By Tim Pallesen
    
Coastal residents fear the Sandbar tiki bar might test the limits of Delray Beach’s new noise ordinance.
    Ocean Properties, the owner of the tiki bar adjacent to Boston’s on the Beach, is asking the city for a conditional use permit to allow an outdoor DJ.
    Neighbors say the Sandbar already has become a biker bar with motorcycle noise as disruptive as the music. They fear an outdoor DJ will make matters worse.
    “DJs know how to mix up the songs to get people in a frenzy,” warns Fran Marincola, chairman of the Beach Property Owners Association noise committee.
    Ocean Properties vice president Tom McMurrain said adding a DJ won’t be a big change because the Sandbar already is allowed to play outdoor recorded music.
    “The only purpose in adding a DJ is to select music that people want,” McMurrain said, “and we’ve agreed that the DJ won’t have a microphone.”
    That doesn’t satisfy George Brandon, the most vocal neighbor since the tiki bar opened in 2011.
“The Sandbar is the worst thing that’s ever happened in Delray Beach,” said Brandon, who lives next door. “This used to be a peaceful community.
    “Now we have a biker bar with incredibly loud music. All last Sunday afternoon they played this horrible recording that no one on the city council would tolerate,” he said.
    “We need a strict noise ordinance or this city is history,” Brandon warned.
    The proposed ordinance would ban any music that is clearly audible within 100 feet, which includes Brandon’s condo. Music would be prohibited after 11 p.m. on weeknights and after 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
    The BPOA, which wants a citywide ban on loud noise 24 hours a day, wasn’t aware of the Sandbar request to allow a DJ when the proposed noise law was debated by residents and restaurant owners at a May 13 public hearing.
    Coastal residents thought they had resolved Sandbar noise issues with Ocean Properties last year. “They did a good job then of mitigating the sound by turning down the speakers and becoming more community friendly,” BPOA president Andy Katz said.
    So debate at the May 13 hearing centered on downtown, where Barry Tunick, a resident on Northeast Fourth Avenue, objected to loud music until 2 a.m. on weekends at Johnnie Brown’s restaurant.
    “Don’t you understand that people sleep seven nights a week?” Tunick asked Johnnie Brown’s owner Dick Nicholas. “This is an abridgment of my right to live in Delray Beach.”
    Nicholas responded by asking city officials to create a downtown entertainment district where his restaurant, Paddy McGee’s and Bru’s Room, wouldn’t have to abide by the noise law.
    “You either have live music or not. If you’re going to allow it, you can’t suppress it,” Nicholas argued. “One or two people are intruding on my rights.”
    The most passionate speaker at the hearing was Beach Drive resident Anita Casey, who alerted the city to the potential consequences of too much noise.
    “We’re destroying Delray,” she warned. “What are we bringing in with all this noise? Drugs, the mob and prostitution.”                           

Workers from Traffic Control Devices and The Florida Department of Transportation work on the wiring that controls the stop lights at the intersection of Woolbright Road and A1A on May 28.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim O’Meilia

Work on the installation of crosswalks and pedestrian signals at the A1A and Woolbright Road intersection began May 28, over the objection of Beachway Drive neighborhood residents and the Ocean Ridge Town Commission.
    The Florida Department of Transportation decided to proceed with construction five days after town commissioners voted 3-1 to oppose the state-funded project.
    In a letter to Mayor Geoff Pugh, state road officials cited safety concerns because of increased pedestrian traffic at the intersection, which leads to a beach access point. DOT has jurisdiction over the intersection since A1A is a state road.
    “The intersection has experienced three pedestrian-related crashes since 2009, more than any other signalized intersection on A1A between Atlantic Avenue and Lake Avenue,” wrote Mark Plass, DOT district traffic operations engineer.
    Pugh said he was disappointed with the DOT’s response, saying that state road officials expressed no safety concerns for the intersection when A1A improvements were made in the area in recent years, including the installation of crosswalks.
    Ironically, it was the Town Commission that urged the DOT in 2011 to consider installing crosswalks at the intersection because of safety concerns.  That request led to the project.
    The $44,500 project was scheduled to begin April 22, but state road officials agreed to postpone the work until the town held a special meeting May 2. More than 20 nearby residents argued that the crosswalk would disrupt their neighborhood, attract more visitors and pose more danger to pedestrians than leaving it unmarked.
    “My gut reaction is you’re funneling people onto a public road, which isn’t safe either,” said nearby resident Penny Kosinski.
Beachway Drive, on the east of the intersection, has no sidewalks and pedestrians headed to the beach must walk in the street.
    “We are attempting to put a major league walkway on a T-ball street,” agreed 37-year resident Lisa Allerton.  
    Pugh and Commissioners Lynn Allison and Gail Adams Aaskov were unhappy with the traffic statistics provided by the DOT and said more in-depth examination was needed.
    “This intersection is more dangerous than the intersections north and south of it. We know it’s a dangerous situation. I have to vote for safety,” said Commissioner Ed Brookes, the only commissioner to support the project. Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan was absent.
    The DOT has ramped up its efforts in the last three years to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.
    “This project definitely will make the intersection safer,” said Jonathan Overton, DOT assistant traffic operations engineer, who attended the meeting.
    He said safety concerns are paramount. “How many people have to get hurt or killed before we act?” he asked the commission. “If the signals don’t go in and someone is hurt or killed, then the question will be ‘Why isn’t there one here?’ ”
    Former Mayor Ken Kaleel said signs should be erected directing pedestrians and bicyclists to crosswalks north and south of the intersection. “If it’s so dangerous, why possibly would you promote it?” he said.
    Overton said that pedestrians would still try to cross at the intersection rather than try to walk four-tenths of a mile to a crosswalk. “It’s not possible to guide and influence human behavior correctly,” he said.  
    Residents Richard DiPietro and Steve Coz said the crosswalks would create a false sense of security.
    The vote against the crosswalks came despite the advice of Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, who said in a memo that pedestrians would be crossing the Woolbright bridge to reach the beach whether town residents liked it or not and that government was obliged to protect them.
    “Regardless of how an individual might feel, the concept of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) cannot govern decisions made in this situation. The benefit to the safety of the public at large should be the primary concern,” he read to the commission.
    “I am not interested in creating a memorial crosswalk,” he said.
    Resident Julia Walker had another perspective: “If there’s anything you can do to curtail the invasion of Beachway, please do so.”
    The crosswalks and pedestrian signals will be installed on the north, east and south sides of the intersection. The west side already has a signal. The signals include a countdown clock for pedestrians.                              

