball fan who followed the Chicago Cubs and a devoted angler who loved to fish and take others fishing.
“I don’t think there is anything he truly loved more than being on the front of my husband’s boat. I think that was probably his favorite place in the entire world,” Ziels said.
Mr. Siemon retired to the Keys about three years ago, moving in with Ziels and her family in Marathon so they could care for him as his health began to fail and the memory-robbing effects of Alzheimer’s took hold. He was surrounded by family at his death.
According to the Festival of the Arts Boca website, Mr. Siemon was also involved in a beach and downtown redevelopment project in Clearwater titled One City One Future and preparation of a downtown plan and community redevelopment plan for Coral Springs. Mr. Siemon also led the preparation of a downtown master plan, including the design of a new downtown from scratch, and a community redevelopment plan for the city of Oviedo.
He was a member and chairman of Boca Raton Community Hospital’s board of directors; member of the hospital’s finance and outreach committees; and founding chairman of the nonprofit Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park Inc., implementing and designing a cultural facilities center at the park’s north end. Mr. Siemon served on the Festival of the Arts Boca steering committee and as chair since the commencement of the festival in 2007.
Mr. Siemon was preceded in death by his parents and his wife. He is survived by his daughter Laura Seubert, son-in-law Jason and grandchildren Jake, Joey and Lillian; his daughter Lisa Ziels, son-in-law Todd and grandchildren Hannah and Dylan; and his siblings Robbie Siemon, James Siemon, George Siemon and Marge Siemon.
No services have been planned because of the coronavirus pandemic. His family hopes to organize a memorial service sometime after the new year.
In memory of Mr. Siemon, the family requests that donations be made to the Festival of the Arts Boca (www.festivalboca.org/donate) or Amedisys Foundation (Amedisys Hospice at www.amedisys.com).

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Obituary: Robert Thomas Langford

8087003092?profile=RESIZE_180x180BOCA RATON — Robert Thomas Langford died at his Boca Raton home on Aug. 2. He was 74.
Known as Bob to many, Mr. Langford was the first executive director of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, joining the agency, then known as the Beach Tax District, in the mid-1970s as its accountant. He retired in 2012.
Commissioner Bob Rollins, who served with him for nearly 20 years, likened Mr. Langford to the leader of an orchestra.
“He was a conductor orchestrating the commissioners to ultimately come up with the programming that met the needs of the community,” Rollins said in a statement.
During Mr. Langford’s tenure, the district bought the land that became Red Reef Park and the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Patch Reef Park, Sugar Sand Park and soon-to-open Ocean Strand Park.
He also was an active member of the Scottish Rite for more than 43 years, according to a notice in the Sun-Sentinel.
Mr. Langford is survived by his sons — Neilson, Thomas, Scott and John — and eight grandchildren.

— Staff report

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Obituary: Robert G. Lukens

DELRAY BEACH — Robert G. Lukens, a longtime Delray Beach resident, died Oct. 12 in Birmingham, Alabama, with family by his side. He was 84 years old.
8086999670?profile=RESIZE_180x180Mr. Lukens was born on June 10, 1936, to Robert John and Ruth Adele Lukens. He and his younger brother, John, were raised in Lafayette Hill, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Mr. Lukens graduated from Springfield High School in 1954, serving as president of his graduating class. He was an all-conference selection in both basketball and baseball. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a basketball scholarship, later transferring to Muhlenberg College to continue his studies and play basketball.
After graduating from Muhlenberg College in 1959, Mr. Lukens joined the Navy and spent two years as lieutenant on the USS Saratoga and three years teaching in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Naval Academy.
Mr. Lukens worked in the insurance business and was licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New York and Florida.
In addition to enjoying his home in Delray Beach, Mr. Lukens spent time with extended family and friends at homes in Vero Beach and Lake Martin, Alabama.
With the Navy instilling a love of the sea, he created special memories with his family while boating. Everyone loved going on a boat ride with Bubba. He was also very fond of his wonderful pets throughout the years. All who knew him would agree that his smile would light up the room.
In addition to his beloved wife of 34 years, Judith Ann Lukens, Mr. Lukens is survived by his daughter, Kristen Hay, his son, Robert Lukens, three stepdaughters, Jennifer Moore, Leslie Kury, and Carrie Lay, and 12 grandchildren, as well as his brother, John. He is also survived by his former wife, Elizabeth Smith, and countless other friends. Should you wish to honor him with a memorial donation, the family suggests contributions be made to the Bethesda Hospital Foundation or a charity of your choice. A celebration of life will occur at a later time.

