Mary Kate Leming's Posts

Boynton Beach: Building's historical value agreed upon, but future still up in the air

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 11:12

By Ron Hayes

In 1925, the famed society architect Addison Mizner agreed to design a building for the Boynton Beach Woman’s Club, provided the construction cost did not exceed $50,000.
Today, that wouldn’t keep his beautiful landmark open a year.
“Our annual operating budget is about $80,000,” says Patti Owens, president of the 102-year-old club. “Last year, our insurance alone was $30,000.”
And while the structure’s historical significance appreciates with each passing year, its market value has dropped from $772,000 in 2008 to $549,000 last year.
Now the stately Mediterranean Revival building at 1010 S. Federal Highway waits uncertainly between a group of dedicated women who love but cannot afford to support it, and a City Commission that must decide if, and how, to adopt it.
In May, Owens approached Mayor Jose Rodriguez with a tentative offer to sell the building to the city. That would be impossible in today’s tight economy, Rodriguez said, but perhaps the club might deed the building to the city while retaining the right to rent it out for social events, the club’s sole source of income.
At its July meeting, commissioners got an overview from Jeff Livergood, the city’s director of public works, who had met with club members on June 21.
“We all came away with a true recognition of the architectural value of the building,” he began. “It’s a cool old building, and we share a goal of preserving and protecting that building. That’s the sentimental part.”
It is, indeed, a cool old building, the first in the city to be placed on the National Register of Historical Places, and one of the last that can make you feel like Old Florida is still young. It has a barrel tile roof and a cloister, a cypress ceiling and Dade pine floors, a stately stone fireplace downstairs and an airy ballroom up.
“A building manifests the history of a community,” says Bonnie Dearborn, a former administrator with the state Division of Historical Resources who lectures on Mizner’s designs. “Nobody else has your history, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
On that, no one disagrees. But after acknowledging the club’s historical and architectural importance, Livergood gave the commission a reality check. Three, in fact.
First, he said, before agreeing to a deed transfer, the city should spend $15,000 to $25,000 to have a local architect assess the building’s structural integrity, wiring, plumbing and accessibility.
Secondly, with discussions already under way to revive the 1927 high school, the city must investigate how the club’s private rentals might compete with existing city facilities. Livergood praised the club members’ volunteer efforts to rent the building, but said staff believes a private marketing or management firm may be necessary, regardless of who holds the deed.
Finally — and most critically — Livergood voiced serious doubts about the club’s insufficient parking space, which he estimated at about 16 spots.
“For a large-scale building, parking is essential,” he said, and while the nearby senior center might accommodate shared parking, it is across Federal Highway from the club, necessitating installation of a traffic signal costing about $300,000.”
“What would be the cost of a pedestrian bridge?” wondered District 1 Commissioner Bill Orlove.
“Between $1 million and $1.5 million,” Livergood replied.
Owens, the club president, had asked that the discussion be tabled and was not present at the meeting. But the mayor, in noting her request, concluded that commissioners should hear the staff report since no action would be taken.
Contacted after the meeting, Owens emphasized that her approach to the city had been only preliminary, and no decision could be made without a vote by the 103-member club.
“I don’t want the city to be spending money until we find out if two-thirds of the membership is on board,” she said.
Regarding parking, she estimated the site has about 25 spaces, and said it had never been a problem.
“People park behind each other,” she said.
Owens emphasized that no decisions have been made, all existing rental contracts will be honored and the club is still very much available for weddings, birthday and bar mitzvahs.
Meanwhile, the City Commission was equally cautious.
“We need to be mindful that this is a building of historical significance to our city,” Orlove said as the inconclusive discussion wound down.
“We all agree,” the mayor said. “But to what extent, and to what cost?” Ú

