By Margie Plunkett
    
A Parking Management Advisory Board meeting to collect public comment on extending metered-parking hours at the beach was cancelled after Delray Beach city commissioners noted it wasn’t the board’s position to make policy.
    “Why the Parking Management Board is being involved with policy, I do not know. That’s our job,” said Vice Mayor Tom Carney. “I want to stop it now. If there’s going to be issues about what time we think should be on those meters, it’s a commission decision.”
    The parking board meeting was initially set for Nov. 27 to accept public comment on a proposal to extend the time for metered parking at the beach from 8 p.m. daily to midnight.
    The notice of the meeting explained that currently, the parking meter fees are required between 9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
 “The recommendation to extend the meter fees to (midnight) daily was based on a suggestion from a citizen as a means to generate additional revenue during these challenging economic times,” the notice said.
    Carney objected to the parking board’s planned meeting during commission’s Nov. 20 session. The Vice Mayor said he had initially raised the issue of beach-area metered parking to move enforcement of metered parking from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for the benefit of residents.
    He asked for the change because the hours of parking enforcement in the morning were ridiculous, he said. “At 8 a.m., the only people being ensnared were our residents who were going down to the beach to enjoy it.”
 His proposal was to start at 9:30 a.m. during the week and 8:30 a.m. on the weekend.
    “But then they moved the 6 p.m. (ending time for metered parking) to 8. Now the suggestion is to move it to 12 o’clock,” Carney said. “Everyone at the beach wants to stop metered parking at 6. I don’t know how this got so skewed. It’s being driven by people who don’t live at the beach.”
    For the same reason Atlantic Avenue merchants’ views were considered when downtown parking was on the table, the views of the residents at the beach should also be considered, Carney said.
    When City Manager David Harden said the parking board had already taken formal action to change the hours to midnight, Carney said he had written to Harden previously pointing out the board didn’t have the authority to make the change.
    Harden said he would write a letter to the board to inform it that the hours of parking meters are not within the scope of its responsibility and that the board is not to make recommendations on the topic.
    A notice canceling the Parking Management Advisory Board meeting was issued Nov. 21, explaining, “the one item that was to be discussed at this meeting has been pulled for further study”.                        

By Margie Plunkett

    The Ocean Ridge Police Department will continue on the beat, after commissioners defeated a proposal to provide law enforcement services through the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
    The decision — made in a 4-1 vote — met with applause from residents at the Nov. 5 meeting, who have followed the issue for months since it was proposed after police officers moved to unionize. Commission opted to investigate whether Sheriff’s Office services were more economically viable than the existing police department.
    The benefits of a local police force whose focus is the coastal communities of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes won hands down, with the dissenting commissioner noting that her vote reflected at least in part an inadequate analysis of the issue.
    The PBSO doesn’t “know the town — and that’s one of the key issues,” said Mayor Geoffrey Pugh.  “I was here when we disbanded the fire department. When those fire trucks left here, a piece of Ocean Ridge left,” he said, explaining he doesn’t want to lose Ocean Ridge’s personality.
“I don’t want to be everyone else. I want my police department there,” he said, adding the town should raise the tax rate if that’s what it takes to keep the department.
    Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan, who was the lone vote for contracting with PBSO, wants a more comprehensive analysis and potential changes in the police department to head off unsustainable future costs.
    While Hennigan said she’s interested in the town’s safety, she also was considering its future budget.
“I’m not even saying going to PBSO is the best thing to do. I have to say we have to open up our eyes in the future. We have to do some better long-range planning. The cost of our police department is unsustainable in the long run.”
    Hennigan, like some residents during public comment, said the town needs to look at alternatives that will save money, potentially including sharing police and dispatch services with other neighboring towns. “We need to start taking some baby steps.”
    The public largely voiced support for keeping the Ocean Ridge Police Department.
    “I think we should just put this to rest. It’s very hard on the police department,” said former Commissioner Betty Bingham.
The uncertainty created while waiting for a decision is demoralizing to officers and may cause the police department to lose people who look for positions elsewhere, she said.
    Others at the public hearing weren’t sure why the issue was still on the table.
“I don’t quite understand why we’re back to this subject again,” said Stella Kolb. “I thought this was settled. You heard the will of the people. Do you need a petition signed? What do we have to do to stop this nonsense?”
    The public had turned out in force in the spring, when the PBSO presented its $1.2 million per year proposal to town officials, and were vocal in their opposition to contracting law enforcement to the Sheriff’s Office. The analysis of the proposals supplied to commissioners put the cost for Ocean Ridge’s police service at $2 million.
    “My mother told me long ago, ‘Don’t drop a diamond and pick up a rock,’ ” said Tim Atteberry. “These guys who work with us are the best.”  

80 concrete trucks arrived, mixed and poured on Nov. 3-4, as part of the construction project for the new Ocean Avenue Bridge in Lantana. The bridge is scheduled for completion March 2014, but may be ready as soon as November 2013.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter
    
Taxpayers in Lantana will save about $1 million over the next nine years because the town is refinancing its water and sewer bonds.
    At its Nov. 26 meeting, the Town Council agreed to refinance the bonds with TD Bank for a principal amount not to exceed $4.5 million.
    In 1998, a $9.215 million bond was issued with a 3.6 percent interest rate and had risen to 4.65 percent. The refinanced rate will charge an annual interest of 1.48 percent. The bonds will mature in October 2021.
    Council members praised Town Manager Deborah Manzo, who was up for her annual evaluation during the same meeting, for ferreting out the savings, one of many ways she has found to cut costs since she was hired in April.
    Among her cost-saving achievements, according to Mayor Dave Stewart, Manzo restructured the lifeguard staffing, reduced a vacant police officer position from full-time to 30 hours, and is currently analyzing the town’s garbage and trash programs, anticipating savings of $50,000.
    Manzo also found a way to give city employees a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment. They hadn’t received merit raises since 2007.
    After taking turns praising her good work, the council voted to raise Manzo’s salary to $112,000 a year. Stewart had suggested a salary in the $108,000 to $112,000 range.
    Hired six months ago, Manzo stepped into former Town Manager Mike Bornstein’s $97,476 annual salary — about $20,000 less than she made as assistant city manager in Greenacres. 
    Council member Lynn Moorhouse said Manzo’s cost savings measures had paid for her raises for five years or more.
    “I love her team attitude,” council member Phil Aridas said. “She brought a breath of fresh air to this town.”
    Council member Tom Deringer said Manzo had done “so much for the town, she deserved a raise of at least 10 percent.”
    The new salary is more in keeping with what managers make in comparable municipalities, Stewart said.
    Bornstein, who took a job as Lake Worth’s manager in April, had turned down pay increases in Lantana and actually reduced his salary during tight budget years, Stewart said. “If Mike got his reductions back and his 2 percent increases, we’d be in the range.”
    Manzo said she was surprised and pleased with the vote of confidence — and raise — she received.
    Her future pay increases aren’t likely to take such a large leap.
    Next year, whatever raise employees get, she will get, Stewart said.                          