— Obituary submitted by the family

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By Mary Hladky

Longtime volunteer Yvette Drucker will replace Jeremy Rodgers on the City Council until his military deployment or his term of office ends.
8086937085?profile=RESIZE_180x180City Council members voted 3-1 to appoint Drucker on Oct. 27, a decision likely to stir controversy because she has announced her candidacy for Rodgers’ council seat in the March 9 election.
Drucker’s appointment likely will be perceived by some as council members’ using their positions to boost her candidacy.
Council member Andy Thomson made that point as he nominated Rodgers’ wife, Mandy, to temporarily serve.
Rodgers, he said, had recommended that his wife fill his seat, saying she was “best qualified,” had no intention to run for office and would vote as he would on matters coming before the council.
In making an appointment, council members should not “put our finger on the scale,” he said.
Council member Monica Mayotte countered that Drucker would be most accountable to residents because she is running for the position.
Mayor Scott Singer, Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and Mayotte nominated Drucker.
She was among 32 applicants for the job, an astonishingly high number for a five-month political gig.
Drucker will begin serving at the next City Council meeting on Nov. 10, although she likely will be sworn into office before then so city staff can bring her up to speed on matters coming before the council.
Jeremy Rodgers, a Navy reservist, was called to active duty and deployed in August to Qatar in support of NATO operations in Afghanistan.
He was elected to a three-year council term in 2015 and won re-election in 2018. His term ends on March 31, and because of term limits he cannot run again.
In an Oct. 14 letter, Rodgers asked other council members to fill his position because he could not attend meetings remotely, as he had hoped to do.
Drucker is seeking office for the first time.
She is chair of the Boca Raton Education Task Force and previously served as vice-chair of the Boca Raton Historic Preservation Board. She has been active with the Boca Raton Historical Society and the Junior League of Boca Raton.
Drucker had raised nearly $16,000 from 40 donors as of Sept. 30. She contributed $5,000 to her campaign.
Two other candidates are vying to replace Rodgers.
Former Deputy Mayor Constance Scott is seeking a comeback. Now director of local relations at Florida Atlantic University, Scott served two terms from 2009 to 2015 and was deputy mayor during her final year in office.
She had raised just over $10,000 as of Sept. 30 from 50 donors, who include well-known names such as architects Derek Vander Ploeg and Juan Caycedo and political consultant Rick Asnani.
Perennial candidate Bernard Korn also has announced his candidacy. Korn, a real estate broker, has twice lost elections to Singer. Questions about where Korn lived cropped up in both the 2018 and 2020 city elections. If he does not live in the city, he is not eligible to run.
As he did last year, Korn lists his address as a post office box in the city’s downtown post office. County property records show he owns a home outside the city limits.
He was the only contributor to his campaign as of Sept. 30, giving $10,100.
Mayotte is seeking a second three-year term on the council. As of Oct. 27, she faced no opposition. She has loaned her campaign $50,000.
Candidates will be required to provide proof of residency for the first time. That recent City Council decision was made in the wake of uncertainty over Korn’s actual address.
Candidates must prove they have lived in the city for at least 30 days. If voters approve a charter amendment that will be on the March ballot, the residency requirement will be increased to one year.
Candidates will qualify for office during the first seven regular business days in December.

