By Rich Pollack

For the third consecutive year, Highland Beach residents will have a commissioner selected without opposition.
Commissioner Evalyn David was elected last month after the qualifying period for candidates to file paperwork ended with only David running for office.
Because she was the only candidate to qualify, David will automatically serve a second three-year term on the Town Commission.
David believes the lack of opposition is an endorsement of the work the current commission is doing.
“I think people are very happy with what’s going on in the town,” she said. “Usually people only run when there’s a problem.”
With David’s election, all five members of the commission have run at least once without opposition.
Mayor Doug Hillman, Vice Mayor Natasha Moore and Commissioner John Shoemaker all ran unopposed and are in their first terms. Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman was elected in 2018 and ran unopposed earlier this year.
David, an attorney, ran in 2019 and narrowly defeated incumbent Commissioner Elyse Riesa, capturing 990 votes to Riesa’s 955 votes.
In other business:
• Commissioners last month gave final approval to a condo recertification ordinance that requires buildings of more than three stories or 50 feet high to have recertification inspections when they reach 25 years old.
For buildings under 40 years old, further inspections will be required every 10 years. For the 45 buildings over 40 years old, further inspections will be required every seven years.
In January town officials plan to begin notifying condo associations of when inspection reports are due.
The town plans to notify two buildings per month, letting them know that they have 360 days to file reports from certified engineers detailing any critical or major structural or electrical problems.
Each association will then have another year to resolve the issues unless there is imminent danger to residents, in which case the town will step in and, in the worst-case scenario, require evacuation.
• Commissioners unanimously agreed to begin the process of creating a marine patrol unit by spending an estimated $164,000 on an outfitted police boat.
The 28-foot rigid-hull, inflatable boat with twin 225-horsepower engines is manufactured in Fort Lauderdale and could be available by February.
Getting the marine unit up and running, Police Chief Craig Hartmann said, will take a bit longer.
Details including staffing and training as well as determining a dockage location need to be worked out, he said.
The chief said he hopes to have the unit, which will include one full-time officer and possibly additional reserve officers, working in the first quarter of next year.

The full Beaver Moon of November passed through Earth's shadow in a partial lunar eclipse overnight on Nov. 18-19 in what was the longest eclipse of its kind in 580 years..

© Photos by Tim Stepien

By Jane Smith

Four city commissioners agreed to pay $1 million to resolve complaints by the Florida Department of Health over Delray Beach’s botched reclaimed water program.

They also agreed to pay the county branch of the Health Department $21,193.90 for costs and expenses of its investigation.

Commissioner Juli Casale was absent.

The Health Department had wanted to fine the city $1.8 million in June. A representative of the department could not be reached immediately. 

At an 8-minute special meeting Nov. 9 the commissioners were again reminded that the following violations occurred during installation of the city’s reclaimed water project: failure to inspect its reclaimed water system; no dedicated employee conducting initial and follow-up testing and investigating customer complaints; failure to make sure each property had a backflow preventer installed; failure to evaluate each location for cross-connections and adequate backflow prevention, and failure to conduct periodic inspections.

Delray Beach also failed to have backflow preventers at 609 locations, to color code the drinking and reclaimed water pipes as required, to keep records and reports of the program, to educate the public about using reclaimed water and to report the cross connections and notify the public about them.

Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that is suitable only for lawn irrigation, not for human and pet consumption. Backflow devices are required at each location to stop the reclaimed water from flowing back into the drinking water. Cross-connections happen when reclaimed water pipes are hooked up wrongly to the drinking water pipes.

“I’m confident we have the people and systems in place to meet the Health Department’s requirements,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said. “If we don’t, we will have to pay penalties of $5,000 a day.”

Petrolia also said the problems appear to date to 2007 when the program was started. “I am extremely disappointed that the city’s current taxpayers will pay for the deficiencies,” she said.

City Attorney Lynn Gelin said she contacted the city insurer about covering the loss over $200,000 and will know in the next week whether it will. The $1 million will come from the insurance line item in the city’s budget.

The city has agreed to fix its reclaimed water system within this time frame:

• Within 30 days of the signed order, submit a public notice about its failure to implement a cross-connection/backflow prevention program.
• Within 10 days of the public notice, submit a certificate of delivery of publication to the Health Department.
• Within 180 days, complete or begin the installation at seven properties that still need backflow devices. Five are on the barrier island.
• Within three years, ensure all reclaimed water customers comply with the rules and provide the Health Department quarterly progress reports.
• Make sure all violations are published in the 2021 Consumer Confidence Report.

KIng tide flooding made a mess of A1A in Manalapan on Nov. 8

Workers from the Eau Palm Beach in Manalapan used a "water inflatable" berm and sandbags to limit the amount of flood water that was flowing into their loading dock.