By Tim O’Meilia
    
The beleaguered Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn, which has stirred South Palm Beach politics for five years, has been sold to a Delray Beach financier and investor in distressed properties.
    The 58-unit, two-story motel on the ocean — the only business in a town laden with condominiums — has been in foreclosure since February 2011 and its owners in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since March.
    Gary Cohen, CEO of Paragon Acquisition Group LLC of Boca Raton, confirmed the October sale but declined to say how much he paid. Sale documents have yet to be filed with the Palm Beach County clerk’s office.
    “We paid market price for it, less than their asking price,” Cohen said. The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser lists its market value at $3.8 million, but that figure is often less than the actual market.
    The former owners, the Paloka family, briefly listed the 54-year-old motel for sale at more than $12 million in mid-2011 but quickly withdrew it from the real estate market.
    “They don’t make any more beachfront, especially not in the South Palm Beach area,” Cohen said of the purchase of the struggling operation.
    He said he plans to revive the motel, update the rooms, improve the landscaping, examine the seawall and upgrade the restaurant and bar. Cohen said he hoped to take bids in the next month or two.
     “We’re exploring all possibilities on the site. We’re looking at both a hotel operation and the possibility of a development project in the future,” he said. “It’s a stunning piece of property, completely underutilized.”
    Cohen said his first order of business is to rebuild friendly relations with the townspeople. “We are planning to be a good neighbor first. We need to bring the good will of the property and bring it back as a good hotel,” he said.
    He said he planned to set up meetings with neighbors to “re-introduce everyone to the hotel.” He made an appearance at the Town Council meeting Nov. 28.
    “I’ve talking to so many people who said they will not eat there anymore because of the Palokas,” Cohen said.
    The Palokas bought the motel, then called the Palm Beach Hawaiian Inn, in 2002 for $3.3 million. Four years later, they began a quest to build a taller condo-hotel and became embroiled in town politics.
    Their business entity, Kosova Realty, sought approval for a $250 million, 14-story building with two underground parking levels but it was rejected the next year.
    A second attempt at a scaled-back 10-story, 99-unit design also was rejected in 2009.
    In early 2010, town voters made zoning changes more difficult by requiring a referendum. The long-running issue pitted condo owner against condo owner and became the primary town council election issue for years.
    In self-described biographical notes, Cohen said Paragon has acquired $100 million in distressed properties in the last year, although none in Palm Beach County. He said he is involved in a possible redevelopment in Highland Beach but nothing is imminent. Other purchases include Miami Beach property.
    He was a principal and founder of CMA Development Group, which focused on hotel development in Orlando and Miami.
    One 2006 CMA project, the Blue Rose, was to have been a 39-story, 1,500-room condo-hotel resort with a 1,000-seat performing arts theater along the International Drive entertainment district of Orlando.
    The $850 million project, “inspired by New York sophistication, the sizzling passion of Miami and the all night excitement of Las Vegas,” has yet to be built and Cohen pulled out several years ago.
    “I had a general partner who had visions of grandeur and he could not fulfill them. Hopefully I will never go to Orlando again for a project,” Cohen said with a  laugh.
    Cohen said a decision on redeveloping the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn property is for the future. “Right now we want to bring it back as a good hotel and restore the neighborly feel so people who live nearby will feel welcome and want to come in,” Cohen said.                                         

After 22 years, David Harden is stepping down as  Delray Beach city manager. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Margie Plunkett
    
Twenty-two years ago, before Delray Beach’s vibrant downtown emerged, the city was suffering from a civic inferiority complex. It “had Boca envy. We felt like we should be like them,” remembers City Manager David Harden. “Now, we see the reverse.”
    The turnaround in the city and the way residents view Delray Beach are some of the biggest changes here since Harden arrived in 1990 — and the city manager counts them among his greatest accomplishments in office. “To see that reversed in many ways gives me a great deal of satisfaction,” he said.
    “It involved a lot of people,” he said. “We’ve had good political leadership throughout that period and a lot of organizations — the DDA, Chamber of Commerce, Old School Square, all the different groups — working together.”
    Harden is preparing to retire in January after more than two decades leading Delray Beach’s staff. His long stint has also seen progress in the developing western portion of the city, a number of historic preservation projects come to fruition and city awards including All-American City and Florida Trend’s The Best Run Town in Florida designation.
    It hasn’t always been easy in a position that’s naturally scrutinized and often at the mercy of politics. Yet he has managed much more than to have merely survived.
    Harden attributes his career longevity to advice he received at the very start from Pete Knowles, who then had been city manager in Sanford for 20 years. That advice: “Be sure you always give all the commissioners the same information. Don’t socialize with commissioners. And don’t get emotionally involved with issues.”
    The second greatest accomplishment for the city and Harden, he said, has been seen in minority neighborhoods. “Many people felt hopeless about their neighborhoods” when Harden first came to Delray. “Now, there is a lot of positive feeling and optimism about what can be done.”
    Delray Beach additionally has benefited from Harden’s personal and professional passion for historic preservation.
    In 1994 he floated a historic house — built in 1926 — down the Intracoastal from its original lot near the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach to Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach. He still lives in the home with his wife, Andrea.
    Harden was honored in November for his part in preserving structures and areas of Delray Beach with the first David T. Harden Preservation Award.
    The Delray Beach Preservation Trust cited numerous projects, including creation of the West Settler District, growth and expansion of the Delray Beach Historical Society, restoration of Sandoway House Nature Center, the 1924 Franklin House on Northwest Fifth Avenue and the Spady Museum, and ensuring that new hurricane-resistant windows at Old School Square retained the building’s historic character.
    The trust also noted Harden’s advocacy of protections for the city’s five historic districts: Del Ida Park, Marina District, Nassau Street, West Settlers and Old School Square Historic Arts District.
    Like most public careers, Harden’s has had its contentious spells. In recent years, commissioners gave Harden a vote of no confidence for the handling of a resident’s complaints about Waste Management’s billing practices concerning garbage pickup.
    The issue was ultimately reviewed by Harden’s staff and the financial review board and resolved to the commission’s satisfaction, according to the city manager. What does Harden say of the vote against him? “It goes with the territory.”
    “One city planner I knew who was more cynical than I am, said, ‘If you’re in public life, your friends come and go. And your enemies accumulate,’ ” Harden said.
    Looking back further, Harden recalls about 2006 that the commission wasn’t happy with him over bond projects. Commissioners didn’t feel as if they had been adequately informed about the projects involved. “We probably had two commissioners who thought I should be fired,” Harden said.
    “We were supposed to build a community center at Congress and Lake Ida. It still hasn’t been built,” Harden said. “All the money available was used for other projects (by commissioners’ choice).
    “Each time a project went over budget, they were informed, but they said they didn’t realize the accumulated impact of the projects that went beyond,” Harden recalled.
    Harden survived, thanks in part to a Delray Beach requirement that city commissioners need a 4-1 majority to oust its manager. A recent commission debate on whether to make it easier to fire a city manager was as much a tribute to Harden as it was consideration of a change to Delray Beach’s charter.
    “I know for a fact that the continuity and consistency of vision here, pretty much passed on by Dave Harden, is a great deal of the reason why we’ve been able to change the other five people (commissioners) that sit up here and keep the course, keep the vision,” Mayor Woodie McDuffie said after an October public hearing. “The knowledge is here, the leadership here.”
    Public comment also echoed that sentiment. “We have great leadership and a fabulous city manager,” said resident Christina Morrison. “I can’t help think that 22 years of strong leadership put (Delray Beach) in this position. Thank you again, Mr. Harden, for all you do for us.”
    Two former mayors spoke at that hearing. “I, too, wish to thank Mr. Harden for his dedication and his hard work,” said Jay Halperin. “Tom (Lynch) and I are here — we hired him.”
    Among the most critical issues that the still-unknown new Delray Beach city manager will face are financial challenges that have persisted through development of the last five budgets — and while things are improving, they aren’t solved yet.
    Most recently, Harden said, “we had a budget gap that was plugged in ways that can’t be repeated in the future.” The new manager will have to find ways to balance the budget that don’t impede the city — while at the same time finding ways to sustain the city’s high level of performance and to continue to improve, he said.
    Harden has advice for the next city manager.
“They need to be sure we’re cultivating future commissioners, people involved enough in the city to know how it works and what’s going on,” he said.
    His successor should also be involved in maintaining a clear vision of the city. The city’s goals have been “remarkably consistent in its years of strategic planning,” Harden added, noting that it’s getting ready to start the Visions 2020 planning process.
    There is another concern, the city manager said. “There’s so much pressure to not raise the millage (tax rate) — to reduce the millage. You have to be very careful that you don’t get deferred millage and the city starts to deteriorate,” Harden said.
    When Hardens steps away, he said he will most miss working with the staff to find ways to improve. The city manager recalled the words of a recent speaker he’d heard: “Modern leadership isn’t command and control, but creating an atmosphere in which innovation can flourish. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Harden said. “That part I’ll miss.”
    He will be glad, on the other hand, to get away from the workload and have flexibility in his schedule, the city manager added.
    In retirement, his time will be spent on volunteer projects with his church and the Boy Scouts. Harden is an elder of the Suncoast Community Church and serves as chairman of the Osceola District, Boy Scouts of America, where in the past he has received the highest honors an adult scouting volunteer can win.
    Consulting work could occupy some of his time as well, and he may take up a suggestion that he write a book on downtown revitalization, a topic experienced both in Winter Park and Delray Beach.
    “There’s plenty to do,” Harden said.
    Born in Fort Pierce, Harden grew up in Okeechobee, and he earned a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in 1964 and a master of city planning from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1968.
    Before coming to Delray Beach, he served in the U.S. Navy. In 1977, he became city manager of Winter Park, where he stayed until moving to Delray Beach.
    Delray Beach will remain his home. He and Andrea  have three sons. Their oldest son, Jeremy, 37, and three grandchildren live in Boynton Beach. Son Chad, 36, is in Tennessee, and Aaron, 32, is in Seattle.
“My wife says if we ever move, we have to keep a place in Florida,” Harden said.     