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By Mary Hladky

The city will raise docks at Silver Palm Park so they no longer will be inundated with water during king tides.
The project will cost about $470,000, including engineering and design work. City officials will have a firm number soon.
City Council member Monica Mayotte raised the issue with city staff after seeing the docks under water during recent king tides.
Other council members agreed with her at an Oct. 26 meeting that this work should be part of building a connected Wildflower/ Silver Palm Park at a cost of $8.25 million.
“It’s a lot of money,” said council member Andy Thomson. “But … we have taken the stance we take climate change in the form of higher tides seriously. If we are going to be serious about making our city resilient, this is a no-brainer.”
“The longer we wait, the more expensive this gets,” Mayotte said.
The work will include raising the decking along the Intracoastal Waterway, raising the boat ramp dock and building a floating dock at the boat launch.
The city is building a higher sea wall at the Wildflower site, but such work is not needed at Silver Palm, city officials said.
The dock work will not affect the January start of the 6.4-acre Wildflower/Silver Palm park project.

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Boca Raton will not have a holiday boat parade, a tree-lighting ceremony or a street parade this year “after exploring all options and out of an abundance of caution” during the coronavirus pandemic, the city announced on its website.
The city’s 25-foot holiday tree, with more than 7,500 lights, will sit in Sanborn Square from Nov. 21 through New Year’s Day.
And Mizner Park will put up its 47-foot animated holiday tree at the south end of the plaza near the Yard House restaurant.
There will be five 25-minute free musical tree performances nightly, starting Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Ú
— Staff report

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By Jane Smith

The long-awaited public hearing for suspended City Manager George Gretsas was delayed for another month, the Delray Beach City Commission voted unanimously at a 2:30 p.m. special hearing Oct. 21.

Gretsas has hired new attorneys to represent him at his termination hearing, now set for 10 a.m. Nov. 20.

The attorneys — hired on Oct. 20 — are Thomas Ali and Stuart N. Kaplan of the Stuart N. Kaplan law firm in Palm Beach Gardens.

Ali called and sent an email to Lynn Gelin, city attorney, on the morning of Oct. 21. Gretsas’ lawyers requested a two- or three-week postponement to prepare for the hearing.

But the earliest time the city’s outside labor counsel, Bob Norton, had available was Nov. 20.

The attorneys representing Gretsas agreed that his city manager salary of $265,000 and benefits package worth more than $50,000 will end on Oct. 23. Gretsas was receiving that compensation since he was formally suspended June 24.

Commissioners wanted to stop paying Gretsas while also paying an interim city manager to run Delray Beach. Jennifer Alvarez, purchasing director, was elevated to the interim city manager position on June 24. During her tenure, she will make $189,500 and have a $500 monthly car allowance and $100 cellphone allowance.

If the commissioners had not granted the delay, Gretsas’ attorneys would have sought a court injunction to postpone the hearing, Mayor Shelly Petrolia said.

City commissioners will act as the judge and jury at the Nov. 20 hearing in commission chambers.

The basis for the hearing will be a 38-page report compiled by Julia Davidyan, internal auditor. She interviewed 31 current and former city employees.

In the investigation given to the commissioners on Oct. 9, Davidyan found Gretsas had “disregarded the city’s interests and policies in the areas of personnel, purchasing and information technology.”

In 2019, she also investigated Mark Lauzier, Gretsas' predecessor, who was fired on March 1, 2019, after a similar hearing. Lauzier later sued the city on two counts. The first was dismissed and lost on appeal in February to the 4th District Court of Appeal. The second count — for wrongful termination — is headed for a jury trial expected to start in February, Gelin told commissioners on Oct. 20.

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8036057461?profile=RESIZE_584xA boat cruises down the Intracoastal Waterway through Briny Breezes during the 2018 Boynton Beach-Delray Beach holiday boat parade. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

 

By Jane Smith

The pandemic claimed another victim when the Boynton Beach-Delray Beach holiday boat parade was canceled on Oct. 13.

