By Mary Hladky

Despite a concerted effort by neighbors to derail a proposed four-building development near the downtown, they were unable to persuade Boca Raton City Council members to vote against it.
Developer Fabio Pereira has proposed Pine Circle Villas, which would include four duplexes with eight total units at 101 Pine Circle, located just north of West Palmetto Park Road and two blocks west of City Hall.
Neighboring property owners turned out in force at the virtual meetings of the Planning and Zoning Board on Dec. 3 and the City Council on Jan. 26 to oppose the project.
They said it is too large to fit well in their largely single-family home neighborhood and would increase traffic and lead to more accidents on narrow Pine Circle.
But their biggest concerns about the 1.14-acre project are rooftop amenities that they contend create a fourth floor, such as barbecue and lounge areas and jacuzzis.
They fear the villa owners will be able to look down onto their houses and yards, taking away their privacy. Another worry is that the rooftop features will blow off during hurricanes or strong storms.
“I am not looking forward to having grills and flower pots on my roof,” resident Kathleen Spaulding told the City Council.
City staffers said they were aware of privacy concerns and told Pereira to provide screening on the rooftops and glazed or frosted windows that face the neighbors. The rooftops, Pereira said, face the interior of the property so neighbors need not be concerned about prying eyes.
Staff also said the rooftop amenities meet the building code and will be secure.
Despite the neighbors’ pleas to at least disallow the rooftop features, the planning board and City Council voted unanimously to approve the project.
It is the latest one proposed for the vacant land.
In 2015, James Batmasian, the city’s largest downtown commercial landowner, wanted to build eight townhomes.
Neighbors objected to that project as well, and then-Mayor Susan Haynie proposed as a condition of approval a requirement for speed reduction devices or signage on Pine Circle. Other council members supported that change.
The planning board and City Council unanimously approved the project, allowing Batmasian to build 9.5 units per acre rather than the previous limit of five units per acre.
Except for neighbor objections, the project generated no controversy at the time.
But Batmasian, who bought the property for $737,000 in 2012, never built the townhomes. He sold the property for $1.5 million in 2016.
Haynie was arrested in 2018 on public corruption charges. She has pleaded not guilty. A trial date has not been set.
A state prosecutor in 2019 introduced as evidence in the case city records about the Batmasian project approval. It was the fifth instance cited by the state of Haynie voting on a matter before the City Council that benefited Batmasian. But since the City Council unanimously approved the project, Haynie’s vote was not pivotal.
Batmasian has not been charged.
His project featured Mediterranean-style architecture and no rooftop amenities. Pereira’s project is a streamlined contemporary style.
It differs from Batmasian’s in other ways. It has 69% open space, 8% more than Batmasian’s, and increased rear building and side building setbacks. At 34 feet, the buildings will be one foot shorter. It also has more landscaping.
Traffic studies showed that both projects would generate very little increased traffic, despite residents’ concerns. Ú

By Mary Hladky

Nearly three years after her arrest on public corruption charges, former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie still does not have a trial date.
Both the prosecution and defense agreed last month to delay a hearing on the status of her case from Jan. 11 until April 16. Both cited disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Palm Beach County jury trials have resumed, only a limited number are being held.
Haynie, 66, 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. Haynie has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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.
In the waning days of his presidency, Donald Trump issued a full pardon to Batmasian. The Republican donor served eight months in prison in 2008 for failing to pay the IRS $253,513 in payroll taxes for employees of his real estate company, Investments Limited. He reimbursed the government the full amount owed. Ú

Related Stories: Appointed council member faces former member, two others | Newcomer faces incumbent | Two amendments on ballot | Candidate forum coming Feb. 17

By Mary Hladky

As the City Council races enter their final stretch ahead of the March 9 election, incumbent Monica Mayotte and challenger Brian Stenberg lead in campaign cash totaling just under $55,000 each.
But both are largely financing their own campaigns for Seat D so far. Mayotte, a proponent of environmental protections who seeks a second three-year term on the council, has loaned her campaign $50,000.
Stenberg, vice president of the Boca Raton medical office real estate management firm the Greenfield Group, who has taken leadership roles in the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations, Rotary Club and Boca Square Civic Association, has lent his campaign $52,000.
In the race to fill Seat C being vacated by Jeremy Rodgers, former Deputy Mayor Constance Scott has raised just under $50,000 from some of the best-known names in the city, including lawyers, architects and political figures. She has made no self-loans.
Her chief competitor is Yvette Drucker, a longtime volunteer who has raised nearly $39,000, including a $5,000 contribution from herself. She was appointed by City Council members in October to temporarily replace Rodgers after he began a military deployment overseas.
That appointment gave her far greater visibility and potentially an advantage over her competitors. Adding to that, Drucker is endorsed by Mayor Scott Singer and Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke.
Two other candidates for Seat C are barely visible in the race and have raised little money.
Perennial candidate Bernard Korn, a real estate broker, has twice lost mayoral elections to Singer. He has raised $11,600, mostly though a loan to his campaign.
It is unclear if he is eligible to hold office in the city. Candidates must be city residents.
While Korn has submitted documents to the city showing he lives at 720 Marble Way on the barrier island, he and his wife also own a house, which is homesteaded, outside the city limits.
The city has accepted his residency proof, but if charter amendments on the March 9 ballot are passed by voters, stricter residency rules will go into place.
Korn is simultaneously running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Rick Scott.
A latecomer to the race, Josie Machovec, has raised $706. She is one of four plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit attempting to overturn Palm Beach County’s mandate that masks be worn in public places.
The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled on Jan. 27 that it would not temporarily stop enforcement until a trial decides the mandate’s legality.
The campaign contributions are as of Dec. 31, the most recent reported by the city as of the end of January.
Candidate endorsements are rolling in.
As of Jan. 28, Mayotte had won endorsements from Singer, O’Rourke, the city’s firefighters and police unions, Palm Beach County Commissioner and past Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Robert Weinroth, Palm Beach County School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri, state Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton), LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Caucus, and SEIU Florida Public Services Union.
Stenberg has support from the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce; Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors; and Wellington Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone.
In the Seat C contest, Scott has the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce, the city’s firefighter and police unions, and the Palm Beach County Realtors Association.
In addition to Singer and O’Rourke, Drucker is endorsed by state Sens. Lori Berman (D-Delray Beach) and Polsky, Palm Beach County Commissioners Melissa McKinlay and Weinroth, LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus of Palm Beach County, Ruth’s List of Florida, Boca Raton/Delray Democrats, and the Palm Beach County chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus.
The deadline to register to vote in the municipal election is Feb. 8.

