The Plate: Key Lime Cone
The Place: Park Avenue BBQ & Grille, 1198 N. Dixie Highway, Boca Raton; 416-7427 or pabbqgrille.com
The Price: $4.50
The Skinny: We all love Key lime pie, right? After all, eating the tart, creamy confection is one of the perks of living in Florida.
But prepare a pie and the crust gets soggy after a few hours in the fridge.
Dean Lavallee, owner of Park Avenue, thinks he has a solution: Why not present the pie filling in a cone? That’s precisely what he has done with this dessert.
That way, you get Park Avenue’s tangy Key lime pie filling, a crispy cone crust and a healthy dose of whipped cream.
It’s good, if not good for you.
 And a fitting end to a meal of that tasty barbecue.
— Scott Simmons

Copperpoint Brewing Company is one of many local brewers that will benefit from the change in state regulations allowing for the sales of  ‘growlers.’ Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

So much for the 2015 regular session of the Florida Legislature. Like a bunch of alums watching an FSU-Florida football game, about the only thing our “elected leaders” could agree on was … beer.
You expected world peace? Not these folks. And it isn’t just Republicans versus Democrats. The term party unity has been deleted from the lexicon. The House of Representatives even had the unprecedented audacity to adjourn early, thereby dashing any hopes for responsible government.
Except when it came to beer. Ostensibly, the issue was the “growler,” basically a glass jug for toting beer. In the old days — 19th and early 20th centuries — every town had its brewpub and after a long day on the wharf or down in the mine, the old man who looked like Wallace Beery would send the kid who looked like Jackie Cooper to the corner bar to have the growler filled.
With Prohibition, which wiped out brewpubs, and followed by industrial brewing and 7-Elevens, growlers gave way to six-packs.
Now the trend is reversing. Senate Bill 186, which has been aging for several years, removed an arcane restriction that required Florida growlers to have capacities of less than 32 ounces or more than 128 — nothing in between.
Yes, it defied logic, but it was a constriction the major brewers loved. Now as brewpubs begin to sprout, those big growlers are becoming as essential as a prayer book to a Belgian monk.
To the 100-plus pubs now offering their brews around the state, other benefits may be far more significant.
“The bill also removed other restrictions!” said Matt Cox, owner and brew master at just-opened Copperpoint Brewing Company in Boynton Beach. “Not only can we now sell 64-ounce growlers, but we also no longer have to worry about what we can and can’t serve, such as beers from other breweries.”
On a recent night, a food truck with an Argentinian flavor was set up in front of Copperpoint, while customers inside sampled seven offerings with such enticing names as B. Rabbit, Truly Saison and A-10 Hophog. “The Truly Saison is named in honor of my grandmother,” Cox said, “and I named the A-10 in honor of a friend’s grandfather, who just died, who flew A-10 Warthogs.”
B. Rabbit is a coffee-infused stout, the java supplied by Rabbit Coffee Roasters in Riviera Beach. “It’s different,” Cox says with a smile, “but I can’t get over how well it’s selling.”