King tide flooding made worse by heavy seas created flooding on Ocean Avenue In Ocean Ridge Nov.8.

Higher than normal waves linked to king tides floated at least one catamaran on top of another at the north end of Delray Beach's public beach on Nov.8.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Highland Beach residents showing up to vote on Nov. 2 were greeted by Commissioner John Shoemaker (in T-shirt), former Mayor Bernard Featherman and John Ross (red shirt), founder of The Committee to Save Highland Beach.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

In an undisputed outpouring of support for an independent Highland Beach fire department, residents overwhelming voted Nov. 2 to let town leaders spend as much as $10 million to get the new department up and running.
With a steady stream of voters going to the polls and close to 900 residents casting ballots by mail, the referendum measure passed easily with almost 89% of voters supporting moving forward with the creation of a town-operated department and only 11% voting against.
A total of 1,320 residents voted in favor of the proposal with 168 residents voting against it. About 37% of just more than 4,000 eligible residents voted.
The large number of ballots cast was surprising to supporters considering the referendum question was the only item on the ballot.
“The turnout was beyond our expectations,” said Mayor Doug Hillman. “We are quite pleased with the involvement and support from residents who believe this an important issue for our town.”
Hillman said the one-sided result was a signal of trust in town leadership from residents to embark on such a massive project.
“I’m just thrilled the electorate demonstrated the confidence they have in our commission to take on this initiative,” he said.
Commissioner Evalyn David believes the potential for cost savings and better service was a factor in the overwhelming support from voters.
“It comes down to dollars and cents,” she said. “Residents believe that we are paying too much for the services we’re receiving. They also apparently believe that we can provide more personal services to our residents.”

Delray will lose a station
For almost 30 years, Highland Beach has been receiving fire service from Delray Beach, which staffs the town’s fire station. In April, however, town leaders voted unanimously to end the agreement with Delray Beach and create a town-run fire department over a three-year period.
Hillman and other commissioners have repeatedly said they believe the town can provide better service to residents at a lower cost than it is paying Delray Beach. 
They have consistently pointed out that the new fire department will have two fire trucks and two rescue vehicles operating out of the station located next to Town Hall, as opposed to the one fire truck and one rescue vehicle currently at the station and staffed by Delray.  
While the referendum results clear the way for the town to move forward, town leaders anticipate that it will be at least two years before the department is operational.
When that does happen, Delray Beach stands to lose between $5 million and $6 million in annual revenue it receives from Highland Beach.
In addition, Delray Fire Rescue will no longer be able to rely on firefighters working out of the Highland Beach station to respond to calls within the Delray Beach city limits, unless an agreement can be worked out.
A consultant study commissioned by Highland Beach showed that firefighters from the town’s station were dispatched to calls in Delray Beach about 667 times a year.
While a lot of variables remain to be figured out, town leaders believe they can run the fire department at about $1.5 million to $2 million less than what Delray charges and can recover the costs of starting a town-operated fire department in about five years.
“The No. 1 objective for us is to have the best possible service for our community,” Hillman said. “It just happens we can do it for less money.” 
With the approval of voters in hand, town staff can move forward with plans for the purchase of big-ticket items such as a fire truck and a rescue wagon, as well as with renovations to the town-owned fire station, according to Town Manager Marshall Labadie.
Those efforts were stalled by the town’s funding cap, which prevents spending on any single item over $350,000 without a referendum. 
“The vote moves the cap out of the way, only as far as the new fire department is concerned,” Labadie said.  
He said that the town has been moving quickly on much of the groundwork needed to start a department. 
“We’re well ahead of schedule in developing the processes and procedures and in filling out required county and state applications,” he said.
The town has also hired two consultants, former Boynton Beach Fire Chief Glenn Joseph and Tom McCarthy, the former EMS division chief of Riviera Beach. Highland Beach has also made arrangements to have a medical director on board. 

Town did heavy marketing
In the run-up to the election, Highland Beach launched a focused educational campaign, enlisting the help of a marketing firm and producing several communication pieces centered on the slogan “Our Town, Our Station, Our Heroes.”
“We presented the facts and hoped residents could draw a similar conclusion to the one of the Town Commission — that this is the best choice,” Labadie said. 
To get the message out the town used a variety of channels, including online video testimonials, a four-part email communication and a Facebook Live interview with Hillman. In addition, the town mailed fliers, held educational events with food trucks and hosted “coffee with the mayor.”
The town also put out signs urging residents to vote, while “vote yes” signs were put out by The Committee to Save Highland Beach, a political action committee, which also sent out fliers.
“We made a professional and concerted effort to educate the public,” Labadie said.