Johnny Finn, a Boca Save our Beaches volunteer, seals a sample at Silver Palm Park’s boat ramp. Samples are tested at a Boca High lab funded by the Surfrider Foundation. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Larry Keller

If it’s Monday morning in Boca Raton, you may notice somebody standing in the surf or at a boat ramp collecting water in sterile polyethylene bags. They’re not gathering small fish but searching for something unseen — Enterococcus bacteria from sources such as fertilizers, faulty septic systems and polluted stormwater runoff.
These bacteria can indicate fecal pollution and other pathogens that in high concentrations may make people sick.
Volunteers from the nonprofit Boca Save our Beaches began collecting water samples in January from the ocean at Spanish River Park and South Inlet Park, and from the Silver Palm Park boat ramp and Spanish River Park’s kayak launch on the Intracoastal. Its partners are the Surfrider Foundation and Boca Raton Community High School.
“You go in about knee deep, fill the [bag] up, put it in a cooler … and drop them off to Boca Raton High by 11 o’clock in the morning,” said Jessica Gray, founder of Boca Save our Beaches.
The samples are incubated in a lab at the high school at nearly 106 degrees for 24 hours. Students in Rachel Wellman’s advanced environmental management class are helping in small ways until she can devise means to work within COVID-19 restrictions that will enable them to do more. For now, she is doing most of the work.
The testing protocol includes adding a reagent to the water samples, swirling the mixtures and examining them under ultraviolet light in a darkened room. A yellow color indicates a negative result, but if it glows fluorescent blue — “it’s kind of pretty,” Wellman says — this indicates the presence of bacteria. Another step follows to determine precisely how much.
The project gives students “real-life data that can be shared. It’s a good work experience,” said Wellman, an ecologist with a PhD in ecosystems science and management who teaches about water pollution.
Surfrider paid for lab equipment, including glass laboratory bottles and an autoclave to sanitize them after each use. REI Co-op, the outdoors clothing and gear retailer, supplied coolers and backpacks.
Surfrider has a national network it calls Blue Water Task Force of citizen scientists providing water quality information to more than 50 labs. The goal, the foundation says, is to fill in gaps and complement local and state water quality programs, while raising public awareness of pollution issues.
The foundation already had similar water monitoring programs from Jupiter Inlet to Boynton Inlet, so with the addition of the Boca Raton program, most of the county’s coast is covered. Jupiter High School and Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach preceded Boca Raton High in setting up labs to assess water quality.
What makes Boca’s lab different is that “we decided to spend the initial money on doing a glassware lab versus doing a plastic lab,” said Aaron Barnes, who runs Surfrider’s Blue Water initiative in Palm Beach County.
“Our other labs have only plastic items, which unfortunately are only able to be used once. We’re not for plastic pollution, so … we decided to get the glassware and an autoclave unit which sanitizes the glassware after each time so we are able to reuse it, and therefore create less waste.”
Wellman also favored using glassware. She created a spreadsheet with the test results that Gray and Barnes can access. Barnes uses it to post data on Surfrider’s website. Initial test results at the Boca sites showed safe levels of bacteria. Surfrider also tracks weather conditions like temperature and wind speed to try to determine what conditions are most likely to contribute to high bacteria counts, Barnes said.
“Whenever we get high readings, we report them to the county officials and whatever city they happen to be in,” he said.
The Florida Department of Health already conducts coastal water quality testing through its Healthy Beaches Program, including at several Palm Beach County locations, but Barnes believes there is value in what Surfrider, Wellman and Boca Save our Beaches are doing.
“We sample more locations than they do,” Barnes said, and sometimes more frequently. “Bacteria levels can differ from place to place. I feel the more locations, the better.” Ú

By Mary Hladky

As Gordon Gilbert’s 90th birthday on Jan. 27 drew near, the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District asked for ideas on how to honor the beloved environmentalist who was instrumental in founding the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
Dozens of district and city residents immediately threw their support behind creating a fitting tribute.
The result was a proclamation issued on Jan. 19, saying Gilbert “has devoted over 46 years to our community and has led efforts to preserve over 1,000 acres of green space.”
“His life and his advocacy for environmental education will transcend generations to come.”
That proclamation was presented to Gilbert at a gathering of family and friends at Sugar Sand Park on Jan. 23.
“Gordon is sort of like a north star and someone you could sail your ship by,” Commissioner Robert Rollins said as commissioners considered a tribute.
Mayor Scott Singer, joined by Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and council members Monica Mayotte and Yvette Drucker at the Walk of Fame at Royal Palm Place, issued another proclamation that declared Jan. 27 as Gordon Gilbert Day in Boca Raton.
“As the founder and longtime director of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, his work has led to the creation of one of the finest marine conservation sites anywhere,” Singer said. “His incredible 46 years as a city board member are only part of a life well lived as an educator, environmentalist and outstanding person.”
Other accolades poured forth, among them from Michele Peel, former president of the Friends of Gumbo Limbo, and Jim Miller, the current president.
Peel noted that while Gilbert is best known for his work on behalf of Gumbo Limbo, his impact on the Boca Raton community “is actually much deeper and longer lasting” because he advocated for acquiring land for public parks and nature preserves.
That is a key reason Boca Raton became known as a “city within a park.”
Miller also cited Gilbert’s years as a biology teacher at Boca Raton High School. He later taught environmental and marine science to third-, fifth- and seventh-graders at Spanish River Park.
“It always amazes me that people talk about how they took classes or took tours with Gordon, his involvement with their education,” Miller said.

Gumbo Limbo founder Gordon Gilbert walks with family and friends at the nature center during his 90th birthday celebration. He is accompanied by his daughter Sandi Stafford and her husband, Ronnie Stafford, left, and Friends of Gumbo Limbo board member Robyn Morigerato, right.

Gilbert served as a Beach and Park District commissioner from 1978 to 2008 and was reappointed in 2018 to the city’s Parks and Recreation Board for his 23rd two-year term.
Beach and Park District commissioners originally considered renaming Ocean Strand Park for Gilbert, an idea supported by at least 50 people who sent emails to the district or spoke up at its Jan. 4 meeting. O’Rourke was among them.
Commissioners backed off that idea over concerns that they were acting too quickly and that Gilbert has stronger connections to Gumbo Limbo.
“I was obviously disappointed,” Peel said, but she realized commissioners didn’t have much time to consider the idea ahead of Gilbert’s birthday.
Miller also favored the renaming but said he understood the commission’s reluctance to jump into that decision quickly.
There will be more opportunities to add to Gilbert’s honors, he said, including the possibility of additional recognition of his advocacy for Gumbo Limbo, where he served as the nature center’s first director.
A plaque honoring him already exists at Gumbo Limbo, which notes his teaching, evening tours that let people observe sea turtles nesting on the beach, and his “vision and initiative” in the acquisition of park land and nature preserves.