The timing of the bill’s passage couldn’t have been better for Mike Halker. As president of the Florida Brewers Guild, he played a major role in the legislative struggle, but as the force behind Due South Brewery, just a couple of blocks south of Copperpoint, he was in a party mood for other reasons. Due South, one of the area’s first microbreweries, just celebrated its third anniversary and was one of three area craft breweries to be featured in the latest season of Esquire Network’s Brew Dogs series, along with Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach and Funky Buddha in Boca Raton and Oakland Park.
Cheers.
           ***                              
A somewhat larger brewpub plans to open in Boca Raton by the end of the month. Tap 42, a Fort Lauderdale mainstay, is bringing its daily specials — Monday $5 Prohibition Burger, Wednesday Ladies’ Night, Saturday and Sunday Bottomless Brunches — and 50 craft beers to the Shops at Boca Center on Military Trail. It’s taking over the space formerly occupied by English Tap and Beer Garden.
                    ***                     
Elsewhere in the restaurant world, Buccan, Clay Conley’s Palm Beach hot spot, and El Camino Soul Food & Tequila in Delray Beach have landed on the Top 100 Hot Spot Restaurants in America list for 2015 from Open Table reservation service. Conley was noted for his sublime flavor combinations, while El Camino, part of Brandon Belluscio, Brian Albe and Anthony Pizzo’s Delray troika that includes Cut 432 and Park Tavern, earned high marks for its “street food” options and jumping bar.
Conley, meanwhile, has fallen into the pit — the barbecue pit — as a member of Lindsay Autry’s gang that will compete for the national title at the Cochon 555 pork-off June 20 in Aspen.
The dream team, which also includes Aaron Black from PB Catch, Isaac Cerny from Pistache in West Palm Beach and Tim Lipman from Coolinary Cafe in the Gardens, won a regional grilling in Miami Beach in April. Autry’s crew hails from all over, but she’ll keep the proper perspective: she’s from the Raleigh, N.C., suburb of Cary, in the heart of pit country.
                                          ***
El Camino’s Victor Meneses won’t have much opportunity to cool off, thanks to Patrick Broadhead and Erik Baker, who run the kitchen at Max’s Harvest. He’s among 16 area chefs who will go toque to toque every Wednesday for 15 weeks beginning June 17.
Chef vs. Chef is open to the public for a $10 donation that includes one beer, wine or cocktail, while food and beverages will be available at happy hour prices. Proceeds benefit the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club in Delray Beach.
The lineup: Meneses, Bill Ring, 32 East; Victor Franco, Oceans 234; Kelly Randall, The Office; James Strine, Cafe Boulud; Jarod Higgins, Cut 432; Chris Miracolo, S3; Aaron Goldberg, Bogarts; Ben Burger, Burt & Max’s; Blake Malesta, 50 Ocean; Che Frey, Henry’s; Danielle Herring, Rebel House; John Thomas, Tryst; Eric Grutka, Ian’s Tropical Grill; Bruce Feingold, Dada; and Adam Brown, The Cooper. For more info, call Max’s Harvest at 381-9970.
                          ***              
Despite its name change, Eau Palm Beach remains a ritzy place, and management intends to keep it that way with new Executive Chef Josh Thomsen and Chef de Cuisine Manlee Siu, whom Thomsen considers the “best ingredient” in his kitchen. Both come from Agricola in Princeton, N.J. And wouldn’t you know it, they arrive just as Thomsen’s new cookbook, Agricola Cooking, hits the shelves.
In kitchens for 23 years, the CIA grad is a member of the James Beard Foundation and StarChefs named him a “Rising Star” in the San Francisco Bay area in 2010.
                                          ***
Across A1A, Plaza del Mar will soon be home to a hot dog and sausage spot with Windy City roots. Fat Papa’s will set up shop at the west end of the center and should be open for business in late summer or early autumn.
                                          ***
Bigger news for Plaza del Mar is the arrival of the Palm Beaches Theatre and more significantly the Palm Beach International Film Festival, which has taken over the old Plaza Theatre/Florida Stage space. Its first program will be a cancer awareness weekend, June 4 to 7, offering four films, all at 7 p.m.
A Woman Like Me (June 4) won a special jury award for best documentary at the SXSW festival in Texas. Sean Penn narrates The Human Experiment (June 5) about unseen carcinogens and the activists fighting them. Helen Hunt stars in Decoding Annie Parker (June 6), which opened the 2013 Palm Beach festival. The mini-fest closes June 7 with the international premiere of My Big Fat Cancer Wedding, an Israeli film. For tickets, $15 per show ($5 donated to The Pap Corps, Champions for Cancer Research), call 362-0003.
The cancer weekend is the first offering from Jeff Davis, new chairman of the Film Festival board, who has come in like gangbusters. Skeptics, however, wonder if the story will have a “dead end kids” denouement. A Boca Raton resident, Davis works primarily as a producer, his credits including Rock of Ages, starring Tom Cruise in 2012, and the more recent Scavenger Killers, Pray for Us Sinners and Price for Freedom in post-production.
His first overt act was to fire festival Executive Director Randi Emerman, who claims she learned of the dismissal from a friend and was later formally notified by an attorney representing Davis. She also says she is due about $150,000 in back pay.
Other board members, including longtime festival supporter and its secretary and treasurer George Elmore, say Davis has some explaining to do.
                                          ***
Speaking of Manalapan, the other source of entertainment in the area is conspicuously more subdued. Robert Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, will not go to jail for burglarizing a house next to his latest project home on Hypoluxo Island or for flying in restricted airspace.
For several months, on the east bank of the Intracoastal Waterway just north of the Lantana bridge, the “Iceman” renovated a house for his popular cable show The Vanilla Ice Project.
The house next door was under foreclosure, and at some point several items disappeared including furniture, a pool heater and bicycles. Lantana police investigated and recovered some of the missing pieces at the Ice house.
Van Winkle was booked on burglary charges, posted $6,000 bond and claimed it was a misunderstanding. Several weeks later, he reached a plea agreement that called for a $100 fine and 100 hours of community service and no adjudication of guilt.
A month later, he made news again. To “top off” the house and wrap the show’s fifth season, Van Winkle arrived via floatplane.
Oops. Several 911 callers feared a plane had crashed in the Intracoastal. Responding Lantana police and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue found only a grinning Iceman, who was shuttled to the shore via Jet Ski.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided the touchdown in a prohibited area was “accidental.” Instead of a $90 citation for landing in a “boater safety zone,” the pilot was given a severe tongue-lashing.
                                          ***
His billion-dollar boat shows are the rage but instead of dropping anchor in Miami, Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III chose Delray Beach, closing in mid-April on a modest home south of Linton on an Intracoastal lagoon.
Son of the late TV star Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (77 Sunset Strip, The F.B.I.), Skip elected to follow a corporate path, earning a Harvard MBA, working his way up the ladder to chief financial officer at publishing giant Times Mirror. From there it was chairman of Active Interest Media, one of the world’s largest enthusiast media companies that includes the boat-show-producing Show Management.
The Delray house might seem modest for a guy whose businesses bring in about $200 million a year. For $1.9 million he got 5,000 square feet, five bedrooms, five baths and garage space for three on a quarter-acre lot with dock space barely adequate for a small Boston Whaler. It does, however, offer a convenient hangout, close to Show Management’s headquarters in Lauderdale, but not too close.
                           ***              
Up in Lake Worth, something crazy is always on display at CGMS Gallery, now located in the Flamingo Clay Studio at 15 S. J St. But the exhibit running from June 19 to July 2 could be the wildest yet.
“We have had more early response to this show than any one we have done before,” CGMS’ Joyce Brown said of the upcoming “Shoe Fetish/Foot Fetish” exhibit. Could be anything from a Zarathustrian zori to Aristophanean cothurni.
                                          ***
Finally, at the annual meeting of Boca-based GEO Group at the Boca Resort and Club on the last day of April, shareholders learned that the company continues to make big bucks and the Florida state employees pension fund has even bought its stock.
But that did little to boost the spirits of an estimated 100 protesters trying to call attention to the for-profit prison company’s treatment of inmates.
One facility in Karnes County, Texas, about 50 miles southeast of San Antonio, provides, according to GEO’s website, “a safe, clean, and family friendly environment for families under the care of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
Actually, they are immigrants seeking political asylum and just before Easter, 40 mothers at Karnes refused to eat GEO food, complained about their living conditions and the poor quality of food provided their children. Some complained that guards threatened retaliation against the group’s leaders.
At the meeting, Alex Friedman asked about the hunger strike. He is a GEO shareholder and also serves as associate director of the Lake Worth-based Human Rights Defense Center.
The response, from an unnamed GEO official: It was not a hunger strike, it was a “boycott of dining facilities.”
Of course, they can’t just walk down the street to the nearest McDonald’s at the detention center (a euphemism for a prison).
Had plans come to pass two years ago, motorists on Interstate 95 could have seen GEO in big letters on both sides of the expressway — the GEO building to the west and Florida Atlantic University’s football stadium or the east.
The GEO stadium-naming proposal was withdrawn, but the hubbub cost FAU President Mary Jane Saunders her job. GEO boss George Zoley, an FAU grad, served on the school’s board of trustees for seven years.

Correction
In the May Around Town column we mentioned Loomis Chaffee School in New York. It is not hyphenated and is in Windsor, Conn.