Five candidates have been selected to interview for the position of city manager, which will become vacant in January when David Harden retires after 22 years.
     The City Commission plans to bring the candidates in Dec. 6 and 7. Two alternates have also been selected.
    The candidates are Douglas Smith, who is an assistant city manager in Delray Beach; Steven Alexander, former town manager of Cutler Bay; Louie Chapman Jr., town manager of Bloomfield, Conn.; Paul White, interim community development officer of Riviera Beach; and Oel Wingo, a public sector management consultant in Reddick.
    Alternates are Larry S. Mitchell, former city manager of Lawton, Okla.; and Dennis Stark, a management consultant in Yerington, Nev.                                                            — Margie Plunkett

By Tim O’Meilia
    
Two more homes to be sliced from the old Spence estate — a Bermuda home with black shutters and a Colonial West Indies house with a charcoal tile roof — were approved unanimously by the Gulf Stream Town Commission Nov. 9, not that anyone cared much about the architectural style.
Instead, the focus was on podocarpus hedges, buttonwood trees and buffer zones between established Hidden Harbour homeowners and the new Harbour View Estates development planned for the six-acre former Spence property along North Ocean Boulevard.
Developer Tom Laudani agreed to deed restrictions that would require that his lush landscape plans be maintained by future owners of the two lots on the south and north ends of the subdivision. A previously approved interior lot also was included.
Laudani also agreed to erect green construction fencing during the estimated 10 months it will take for him to build the first three homes in the subdivision.
Although a 15-foot buffer zone of established trees and vegetation along Hidden Harbour Drive remains, each lot behind the buffer will include a retaining wall, podocarpus hedges, buttonwood trees and other vegetation to screen the view of residents on the other side of the street.
Landscape architect Dave Bodker said 19 trees and various native shrubs on the south side of Lot 4 along the drive would shield residents.
Nearby residents Nancy Tuohy and Lisa Morgan complained that construction work was still visible and a historic banyan tree had not been replaced. Although Laudani apologized for removing the banyan, he said it was not within the 15-foot canopy that the commission required he keep.
Morgan also said neighbors were not happy with the choice of plants. “Their concern is it’s all the same, buttonwood trees and podocarpus.”
Hidden Harbour resident Martin O’Boyle complained that Laudani had not lived up to a private agreement between his Seaside Builders and the neighborhood. O’Boyle has asked the town to intervene to settle the dispute over the removal of the banyan tree. He left the meeting before his complaint was considered.
Architect Richard Jones tried to allay fears that the new homes would appear to be part of a planned community. “There is nothing cookie-cutter about the design and details of these homes,” he said.
Lot 4 on the south end will be a Bermuda design with black shutters and railings, a balcony, four different elevations, a courtyard, a three-car garage, pool and a carriage house.
Lot 6 on the north end will be a partial two-story Colonial West Indies style with a charcoal concrete tile roof, a two-car garage and pool. Both houses are larger than 8,600 square feet.

In other business: Commissioners postponed a decision until next month on whether to remove other invasive species of trees along North Ocean in front of the Harbor View Estates development and replace them with Australian pines.
A 16-year-old act of the Florida Legislature allows Gulf Stream to maintain and plant Australian pines along State Road A1A between Sea Road and Pelican Lane because of their historical value to the town, although the pines are considered an invasive species to be eradicated.
Because the area is being redeveloped, non-native species must be removed by state law. Town Manager William Thrasher has proposed removing five Brazilian peppers and six almond trees along the west side of A1A and replacing them with 40 to 60 Australian pines.
Some town residents have objected by letter to plans to reduce the hammock by removing the non-native plants. The town commission will meet jointly with the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board on Dec. 14.
Town Commissioner Bob Ganger said planting the Australian pines would retain the current appearance. “If it still retains that look, we can have our cake and eat it, too,” he said.               