By Rich Pollack

For years, the town has been offering Highland Beach residents the chance to sign up for email alerts on everything from boil-water notifications and traffic interruptions to news about day-to-day workings in the town.
As of the middle of last month there were few takers, with only about 338 names on the list — in a town with as many as 3,500 year-round residents.
But after hundreds who were not on the list discovered that it might have cost them the opportunity to get a COVID-19 vaccine, the number changed quickly.
Within a week, 211 new subscribers joined the email alert list — a 62% increase — and that number should grow as the town continues a full-court press to get people to sign up.
“A lot of folks have now reached out to us,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. “They finally saw the value of receiving communications from the town.”
A town email late on the evening of Jan. 13 first notified residents they could sign up at 2 p.m. the following day for COVID-19 vaccines given in the town.
Reminders were sent out by email the following day.
Within less than two minutes, all the reservations were taken but the town soon heard from residents who said they were never notified that shots were available.
One of the reasons, they were told, was that they hadn’t signed up for town emails.
Although the town has several other means of communication, including a recently redesigned website, a cable television channel, a portable billboard and even a Code RED telephone alert system, Labadie believes the email list is the best way to get the word out.
“You can put it on the website, you can put it on TV, but nothing is going to be as quick as emailing residents directly,” he said. “Most people check their emails daily.”
Labadie said the town avoided using the Code RED alerts for the vaccine notification because it reserves that system for immediate public safety issues.
“We don’t want to overuse it,” he said.
With a renewed focus on ensuring it gets the word out, the town is in the middle of a campaign to mail to residents a card with information on how to sign up for the emails.
“It’s about the only way we can reach every household in town,” said Mayor Doug Hillman.
Hillman said the town is exploring other options to reach residents, possibly including the use of text messaging.
For now, however, the postcard and other constant reminders are the focus.
“Everything we send out will cover getting our residents to sign up,” he said.
Hillman and Labadie acknowledge that one stumbling block in getting more residents to sign up is that the list of email addresses is a public record and accessible to anyone on request. They point out, however, that residents could opt out of the alerts at any time.
In addition to providing alerts, the email system lets residents know about special events and meetings. A Manager’s Minute from Labadie is also sent out via email, and residents even received a notice at the end of the year about interruptions in trash pickup due to truck issues.
“It’s the quickest source for town-related news and information,” Labadie said. “If you want to know the latest and greatest about your town, this is it.” Ú

To sign up for email alerts, visit www.highlandbeach.us and click on Town Alert Center in the upper left corner of the home page.

By Rich Pollack

After months of discussion and number-crunching, the Highland Beach Town Commission has all but finalized a proposed five-year water and sewer rate structure designed to be more equitable while also making utilities operations self-sufficient.
In developing the structure, town commissioners have come up with a simplified plan that keeps upcoming water rates pennies lower for the lowest water users but encourages conservation by charging those who use lots of water a significantly higher rate.
“If you’re using a lot of water, you’re definitely going to be paying more than you are now,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
Under the new rates, which could become effective by June, a customer who uses 5,000 gallons during a two-month billing cycle likely would see the water and sewer bill drop by a dime, from $92.35 to a projected $92.25.
At the other end of the spectrum, customers who use 500,000 gallons every two months would see the water and sewage bill jump from an estimated $2,646 to a projected $4,058.
Most customers whose usage lies in the middle, at 13,000 gallons every two months, for example, would see a projected increase of about $37.27 in the bi-monthly water bill.
In coming years those water bills will almost certainly increase as the town moves to have money collected from customers cover the total cost of providing water and sewer services.
“The goal is to have an independent utility no longer funded by property taxes,” Labadie said.
For the past several years, the town’s general fund has been subsidizing the utilities to cover the cost of operation, maintenance and debt service.
The new proposed rate structure is designed to change that in five years so that while the water and sewer rate will increase, fewer dollars will be coming out of the operating budget.
That means the town most likely will be able to decrease its tax rate, which in turn could translate into slight drops in municipal taxes over the five-year period for many residents.
For town leaders, developing a plan that would generate the revenue needed to make water and sewer service independent while at the same time making it equitable turned out to be a complex and arduous task.
After months of discussion with consultants, a plan devised by Natasha Moore — a member of the town’s Financial Advisory Board and soon to be the town’s vice mayor — drew full commission support.
“It was definitely a balancing act,” said Moore, a former senior actuary and practice leader at NCCI in Boca Raton and now the owner, along with her husband, of Live South Florida Realty.
Under the plan presented by Moore, all utility customers will pay the same “ready to serve” $40 per billing cycle flat fee for water service and $29.55 for sewer service. That’s a slight increase from the $33.59 current fixed cost for water and a decrease from the $44 fixed cost for wastewater treatment.
The plan, which does not differentiate users based on whether they live in a single-family home or condominium, includes a five-tier system that lowered the per-gallon rate for people using under 10,000 gallons every two months. That group makes up the bulk of users in the system.
On the wastewater side, while the fixed fee was reduced, the plan now includes a usage charge of $2.41 per 1,000 gallons of water usage up to 20,000 gallons.
Moore said that the plan is designed to accomplish three goals: to simplify the rate structure, to make that structure more equitable and to ensure utilities are self-sufficient in five years.
“I felt I could develop something that balanced all those goals,” she said, explaining why she volunteered to help commissioners come up with a palatable rate structure

By Sallie James

BOCA RATON — Mary Elizabeth Glover Bastin, an elegant world traveler and beloved mother who found true love twice in a lifetime, died on Jan. 8, two days after her 94th birthday. She embraced life and lived well until her last moments, her daughter said.
Those who knew Mrs. Bastin said she epitomized grace and kindness, was always perfectly dressed, with polished nails, impeccable hair and makeup in place.
“She would vacuum in high heels,” her daughter Martha Perry recalled, chuckling. “She would come down in the morning all dressed for the day, and that was that.”
Mrs. Bastin was a Hoosier by birth, born on Jan. 6, 1927, in Vincennes, Indiana, to Thomas Maxwell Shircliff and Martha Bayard Somes. She graduated from the Ladywood School in Indianapolis, graduated from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, and attended the Sorbonne in Paris as one of the first students immediately after World War II.
While at Marymount, Mrs. Bastin learned of the Sorbonne opportunity. She was prepared to live with the sisters at the Marymount Paris when her mother received a letter from the nuns, Martha recalled. The nuns were welcoming, but warned that they had little food on hand.
“We want you to know nothing is normal here, and we don’t have a lot of food but the sisters will always make sure you are fed first,” the letter said.
Mrs. Bastin was undeterred. She traveled abroad and had the time of her life.
Following her college graduation, she accepted an executive position with Macy’s and moved to Greenwich Village in New York. She enjoyed business and believed she needed to earn an MBA in order to achieve her career goals as a woman in that era. She applied to and was accepted into the business program at St. Louis University.
But before starting school, she went home to Vincennes, where she met William Ebner Glover, who had also returned home to Vincennes to run a family business. The couple married in 1953 and moved to South Florida in 1959, where they had five children.
The family of seven lived in Palmetto Park Terrace in Boca Raton, one of the communities Bill developed. In 1968, the family moved to their home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, which Mrs. Bastin still owned at the time of her death.
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Bastin traveled extensively, exploring the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. Her most memorable trip was to South Africa with her daughter Martha and family, where they toured Cape Town, the wine country and game reserves.
Her life changed again when she returned to Vincennes for her 50th high school reunion and reconnected with her recently widowed high school sweetheart, Armand Joseph Bastin. The two were married in 1997 and divided their time between his home on Lake Barklay in Kentucky and Mrs. Bastin’s home in Boca Raton.
Martha recalled Joe removed a cache of old photos from a drawer in a closet. Inside were images of her mother when she was a young woman. He had saved them for decades.
“They were pinned in high school and even in college they were a little bit going out,” Martha said. “He said, ‘I always loved your mother. I can’t believe I have a second chance.’”
The couple was together 13 years until Joe died in 2010.
Martha remembered her mother to be an adventurer who always advised her children to live life to the fullest instead of watching it pass by.
“She always took advantage of whatever happened. She would say if you are invited to do something or have the opportunity to do something, you should do it because you never know when the opportunity will present itself again,” her daughter said.
“As sad as we are to have her gone, we are so grateful to have her all the years we had her, and she was healthy to the end,” Martha added.
Mrs. Bastin was a staunch supporter of her community and was a member of numerous organizations during her life, including St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church & School, Saint Andrew’s School, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Boca Raton Historical Society, The Antique Club, The Garden Club, The Order of Malta, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was also once nominated for Boca Raton’s Woman of the Year.
The Glovers were among the early supporters of Lynn University and Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Mary was a member of the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for more than 50 years.
Mrs. Bastin is survived by her five children, Martha Perry (Dennis) of Ocean Ridge, Gregory Glover (Lori) of Boca Raton, Thomas Glover (Karen) of Palm Beach, John Glover (Louise) of Delray Beach, and David Glover (Stephanie) of Hoboken, New Jersey. She is also survived by six grandchildren: Tyler, Ross and Katherine Perry, and Thomas, Gigi and Slane Glover.
Services were held on Jan. 17.
Donations can be made in her memory to The William and Mary Glover Scholarship Fund at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton online at https://www2.heart.org/site/SPageNavigator/donatenow_legacy.html?giftFirstName=Mary&giftLastName=Bastin&s_src=leg or to the American Heart Association or the Palm Beach County Food Bank.