Reach Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach could soon own the Artists Alley warehouses after its Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed in late May to send a letter of intent to purchase the property.
The four warehouses occupy 32,636 square feet of space in Pineapple Grove, creating an arts enclave and a popular destination.
“Our financial situation is up in the air,” said board member Paul Zacks. “I’d rather solve blight than create funkiness.” He was objecting to the $3.5 million the agency would borrow if the owner accepted the deal.
Even so, commissioners voted 6-0 to send the letter, after hearing from their attorney it was nonbinding. Commissioner Annette Gray left the meeting at the midway point before the vote.
Last fall, when the warehouses went into foreclosure, the city considered creating an overlay zoning district to preserve the studio spaces. The city was concerned that it would lose the synergy generated over time by having active artists if the next owner wanted to develop that space.
In February, the lender, LNR Property LLC of Miami, took control of the warehouses for a recorded $3.66 million.
The City Commission discussed the warehouses in April, noting that the zoning overlay district could be done only if the property were owned by the city.
The City Commission discussed the importance of artists to the city and added that the CRA has a major investment in the area. It also owns a 15,007-square-foot warehouse directly south of the Artists Alley warehouses. The agency has submitted plans to renovate the project, which is called the Arts Warehouse. The agency paid $1.1 million for the warehouse in February 2010. Its commissioners approved by a vote of 6-0 May 28 to hire an Arts Warehouse manager.
To buy the Artists Alley warehouses, the agency would need to take out a loan, which the City Commission would need to approve.
If it bought the warehouses, the agency then would hire a property management company to oversee the space and tenants while it develops a proposal for  developers. The proposal would  contain the affordable artist space, artist lofts and other art-related uses, which could include incentives for the developer in terms of residential uses.

 By Dan Moffett
 
      After months of telling South Palm Beach residents he was committed to building an architectural jewel where the dilapidated Oceanfront Inn now stands, developer Gary Cohen has quietly put the site up for sale. Cohen purchased the property in October 2012.
      The chief executive officer of Paragon Acquisition Group has listed the beleaguered property with HFF commercial real estate brokers in Miami. An ad calls it the “last remaining ocean development opportunity on the island” and says the town has signed off on a building plan.

     At times, though, the ad gets a little vague about the town and where the property is located. “Nestled on the cusp at which Palm Beach and the uber-exclusive enclave of Manalapan meet, the Site lies at the epicenter of wealth in South Florida,” the ad says.
      New Town Manager Jim Pascale thinks the developer’s reversal offers an opportunity. What if South Palm Beach bought the property from Cohen and turned it into a park?
      “If we want to view the town as more than a wintertime retreat,” Pascale says, “then the governing body should look at investing in amenities that make it a year-round community.”
      Amenities like a park. He says the Town Council should consider getting financing claiming the town’s last piece of open space.
      After 90 days on the job, Pascale has other ideas he wants to run by residents, mostly in the form of questions.

      Some examples:
      “Should South Palm Beach consider regulating property rentals?”
      “Do we need a full-time police department?” Would residents be better off if the town contracted for police services with outside agencies?
      And perhaps most intriguing, as the town prepares to mark its 60th anniversary later this year, should it consider calling itself quits?
      “Is the continued existence of South Palm Beach in the best interests of its property owners?” That’s right, should there even be a South Palm Beach? Would residents be better off if they were annexed into another town or left unincorporated?
      “I know this is kind of a neutron bomb item,” Pascale said. “I’m very aware of the reaction, but this is about doing what’s best for the residents and improving the community.”
      Not surprisingly, Pascale has caused a relatively significant stir among the condo dwellers in a relatively short period of time.
      “I realize this could be controversial, and the reaction has run the gamut,” he says. “I’d say it’s been mixed at best. Some have loved an idea. Some have hated it.”
      Pascale will get the chance to air his ideas in detail during a special town workshop scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 4. Public comment is invited, and plenty of it is expected.
      Before taking the South Palm Beach job in January, Pascale worked 30 years in municipal government in Princeton, N.J., where an Ivy League community relished public debate about most anything. How that Princeton approach will work on A1A is another open question.
      “Some of the things might be a little out-of-the-box controversial and get people upset,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello. “Some people will say some of these ideas are ridiculous. He’s getting some are-you-kidding-me responses but he’s looking at things with fresh eyes, and we need to consider what he’s saying.”
      Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan put it this way: “It’s important that everyone comes to the workshop, and that they come with open minds and open thoughts.”
      Pascale wouldn't mind if Gary Cohen showed up, too.

Note: The June 4 special meeting will happen after The Coastal Star deadline. Although delivery will begin on June 5, our reporting of the meeting will not be available in print until our July edition. Please check www.thecoastalstar.ning.com for our reporting on the June meeting.

By Teresa Bono

When you’ve done as many good deeds as Farm Sanctuary President, Gene Baur, you’re bound to get a good karmic return. So when the Dietary Council Association 2015 report endorsed a plant-based diet for better health and a greener planet six weeks before the release of Baur’s cookbook “Living The Farm Sanctuary Life”, vegans across the country rejoiced on social media. 

Getting the feds endorsement was the big kahuna and in a matter of hours, Baur’s book climbed the Amazon charts, securing the top spot in the Animal Rights category and getting as high as number 11 overall following his interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. A month later, it’s still thriving. Not too shabby considering there’s nearly 10 million available titles.

Despite being a little late to class, government researchers were unequivocal in their recommendations. A plant-based diet will dramatically reduce the incidence of obesity, diabetes and chronic disease and create a much smaller carbon footprint. 

To this Baur adds a few mind-blowing details like the fact that animal agriculture requires more than half the water used in this country, and that it contributes more to climate change than the entire transportation industry. Even health care costs could be reduced by as much as 70% if people shifted away from meat and toward fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and seeds. 

But what about the animals whose horrific existences are hidden from the general population, even made light of with misleading photos of animals frolicking in green pastures? What about the diabolical realities of factory farming where cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats and sheep live lives of unspeakable brutality  crammed in pens and pumped with hormones, separated from their young and then slaughtered without an ounce of compassion?

Gene Baur calls these animals his friends and they’re his immediate and primary concern. For those lucky farm animals who miraculously escape execution and find their way to Farm Sanctuary, love always awaits. They’re pampered by Baur and his staff, allowed to roll in the mud, run through the fields, make human and animal friends and get belly rubs. They go from being identified by the number branded on their skin or tagged on their wing or ear to an actual name. And now they even have their photo in a hot-selling vegan cookbook.

Baur’s mainstream credentials are impressive; Ironman triathlete, Ivy League grad, bestselling author, but what makes him truly extraordinary is the impact he’s had on legislation that directly affects how farm animals are treated. He’s testified at the local, state and federal levels and has been instrumental in the passage of animal protection ordinances banning veal crates, gestation crates, battery cages and the sale of foie gras in multiple states. He’s been featured on ABC, NBC and CNN for his expertise and called “The Conscience of the Food Movement” by Time Magazine. 

And his cookbook, which features recipes from the best vegan restaurants in the country, is pretty great too.

Gene Baur will be at Darbsters Restaurant, 6299 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday, May 12. Tickets are $50 and include a seminar by Baur, a vegan buffet and an opportunity to purchase his book. 

