Gary Chancey, an engineer-driver for the new Highland Beach Fire Rescue, receives his department badge from his wife, Liz Chancey, an engineer-driver for Riviera Beach Fire Rescue. The ceremony at the new Highland Beach station included (l-r) Chief Glenn Joseph and his assistant chiefs Tom McCarthy and Matt Welhaf. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

New department is first of its kind in Palm Beach County in 31 years

By Rich Pollack

The critics said it couldn’t be done.

They said starting a new fire department in Highland Beach would be too expensive and would bankrupt the town. They said the quality of service would slide downhill, and that navigating the state and county bureaucratic requirements would prove insurmountable.

They even told the town’s fire chief, who had been a chief in Boynton Beach and a deputy chief in Boca Raton, that he was crazy to take the job.

Yet this month, Highland Beach Fire Rescue launched operations, the first new municipal fire department in Palm Beach County since Tequesta’s in 1993, with promises to provide improved services at a significantly reduced cost.

“Everyone says you can’t do it because that’s the easy answer,” says Highland Beach Fire Rescue Chief Glenn Joseph. “But when you do an objective assessment, you see there’s costs, but you weigh that against the benefits.”

The benefits, town leaders say, are not just cost savings and enhanced service, but also long-term control over expenses and operations.
“This is another chapter in Highland Beach becoming a full-service community,” said Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “Not only did we do it, we did it right.”

Mayor Natasha Moore said getting the new department up and running took a “Herculean effort.”

“This was an incredibly important and complicated task that Highland Beach was able to accomplish,” she said. “The lesson here is that towns want to have services that address the specific needs of their residents and are willing to put in the work to make it happen.”

The new station went into service May 1, the date Highland Beach officially launched its own fire rescue department.

Contract costs escalate
For more than three decades, Highland Beach received fire rescue service from neighboring Delray Beach. However, as annual costs climbed above the $5 million mark, town leaders began wondering if they could do better on their own.

In recent years, Highland Beach has challenged the city’s billing and the method the city uses to calculate its charges. While town leaders think that the city has overbilled for its services, a recent state audit showed that the town could actually owe Delray Beach as much as $2 million that was never billed.

Three years ago, after receiving the conclusions of a consultant’s study they requested, commissioners decided to create a town fire rescue department that they believed would meet the needs of residents at a lower cost.

They gave Delray Beach the required three years’ notice and now that day has finally arrived.

“This new town-run fire rescue department allows us to fully reach our commitment to provide the best service to our residents so we can ensure their health and safety to the best of our ability,” Labadie said.

Essential to the town’s success, Labadie said, was the support of the community, which in a 2021 vote overwhelmingly approved spending up to $10 million on a new fire department, with just shy of 90% approval. “We were able to do this because the community wanted it, the community was willing to pay for it and to put in a leadership team to make it happen,” he said.

Small town, single station
That Highland Beach is small, just 3.3 miles long with a population under 5,000, also helped make a new fire department possible, since the department has only about 30 employees and operates one station. The town also has a wealthy population that can financially support a new fire department.

“A single-station community with a smaller staffing requirement is easier to start up than a department in a larger community,” said Robert Finn of Matrix Consulting Group, which provided the study the town used in deciding to start the department.

Town leaders say that they expect to save more than $1 million a year in operating costs by having their own department and believe they can recover the estimated $10 million in start-up costs — about $8 million of which covered the cost of a new fire station — in five to seven years.

“Now the town has control over how the costs will escalate,” Joseph said.

Most of the new department turned out for the formal opening of the completed station. TOP (l-r): Tyler McCarthy, Rodrigo Landeo, Justin Henry, Daniel Rush, Alisha Vidal, Ricardo Robinson, Kristian Williams, Kristi Kemper, Megan Cyr, Alex Lutz, Kyle Pavelka (behind Lutz) and Stephen Burt. BELOW: (l-r) James Peterson, James Steyn, Erik Lenzen (behind Steyn), Daniel Stearns, Gary Chancey, Assistant Chief Matt Welhaf, captains Mike Benoit, Alex Fernandez, Chris Zidar and Robert Kruse, Assistant Chief Tom McCarthy, Chief Glenn Joseph,T.J. DiGangi, Cameron Abraham, Kevin Maxwell, Sean Conner, Cale Brader, Raynier Charafardin and Joe Nolan.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

More staff, more vehicles
Although the operating costs will shrink, the number of firefighter paramedics based in town will increase as will the number of trucks and rescue units, town leaders say.

Prior to the town’s taking over, Delray Beach provided five firefighter paramedics per shift in Highland Beach. They staffed a rescue unit and a fire truck. With the new department in place, there will be seven firefighter paramedics on each shift and two rescue units and two fire trucks available.

Labadie has pointed out that in most cases there will be three firefighter paramedics on the rescue truck as opposed to the two on the rescue vehicle staffed by Delray Beach.

In addition to Joseph, the town has two assistant chiefs and a public safety administrative assistant on the team.

The Delray Beach firefighters in town responded to calls in the city as well as in Highland Beach. Joseph said his new department would always have a rescue unit on the barrier island to respond to calls in the town.

‘Concierge’ department
Joseph and Labadie have both referred to the new department as a concierge fire department that will put a higher focus on the needs of residents.

“What makes it a concierge fire department is that we’re going to be proactive,” the chief said. “Most fire departments are reactive.”

With an expected average of 2.5 calls per day, the new department staff will have more opportunity to meet with residents and address prevention issues.

Matt Welhaf, an assistant chief, focuses on risk reduction. Welhaf, who is also the town’s fire marshal, will perform routine fire prevention inspections at no cost. Previously that service came with a charge to condo associations or residents.

Joseph said that the department hopes to bring a service called Community Connect online that will enable residents to volunteer information — such as pets and medications — that firefighter paramedics will receive when being dispatched to a specific address.

The new fire station is named after former Mayor Doug Hillman, who led the charge for the new department before he died in March 2023. During a ribbon-cutting ceremony, residents had a chance to tour the facility.

The station includes an Emergency Operation Center, as well as a lobby with restrooms accessible to residents, and was completed on time and about $200,000 under budget.