By Mary Thurwachter

BOCA RATON — Jan McArt, Florida’s first lady of musical theater, died at her home in Boca Raton on Jan. 31.
The show business legend helped steer South Florida theater from its beginnings with verve and sparkle. As word of her passing spread, tributes flooded social media.
“She was one of those bigger-than-life people that you’re lucky just to see from afar once in a lifetime, let alone get to know and worship close-up,” wrote Gary Schweikhart, a friend and publicist.
“What a shining star in our world that will never diminish,” Marilynn Wick of The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum wrote on Facebook. “Thank you for brightening our lives with your joy.”
Arts writer Bill Hirschman said Ms. McArt “was never a vain diva still living in the heyday of musical theater circa 1959. Instead, in 2013, she created the Jan McArt New Play Reading Series at Lynn University in Boca to host dozens of new plays in development. Through six days of workshop rehearsals, playwrights interacted with paid Equity actors and then she saw them perform the work at a reading before a paying audience.”
Ms. McArt’s age was a closely guarded secret, according to Palm Beach ArtsPaper theater critic Hap Erstein, who, in his tribute to the legend, recalled a conversation he had with her in 1997:
“‘My age? You want to know my age?,’ she responded with mock incredulity. With a dramatic flourish, she sidled up to me, lowered her voice and whispered, ‘I’m 23. See, I think age is a state of mind. And in my mind, I’m 23.’ So, OK, without agreeing with her math, let’s just say that she was and will always be ageless, even if she passed away in her late 80s or so.”
Ms. McArt was born in Ohio and raised in Indiana. She set her sights on a stage career when she was a teenager. Her first big break came in Los Angeles where Rodgers and Hammerstein were casting a national tour of Oklahoma!  The dark-haired actress with a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor and a clear soprano voice, scored the leading role of Laurey. Word of her standout performance made its way to Broadway, where Ms. McArt appeared from the 1950s to the late 1970s.
She came to Palm Beach County in the late 1970s to visit her ailing mother and ended up founding the Royal Palm Dinner Theatre, which she ran for more than 25 years. Her business included three companies — the main dinner theater, the Rooftop Cabaret Theatre, and the Little Palm Children’s Theatre.
Ms. McArt also started theaters in Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach, Key West and Miami Beach, and produced many shows through her not-for-profit wing, Jan McArt’s American Festival Series. She simultaneously produced three national touring companies of The Pirates of Penzance.
In 1989, she brought an original musical, The Prince of Central Park, to the Belasco Theatre on Broadway.
More recently, she was producer and director of theater arts program development at Lynn University, where she oversaw several theatrical series, including Libby Dodson’s Live at Lynn theater series, Jan McArt’s New Play Readings, and the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret at Lincoln Center Comes to Live at Lynn.
Her numerous awards included Carbonell Awards (the George Abbott Award in 1984, the Ruth Foreman Award in 2001), as well as 278 Carbonell Award nominations for her dinner theater, and a Carbonell Best Actress Award for her performance in Nightclub Confidential.
Ms. McArt is survived by her daughter, Debbi Lahr Lawlor, son-in-law, John Lawlor, grandson, Evan, and granddaughter, Katharine.
“She did not want a funeral, but there will be a celebration of her life planned when it is safe to reopen the theater,” said Desiree McKim, her assistant at Lynn University.
Those who wish to make a donation in her honor may consider one of her favorite charities — Jan McArt’s Theatre Arts Guild to support Live at Lynn or Jan McArt’s Endowed Scholarship at Lynn University (https://give.lynn.edu/theatrearts); The Lois Pope Life Foundation (https://www.life-edu.org/about/life/); or Tri-County Animal Rescue (https://tricountyanimalrescue.com/).

A Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office helicopter searches at dawn for a plane that disappeared shortly after 8 p.m. the previous evening off the Boynton Inlet. Photos by Jerry Lower/The  Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Monday recovered the body of a 24-year-old pilot from inside a plane that crashed into the ocean south of the Boynton Inlet and settled almost intact on the ocean floor under 40 feet of water.

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-28, disappear shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday after taking off from the Palm Beach County Airport in Lantana headed for Merritt Island, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. A Mayday alert from the plane was received by the control tower at Palm Beach International Airport after contact had been lost with the aircraft.

A PBSO dive team prepares to recover the pilot's body from the crashed Piper PA-28.

A search Sunday night that included more than a half dozen local, state and federal agencies continued into the morning, and crews aboard a Sheriff’s Office helicopter spotted the plane less than a mile offshore. Dive teams recovered the body of a still unidentified man wearing a pilot’s uniform before noon. Earlier in the day, walkers on the beach recovered landing gear and what is believed to be an emergency beacon from the aircraft and turned them over to Ocean Ridge police.

The cause of the crash in under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

What appeared to be a plane tire and emergency beacon were discovered by people walking on the beach at Oceanfront Park and turned over to Ocean Ridge police.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach commissioners were flabbergasted at their Jan. 19 meeting when they were told about a draft report that details a nearly $3 million fine for violations in the city’s reclaimed water program.