By Rich Pollack

For more than a decade, Highland Beach residents living near the Intracoastal Waterway have been battling to slow down boaters only to be frustrated by state rules and regulations that make it difficult to reduce waterway speed limits.
Now town leaders are focusing on enforcing those speed limits — instead of changing them — and are poised this month to take the first step by authorizing the purchase of a police boat for a new marine patrol unit.
“We keep talking about lowering the speed limit,” Mayor Doug Hillman said during a meeting last month following a presentation by Police Chief Craig Hartmann. “Even if it ends up being lowered, it’s not going to work if we don’t have enforcement.”
Preparing to act in the wake of two serious boating accidents since June, commissioners have indicated they favor the town’s taking responsibility for enforcement and education on the waterway, as well as on the ocean and inland waters.
This month commissioners are expected to consider purchasing a 28-foot rigid-hull inflatable police boat with twin 225-horsepower engines. The cost of the craft is expected to be $163,799 and could be available within 60 days.
Getting the marine unit up and running, Hartmann said, will take a bit longer as details, including staffing and training, as well as determining dockage location, need to be worked out.
The chief said he hopes to have the unit, which will include one full-time officer and possibly additional reserve officers, up and running by the first quarter of next year.
“There are a lot of things that have to be done to run that department,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
Labadie and Hartmann said that they have received several offers from local residents and communities willing to provide dock space until a permanent location can be created by the town, which will seek grants to defray the cost.
Prior to making his presentation, Hartmann and his team visited local law enforcement agencies that have marine units and did a small sampling of speeds on the Intracoastal Waterway during peak times.
He said that about 10% to 20% of the boats appeared to be exceeding the speed limit. Boats in the Intracoastal in Highland Beach are generally restricted to 30 mph in summer months and 25 mph from Oct. 1 to May 31.
Although other agencies, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, patrol the waterways, Hartmann said those agencies are spread thin and can’t devote as much time as is needed to Highland Beach.
He believes that by having a presence on the waterway, the marine unit will help deter boaters from speeding and operating boats recklessly.
“We’re hoping that through visibility, education and enforcement, that boaters will comply and we won’t have a repeat of the two accidents we had recently,” he said. “The marine patrol unit’s mission will be to promote boater safety through education and enforcement and enhance the safety and security of waterways in Highland Beach.”
In August, a 37-year-old woman died after being thrown from a boat that crashed into a sea wall in Highland Beach. In June, a Boca Raton boater heading to lunch with his family was seriously injured when another boat plowed into the back of his smaller vessel.
“We don’t want to have another accident like we had if we can prevent it,” Commissioner Evalyn David said.
Labadie said that the two crashes helped bring an additional focus to efforts by residents and commissioners to address speed and safety issues on the waterway.
“This is really about boater safety and compliance with current speed limits and navigation regulations,” he said.
Labadie also thinks the marine unit could help in rescue situations and assist fire-rescue personnel as the town moves toward creating its own fire department.
“Becoming a full-service community, we’re going to need to have a police and rescue presence on our more than 3 miles of Intracoastal Waterway and 3 miles of oceanfront,” he said.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach commissioners have revised a proposed ordinance requiring building recertifications to put more responsibility for how inspections are done onto the shoulders of condo boards.
Under an updated draft ordinance — tentatively approved last month — buildings that are more than three stories or 50 feet in height will still be required to have a recertification inspection when they reach 25 years old.
For buildings under 40 years old, those inspections will be required every 10 years. For the 45 buildings more than 40 years old, inspections will be required every seven years.
The revised ordinance, however, takes the town out of determining how electrical and structural inspections should be done, leaving much of that up to certified special threshold engineers and inspectors hired by each of the buildings.
At the same time, the town now wants to hear about only issues that affect the safety of residents instead of other issues that could cause minor inconveniences or that are cosmetic in nature.
“The commission didn’t want us enforcing non-critical deficiencies,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. “Now we’re only asking if there are any critical and major deficiencies that need to be addressed in the structure and in electrical systems.”
Certified engineers hired by associations will be responsible for making that determination.
“It is up to the engineers and inspectors to say if immediate attention is needed,” Highland Beach Building Official Jeff Remus told commissioners during a meeting last month.
In essence, Labadie said, the town’s role will be largely administrative — letting building managers and boards know when an engineering report needs to be filed, making sure it is filed and ensuring any work identified is done in the time frame engineers identify.
“The town wants to limit our liability exposure,” Labadie said. “Our primary role is to facilitate the process.”
The proposed ordinance makes it clear that the town’s building department will not be conducting inspections, nor will it be responsible for arranging for inspections.
“We got out of the means and methods and are now focusing on results,” Labadie said. Commissioners did want to make sure that the building department staff would be available to work with associations during the process.
Once the Town Commission gives final approval to the ordinance, expected this month, Remus and his team can begin notifying associations of when reports need to be filed.
Labadie said that Remus would notify managers of two buildings per month, beginning in January, that they have 360 days to file reports from certified engineers that detail any critical or major structural or electrical problems.
The associations would then have another year to resolve the issues unless residents faced imminent danger, in which case the town would step in and, in the worst scenario, require evacuation.
Labadie said that any violations, including failure to submit reports in a timely manner, would be handled through the town’s code enforcement process.
“I think most buildings will comply,” Mayor Doug Hillman said.
The decision to create a recertification inspection process follows the collapse of Surfside’s 12-story Champlain Towers South in June. “We’re always concerned about the safety of our residents,” Commissioner Evalyn David said. “We don’t want to see a Surfside happen here.”
Recently, Palm Beach County commissioners agreed to put their development of recertification regulations on hold pending the completion of regulations the state is developing.
While Highland Beach commissioners know state restrictions could be coming, they have said the town needs its own ordinance, tailored to its geography.
“Especially on a barrier island, with our buildings taking punishment from the weather, we need this kind of oversight,” Commissioner John Shoemaker said.