By Dan Moffett

 On a 4-1 vote May 4, Ocean Ridge commissioners decided the town should enter the court case and oppose the recall movement against Commissioner Richard Lucibella.
 Town Attorney Ken Spillias told the commission he had examined the recall petitions and believed “they were not legally sufficient.”
 But a bill from Lucibella’s attorney, Sidney Calloway, was more persuasive. Calloway says he’s run up $30,000 in legal expenses so far, and the town could get stuck with some or all of those fast-growing charges if it stays on the sidelines and the recall effort dies in court.
 Commissioner James Bonfiglio told commissioners the town would have no leverage to protect its interests and be little more than “a cheerleader from the peanut gallery” if it didn’t get involved.
 Mayor Geoffrey Pugh agreed. “Morally, the town has an obligation to intervene and do this,” he said.
 The Lucibella case has a trial date set for Wednesday, May 6,  beginning at 10:30 a.m., when Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Keyser will hear arguments over whether the petitions are legally valid.
 Commissioner Lynn Allison, who voted against the town’s intervention, said she believed commissioners should have stayed out of the case until after the trial. “I think we should have waited for the judge’s decision,” she said.

By Mary Hladky

The New Mizner on the Green “ultra-luxury” condo project has a new name, a new architect and a completely new look.

 The project’s prominent “starchitect” Daniel Libeskind, whose list of credits includes the original master plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, is out. West Palm Beach-based architectural firm Garcia Stromberg is in.

 City officials and activists who have been told about the changes have not yet seen renderings and can’t recall the project’s new name. But they said the developer, Elad National Properties, has followed through on its assurances in January of significant downsizing.

 Gone are original plans for four towers, with the tallest reaching 30 stories, that had stirred outcry from residents who do not want high-rises in the downtown.

 Instead, six steel-and-glass buildings are envisioned. Four will rise as high as 160 feet, the maximum allowed under interim design guidelines for a portion of downtown. But that will still be more than the 120-foot limit in place at the project’s location on nine acres on Southeast Mizner Boulevard near the Boca Raton Resort & Club, and the developer would need approval from the city.

 The two other “live and work” buildings would be shorter.

 “It is not the same architecture at all” as the Libeskind design, said Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie.

 It is not clear when Elad will unveil its new plans, although some city activists expect that to happen soon.

 Garcia Stromberg chief executive Jorge Garcia declined comment and referred questions to Bill Shewalter, Elad’s senior executive officer. Shewalter also declined comment, saying only that “we have no plans in front of the city” at present.

 Garcia Stromberg’s Boca Raton projects include One Thousand Ocean condos, the Boca Raton Beach Club and renovations of the Boca Raton Hotel.

 Ann Witte, a financial and economic consultant who is on the board of BocaWatch.org, a city watchdog website, said one concern is that the views of owners in some existing buildings would be blocked by the new project.

 “We will work with (the developer) so the project impacts neighboring landowners as little as possible,” said Witte, who lives in Townsend Place condos, which would be affected. She wants the city to limit the height to 120 feet for all six buildings.

 Antonia Gore, a Townsend Place resident who is active in BocaWatch.org and the newly-formed BocaBeautiful.org, thinks Elad’s plan all along may have been to first propose high-rises and then scale back in hopes of getting city approval for the height now proposed.

 “Everyone would have a sigh of relief” upon seeing the shorter buildings, she said. “That is probably what they are hoping.”

By Tao Woolfe

The Palm Beach County property appraiser's staff is still crunching numbers, so the specific municipal increases in property taxes for 2015 are not yet available. But Property Appraiser Gary R. Nikolits, spoke about the general upwards trend in real estate transactions and tax revenues at a recent city manager's luncheon.

Overall, he said, there will be a 5-10% increase in taxable values throughout Palm Beach County. There is an expected 22.7% increase in new construction, rising from $1.54 billion to $1.89 billion. More new commercial construction projects are expected before June 1.

Residential real estate sales continue to increase but not as quickly as anticipated.  In fact, there has been a drop in deed transfers for the first three months of the year, he said. Overall sales transactions countywide are expected to increase from about 78,000 to 80,000.

“There is still a lot of speculative buying by big interests in the residential market,” he said. “Single-family homes are being bought by investment groups. Income on the appreciation and rental income streams make this viable.”

He added that purchasing by individual homeowners will increase in 2015 because banks are freeing up restrictions on mortgages and the job situation is improving. This is tempered, however, by owners’ reluctance to sell until property values increase and the fact that many mortgages are still under water.

By Tim Pallesen

Delray Beach has dropped out of a lawsuit to determine how cities pay for the county Inspector General’s Office.
“The Inspector General has been instrumental in helping us focus on best practices,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said in explaining the City Commission’s unanimous April 6 vote. “This sends a signal that we appreciate what they have done for us.”
The Inspector General has acted like an external auditor for the city since Glickstein and Commissioner Shelly Petrolia were elected in 2013 promising more fiscal responsibility in city government.
The lawsuit by Delray Beach and 13 other municipalities was filed after county voters approved the Inspector General’s Office as a watchdog agency in 2010.
Circuit Judge Catherine Brunson ruled against the cities on March 12, emphasizing that she didn’t want to overturn what voters want.
Delray Beach would pay $150,000 annually under the disputed funding formula. City commissioners said the watchdog agency is well worth that cost.
The 13 remaining municipalities still appealing the circuit court ruling include Gulf Stream, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Boca Raton and Highland Beach.
Unlike Delray Beach, support to stay in the lawsuit was strong by officials in those coastal towns.
“The judge’s ruling is just the first step,” Manalapan Town Attorney Keith Davis said. “I don’t think anyone truly believed this would be settled at the lower level. It was always going to the appellate court.”
Davis, who also represents four other Palm Beach County municipalities, said the coalition still thinks the law is on its side — a belief echoed by Ocean Ridge Town Attorney Ken Spillias.
“The judge did not take anything from either of the orders from either side in this case,” Spillias said. “She made her own order and, at least in the opinion of the attorneys for the cities, she made a significant legal error.”
Spillias advised Ocean Ridge commissioners to stay in the suit, saying the ruling’s precedent could shift the balance of power and cause problems for cities in the future.
“Our specific concern is that this decision reconfigures the relationship between counties and cities,” Spillias said. “It shifts a significant amount of power to the counties that they have not had before.”
Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger cautioned commissioners not to misinterpret Delray Beach’s withdrawal from the lawsuit.
“Delray’s decision was very particular to Delray,” Ganger said. “It shouldn’t change what we’re trying to accomplish. We need to stay in.”