Grant focuses on turtle-survival

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 11:08

Sea turtles earned government attention last month, when the county accepted state grants to perform a sea turtle population study in the Lake Worth Lagoon and to publicize the need to douse artificial beach lighting during the spring turtle nesting season.
    The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resource Management will spend $4,810 to print educational materials and erect signs noting the danger of lighting to turtle hatchlings. The glow of urban lights contributed to 68 percent of the instances in which hatchlings became disoriented, according to county officials.
    The county also will use a $9,460 grant to hire InWater Research Group of Jensen Beach to count sea turtles in the Lake Worth Lagoon this summer. The figures will be compared to earlier counts to assess how the turtles are surviving.
    Both grants will be administered through the Sea Turtle Conservancy, based in Gainesville, and the grants are paid by proceeds from sea turtle-themed vehicle license plates.
              — Tim O’Meilia

Obituary — Robert Hudson Neff

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 10:59

By Ron Hayes

DELRAY BEACH — Some men are blessed with long lives, and some are blessed with full lives.
Robert Hudson Neff had both.
He was born on Jan. 24, 1916, in Canfield, Ohio, and died here on July 24, at exactly 95½ years of age.
In between, Mr. Neff filled his days with personal accomplishments and a devotion to public service that, in later life, became a passionate resolve to see the city’s history honored.
As a boy in Ohio, he was one of Mahoning County’s earliest Eagle Scouts. At Ohio State University in the 1930s, he was president of the freshman class.
At 80, he won the Florida State Shuffleboard Championship.
He visited every continent except Antarctica, fished for rainbow trout in New Zealand, salmon in Alaska, and hunted elk in Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado.
Graduating from OSU with a degree in business, Mr. Neff began work as a salesman for the Sheaffer Pen Company, then went on to head five land development corporations in both Ohio and Florida.
On Dec. 21, 1940, he married Maxine Alice Dwiggins, and shortly after Dec. 7, 1941, joined the U.S. Navy, serving as an officer during World War II.
Mr. Neff first visited Florida in 1921, when he was 5 and his parents drove a Model T Ford to Miami.
In 1974, he came to Delray Beach.
“Maxine and I had been wintering at our apartment in North Miami when the area became too congested,” he once recalled. “We traveled north along the coast, exploring different locations to make a new home. Once we found Delray … we knew that we had found our new home. We really liked Delray’s small town atmosphere.”
And he came to love its history.
On Oct. 29, 2008, a marker was dedicated on South Ocean Boulevard honoring Sarah Gleason, Belle G. Dimick Reese and Ella M. Dimick Potter, whose 1899 donation of beachfront property is now the city’s municipal beach. Mr. Neff donated the money to purchase that marker.
In March 2009, he paid for a second marker outside the First Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall.
He donated a marker at the renovated 1916 courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach.
In October, two more markers will be dedicated — at Delray’s Cason Cottage and Veterans Park, near the spot where pioneers once crossed the Intracoastal Waterway by barge — at a ceremony also honoring Mr. Neff.
An application for an additional marker at Bethesda Memorial Hospital is pending before the state Division of Historical Resources.
“Some people, when they retire, kind of cut things off, but he didn’t do that,” said Dorothy Patterson, archivist at the Delray Beach Historical Society, who worked with Mr. Neff to secure state certification for the markers. “He was still interested and creative, and he reached out to people.” She laughed. “He didn’t mind sort of driving you, either. He used his age to get things done.”
Even at 95, Mr. Neff kept planting the seeds for projects he would never see blossom.
His final effort was an arboretum of native trees on the grounds of the Abbey Delray retirement community. The first tree, an avocado, was planted in April.
“He was vibrant, exciting, full of life and jovial,” said his daughter, Jennifer Neff, of Canfield. “And he never lost his sense of wonder.”
In addition to Jennifer Neff, he is survived by Maxine, his wife of 70 years; daughters Holly Broom of Edwardsville,Ill., and Candace Neff of Lantana; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
He was buried July 29 in Canfield.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Delray Beach Historical Society, 3 NE First St., Delray Beach, FL 33444, or Hospice-By-The-Sea, 1531 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33486.

Obituary — William Henry Coleman Jr.

