HIGHLAND BEACH — On Dec. 20, 2022, Robert Boehm Ressler’s journey concluded. At age 99, he passed away in a warm and loving senior home.
Bob was born in Pittsburgh on May 5, 1923, the second son to Florence and Elmer. As a boy, he enjoyed hunting and exploring the local forests, often accompanied by his best friend Roy Shaw. This outdoors legacy would continue throughout his life.
Bob enrolled in Pittsburgh Aeronautical Institute after high school. He became an airplane mechanic and joined Capital Airlines in Washington, D.C., where he established himself as a master mechanic on the DC3 and had the honor of working on Air Force One. Toward the end of World War II, Bob joined the Army and was eventually stationed in Orly Field outside of Paris.
Returning home from the war, Bob attended the University of Pittsburgh Dental School and graduated in 1952. During this time, he met his wife, Mae. They went on to have three children and a long and loving 72-year marriage, until Mae’s death in 2020.
Bob practiced dentistry in Shaler Township in the North Hills until he retired at age 65. He purchased a second home in Florida in 1972, eventually moving there in 1988.
In retirement, Bob enjoyed boating, golfing, entertaining friends, and traveling. He became the commodore of the local yacht club and attended Presbyterian church. The arrival of COVID prompted a move to stay near his children for better care as his health declined.
Bob is survived by his son, David Ressler, and his wife, Nik, of Oak Point, Texas; his daughter June Ressler and her husband, Michael Bloch, of Napa, California; and his daughter Sally Torney and her husband, Bob, of Shelburne, Vermont, along with 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his wife, Mae, his brother Espe, and his grandchild Derek.
Bob’s legacy is one of a loving, fair, and hardworking father, a clever man who loved to laugh and entertain, a leader and a master of mechanical objects. He will be missed by many.
Visiting hours will be noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 8 at Kyper Funeral home in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, followed by a memorial service. Donations can be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Robert Ressler’s name at https://www.lls.org.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Rich Pollack

It has been the target of town leaders for more than a decade, with commission after commission taking aim but never being able to shoot down Highland Beach’s notorious spending cap.
Now the commission’s $350,000 spending limit on any one project is again the center of the bull’s-eye with at least one town leader suggesting it’s about time to update the cap, using today’s dollars.
“I believe in checks and balances; however, this is out of proportion,” said Commissioner David Stern, who was appointed to the commission in November to fill a vacant spot until March.
During a Jan. 3 commission meeting, Stern said the $350,000 cap that voters approved in 1991 no longer makes sense and proposed updating it to $800,000 with an annual consumer price index adjustment. That number is a little more than what the $350,000 spending limit would be in today’s dollars.
Stern, who suggested bringing the proposal to the voters in a referendum at the next possible date, withdrew his motion after pushback from other commissioners, who contended the $800,000 cap was too low or should be calculated as a percentage of the annual town budget.
“I think we should talk a little more about what the number should be,” Mayor Doug Hillman said.
Vice Mayor Natasha Moore agreed that the cap needs to be changed — as quickly as possible — but said she believes the spending limit should not be a hard number.
“I’m strongly opposed to a fixed number,” she said.
Commissioners batted around the idea of polling residents prior to putting a question about the cap on the ballot, but then agreed to put more discussion of the limit on the agenda of a special strategic priorities workshop.
If discussion of the spending limit seems like déjà vu all over again, that’s because it was less than a year ago when voters rejected a proposal to raise the cap, a spending limitation on town commissions that is imposed on few if any other municipalities in Florida.
The proposed charter change would have increased the cap from $350,000 per project to about 5% of the town’s combined overall budgets — which amounted to just over $1 million — before a referendum is required.
It failed, Stern says, in part because it was too complicated.
“It wasn’t clear,” Stern said. “I believe you have to make these things simple. If you make them complicated, you’re in trouble.”
Stern believes calculating what $350,000 is in today’s dollars and putting a number close to that before voters would mean a better chance of approval.
“You need a clear, simple number that makes sense to voters,” he said.
During meetings with residents last year, Hillman and other leaders shied away from a fixed number, instead praising the flexibility of using a cap that changes with the town’s spending needs.
Just over a decade ago another commission attempted to raise the cap — and actually did — but not properly.
In the end, the decision by commissioners in 2012 to raise the spending limit to $1 million by ordinance was rescinded after Palm Beach County’s inspector general determined that it could be changed only by referendum.
Elected officials at the time said they hoped to bring the issue to voters via referendum, but it appears that never happened.
Should the current commission choose to put the issue back before voters, it would have to wait until November 2024 in order to meet time requirements determined by the county’s elections supervisor office.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach leaders think a state law requiring many condos to stash sizable sums of dollars in reserves following the 2021 high-rise collapse in Surfside is at best unnecessary and at worst an astounding stretch of authority.
Now the Town Commission is letting those who can change the law know its position via a letter being sent to a local state representative who they hope will share it with legislative leaders.
“I think it’s a gross overreach to tell the public what they should do with their money,” Mayor Doug Hillman said during a December commission meeting.
Hillman, who is president of his building and the umbrella organization at Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina, believes that reserves are not needed since the state now requires condos over a certain height to be inspected within the next three years and structural issues repaired.
Many of those repairs, he says, will have to be done before the end of 2024, when condos are required to have completed reserve studies and met recertification requirements. There are also required recurring recertifications.
The costs to individual unit owners for the repairs, for a reserve study and for the reserves themselves combined with the rising cost of insurance for high-rise buildings is going to be too much for some condo residents, Hillman says.
“It’s getting very expensive to live by the beach,” he said. “The bottom line is that some people are going to have to leave.”
At the center of Highland Beach’s concerns is state legislation passed during the spring and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 26.
The legislation outlined inspection requirements of any building over three stories in height and spelled out specific requirements for reserves, making them mandatory. The list includes nine specific items plus any deferred maintenance items over $10,000.
Previously, condo associations were required to include reserves in their annual budgets, but they were permitted to waive collection of fees or reduce the amount as long as a majority of unit owners agreed in a vote.
The new law essentially takes the decision on whether to require reserves out of the hands of residents. The requirement does not take effect until the end of 2024, and there is talk in Tallahassee about revisiting it.
“I believe it will be reviewed and revisited and fine-tuned,” said newly elected state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a Republican from Highland Beach, who will be receiving the town’s letter and sharing it with leaders in the Florida Legislature. “We don’t want condos emptying out with residents fearing they can’t afford to stay and are uncertain about the future.”
Gossett-Seidman said that the Legislature was quick to get rules in place but after getting input from residents would most likely review the requirements.
“Sometimes you have to get a law on the books and then come back the next session and tweak it,” she said.
While most Highland Beach commissioners think the law needs to be revisited, Vice Mayor Natasha Moore sees an upside: “If you make requiring reserves law, you take it out of the condos’ hands. If you force them to have the money there, you squash the argument that they can’t afford it.”
Hillman says that requiring residents to put money into reserves could be unfair to people who decide to move before those reserves are used. Instead he believes that condo associations would be better off getting loans from financial institutions in the event the money is needed for repairs.
“There are a lot of other things that can be done besides telling people what they have to do with their money,” Hillman said. “I think the pendulum has swung too far and they just need to bring it back.”
Commissioner David Stern, who is president of his condominium — which does collect money for reserves — believes having the funds available is a good idea but says it should be a decision made by residents, not by the state.
“I feel having fully funded reserves is the right thing to do, but it should be a choice,” he said. “I’m strongly for choice, not mandates.”