Highland Beach will keep the existing fire station, which town leaders said was obsolete, and use the two bays for the backup truck and rescue unit. The living quarters of the old station could eventually be transformed into a public area that would house community events.

Among those supporting the department is the town’s Police and Fire Foundation, which provides items not included in the budget.

“We will continue to work with Chief Joseph on needs not met by the normal budget process,” said Jason Chudnofsky, who serves as the foundation’s president. “We will make sure that the men and women of the fire department have the community support needed to better serve all residents of Highland Beach.”

The fire rescue staff trained at a facility in Riviera Beach. ABOVE: (l-r) James Steyn, Joe Nolan and Gary Chancey watch as Erik Lenzen prepares to go up a ladder during training. BELOW: Tyler McCarthy simulates the rescue of a child.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach’s battle to stop the controversial Milani Park was dealt a pair of powerful blows in April, with county leaders saying they are developing the park based on 15-year-old town approvals — and with the Milani family blessing the county’s decision.

For decades town residents have been fighting development of the 5.6-acre beachfront site which the Milani family sold to the county for use as a park in 1987 for $3.9 million.

While previous county commissions have put off a decision on building the park after a settlement agreement was reached following a legal battle over the property, current county leaders announced last summer that they would go forward — a move that touched off another drive by Highland Beach residents and officials to prevent development.

After months of back and forth, including an often-contentious community meeting, county leaders have said the town’s efforts to stop the park are futile.

“No park is not an option,” said County Commissioner Marci Woodward, whose district includes Highland Beach and encompasses the park site.

In a letter to Highland Beach residents sent late last month, County Parks & Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo and Facilities Development and Operations Director Isami Ayala-Collazo said that the wheels are in motion to develop the park with full amenities including more than 100 parking spaces, public restrooms and a lifeguard station. The site straddles State Road A1A in the south end of town.

“This letter serves the primary purpose of notifying community stakeholders that county staff is proceeding with development of Cam D. Milani Park as per the town-approved site plan, development order and SSA (stipulated settlement agreement),” the letter said. “Notwithstanding the constraints imposed by the aforementioned documents, our commitment to work with the surrounding community remains intact.”

That letter appears to negate a previously discussed compromise offered by the county that would have reduced the number of parking spots to 40 and removed the restrooms and lifeguard station from the site.

Woodward and Cirillo say that compromise was withdrawn after Highland Beach commissioners passed a resolution in February urging the county to sell the property to developers rather than build a park.

“It seems like lines have been drawn,” Woodward said.

Is compromise possible?
But while Woodward said she didn’t know what a compromise would look like and Cirillo said such a decision would not be coming from her office, Highland Beach hopes a compromise is still possible.

Town Manager Marshall Labadie says the town is open to compromise.

“The resolution doesn’t say anything in absolute terms that we are not willing to compromise,” he said.

While he acknowledges that the county has the right to develop the property it owns in accordance with the settlement agreement that followed legal challenges, he questions whether the decision to move forward is coming from Woodward and county staff as opposed to the full County Commission.

“We would hope they would put it as an agenda item and have a discussion of the project in public,” he said.

Woodward says it is not necessary to have the issue come before the commission again since a previous commission voted in 2019 to move forward with the project.

Mayor Natasha Moore, in a note to Highland Beach residents following the arrival of the recent county letter, said the lack of public involvement is “deeply concerning.”

“It gives the appearance of decisions being made without proper due process and transparency which goes against the principles of our ‘government in the sunshine’ laws,” she wrote.

Road trip in works
Moore urged residents to join her and other town commissioners at the County Commission’s May 7 meeting with hopes of giving the full board of seven commissioners a chance to hear their concerns.

To encourage attendance, the town has arranged for two buses to take residents to the meeting.

Among the concerns the town hopes to share are traffic problems as well as security and the safety of those who would be crossing A1A as they walk from the parking lot to the beach.

Ron Reame, president of the Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina, which borders the west portion of the park site, said he believes residents would accept a compromise if there must be a park.

“We don’t want a park but if you’re telling us we have to have something, then what’s the best alternative for us,” he said.

Family supports park plan
While Labadie and Reame say they hope a compromise on the scope of development is still on the table, Milani family members have let county leaders know that they hope the park will be developed in accordance with the 15-year-old settlement agreement.

Tom Carney, the attorney for Lucia Milani and her family, wrote Woodward that the family has always wanted the property to be a public park named after Lucia’s husband, Cam, who died in 1986.

“Mrs. Milani is urging that the county decide in favor of the provisions set forth in the settlement agreement which would allow the greatest use of the park by the public and not agree with the Town of Highland Beach that the use of this park should be severely limited by creating only a few parking spaces,” wrote Carney, who is also the mayor of Delray Beach.

Woodward says that even without a compromise, much of what has been discussed regarding the portion of the property on the east side of A1A will be preserved.

The parcel includes what is believed to be a native American burial ground as well as native vegetation.

“There are a number of concerns we can address to protect it,” she said.

Woodward says that the proposal by Highland Beach to have the county sell the land, which the town had appraised at over $45 million, would go against the will of residents who approved a bond issue decades ago that included funding for the park.

“This land belongs to all the people of Palm Beach County,” she said.

By Steve Plunkett

Two years after the air horns on the Camino Real bridge started blaring every 20 minutes, neighbors are enjoying the sounds of silence.

“What a pleasure,” said Tom Tyghem, who lives on the Intracoastal Waterway two doors south of the bridge and spent several thousand dollars for a lawyer to pursue his noise complaint.

Having complained in 2022 to the Palm Beach County Engineer’s Office and to then-County Commissioner Robert Weinroth without success, residents along the Intracoastal turned to state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman.

County officials had maintained that they were bound by rules from the Florida Department of Transportation and the U.S. Coast Guard to sound the horn every time the bridge went up. But Gossett-Seidman secured documents from those agencies saying otherwise and presented her case to the full County Commission in October.

In response, the county hired outside consultant Kimley-Horn and Associates to evaluate the situation, and on April 11, County Engineer David Ricks notified county commissioners that he had changed the horn-blowing procedure.