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 10:54

GULF STREAM — William Henry Coleman Jr., 88, of Gulf Stream and Watch Hill, R.I., passed away on July 18. He was born in Providence, R.I., to W. Henry Coleman Sr. and Margaret Martin Coleman.
Mr. Coleman was a graduate of Dartmouth College. He joined his father in the real estate business in Providence and expanded W. Henry Coleman Realtors to five locations throughout Rhode Island.
Mr. Coleman was a member of the Agawam Hunt Club in East Providence, R.I., Hope Club in Providence, R.I., and the Misquamicut Club in Watch Hill, R.I. Also the Gulf Stream Golf Club, the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club, The Little Club in Gulf Stream, Fla., and the U.S. Seniors Golf Association.
Mr. Coleman served on numerous boards and committees in both Florida and Rhode Island all of his life. He is survived by his wife, Marion Coleman; two sons, Hank Coleman of Rehoboth, Mass., and David Coleman of Barrington, R.I., five grandsons and two great grandsons. Family services will be private. Lorne & Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
— Obituary submitted
by the family

Obituary — Howard E. Hassler

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 10:47

MANALAPAN — Howard E. Hassler, a former president of Allied Stores Corp., died July 7. He was 82 and had been a local resident since 2001.
Born June 9, 1929, in New York City, Mr. Hassler was a graduate of Long Island University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
“He worked his way through college on a basketball scholarship,” recalled his wife, Joanne. “He had wanted to be an architect, but they told him it would require too many hours from basketball. He asked, ‘What’s the next hardest thing?’ and they said accounting. He was very good at it.”
Indeed, when Mr. Hassler retired from Allied Stores in 1987, the company was parent to 178 department stores and 48 specialty shops in 28 states, including Jordan Marsh, Brooks Brothers and Bonwit Teller.
Mr. Hassler also served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
In addition to his wife of 34 years, Mr. Hassler is survived by two sons, Robert and Craig, and two daughters, Susan Marshall and Barbara Steig, all of New York.
Brown’s Funeral Home, Lantana, was in charge.
— Ron Hayes

Pirate will head to sea with friends one last time

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 10:42

By Ron Hayes

COUNTY POCKET — The American flag at 12 Surf Road in the county pocket flew at half-staff last month, to mark the passing of a pirate.
Here in the pocket, this cozy warren of beachside bohemia, pirates are granted the same respect as presidents, and 12 Surf Road was not the only yard with a flag in mourning that week.

James W. Guckert died on the Fourth of July, at home, of bladder cancer. He was 69.
“We always joked that in a past life he was a pirate,” says Brad Gallagher, a friend and neighbor since 1984. “He really thought of himself as a pirate.”
Pause in front of the house he lived in for nearly 40 years, and you can’t help feeling you’ve met the man.
Beneath the flagpole, a driftwood sculpture stands by the road where those of less imagination are satisfied with a picket fence. Pirates Only, the sign says, draped in green fishing nets and lobster floats.
J.G.’s Fish Camp. Conch Sound Point, No Name Shoals, Elbow Cay. All over the yard, on trees and fence posts, rustic signs evoke a man who loved the sea, the boats that sail it and the fish beneath it.
On the front door, Welcome, Sail On In.
Around back, beside the sailboat masts on the patio, is the ancient pingpong table.
“I used to play pingpong with him all the time,” remembers Jody Carr, a friend of 15 years. “He was definitely eccentric, and that’s why I got along with him. He was an old salt who loved the ocean, loved the pocket, fished off the beach and liked his beer. He was an odd duck.”
Donna Slebodnik met him in the early ’70s, when he worked as a lifeguard.
“He was a crusty old fisherman,” she said. “He could be cranky at times, and he could be a sweetheart. But if he considered you a friend, he had your back.”
And like all crusty old fishermen, he could be sentimental. Inside the house, on the fireplace mantel, the ashes of his beloved dog, Wesser, have rested for more than 20 years.
Some called him Jim, some Jimmy. To most he was simply, “J.G.,” “Buck Dorsal” or “the commodore.”
On his birth certificate, he was James Woodrow Guckert Jr., born Nov. 19, 1941, in Pittsburgh, Pa., raised in Delray Beach.
He ran his family mattress company on Federal Highway, worked as an electrician, married twice, had no children.
He sailed, he fished, he played pingpong, and when the cancer had progressed, he checked himself out of Bethesda Memorial Hospital and came home.
For five weeks, Hospice of Palm Beach County came, and so did friends.
Mike Cannon put an air mattress on the living room floor and moved in to make sure J.G. got his morphine. Mike’s wife, Natasha, came by. Brad and Sandy Gallagher from Bel Air Drive checked on him, and Brett Wise from across the road. Ron Heavyside from the Nomad Surf Shop came by, as did Vinnie and Gemma Dinanath from the Texaco station on A1A.
“During the last couple of weeks, he said to me, ‘I had no idea I had so many friends,’ ” Mike Cannon remembered.
And now you’ve reached that part of an obituary where newspapers list “survivors.”
Jim Guckert didn’t have any. He left no parents, no spouse, no children. No brothers or sisters, uncles or aunts.
But he left a pocketful of friends.
On Aug. 6, a small group of them will board his 24-foot fishing boat, the Salty Intrusion, sail east to a depth of 600 feet and scatter his ashes on the ocean he loved, along with those of his dog, Wesser.