By Mary Hladky

The City Council agreed to lend the Boca Raton Housing Authority $640,000 that will make it possible to compete for a Florida Housing Finance Corp. grant to help pay for the planned reconstruction of the Dixie Manor public housing complex.
The housing authority and Atlantic Pacific Communities are co-developers of the reconstruction project, which is expected to cost $43.3 million. They would stand no chance of getting the FHFC grant unless the council had made a loan commitment of at least $640,000 to demonstrate city support for the project.
If the developers obtain the grant, they would get low income housing tax credits valued at $24.6 million that would cover more than half of the project’s cost. If they aren’t awarded the grant, they will seek other funding and the loan would not be made.
Dixie Manor, located in the historic Pearl City neighborhood, is badly dilapidated, and housing authority board members and residents agree it needs to be replaced.
But Congress has underfunded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which finances housing authorities, for decades and no money has been available to build new housing.
So HUD proposes “repositioning” public housing, which essentially means removing the housing from the public housing program with the intent of giving housing authorities access to debt and equity that have not been available to them to finance their capital needs.
The process has been fraught at Dixie Manor, at 1350 N. Dixie Highway, because residents of the 95-unit complex fear changes that might push them out of their units at a time when low-cost apartments simply do not exist in the private market. Housing authority officials say any resident who wants to return after the rebuilding will be able to do so.
Residents have become engaged over the last 18 months, attending housing authority meetings, questioning every aspect of how the redevelopment will be done and seeking more power on the housing authority board. They successfully pressed the City Council to expand the board from five to seven members.
The board’s membership has changed dramatically and now includes public housing residents.
The council in November reappointed to the board Angela McDonald, a Dixie Manor resident who organized her neighbors and insisted on accountability. She now chairs the board.
On Dec. 13, the council appointed Danielle Iverson, who learned about Dixie Manor from McDonald and advocated for its residents before deciding to seek office herself.

By Steve Plunkett

The new Ocean Strand Park, scheduled for most of 2022 to open by the end of December, will open no sooner than next month.
“We are only waiting on some of the benches, fencing and signage to be delivered and installed,” said Briann Harms, executive director of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, anticipating arrival of the items in mid-January.
Work to lay an asphalt walking path from State Road A1A almost to the Intracoastal Waterway began in November.
The central strip of the parcel, at 2300 N. Ocean Blvd. between Spanish River and Red Reef parks, was cleared of exotic vegetation in September. Workers clipped non-native plant life just above ground level rather than pull it out from the roots to avoid disturbing what remains of a prehistoric trash heap left by indigenous natives circa A.D. 600 to 1400.
Gabriel Banfi, who lives in Boca Towers just south of the park, noted at the Dec. 19 district commission meeting that the south side of the 14.6-acre park is still choked with underbrush.
“We are putting together a maintenance plan to keep all that overgrowth from happening and keep all the beautiful stuff showing,” Harms assured him. “We’ll definitely add that section to make sure that they review it.”
The district bought the property, which includes 1.6 acres on the beach east of State Road A1A, and two additional parcels for $13.1 million starting in 1994. It banked the land without creating plans to develop it until Commissioner Erin Wright began a push almost three years ago to open it to the public.
The district will schedule a ribbon-cutting once construction is done.

Customers park outside the popular Seaside Deli & Market along State Road A1A in the county pocket. The deli faces an uncertain future as lawyers try to negotiate a resolution and community leaders launch a grassroots preservation and awareness campaign. Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi
 
The Seaside Deli & Market, the beloved County Pocket staple with a loyal following of billionaires and beach bums, is facing an uncertain future because of a legal fight with its landlord, a company owned by retired major league baseball player Rafael Belliard. 
As lawyers for both sides try to negotiate a resolution, community leaders have launched a campaign to “Save the Deli,’’ as a banner erected across the front says. More than 650 signatures have been collected on a petition.
If the deli can’t remain in its familiar spot at 4635 N. Ocean Blvd., just south of Briny Breezes, owner Randy McCormick said he’s hoping to move it to a new space nearby instead of closing for good and putting his nine employees out of work. 
“There is a chance we can negotiate the lease that will permit Seaside Deli to remain in the space,’’ said Carl T. Williams, who until late December was McCormick’s attorney. “We’d like to work with the landlord to the extent we can and try to find a solution that’s good for everybody.’’
Accusations have been flying from both sides for more than a year. But Belliard’s Ocean Blvd 14 LLC scored a victory Dec. 22 when Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Paige Gillman issued a written ruling giving the landlord possession of the space. The judge sided with the landlord’s claim that Seaside Deli hadn’t paid $40,279 in back rent, in violation of an October court order. 
Although business at the Seaside Deli has been especially brisk in the two weeks since word got out about the deli’s future, McCormick said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office ordered the locks changed as early as the first week in January.
Despite Gillman’s ruling, Williams and McCormick insist the landlord’s claims are not true. Seaside Deli tried to make its monthly payments this year, they said, but Belliard family members and their attorney would not accept the money. 
“We have never not paid our rent. My (lease) renewal would have started in March 2022,’’ McCormick said. “I made that payment directly into their account. The next month, when I tried to deposit the rent, I was told that they closed their account. From that point on, I sent the rent every month certified mail, and they refused delivery every month, and I have those receipts.’’
Williams and McCormick believe the Belliards have refused to accept the money because they are trying to sell the building. McCormick said he spoke a year and a half ago to two potential buyers from Gulf Stream who discussed with him the possible terms of a new lease.
One of the potential buyers, who did not want to be identified or quoted, confirmed that he and some partners at one point spoke to the Belliards about buying the site and spoke to McCormick about a potential lease.
It’s unclear whether there were formal negotiations.