By Dan Moffett

Lawyers for the town of Gulf Stream are having a good spring, winning three court rulings in cases raised by Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare, the town’s litigious duo.
Meanwhile, Town Manager William Thrasher says his early budget estimates call for setting aside $800,000 to cover the town’s rising legal costs during the next year, and commissioners are planning a special budget workshop to update taxpayers on all that’s going on.
The rulings that broke Gulf Stream’s way in recent weeks were:
• Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Jessica Ticktin denied O’Boyle’s complaint that the town was violating state law by charging too much for filling public records requests.
O’Boyle had accused the town of inflating the price of copying documents and passing on unreasonable fees to citizens, deterring the public from accessing information. The judge was unconvinced and ruled that O’Boyle was not overcharged for his records requests, and the town had lived up to its statutory obligations.
According to Ticktin, O’Boyle “has shown neither the demonstrated pattern of noncompliance nor the likelihood of future violations.”
• Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Peter Blanc denied O’Hare’s attempt to have attorney Robert Sweetapple disqualified from representing the town against him.
O’Hare had argued that, when he lived in Ocean Ridge in 1998, he hired Sweetapple to represent him in a code dispute with the town. O’Hare claimed that Sweetapple had “private, confidential” information about him that could be damaging now in his suits against Gulf Stream.
Blanc ruled against O’Hare, saying he did not prove that Sweetapple’s work in Ocean Ridge was “substantially related” to the current cases against Gulf Stream. The judge said the lawyer hasn’t done anything in his recent work to compromise the outcome in Ocean Ridge.
“No actions by Attorney Sweetapple on behalf of the Town (of Gulf Stream) in this case would involve attacking any work previously done for Plaintiff,” Blanc wrote in his decision. He also said that O’Hare had failed to prove his claim that Sweetapple had sensitive information that could hurt him.
• In a summary judgment in federal court, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed O’Boyle’s claim that the town violated his constitutional rights by removing his campaign signs from public areas when he ran for Town Commission in 2014. O’Boyle claimed that the town’s sign code infringed on free speech and violated the First Amendment.
After the election, the town rewrote its sign code in an attempt to make it more content neutral and clarify restrictions. Middlebrooks found that nothing in the town’s previous sign code “reflected an aversion to political speech.” The judge ruled that the town’s restrictions on signs were reasonable.
“The town’s general size and location limitations on political signs advanced its interests in lessening street congestion, providing adequate light and air, and preventing the overcrowding of land,” he wrote. The judge said the courts have ruled that towns have a duty to keep streets open and orderly.
“By allowing O’Boyle to place his political signs on private property,” Middlebrooks wrote, “the Old Sign Code left open adequate alternative channels of communication.”
Commissioners unanimously approved Town Attorney John Randolph’s request that the town cover a $50,000 insurance deductible for its attorneys. O’Boyle is suing Randolph, Mayor Scott Morgan, Sweetapple and Joanne O’Connor, an associate of Randolph at the Jones, Foster, Johnston and Stubbs law firm. The town’s insurance carrier has refused to cover the attorneys, so they will use coverage under Randolph’s firm.
“In my opinion, it’s our obligation to protect our lawyers,” Morgan said.
Earlier this year, commissioners approved covering a $25,000 insurance deductible for Sweetapple.
The commission has scheduled a budget workshop, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on May 13, to discuss the long-range implications of the rising legal costs.
In other business, commissioners decided to defer action on developer Thomas Laudani’s plans to build two houses at 3424 N. Ocean Blvd., until he presents new design plans.
Morgan criticized Laudani’s proposal to begin construction because the architecture of the two houses was too similar. Laudani developed the old Spence estate, and commissioners have said they don’t want a repeat of that project.

Louise Mirkin poses in front of a portrait of The Faulk Center founder, Dr. Elizabeth H. Faulk. Faulk, the first woman to receive a doctorate in psychology from the University of Florida, established a successful private practice in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

As a newsletter and publications editor for the American Hospital Association over the course of more than two decades, Louise Mirkin spent much of her time dealing with details.
Although she managed a staff as she worked her way up the organization’s ladder to become manager of editorial services, Mirkin’s focus was always more on facts and figures than on dealing with people.
“I never thought of myself as much of a people person,” she said. “I was kind of afraid to show a lot of emotion.”
Then, after retiring from the industry she spent a quarter century in, Mirkin began volunteering in the intensive-care waiting room at a hospital near her Chicago home.
“When I got away from chasing commas, I found out that I really was a people person and that I had a lot of compassion for people,” she said.
Now a resident of Highland Beach, Mirkin, 76, taps into that compassion every Monday, volunteering as a group facilitator at the Faulk Center for Counseling in Boca Raton.
In that role, Mirkin works with another facilitator and two group leaders who have credentials in psychology, social work or mental health counseling to help guide the discussion during hour-and-a-half sessions.
During the course of her 13 years at Faulk Center, Mirkin has honed her skills through hands-on experience and the continuing weekly training facilitators receive.
This month the Faulk Center and similar organizations around the country will be celebrating National Mental Health month by sharing stories of volunteers like Mirkin and by spreading the word that mental health is something everyone should care about.
For Mirkin, being part of the Faulk Center’s facilitation team and having the opportunity to help others is one more way to harness the empathy and sensitivity she didn’t show for many years.
It’s also something very personal, since Mirkin dealt with her own issues and benefited from the help of others after being diagnosed as clinically depressed while still a child.
“I was helped when I was younger,” she said. “I never thought I would be able to help other people in this way.”
What keeps Mirkin coming back Monday after Monday is the satisfaction she gets in seeing members of the group she works with help each other work through the issues they bring with them.
“It’s very rewarding when you see changes over time,” she said. “A good day is when I feel that people have connected with one another and are able to make progress with their concerns.”
Being a facilitator, Mirkin will tell you, requires patience and empathy.
“You have to be able to put yourself in another person’s shoes,” she said.
Mirkin says she also enjoys being a part of the Faulk Center family and working with the staff and graduate students who help provide clients with mental health services through a variety of free and low-cost programs.
Until recently, Mirkin also served as the editor of the center’s newsletter, using the skills she developed during her career.
“Being a part of the Faulk Center is very important to me,” she says.
Those who work with her say Mirkin is very valuable to the center.
“Louise really embodies what you hope for in a volunteer,” says Holly Katz, the center’s clinical and training director. “She’s the first one to raise her hand and is willing to do anything we need.”
Katz says Mirkin also has the skills to be an outstanding facilitator.
“She’s a good listener and she always wants to do better,” Katz said.
To find out more about the Faulk Center, visit faulkcenterforcounseling.org.