Robb Barron in a healthy dune, standing in the midst of cocoplum, sea oats and sea lavender. Photos by Cheryl Blackerby/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby
    
Robb Barron carefully tucked a sea oat seedling into a small hole in the sand, one of hundreds he planted last week on a dune washed bare by Sandy’s surge behind an oceanside Delray Beach estate.
    But between the sweep of sand next to the beach and the house was a hardy thicket of sea oats and palmetto that Barron had planted years ago. It not only had withstood Sandy, plus the three hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, but also had trapped more sand to build a wider and healthier dune.
    Nearby sea oats, flattened by the sand, are expected to stand up again. Barron also left the seaweed in the sand to add crucial nutrients for plant growth.
    Barron, owner of Robert Barron Coastal Management, replants damaged dunes and advises beach residents about building a healthy habitat that will stabilize the sand. He warned residents not to rake up seaweed and downed sea oats in the days after Sandy. It makes the beach look better immediately, but it is harmful for long-term preservation.
    Healthy native vegetation is crucial to protect coastal homes, says Leanne Welch, a shoreline program supervisor with the Department of Environmental Resources Management.
    “Well-maintained dunes are our first line of defense. Those native, salt-tolerant plants have evolved to hold that sand on the beach. Healthy dunes protect the beach and actually help grow it.”
    First and foremost, coastal residents should remember this: Respect the sea oat.
    This slender, dainty-looking grass is a powerhouse when it comes to beach preservation. It grows up to 3 feet, with the seed heads up 5 or 6 feet, and looks like it could blow away in a breeze. But the root system for young plants radiates outward more than 5 feet, down more than 5 feet and also hundreds of feet across when the roots’ network grows and intertwines.
    “I planted a 12-foot-wide strip of sea oats in 1984, and today it is 100 to 150 feet wide, and it has done it on its own,” Barron said. To restore a dune washed bare of plants, Barron first plants sea oats and other grasses and railroad vine, which has pretty purple flowers. After those plants are established, he adds plants such as palmettos and Spanish bayonet.
    Homeowners should be patient after a storm, he says, and let nature take its course.

Do’s and don’ts of beach maintenance after a storm
    * Do clean up trash such as plastic, bottles and storm debris that damages sea oats.
    * Don’t remove seaweed, although you can relocate it to other areas of a dune. “The ‘wrack line,’ basically the seaweed and marine plants that wash up, can help trap sand, and as it decays it provides nutrients for plants,” Welch said. “Migratory birds, too, actually depend on it as a vital source of food from creatures that wash up with it.”
    * Don’t remove sea oats if they’re flattened or covered by only a few inches of sand; they usually will grow back. “A sea oat is one of the hardiest plants out there,” said Welch. “I’ve seen them grow back after being buried by six to 18 inches of sand.”
    * Do replant sea oats, other grasses, railroad vine, then palmettos and other native beach vegetation, and be patient. “The sea oat won’t do much for a month after planting, then it will take off like a rocket, and in about three months will be as big as a bushel basket,” Barron said.
    * Think of replanting as habitat management, not landscaping, although the results are beautiful.
    * Never harm threatened and endangered species such as beach clustervine, bay cedar, sea lavender, thatch palm and silver palm.                              

Ocean Ridge resident Matt Gracey shows a rendering of his latest transformational idea, Art House of Delray. The community art center, which opened in September, benefits artists and art enthusiasts. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Delray Beach has a new arts center, and it’s all thanks to Matt Gracey’s messy dining room table.
A couple of years ago, Gracey’s good friend, architect and artist Bob Currie, helped inspire him to start painting. And since then Gracey’s dining table has been covered in paints, palette knives and brushes.
In search of an art studio space for his paints and paintings, Gracey, 58,  discovered something even better — that the building that had been Delray Art Center in the 1970s and ’80s was up for sale.
Gracey fell in love with the space, and especially loved the idea of returning the building, which had been transformed into a swinging bachelor’s pad by a previous owner, back to a community art center in Delray Beach.
“The community needs a true nonprofit community art center,” Gracey said. “I also am really excited to bring this building back to its artistic past since during my childhood it was the Delray Art Center.”
Gracey purchased the building, at 255 N. Federal Highway, and invited artist Michelle Ferry to create a new arts program.
Art House of Delray, which opened in September, offers art classes in all media for children, teens and adults, artist studio rentals, art gallery exhibitions and Friday night art nights that feature artists doing live paintings. There’s also a kitchen and a large room for catering events.
Art House of Delray’s first exhibition (30(5)61), runs through Dec. 16 and showcases artwork from artists in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
— Lucy Lazarony

10 Questions

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I was born in West Palm because there were no hospitals closer. I grew up in Delray, went to Plumosa [Elementary], Delray Beach Junior High, then Atlantic High, before graduating from St. Andrew’s.
What influenced me the most about growing up in a sleepy Southern coastal town was the independence I had from an early age.
In about the second grade, I was turned loose on my bike and just had to be home for dinner, so I was outside constantly if I was not in school, and was able to meet many different types of hometown people.

    Q. What professions have you worked in?
A. I have worked in the insurance business, the real-estate industry as a residential agent for a brief stint, then a commercial broker, before becoming a real-estate investor and developer. For a dozen years with a business partner, I owned the Delray Beach Yacht Club and ran the 150-seat fine French cuisine dining room as well as the 50-slip marina. We developed a 12-unit condominium overlooking the marina as well.

    Q. What life accomplishments are you most proud of?  
A. I am most proud of my work with the redevelopment of Delray.
I was one of the founding members of the Community Redevelopment Agency. Those days we were battling high crime in the downtown because it was so deserted at night. The biggest zoning issues were what to do about all of the used furniture stores and secondhand shops on the Avenue.
After years of committee work and lots of time and money, the downtown started becoming what it is today. When I walk now downtown, I am just amazed that out of the efforts of dedicated volunteers, we were able to start the spark that is now burning so brightly.
I suggested the nighttime festival of art and jazz. We hired a friend from a Boca art gallery to spearhead the Avenue’s few art galleries having openings that night and put a few jazz trios on the street. We knew we were on to something when an estimated 5,000 people showed up that first night despite a really heavy downpour.
I’m also really proud that I was one of three along with Kathi Sumrall Davis and Marshall Dewitt on the first committee of the historical society to try to get the school board to move out of old Delray Elementary and allow us to create what became Old School Square.
The school board was very receptive to finding another location out of the downtown and just needed help locating the right parcel.
Once that was done, they were very open to our suggestions of turning the property over to the city under the visionary leadership of Frances Bourque.
I also was very involved for over a decade with the Morikami and played a key role in the design and creation of the big new museum building and was the chairman of the first master plan committee that steered the development of the gardens and new entrance.
Another proud accomplishment came when I founded the Delray Beach Tennis Patrons right after our new tennis center was built.
Our mission was to use tennis as a way to get the community’s underserved kids involved in the tennis center and in position to gain college scholarships. The first summer we ran the program, over 450 kids showed up for lessons.

    Q. What has inspired you to become involved in the arts?
A. I always believed I had no artistic ability, then found a love of photography, then fell into oil painting when my friend Bob Currie allowed me to help him on one of his masterpieces.
That was two years ago, and I have been hooked on painting ever since.
I love using oils as a beginner because I can just keep layering until I stumble every now and then into something that actually is pleasing.
I constantly remember that Monet sometimes put on 50 layers, so I just use patience to find a layer that works.
I also tell myself the old saying that even a blind pig sometimes finds the truffles. Another inspiring saying for me as a painter is from Picasso, who said that it only took him four years to learn to paint like Rafael but a lifetime to paint like a child.