‘Beach bums to billionaires’
Leonora Belliard, who is Rafael’s wife and handles Ocean Blvd. 14’s business affairs, did not return a phone call from The Coastal Star. “I have no knowledge at this moment,’’ Ocean Blvd 14 attorney Joshua Pinsky said Dec. 20 when a reporter asked about the Belliards’ plans for the property.
Rafael Belliard’s eviction lawsuit, filed in July, was a counterclaim to a lawsuit filed in August 2021 by Seaside Deli. In that lawsuit, which is still open, Seaside Deli accused Ocean Blvd 14 of breaching the lease by trying to sell the property without giving McCormick the first right to negotiate a purchase, which is spelled out in the lease. 
In a June 1 motion to dismiss, an attorney for Ocean Blvd 14 denied the claim, saying “there is no current contract or agreement to sell the subject property. …’’
The five-year lease expired March 31, but Seaside Deli has refused to vacate, Ocean Blvd 14 said in the July filing.
Meanwhile, word of the judge’s ruling has sent shock waves around the County Pocket, where Seaside Deli is considered not only a reliable neighborhood asset but one of the few remnants of Old Florida along State Road A1A in Palm Beach County.
Loyal customers who have come by over the years for fresh deli sandwiches, imported beer or a loaf of bread range from hockey great Mario Lemieux and singer Jimmy Buffett to landscape workers and surfers. 
Just the other day, actor-comedian Kevin James popped in to pick up one of the deli’s famous subs. And old-timers still remember the day New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and his then-girlfriend, singer Mariah Carey, stopped in for snacks on their way to the beach. 
“We get beach bums to billionaires. To me they’re all the same. They’re just good people,’’ McCormick said.   
The deli has been so popular, local Realtors over the years have included it in MLS listings as an amenity, a mom-and-pop alternative to having to cross the bridge to get to a Publix before the supermarket chain opened a store in Manalapan.
The deli extends accounts for local businesses, allowing their workers to pick up ice, drinks and food. For a while, it delivered lunch sandwiches for students at the private Gulf Stream School. 
“It’s become part of the fabric of the community,’’ said Richie Podvesker, whose father, Fred, owned the deli and building since 1993 before selling it to the Belliards in 2014 for $460,000. 
“My dad put his all into it just as I put my heart and soul into it for more than 20 years, seven days a week,’’ he said. “I just want to see it succeed.’’

An attraction for developers
Born in the Dominican Republic, Belliard played second base and shortstop from 1982 to 1998, the first nine years with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the last eight with the Atlanta Braves. He won a World Series ring with the 1995 Braves.
With Kevin Belliard, Rafael’s son, at the helm, the Belliards ran the store for three years before selling it to McCormick in 2017 and retaining the building. 
In 2019, both the Belliards’ company and Seaside Deli were sued in federal court for purportedly violating the Americans With Disabilities Act over a lack of handicapped parking and other issues. 
A confidential settlement was reached, according to court records. But McCormick, in the lawsuit he filed against Ocean Blvd 14 in August 2021 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, claimed the Belliards were in breach of the lease because they were responsible for the ADA improvements. 
The Belliards have had three different offers for the building, according to County Pocket insiders, a claim The Coastal Star could not confirm.
If no resolution can be reached, many longtime residents are worried about the future of the pocket’s Old Florida character.  
“It’s going to be a big loss for the community,’’ said McCormick, who spoke in a tone of defeat. “When they tear this down and start developing it, it’s going to change the whole face of this area. In 10 years you won’t recognize this area.’’
If the Belliards do plan to sell, others don’t blame them for wanting to cash in on land that has appreciated with the real estate boom. But for many locals, the mere possibility of the Seaside Deli closing is the biggest scare since the mobile-home community of Briny Breezes was nearly sold to a developer in 2007. 
“There are so many people moving to South Florida from up North who have large sums of money,’’ said the attorney Williams, who grew up in Delray Beach. “They see property and the potential for development and just tear it down or develop it in a way that they see fit, and unfortunately it can destroy the character of a neighborhood or a community that have been in place for decades or longer.’’
Word of the deli’s uncertain future did not reach a wide audience after the judge’s oral ruling, but a week later a full-blown awareness campaign started. A “Save the Seaside Deli” petition was posted next to the cash register and the banner was erected outside, visible to A1A passersby. 
Other local merchants, such as Nomad’s Surf Shop, Surfside Orthopedics & Primary Care and the Texaco gas station, have set up petitions.
“So many people, from Manalapan all the way down to Delray, are committed to this place,’’ said Kristine de Haseth, Ocean Ridge vice mayor and executive director for the Florida Coalition for Preservation, which is coordinating the petition drive and collecting signatures. 
“They truly are a community asset. We are going to try to help them and see if we can buy them some time.’’
One regular said he’d gladly sign the petition. 
“I am shocked” at the possibility the deli will close, Dan Funsch said after pulling up in his white Rolls-Royce to get an Italian sub. 
“Very upsetting, very upsetting. You see so many neighbors here. Constantly. I think a lot of people are going to be very, very upset.’’

By Joe Capozzi

Ocean Ridge voters will get the chance to choose two town commissioners in the March 14 municipal election after four candidates qualified in November to run for office.
Mayor Susan Hulburt and Commissioner Martin Wiescholek have drawn two challengers — Carolyn Cassidy and Robert Galleno. The top two vote-getters will win three-year terms. 
Hurlburt, 67, was first elected to the commission in March 2019 to fill an open seat with a partial one-year term before winning a full term unopposed. 
If re-elected, she said she would continue pushing for environmental policies aimed at protecting Ocean Ridge, a barrier island community surrounded by water. That includes a conversion from septic to sewer, replacing aging stormwater infrastructure, and protecting dunes and mangroves, she said.
“I’m a big environmentalist and not just for aesthetics,’’ she said. “I think the environment has much to do with many of the issues that need to be mitigated in the coastal islands.’’ 
She said she is most proud of having helped lead the commission’s purchase this year of environmentally sensitive land in the Lake Worth Lagoon that will be rezoned for preservation.
Hulburt has lived in Ocean Ridge for “about 10 years,” and is a member of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club.
Wiescholek, 53, took office for the first time in March 2020, days before the pandemic shut down the country. For the next 18 months, he said, the fallout slowed the commission’s ability to move the town forward toward important long-range projects such as septic-to-sewer conversion and resiliency improvements. 
He said he is proud of having helped the commission improve town building codes and protect residents near the sites of lagging construction projects by cracking down on nuisance properties.
“Having a building official is a huge accomplishment,’’ he said, referring to the hiring of Durrani Guy in July 2020.
But Wiescholek — who has lived in the town for six years — promised to be “more proactive about trying to move the town into the future’’ if he’s re-elected.
“I can assure you this: If I get re-elected, there will not
be a third term for me. This is going to be my last. And because it’s going to be my last, I will have no problem pushing everybody and making everybody on that dais uncomfortable,’’ he said. 
“I’m just one of five votes. If we don’t get things done, at least you will know and everybody else in town will know there are four people sitting there who are procrastinating and they can’t get out of their own way.’’
Cassidy, 59, a frequent contributor during public comment periods at town meetings, serves on the advisory Board of Adjustment. She ran for commission in 2021 and finished third by 16 votes to runner-up Kristine de Haseth in a four-way race. (Commissioner Geoff Pugh finished first and endorsed Cassidy in that race.)
Previously from Westhampton, New York, Cassidy owns a real estate business and has lived in Ocean Ridge for six-plus years. She is a member of the town’s Garden Club and co-chairs a review board within Impact 100 Palm Beach County, a group that awards competitive $100,000 grants to nonprofit organizations. 
“Voters should elect me because I have a very commonsense problem-solving approach to things. I’m a good listener and I want to improve communication from the commission and the residents,’’ said Cassidy, a board member on a new Ocean Ridge nonprofit called the Starbright Civic Collective.
If elected, she would try to fix “redundancies and inefficiencies in the building department. We need less government intrusion and more protection of property rights.’’ 
Galleno, who turns 53 in December, is vice president of claims for Trident Claims Management, a third-party administrator for Lloyd’s of London. He moved to Ocean Ridge three years ago and is making his first run for public office. 
He applied for the town manager’s job in September but wasn’t selected as a finalist. 
“My motivation for running for office is to help our community to remain safe and peaceful by supporting our local law enforcement, increasing their pay scale to match other departments in the county,” he said in an email.
If elected, he said, he would look into the possibility that Ocean Ridge retain control of two county-owned parks in town — Ocean Inlet Park and Ocean Ridge Hammock Park. That would allow the town to lease the parks back to the county or another operator “so we can have more funding for law enforcement and create a higher pay wage for officers,’’ he said.
He also wants to look into installing speed bumps and pedestrian signal lights as well as creating more community events such as an annual 5K race.
Nicholas Arsali, an alternate member of the Board of Adjustment, initially filed to run but withdrew.