“A bridge horn sounding will ONLY be used when the vessel requesting passage uses a horn or when deemed necessary by the bridge tender for emergencies,” Ricks said in an email accompanying the Kimley-Horn study.

Commissioner Marci Woodward, who had arranged meetings with Gossett-Seidman, County Administrator Verdenia Baker and other county officials, relayed the news to her South County constituents.

“I am confident that the new procedures will strike a balance between the safety of boaters and the quality of life for residents living near the bridge,” she said.
Gossett-Seidman, who said she “probably spent a hundred hours” investigating the rules, empathized with residents living near the bridge and with The Boca Raton resort, which called the alarm “a distraction to our Pool Club and restaurant guests.”

“That horn was so loud that people would literally jump,” she said. “I’m very happy and grateful that the people get their peace back.”

Gossett-Seidman said the bridge’s neighbors had come to her because they knew she was a boater and would know which agencies to contact.

“Everyone who’s a boater gets it,” she said.

The county consultants measured the sound levels at the Camino Real bridge and other county-operated spans at Palmetto Park Road, Ocean Avenue in Lantana and Donald Ross Road in north Palm Beach County. The single, electric horn at Palmetto Park made 17.2% less noise than Camino Real’s dual air horns, they said.
They also determined that the Coast Guard is the authority having jurisdiction over Intracoastal marine traffic and that it allowed a choice of ways to request bridge openings: by sound, visual signals or marine radio.

Coast Guard rules allow a boater to request a bridge opening with one long blast of the boat’s horn followed by a short blast, which the bridge tender then acknowledges with the same signal.

But most vessel operators ask for an opening via channel 9 on their VHF marine radio.

The neighbors started complaining about the horns’ noise in 2022 after what they said were decades of non-use. County officials offered no explanation for why the horns were not used previously.

By Mary Hladky

With Boca Raton about to celebrate its 100th birthday next year, city officials already are planning a year-long series of events in 2025 to commemorate this milestone.

The centennial date is May 26, but since that is Memorial Day, the main celebration will take place on May 24.

Much more is in the works.

The Boca Raton Historical Society is creating a glossy coffee-table book with photos that chart the city’s progress, achievements and changes decade by decade. The society also is creating lesson plans aimed at fourth-graders and will hold a series of lectures.

The city is partnering with O, Miami, an organization that helps local emerging artists create public art, to replicate its efforts in Boca Raton.

One of the projects is dubbed “Zip Odes,” which are five-line poems written by residents with the number of words in each line corresponding to their zip codes. Someone in zip code 33432, for example, would write a poem with three words each in the first and second lines, four words in the third, three again in the fourth line and two words in the last.
O, Miami has placed the poems on rooftops, highway overpasses and even on gas station nozzles.

City officials are meeting with community members to come up with more ideas and expect to hire a marketing consultant by June to get the word out about planned programs and events.

At the April 8 City Council meeting, members urged Anne Marie Connolly, the city’s communications and marketing manager, to develop a robust celebration.

“I want it all. I want more,” said Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker.

“Think big. Think bold,” said Mayor Scott Singer, who suggested a concert featuring nationally known artists.

Council member Fran Nachlas proposed recording interviews with Holocaust survivors. Council member Marc Wigder suggested celebrating the uniqueness of each of the city’s neigh-borhoods and its quality of life.

Connolly said she would share more of city staff’s plans as soon as possible.

The Boca Raton wants to build more residential units on its 160-acre property.

The resort has proposed building two eight-story towers with a total of 80 units, a five-story parking garage and a new golf maintenance facility, according to a city summary of the project and a resort submission to the city.

The resort is seeking zoning and other changes that would allow the project to go forward.

The proposed residential buildings and parking garage exceed currently allowable heights and the residential units would be built on land now zoned for recreation and open space.

“As we consider ways to elevate The Boca Raton experience for our club members, resort guests, and community, we are assessing future projects,” Sara Geen Hill, the resort’s executive director of communications and brand management, said in an email. She declined to offer additional information about the project.

The resort’s owners — MSD Partners and Northview Hotel Group — completed a $200 million renovation in 2022. In March, the resort announced a $100 million renovation of the Beach Club hotel that includes upgrades to its 207 guest rooms and suites, new restaurants, fitness facility and outside event space, and a refreshed lobby with a new bar and cafe.

The changes, the resort said in its submission to the city, have returned it to being a “world-class resort. At this time, the ownership group are continuing to explore ways to further enhance the property to truly become a main player in the global luxury hotel market.”

— Mary Hladky

By Rich Pollack

It has been a convenience, a place to go to mail packages or get your tax return in the mail without having to fight long lines and big crowds.

Now, however, it appears that the small community post office tucked in behind Town Hall and operated by the town of Highland Beach will close on May 15 after 60 years.

The decision to close the post office, which operates much like the commercial contract post offices sprinkled among nearby shopping centers, comes following a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to remove its credit card processing machine, combined with a decision by the town’s postal clerk to retire after 24 years.

In one of the rare splits among a normally united board, town commissioners voted 3-2 to close the post office, which has been a cash-only operation since mid-April, with Vice Mayor David Stern and Commissioner Donald Peters voting against the shutdown.

“You never like to see a service diminish, but there are circumstances beyond our control,” said Commissioner Judith Goldberg.

In a notice to residents, town leaders said that about 90% of all transactions at the post office are done by credit card and that the number of cash payments is limited.

“The USPS’s recent decision to discontinue the acceptance of credit cards has presented significant and insurmountable challenges,” town leaders wrote in the public notice. “The conditions imposed by the USPS to use our own credit card machine are unmanageable and highly inefficient.”

Town Manager Marshall Labadie said that the town is continuing to look for ways to work around the post office’s new policies but added that the requirement to provide receipts on a daily basis proved insurmountable.

“We would have to send a check for total receipt every day,” he said, adding that the town would be required to reconcile the transactions, create a check request, process the request and have staff sign off on the request, print the check and then have either two commissioners or himself and a commissioner sign the check.

“All of this would have to be done between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day,” he said.

Town leaders said that they have been unable to speak with anyone from the postal service regarding the issue despite numerous requests, leaving some to suspect that the post office would prefer not to have the town’s post office open.