    Q. Why is this project important to you?
A. The community needs a true nonprofit community art center where everyone feels comfortable and we can combine all ages and abilities into an appreciation for the fun and inspiration of art.  I also am really excited to bring this building back to its artistic past since during my childhood it was the Delray Art Center. The building is an inspiration in itself as one of the coolest buildings in Delray, so it is a perfect setting for this project.

    Q. What advice do you have for a young person interested in the arts?
A. Just let yourself loose into your art. There are no wrongs or rights in art, so you can freely express yourself as loudly, deeply or quietly as you want.
    
    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A. Ocean Ridge reminds me so much of old Delray. It is much quieter than Delray now, and I love living close to the beach as I walk in the sand almost every morning, as well as surf as much as I can.

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A. I love walking over “Bob’s Bridge” (Currie and his firm did the design work on the Ocean Avenue bridge) into Boynton where, within a three-block area, I can choose from multiple restaurants.
    
    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. I listen to Eva Cassidy, Miles Davis and Stan Getz to really lose myself when painting.

    Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. There is nothing as powerful as persistence.   

By Cheryl Blackerby

    DELRAY BEACH — Elaine Prentice Hapgood found her mission in life more than a half-century ago when she attended an International Planned Parenthood conference in Pakistan. She witnessed firsthand the consequences of unbridled population growth and how important access to reproductive health care was to young women.
    For the next five decades, she committed herself to Planned Parenthood causes near her Delray Beach and Greenwich, Conn., homes and reached out to young women in developing countries around the world through volunteer work with the United Nations.
    “Elaine was committed to advancing women’s rights and reproductive justice in Connecticut and beyond,” said Judy Tabar, president and chief operating officer of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.
    “Planned Parenthood of Southern New England lost a tremendous friend, longtime supporter and assiduous advocate,” Tabar said. “We are deeply saddened and keenly aware that we have lost a great activist for many under-represented communities.”
    Elaine “Ellie” Hapgood died peacefully at her home in Delray Beach on Oct. 26. She was 95.
    Mrs. Hapgood was preceded in death by her first husband, John Powers, and by her second husband, Cyrus Hapgood, who died in 2002. She is survived by her daughter, Lynn Babicka of Vero Beach, and her son, John Powers of Boulder, Colo.; five grandchildren: Jim Bohart, Bobbi Hapgood, Shelley Babicka, Lauren Zuskin and Jonathan Babicka: three great-grandchildren; and her devoted caregiver, Raija Stahistedt.
    Mrs. Hapgood’s philanthropic course traced the footsteps of her father, Richard Prentice Ettinger, who founded the Educational Foundation of America in 1959. She shared her father’s belief that overpopulation was a global crisis and was a charter member of the foundation he established to curb it.
    Mrs. Hapgood served as the foundation’s president for many years and embraced projects to improve health-care services and education for Native Americans. She also took on geriatric care issues and numerous environmental causes.
    “Mrs. Hapgood chose to dedicate her life to ensuring the availability of reproductive health services to men and women, regardless of age, race, religion or economic status,” according to the foundation.
    In the late 1960s, Mrs. Hapgood worked as a volunteer with the United Nations Population Commission. She also served on the boards of the Population Crisis Committee and the Population Institute.
“Her father was such a strong influence in her life. He told her the biggest issue we would face was overpopulation, and she took that to heart,” said her son,  John Powers.
She was a friend of Prescott Bush, grandfather of  President George W. Bush, a U.S. senator and supporter of Planned Parenthood. “She was a Republican, but when it got to George W. Bush, she changed political parties. She had to follow her core values, and it was certainly a lesson to her children,” Powers said.
 Powers said Mrs. Hapgood’s “passions in life were her family and playing golf.”
    The family requests that memorial contributions go to: Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, 345 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511-2348; or Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast; or the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado in Denver.
    A funeral service for Mrs. Hapgood was held Nov. 3 at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach. A memorial service will be held June 30, 2013 in Greenwich, Conn.

By Ron Hayes

GULF STREAM — John E. Searle Jr., a president of The St. Andrew’s Club from 1991 to ’93, died Oct. 30. He was 88 and had owned a villa at the club since 1973.
    “He was very active until six months before his death,” said his daughter, Kip Abbott. “He was constantly involved in both The St. Andrew’s Club and the Little Club, and very vocal in his opposition to the proposed sale of Briny Breezes. Everybody loved him. He was a true, caring, people person.”
    Mr. Searle retired to The St. Andrew’s Club after a life of professional and personal accomplishment.
    Born July 21, 1924, in New York City, he graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1942 and entered Yale University but dropped out to enlist in the Army Air Corps, where he served as a flight instructor.
    In June 1945, he married Linda Saunders Bailey; his wife of 67 years, she survives him.
    After the war, Mr. Searle graduated from the Sloan Business School at MIT, where he was captain of the swim team, and went to work for United-Carr Fastener, eventually becoming a vice president of worldwide sales.
    The Searles lived in Marblehead Neck, Mass., where Mr. Searle was president of the Marblehead Neck Improvement Association and was a founding member of the Marblehead Racing Association and a board member of the Eastern Yacht Club.
    In 1973, he contracted to have a villa built at St. Andrews and retired there in 1986.
    While in Marblehead, Mr. Searle met Robert Burns, also a St. Andrews resident, when his granddaughter and Burns’ daughter attended the same school.
    “He was one of those people who was very easygoing,” Burns said of his longtime friend and neighbor. “He was a very interesting man, and just so pleasant.”
    In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son-in-law, John H. Abbott of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., another daughter, Carol Searle Ley and her husband, Andrew, of Dedham, Mass.; and a granddaughter, Kelsey Abbott and her husband, Peter McDougall, of Freeport, Maine.
    Donations in Mr. Searle’s memory may be made to Phillips Academy, 180 Main St., Andover, MA 01810.