The Kozlov family from Boca Raton walks through the illuminated tree canopy and past the Ice Queen and Ice King during ‘Light the Lights,’ Mizner Park’s annual tree lighting ceremony held Nov. 19. The festivities will be open to the public through the holiday season. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Larry Keller

The marathon campaign by the fundraising arm of Boca Raton Regional Hospital to raise $250 million for a massive expansion and renovation project is in the homestretch.
The hospital’s foundation raised $240 million as of late November, said its president, Mark Larkin. By the fourth anniversary in January of what is called the Keeping the Promise Campaign, he hopes to have reached the finish line.
The revamping of the hospital ultimately will cost about $1 billion. The most dramatic change will be construction of a nine-story patient tower — begun earlier this year — with entirely private patient rooms, surgical suites and retail and dining on the ground floor. The main entrance lobby will feature a two-story atrium and connect two tower concourses to elevators, reception and other areas.
The existing patient tower will be renovated “to the same standard as the new building,” Larkin says, and all of its rooms will become private. Combined with the new tower, the hospital will have 455 entirely private rooms.
Another addition will be a freestanding “medical arts pavilion” — an outpatient surgery center that will house orthopedic and other specialty clinics.
Plans also call for expanding the Marcus Neuroscience Institute to include additional examination rooms, intensive care units and minor procedure suites.
And there will be a new cardiovascular outpatient clinic along with intensive care and step-down units in the new patient tower that provide intermediate care between an ICU and a surgical ward.
All of this means more traffic, so a 972-car garage with direct access to the hospital has been built. The entire project is slated to be completed by 2027. “It will be transformative,” Larkin says.
“We’ve opened up new areas of medicine that we’ve never had in Boca before. It’s going to be extremely successful,” adds Stanley Barry, chairman of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s board of trustees, who contributed $10 million to the campaign.
It will look far different from the not-for-profit Boca Raton Community Hospital that opened in July 1967. It was a four-story facility with 394 beds. It later changed its name to Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
“The facility was getting tired,” says Barry, who formed a three-person committee with Christine Lynn and Dick Schmidt to explore a capital campaign for the hospital’s growth. “The community was growing by leaps and bounds. If we stayed in the position we were in, we really couldn’t take the next step forward.”
When the Keeping the Promise campaign was announced in January 2019, the goal was to raise $180 million. It was subsequently bumped to $250 million.
“I’m so pleased with the way the community responded,” Barry says.
Six months after the campaign began, the hospital merged with Baptist Health South Florida. Before the merger, the hospital didn’t have a large enough reserve or the ability to borrow the kind of money needed to undertake large-scale improvements and expansion, Larkin says. But Baptist Health invested about $660 million toward doing so.
“They ended up being great partners,” Barry says. “It’s a totally new operation from what it’s been in the past.”
With a new, more ambitious fundraising goal, the foundation held its annual ball — by far the largest generator of gross revenue among its three signature events — in February 2020 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Rod Stewart entertained.
Two-and-a-half weeks later, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and the foundation’s face-to-face meetings with prospective donors abruptly ended.
“It wasn’t the same as being across the table from them or walking them around the site or any of those good things we normally do,” Larkin says. But foundation staff relied on phone calls and mastered Zoom technology. “People responded well,” he adds.
The annual ball was canceled in 2021 because of COVID, but convenience store magnate Bob Sheetz and his wife, Debbie Lindstrom, said they would match all donations up to $1 million in lieu of the ball.
“We far exceeded that and raised $4.1 million,” including the $1 million match, Larkin says.
The amount exceeded the $3.7 million in gross revenue the annual ball typically raises, Larkin says, while keeping ball expenses — which usually are around $1.9 million — to only about $65,000 for the direct mail campaign and follow-up. And while the pandemic presented the biggest difficulty to the capital campaign, it also spurred an appreciation for why it was important.
Donors “had a new appreciation for a really strong hospital when you’re dealing with something like COVID,” Larkin says.
The foundation also benefited from Boca Raton’s affluence. The city’s median household income in 2020 dollars was $84,445, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, compared to $67,521 nationwide, and 57% of residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, versus 38% of the country as a whole.
With COVID restrictions easing, the foundation resumed its annual ball last January, with Sting as the featured performer. The next ball is on Jan. 21 at The Boca Raton, and Lionel Richie is the headliner. Larkin is hopeful he’ll be able to announce at that time that the $250 million target has been reached.
In all, there have been more than 1,100 donors to the campaign, Larkin says, and many more contributors to the foundation generally.
To date, 46 donors have contributed $1 million or more to the Keeping the Promise campaign, Larkin says. That includes eight donations of $10 million or more, with two gifts of $25 million. Those were from longtime hospital benefactor and Johnson & Johnson heir Elaine Wold, and billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman and his wife, Toby.

The new hospital tower will be named for Wold’s friend Gloria Drummond. Two of Drummond’s children, ages 9 and 3, were fatally poisoned by an 11-year-old neighbor in 1962 when the nearest hospital was 15 miles away.
That spurred a campaign to build a hospital in Boca Raton. It came to fruition five years later, and Drummond was active with the hospital until her death in 2011.
Wold “wanted to recognize her good friend.” Larkin says. “Out of tragedy was born something that is really an incredible community asset now.” 