“It sounds like they don’t want to do this,” said Commissioner Evalyn David.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service said that Highland Beach did not renew its contract, but town officials said that was only after they received the letter discontinuing the credit card machine.

The spokesperson said that the post office is open to creating a contract post office nearby and is taking steps to let customers know of the Highland Beach Post Office closing.

“In order to minimize disruptions to our valued customers, local postal management is taking steps to notify customers about the closure and provide them with options for their mailing needs,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

While Commissioners David and Goldberg and Mayor Natasha Moore favored closing the post office, saying it was a business decision that made sense, both Stern and Peters suggested that the town look at possible ways to keep it open.

“It’s like an old community post office like years ago,” Peters said.

Town leaders factored in the upcoming retirement of longtime postal clerk Valerie Jacoby, who staffs the post office along with part-time help, in making their decision to close the station after Labadie pointed out that hiring and training a replacement for Jacoby would be time-consuming.

In the public notice, the town also pointed out that closing the post office would save about $150,000 a year and would provide much-needed additional daytime parking spaces.
While it appears the town’s post office will be closing, Labadie did leave the door open to bringing the matter back to the commission should the postal service adjust its policies.

“We are continuing to exhaust all options,” he said.

By Mary Hladky

A year after Boca Raton hired a consultant to reimagine East Palmetto Park Road, residents finally have the opportunity to weigh in on how to improve the street’s appearance and make it safer and more inviting for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Residents are able to take an online survey about the entire downtown, including East Palmetto Park Road, that asks why they come downtown, their priorities for transportation improvements and their experiences finding and paying for parking.

The city and consultant Alta Planning + Design, which has a $431,645 contract, also are offering an interactive map that allows residents to report downtown problem areas for pedestrians, bicyclists and people with mobility issues.

The city and Alta held a heavily promoted community meeting on April 17 at the Downtown Library where Alta principal Alia Awwad gave a high-level view of the work the company is doing for the section of road from Dixie Highway east to Fifth Avenue.

About 50 attendees, joined by 23 people attending virtually, used their cellphones to post comments on an audience interaction platform.

Although attendance was modest, more people have responded to the online survey and interactive map. Almost 1,500 people identified problems on the interactive map, Awwad said.

Alta staffers have gone door to door to speak with business owners, and Awwad hopes to speak with Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce members this month.

Awwad said her firm would finalize its work to improve East Palmetto Park Road in early fall and then present its recommendations to the City Council.

But she offered no hints as to what the final plans would include or what they would look like.

“Saying this project is important to me is an understatement,” said Awwad, a city resident. “Our goal is to recreate a corridor that is the best it can be.”

Safety, she said, “is definitely a core goal.”

Data she presented showed that from 2018 through 2023, 1,868 crashes occurred in the downtown, resulting in six fatalities and 31 serious injuries. Along East Palmetto Park Road, there were 534 crashes, with 3% involving bicyclists and pedestrians. There were five fatalities or serious injuries.

Asked to give a short description of their impression of East Palmetto Park Road, attendees’ responses included “speedway traffic,” “traffic nightmare,” “unsafe,” “dangerous,” “poor walkability,” “outdated,” “dangerous for pedestrians,” and “unsafe for bicyclists.”

Asked later what a reimagined road should be, they said “more walkable,” “pedestrian friendly,” “safer crosswalks,” “connectivity for bikes,” and “reason to walk.”

City officials and residents have talked for more than a decade about the need to improve the road, with not much to show for it except for the installation of crosswalks with flashing lights between Federal Highway and Fifth Avenue.

Former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke pressed her fellow council members and city staff to make improvements, saying that the construction of the Brightline station, the planned building of the Center for Arts and Innovation at Mizner Park, and the opening of Wildflower and Silver Palm parks created an urgent need for a revamped roadway.

The council approved hiring a consulting firm in June 2022 and selected Alta the following March.

The online survey and interactive map are available at myboca.us/2440/Make-Connections-East-Palmetto-Downtown and on Alta’s site at bocaraton.altago.site

By Mary Hladky

Get ready to ride.

The city has hired Circuit Transit Inc., a Fort Lauderdale-based national shuttle company, to ferry passengers around Boca Raton’s core areas. Service was expected to start in mid to late June.

City Council members had pushed city staff to get a shuttle service up and running ever since the Brightline station opened in late 2022. After they voiced frustration in March that the city still had not inked a deal, staff hustled to finalize a contract with Circuit for an April 9 vote.

“We have arrived. I am so happy. I pushed for this for a really, really, really long time,” said Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker.

She urged City Manager George Brown to heavily market the service, and he assured her that the city would.

“In order to be successful, people need to know the service is out there,” Drucker said.

Municipal Services Director Zachary Bihr told council members that service was expected to start in late May, but that date since has been pushed back as vehicle designs are evaluated and finalized.

Council members hope the service will allow the city to better capitalize on Brightline.

They have said repeatedly that they want to give passengers a reason to get off the train in Boca Raton and patronize the city’s restaurants, stores, parks and cultural attractions.

Easily accessible transportation from the station to these destinations could help that happen.

But Brightline, which had hired Circuit to carry its passengers to and from the station and Mizner Park, recently discontinued that service due to low ridership.

The city has had shuttle services in the past, most notable the Downtowner, an on-demand electric vehicle service that operated for several years before leaving at the end of 2016.

But previous city councils were unwilling to subsidize the service, so the companies had to rely on fare and advertising revenue. None could make a go of it and they eventually ended service.

This time, the city will pay Circuit $395,728 for the first year of operation. The amount can be recalculated in future years.

The service is being launched as a one-year pilot project that can be extended.

Circuit, whose service proposal was judged by city staff as the best of five submitted, will provide the city with three types of all-electric vehicles — six-seaters known as GEM, sedans and vans.

Residents can download the Circuit app to book rides and find out when to expect pickup.

All rides must begin or end in the downtown area, defined as within the boundaries of the Community Redevelopment Agency and including the Downtown Library, Brightline station and Wildflower and Silver Palm parks.

The overall shuttle service area will run from Glades Road to the south city limits, and from Interstate 95 to Fifth Avenue/Royal Palm Way.