Let me say up front that this is not about the former Ocean Ridge police chief. It is not even about what led up to his more-than-$80,000 settlement with the town. This is about the right of taxpayers to know how the government they support operates.
    It should be simple: File a public records request and get a copy of the records within a reasonable amount of time, with a bill for expenses the town incurred fulfilling the request.
    Instead, a public records request filed by this newspaper in January has run into a roadblock: It seems our request cannot be fulfilled without a lawsuit being filed.
    Filing a lawsuit to get records has become so ubiquitous — consider the litigious situation in Gulf Stream — we decided to pursue these records without legal representation. It seemed like a simple request.
    All we wanted to see was a timeline of town communications leading up to the police chief’s resignation.
    I’ve worked at newspapers for most of my career and this sort of request is not uncommon. What appears to have changed in recent years is that 1) newspapers that can afford legal help no longer devote the resources to covering small towns, and 2) contracts for services have been agreed to that appear to make compliance with Florida’s records act difficult, if not impossible.
    In the case of our request for telephone logs, we discovered that Lantana, Manalapan and Ocean Ridge have contracted with phone carriers that either do not capture a log of local calls or require a subpoena before they will provide a log of any local calls.
    I’m guessing the decision makers of these towns didn’t consider this inability to get records from their carriers to be a public records concern when they entered into these contracts. And although it’s hard to imagine, they must have felt they would have no need to know who is calling their employees or what local calls their employees might be making while in the office.
Residents of Lantana, Manalapan and Ocean Ridge should demand that new contracts with their phone carrier be negotiated as soon as possible.        

Think about it: How many situations can you think of where knowledge of the source, timing and frequency of calls into and out of a town hall might shed light on decisions that impact its citizens? I doubt I’m the only taxpayer who believes this information should be a public record.
    I’ve been in touch with records experts in private practice and with the First Amendment Foundation and all agree that a provision in Florida Statute 119.0701 explains that a private company providing services on behalf of a public agency must comply with the requirements of the public records law.
But apparently, it’s not that simple. Ocean Ridge’s town attorney, Ken Spillias, cites case law outlining when a private entity under contract with a public agency falls within the purview of the Public Records Act.
In the case of these three towns, he maintains the law says the phone carriers do not, and adds, “If a party believes that determination to be incorrect the proper action would be to file a lawsuit against the carriers since they are the creators and custodians of those documents.”
    Right back to square one: the filing of lawsuits. Sigh.
    What seemed like a straightforward request for public records has turned into a tedious four-month process involving attorneys, hourlong calls to telephone carriers, email exchanges with public record experts and bad jokes about The Coastal Star being “the enemy” of the town and its elected officials.
    We are not the enemy. We are citizens and taxpayers. Our request was not extreme or malicious. Access to public records is not a joke.
    As taxpayers, you have the right to know how the government you support operates. Demand it.
— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

By Jane Smith

The Winn-Dixie grocery store’s absence from Riverwalk Plaza cleared the way for the center’s owner to plan a better use of the nearly 10-acre property. The 119,199-square-foot shopping center sits along Woolbright Road, from Federal Highway to nearly the Intracoastal Waterway, in Boynton Beach.
“It will be a mixed-use project of residential and retail space,” said Brahm Scoler, leasing vice president for Isram Realty Group, which bought the property for $9.5 million in March 2011.
“We just got control of the Winn-Dixie space,” he said in mid-April. “There are a bunch of moving parts, tenants that have to be moved into another space.”
Scoler declined to discuss details about the proposed project, saying it was in the preliminary stages and “we are working with the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) about what will be allowed there.”
But Baruch Cohen, Isram’s chief operating officer, did show preliminary drawings to his neighbor, the owner of the Prime Catch restaurant. That family company owns a triangular-shaped swath of land on the east side of Riverwalk Plaza.
“They have said they would like to create a project that will complement our existing restaurant,” said Prime Catch owner Luke Therien. The upscale seafood restaurant is approaching its 11th anniversary there in June.
“We believe if the center is planned and designed properly, it could be a benefit to this section of Boynton Beach.”
Therien described Riverwalk as a “very old center, very antiquated and not the best use of that property. Boats going by look at the backside of the center. Now with the Winn-Dixie gone, it’s partially empty.”
The colored drawings he saw depicted buildings of five or six stories, Therien said. His request to hold on to them was denied. His company owns the land to the waterfront and he thinks a business arrangement with Isram can be worked out to provide access to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Isram Realty bought the center from Woolbright Development in a short sale, meaning the owner owed more money than the property was worth. Woolbright had paid $16 million in April 2007 and taken out a $14.75 million mortgage on the shopping center site and a vacant 3.3-acre parcel behind it. Isram’s $9.5 million purchase included that vacant piece of land.
Isram will have to get the property rezoned and have its land use changed.
Boynton Beach has four levels of mixed-use zoning, according to its Development Director Nancy Byrne. At the highest level, the developer would be able to request 80 units per acre and have a 15-story building.
The 500 Ocean project, on a parcel slightly less than 5 acres, received approval for 341 units in five- and six-story buildings.
Isram will have to do a traffic study because it is requesting a land-use change from commercial to partial residential, Byrne said.
That study would please Kristine DeHaseth, executive director of the Florida Coalition for Preservation.
The nonprofit group is concerned about quality of life and environmental issues created by continued development of South Florida’s barrier islands and coastal communities.
She points out that Boynton Beach Fire Rescue station No. 4 houses the first responders for the southern half of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.
“The goal is to protect the response time of the fire rescue workers,” she said.

SOURCE: PBC Property Appraiser. Graphic by Bruce Borich/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