By Tim O’Meilia
    
Ocean Ridge police will see a handsome difference in their paychecks under a new two-year contract approved by the Town Commission May 6.  
    The nine officers and four sergeants will receive an immediate 3 percent pay increase, a 3 percent cost-of-living increase in the new budget year beginning Oct. 1 and a 5 percent merit increase on their next anniversary date after that if they attain a satisfactory or better evaluation.
    “I believe it’s fair. There hadn’t been an increase for quite a long time,” said Mayor Geoff Pugh. “We’ve been negotiating this for quite some months.”
Commissioners anticipated a pay increase last fall when they approved the annual town budget by including a 3 percent lump sum increase for all town employees, including the police.
The agreement, already ratified by the police bargaining unit, is the second contract negotiated by the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association since the town’s officers voted to unionize in 2011. Last year, the police received $1,000 lump sum increase.
“The town residents made it clear they wanted to keep their own Police Department and not go to the (Palm Beach County) Sheriff’s Office,” Pugh said. “We wanted to pay them a little more money to show our appreciation.”
Officers would have earned more as sheriff’s deputies if the town had decided to contract with the sheriff’s office.
“I would like to think (the wage increase) was a response to the overwhelming feeling from residents that the police department deserved a raise,” said Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, who took part in the negotiations for the town. “I am proud and humbled by that.”
The wage increase was the only significant difference between the new contract and the original agreement. “They acquiesced on some things,” Pugh said. “Otherwise, negotiations could have gone on for many more months.”
    
In other business:
• Commissioners tentatively approved charging a $50 registration fee to property owners who rent their homes in residential areas. Condominiums and co-operatives would be exempt. The commission wants to discourage short-term rentals in residential districts. “People complain that there are strangers in their neighborhood,” said Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan. The registration system would not require owners to reveal the identity of the renter. “You want to know who your neighbors are,” said Commissioner Ed Brookes. The town code forbids rentals of less than 30 days in residential districts. The commission will consider final approval in June.
    • In a related matter, the commission approved seeking an injunction to prevent Joseph and Karen Romano from renting their home at 6011 N. Ocean Blvd. for less than 30 days. The Romanos repeatedly have ignored the 30-day rule, renting the $2 million oceanfront estate for as much as $8,000 a week and erected wooden or concrete columns without a building permit, town officials say. Joseph Romano is serving 15 years in federal prison in New York on a business conspiracy conviction and has been charged with plotting to kill the judge and prosecutor in the case.
• The commission asked Town Manager Ken Schenck for options on the future of the town’s only commercial area, three blocks on A1A at the south end of town, other than a $15,000 planning study. The area is scheduled to be phased to residential use by June 2014. The owners of a five-store building at 5011 N. Ocean have postponed plans for townhomes because of the economic downturn. “What happens if you move them out and there’s nobody to move in?” Pugh said of the commercial strip.
    • Commissioners took no action on a planning and zoning board recommendation to ban boats, trailers and recreational vehicles taller than 6 feet and to screen shorter ones from  all sides, including backyards and across canals. Currently, 6-foot screening is required on the front and sides.                        