Glickman stands on a barrier Nov. 26 once classes had resumed after she and others pleaded with the City Council. ‘The people’s voices were heard,’ Glickman says. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Leslie Glickman’s free, and beloved, Saturday yoga classes in Sanborn Square have helped define the downtown’s ambiance for 12 years.
That is, until October, when city officials told Glickman that safety measures are needed to protect yoga practitioners who enjoy the green oasis in the rapidly growing downtown.
They asked Glickman to pay for installing temporary barricades along Federal Highway to prevent drivers from crashing into the square or to relocate her classes.
When Glickman could not find a city staffer able to answer her questions about the barricade requirement, she and yoga devotees turned to the City Council for help, prompting city staff to find a temporary solution that allowed classes to resume last month. 
“There is so much joy and love in that park every week,” Asya Scher said at the council’s Nov. 8 meeting. “We are asking the city to find a place for it. It is what makes the city special.”
Kim Smith said the classes refresh her physical and mental health. “I can feel my stress go down,” she said. “It is a community support system.”
Glickman asked for better communication from city officials who had not advised her about possible solutions or alternative locations.
“I am asking for communication,” she said. “I am asking for respect.”
She can’t pay for barricades, Glickman said after the meeting, noting that the classes are free and she already is bearing the cost of equipment, Wi-Fi, and preparing the park for the classes.
“I can’t afford to take it out of my pocket to put up barricades,” she said. “This is my community service every week.”
Yoga in the Park draws as many as 300 yoga practitioners each week, and many more who join in online from about 30 countries and 40 states.
They include snowbirds who leave Boca in the hottest months, former students at her Yoga Journey studio who no longer live in the city, and those who have attended retreats she has held abroad.
“There are eyeballs on this from all over the world,” Glickman said.
Council members pressed city staff to find a solution.
“This is not a fine moment for us,” said Mayor Scott Singer.
Council member Yvette Drucker apologized for “letting our community down.”
City staff moved quickly, erecting the city’s own barricades along Federal Highway at Sanborn Square. Glickman’s classes then resumed on Nov. 19.

Leslie Glickman’s classes among the royal palms of Sanborn Square were suspended after the city of Boca Raton asked Glickman to pay for traffic barriers on Federal Highway. Last month the city agreed to put up barriers while it searches for a permanent solution. Photo provided by Melissa Green

“We had the biggest crowd ever on Saturday,” she said. “People couldn’t have been happier. They were whistling and cheering. People were so happy to have the program back.
“This was really a beautiful day for Boca. This is the way government is supposed to work. The people’s voices were heard.”
Although Glickman learned only recently that organizations using Sanborn Square are responsible for installing barricades, the city had adopted that policy in January 2021.
But that was communicated to Glickman only after tourism marketing group Discover the Palm Beaches wanted to hold an event in conjunction with Yoga in the Park, and sought a city permit that triggered the barricade requirement.
The policy is intended to make Sanborn Square safer. Since the square sits alongside busy Federal Highway, a driver — by accident or intentionally — could jump the curb and injure park users.
“We see these things happening across the country and around the world,” said Assistant City Manager Chrissy Gibson. “That is one of the reasons we want to protect that space.”
While the city’s intention was to treat Yoga in the Park the same as other organizations that must install barricades, Gibson said the city’s communication was not clear.
“There could have been better communication,” she said. “We are in tune with what (Glickman) is trying to do. We are very happy that yoga is back. It is a wonderful program.
“We put in a temporary safety solution we think works until there is a permanent solution.”
In the meantime, the city’s barricades will remain in place and no organizations will have to bear the cost of installing them, she said.
The permanent solution may have to await a planned renovation of Sanborn Square. The nearly $4 million project is included in the city’s budgets for fiscal years 2024-2026. The renovation would include installation of safety bollards that can stop vehicles.
Until then, the city will look for more immediate options, Gibson said.
City Council members have said they would support that, provided the cost is not too high.
Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke is not satisfied with the temporary barricades, saying at a Nov. 21 meeting that they are unsightly.
“It is not the look we want to present,” she said. Council member Monica Mayotte agreed.
City Manager Leif Ahnell said installing more attractive bollards now would cost about $750,000, an amount that council members did not want to spend.
“I hope we can find something that is more cost effective,” Singer said.

The newly named The Studio, at the south end of Mizner Park, will feature Rock and Roll Playhouse musical shows in January, February and March aimed at parents and young children. Photo provided

By Mary Hladky

The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center has completed a transformation that will offer more programming to broaden its reach and attract diverse audiences.
Rechristened The Studio at Mizner Park, the venue at the park’s south end will celebrate its opening on Dec. 16 with an open house featuring a deejay, holiday beverages, light bites and a tour of its spaces.
Stephanie Siegel, an Emmy Award-winning New York City newscaster, is now on board as executive director, replacing an outside theater operator. Common area spaces have been redesigned and redecorated. The kitchen has been enhanced to be a fully equipped banquet kitchen for caterers. Boca Raton-based Potions in Motion is now the in-house caterer.
But the most notable changes are in the center’s programming. Instead of operating only in season, the venue will be open all year and will work with cultural organizations including the Symphonia and Boca Ballet Theatre.
Instead of catering largely to an older audience, The Studio wants to bring in people of all ages with fresh and diverse programming, said Peg Anderson, president of the board.
“We want programming that appeals to parents, children and grandparents,” she said.
One example is choreographer, hip-hop dance teacher and TikTok star Sean Green, who on Dec. 18 will offer a TikTok hip-hop dance party for children aged 5 to 12.
Rock and Roll Playhouse, appearing on three dates in January, February and March, will perform songs created by Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and the Grateful Dead, aimed at parents and their young children.
The Studio at Mizner Park has a 3,750-square-foot flexible theater that seats up to 297 people and a 4,575-square-foot multi-purpose space that can be used as a banquet or party room, exhibition space or a secondary performance venue.
Other amenities include a lounge with full bar and an outdoor terrace with views of Mizner Park.
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center opened in 2010, replacing the ill-fated International Museum of Cartoon Art. The transition to The Studio began about three years ago when renovations and equipment upgrades began. The process was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic before getting back on track 18 months later.
“The goal is to really elevate the experience people have when they come here,” Anderson said.
The changes, she said, are intended to work with the planned Center for Arts & Innovation that is slated to be built at the north end of Mizner Park and potentially open in 2028.
Anderson has been involved in that project since its early conceptual days. She is co-chair of its board of directors and was an early donor.
“It’s all about Mizner Park, bringing north and south together and having an art and cultural experience throughout the park,” she said.
The arts center will have a 100-seat jewel box theater and an enclosed studio in the amphitheater with a capacity of as many as 500 patrons. At 300 seats, The Studio’s theater fits in between.
The Studio will also offer up its facilities as rehearsal space for use by the center’s performers.
The two venues “are designed to complement rather than compete,” Anderson said.