Developer William Swaim wants Ocean Ridge to create an access road to property he wants to buy in the mangrove-filled lagoon behind Town Hall.
Residents along the quarter-mile stretch of Intracoastal waterfront are for the most part horrified, fearing the road could lead to development that ruins their pristine harbor.
“We’re against this because of the environmental destruction it would cause,” says Nadine Magee, who lives in the Wellington Arms condominium. “He has to be stopped. The more opposition, the better.”
Jeff Eder, who owns a house and two lots on North Ocean Boulevard north of Town Hall, felt so strongly about preventing development that he paid $20,000 last year to buy a mangrove-rich parcel in the lagoon, hoping to  block the path of Swaim’s road.
“From a business perspective, it’s genius if you can do it,” Eder says of Swaim’s plan. “You take a piece of waterfront property and connect it to the outside world. The damage it does to a natural wetland is something else.”
Even Swaim’s staunchest opponents, however, allow that his chances of actually building anything in the lagoon are remote. Going forward would require getting permits from a long list of federal, state and local agencies that have a long history of protecting mangroves at all costs.
“I’m not trying to pull any tricks or anything,” Swaim says. “Nothing will be done without permits, and anything that needs to be complied with will be complied with. I’m just trying to follow the process.”
For the last year, his plan for the access road has been stuck at the South Florida Water Management District. His argument to the SFWMD is that he deserves an exemption because the mangroves don’t belong in the lagoon. The area was originally a freshwater marsh, he says, and the mangroves only started growing there decades ago after the Army Corps of Engineers cleared out the area for mosquito control.
“There’s really not that much mangrove impact,” says Swaim, who says he only wants to develop one single-family home on one lot. “The area behind city hall is actually classified as a ‘dead muck zone’ by the county.”
The SFWMD has countered by arguing that the area has always been a natural wetland, worthy of protection, whether there were mangroves or not. And the mangroves grew in on their own, and they’re there now.
Ultimately, an administrative law judge in Tallahassee will have to decide which opinion prevails — likely sometime later this year. Ocean Ridge town commissioners have been withholding their opinions until Swaim and the SFWMD come to some sort of resolution.
The commissioners got their first look at Swaim’s plan in May 2014 when he reminded them about the 50-foot public road and utility easement that was never vacated when the new Town Hall was constructed.
Town Attorney Ken Spillias said that access to the properties behind the building has been a looming issue since the $4 million Town Hall was completed in 2008.
Swaim proposed that the town grant a 15-foot public easement on the south property line along the existing 15-foot alley, and also a 30-foot easement running the entire western boundary of the property.
Swaim told the commission he had a contract to buy two parcels located west and north of Town Hall and needed the access so he could apply for permits.
Commissioners unanimously approved a motion last May that ordered town staff to research the implications of Swaim’s plan. The town has been waiting to hear how he fares with the SFWMD ever since.
Swaim formed Waterfront ICW Properties last year as a Boynton Beach-based limited liability corporation. But his history with tree disputes goes back much further. In 1992, the city of Delray Beach fined him $7,500 for moving banyan trees without a permit while developing a north-end waterfront project. In 1991, Palm Beach County officials fined him for removing mangroves from another Delray Beach site.
Eder, an orthodontist, admits that the chances of Swaim developing the lagoon are remote.
“I honestly really don’t believe it can get off the ground,” Eder says. “His hope is that some judge that doesn’t know any better gives him an exemption. If that happens, then all bets are off.”

Ocean Ridge police officer Richard Jones stops in Briny Breezes to talk with Judy Dugan and her dog Rudy.  Jones recently suggested that Briny might be served by a bicycle patrol to allow for easier movement in the community and promote more interaction with residents. The bicycle, including flashing lights and siren, was purchased with community donations.  Ocean Ridge provides police services to Briny Breezes on a contract basis.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge town commissioners have decided they already have their best police chief candidate in uniform.
The Town Commission unanimously approved interim Chief Hal Hutchins as the permanent choice on April 6 and abandoned plans to advertise the position or consider outside candidates.
“It’s not a matter of not advertising,” said Vice Mayor Lynn Allison. “I just don’t think we can find anyone better for the job.”
Hutchins took over as acting chief in January when Chris Yannuzzi was forced to resign after a dispute with Commissioner Richard Lucibella.
A 10-year veteran in the town’s department, the former lieutenant has won praise for improving morale and shifting emphasis to more community-oriented policing in recent weeks.
“We used to have a morale problem,” said Commissioner Gail Adams Aaskov. “With Hal, we don’t have it anymore.”
Town Manager Ken Schenck says that Hutchins’ previous experience as a captain and supervisor for the town of Palm Beach makes him well-suited for many of the problems Ocean Ridge faces, including reorganizing the department. The town has three open positions to fill.
“The officers respect him, and the morale has greatly improved which translates back to better community relations,” Schenck told commissioners. “He has met with the officers to obtain their input and concerns, which has given them a sense of belonging and buy-in to what we want to accomplish.”
Hutchins, 53, says his goal is “to try to rebuild the trust between the officers and the community and the administration that appears to have deteriorated” in recent years.
“There aren’t one or two specific things that miraculously fix morale,” he said. “It’s a strange phenomenon. I try to lead by example and not manage. It’s been pleasant lately to come in and see people who are enthusiastic about their job. That’s contagious. I honestly don’t know that I’m responsible for improving morale. It’s been a combination of things.”
A native of Lake Worth with 33 years’ experience in law enforcement, Hutchins has a bachelor’s degree from Barry University and also attended Palm Beach State College.
He handled internal affairs investigations in Ocean Ridge and coordinated officer training.
Unlike Yannuzzi, Hutchins will have a contract with the town. Lucibella said that, going forward, police chiefs should serve in an “at will capacity” under the town manager, giving the town the latitude to end relationships that aren’t working without getting into legal complications.
Hutchins and Schenck hope to have agreed on a contract proposal by the town’s May 4 meeting. The chief’s salary is expected to be about $85,000.
 In other business, commissioners approved Town Attorney Ken Spillias’ plan to use a 15-year-old court settlement to close down the commercial activity at the 5011 N. Ocean Blvd. building.
In 2000, the town and the building’s owners, Orlando and Liliane Sivitilli, reached an agreement to remove the businesses on the first floor by 2010.
But a series of extensions delayed their removal, and in March, the family’s attempt to de-annex the property from Ocean Ridge and enter Briny Breezes failed.
Schenck said Rob Sivitilli, Orlando and Liliane’s son, has asked the town for a six-month delay in enforcing the building’s many code violations, so that the tenants have time to move.
Spillias said petitioning the court to enforce the 2000 settlement makes more sense than taking code enforcement action, “which is starting all over again.”
One way or another, commissioners said they want the mixed-use property to be residential-only as soon as possible.