“How would we allow people to come out and safely watch the boat parade,” asked Michael Simon, executive director of the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, at its monthly board meeting.

Since Covid-19 arrived on the scene in mid-March, no large events have been held in Palm Beach County. Covid-19 is a respiratory illness that can be fatal.

The Boynton Beach CRA had allocated $14,750 to host the event with holiday-decorated boats traveling down the Intracoastal Waterway into neighboring Delray Beach.

But on Sept. 30, Boynton Beach CRA staff received an email from the Delray Beach Parks and Recreation staff saying that the Delray Beach City Commission was not allocating any money to share in the costs of the 49th Annual Boynton Beach & Delray Beach Holiday Boat Parade.

Delray Beach has reimbursed the Boynton Beach CRA for 50% of the shared expenses related to event marketing, including T-shirts, participant prizes and the awards dinner in 2017, 2018 and 2019. 

“I’m leaning toward not continuing this for now,” said CRA Vice Chairman Ty Penserga. “It’s hard to proceed without our partner.”

CRA Board Chairman Steven Grant asked whether the agency had money allocated to light up Ocean Avenue.

Last year, the holiday lighting ceremony was held at Dewey Park, Simon said. The CRA has about $6,000 to spend on holiday lighting of Ocean Avenue.

The city of Boynton Beach has already canceled its Holiday Parade.

Delray Beach also will not hold a Holiday Parade this December. It is putting up the 100-foot Christmas tree to put some life into the holiday season. But the city will not host a tree lighting ceremony or a Menorah lighting ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah, Dec. 10.

Grant also asked for a holiday raffle to promote the businesses in the Boynton Beach CRA district.

The holiday boat parade is something the Boynton Beach CRA does well, Grant said. “But we don’t want to be part of a super-spreading event.”

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City by City COVID-19 Cases

COVID-19: summary of cases and monitoring

Data through Mar 25, 2021 verified as of Mar 26, 2021 at 09:25 AM

 
Data in this report are provisional and subject to change.

Source: www.floridadisaster.org

 

Boca Raton (pop. 99,805): 21,699

Boynton Beach (pop. 78,679): 12,421

Briny Breezes (pop. 578): 10

Delray Beach (pop. 69,451): 9,605

Gulf Stream (pop. 985): 18

Highland Beach (pop. 3,916): 35

Hypoluxo (pop. 2,839): 152

Lantana (pop. 12,581): 1,201

Manalapan (pop. 466): 42

Ocean Ridge (pop. 1,956): 78

South Palm Beach (pop. 1,470): 29

Palm Beach County (total): 129,904 cases | 2,635 deaths

PBC population: 1,496,770

Bureau, US Census. “City and Town Population Totals: 2010-2019.” The United States Census Bureau, 21 May 2020

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By Jane Smith

A long-awaited forensic study of the reclaimed water system in Delray Beach was not turned in as expected on Sept. 30. The new target date has not been set.

“We spoke on the phone, (there is) no written response,” wrote Missie Barletto, the city's public works director, responding to a public records request for emails or correspondence about the study.

In late April the city hired Public Utility Management Planning Services Inc. of Hollywood for $20,000 based on Barletto’s recommendation. She was then the department’s assistant director.

“The firm needed more time to review the documents,” city spokeswoman Gina Carter wrote in an Oct. 2 email.

The consulting firm is run by Fred Bloetscher, an associate dean at Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering in Boca Raton. Bloetscher did not return phone calls or texts seeking comment on where his company was in the process of the forensic review.

The firm requested many documents that Delray Beach held on its more-than-a-decade-long reclaimed water program. The requests included: complete list of the backflow devices with columns of each address, photo, size and age; who did the work, whether an outside contractor was hired; who inspected the work; names of city employees involved in the project; and any emails between city staff and the contractors that may shed light on why were so many reclaimed water installations missing backflow preventers.