Trips in the downtown will be free for residents and non-residents.

A rider going from the downtown to the rest of the service area, or vice versa, will pay $2 per trip. Each additional rider will pay $1, with a fare cap of $5 per ride.

Riders will not be able to book a ride from one location outside the downtown to another outside location.

The shuttles will be available Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. These times can be adjusted, based on demand.

The city has identified locations that could be added to the service area in the future. These are the Yamato Road Tri-Rail station, Spanish River Library, Florida Atlantic University, Town Center mall, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and Red Reef, South Beach, Sugar Sand, Patch Reef and South Inlet parks.

Beachside service left out
Beachside residents living in the Sun and Surf, Riviera and Por La Mar neighborhoods between the Intracoastal Waterway and State Road A1A are lobbying the City Council to expand the service to them as soon as possible. Newly elected Council member Andy Thomson made the same pitch at the April 9 meeting.

Beachside was left out because the city officials had specified in the contract that ride wait times cannot exceed 10 minutes. But that could not be guaranteed for Beachside because of transit delays caused by the opening and closing of the Intracoastal drawbridges.

Katie Barr MacDougall, president of the Riviera Civic Association, which advocates for Beachside residents, said members understand the service is intended to promote the downtown.

“But I would venture to say that barrier island condo and single family residents make use of the downtown amenities more than any other group in the city,” she said in an email.
In South Florida, Circuit is providing service in Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Wilton Manors and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

By Mary Hladky

Annual Boca Raton “State of the City” speeches typically are modest affairs, taking place in venues such as the Downtown Library or at Chamber of Commerce breakfasts.

But Mayor Scott Singer morphed this year’s event into an April 10 “community celebration” at the Mizner Park Amphitheater with live music by Remix, food trucks offering seafood, barbecue and churros, a water station and a bar.

Employees from every city department staffed tables facing the stage, providing residents with information on their most recent initiatives, answering questions and giving them the chance to take surveys on how they want to see East Palmetto Park Road improved and what should be included in a public art master plan.

And plenty of swag was available, including city-branded lanyards, stress balls and plastic sunglasses.

But the main event was Singer’s 14-minute speech, a high-energy recitation of Boca Raton’s strengths and accomplishments and an exhortation to do even better.

“I am elated to tell you tonight that the state of our city is stronger than ever,” he said. “Still, we must, and we will, grow even stronger to reach that ideal of what our city can be.”

He hit on all the city’s favorite talking points — its low crime and property tax rates, strong financial position, high-quality services, rising property values and vibrant cultural offerings.

“We have a thriving economy,” he said, noting that Boca Raton has the most corporate headquarters of any city in Palm Beach County.

The Brightline station, opened in late 2022, is measuring up to the hype, he said.

“Our downtown Brightline station saw far more ridership than expected in its first full year and it continues to be a game-changer,” Singer said.

To capitalize on that, the city is working to create a transit-oriented development zoning district immediately west of the station that is intended to usher in redevelopment of the area. That “may soon be the cool side of the tracks,” he said.

Singer acknowledged that Boca Raton faces challenges, citing complacency and correcting old perceptions of the city.

“We do not yet stand out to everyone moving a business or a family to Florida as the pinnacle of destinations,” he said.

People must be convinced that Boca Raton offers “small-town charm, big-city opportunity and unmatched quality of life,” Singer said.

“We must quell outdated and false perceptions — a sleepy town, a challenging business environment, a community resistant to change,” he said. “We are none of those things.

The Center for Arts and Innovation may include large open spaces that may use translucent material to protect from rain. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

The Center for Arts and Innovation and its architectural firm, the renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop, have unveiled their new design for the performing arts center that will be built in Mizner Park.

Instead of rebuilding the amphitheater and constructing a new theater building, the design combines them into a three-story main venue with an outdoor piazza. Underground parking will replace a parking garage.

The design echoes the one proposed in 2020 when center chair and CEO Andrea Virgin was seeking the city’s support for a project that she said would transform the downtown and raise Boca Raton’s status as a cultural destination.

While the overall concept for the center remains unchanged, RPBW, whose partners include Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Renzo Piano, has infused its own vision.

A work in progress
The design, though, is still a work in progress.

“We are in the very early stages of the project,” RPBW architect and partner Antoine Chaaya said at the April 19 unveiling at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
The center’s and RPBW’s ambitions are unbounded.

“The Center for Arts and Innovation will pioneer a new approach to how the world imagines, designs, utilizes and embraces its cultural infrastructure,” Virgin said.

“All this is our aspirations, our excitement,” said Joshua Dachs, principal-in-charge of New York City-based Fisher Dachs Associates, the project’s theater and spatial planner. “We are going to have a space that is so large and so special we will be able to do extraordinary work.”

The new plans leave unchanged the intention to build a center that has the flexibility to accommodate many types and sizes of events, with a partial list including concerts, stage productions, conferences, banquets and weddings, product launches, antique fairs, farmers’ markets and festivals.

“We are building it for wherever the imagination wants to go,” Virgin said.

Shaping a public square
The piazza can be used for performances and special events, filling the role that the aging 3,500-seat amphitheater has long played. As was the case in the original plan, it can be covered with a translucent material that lets in the light but protects from the rain.

The main venue’s third floor will have a rooftop terrace with food and beverage service. Hybrid photovoltaic solar collectors on the roof will produce electricity and hot water.

An entirely new element will be a 100-person capacity elevated structure called the Belvedere, which will have 360-degree views of the city and ocean. It can be used for special events or meetings but also will be available to the public to take in the sights.

On the same day as the unveiling, a retrospective exhibition titled “Renzo Piano and RPBW: Le Fil Rouge of Contemporary Architecture” opened at the art museum. It will be on view through May 19.

The cost of the project, funded through donations, is not clear. Financial documents released last year pegged it at about $140 million, but that number was based in part on data that will be updated.

Completion expected in 2029
If donations meet expectations, Virgin still wants to break ground in 2025 to coincide with Boca Raton’s centennial. That date might slide to early 2026, she said, with completion in 2029. Construction is expected to take three years.

Virgin has met with City Council members individually to show them the new design and get their feedback. She plans to make a formal presentation to the council in the near future.