By Mary Hladky

The City Council won’t stand in the way of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s efforts to develop the former Ocean Breeze golf course property.
Council members informally agreed on Nov. 7 that they like the district’s conceptual plans for the 212-acre site. Although they’d like to see a firmer proposal, they don’t want to hold up the district’s work to create one.
“I encourage moving forward and being supportive in a collaborative way,” said Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke.
“Please, go forward,” said Mayor Scott Singer.
District Chair Erin Wright was gratified by the support. “I am so glad you guys have given us the go-ahead,” she said.
The cordial interaction between the two government bodies stood in contrast to disagreements that marred previous efforts to work together on projects.
This time around, the district wanted to give city leaders an early look at its plans so council members and city staff could voice any concerns now to head off time-consuming and costly project delays later on.
The site was slated to become the Boca National golf course two years ago. But that plan was scuttled when The Boca Raton donated the Boca Golf and Tennis Country Club to the city, eliminating the need for another golf course. The district has been considering what to do with Ocean Breeze ever since.
District officials have held public workshops, surveyed community residents and hired engineering and landscape architect Miller Legg to create the conceptual master plan.
That plan is ambitious. The site has been divided into four quadrants with different features and facilities. Multi-use trails, which Wright said are a “top priority,” run throughout the property.
One quadrant is devoted to golf, including an executive 9-hole course, short-game and putting areas, driving range and clubhouse.
The layout is intended to complement the city’s championship course at the Boca Raton Golf and Racquet Club — the new name for the former country club — which is perceived as too difficult for many players.
A second quadrant has a dog park, community garden and butterfly/botanical garden and playground. The third features a racquet center, indoor and outdoor pickleball and tennis courts and playground. A fitness area, splash pad, boardwalk, swimming pools and field house are in the fourth.
The district wants a public-private partnership to operate the golf and racquet facilities, and partnerships for the aquatics center and field house.
The price tag would be about $27 million. But Wright said the actual number is about $20 million since the higher figure includes a $5 million contingency fund and $2 million already in hand to cover design costs.
The site would be developed in two phases, with most of the facilities completed by 2025 and the rest by 2028.
“I really, really like what we have come up with,” Wright said, while emphasizing that the plans are not final.
They do not address concerns from people living near the site about increased traffic and security, but Wright said both will be dealt with.
Although council members are not stopping the district from moving ahead, it isn’t clear whether that hands-off approach will last.
Deputy City Manager George Brown voiced an apparent concern at an Oct. 25 council meeting when he said the district has not identified what kind of public-private partnerships it will be seeking.
Council members Monica Mayotte and Yvette Drucker questioned whether too much emphasis had been placed on golf and related amenities, but did not ask for any changes.
They and O’Rourke wanted Brown or City Manager Leif Ahnell to specify any issues they had with the plans.
But Ahnell said city staffers could not do that because the plans are not firm yet and any alterations could affect their analysis. That analysis, he said, would come after the district submits a detailed site plan.
Singer urged staff to voice any concerns or objections as soon as possible so that the district can address them early on.
After the meeting, Wright said she was hopeful that would happen.

By Rich Pollack

Town officials have the green light to sprint forward with plans to construct a new two-story fire station just a few feet from State Road A1A in what is now a parking lot.
After discovering that the previously selected site behind the Highland Beach Town Hall would require massively expensive and time-consuming preparations, town commissioners agreed last month to a new location that will partially obscure the view of Town Hall from the highway.
The decision came after Town Manager Marshall Labadie told commissioners that putting a station in that area, which now holds fewer than a dozen parking spots, was the most cost-effective and least time-consuming alternative.
“The new station in this location gives us a chance to properly provide world-class fire service within the budget established by our residents,” Labadie said.
Under the approved plan, the new station at the south end of the town’s municipal complex will include two stories of living space and a two-bay garage housing a ladder truck and a rescue vehicle.
An additional two bays at the existing station will house a backup rescue vehicle and a backup ladder truck, either of which will be moved about 135 feet south to the new station when the primary vehicle is on a call.
“This allows us to keep all our fire services together,” Labadie said, adding that the new station will be in front of police headquarters, making it easier for the two departments to coordinate.
In approving the new location, town leaders also kept one eye on the future, considering how the new station would mesh with any construction down the road to meet future needs.
Commissioners also wanted to make sure the new building looks like it matches the existing structure.
“Whatever we do, it has to look like Town Hall,” said Mayor Doug Hillman. “Or at least it should look like it’s supposed to be there.”
While the relocation of the new fire station will eat up hard-to-come-by parking spaces at the municipal complex, Labadie says that plans to demolish the living sections of the existing station will open up almost as much room for cars.
That aging station needed to be replaced, he said, because it is too old and too small to meet the needs of the town once it starts its own fire department.
Currently used by Delray Beach Fire-Rescue, which is under contract to provide service until the town’s new fire station is up and running in May 2024, the old station doesn’t meet floodplain requirements.
It also has bunks for five personnel on a shift, with Highland Beach planning for eight firefighter/paramedics per shift.
With the location of the station solidified, Labadie and other town officials will work with architects and builders to put the fine points on the design of the station.
That process faces budget constraints with inflation and supply chain issues pushing costs up. The estimated price tag for the station now comes in at $7.5 million.
“Our next steps are to accelerate the design process,” Labadie said. “We’re now coming up with the final design and a schedule for construction, which is expected to begin early next year.”