Angela McDonald lives in Dixie Manor, part of which was built during World War II for Blacks working at the Boca Raton Army Airfield. Today it is public housing run by the Boca Raton Housing Authority. McDonald, on the authority’s board, advocates for residents who fear they would be left out if new apartments are built.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Residents of the Dixie Manor public housing complex typically haven’t paid much attention to Boca Raton Housing Authority meetings.
But those monthly Zoom sessions have drawn intense interest lately as word started circulating that the housing authority is planning changes that they fear could push them out of their apartments.
They are studying the ramifications if the housing authority removes Dixie Manor from the federal public housing program and uses other methods to provide low-income housing. They are asking questions — lots of questions. They have spoken out at City Council meetings to make sure city leaders are aware of what may be in the offing.
“My concern is about the displacement of people who live in Dixie Manor,” former resident John Martin told the council on Aug. 24. “My hope is if you are not aware of it, you become aware of it. … My hope is we create a dialogue with the city and housing authority to look at what we can do to preserve that community.”
The angst is spurred by the housing authority’s decision to explore alternatives that would provide financing to upgrade dilapidated Dixie Manor and add more low-income housing.
Housing authorities across the country are doing the same as they struggle to find ways to improve their housing stock and make more subsidized housing available.
“There is no question the need for affordable housing, low-income housing is dire,” said John Scannell, executive director of the Boca Raton Housing Authority.
Congress has underfunded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which finances housing authorities, for decades. No money is available to build new housing and the department is short as much as $70 billion for repairs.
As HUD flounders, public housing complexes have fallen into further disrepair. The waiting lists to obtain housing vouchers that subsidize rents at privately owned apartments are long, with people waiting a decade or longer in some areas to get one.
President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better domestic policy package originally included $322 billion to bolster low-income housing programs, but the amount has been trimmed substantially during congressional negotiations. Even the full amount would have been inadequate to meet the need.
In an effort to salvage the situation, HUD proposed “repositioning” public housing in 2018, although components of the program were available years earlier. The decision on whether or not to reposition is left to housing authorities.
The HUD options are complicated, but the idea is to remove apartments from the public housing program with the intent of giving housing authorities access to debt and equity that had not been available to them to finance their capital needs.
The chief concern for some Dixie Manor residents is that if the complex is rebuilt, they would not be allowed to move into the new complex. Angela McDonald, a Dixie Manor resident for 31/2 years who joined the housing authority board one year ago because of her concerns, said residents were explicitly told that.
“My biggest concern is to allow those who want to stay to stay,” McDonald said.
Others are less adamant about being able to return, but want assurances they will continue to have subsidized housing. Their fears, in part, stem from skyrocketing rental rates throughout South Florida. If the housing authority does not provide housing they can afford, will they end up homeless?
They also worry that if they are given a Section 8 voucher to move out of public housing and into a subsidized, privately owned apartment, few landlords will accept the voucher because they can make more money bypassing the program.
A pervasive complaint is that the housing authority is not being transparent about what it is doing and did not involve residents in the process early on.
Their frustrations grew when Scannell could not assure them that they would be allowed to return to a rebuilt Dixie Manor.
Scannell is frustrated, too, as he sees rumors running ahead of fact.
There is a simple reason why he cannot give firm answers, he said in September. “We are nowhere near a plan.”
Once the housing authority board members analyze their options for repositioning Dixie Manor and determine what financing is available, they will develop that plan.