Obituary — Mary Wattles

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on August 3, 2011 at 10:36

By Emily J. Minor

BRINY BREEZES — Mary Wattles, who discovered the magic of Briny Breezes back in 1985 and loved it from that first moment on, died June 20 in the Florida home she so loved. She was 85.
Her daughter, Beth, who lived with her for years in their Briny mobile home, gave her mother the ultimate compliment, calling her “one of those fun moms” who could turn everyday doldrums into something happy and memorable.
“She was just a wonderful mother,” she said.
A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., Mrs. Wattles never abandoned her love for her home state, spending summers in Michigan with the northern contingent of the Wattles family and winters in Briny Breezes. Beth Wattles said her mother had stayed behind this year, in failing health.
“She died in my arms right here in Briny,” said her daughter.
Clever and creative, Mrs. Wattles was an interior designer who loved art. An avid painter, she was also president of the Briny Hobby Club for many years.
Beth Wattles laughed when she remembered Christmases while growing up. “We’d come home from school one day, and the whole house would be transformed,” she said.
Mrs. Wattles found Briny after her husband died and a son-in-law’s grandfather suggested this special place in Florida. Beth Wattles was living in the Virgin Islands at the time, but mother and daughter wanted some place to live together in the states, Beth Wattles said. It was the perfect match.
Besides her daughter, Beth, survivors include three other daughters, Lucy, who lives in Kentucky; and Kay and Suzie, who live in Michigan. Six grandchildren and one great-grandchild also survive her.
A funeral service was held in June at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, but there will be a memorial service this fall or winter when Briny begins to fill up again, Beth said. That date has not been set. But she knows residents and friends will want to remember her mother.
“She was a major beach bum,” Beth said. “She walked to the Intracoastal every day and everybody remembers my mother for her pretty smile.
“She was a happy gal.”

John G's prepares for mid-August opening in Manalapan

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on July 26, 2011 at 17:00

By Jan Norris

John G’s restaurant, the landmark eatery torn down in the Lake Worth Casino reconstruction project, is only weeks away from its reopening in its new Manalapan locale.

Wendy Yarbrough, one of the original Giragos family owners, said they’re “really getting into it now. We had a couple of setbacks – we’re having to do a little more than we planned. This is an older building, so we found broken pipes and water in the walls – all that has to be repaired before we can get move forward,” she said.

“We’re projecting a mid-August opening – that’s our target, anyway,” she said.

The former Callaro’s in the Plaza del Mar is being refitted to serve “like we do instead of a steakhouse with more leisurely dining,” she said.