“The draft is sending the public into a tizzy,” Commissioner Adam Frankel said.

Interim City Manager Jennifer Alvarez said she just saw the draft about an hour before the start of the 4 p.m. meeting. The draft letter was addressed to her on Jan. 7 by Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Palm Beach County branch of the Florida Department of Health.

Commissioners agreed they need to send communication out on the city’s various social media platforms to let residents know that the letter was just a draft and not a final list of violations.

“We have drafts floating around all of the time,” said Lynn Gelin, city attorney. “It is not the final letter. It’s a bit reckless to publish it.”

Before the DOH’s violations become final, the state Department of Environmental Protection will have to approve the letter, Gelin said. Then, the city has a right to contest the findings.

Alvarez stepped away from the meeting to take a phone call from Rafael Reyes, environmental public health director at the DOH. He said there was no fine or consent order, Alvarez told the commission.

“He will meet with us to discuss the findings. Then, I will let the commissioners know,” Alvarez said.

The last time city officials met with the local DOH leaders was in October, Alvarez said.

The city’s outside counsel made a public records request that was filled on Jan. 14. Because DOH included the draft letter in its response, it is now a public record, Gelin said.

The biggest fine, $2.9 million, was for failing to ensure adequate backflow protection at 581 locations where Delray Beach provides drinking and reclaimed water. The city may be dinged $5,000 for each of the locations, according to state rules.

The Jan. 14 CityWatch column written by Randy Schultz put out a breaking news email blast about the draft letter. Delray Beach commissioners found this paragraph troubling:

“As part of the proposed consent order with the state, Delray Beach would have to issue this public notice: “The City of Delray Beach cannot assure utility customers that the drinking water produced and distributed met the standards of the Safe Water Drinking Act for the period from inception of the reclaimed water service beginning in 2007 to the time reclaimed water was deactivated on February 4, 2020.”

The DOH has been investigating the city’s reclaimed water program for more than one year.

In early January of 2019, a South Ocean Boulevard homeowner called the DOH to complain about a cross connection found at her house in December 2018.

The city was forced to turn off its reclaimed water system on Feb. 4 to avoid a citywide boil water order, triggered by the 801 S. Ocean resident’s complaint.

The city's utilities department hired inspectors to review each reclaimed water location for cross connections in which drinking water pipes were mistakenly connected to ones that carry reclaimed water. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater but is suitable only for lawn irrigation.

Then the city examined each site for backflow preventers. In all, 194 backflow devices were found to be missing on the barrier island. Backflow preventers are needed to stop the reclaimed water from flowing back into the city’s drinking water supply.

In May, then-City Manager George Gretsas said the program was botched from its start in 2007.

Delray Beach used outside contractors to design, build and inspect the system. In the most recent area of the barrier island where 801 S. Ocean is located, 21 of 156 locations did not have backflow preventers.

The city hired a consultant to do a forensic study of its reclaimed water system. The city paid $20,000 for his report, which was supposed to include determining responsibility for installing and inspecting the backflow devices.  

He did not find a culprit.

Instead, according to his Oct. 23 report, he found that Delray Beach did not have a point person in charge and lacked “institutional control” over the reclaimed water system.

Highland Beach resident Debbie Miglis was one of the first town residents to receive a shot on Jan 15. She was accompanied by two of her friends. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

More photos from Highland Beach vaccine event

By Rich Pollack, Jane Smith and Mary Hladky

As cities and towns in southern Palm Beach County scrambled to get COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of their residents, most people rushing to make online appointments left frustrated by the inability to secure a precious time slot.

It took less than 60 seconds for 150 appointments to evaporate in Delray Beach as scores of mostly seniors flooded the sign-up web address.  It took just 97 seconds for 50 open appointments in Highland Beach to vanish. In Boca Raton, 200 appointments were gone within three minutes.

Those who were able to get through got their shots quickly. By the end of the day Friday, about 400 people got a shot in either Boca, Delray or Highland Beach.

Local officials said the process went quickly with most residents in Delray Beach and Highland Beach getting the shot while sitting in their cars. Those receiving a shot in Boca went into a city building.

“Within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine, every shot was in somebody’s arm,” said Chris Bell, Delray Beach’s emergency manager, who coordinated the effort in Delray and Highland Beach.

Among those receiving the vaccine in Highland Beach were Linda Weissman, 78 and her husband Michael, 81.

“We feel blessed to have gotten the shots,” Linda Weissman said.

One of the rare husband and wife couples to both get the vaccine, the Weissmans of Highland Beach said they enlisted their seven grandchildren to go online when appointment times became available.

Others said they just had good luck when it came to getting an appointment.

“I feel like I won the lottery today,” said Debbie Miglis, 65, whose husband got her an appointment but was unable to get one of his own.

Overall, residents said they were pleased with the ease of getting the shot once they had an appointment.

“This was run exceptionally well,” said Boca Raton resident Joan Lerner, who rushed to get a vaccine because her husband’s health is compromised. So far, he has not been vaccinated.

Still, the challenge for local governments wanting to meet the demand is the continued scarcity of vaccines.

“Right now, the demand for shots is far outpacing the supply,” said Delray Beach Fire Rescue Chief Keith Tomey, whose department vaccinated people in Delray and Highland Beach. “We have only 200 doses and thousands of people who want them.”

Tomey said the process of signing up for appointments went smoothly on Thursday but still the inability to get an appointment led to frustration.

In Boca Raton, some residents took to the city’s Facebook page to let off steam, complaining that they didn’t see emails from the city regarding the signups and also expressing frustration over the small amount of vaccine available. One person called the appointment process a “degrading and a horrible frustrating failure.”

That sentiment was also apparent in Highland Beach where a small number of residents called to voice concerns about not being notified of the process and of the difficulty getting an appointment.

“We share in their frustration,” said Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “We just wish we had more supply but we have to wait for state and federal government.”

Highland Beach, which contracts fire and paramedic service from Delray Beach, received about 50 of the 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine that Delray was allotted.

In Boca Raton, which also received the Moderna vaccine, Mayor Scott Singer expressed concern over the lack of availability.

“We continue to press for more vaccine,” he said. “This is a start. It’s not enough but it’s better than nothing.”

Like their counterparts in other area communities, Boca Raton officials have been repeatedly in contact with county and state leaders hoping to secure vaccines.

“We don’t control the allocation of the vaccines but we’ve made it be known that we stand ready to get vaccines out there if we receive more, as have many private entities in our city.”

Local departments are hoping to hear early next week if more vaccine is available and if they’ll be able to provide more shots.

In Boynton Beach, which provides fire service to Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge, officials announced Friday that they would be giving out 160 doses of the vaccine through the city website later that afternoon. Appointments were filled after 40 mintues. People able to make appointments will receive the vaccine at the Boynton Beach Senior Center on Jan. 21.