Scannell pledged that he and the board would keep residents informed.
“They are going to be protected. That is the bottom line,” he said.
“You cannot take people [in public housing] and put them in the street. It is not permitted [by HUD]. They will have assistance. No matter what the plan is, they will have safe and affordable housing.”
But such assurances ring hollow to Martin.
“I am 100% sure something is going to happen that will wipe out a community,” Martin said at a Sept. 20 meeting. “I am not happy at all.”
The housing authority made a concession in October.
In a letter to Dixie Manor residents, Board Chairman Gary Richardson wrote that current residents would be allowed to return.
During a WLRN news program the next day, Richardson reiterated that. “Residents will be able to stay,” he said.
At first, Richardson said in an interview with The Coastal Star, board members were not sure that would be possible. But after doing research, they concluded that it is.
“We didn’t want to make promises before we were sure,” he said.
That hasn’t assuaged McDonald’s concerns.
“I don’t trust them until I see it,” she said. “They have not been totally honest with us.”
According to various media reports across the country, repositioning has worked well in some cases and tenants have been happy with the results. But in others, tenants have faced rent increases, improper evictions or poorly done renovations.
Tenant concerns are justified, said Deborah Thorpe, deputy director of the National Housing Law Project, which advocates for tenants and litigates housing rights cases.
“The concern of tenants are absolutely warranted,” she said. “There is a lot of risk for public housing tenants in repositioning.”
That risk includes losing rights they have as public housing tenants, depending on which plan a housing authority decides to implement.
Those rights include due process rights that protect them from eviction or termination from the program and the right to organize.
“It is critical that tenants living in public housing that may be experiencing repositioning organize if at all possible and really start to make demands. You really want to make sure key tenant protections are carried over,” Thorpe said.
Tenants also need to make sure that whatever the housing authority does, their housing remains affordable and does not become market-rate apartments a few years in the future, she said.
For help in safeguarding their rights, tenants have turned to legal aid organizations. At least one Dixie Manor resident has done so.
Tequisha Myles, Fair Housing Project supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, said a tenant has asked for assistance, but could not comment further on what the tenant is seeking.
“We are investigating,” she said. “We will be involved in the matter.”
No one disputes that Dixie Manor is in disrepair and needs to be replaced.
The 95-unit complex at 1350 N. Dixie Highway sits at the edge of Pearl City, a historic neighborhood formed in 1915. Some of the buildings, which house 350 people, are more than 60 years old. Their deficiencies include no heat and window air-conditioning units.
“The apartments are basically falling apart,” McDonald said.
The housing authority also has issued 626 housing vouchers and has 600 people on a wait list who can expect to be on that list for years.
Dixie Manor residents and those with vouchers pay 30% of their adjusted annual income for rent.
Scannell and the board hope that they will be able to rebuild and at least double the number of apartments by repositioning.
They so far have hired an attorney who has represented housing authorities across the country. In October, they signed a contract with Atlantic Pacific Communities, a developer which has extensive experience working with housing authorities in Florida and four other states.
They soon will contract with a company to do a feasibility study to determine the best repositioning and financing options. After they settle on a plan, they must obtain financing.
Both Richardson and Scannell estimate it could be two years before construction begins.
Richardson now is making himself more available to Dixie Manor residents. His visits to the complex fell off at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he has held meetings recently with tenants to answer questions and ease tensions, he hopes.
“Some of the things that have been said are false and we want to make sure tenants get accurate information,” he said. “We are not hiding behind anything. We will do good for the community and the residents.”