By Ron Hayes

BRINY BREEZES —  On a Monday morning more than a decade ago, David Blonda was sharing a golf cart with a new resident, collecting aluminum cans for the town’s recycling club.
    “I asked him where he was from,” Blonda recalled, “and he said, ‘A little town you never heard of called Topsfield, Mass.’ I said, ‘Well, I grew up five miles away in Ipswich.’ And  that became the basis for a very long friendship.”
    During his 12 years in Briny Breezes, David Forrest developed many long friendships and earned the town’s gratitude for his volunteer work.
    Mr. Forrest died Nov. 1. He was 66 and had battled cancer.
    “He was a good guy,” remembered Ken Doyle, president of the town’s Boating & Fishing Club, which collects discarded paper and aluminum. “He was a quiet man, but a real nice guy. He helped all he could.”
    In addition to the Boating & Fishing Club, Mr. Forrest was a member of the Chiselers, a woodworking club.
    “He wasn’t there as a hobbyist so much as just to be helpful,” said Ira Friedman, the club’s president. “If you had a chair with a broken leg, he was one of the guys you called. Unselfish, that’s how he was known to his friends.”
    In the summer months, when dockmaster Doug Baumgarten went north to Wisconsin, Mr. Forrest filled in.
    “Last year a guy tied his boat up wrong. At high tide, the water started flowing in, and Dave caught that. I imagine he helped save about five boats over the years,” Baumgartner recalled.
    David Forrest was born on June 28, 1946, in Malden, Mass., and lived most of his life in Topsfield. After serving with the U.S. Army in Germany, he was honorably discharged in 1972 and worked as a machinist at Evans Industries in Topsfield until his retirement in 2000, when he moved to Briny Breezes.
    When he wasn’t volunteering, neighbors usually found him on his porch, enjoying a good book and the ever-present breeze off the Intracoastal.
    “David exemplified the slogan that a person’s word is their bond,” David Blonda said. “He was one of the most dependable and faithful persons that anyone could have had as a friend.”
    Mr. Forrest, who left no immediate survivors, was cremated, and his remains will be interred at the South Florida National Veterans Cemetery in Boynton Beach.

By Tim O’Meilia
    
Manalapan town commissioners verbally skirmished over police criminal statistics, police dispatch services and whether residents and commissioners were burdening the town staff with too many requests.
    In the end — nearly four hours later — nothing changed.
    Commissioners did not follow up on Mayor Basil Diamond’s proposal that commission approval be required for requests by residents and commissioners to the town staff and consultants for research beyond basic public records searches.
    “You are trying to stop any commissioner from getting information required to make an intelligent decision,” Commissioner Howard Roder told the mayor.
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the staff had fielded numerous requests when the commission was considering shifting police services to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
    “It’s time-consuming,” Stumpf said. “Ninety-nine percent was related to public safety, and it is more than just copies — it’s analyzing data, compiling logs.”
    Town Attorney Trela White said she had few requests to her office.
    Commissioner Donald Brennan said that crime statistics released by town officials were not shown as misleading until deeper analysis showed otherwise.
    Police Chief Carmen Mattox said people misinterpreted statistics noted as “incidents” as criminal activity.
    “I almost fell off the dais when I learned that incidents were far exaggerated in terms of their importance,” Brennan said. “The information provided early on turned out to be wrong, and I feel pretty stupid.”  
    “I almost fell off the dais when I heard there were only one or two [911] dispatch calls a month,” he added.
    After making numerous requests to town officials, resident Kersen DeJong provided many of the statistics Brennan referred to. He said he has never requested research and spoke to the town attorney twice. He praised Town Clerk Lisa Petersen for timely responses.
    Commissioner David Cheifetz said there was no need to solve a problem where none existed.
    In other business: Commissioners set workshops for early next year to deal with the town’s election process and with the budget.
    In January, the commission will discuss Brennan’s proposal to reduce the number of commissioners from seven to five, requiring two from the oceanfront, two from the point and the mayor alternating every few years.
    There is too little time to place any potential charter change on the March ballot.
    In February, the commission will discuss accelerating the annual budget process and dealing with its overall approach.
    This year the commission compressed several workshops into the last few weeks before the budget deadline required by state law. Several commissioners suggested beginning budget hearings at least in July.
    Commissioners also will consider zero-based budgeting, justifying every line item.                               

Richard and Lillian Goldman relax in the foyer of the Carlisle. Photos by Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

By Libby Volgyes

    Ruth Knox is still glowing a bit from the morning political discussion. A lively, animated group had gathered to discuss the previous evening’s vice-presidential debate. Peppered among talk of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the environment, the group broke down the age-old question: Do you want experience or youth?
    Knox, 87, loves those weekly political discussions, relishes good conversations filled with peppery zingers and a chance to think, discuss and get her brain working overtime. In the three years she’s lived at the Carlisle Palm Beach in Lantana, they’re one of the highlights.
    “There comes a time when you have to look in the mirror and realize you cannot do what you want to do, and the Carlisle provides location and services and all that comes with living in retirement,” Knox said.
    So, lured by location, among other things — the ocean breeze wafts lazily across A1A to Carlisle residents — she packed up her condo at the Rapallo along the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach and moved 9 miles down the street.
    For residents of the spacious establishment across from the Ritz-Carlton Manalapan, their future just got a little easier with the Carlisle’s expansion plans.
    Currently, the Carlisle has 60 assisted-living apartments and 250 independent-living apartments. In about four months, it will start the process of transitioning to 80 assisted-living apartments, 146 independent-living apartments and 54 “memory care” — Alzheimer’s- and dementia-specific housing for seniors.
    “It’s going to be awesome for our residents because it means they never have to move. This is their last move,” said Natasha Deonath, director of sales and marketing. “It’s huge. As our residents age, we’re trying to find ways to accommodate their needs.”

Myrtle Singer gets a kiss from Sammy, her Chinese-crested powderpuff. Singer’s needlepoints grace the Carlisle’s hallways.

    You first become introduced to Myrtle Singer, 91, as you walk the halls of the Carlisle: Her elegant needlepoint hangs in the hallways with other talented residents’ artwork.
    Singer moved in 11 years ago with her husband, Eddie, and Sammy, their Chinese-crested powderpuff. Sammy was the first dog at the Carlisle and only a puppy when they moved in, and while he attracted a fair amount of attention from the dog lovers (the Carlisle accepts all sorts of pets), all Myrtle was concerned about was being there with Eddie, the love of her life.
    “I was happy that I had my husband with me. That’s all I really cared about,” she said. They had moved from their custom-built home in Manalapan on A1A close by.
    Eddie helped make the transition easier, and though he has since passed away, she has her daily routine down pat.
    Every morning, she rises early to walk Sammy and then sets him down by the pool while she does laps. A lifelong swimmer, she traded in the lakes of Maine and Atlantic Ocean swims — where she was always afraid of the sharks — for the more sedate tempo of the Carlisle’s swimming pool.
    “They have a gorgeous pool. I’m in there every morning,” she said.
    Myrtle attends discussions on current events and is learning canasta. She has performed in the Drama Club’s Steel Magnolias and loves theater, musicals and dinner outings — and everywhere she goes, she brings Sammy.
    Out in the foyer is a younger couple who moved in a few months ago. Richard Goldman is reading the newspaper as his wife, Lillian, is knitting an afghan. (Both declined to give their ages.)
    They’ve been married more than 60 years and are inseparable.
    “We always go to their movies, whether we like ’em or not,” Richard said.
 “Their movie theater is beautiful; it’s very comfortable too,” Lillian adds.
    The state-of-the-art movie theater features special headphones for people who have difficulties hearing.
    “People that can’t hear say  ‘I’m not going to go (to the movies) because I wouldn’t hear it and enjoy it,’ ” Deonath said. “It gets them out and enjoying it.”         

So far, the Goldmans are still figuring out which activities to participate in, but they already know one thing they do like.
    “The people are nice. The help is lovely,” Lillian said, to which Richard added, “We’re crazy about them.”   