Highland Beach’s Labadie said he is hopeful that the success of what he calls a decentralized distribution system, in which vaccines are given in several local Points of Distribution as opposed to one large location, will lead to state and county officials increasing supplies.

“We plan to show that this is the best way to distribute the vaccine,” he said.  

Delray Beach’s Tomey said that the success in both Delray Beach and Highland Beach showed that the distribution system was efficient and effective.

“We could do 400 to 500 shots a day if we had the vaccine,” he said.

Highland Beach Mayor Doug Hillman said that by having local distribution sites, communities can make it easy for seniors who otherwise might have to drive long distances to areas they’re not familiar with.

“It makes a lot of sense to do something this close,” he said. “People were frustrated that they weren’t able to get the vaccine but they’re looking forward to being able to get the vaccine close to home.”

In the meantime, Hillman urged patience and added a little perspective.

“This Moderna vaccine was only approved a month ago,” he said. “This thing is moving lightning fast.”

Tomey said he is hopeful the state will replenish the supply soon but in the meantime he urged residents to follow the same precautions that have been in place for months.

“Stay home if possible, and if not, wear your mask,” he said. 

Highland Beach police managed traffic and residents' frustration with not being able to register and receive a COVID-19 vaccination on the first day they were offered in Highland Beach. While 50 individuals were admitted into the parking lot for their shots, police had to turn away dozens of curious residents who were not able to register for an appointment.

Highland Beach resident Debbie Miglis was one of the first town residents to receive a shot on Jan 15. She was accompanied by two of her friends.

Boca Raton resident Joan Lerner was all smiles when she was able to receive her shot but was frustrated because her husband was not able to register in time to receive his.

Highland Beach residents Michael and Linda Weissman receive their shots from Delray Beach firefighter Tyler Adams and paramedic Chris Hutchinson.

Just before giving her a shot, Delray Beach paramedic Chris Hutchinson talks with one of the first Highland Beach residents to receive their vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

Joe Farrell, a 20-year Lantana resident and an alternate on the town’s planning and zoning commission, has ended his run for mayor. The election will be March 9.

Town Clerk Kathleen Dominguez said she received written confirmation of Ferrell’s withdrawal on Jan. 12. His name will not appear on the ballot.

On a Facebook post from Ferrell, the 58-year-old flooring distributer said he was getting out of the race because he wouldn’t be able to commit 100% to the position due to family obligations.

With Ferrell out, it’ll be a two-man contest between incumbent David Stewart, 67, and Robert Hagerty, 56.

Hagerty is a retired police officer who has been a Lantana resident for 24 years.

Stewart is an air conditioning consultant who has been mayor for 21 years and has lived in the town for 43 years.

Ferrell said, in his Facebook post, that he will be supporting Hagerty.

— Mary Thurwachter

About half of the pedestrians observed on Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue on the morning of Jan. 6 were not wearing masks. Employees at shops and restaurants appeared to be in compliance with Palm Beach County's mask ordinance. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach city commissioners are hoping to break the Florida governor of his one-size-fits-all policy for cities and towns during the pandemic.

“We need to make sure our governor understands each city is different,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said at the Jan. 5 City Commission meeting. “Not all Florida cities have the nightlife like Delray has.”

Other commissioners agreed.

“The vast majority of visitors are not wearing masks downtown. We are not allowed to fine people who are not wearing masks,” Commissioner Adam Frankel said at the meeting. “We need to get the word about what we are allowed to do and strike a balance between supporting our businesses with keeping our residents safe.”

The result was a resolution, signed Jan. 8 by interim City Manager Jennifer Alvarez, stating, “The City of Delray Beach is a unique, tourist friendly locale with a vibrant downtown that attracts visitors to its array of restaurants and nightlife located on Atlantic Avenue.”

The resolution urges Gov. Ron DeSantis “to rescind the provisions of Executive Order 20-244 preempting local governments from enacting COVID-19 legislation.”

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease that is sometimes fatal. Wearing face masks and standing at least 6 feet apart help to limit the spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Delray Beach also sent the resolution to the Florida League of Cities and the county League of Cities.

At least two other South Florida locales are urging DeSantis to give them local control over COVID-19 mitigation.

Key West just passed an update of its face mask ordinance on Jan. 5. The update strengthened the city's face mask policy to be able to fine patrons for not wearing masks when not seated and eating in its restaurants.

In Miami Beach, police do not fine people who are not wearing face masks but hand them a free mask and a citation for violating the mask mandate.

And so 2021 has arrived, still dragging some of 2020’s tragedies, absurdities and challenges with it, but full of hope for better days ahead.
Bright and early on Dec. 17, we set out down State Road A1A, asking folks in the 10 Coastal Star communities from South Palm Beach to Boca Raton about their hopes and expectations for this new year.

A sampling of what
people are saying:

South Palm Beach
“I’m hoping for health to everybody and for the vaccine to work well, because I lost my grandfather to COVID in April, on Good Friday. And I’m looking forward to going back to my boarding school in New Jersey. They closed early, so I’ve been away since November.” — Lisa Patalano, jogging down South Ocean Boulevard

Lantana
“I’m just hoping for peace. My friend’s a sheriff’s deputy in West Palm Beach and my daughter’s a 911 dispatch operator. I just want everyone to work together and get along. We’re all in this together.” — Maria Wells, with Teddy, a Yorkie, and Buddy, a poodle mix, at the Dune Deck

Manalapan
“I’m hoping the media will develop a positive mental attitude and stop feeding us all that garbage. And the consumers stop buying it.
“If it’s a negative news story, don’t click on it. I don’t even watch the local news anymore. I’m afraid to turn it on.” — Tom Sparks, finishing breakfast with his wife, Linda, at John G’s in Plaza Del Mar

Boynton Beach
“Things will probably continue on the same as 2020. The vaccine is kind of wait-and-see for effectiveness. They’ve had test trials, but I think all the experts have been baffled. It’s still unproven. “I’m looking forward to the sunrise. That’s a certainty.” — Ronald Wong, fishing off Boynton Inlet pier, where the fish weren’t biting

Ocean Ridge
“I’m looking forward to an end to the whole coronavirus pandemic, but I expect it will last a few years, even though the vaccine has come out. And I’m curious to know what Biden is going to do next. What difference is he going to make?
“But personally, I just moved here from Virginia, so I’m looking forward to purchasing our first home.” — Lisa Alix, on her regular morning bike ride along Old Ocean Boulevard

Briny Breezes
“I’m hoping to be a bit more calm than I’ve been in 2020 — for so many reasons.
“The absence of the tension I felt about everything COVID, I really feel hopeful to be able to survive another year and travel again. My partner and I had cruises scheduled.” — Bob Smith, strolling the town

Gulf Stream
“Oh, my God, I’m hoping for so many things. Probably first, we get our arms around the COVID, and the political turmoil gets put behind us, and we find some semblance of cooperation.
“Personally, I just want continued good health for my wife and kids and grandkids. You know, you can always get a job, but if you’ve got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, nothing else matters.” — Bob Burns, with his wife, Sally, on their morning walk along Gulfstream Road