Related Stories: Outdoor art thrives even with advisory board abolished|‘Rocket’ a beacon of Art in Public Places launch

By Mary Hladky

Nearly four years after the City Council effectively killed Crocker Partners’ ambitious plan to create a Midtown office, retail and residential development, the company has a new, equally ambitious plan to revitalize the former IBM campus.
The council’s action in January 2018 prompted the company, now rebranded as CP Group, to file three ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits against the city. The acrimony on both sides has not abated.
Yet CP Group is before the city once again. The conduit between the company and the city unexpectedly is Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke, the most vehement opponent of Midtown.
Signs of some rapprochement have been visible for a while. CP Group, which bought the IBM campus in 2018 for about $179 million, has incorporated public art into its extensive property renovations. O’Rourke, a strong proponent of art in public places, has been on hand for at least some of the art unveilings.
O’Rourke told other council members on Sept. 13 that CP Group Managing Partner Angelo Bianco had approached her asking that the company be allowed to informally present its plans for the 1.7 million-square-foot complex, now known as the Boca Raton Innovation Campus. The plans, still in their early stages, would require a zoning change.
But with distrust still running high, the city asked CP Group to clarify its objectives for a meeting.
In a Sept. 1 letter to City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser, which asks if the City Council has an interest in considering a zoning change, CP Group attorney Bonnie Miskel stated that hearing the presentation would not commit the city to anything and, in legalese, says that CP Group will not sue. The council gave the go-ahead for the meeting.
CP Group has some leverage. It wants to position BRIC as the premier technology and life sciences hub for the southeastern U.S.
At the same time, Mayor Scott Singer and the city’s economic development staff have been working to attract tech companies to the city. Their success will hinge in part on having the type of office space and amenities these companies want.
BRIC is now in the midst of a $100 million renovation primarily inside the building. CP Group has no plans to change the iconic exterior of the building designed by architect Marcel Breuer.
There is an urgent need for BRIC to move quickly to attract tenants who are fleeing other parts of the country and looking to relocate in Florida, Miskel said during CP Group’s Oct. 12 presentation.
“The time is now,” she said. “Technology companies and startups are leaving California and other places and we would like the opportunity to bring them to Boca Raton.”
CP Group wants BRIC to offer amenities that these companies and their employees want. That includes offices that are near housing, public transportation, restaurants, retail and child care.
To that end, the company wants to add about 1,000 residential units, a hotel, grocery store, a cultural center that would not compete with the proposed Boca Raton Center for Arts & Innovation in Mizner Park, dining and food halls, and wellness and conference centers. Retail would be clustered along a “Main Street” that cuts across part of the property.
BRIC is within a Light Industrial Research Park zoning district, which was created for IBM. But that zoning would not allow most of the amenities CP Group wants to add, including residential, retail, grocery store and hotel.
Singer was the only council member to voice a firm objection, saying he would prefer to have a comprehensive plan for the entire area that would include the Park at Broken Sound. O’Rourke also suggested this might be the best approach.
But City Manager Leif Ahnell, citing differences between the two office parks, said it would be possible to review BRIC and the Park at Broken Sound separately.
Other council members said they liked the BRIC concept but wanted to hear more details. Of most concern was whether CP Group was proposing too much residential development — the same issue that created problems for Midtown.
Miskel said that the number of residential units was in flux but would fall well below how much is permitted in other parts of the city.
“I personally like what I see,” said council member Yvette Drucker. “I think we need to think outside the box on this one.”
“I am on board with the concept,” said council member Andy Thomson. “I do not want Boca to miss an opportunity like this.”
“I do see some urgency in this,” said council member Monica Mayotte.
CP Group will return to the council in November to provide more details on its plans.

The Hubert Phipps sculpture rises from the grounds at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus. Photo provided by Jacek Gancarz

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By Jan Engoren

Jutting up from the green grass with the blue sky and Marcel Breuer’s iconic IBM building as backdrop, Virginia artist Hubert Phipps’ monumental stainless steel sculpture, Rocket, brings a touch of majesty to the Boca Raton Innovation Campus.
The 30-foot sculpture is part of an Art in Public Places initiative facilitated by Irvin Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, in partnership with commercial real estate company CP Group, which owns the campus.
“It’s the perfect opportunity to showcase Phipps’ art with Breuer’s architecture. There’s a synergy between the two — it’s meant to be,” Lippman said during the sculpture’s unveiling ceremony on the campus lawn Sept. 20.
Weighing in at 9.8 tons, with more than 7,000 square feet of stainless steel, the highly polished sculpture reflects the ambient colors of the sky and lawn, nearby trees and lake as well as visitors, and with its imposing aura makes its presence known.
Fabricated in Hangzhou, China, at the Tany Foundry, the large-scale sculpture took more than two years to construct and was shipped from China to New Orleans and then trucked to South Florida.
Juxtaposed in front of Breuer’s 1969 building where the personal computer was invented, the rocket mirrors Breuer’s concrete buttresses that similarly appear to lift the building from the ground.
Installing the sculpture as a major public art initiative is not the end of the story.
Lippman has future plans, including making Rocket the centerpiece of a full-scale indoor and outdoor art museum on the BRIC campus. His emphasis is to extend art outside of the museum’s walls and create a gallery showcasing works by Dorothy Gillespie, another Virginia artist.
Phipps, a pilot with a lifelong fascination with aviation, science fiction and futurism, remembers watching the moon landing in 1969 when he was 10. Also ingrained in his memory are recollections of hearing the rocket engines taking off from the Pratt & Whitney facility in Indiantown when he was a child.
“I am honored to have my artwork selected for this public art initiative by the Boca Raton Museum of Art,” said Phipps, who experiments with various forms and materials, including steel, bronze, wood, composites, plaster, glass and marble.
His works are featured in the permanent collections of major museums, institutions and private collectors, including the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
“My inspiration comes from all the amazing things we do as a human race as far as pushing the envelope and reaching for the stars,” he said.
“With all the things going on in the aerospace world today, this couldn’t have worked out better.”