About the Carlisle Palm Beach
Date opened: 1988
Address: 450 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana
Price range: Independent living ranges from $2,395 to $6,995 per month, and assisted-living suites range from $1,995 to $6,995 per month. There also is a one-time community fee that starts at $5,000. A range of fees is based on size of apartment and services provided.
Staff size: More than 100 employees.
Special features: State-of-the-art movie theater featuring headphones for people with hearing difficulties, dining room, two card rooms, mini putting green, dog park, resort-style pool, café that serves lunch, library, beauty salon, gym, Internet lounge, wellness center that provides physical therapy, occupational therapy and a doctor’s office with an on-site physician, restaurant with private dining.
Restrictions, qualifications: None.
Average age: 79-84
Residents: 325
Information: 533-9440 or SeniorLifestyle.com

             

By Christine Davis

In real estate it’s always been about location, but it’s also about positioning — as can be seen by the number of firms opening or consolidating offices in Palm Beach County’s coastal areas. Agents, too, who have changed offices, are settling in before the bustle of Florida’s winter season moves into full swing.
    A flurry of activity centers around Delray Beach. Lang Realty has opened a new office; Fite Shavell & Associates and The Keyes Company prepare to open offices; Scott Gordon has moved into a more visible office; and Gringle, Doherty and Wheat has merged with Illustrated Properties, which, in turn, has moved to a larger office.
    “Overall the real estate market in Palm Beach County is steadily improving and Delray Beach is an area positioned for growth,” said Bonnie Lazar, 2012 president of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.
    Based on August numbers from the regional Multiple Listing Services for Delray Beach, the month’s supply of inventory is down 50 percent from August 2011 to 4.9 months and year-to-date, the median price has risen from $89,000 to $95,000.
    Joy Linet, manager of The Keyes Company, said she expects her firm’s new boutique 40-agent office at 610 E. Atlantic to be open by Dec. 1. “We’ve always felt that we needed to be in Delray Beach. We’ve grown our luxury portfolio division,  and Delray Beach is perfect for that.”
    Kay Steer, general manager of Lang Realty, said her company, too, wanted an office in Delray Beach for “obvious reasons.”
    “Delray Beach is one of the hottest areas around and it’s near Gulf Stream and Highland Beach. We are advancing in the $1 million-plus range, and the Delray market is prime right now.” Lang Realty is at 900 E. Atlantic Ave.
    Warren Heeg and Michael Mullen, a team specializing in Delray Beach and Gulf Stream with Premier Estate Properties, joined Lang Realty last year. “It was an exciting opportunity for us to get a fresh start at a new company,” Heeg said.  
    “Premier deals with properties $1 million and above, and with Lang, we can take properties at different values.”
    Concerning the Gringle, Doherty and Wheat merger with Illustrated Properties, Frank Wheat said, “We just put the Realtors together. Illustrated Properties had an office near ours and they needed more space. Illustrated took over the administrative services, and I stayed at the office as a Realtor.” Two other agents came with him. Currently with 23 agents, Illustrated Properties is at 700 E. Atlantic Ave.
Fite Shavell & Associates mourn the passing of co-founding principal Wade Shavell, 51, who died on Nov. 7, after suffering a brain hemorrhage after a fall in his Palm Beach home.
Previous plans for a Delray Beach office, though, are still underway.
    Fite Shavell & Associates has bought office space on an acre at 1010 NE Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach (north of George Bush Boulevard). After a complete renovation, he’s aiming for a February 2013 opening, said David Fite. “Delray Beach is a vibrant community with great Intracoastal and ocean properties. It’s within our strategy. We recently opened in North Palm Beach, and Delray Beach is the next logical location for us to be able to service our clients.”
    Val Coz, who has moved from Premier Estate Properties to Fite Shavell & Associates, will spearhead the opening and recruitment. “When I worked for them previously, I obtained great results for my buyers and sellers,” Coz said. “Fite Shavell with offices in Connecticut, New York City and the Hamptons has a great referral system, and the company’s services are the absolute best for my clients.”
    Other agents who are moving in new directions are Steve Presson and Diana Reed.
Presson, previously with the Corcoran Group, was hired by Douglas Elliman to be managing broker in its Palm Beach office — which covers the area from Delray Beach to Palm Beach — but, after seven weeks, returned to Corcoran.  He was to manage and build the Elliman team as well as continuing with his sales career. “Both are full-time jobs,  and selling real estate is my first priority,” he said.
Marisela Cotilla, managing broker of Elliman’s Boca Raton office, has kept her position there and taken over Presson’s position. “I think we needed a different kind of experience — a little more gray in that market — I have a little gray in my hair. We are looking to grow in a very big way,” she said.
Diana Reed, previously with Illustrated Properties, now works out of the Palm Beach office of the Corcoran Group. She will continue to focus on Hypoluxo Island, Manalapan and Ocean Ridge. “The Corcoran Group is a great resource,” she said. “I appreciate being able to use the company’s tools and network.”
    William F. Koch III of William F. Koch Jr. has formed an alliance with Premier Estate Properties. “Bill has already relocated to our Delray Beach office. Other agents (at William F. Koch Jr.) are closing up their transactions and will join us within the next 30 to 60 days,” said Joseph Liguori, broker and owner of Premier Estate Properties. “We will be able to offer Bill’s clients Internet exposure with the international affiliations we have, and his 38-year sterling reputation in Gulf Stream is an added benefit to us.”
    Scott Gordon Realty has had its office in Plaza del Mar for a number of years, but moved to more visible offices in the plaza in summer 2011. Manal Hammad, Liana Verkaden and Ada Verkaden have joined the firm recently. Hammad had been with the Corcoran Group and the Verkadens were with Hampton Real Estate Group. The three said that they appreciate Scott Gordon Realty’s location and exposure.           