Public Utility Management “will attempt to engage in a conversation with the Florida Department of Health administrator for Palm Beach County to seek an acceptable solution,” Bloetscher wrote in the firm’s scope of services.

The Department of Health became involved on Jan. 2 when a South Ocean Boulevard resident called in to say she was not adequately informed of a cross-connection issue in December 2018. Cross connections happen when reclaimed water pipes are mistakenly connected to drinking water pipes.

That phone complaint led to the city shutting down its entire reclaimed water system on Feb. 4 to avoid a citywide boil water order. The city staff and outside contractors have visited each reclaimed water installation to verify that it has a backflow preventer device. Backflow preventers are a stopgap to prevent the drinking water from mixing with the reclaimed water.

The Department of Health sent the city a list of 13 possible violations in a July 1 warning letter. On July 22, city leaders including the new utilities director and the interim city manager met with Department of Health staff to review the possible violations and Delray Beach’s response.

The city is still waiting to hear from the state agency.

Reclaimed water is treated wastewater that is suitable only for lawn irrigation. Most residents of the barrier island, city parks, golf courses and master-planned communities west of the interstate use reclaimed water.

The lines were installed as part of a settlement that Delray Beach reached with state and federal regulators to stop sending raw sewage into the ocean. The city must stop its ocean discharges by the end of 2025.

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By Jane Smith

Delray Beach told its reclaimed water customers living east of Interstate 95 that reclaimed water was not available starting Oct. 1.

The reason: heavy rains overnight on Sept. 30 forced the South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant to use the city’s 36-inch outfall pipe to the Atlantic Ocean.

“We apologize for the inconvenience,” the city posted on Instagram.

Rains continued through the weekend, giving Delray Beach more than 5 inches of rain, according to South Florida Water Management District records.

“We will update this notice once the wastewater plant no longer has need of the outfall pipe and the reclaimed water becomes available again,” the city’s Instagram post read.

As of midday on Oct. 4, Delray Beach did not issue any updates.

The last known time that the wastewater treatment plant had to use the outfall pipe was about 19 months ago. That’s when the plant had an “unknown upset.”

The treatment plant stopped discharging into the ocean in April 2009. The plant can still discharge treated wastewater from heavy rains, from testing its pumps and from “plant upsets.” 

Ocean outfall pipes can no longer be used by Dec. 31, 2025, according to state law.

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By Rich Pollack

Municipalities in southern Palm Beach County that are holding virtual meetings can continue to do so for another 30 days, but officials should be prepared to convene in person come Nov. 1.

An executive order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sept. 30 gives local governments a month to plan a transition from Zoom and similar technologies to face-to-face meetings.

A memo from the governor’s communications director makes it clear that it is unlikely there will be additional extensions. “Local government bodies should prepare to meet in person as required by Florida law beginning Nov. 1,  2020,” Frank Piccolo Jr. wrote.

For area towns and cities already conducting in-person meetings or hybrid meetings with some officials attending in person and others electronically -– including Ocean Ridge –- the extension will have little impact.


“When Governor DeSantis no longer allows virtual meetings, all commissioners will be required to attend in-person, and the public who wishes to make public comment will also need to attend in-person or submit written comments to the town clerk prior to the meeting,” said Ocean Ridge Town Manager Tracey Stevens.

But Highland Beach, Manalapan, Boca Raton and Delray Beach will be making adjustments to ensure they adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention social distancing guidelines.

Boca Raton, for example, is considering holding council meetings in a larger city-owned space to make social distancing easier, while Highland Beach and Manalapan are making adjustments to commission chambers, including adding dividers between commissioners and requiring masks.

“We’ll be taking reasonable precautions,” said Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie, adding that the town is considering having commissioners attend meetings in person but residents attend by Zoom. “We’re moving closer to how it used to be but with CDC guidelines, it could be a little tricky.”

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.

That could change, however, according to City Manager Lori LaVerriere.

“Both our meetings in October will be hybrids and we'll be evaluating it on a monthly basis,” she said.

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