John G’s, famous for fish and chips, gazpacho, and hearty breakfasts like almond-crusted French toast turned over tables rapidly to accommodate those waiting in its legendary line. Never was dessert on their menu because of this, she said.

“Our customers are going to like it, I’m pretty sure,” she said. “We got rid of the orange upholstery – time for that to go! All that is gone, but I kept one of the big round tables and put it in a kind of alcove off the main dining room. It’s in honor of my dad. I left eight orange chairs only for that table. My brothers think I’m crazy, but I had to do something to honor Dad.”

Yarbrough said the new place will be brighter, but some décor has been brought over from the old beachside place. “It’ll be nice – a little of the old, some new.

“The menu’s the same, though – the same gazpacho, seafood chowder and of course the fish and chips.”

She’s in the process of calling all her former servers and staff; she thinks the customers want to see their familiar faces. “I’m hoping they’ll all come back, but we’ll see.”

While her brothers have talked about serving dinner at the new spot, Yarbrough said they’ll wait to see how breakfast and lunch goes first, then ease into it. “My dad thought it was important to close early enough to have time with the family. But we’re looking into it for a few nights a week, maybe.”

She’s looking forward to finally opening and satisfying all the customers she says call or come by in person to check the progress. “It’s really heartwarming the support we have in the community.”

She doesn’t want to let them down.

“I’m a little nervous – sure,” she said. “It was such a big tradition on the beach. We’re used to handling crowds – of course. But this is a new place, and we’ll have to settle in to get back to our pace, and I hope the customers understand that.”

In Gulf Stream it's official: Electric, phone and cable TV are going underground

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 30, 2011 at 14:00

By Steve Plunkett

It’s official now—property owners in town will pay non-ad valorem special assessments to put electric, phone and cable TV lines underground, out of the view and away from wind and salty air.

Sitting June 30 as the Board of Equalization, town commissioners voted unanimously that the assessment plan developed by consultant Willdan Financial Services was fair.

‘’I think the proposal is reasonable and we should make the decision,’’ Mayor William Koch Jr. said.

‘’It is difficult to divorce your opinion from your pocketbook,’’ Commissioner Chris Wheeler said. ‘’The whole reason we relied on these experts is to provide that objectivity.’’

Habib Isaac, senior project manager for Willdan, said the amounts his company proposed were based on actual observation of each parcel.

‘’We went through all the streets in town,’’ Isaac said.

He presented a chart showing, for instance, that parcel size was considered in calculating the added safety and aesthetics benefits but not reliability, while having a guest quarters added to reliability benefits but not aesthetics or safety.

That led to sizable differences between different types of dwellings, Isaac said. ‘’On average a condo is being assessed roughly 60 percent of a single-family home,’’ he said, or $11,907 vs. $7,057.

Resident John Caldwell of the Gulf View Club again asked why units in his condo building were being assessed $2,000 more than units in Gulfstream Shores. Isaac told him it was because Gulfstream Shores already has underground electric lines from the street to the building and that their meters are already updated.

After other condo residents complained that they were paying almost as much as some multimillion-dollar estates, Isaac said his analysis did not use property values at all.

‘’If you do that you’re really doing a tax in the clothing of an assessment,’’ he said.

Town commissioners also voted unanimously to borrow up to $5.5 million to finance the project.

With a 25 percent credit available from Florida Power & Light Co., interest rates low and contractors hungry, ‘’this is the best time to do it,’’ said Dan Comerford, mayor of Jupiter Inlet Colony, which just began construction on its underground project.

Danny Brannon, the town’s consulting engineer, said surveyors would start work in Gulf Stream the first week of July. Shovels won’t hit the ground until next spring, he said.

South Palm Beach: Town rejects offer of police coverage by Manalapan

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 30, 2011 at 9:53

By Tim O’Meilia

The South Palm Beach Town Council rejected June 21 an offer from Manalapan Mayor Basil Diamond to supply police and dispatch services to the town.

In a June 6 letter to the Town Council, Diamond outlined two options that he said would save the town $401,000 to $730,000, or 43 percent to 78 percent of its police and dispatching budget.