By Tim O’Meilia

The newest plan for saving South Palm Beach’s fast-eroding shoreline is a series of seven buried groins dotting the beach from the Tuscany condominium to the Ritz-Carlton resort.
At least, that’s what the computers say.
“There’s enough sand down drift from Palm Beach to feed the beaches north of the Tuscany,” Leanne Welch, Palm Beach County’s environmental program supervisor, told the town council May 28.
The groins would be coupled with 75,000 cubic yards of sand to fill in hot spots along the shore. Welch said computer modeling shows that plan is the most effective of the remaining choices and the one most likely to gain the approval of state and federal regulators.
With the modeling completed, an environmental impact study by the Army Corps of Engineers has been restarted. It had been stalled until the modeling was completed and until the town of Palm Beach chose its own plan for its southerly beaches, said Daniel Bates, deputy director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resource Management.
The project would cost an estimated $5 million and last three to five years, Welch said. More sand, at $1 million a year would have to be added every three years. South Palm Beach would pay 20 percent of the cost, the county 30 percent and the state 50 percent, if the state legislature appropriated the funds.
Bates estimated that the corps could begin taking public comment on the plan in the next six months after a series of public meetings. The final draft of the study is two years off.
Early last year, county commissioners dropped plans for a 1.3-mile project from southern Palm Beach to Manalapan that included a series of off-shore concrete breakwaters and several groins after a similar project for Singer Island was killed. Commissioners were concerned about the effects on sea turtle nesting and sea grasses.
“I’m not happy with groins,” said Mayor Donald Clayman. “I prefer breakwaters. They last much longer and are less expensive over time.”
Last June, commissioners indicated they would consider a project that did not include hard structures. The difficulty is that extensive hardbottom off the South Palm Beach shoreline makes a simple sand restoration project nearly impossible to be permitted.
Scientists concluded that sand renourishment would result in the hardbottom being covered, destroying the habitat of near-shore marine life.
The current environmental study is being combined with a similar study of Reach 8 in Palm Beach, from the Lake Worth beach to the northern boundary of South Palm Beach. A restoration project there had been previously denied because of similar environmental concerns.

In other business, the council:
• Approved a $24,500 contract with the town of Palm Beach to install a sewer interconnection between the town and Palm Beach which could be used in case of emergency. Manalapan is also part of the emergency interconnection.
• Agreed to buy 120 new cerulean-colored chairs for $29,000 as part of the refurbishing of the council chambers.                           

By Tim O’Meilia
    
The Manalapan Town Commission will try to settle a lawsuit over $158,000 in building permit fees for an oceanfront mansion that was never built.
    Commissioners indicated they would likely return the bulk of the fees paid by the owners of 1020 S. Ocean Blvd, listed as Cielo Madera Land Trust, after Town Manager Linda Stumpf calculates the town’s building and legal expenses on the project.
    The trust is seeking a $120,000 refund after rejecting an offer from the town for a $130,000 credit on any new project or the transfer of the credit to a new owner.
    “Give them the money they’re requesting so long as we’re not losing on the deal,” Commissioner John Murphy said.
    The commission will consider a settlement at the June meeting.
    Commissioners also said they will consider changing the town building code to allow permit fees to be refunded if a project is abandoned, as long as a refund is requested within a few weeks after the permit is issued.
    Other cities, including Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Wellington and Jupiter, allow for 70 to 80 percent of the fees to be refunded if the owner applies within 30 days of the permit being issued. Manalapan’s building code forbids refunds.
    Cielo Madera bought the 2.4-acre estate once owned by Manalapan pioneer LeRoy Paisley in 2007 for $10.5 million. Permits for an oceanfront home were issued in June and August 2010. An older residence was demolished and land cleared, requiring several inspections, before the owners stopped the project.
    The owners sought a refund in July 2011 and the commission asked the owners’ attorney for more information in October 2011. Cielo Madera sued in July 2012.
    
In other business, Commissioner Howard Roder insisted the March meeting minutes be changed to show that he did not accuse the town manager of taking both a car allowance and using a town car at the same time. After a lengthy discussion, commissioners agreed to delete the paragraph in question and replace it with a transcript of the discussion.
    Roder repeated his earlier opinion that the manager should not have a choice between using a car or taking the allowance. He said the town attorney’s opinion that the manager had the choice was wrong.
    Commissioner Chauncey Johnstone urged the commission to drop the matter. “This has got to be stopped. This is silly. We need to move ahead on issues that are important to the town,” he said.
    • Commissioners approved an $11,500 contract with South Palm Beach and Palm Beach for the installation of a sewage interconnection in case of an emergency. Manalapan and South Palm Beach sewage is treated through the Lake Worth regional plant.
    • Commissioners gave final approval to limiting the use of portable storage units to seven days with one seven-day extension and exceptions for bad weather.
    • Commissioners set a town budget workshop for 9:30 a.m. June 24, the day before the Town Commission meeting.  Ú

Artist Mark Sparacio shows off a work in progress to Gulf Stream School students, who also check out a cover illustration from a Captain America comic book. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack
    