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach has a new town commissioner — but he won’t be there for long.
During a special meeting last month commissioners unanimously voted to appoint David Stern, chairman of the town’s Financial Advisory Board, to temporarily fill the commission seat vacated by Peggy Gossett-Seidman, now a state representative.
Stern, who did not file to run for the remaining year of Gossett-Seidman’s term, will serve only until next March’s municipal election. But he did not rule out running for a commission seat in the future.
In selecting Stern for the vacancy, commissioners cited his extensive experience serving on several town boards as well as his overall involvement in the community.
“You probably know this town better than anyone else,” Commissioner Evalyn David said.
Stern has served on the Financial Advisory Board for the past five years and lived in Highland Beach for more than 25 years, the last 21 in the Highland Place Condominium, where he is now president.
He previously served as chair of the Code Enforcement Board and the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, and served on the Financial Advisory Board from 2007 to 2009.
In 2012, he served on the Charter Review Board. He also served on a committee auditing the town’s water plant.
“You’ve done so much,” Commissioner John Shoemaker told Stern. “You know the town, you know our finances, you know code enforcement and you know the issues.”
During a brief interview with commissioners, Stern said the current commission is different from others because of its enhanced emphasis on strategic planning.
“It’s one reason for the progress,” he said, adding that he has watched every town commission meeting.
An executive in the retail industry, Stern told the story of how when he was hired to be a vice president of Ross stores, he was first required to work on the loading dock and as a sales associate and to shadow managers.
“It was a good lesson for any management job,” he said. “You can really understand what’s going on so you can make the right decisions.”
Asked why he had applied for the job, Stern pointed out that he will be off the financial board because of term limits and is looking for his next role in town government.
He said he had not sought a commission seat before because his past position as president of Temple Sinai in Delray Beach and his role as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority took up much of his time.
Prior to selecting Stern, commissioners interviewed five other candidates, including three who are running for the open seat in March.
Those who qualified for the seat and interviewed for the interim position were Margarita Chappelear, co-chair of the Natural Resources Preservation Board; attorney and mediator Judith Goldberg; and retired radiologist Peter Kosovsky.
Also interviewed for the 3½-month position were Joshua Davidson, a member of the Natural Resources board, and Myles Schlam, who chairs the Code Enforcement Board. J. Blake Murray, a former code board member, was a candidate but missed the interviews.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach voters will have a chance in March to do something they’ve been unable to do for the past three municipal elections — pick people who will serve as town commissioners.
Since 2020, all of the candidates for the town posts have been unopposed, depriving residents of the ability to say who has input in important community decisions.
As a result, all five of this year’s commissioners have run at least once without opposition.
That’s about to change.
With the close of qualifying on Nov. 22, two candidates, including the incumbent, filed to run for a three-year commission seat and three candidates filed for an unexpired term ending in March 2024.
That seat become vacant when Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman decided to run for state representative and was elected last month.
Mayor Doug Hillman was elected for a second term without opposition, after a potential challenger decided not to file.
Those filing for office are a sitting commissioner, a member of a town advisory board and three newcomers to civic involvement in Highland Beach.
Don Peters, a former police officer and town official in Yorktown Heights, New York, is running for the three-year seat against incumbent John Shoemaker, a retired business executive and Army veteran.
The three candidates for the unexpired term are Margarita Chappelear, co-chair of the town’s Natural Resources Preservation Board; Judith Goldberg, an attorney, mediator and former town attorney in Patterson, New York; and Peter Kosovsky, a retired radiologist who also has a background in private land development.
Competition for the two commission seats is a good thing, say those involved in the inner workings of the town.
“I’m happy that people are taking an interest in local government,” said Commissioner Evalyn David, who was re-elected without opposition for a three-year term this year.
David, who faced opposition when she first ran in 2019, and others on the commission believe the increase in the number of people seeking office is a result of the town’s success in encouraging more civic engagement and in improving communication with residents.
“We try and get people involved,” said David, adding that there has been a push to encourage participation on town boards. “We need people coming up behind us.”
Gossett-Seidman, who was re-elected without opposition for the term beginning in 2021 after winning a contested race three years earlier, said that she believes the level of interest in town government is based in part by satisfaction with the town’s direction.
“People like saying they’re from Highland Beach,” she said. “They’re happy to be involved and they think they can do more.”
Gossett-Seidman also believes that because her former seat carries only a one-year term, it is attractive to candidates who want to get a feel for the job without a three-year commitment.
“It gives them a chance for a test drive,” she said.
Jack Halpern, president of the Committee to Save Highland Beach, a political action committee that keeps a close eye on town government, believes having multiple candidates for seats benefits the voters.
“We think there needs to be a choice,” he said.
Halpern believes efforts to improve awareness about the election, from both the town and his PAC, encouraged candidates to come forward.
He said his group sent out information about the election to the 2,500 addresses on its email list for the past two months.
“We’ve said, ‘The elections are coming, the elections are coming,’” he recalled.
Halpern said that a referendum last March, where four of five proposed charter changes failed to get voter approval, may also have led to increased involvement, adding that there was concern among many residents about what was perceived as the commission’s unwillingness to listen to concerns.
While the committee has spoken with some of the candidates who will be on the March 14 ballot, Halpern said it has made no decisions on endorsements.

By Mary Hladky

Fran Nachlas, who won election to the City Council on Nov. 9 when she was the only candidate who filed to run for a vacant seat, won’t be waiting until March to take her place on the dais.
Council members voted unanimously on Nov. 22 to appoint her to the position effective Dec. 1.
“I think it makes sense to have her begin now,” said Mayor Scott Singer, who proposed the appointment. “It serves a purpose to have a full complement of council members.”
The three other council members concurred.
New council members typically begin serving after the March city elections. But with Nachlas already a council member-elect, “there is no point in waiting until March,” said Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke.
“It is a humbling experience to take the dais in this manner,” Nachlas said, “and I want to say thank you.”
Nachlas is a retired surgical nurse and the mother of four. She and her husband, Nathan, a reconstructive surgeon, founded the nonprofit SafeSun in 2012 to raise awareness of skin cancer.
A four-member City Council can be problematic because of the possibility of a 2-2 vote on major issues. Developers and others tend to hold off on bringing matters before the council until five members are serving.
Florida’s resign-to-run law forced Andy Thomson to step down on Nov. 7 so he could pursue his candidacy for the Florida House District 91 seat, but he narrowly lost that election to Peggy Gossett-Seidman.
In December, the council will consider amending the City Charter to increase the terms of office for mayor and council members to four years from three years.
If council members approve the change, proposed by Singer, voters will have the final say in the March 14 election. Council members would continue to be limited to serving two terms in office.
If the change is adopted, the terms of Singer, Nachlas and the person who wins election to replace term-limited O’Rourke would expire in March 2027 rather than March 2026. The terms of Yvette Drucker and Monica Mayotte would be extended by one year and expire in March 2025.
By increasing the amount of time between elections, the City Council would be more stable and more effective because members would have additional time to bolster their expertise on city matters, Singer said.
No other council member commented on Singer’s proposal on Nov. 22. But at a workshop meeting the day before, O’Rourke said she was not sure that she would want longer terms.

The abstract mural at the new Brightline station. Rendering provided

In other business, council members received an assurance from Brian Kronberg, Brightline’s vice president of development, that the new Boca Raton train station will open by the end of December, as has long been expected.
“It is imminent and we are really excited about it,” Kronberg said. But he declined to give a specific date, saying that Brightline typically does not announce until a few weeks before the rail service begins.
Kronberg also unveiled a mural that will adorn a 60-foot wall between the entrance of the parking garage and the main entrance to the station.
O’Rourke, a strong proponent of art in public places, had asked Brightline officials to provide the artwork. They agreed and commissioned it from Boca Raton artist Ben Heller.
The focal point, Heller said, is a vintage city sign that will let passengers know they are arriving in Boca Raton.
The left side of the mural features an image of the golden dome on the city’s old town hall. An abstract rendition of The Boca Raton’s pink tower hotel building is on the right. White lines in the center connote train tracks, and a whimsical flamingo peeks out over the city sign.
“Thank you for your work,” O’Rourke said. “I appreciate the nod to history.
“Also it has the cool factor. I think you hit all the marks.”
“It is whimsical and fun and I think it is exactly what I would love to see here,” Mayotte said. “You know you are in Boca Raton.”

Scott Singer won a final three-year term as mayor when no candidates filed to run against him by the city’s Nov. 9 candidate qualifying deadline.
“I’m truly grateful for the support of so many and excited to continue the hard work to keep Boca Raton moving forward,” Singer said to voters in an email and on social media after the deadline passed.
Also winning office with no opposition was Fran Nachlas, a retired surgical nurse who will fill the council seat held by Andy Thomson, who resigned as of Nov. 7 to pursue an ultimately unsuccessful candidacy for the Florida House District 91 seat.
Council members praised Thomson during his final city meeting, crediting his ability to find solutions and his commonsense approach.
“It has been an honor and pleasure to be on the dais with you,” said council member Monica Mayotte. “I really appreciated your thoughts and perspective.”
With those two elections concluded, voters going to the polls for the nonpartisan March 14 municipal election will cast ballots only to replace Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke, who is term limited.