Related Stories: ‘Rocket’ a beacon of Art in Public Places launch|Property owner readies tech-friendly ideas for Innovation Campus

By Steve Plunkett

Despite the dissolution of the city’s Art in Public Places advisory board, the hunger for artistic experiences has not diminished.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District pledged $25,000 on Oct. 4 for an art in public places fund, matching the amount budgeted by the City Council.
Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke, who requested the money, gave what she called the “backstory” of the council’s vote to abolish the advisory board.
“It was very hard to be creative under the Sunshine Law and government regulations,” O’Rourke told the district commissioners. “So the board would meet once a month for an hour and a half and then they couldn’t meet again for another month.
“It didn’t spark energy. It didn’t spark creativity, “ she said.
The regulations, for example, forced Irving Lippman, executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, to resign from the advisory board to avoid a conflict of interest when the museum offered to loan the city artwork to decorate Wildflower/Silver Palm Park.
“Doing a city board it just did not work out. (In between meetings) they could not talk to each other or collaborate,” O’Rourke said.
The coronavirus pandemic strained communication further. The advisory board met 25 times from its creation in January 2018 through March 2020, but zero times in the 17 months from April 2020 through August 2021.
But days after the City Council’s Sept. 14 vote to abolish the board, Lippman helped unveil the 30-foot-tall stainless steel Rocket sculpture on the grounds of the Boca Raton Innovation Campus.
The artwork’s polished surface “enlivens the sculpture reflecting the sky, lawns, lights and the people moving around the park, welcoming interaction with visitors — perfectly encapsulating the experience of art in public places,” Lippman said in a statement.
The monumental display is the result of a partnership between BRIC and the museum, O’Rourke told the Beach and Park District officials. She suggested a volunteer from the City Council and one from the district board could steer future efforts.
Since then the city has issued an official Call to Artists to produce a work of art out of recycled materials to put in front of the South Beach Pavilion where Palmetto Park Road meets State Road A1A.
Florida Atlantic University art students were originally tapped to create a sculpture at the site but that plan, too, was derailed by COVID.

By Mary Hladky

Brightline will resume passenger service between Miami and West Palm Beach on Nov. 8.
The rail company halted its trains in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic but has been working on opening stations in Boca Raton and Aventura in 2022. Brightline has not yet announced when construction of the Boca station will begin, but it is expected to be soon.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for Brightline’s return and we are excited to welcome back past riders and all our new riders on Nov. 8,” Brightline President Patrick Goddard said in a statement. “Our relaunch opens a new chapter for Brightline that includes an enhanced guest experience, from the moment they book travel plans on our app, to the moment they reach their final destination.”
Passengers can buy tickets through Brightline’s website and its mobile app. Train schedules and ticket prices are unchanged.
But Brightline has a special promotion for November that includes a first ride free for passengers using its app. During the promotion period, discounted ticket prices will start at $10 and increase to $27 for a premium ticket.
Under federal regulations, passengers and employees are required to wear masks in the stations and on board the trains. All Brightline employees are expected to be fully vaccinated.
Tri-Rail returned to a full train schedule on Oct. 25. The schedule was reduced at the start of the pandemic, but the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority has gradually increased service since then. It now will operate 50 trains on weekdays and 30 trains on weekend days.
“Tri-Rail has had one of the best recoveries among commuter railroads in the country,” Steven Abrams, SFRTA’s executive director, said in a statement. “So it should come as no surprise that we are now ready to come back in full swing.”

Four people escaped injury when the boat they were on caught fire in a finger canal just off the Intracoastal Waterway in Boca Raton. Boca Raton Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Jason Stout said the cause of the fire that destroyed the boat in the water behind Mulberry Drive was still under investigation. There was minor to moderate damage to two other boats that came in contact with the boat while it was ablaze and drifting. The fire was eventually extinguished by Boca Raton firefighters located both on a nearby dock and on the department’s fire boat. Delray Beach Fire Rescue assisted in fighting the blaze. Photo provided by Boca Raton Fire Rescue

Boca Raton is once again making available relief funds to city homeowners and renters who have experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city has received a $357,280 Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The grant allows the city to offer a Rental Assistance Program and Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Assistance Program.
People eligible to receive assistance include those who have lost jobs, had a business close or experienced reduced employment hours, illness or death of a family member due to the coronavirus or financial hardship because of school or day-care closures.
Applicants can receive assistance if they did not receive help from another agency’s relief program that covered the same period of time.
Applications must be submitted through an online form that became available on the city’s website on Oct. 19. They will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Further information about application requirements is available on the city’s website at www.myboca.us/HousingRelief.
— Mary Hladky