The questions for comic book artist Mark Sparacio came faster than a speeding bullet as art students at Gulf Stream School fired them one right after another.
    “Are there artists who inspired you?” came one question.
    “Do you work on several pieces at one time?” came another.
    “Do you draw anything besides comic book heroes?” asked yet a third seventh-grader.
    The artist, whose work includes cover drawings of characters ranging from Captain America to Princess Leia from Star Wars, seemed impressed by the queries.
    “These are all great questions,” Sparacio said as he fielded dozens of inquiries from the students gathered around him — while at the same time putting some touches on a couple of pieces.
    Well known in the comic book world, especially among those who make it to comic book conventions and are wiling to plunk down anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000 for one of his originals, Sparacio has made a living for more than 30 years drawing heroes for the likes of Marvel and DC comics.
    He’s also been the artist behind several movie posters for some of Hollywood’s biggest studios and has created the artwork for the packaging of dozens of toys, lunch boxes and trading cards.
    Now living in South Florida and working as an adjunct instructor at Digital Media Arts College in Boca Raton while at the same time creating his own comic book — Omega Paradox — Sparacio was at the Gulf Stream School last month sharing his experience with seventh- and eighth-graders and hoping to inspire students to do their best, no matter what they do.
 “All of the students he’s meeting have had experience with painting, so this is a nice tie-in to the curriculum,” said Hillary Pemberton, the school’s art director, who added that most of the students had created their own comic books as part of a fifth-grade project. “This is an opportunity for them to enjoy comic books as an art form.”
    During his time with the students, Sparacio explained that his education at New York’s School of Visual Arts under well-known artist Will Eisner helped pave the way for his success.
    Still, he said, he works hard, putting in as many as 16 to 18 hours a day to make deadlines.
    And that led to one more question, one that drew a chuckle from Sparacio and the others in the room.
    “Do you drink a lot of Red Bull?” one student asked.      

By Tim Pallesen
    
Mike Novatka, the cabana guy on Delray Beach’s city beach, has become the first victim of a City Commission initiative to undo contracts renewed without competitive bids.
    “All I care about is providing excellent service to our customers,” Novatka said. “I try to leave the political stuff to the politicians.”
    A former city manager renewed Novatka’s contract for another three years last year. Novatka pays the city $170,000 annually to operate his business.
    Nobody has complained about the cabanas that Novatka has provided to beachgoers since 2002. “Our customers love us. I’ve got a book full of written compliments,” he said.
    But then no-bid contracts became an issue in the March City Commission election.
    Voters particularly upset by a $65 million no-bid contract given to trash hauler Waste Management helped elect Mayor Cary Glickstein and Commissioner Shelley Petrolia, who say city rules require all procurement contracts over $15,000 to come before the commission for renewals.
 Commissioners voted 3-1 on May 14 to cancel the contract with Novatka and advertise for competitive bids.
Novatka’s contract will stay in effect until the new contract is awarded.
    “We’re under new management now and contracts to be renewed should come before the commission,” said Commissioner Al Jacquet, who voted with Glickstein and Petrolia.
    Commissioners also hired an outside attorney to determine whether Delray Beach can cancel its Waste Management contract by arguing that a previous city commission violated its own rules by approving the contract without competitive bids.
    “This contract is the polar opposite of good policy,” Petrolia said. “Our city lost $12.5 million by not bidding.”
    “The decision not to bid this contract is bad for the city’s image that cronyism is tolerated,” Glickstein added.
    The Waste Management contract was renewed for eight years without competitive bidding last August when Commissioners Adam Frankel and Angeleta Gray joined former Mayor Woodie McDuffie in a 3-2 vote. McDuffie justified the no-bid contract extension by saying Waste Management does an excellent job.
“I can’t take a contract away from someone who’s done this job,” McDuffie said at the time.
    The county Office of Inspector General issued a report in February saying commissioners had violated their rules by approving the contract and recommending that Delray Beach conduct “a full and open competition” for its trash business.                                  

By Emily J. Minor

    SOUTH PALM BEACH — Henry Sullivan “Harry” Cahill, a corporate accountant who retired young and moved to Florida so he could golf every day, died May 4 at home with his wife of 67 years. Mr. Cahill was 98.
“He was a good man,” said Eleanor Cahill, who married Mr. Cahill in 1946. Their first date was a New York Giants baseball game at the Polo Grounds. “I thought he was a big spender,” she said. “And it was a 15-inning game. I’ll never forget that.”
    Mrs. Cahill, who is 90, said they met while working at the Brooklyn Savings Bank in New York.
    Throughout his life, Mr. Cahill and his wife shared a love for armchair sports, but in his older years Mr. Cahill especially loved watching sports on television — golf, tennis, baseball, football.
“He didn’t like hockey,” she said.
    He was also an avid reader.
    Born in Yonkers, N.Y., on Nov. 14, 1914, Mr. Cahill made a career as an accountant for a home insurance company, serving briefly in the U.S. Army in financial services. The insurance company had a policy of mandatory retirement at age 62. That’s when the couple moved to Florida so that Mr. Cahill could golf year-round. In his retirement years, he continued his accounting, occasionally doing the books for some influential Floridians, said his wife.
    Mrs. Cahill said that while they loved their life in Florida, they always considered themselves New Yorkers.
    Still, her husband loved his frequent golf outings at The Links of Boynton Beach — a habit he kept up until about seven years ago, she said.
Recently, he developed pneumonia and then heart complications. Mr. Cahill went to Hospice, but came home for the last few weeks of his life, said his wife.
    “He had a very good life,” she said. “And that’s the most important thing.”
    Mr. Cahill is also survived by two children and their families: Thomas Cahill, of Commack, N.Y., and a daughter, Nancee Cahill-Barney, of Massapequa, N.Y. Five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren also survive him.
Services were in May at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lantana, where the couple were longtime members.