By Tim O’Meilia
    
The Manalapan Town Commission’s thoughts of farming out its police dispatch services has drawn interest from three local police departments.
    Representatives of neighboring towns Lantana and Ocean Ridge and nearby Delray Beach all attended a Nov. 15 meeting to hear details about a request for proposal issued by the town.
    The proposal seeks bids on two levels of service: to exclusively handle 911 police dispatch calls and related recordkeeping, or to handle both emergency and non-emergency police-related phone calls and records.
    Fire and emergency medical calls from Manalapan will continue to be handled by Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, which operates from the town fire station adjoining the Town Hall.
    Two years ago, the commission rejected bids to outsource police dispatching, but the issue was revived during town budget discussions this summer.
    The town spends more than $200,000 annually for three full-time and four part-time dispatchers, who field a handful of 911 calls monthly but more than 400 non-emergency calls.
    Neighboring South Palm Beach pays Lantana police $54,600 annually to handle both emergency and non-emergency calls, a contract Manalapan once held but lost to a lower bid by Lantana a few years ago.
    During a Nov. 13 commission meeting, Police Chief Carmen Mattox said the town would lose its license-tag-reading camera system at the Point Manalapan gatehouse where the dispatchers are stationed. With no dispatchers at the gatehouse, there would be no one to oversee the tag reading. A secondary alarm system, which notifies police immediately when residential alarms are set off, would be lost as well.  
    Mattox said he is looking for other alternatives to salvage the camera system, which photographs the license plate of every vehicle passing through  the gate.
    “The people who live on the point are not going to feel that police presence, something that really should be considered,” Commissioner John Murphy said.
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the gatehouse could be made a substation where the officer assigned to patrol the point stops to do his paperwork.
    Bids for the dispatch service were scheduled to be opened Nov. 28 and discussed at the Dec. 14 commission meeting.
    The dispatchers would be laid off if the town accepts an outside proposal, but Lantana and Ocean Ridge police chiefs said they may be able to hire some of those laid off.
    Lantana Police Chief Sean Scheller said city officials there are “looking to expand our dispatch services” and suggested they might be able to absorb two of the dispatchers from Manalapan.
    Lantana could benefit from taking over Manalapan dispatch since the communities share the north and south end of Hypoluxo Island.
    Ocean Ridge has one dispatch vacancy, and Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi said that he was relieved to see there might be qualified candidates with local knowledge who might be available.
    Ocean Ridge town commissioners recently voted to not pursue a proposal from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to take over their police coverage. Adding dispatch service for Manalapan would provide income for the police budget and would allow more use from the dispatch department.
    Delray Beach currently provides police dispatch service to Gulf Stream, a community with similar policing needs that accepts 911 emergency and non-emergency calls but does not accept calls for traditional town-related services.            
    
Jerry Lower contributed to this story.

Lourie Albanese’s Shack-Up portable toilet covers resemble a variety of buildings that range from ski lodges and mountain inns to Anglo-Caribbean homes and Southwest-style houses.  Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

By Libby Volgyes
    
Lourie Albanese’s business is really taking off these days. She’s building wedding chapels, Anglo-Caribbean houses, Southwestern-style houses. There’s a cute new beach house just south of the Blue Anchor in Delray Beach, and she’s got a new “Western” line — ski lodges and mountain inns, barns and saloons.
    Albanese’s work is popping up all over Delray Beach — making a scene so there is no scene.
    A Delray Beach-based general contractor, Albanese, 51, creates personalized, portable toilet covers, covering up the dirty, bland construction site essentials with vivid, charming and funny shacks: “Artistic coverings for portable toilets, Dumpsters and any other ‘unsightlies,’” her Shack-Up website proclaims.
    “As a woman builder, I always had to look at these nasty things,” she said. “Even though they’re not that disgusting, you start associating all these nasty things with them. I’ve had to look at them my entire adult life.”    Her path to making over Porta-Potties started after being invited to a think tank on improving Delray Beach. While discussing a variety of issues from parking meters to limited ocean views on Atlantic Avenue, the conversation touched upon the lack of restrooms on the beach.
“I wasn’t aware of how critical the problem is, especially for the homes north of Atlantic Avenue,” she said. “We started talking about Porta-Potties, but nobody wanted to look at those nasty Porta-Potties.”
    This started her thinking about a solution.
    Then, last year, her daughter started giving her birdhouses that looked like dollhouses, night lights or Victorian houses. One day at the beach, she and her daughter were walking about 15 blocks to use the restroom, and the idea just came to her.
“What if the Porta-Potties looked like little birdhouses and they were cute, cute, cute? What if they looked like little birdhouses or night lights or dollhouses?” she wondered. “So I started with what I knew the best: builder sites. Why not make your neighbors happy while you’re inconveniencing them with building something?”
    While she’s still in the test period, she has more than 20 designs and has 15 to 20 in use. They generally rent for $80 to $100 per month.
    The first one was made in January 2012 after the patent was approved last December. They are made with three walls that pin together with a PVC hinge system. The walls surround the front and sides of the portable toilet, leaving the door accessible and roof open. They assemble in about five minutes.
    The toilet covers are made with a variety of materials that would typically be used on a home exterior, including metal roof flashing, architectural foam and fencing wood.
    “It’s fun, fun, fun. I just love making them,” she said. “Pretty much I just head to the garage and have something in my head that I want to make.” After the initial one is made, it only takes about five to six hours to duplicate them.
    All Star Toilets — a division of South Florida-based Southern Waste Systems — is ready to partner with her, and she’s ready to go. She’s looking forward to expanding — especially in Colorado, where she has a second home near Aspen.
    “I’ll really be proud when I get them out there,” she said.
    For more information, visit shack-up.com.                      

Contractor Steve Varga is cutting hours of commuting each week by boating to work. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

After the Lantana bridge closed for 22 months last March 18, residents on both sides of the Intracoastal Waterway reconciled themselves to the inconvenience.
    Some drove north to Lake Worth to reach the mainland. Some drove south to Ocean Ridge to reach the island.
    Steve Varga found a faster route.
    A general contractor, he lives on a mainland canal in Hypoluxo, but does a lot of work in Manalapan, Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach.
    “In June, I got a contract to replace the sidewalks in Manalapan,” said Varga, who also renovated the town library. “I had to start meeting with inspectors, and it was taking me 30 to 45 minutes to drive from a house I can almost see from the island to get over here to my work sites.”
    After his white Ford F-150 pickup got caught by the opened Lake Worth bridge one afternoon, Varga realized he’d spent nearly 90 minutes driving to and from a 10-minute meeting, and he took action.
    First, he borrowed a neighbor’s boat to test the theory, and then he bought one of his own, an old, 17-foot Mako outboard.
    “Now it takes me five minutes to shoot back and forth,” he said recently, standing by the water behind a house on Land’s End Road that Varga Homes is renovating. “I’m using it twice a day. When the bridge reopens, I think I’ll keep the boat. It’s still quicker.”
    The watery commute has not been entirely without incident, however.
    “One morning, my wife saw me pulling away from our dock with a fishing rod, and she yelled out that I’m here to work, not play around,” he confessed.
    And then there was the afternoon he left a meeting at the Manalapan site to find his transportation drifting in the Intracoastal, about 40 feet off the dock.
    “I just kept thinking it was gonna get blown back,” he said, “so I checked back every few minutes.”
    Finally, with another meeting looming, Varga went fishing for his fishing boat.
    “I tied an old 2-by-4 with nails in it to a long piece of rope and figured I’d try and hook it,” he said.
    That’s when his old friend and employee, the electrician, came running. As a practical joke, he had tied the bowline to a long electrical wire, tied the wire to the dock’s ladder, out of sight beneath the water, and let the boat safely drift out of reach.
    “When he saw I was ready to throw that 2-by-4, he got scared I’d chip the boat and confessed,” Varga recalled with a laugh.
    “I told him he should be working.”                                

Lynn University President Kevin Ross and NCCI CEO Steve Klingel unveil ‘The Front Row Seat to Presidential History’ exhibit of the 2012 campaign at the university’s Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Library. The exhibit features highlights, slogans and memorable moments from the campaign that saw its final presidential debate on the Boca Raton campus. Among the pieces on display are a Palm Beach County electronic-voting machine from 2000, historian John Clark’s memorabilia and original illustrations from political cartoonist Chan Lowe. The exhibit is free and will run through Jan. 21. Photo provided