Delray Beach
“For 2021 I’m hoping that the government doesn’t tell me what to do. I want to eat in a restaurant, sit at a bar, work out at a gym, have some normal social interaction.
“It’s about finding the balance between being safe and acting crazy.” — Morgan Toner, from her lounge chair on the sand

Highland Beach
“I want more travel freedom next year, but it’s going to be like this at least until September. It’s going to take a long time to get enough people vaccinated. What’s the population, about 320 million? Think about vaccinating 1 million a day, and that isn’t happening. It’s going to take time.” — Jeff Cohen, walking Cleo and Ollie, his Bouvier des Flandres dogs, on Highland Beach Drive

Boca Raton
“I miss people being able to go outside. I was hiking the Appalachian Trail around Rangeley, Maine, this year, and it was pretty much empty. I’ve hiked about 1,200 of the 2,200 miles of the trail, and this year all the hostels were closed.
“You can’t shut the world down. Locking yourself inside and throwing away the key has never been the solution to anything.” — William Riddle, with his skateboard at the beach pavilion by Palmetto Park Road

Interviews by Ron Hayes,
Photos by Tim Stepien/
The Coastal Star

The team at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center treats a rescued Kemp’s ridley flown in from Massachusetts. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Stunned reptiles arrive for treatment at Gumbo Limbo

By Larry Keller

Quarterback Tom Brady isn’t the only New Englander who moved to Florida in 2020. The latest expats are 20 sea turtles from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Seventeen Kemp’s ridley turtles and three loggerheads were flown from the Bay State to Boca Raton Airport on Dec. 13 after volunteers found them and many others stranded and cold-stunned on beaches there. They then were transported to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center for treatment.
Turtles Fly Too, a nonprofit that provides air transportation when endangered or threatened species are injured, provided the free flight.
The New England Aquarium, working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, arranged for the chilly 20 and others to be transported to Gumbo Limbo and to other rehab facilities around the country.

Kristin Child, environmental program coordinator at Gumbo Limbo, rushes one of the stunned Kemp’s ridley turtles to an exam room at the rehab center. The Kemp’s ridleys, the smallest sea turtles, flew to Boca Raton in banana crates.

“The cold stun makes them very lethargic. Some of them are almost catatonic,” said Leanne Welch, Gumbo Limbo’s manager. “Many of them … when they take a breath, they’re weak and lethargic and they can’t lift their heads all the way out of the water. They do end up … breathing in sea water. That usually results in pneumonia.
“We treat them just like you would treat your kid, with a nebulizer,” Welch said. “We’re continuing to give them fluids and antibiotics.”
They also were weighed, had blood drawn and X-rays taken. They were kept in dry bins until a staff veterinarian determined it was safe for them to be placed in water at Gumbo Limbo’s tanks.

Three of the cold-stunned sea turtles from Cape Cod getting treatment at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center are loggerheads. The turtles’ arrival drew local TV coverage. The Massachusetts rehab sites ran out of room and sent them. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Eight days after arriving, all 20 turtles were alive and swimming in tanks, although still sick. “Some are eating. Some are not,” Welch said.
Many of the tanks had dividers placed in them, creating four-plexes for smaller groupings, Welch said. That makes it easier to keep tabs on individuals. Not that the turtles object. “Sea turtles aren’t very social,” Welch said.
In addition to the Cape Cod refugees, turtles that already were undergoing treatment are in tanks.
“It’s definitely tight,” Welch said. “Very few of our turtles have their own room.”

Kemp’s ridley turtles, each with its own tub and medical file, await their turn to be examined by Kirt Rusenko and Emily Mirowski in the rehab facility at Gumbo Limbo. The turtles are likely to stay for at least a few more weeks.

Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest and rarest of the seven sea turtle species. All seven are endangered or threatened. At 85 to 100 pounds, Kemp’s ridley adults are practically pipsqueaks. By contrast, the largest species — leatherbacks — can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. That’s more than some automobiles, or the combined weight of the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line.
Many of the turtles that checked into Gumbo Limbo are juveniles. “The biggest one was a loggerhead at 120 pounds. I’d say most of them are in the 10- to 20-pound range,” Welch said.
Kemp’s ridley turtles are seen in Florida, but seldom nest here. Most prefer a particular beach on Mexico’s Gulf Coast. They are seasonal visitors to the North.
“They spend their summers up there because loggerheads and Kemp’s ridleys love to eat crustaceans,” Welch said. “If you’ve been to New England, you know there are a lot of crabs and lobsters in the water.
“When the water starts cooling off, they turn around and head south. But … Cape Cod sticks out in the middle of the ocean.”
The curved hook shape of the cape forces turtles to swim north before they can go south. Some don’t figure that out. “So they end up stranded in Cape Cod Bay,” Welch said.
It’s not always geography that stymies the turtles. Some get blown back to shore by strong winds. Others start to head north, find the water is colder and turn back, said Connie Merigo, director of the sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation department at the New England Aquarium.
Sea turtles depend on external heat sources to maintain their body temperature. When they’re exposed to colder temperatures for a sustained period, their heart rate and circulation may drop.
Cold stunning can also cause shock, frostbite and death. Well-organized and trained volunteers on Cape Cod brave frigid conditions to check beaches for distressed turtles, day and night.
Sea turtles on Cape Cod are stranded each year from late October through December or early January. “Sometimes they’re so cold you can’t detect if they’re alive or dead,” Merigo said of the initial encounters. More than 80% of those brought to the aquarium survive — this season the success rate is better than 90%, she added.
When the New England Aquarium and a second turtle rehab site on Cape Cod get overwhelmed, they send some of their cold-stunned patients to other qualified facilities around the country, such as Gumbo Limbo. The aquarium sent out only a little more than 100 turtles last year to rehab partners, Merigo said.
This year it’s been around 500, she said, and will probably end up being the busiest season ever by the time it ends.
Gumbo Limbo has treated cold-stunned sea turtles in the past. In 2014, 11 Kemp’s ridley turtles were transported there from Cape Cod after a sudden drop in water temperature.
The nature center had a larger crisis originating closer to home in January 2010, when an unusually bitter winter left thousands of mostly juvenile green sea turtles stunned in North Florida bays and estuaries. By month’s end, 177 turtles had been admitted to Gumbo Limbo. Most were released within days after warming up, but the last patient was there for about five months.
Gumbo Limbo’s veterinarian will determine when the current patients are strong enough to return to the ocean.
“It could be anywhere from a few weeks to upwards of six months,” Welch said. Exactly where is up to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Wherever it is, the New England visitors won’t be racking up frequent flier miles. “Most, if not all, will be released in Florida,” Welch said.