By Ron Hayes

    DELRAY BEACH — Edwina Rhodes Charyk, a resident of The Landings since 1985, died peacefully on May 6. She was 87.
    “We had 67 wonderful years together,” said her husband, Joseph V. Charyk, who served as the first director of the National Reconnaissance Office under President Kennedy. “That’s a long time, but also a wonderful collection of years.”
    During her husband’s time in Washington and beyond, Mrs. Charyk was admired for her gifts as a hostess whose parties were both exquisite yet intimate affairs.
Whether entertaining global dignitaries or family and friends, she had a knack for making everyone feel special.
    Locally, she was a member of the Gulf Stream Bath & Tennis Club and the Gulf Stream Golf Club, and a former board member of the Miami City Ballet.
    She also was active with the Smithsonian Women’s Committee and a member of the Woods Hole Club in Falmouth, Mass., and the Chevy Chase Club.
    “I’m not sure if there’s a secret to a long marriage,” her husband reflected. “I think it’s just trying to live a happy life together, and if you have a happy home with good friends, it helps.”
    In addition to her husband, Mrs. Charyk is survived by their four children, William, John, Chris and Diane, and their spouses, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
    A funeral Mass was celebrated on May 11 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, where she had been a parishioner.
    In lieu of flowers, her wish was that friends consider contributing in her memory to Scripps College, c/o The Development Office, 1030 Columbia Ave., Claremont, CA 91771.

By Ron Hayes

    MANALAPAN — Margaret Cole Kotsko, who loved art, books and fashion, died peacefully at her home in the Little Pond complex on May 19, surrounded by her husband of 56 years, Francis R. Kotsko, and other family members.
    Mrs. Kotsko was 81, and had lived in the town since the mid-1990s.
    “She must have at least 500 books here, and it’s a real mix of fiction, biographies, gardening,” said her sister, Dorothy Cole Sharrocks, of Swarthmore, Pa. “She was just one of the most loving, loyal and self-possessed people you could know.”
    Mrs. Kotsko was born on Dec. 10, 1931, in Clairton, Pa., and enjoyed a 42-year career in fashion merchandise retailing. She worked in both buying and administration, traveling the world for Kaufmann’s and Gimbel’s in Pittsburgh and Talbot’s in Hingham, Mass.
    During her retirement years, Mrs. Kotsko was active with the Armory Arts Center in West Palm Beach, where she painted watercolors, and the Manalapan library and book club.
    “She was just a lovely woman whom we enjoyed so much,” recalled Lisa Petersen, the town’s library director. “She was very kind and soft-spoken, always here with her Kindle, and always impeccably dressed. We’ll certainly miss her.”
    Former town commissioner and vice mayor Bill Quigley was a longtime friend and next-door neighbor.
    “She was a wonderful lady, and a class act,” he said. “She and my wife would share and exchange recipes. We enjoyed so much having them as our neighbors and she will be sorely missed.”
    Mrs. Kotsko had been ill since November, but remained active until mid-April.
    Recently, she had urged the book club to read Citizens of London, Lynne Olson’s history of American diplomats in London during World War II.
    The club will read it next, Ms. Petersen said.
    In addition to her husband and sister, she is survived by three nieces, Jane Sharrocks, of Essex, Md., Margaret Egan, of New Milford, Conn., and Katherine Sellmayer, of Catonsville, Md.
    A funeral Mass was celebrated at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lantana, with further services and interment at Round Hill Cemetery in Elizabeth, Pa.
    The family asks that gifts in her memory be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.

Retired Ocean Ridge Town Manager Bill Mathis, who was called back twice to be the town’s top administrator, died May 11 in Belle Glade. He was 79.
Mr. Mathis, whose given name was Delano William Mathis, was a police officer, police chief and town manager in Belle Glade for more than three decades before coming out of retirement in 1993 to manage Ocean Ridge.
    He held the Ocean Ridge position for three years. He returned to the post as interim manager in 2004 for two years and again in the summer of 2008.
    In between stints in Ocean Ridge, Mr. Mathis served on the Belle Glade City Commission for five years, including three years as mayor.
    He is survived by his wife, Barbara; a son and a daughter and two stepsons. A memorial service was held in Belle Glade and burial was at Foreverglades Cemetery in Belle Glade.
— Tim O’Meilia

A 1-year-old hawksbill turtle found on Easter Sunday has been released after being nursed back to health at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. Photo provided