The city is not providing project funding. But the City Council in 2022 authorized the lease for $1 a year of city-owned land in Mizner Park to the center for 74 years, with two 10-year renewals.

The Center for Arts and Innovation announced that RPBW, with offices in Paris and Genoa, Italy, had been selected to design the project last September.

The fact that such a prestigious firm, which accepts only two or three commissions worldwide a year, wanted to be part of the project is considered a major coup, both for the center and for the city.

Its long list of projects includes the Shard in London, the new Whitney Museum in New York, the Kansai International Airport terminal building in Osaka, Japan, and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Two highly regarded local architects who attended the unveiling, Juan Caycedo of Boca Raton and Jorge Garcia of West Palm Beach, gave the new design rave reviews.
“It is a renaissance for the city — a game changer,” Caycedo said. “We have been waiting for the ‘wow.’ This is it.”

(l-r) Lauren Hitselberger, Dr. Shelby Loos and Kara Portocarrero work on Terra, the first turtle to be rehabbed at Gumbo Limbo since March 2023. Photos provided by Coastal Stewards

By Steve Plunkett

Armed with a new state permit, the nonprofit Coastal Stewards were poised to care for their first sick or injured sea turtle. That first patient, Terra, arrived on April 26.

The juvenile green sea turtle was discovered four days earlier, on Earth Day, with fishhooks in a flipper and down its esophagus. After X-rays and sedation, veterinarian Shelby Loos removed the hooks. Terra was receiving ongoing care to ensure it was eating and recovering before being released, the Coastal Stewards said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had issued the group a permit to rehabilitate and release ailing sea turtles on April 9. Even before Terra arrived, the Coastal Stewards had scheduled a “Grand Opening Splash” and open house at Boca Raton’s Gumbo Limbo Nature Center from 12:30 to 4 p.m. May 9.

“We are thrilled,” John Holloway, the nonprofit’s CEO and president, said in a release.

“Sea turtles have long been synonymous with Gumbo Limbo Nature Center,” Leanne Welch, the center’s city-employed manager, said in the same release. “We are excited for our visitors to once again have the opportunity to witness firsthand the threats faced by turtles and share in their hopeful journey of rehabilitation and release.” 

Also in residence now at Gumbo Limbo is a third non-releasable sea turtle that checked in on April 29. Named Lady McNubbins, the green sea turtle has injuries to its front flippers and is staying in Boca Raton temporarily until an under-construction permanent home in Port Canaveral is ready.

The FWC ordered all sea turtles transferred away from Gumbo Limbo in March 2023 after the city terminated its sea turtle rehabilitation coordinator, who held the FWC permit, and her assistant coordinator. Also moved were the center’s two “resident” sea turtles, which could not survive on their own in the ocean and were deemed non-releasable.

The firings came as the city was developing a plan to transfer the rehab unit, including its financial obligations, to the nonprofit and a month after the unit’s on-call veterinarian resigned.

Since then, the Coastal Stewards hired veterinarian Loos full-time and two other employees to qualify for a new permit. They also paid to repair the plywood floor under the rehab unit’s holding tanks and shortened their name from Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards to just Coastal Stewards.

Originally the group was called the Friends of Gumbo Limbo with a focus on caring for sick and injured sea turtles at the nature center.

The road to the new permit was hampered by a series of missteps. The Coastal Stewards applied for a permit both to keep non-releasable turtles in captivity and to treat ailing turtles. As time went on, the city applied for a non-releasable permit without telling the nonprofit. When the Coastal Stewards objected, the city withdrew its application.

But later, the FWC said the Coastal Stewards would have to show “ownership or control” of the nature center’s multimillion-dollar aquariums to be able to keep non-releasable turtles in them. The nonprofit withdrew its application, and the city submitted its own.

Again in an attempt to speed the process, the Coastal Stewards amended their application for veterinary care to delete seeking to treat sea turtles with Fibropapillomatosis (FP).

But the state said treating FP, a tumor-causing disease, was a major reason for a Gumbo Limbo permit, so the application had to be resubmitted.

Under Holloway, the Coastal Stewards have expanded their mission to include saving sea grass, dolphins, manatees and whales with an eye to expanding their base of members and donors. Last summer they created a Youth Leadership Council.

In December, the group hosted a “Winter Wishes Celebration” at FPL’s Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach. In February they moved their offices from Federal Highway in Boca Raton to an unincorporated pocket on State Road A1A between Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes. On April 13, the Coastal Stewards were the supporting sponsor for the city of Boynton Beach’s Earth Day celebration at Centennial Park.

With their announcement of receiving the FWC permit, the Coastal Stewards said they had increased their membership tiers. A student membership is now $25 a year, individuals are $65, couples are $100 and families are $200.

And they have renamed the rehab unit at the nature center “Robyn’s Place” after Robyn Morigerato, who died recently, a west Boca volunteer who joined the Friends of Gumbo Limbo 17 years ago and served in various posts on its board of trustees.

Morgan, one of Gumbo Limbo’s former resident turtles, returned to the center in January. A new resident, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle named Lefty, arrived in February.

Gumbo Limbo continues to be a busy place, with work crews finishing construction of an observation tower, ADA-compliant restrooms, ADA parking spaces and new decking around the main building.

They are all on schedule to be completed in late May or early June, “but that is dependent on many factors,” said Welch, the nature center’s manager.

By Mary Hladky

The Boca Raton City Council has approved the Concierge, a nine-story multifamily residential project at 22 SE Sixth St. that became embroiled in litigation in 2018 when it was proposed as an assisted living facility.

The council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously blessed the 42-unit downtown building with almost no comment on April 24.

It will include a ground-floor covered outdoor seating area. A fitness area with a terrace will be on the third floor. A pool with deck, spa, summer kitchen and covered seating areas will be on the roof deck. A mechanized garage below ground will have 60 spaces and valet service.

The plan does not say whether the units will be condos or rental apartments.

The Concierge ALF was originally proposed by developer Group P6. Former Deputy Mayors Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte questioned whether an ALF was a good fit for the downtown, even though the council had approved another one a year earlier.