Jeffrey, Zoe, 2, and Jude Simon enjoy the holiday tunes played by Nicholas Laraque on a Saturday afternoon at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. The mixed-use venue opened 30 years ago this month. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related story: IPIC theater owes $635,000 in back rent, Mizner Park landlord says

By Mary Hladky

Mizner Park, launched as a visionary redevelopment project that transformed downtown Boca Raton, is about to turn 30 years old.
Its Jan. 11 birthday is a significant milestone for the 30-acre Mizner Park, one of the first mixed-use developments in the country that included shops, restaurants, offices and apartments when it opened in 1991.
The concept developed after city officials recognized they had a problem. The Boca Raton Mall on what is now Mizner Park land was a nearly empty eyesore shunned by residents.
The problem was not unique to Boca Raton. Across the country, stores were fleeing downtowns for the suburbs. The Town Center mall on Glades Road, opened in 1980, had siphoned customers away from downtown businesses.

A worker changes the marquee at the Boca Raton Mall’s AMC 6 Theatres before the mall was demolished to make way for the construction of Mizner Park.

The city, through its Community Redevelopment Agency, launched a years-long effort to replace the decaying mall and then revitalize the rest of downtown.
Developer Tom Crocker, architect Richard Heapes and the late land use attorney Charles Siemon and his law partner Wendy Larsen were among key players in the
effort.
As plans firmed up, Boca Raton residents backed a new vision of what the Boca Raton Mall site could be by agreeing in a referendum to spend $50 million on infrastructure improvements and $68 million in bond financing to start the project.
On the day of Mizner Park’s grand opening, then-CRA chair Jamie Snyder proclaimed, “Our downtown now has a heart.”

Shoppers stroll the newly built Mizner Park in 1991. Photos provided by Boca Raton Historical Society

Even so, Mizner Park got off to a rocky start, with City Council members second-guessing whether they had made the right decision to build it, according to media reports at the time.
But as early tenants such as Liberties Fine Books, Music and Cafe and Max’s Grille drew enthusiastic customers, Mizner Park achieved city leaders’ goal: It gave people a reason to go downtown.

Max’s Grille, an original tenant of Mizner Park, draws a crowd to its outdoor bar and seating areas on a Sunday afternoon. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

It also helped spur other hoped-for redevelopment.
Over the last 10 years, the downtown has gained new condominiums, apartments and the Hyatt Place hotel. The Mandarin Oriental hotel and residences are now rising from the ground.
“Mizner Park was very visionary for the city to do,” Larsen said. “It certainly acted as the catalyst it was intended to be.”
As a mixed-use project, “it was a trailblazer,” she said.
Today’s city leaders say Mizner Park remains as important now as when it opened.
Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke, a longtime downtown resident and former chair of the CRA, said she always was a big supporter of Mizner Park.
“It was a great contribution to the community,” she said. “It was an upgrade that was the beginning of downtown redevelopment.
“I think it is a definite attraction and creates a sense of place for the downtown.”
Mayor Scott Singer agrees. “Mizner Park set the stage for the thriving business, residential and cultural district that downtown Boca has become,” he said. “It remains a key part of the fabric of our city today.”
Mizner Park now has 39 businesses, including 14 restaurants, five women’s and three men’s clothing stores, and two shoe stores.
Two of its major tenants are Lord & Taylor, which in 2020 filed for bankruptcy court protection and announced that it was closing all its stores nationwide, and IPIC theater, which has fallen behind on its rent, according to court filings.
The city owns the land on which businesses sit, and leases it to Brookfield Property Partners.
The city also owns the land north of the shopping and dining area that is leased to the Boca Raton Museum of Art and owns and operates the next door Mizner Park Amphitheater.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Brookfield plans no celebratory events to mark Mizner Park’s birthday.
“Brookfield Properties is committed to Mizner Park remaining a cornerstone to Boca Raton as a premier shopping, dining and lifestyle destination,” Brookfield Senior General Manager Michael Cook said in a statement. “As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, we remain focused on delivering a high-caliber tenant mix. …”
New tenants coming to Mizner Park in 2021, Cook said, are Calaveras Cantina, serving Mexican cuisine; Anna Zuckerman jewelry; Hotworx fitness studio; Strike 10 bowling center and sports bar; and Egg New York, a children’s fashion store.
Bigger changes could be on the horizon.
Brookfield has not yet announced how it will redevelop the significant amount of land now occupied by the Lord & Taylor building and parking garage.
But Larsen, who represents the leaseholder, said that “what is planned is not retail.”
Mizner Park originally was envisioned as including a strong cultural component, a goal that has been only partially realized.
That could change if an ambitious proposal by a cultural arts group becomes reality.
The Boca Raton Arts District Exploratory Corp. hopes to build a cultural complex across from the Museum of Art.
The group proposes completely renovating the existing 3,500-seat amphitheater and adding a new theater building, additional indoor and outdoor performing arts spaces, a rooftop terrace and more parking.
The City Council and the arts group are in negotiations to reach a deal that would allow the $121 million project to launch. Brookfield supports the project.
Another important matter is unresolved.
Brookfield is considering exercising its option to buy much of the land underneath Mizner Park from the city.
But the CRA and Brookfield are at odds on how to calculate the fair market value of the land. That issue is being litigated in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

By Mary Thurwachter

With availability of vaccines for many in the area not expected until spring, Lantana has changed the date of its Centennial Celebration from April 24 to July Fourth.
The decision came during the Dec. 14 Town Council meeting at the suggestion of Manager Deborah Manzo.
“Why not combine our big celebration with our traditional Fourth of July celebration with fireworks and everything?” she suggested.
The council agreed.
“Ms. Manzo and I talked about this before the meeting,” Mayor Dave Stewart said. “I said that in April we’re not going to be able to put 1,500 people over there (Bicentennial Park) and keep 6-foot distance, so why not combine it with our July Fourth celebration?”
With money set aside for fireworks for both the centennial and the Fourth, Stewart said the town could have “a Macy’s level” pyrotechnics show.
“This is a once-in-100-year event, why not make it really special?” Stewart said.
Residents will each receive a copy of a new book on Lantana’s history, free food and music, and get to see the unveiling of a 16-foot sailboat sculpture in the park.
The event will be between 3 and 9:30 p.m. in Bicentennial Park at 321 E. Ocean Ave.
Fireworks, which had to be canceled in 2020 due to health safety concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic, will begin at 9:05 p.m. In other business, the council:
• Learned that it had spent $247,000 to combat flooding problems in the Sea Pines neighborhood in 2020. The money will be taken from the town’s undesignated reserves. Tackling the issue required action by the state, county and town.
• Approved a 1.5% annual raise for Manzo, from $157,000 to $159,000. “Everybody thinks the world of her,” said council member Karen Lythgoe. “Wish we could give her more.” Town employees were also given 1.5% cost-of-living increases.
• Agreed to spend up to $20,000 to rebuild a retaining wall at the Lantana Nature Preserve. The old wall is damaged and beyond repair. Money for the project will be borrowed from reserves.
• Authorized a box lunch holiday party for town employees. The cost may exceed $1,000.