By Jan Norris
    
    Easter the hawksbill turtle had its own resurrection, thanks to Delray Beach resident Joan Lorne.
    The teacher’s aide was walking along the beach with her twin brother, Tim Paller, also of Delray Beach, on Easter Sunday when she found the young turtle.
    As a sea turtle monitor, she watches out for hatchlings and nests along a three-mile shoreline from southern Ocean Ridge to northern Delray Beach and scours the beach to mark nests before the cleaning crews come in. She also rescues stranded hatchlings.
    “I go out twice a week. We have four others who monitor a three-mile stretch,” she said. To be a monitor or to handle sea turtles, which are protected species, you must be permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Lorne’s daughter, a marine biologist, is a permit holder, and her mother now watches over the beach on her behalf.
    Finding a hawksbill is unusual. The endangered species is generally found much farther south.
    “I knew it was a hawksbill,” Lorne said. “They are a dark brown and beautiful. Their shells used to be used for tortoiseshell jewelry. We don’t often see them on our beach; we get mostly loggerheads. We’ve had leatherbacks, now we get both, frequently.”
    She put the 3-inch turtle in a towel, and made a call to the FFWCC. “They told us to take it to Gumbo Limbo. The rehabilitation team took in the turtle. We decided to name it Easter since we found it Easter Sunday.”
    Whitney Crowder is the assistant sea turtle rehab coordinator at Gumbo Limbo. She described the little turtle as “lethargic, weak and emaciated” when it arrived.
    “As time progressed, we noticed he was passing plastic in his fecal matter. It’s common, unfortunately, to this sized turtle.”

Bits of plastic passed by the turtle. Photo provided

    The turtle that was post-hatchling, meaning it was hatched last season, had been eating along a weed line and ingesting tiny particles of plastic that are trapped there, and it became impacted.
    Though X-rays were taken, they couldn’t see anything in the baby turtle — it was simply too small.
    Feeding them quantities of foods or a laxative to flush their systems isn’t practical in the baby turtles, Crowder said.
    “They eat such small pieces of food,” she said. “Normally, we’d do mineral oil. He’s so small, we didn’t. We just kept going through his fecal matter to make sure he was passing  the plastic.” The rescue workers gave him liquids, and fed him “teeny tiny pieces of squid tentacle and shrimp,” Crowder said.  “We feed them slowly and give them lots of fluids, then just wait for the plastic to pass.”
    Workers collected the plastic beads to analyze, though Crowder says there’s no way of telling where the plastic came from or what type it is.
    Lorne worried over her rescue-baby.
“I checked with Gumbo Limbo five days later. They were about to X-ray the turtle and they held up the bag with several plastic pellets. “I saw the turtle in the tank. When I saw how happy and active it was, I was relieved. Gumbo Limbo is awesome.”
    Easter became so strong, he climbed out of the basket he was sharing with other hatchlings, so was put in his own tank.
    Though they referred to him as a “he,” they can’t know if Easter is a male or female without an internal exam. Its sex can’t be determined by sight until it’s 20 or 25 years old, when it becomes sexually active, Crowder said. Males have larger tails — the site of the sexual organs.
    Once a few weeks had gone by and the turtle had regained its strength and was eating heartily, it got a free ride back to the Gulf Stream on May 3.
It was released with another young hawksbill that had appeared with the same problem, Crowder said.
    “They’re released several miles offshore in the Gulf Stream — which is where they’re headed. It gives them a better chance for survival.”
    Though she didn’t witness the release, she was happy for Easter, Lorne said. “It’s a good ending to a story about people who litter.”
    If you happen upon a sea turtle beached or in distress, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hotline to report it before moving the turtle, Crowder said. “They’ll guide you with instructions on how to handle it, or put you in touch with someone permitted to handle sea turtles.”
    The toll-free number is 888-404-3922.                               

John Kujawa lived and worked a variety of jobs around the world before returning to Delray Beach to settle, raise a family and start his LED lighting company, Lumitec. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Lumitec’s offices are both high tech and high touch, thanks to its founder and president, John Kujawa.
    He believes in giving customers the latest LED technology for marine lighting, while creating a fun, open work atmosphere for his employees in Delray Beach.
    “I wanted to take the essence of Silicon Valley culture and translate that into manufacturing,” he said. Lumitec employees wear jeans to work, conference rooms are called “mosh pits” by its engineers, and whiteboards abound at the Delray location.
    That fun, but hard-driving atmosphere translated into a whopping 937 percent revenue increase in three years that was noted by Inc. magazine. It publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the nation; Lumitec, with 2011 revenues of $3.4 million, ranked 399 on the Inc. 500 list in 2012.
    “It’s an external confirmation that what we have done is unique,” said Kujawa (pronounced key-YA-va). “It feels good to be recognized.”
    He likes saying his LED lights are “made in the USA,” because that stamp indicates Lumitec lights are quality products. The Delray Beach location also allows the company to be more responsive to its boatbuilding customers.
    Lumitec’s marine lights for recreational boaters are sold through a worldwide network of distributors and retailers. It offers interior, exterior and underwater LED lights and marine LED flood lights. The company also serves the public sector with scene LED lights and commercial truck products for firemen, EMTs and police. Its high-powered LED flood lights and night-vision goggle lights are used by U.S. Special Forces.
    When naming his 6-year-old company, the 44-year-old took a structured approach.
“Researched the Latin roots of possible names, and then wrote them on flash cards which were shown to friends who are mostly boaters, family and colleagues and asked them what the word meant and their reaction to it,” he said. Lumitec topped Xygolux, Illuminex and some straight-forward lighting company names.
    The high-tech atmosphere defines the Lumitec factory. The company prides itself on rapid product development and investment in research and development. It has an electrical lab, optics lab, design studio and machine shop where prototypes are made, all outfitted with the latest equipment.
    Even so, Kujawa says managing people is his biggest challenge as an entrepreneur. “People are the most crucial,” he said. “We have a team of people with varying needs and work styles.”
    Some are so engaged that they take work home with them where they will do Internet research. Others have families and need to disengage from their work when they go home but they delve into their work while at Lumitec. Both types are valued by Kujawa.
    When hiring, he looks for employees who have had to overcome hurdles in the workplace — because there will be obstacles in research and development, he said. Then, he wants to know what they did to stay on track and meet deadlines.
                          — Jane Smith