The candidates for Seat B are Marc Wigder, founder of Greenhouse Property Co. and co-founder of GreenSmith Builders, and Christen Ritchey, a partner at the Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas law firm where she specializes in family law matters.

— Mary Hladky

The high tide line along Delray's beach is visible in the early morning hours of Nov. 10. View is from the Casaurina Street beach entrance in Delray Beach. Photo provided by Louise Lafond

Water was receding, but still covered streets on the west side of Briny Breezes Nov. 10. Photo provided by Ruth Leming

 

 

Abigail Anderson FaceTimed her partner in New York to show off the wild waves in Gulf Stream on Nov. 10. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

 

 

 

Waves crashed against the rocks and on the beach in Gulf Stream on Nov. 10. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

 

 

 

Max Chiorean, of Boynton Beach, walked across the exposed rocks on Gulf Stream Beach with his surfboard on Nov. 10. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

 

 

North end of the seawall during high tide Nov. 10 at the Delray Beach Marina where Claudia Willis was standing in 1 foot of water. High tide was at 11 a.m. “I have never seen (the water) this high,” said Willis who has lived in the neighborhood for decades. Photo provided by Claudia Willis

 

 

Waves continue to cover Lantana's Beach and smash against the sea wall during sunrise on Nov. 10. Photo provided by Paula Romeo

 

 

Waves crash against a railing at the Imperial House in South Palm Beach on Nov. 10. Photo provided by Bonnie Fischer

 

 

A lifeguard stand on Delray Beach settles on a tilt caused by erosion to the dune on Nov. 10.
The city's well planted dune helped keep the ocean from going over the dune and onto A1A. Photo provided by Kari Shipley

 

A different angle shows yellow caution tape designating the tower as closed. There’s a two-foot drop to the beach, said Chris Heffernan, a resident and a beach walker. He took the photo on Nov. 10. and said The tower’s position was fine on Nov. 9, meaning that the beach erosion had occurred overnight. Photo provided by Chris Heffernan

 

 

 

The entrance to the Eau Palm Beach garage and Lantana city parking lot remained flooded on Nov. 10. Photo provided by Bonnie Fischer

 

Visitors photograph a partially collapsed set of stairs to the beach at the Lantana Beach seawall on Nov. 10. Photo provided by Bonnie Fischer

 

Sea Oats help to bind the sand and slow erosion at a dune crossover in Ocean Ridge. On Nov. 10, other crossovers without plantings, had lost steps and supports. Photo provided by Denise LeBlanc

 

 

Waves crash into stairs and a sea wall in Ocean Ridge during high tide. Photo provided by Denise Leblanc

Residents in Briny Breezes prepare to comply with Palm Beach County's mandatory evacuation order on the morning of Nov. 9. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A car stalls along Ocean Avenue in Ocean Ridge during high tide. Photo provided by Denise Leblanc

Cars inch through standing water along Ocean Avenue in Ocean Ridge. Photo provided by Denise Leblanc

A kayaker checks out the mobile homes on the west side of Briny Breezes during high tide. Joe Capozzi/The Coastal Star

A red jeep turns around in Ocean Plaza to avoid the flooding along East Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach on Nov. 9. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Vehicles moved slowly through a flooded section of East Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach on Nov. 9 that was due to rainfall brought by Tropical Storm Nicole. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Elias Reynolds of Delray Beach prepares to move a friend’s sailboat to higher ground on the north end of Delray Beach's public beach on Nov. 9. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Only a handful of sailboats on the north end of Delray's publice beach had been moved into the dunes around 10:00 a.m. on Nov. 9. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

The Intracoastal Waterway began to flood the dock and go above the sea wall at Barr Terrace Condominium in Delray Beach around 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 9. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Waves break over the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet in advance of Tropica Storm Nicole on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Haley Joyce

 Wind-whipped waters of the Lake Worth Lagoon near the Boynton Inlet wash across Island Drive in Ocean Ridge. Photo provided by Haley Joyce

Boynton Inlet Park looking west from the A1A bridge was under water at high tide on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Nadine Magee

The Atlantic Ocean is seen from the Clarendon condo in Highland Beach at noontime Nov. 9. While the ocean was turbulent, the winds were mostly less than 30 mph. There was less than an inch of rain. Photo provided by John Shoemaker

 

Water rises to porch level of a home along the marina in Briny Breezes during high tide on Nov. 9, but the lights stay on. Photo provided by Joanna Malin

Water rises along Sweetwater Lane in Boca Raton between Spanish River and Red Reef parks on the morning of Nov. 9. Photo provided by Joy Rebello

 

 Marine Way looking east toward the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach about noon Nov. 9. Water appeared to be coming up from the drains, which was expected because it was just two hours after high tide and influenced by the king tides and full moon. Photo provided by Claudia Willis

 

 

Waves washed away beach sand creating a ledge between Spanish River and Red Reef Parks in Boca Raton on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Joy Rebello

 

A truck pushes through standing water on A1A by Hammock Park, just south of the Sun Dek Resort in Ocean Ridge, on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Nadine Magee

 

 

An elevated pump sits between homes in Briny Breezes flooded during king tides on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Jim Connolly

 

 

A beach walker takes a photo of waves generated by Tropical Storm Nicole outside The Tamarind condo in Ocean Ridge on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Kim Marshall

 

 

Paul Pompeo (left) and The Tamarind manager, Joe Smaligo, close shutters in advance of Tropical Storm Nicole on Nov. 9 in Ocean Ridge. Photo provided by Kim Marshall

 

 

 

Ocean waves reach the steps at the Imperial House condo in South Palm Beach on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Bonnie Fischer

 

 

Water stands in the parking lot of The Palm Beach Villas on the Intracoastal Waterway in South Palm Beach during the king tide on Nov. 9. Photo provided by Bonnie Fischer

 

 

A motorist does the limbo to exit the flooded parking area in front of Eau Palm Beach in Manalapan. Tides pushed high by the storm and the moon flooded roadways and parking areas along the coast. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

 

 

Delray Beach police officers direct traffic after blocking off the Linton Boulevard Bridge to the barrier island ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole on Nov. 9. Evacuations were ordered for barrier islands the previous day. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

 

 

Parking lot of the Old Key Lime House is under water in advance of Hurricane Nicole in Lantana. Photo provided by Lisa English

 

 

Waves crash along the Lantana Beach sea wall on Nov. 9. Photo is looking toward the Eau Palm Beach from the Imperial House condo in South Palm Beach. Photo provided by Paula Romeo