Unity of Delray Beach held its 22nd Annual Blessing of the Animals in the church gazebo on Oct 30. Dogs, cats, photos, and even a stuffed toy dinosaur named Bumpy were individually blessed by Reverend Laurie Durgan. Each animal was given a certificate, a medallion for their collars with the saying “I am blessed,” and treats.
TOP: Reverend Laurie Durgan blessed Bumpy the dinosaur with the help of his owner, Jace Fernly, 5, with rose petals.
Durgan said this was the first time she had been able to bless a dinosaur in all her years of taking part in animal blessing ceremonies.
BELOW: The church also had a table full of photos of pets who have passed or were unable to attend the ceremony. Photos by Rachel O’Hara/The Coastal Star

Publisher's Note: Special section debuting this month

We are happy to announce the debut of our Philanthropy Season Preview.
This once-a-year section is intended to promote local charitable organizations and to serve as a reminder to all of us that the end-of-the-year giving season has arrived.
In the next eight pages, you will see paid features and advertising packages funded by some of these organizations — or their donors — to amplify their stories and promote upcoming fundraising events.
In this month of Thanksgiving, we encourage you to dig deep to help these and other charitable organizations that make this a better place to live.
— Jerry Lower, Publisher

Philanthropy Season Preview: Charities innovate during pandemic, often surpassing fundraising goals

Photographs of firefighters were used as the base for a mural named 'Community Heartbeat' by Boca Raton artist Lynn Doyal. In the mural sample above it can be seen how the face of Deputy Fire Chief Latosha Clemons was obscured. In a different panel (below), images of both Clemons and former Fire Chief Glenn Joseph were removed and replaced with images of white people. Image provided.

By Jane Smith

Latosha Clemons, a Boynton Beach native, will receive $100,000 to settle discrimination claims against the city after her face was whitewashed from a mural honoring the history of the city's fire department.

“We will not be erased,” said Commissioner Christina Romelus, who is Black, when voting for the two settlements on Oct. 19.

A retired deputy fire chief, Clemons, will receive $80,000 to settle her lawsuit, filed in April, and $20,000 to settle a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discrimination complaint against Boynton Beach.

Clemons, 48, is now fire chief in Forest Park, Georgia.

“No amount of money can make up for what was done,” Romelus said.

Clemons face was restored after all the people in the mural were contacted about having their likeness displayed in the windows of the new fire station.

Clemons was not the only Black fire leader whose face was whitewashed in the mural.

Ex-Fire Chief Glenn Joseph’s face also was altered. As the city’s second Black fire chief, he declined to have his face restored, saying he had only been with the Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Department a few years.

Clemons, though, served the city for nearly 24 years before retiring in 2020. She grew up near where the new fire station opened in June 2020. She wanted her face restored in the mural to be a role model for young Black girls.

The public arts manager at the time was let go three days after the altered mural was discovered. The fire chief at the time was demoted initially, then decided to leave that position.

Doc’s All American restaurant moved a step closer to being listed on the local Historic Register Oct. 4, but a later vote by the City Commission left the iconic eatery’s fate uncertain.
Commissioners voted unanimously to list Doc’s, which began in 1951 as a Dairy Queen at the corner of Swinton and Atlantic avenues, on the local register.
Moments later, however, they voted 3-2 against zoning and overlay changes on the lots immediately west of Doc’s that would have allowed Doc’s owner to build a three-story, 38-foot-tall mixed retail building in the heart of the Old School Square Historic District. Currently there is a small parking lot and a Dunkin Donuts shop on those parcels.
Since city regulations require a second reading next month on placing Doc’s on the register, it remains unclear what — if anything — could happen to Doc’s between now and then.

— Staff report

By Jane Smith

The Florida Department of Health will sue Delray Beach to enforce the city’s alleged violations of the Florida Safe Drinking Water Act after negotiations reached an impasse.

“Unfortunately, the parties were unable to reach an agreement on the Consent Order,” department spokesman Alexander Shaw wrote in an Oct. 4 email to The Coastal Star. “The Department will be filing a complaint with the Court.”

No date has been set for the court filing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

“The city has not been served with a complaint,” said City Attorney Lynn Gelin via email through Delray Beach's reclaimed water publicist, Laurie Menekou.

The Department of Health decided to file a lawsuit after four months of negotiations did not reach an agreement.

Delray Beach received the proposed consent order on June 3. The department wants to fine the city $1.8 million over its botched reclaimed water program. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater suitable only for lawn irrigation, not for drinking by humans and pets.

The city did not inspect the sites of the reclaimed water connections annually, as required, to determine if they each had a working backflow device. The mechanism prevents reclaimed water from flowing back into the drinking water system.

Although the city created its reclaimed water program with a manual, it never followed its own instructions calling for annual inspections of each connection site, according to the consent order.

That’s why the department wanted the city to pay the sizable fine and publish a public notice acknowledging it “cannot assure utility customers that the drinking water produced and distributed met the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act for the period from inception of the reclaimed water service beginning in 2007 to the time reclaimed water was deactivated on February 4, 2020.”