Saying the city wanted a vibrant downtown, O’Rourke said she was not sure how much the Concierge’s residents would be engaged in the community. Mayotte said other locations would probably be better for “these types of residents.”

Some council members also questioned whether the ALF would overburden the city’s fire rescue services.

After the council rejected the project, Group P6 filed suit and landowner Robert Buehl promised to file another one. They said the council comments amounted to discrimination against the elderly.

The American Seniors Housing Association filed an amicus brief in support of Group P6, saying the project denial “represents an unlawful discriminatory bias against seniors.”

Council members quickly reversed course and approved the ALF as a condition of settling Group P6’s suit.

But Group P6 did not build it and sold the 0.61-acre property to a partnership for $10.2 million in 2021.

The new landowner is 22-26 Southeast Sixth Street LLC. State corporate records show it is affiliated with Maryland-based Omega Healthcare Investors, which was one of three companies in the partnership.

A video posted on Instagram by Wavy Boats claimed to show boaters dumping trash into the ocean during Boca Bash. Photo provided

By Mary Haldky

Boca Bash lived up to its wild reputation this year as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made 18 arrests for boating under the influence or drug possession during the April 28 bacchanal on Lake Boca.

The commission also is investigating a possible instance of illegal trash dumping after a video circulated on social media showing a group of young people on a boat throwing trash from two large garbage cans into the ocean near Lake Boca. The video was shot by Wavy Boats, a popular Instagram account. The video shows the boat’s name as Halcyon out of Gulf Stream.

“We cannot be more angered or disturbed by these actions,” Boca Bash organizers said on their Facebook page. They said they immediately began trying to identify who was on the vessel.

“By no means do we believe this is a representation of the gathering,” they added. “We implore and expect boaters to keep the waterways clean, uphold proper boating etiquette and follow state laws on the water.”

In a statement and video released on April 30, the FWC said several trash-dumping “subjects” have been identified and the agency is working with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office to determine appropriate charges.

An agency spokesman said that anyone involved who wants to come forward can call the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office posted 18 arrests made by FWC on April 28 and early April 29 on its booking blotter.

During last year’s Boca Bash, the same number of people were arrested and five calls were received from people needing medical help.

Boca Bash, always held on the last Sunday in April, is loosely organized online and is not sponsored or endorsed by the city.

FWC takes the law enforcement lead because Lake Boca, actually a wide section of the Intracoastal Waterway, falls under state jurisdiction. Boca Raton police assist its officers.
This year’s crowd size was not immediately known, but in past years as many as 10,000 have attended the event that draws hundreds of boats.

FWC’s enforcement targets anyone boating under the influence.

As it has in the past, the city closed Wildflower and Silver Palm parks and limited access to Spanish River Park Marina in advance of Boca Bash.

They serve as staging areas for fire rescue and law enforcement. Limiting public access is intended to prevent people from coming to the parks to try to hitch rides on boats.

American Sign Language interpreters worked the March 29 production of ‘Merrily We Roll Along‘ at the Delray Beach Playhouse. Jessica Reiling (above) signed the second act and Kate Robertson (below) the first. Robertson says body language is important in conveying the music and mood. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Delray Playhouse enlists ASL interpreters for first time so deaf girl can enjoy playwright’s Broadway musical

By Ron Hayes

Not once in its 77 years had the Delray Beach Playhouse been asked. Not even once.

And then it decided to put on Merrily We Roll Along, Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 musical.

“Devra Seidel, who plays Mary Flynn in the show, has a niece who’s deaf and wanted to come,” recalled Andre Lancaster, the show’s director. “So she asked me if I knew anyone who could sign the show for her.”

Of course, he thought of Vera Follain-Grisell.

For 25 years, she had taught special education administration at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world’s first school for the education of people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Nowadays Follain-Grisell ushers at the playhouse and volunteers backstage on the lighting and curtains.

“That’s beyond my scope,” she told the director.

You see the challenge.

How do you bring American Sign Language to a Broadway musical? Translating a conversation is one thing, but how do you help a deaf person hear a melody? A mood? A rhyme?

How do you sign Sondheim?

Lancaster began looking up interpreters in Palm Beach County, which led him to Signs of Excellence LLC, which led him to Kate Robertson, which brought her to a rehearsal as opening night neared.

“Tonight, I’m going to watch the rehearsal, get a feel for the style,” she said. “I’ll listen to the score and read the script.”

In addition to her work with Signs of Excellence, Robertson is one of six ASL interpreters at John I. Leonard High School in Greenacres, where she works with 15-20 deaf students each year.

“I interpret Broadway shows all the time,” said Robertson, who’s been signing for 15 years. She’s done Evita and Wicked and The Book of Mormon for high school and regional productions.

“My favorite is Hamilton,” she said, “but all the songs are challenging because there’s no dialogue. I’ve done it four times.”

Now she was going to tackle Sondheim.

“The deaf can’t hear music,” Robertson explained, “but I try to communicate the spirit and context of the music. Melody can’t be interpreted, but if you interpret the words with feeling, you can show the message roughly equivalent to what they’re singing.”

She complements her signing by calling on her body and face.

“Just as we have a tone of voice in English speech, in ASL you have body and facial expression,” she said. “If it’s a sad song, I would show emotion on my face and body. I try to convey the spirit and context.”

Kate Robertson says body language is important in conveying the music and mood.

Also, she noted, interpreters are expected to wear clothing that contrasts with their skin tone, to keep the focus on the sign language, not the flashy, multicolored dress. She is white, so she dresses in black.

“I had one person complain that my maroon sweater was distracting,” she remembered.

Follain-Grisell nodded. “I wore black once to sign at a wedding,” she said, “and someone thought it was disrespectful.”

For the 8 p.m. performance on March 29, Robertson arrived along with a colleague, Jessica Reiling. Robertson would interpret the first act and Reiling the second.

Robertson took her place under a soft light stage right, ready to begin.

But first the director had to do some interpreting of his own, to help the audience understand what it would see.

Merrily We Roll Along tells the story of a Broadway songwriting team, Frank and Charley, from 1957 to 1976. But it tells the story backward in time. The show begins in 1976 and ends in 1957.

Early on, Lancaster figured out that a large part of the audience wasn’t figuring it out.