By Mary Thurwachter

They were talking trash at the Lantana Town Council meeting on April 13, and it wasn’t the first time. Some residents continue to put yard trimmings curbside on the wrong day and other residents are complaining about the lingering mess.
Earlier this year the town encouraged its trash handler, Republic Services, to distribute fliers outlining the rules. Officials said the problem was largely due to confusion about the proper day, and way, to get rid of palm fronds, coconuts and other tree and bush trimmings.
Republic picks up trimmings on Mondays on the north side of Pine Street and Ocean Avenue, and Tuesdays on the south side of Ocean Avenue. Loose debris, such as coconuts and leaves, needs to be bagged or put in a trash can for pickup.
Since the fliers have been sent and the residents are informed, town officials were hopeful the problem would diminish. But it hasn’t.
Now town code enforcement is cracking down on violators.
“We all got the door hangers and now that we’ve informed everybody, it’s time to enforce it,” council member Tom Deringer said.
Town officials say the fine depends on the specifics and severity of each case and the fine is determined by the special magistrate — it can vary from $25 to $250 a day. Code enforcement officers don’t always issue notices of violation that result in fines, says Town Manager Deborah Manzo. They can issue “friendly reminders,” as well, as the end goal is compliance with the code.
Mayor Dave Stewart said some people had landscapers who were not aware of the rule and that residents would need to educate them. Pickup times have changed in recent years since the town gave up providing its own garbage pickup service and hired Republic.
Bob Fritts, who lives on the south end of Hypoluxo Island, said the trash problem has never been worse.
“I walk my dog every day and I can tell you it’s the same people that do this,” he said. “My advice: Come on Friday and you’ll get more violators and you’ll get more money for the town. … It’s time for code enforcement to do what they need to do.”
Stewart said there were some residents taking matters into their own hands.
“Apparently we have a vigilante out there marking piles (of trash) with paint,” Stewart said. “It’s not the town doing this.”
The town issues reminders or tickets.

By Mary Thurwachter

Grand theft charges will be dropped against Robert Matthew Van Winkle, aka rapper Vanilla Ice, as long as he fulfills a plea deal that will have him doing 100 hours of community service and meeting a few other conditions during the next year.
Van Winkle, a former rapper turned real estate renovator, lives in Wellington and was arrested Feb. 18, accused of taking a patio set, furniture, bicycles, a pool heater and other items from a vacant property next to a house he is renovating on the 100 block of North Atlantic Drive in Lantana.
Van Winkle, 47, admitted guilt for the plea, but always maintained the issue was “just a misunderstanding.”
According to the police report, Van Winkle said he found the items next to the curb and thought they were trash.
After an appearance at the Courthouse in West Palm Beach on March 23, Van Winkle told reporters he never had any criminal intent and is “moving forward.”
He agreed to pay $1,333 in restitution to the alleged victim, the estate of Morgan Wilbur III, who died in 2008. He was ordered to stay away from the property, pay $100 for the cost of prosecution, attend a course on theft deterrence and do 100 hours of volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity.
Van Winkle said he enjoys volunteer work. Last year, he was recognized by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce as “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” for his community service work.
His company paid $1.4 million for the Lantana property on Hypoluxo Island (next to the one where the items were taken), in October. The home will be featured on HGTV and DIY network’s Vanilla Ice Project.

Lake Boca was filled with boats, partiers and music on April 26 for Boca Bash, an annual party on the Intracoastal Waterway between the Camino Real and Palmetto Park Road bridges. The Boca Bash takes place each spring. In the foreground is a boat operated by Boca Raton Police officers who patrolled to ensure boater safety. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

Law enforcement in southern Palm Beach County is not always confined to land.
When crowds gather on the water — as they did in late April during the annual Boca Bash on Lake Boca — or when crime suspects dive into the water in attempts to avoid arrest, police take to the water in boats.
Police departments in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Lantana have boats and officers trained to use them for law enforcement — known in police jargon as “marine units.”
The Boca Raton City Council in March agreed to spend just over $300,000 for two rigid-hull inflatable police boats and engines to replace two older police boats. The city has four police boats, including two 30-foot Intrepid center consoles, all of which are stored on lifts at Spanish River Park.
Lantana police have one boat — a 28-foot Hydrasports they found with bogus hull-identification numbers on it about two years ago. After they were unable to find the lawful owner, the department modified the boat for police use, Sgt. James Eddy said.
Delray Beach used to have a volunteer marine unit, but it was disbanded when tight budgets forced the city to sell the boat at auction a few years ago, Officer Jeffrey Messer said. Delray Beach police still use a small Boston Whaler for their dive team — a boat that was seized by the department after it was found abandoned on the beach.
In Boynton Beach, the police marine unit includes two trained officers and two boats — including a relatively new 32-foot Contender named Seized Assets that was purchased in 2013 with money from the sale of boats, engines and other property used in crimes, meaning taxpayers didn’t have to pay for it.
Boynton Beach marine unit officers Gregg Koch and Darin Hederian demonstrated the need for on-the-water patrols in November 2011. They noticed a boat that had run aground between Boynton Inlet and the boat ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park.
The Boynton Beach officers pulled up alongside the 31-foot boat to question two men on board. After questioning, the men became nervous and fled. They were arrested, and police found a large stash of marijuana hidden on the boat.
Marine officers’ work often consists of more routine matters, such as moving broken-down boats out of the Intracoastal Waterway to clear the navigation channel or stopping boaters to inform them about proper boating laws.
Maintaining order during special events is part of the job. Boca Raton’s marine officers were out in force during the annual Boca Bash in late April, when hundreds of people celebrated spring on Lake Boca.
At last year’s Boca Bash, Boca Raton police arrested six people for offenses including boating under the influence, domestic battery, trespassing and disorderly conduct.
During the past year, Boca Raton’s marine officers have used their boats to nab suspects in more serious crimes.
Not long after two men kidnapped a Boca Raton business owner in Delray Beach on the morning of Feb. 24 and forced him at gunpoint to withdraw money from a bank teller machine, they returned to the man’s office in Boca Raton, then took off running when a burglar alarm sounded.
After a search with dogs ended, a Boca Raton police officer noticed a young man jumping a fence, headed east. The marine unit was called. One of the suspects, a 15-year-old boy, was found floating in the Intracoastal Waterway on a pool float that resembled a killer whale.
On Aug. 26, a man crashed his car into a Delray Beach police cruiser and took off running. The man swam across a canal and ran between houses to elude police.
During the chase, the man broke into a house in Boca Raton and told the owners he was a landscaping worker who needed water.
When he heard police in the area, he took off running. Officers with Boca Raton’s marine unit pulled the 22-year-old man from the Intracoastal Waterway near Northeast 78th Street. He was charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling.
Because there are far fewer law-enforcement boats than police cruisers, waterborne police stray from their home waters to help other departments and agencies when necessary.
Boynton Beach police helped control the crowds during the March Floatopia gathering in the shallows around Peanut Island, near the Port of Palm Beach.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will call marine-unit officers from several coastal cities if they need help on the water, said Eddy of the Lantana Police Department.
Lantana’s marine unit officers also catch speeders on the water. The department receives $16,000 annually for manatee speed-zone enforcement to help protect the endangered marine mammals from being hit by speeding boats.
“We try to educate people,” Eddy said, referring to boaters who might not be familiar with manatee speed zones. “But if we pull someone over who we’ve issued warnings to before, they’re going to get a ticket.”