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
    A. I grew up here in South Florida, attended Florida State University for undergraduate, and eventually went to Stanford University for my master’s degree in engineering management. After graduate school, I lived and worked all around the world before moving back to Delray. I think this diverse spectrum of academic and cultural environments has given me a broader perspective on situations and events.
    
Q. What professions have you worked in?
    A. A good part of my career was spent in engineering in Silicon Valley, working first for a computer hardware company and then for a few different software startups. Prior to that I was in marketing in Atlanta. Before and through college I was a bartender, Jet Ski mechanic, confectionery chef, and I had various other odd jobs. My career path is nonlinear, if nothing else.
    
Q.  What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?  
    A. I am probably most proud of having started Lumitec and built it to the level it is today.  I have worked at other startups, but those were well-funded by venture capitalists and were already moving when I was hired on as part of the core team. Lumitec was truly built from scratch. Seven years ago, it was just an idea and an empty office/lab space. Today we employ more than 30 people in research and design, sales, operations and manufacturing.
    
Q.  What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?  
    A. Certainly the well-worn mantra “do what you love” has merit. I would add: Be willing to take risks, think longer term, and to look past the monetary rewards of a particular job. As an employer I love to see candidates who have succeeded in different types of jobs. This tells me they are flexible, they learn well, and they will likely be able bring different points of view to the table. Similarly, in my own career I have had many different jobs. This has allowed me to confidently and knowledgeably manage many different aspects of my company, from the hands-on engineering, to finance, to marketing, even down to working in our machine shop/prototyping lab.
    
Q.  How did you choose to live in Delray Beach?
    A. Family, location and the laid-back unpretentious vibe. Before Delray, my wife and I were living in the marina district in San Francisco working in software. We could see the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay from our window. It was stunning. When we decided we were going to start our family, we wanted to plant longer-term roots closer to our families.  
    My sister had lived in the Nassau Street historical district, and we always loved it. It is warm, with the beach, shops, and great restaurants just steps away. What’s more, the people in this area just seem better grounded, less edgy, and more unpretentious than in other parts of South Florida. There’s a great neighborhood feel.
    
Q.  What is your favorite part about living in Delray?  
    A. Living in an ocean-side, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. In cities like New York or San Francisco, you can park your car on Friday evening and not get in it until Monday morning. Here in Delray we have the same thing, in a quiet community setting with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop.
    
Q.  What book are you reading now?
    A. With three children ages  3 to 7, most of my reading these days is out loud, and most of my books are “pre-selected.”  Let’s just say I’ve learned a lot about trains, sharks, dinosaurs and princesses.
    
Q.  What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?  
    A. I haven’t bought a CD in probably five or seven years. I listen almost exclusively to Pandora, which keeps things current and new, and exposes me to interesting new tunes. I seed it with Dave Matthews, Maroon 5, Government Mule, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. I get an interesting and eclectic mix.
    
Q.  Do you have a quote that inspires your decisions?  
    A. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” — Henry Ford.  Looking back, I can attribute many of the things I’ve accomplished in my life to just believing it could be done.  
    
Q.  If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
    A. I think Shrek would be the best fit. He’s goofy, sometimes a little addlepated, but succeeded through perseverance. And, like me, he ended up with an amazing wife, magical children and a fairy-tale life.