“People were coming to me confused,” he said later. “I had a number of old men who wondered why he was kissing the girl in the second part of the show when they were getting divorced in the first.”

Now, before the overture, he stepped in front of the curtain to explain this to the audience.

When he also announced that the night’s performance would include sign language interpreters, the sold-out crowd applauded enthusiastically.

The curtain rose, and Robertson went to work.

She used her hands. She used her eyes, her smile, her shoulders. Here and there she conducted the music a little. Sometimes she swayed a bit, almost dancing to the rhythm.

At intermission, audience members stopped to offer congratulations, thanks and praise.

Lead actress Devra Seidel, her niece Sarah Clark and Delray Beach Playhouse volunteer Vera Follain-Grisell (l-r) use sign language to discuss the performance afterward.

Devra Seidel’s niece, 13-year-old Sarah Clark from Maryland, attended the performance but declined to be interviewed.

And days later, Lancaster was still thrilled with having hosted the first ASL interpreters in the theater’s 77 years.

“They were amazing,” he said. “Those two ladies handled it like champs. We’d never had a request for this, so I don’t think I would have thought of it if there hadn’t been a need for it.

“We’ll do it again on a show-by-show basis. People can request it, and maybe we could do other specialized shows for people who need lower volumes or more muted scenery.”

May 17: Tri-County Animal Rescue’s Dinner at Dusk fundraiser will include an exquisite barbecue meal, live music, shopping at pop-up boutiques, pet photos and exclusive silent-auction items. Time is 6 p.m. Cost is $275. Call 561-482-8110 or visit tricountyanimalrescue.com. ABOVE: Event Co-Chairwoman Diana Maune with Lucy.
Photo provided

Baptist Health Foundation received a $5 million gift from the owners of Ocean Properties Hotels and Resorts/OPAL Collection in support of the construction of the medical arts building in the Middle Keys. The gift will result in the naming of the Walsh Family Medical Arts Building. ‘We are very grateful to the Walsh family for this generous gift,’ said Alex Villoch, CEO of the foundation. ‘Their support is helping to expand access to high-quality health care and expert physicians in the Middle Keys so patients won’t have to travel far to get care.’ ABOVE: (l-r) Barbara James, Mark Walsh, Linda Walsh, Dr. Jack Ziffer, Michael Walsh, Drew Grossman, Jay Hershoff and Villoch. Photo provided

South County philanthropists Rocco and Mary Abessinio will be acknowledged in the naming of the new energy plant on the campus of Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

The couple’s $5 million donation to “Keeping the Promise — the Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital” is “most impactful,” CEO Lincoln Mendez said.

“Our Keeping the Promise campaign has been both a revelation and a testament to the commitment this community has always had to Boca Regional,” Mendez said. “One reason that emerges regularly is the enormous generosity of those in our service area who have partnered with us as we move health care forward in Boca Raton and the region.”

Rocco Abessinio founded Applied Card Systems and Applied Bank, among several other successful business forays. Together with his wife, they formed the Rocco A. and Mary Abessinio Foundation.

“We moved to the Boca Raton area 24 years ago and were immediately impressed by the distinction of the hospital and the importance of it to so many who live here,” he said.

“We wanted to be part of this spectacular vision, leave a family legacy and play a role in the health of the community.”

For more information, call 561-955-4142 or visit donate.brrh.com

300,000 diapers donated by Children’s Foundation
The ninth annual Diaper Drive sponsored by Boca West Children’s Foundation collected 300,000 diapers, surpassing last year’s record of 280,000 thanks to the efforts of foundation members.

Other groups also contributed to the drive — which supports the Diaper Bank, Covering South Florida — helping families that struggle with diaper needs.

“Clean diapers are as essential as food to eat and a place to live for a baby,” said Pamela Weinroth, executive director of the foundation. “Whether or not a child has enough clean diapers impacts not only the child’s health, but their parents’ ability to work. We were thrilled to surpass last year’s total, especially given the 20% increase in the cost of diapers from last year.”

For more information on the foundation, call 561-488-6980 or visit bocawestfoundation.org

FAU athletes part of ‘Baskets for Babies’
The law firm Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas, a supporter of Florida Atlantic University, raised $2,240 for Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County.

Relying on the sharpshooting FAU men’s and women’s basketball teams, SSRGA committed to donating $10 for each three-point shot made during this season’s home games. The initiative was part of a campaign called “Baskets for Babies.”

“We are very proud to partner with FAU and Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies,” SSRGA partner Joel Feldman said. “This nonprofit organization does a wonderful job providing programming and services to expectant mothers and their families and doing all it can to promote healthy births.”

Firm representatives presented a $1,000 check to the nonprofit during halftime of a women’s game late in the season. On March 9, they presented a check for $1,200 during the men’s game, an amount that grew as the game progressed.

“A big part of our law firm’s culture is to give back to the community, and through Baskets for Babies, we were able to do it in a fun and creative way,” said Robin Bresky, managing partner of SSRGA’s Boca Raton office.

For more information about Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, call 561-665-4500 or visit hmhbpbc.org

Palm Beach Symphony’s posh production lived up to its glittering golden description and generated proceeds in excess of $1 million. More than 500 well-dressed invitees enjoyed cocktails and a performance by the symphony under the baton of music director Gerard Schwarz. ‘Tonight, we thank our generous sponsors who have elevated Palm Beach Symphony from a small group of local musicians to a leading orchestra on the national stage,’ CEO David McClymont said. ‘Just as important, our members, underwriters and donors are committed to ensuring the symphony’s future.’ ABOVE: Don and Mary Thompson. BELOW: Carol and Joseph Hays. Photos provided by Capehart

The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, an agency that leads partnerships with donors and nonprofits, saw a crowd of almost 600 at the 11th annual benefit. Highlighting ‘Hope for Early Education,‘ it celebrated the powerful philanthropic and charitable connections making a difference locally. George Elmore was the event’s guest of honor and the McIntosh Award recipient. ABOVE: Marti LaTour and Elmore. BELOW: (l-r) Dan Stoops, Lauren Stoops, Aggie Stoops and Jeffrey Stoops. Photos provided by Tracey Benson Photography