Photo by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter
    
By the time the Ocean Avenue bridge reopens in November, beach-goers will find something new at the Lantana public beach — parking kiosks.
    At its May 13 meeting, the Town Council approved spending up to $77,389 for two parking kiosks to upgrade the town’s current single-space, coin-operated system.
    “Now some of the meters work, some do not,” Mayor Dave Stewart said.
    The kiosks will permit users to pay with coins and bills, as well as credit cards and smartphones.
    Initially, town staff hadn’t included smartphone usage as part of its proposal, but council members requested that feature.
    “We need kiosks to bring us into the 21st century,” said council member Phil Aridas, who pressed for the smartphone capability.
    “I’m against coins,” Aridas argued. “Coins are ancient stuff. We shouldn’t have to send our people out collecting coins. I don’t like it. It’s Mayberry.”
    But other council members insisted coins were still necessary.
    “Not everyone has a credit card or a smartphone,” Stewart said.
    Police Chief Sean Scheller said the new kiosks should be installed toward the end of the year.  Residents can still purchase beach decals.
    The kiosk system will enable police to improve enforcement methods and cut down on staff time collecting from the present 200-plus meters. Currently it takes a few hours a day three times a week to empty them.
    In other council action, the town chose Hypoluxo Island resident Kathy Dunn to serve on the Lantana Nature Preserve Commission. Her term will expire Jan. 31, 2015.               

Students and staff of Gulf Stream School pose for a group photo to commemorate the school’s 75th anniversary and to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Crocker Pavilion.  The school is expanding to better meet the classroom needs of the school.
Jerry Lower/
The Coastal Star

Jeff Redmond popped the question to a surprised Julia Payne Spitznagel on a February trip to Thailand. They plan to wed Sept. 22 at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, where they first met on a group-hiking weekend.  Julia was recently accepted to the Colorado Bar and is a junior legal associate at Reilly Pozner in Denver. She graduated from the IB program at Atlantic High School, then received her BA at the University of Florida. She graduated from the Sturm College of Law at the University of Colorado in Denver. Julia’s parents are Dr. Kim L. Spitznagel and his wife, Elena, of Hypoluxo Island and Jupiter, and Jennifer Payne Spitznagel and her husband, Daniel Nowell, of Hypoluxo Island. Jeff is an eight-year Army veteran with deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and works in the wind-energy industry. He is a graduate of Redstone College in Denver.  The couple will reside in the Denver area.

Kevin Lane Spitznagel earned his master’s degree in English from Longborough University in Leicestershire, U.K. He has been hired as an editor by a tech writing company in Winter Park, Colo., where he and his malamute, Decker, live at 8,000 feet of elevation. Kevin graduated from Santaluces High School, and then received his bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado University at Boulder.

Chloe Anderson Downe and Duncan Graham Wells were married on the beach at The Ocean Club on April 27. The date was exactly six years from the day they first met at the University of Virginia. Chloe lived in Ocean Ridge between 1993 and 2001 and graduated from Gulf Stream School. Her father, Hugh Downe, is a 20-year resident of  Ocean Ridge.
Photo provided

Gulf Stream Civic Association Board Member Dan Lounsbury presents a check for $15,000 to Gulf Stream Police Chief Gary Ward. The donation will be used to purchase three video systems and digital video recorders for police vehicles used by the Police Department. ‘The installation of this equipment will not only assist us with our work, but it will help us improve the overall safety of the entire community,’ Ward said. Photo provided

Supporters hope that water taxis like this one in Fort Lauderdale will soon be plying the waters of Palm Beach County. Photo provided

By Jane Smith
    
Water taxis may soon be traveling on the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach County.
    The County Commission recently directed staff to create a one-stop registry for water taxi operators between Boca Raton and Jupiter.
    “Every city gets it,” says Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities and coordinator of the water-taxi task force. “Everyone would like to have it, and it would raise the quality of life.”
    He estimates the county has 19 cities with access on the Intracoastal. He envisions winter visitors buying a day pass for a water taxi in Delray Beach, lunching in Jupiter and then dinner in Boca Raton before sailing back to Delray Beach.
    The start date for the water taxis remains unknown because the business side of the service still has to be worked out. Plus, the size of the county — 41 miles from Tequesta to Boca Raton — may be a drawback. Boat operators may end up serving a portion of the county, Radcliffe said.
    In Boynton Beach, a few operators have inquired about using the water taxi dock, built using federal tax dollars, at the city’s marina, according to Vivian Brooks, executive director of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.  “The issue is: How do you make a business model to make it work,” she said.
    The county is trying to remove barriers by creating the registry, Brooks said. Each city would then have to determine what its licensing and other requirements would be.
    In Lantana, the town is interested in the service. “We are in favor of anything to help the businesses downtown,” said Maggie Barszewski, a planner for Lantana.
    Although there is a public boat-launch, the town doesn’t currently have a public marina. This fall, after the bridge that crosses the Intracoastal Waterway connecting Lantana with Manalapan reopens, there will be six public day docks that a water taxi might use, she said.
    Delray Beach is waiting to see what the county creates before determining whether a water taxi dock is needed and a good location for it, said Rich Reade, sustainability/public information officer. “Still we would want to look at it,” he said, because it can reduce traffic on the roads.
    Boca Raton also is interested in the countywide water taxi system, said Assistant City Manager Mike Woika. But the city has not identified any sites for a water taxi dock.
    Many components are needed to make the water taxi service work, said Angela Morlok, a planner with the Metropolitan Planning Agency.  She described the components as signs advertising the water taxis and a website where potential   users could check schedules and rates.