Mayor Donald Clayman disputed the estimated savings.

Councilman Joseph Flagello said, “One of the great things we have is our Police Department. I’m not going to have another municipality run our police force.”

Other council members agreed. “Quite frankly, I strongly support our town police force,” said Councilwoman Stella Jordan.

Clayman already had written Diamond a letter declining the offer. “They don’t want to give us anything. They want to take,” he said.

In other business at its June 21 meeting, the council:

• Postponed consideration of buying a new $25,584 Ford Crown Victoria police car to replace a 2005 model that is out of warranty. Council members were concerned that the purchase wasn’t in the budget and the money would be taken from the beach renourishment account. The Ford model is being discontinued and Police Chief Roger Crane said the town could save $5,000 by switching equipment from the old Ford to the new and save $3,000 on a trade-in. The new equipment likely would not fit in another model, he said.

• Approved on first reading a series of definitions for abuse, fraud, misconduct, mismanagement and waste to be applied in interpreting reports that may come from the new Palm Beach County Inspector General’s office. The inspector general has not approved any definitions yet.

Correction

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 17:13

A caption beneath a photograph of a yoga class at the Highland Beach Library in the May edition of The Coastal Star incorrectly identified the yoga instructor. Her name is Dee Greenberg.

Hypoluxo Island: Couple hopes to highlight charm of '50s cottage

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:28

Left: Candy Heydt opens the front door of the quintessential 1950s Florida cottage.

By Christine Davis

You could go north or south on Hypoluxo Island and still end up at Mason and Candy Heydts’ home.
That’s because they live at 705 N. Atlantic Drive, and they just bought another property at 705 SE Atlantic Drive.
The type of house and the vintage are the same, so it can be a bit confusing: Both are 1950s cottages and they were both in disrepair. It seems the Heydts find renovating them to their original cuteness addictive.
“We have done this before,” Candy Heydt acknowledges. “It was the ad in The Coastal Star that caught our eye. It read: ‘Least expensive property on Hypoluxo Island’ and it looked just like our (north) house did when we bought it.”
Their current residence is a cute 2,000 square feet on a good-sized lot on the water. The Heydts found it eight years ago and fell in love with it. They moved walls around, put in new windows, refinished floors, redid the pool, added awnings, redid the bathrooms and the kitchen. “But on the outside, it looks the same,” Heydt said.
So, they are transferring their knowhow to the house down the street.
According to real estate agent Diana Reed, “This sale is unique because of what the Heydts are doing. This house was a borderline teardown, but they have a clear vision of what a ’50s cottage should look like.
“They saw the integrity and charm of the structure. It’s such a cool story: people who live here, see value and invest here.”
The house was built in 1952 by Dave Ebersold, one of the original residents on the island, who died a few years ago.
“He built several homes on the island with real Florida style,” Reed said. “His family still lives here.”
Other than that, neither she nor the Heydts know much about its history. Previous owner Ron Gisondo, who had lived in the house for about 20 years, hasn’t much to add. “Dave was a nice guy. I never had any issues with the house, but whenever I needed to make any repairs, Dave would come by and tell me how to fix them,” he said.
The house has been on and off the market for a while, said Reed, and over the years, the house became dilapidated. Of course, that was not a problem for the Heydts.
“But the house was well-built. It sat high and dry; it’s a CBS home and has cool features — vaulted ceiling, skylights and the great room area,” Reed said.
Then one day, when Reed was standing in her driveway, Candy came walking by with her dog. “She told me she had seen the ad and wanted to look at the house,” Reed said.
And once Reed saw the Heydts’ home, she understood the attraction. “Wow. What a good fit!” she said.
The Heydts bought the property in April and set to work. “The yard has been cleared; we had a front-end loader out there for two days. A new roof is on and a lot of demolition is done. We are almost ready to start on the pool. It’s full steam ahead,” Heydt said.
The front is being redone with a new driveway. A new sea grape hedge is planned, as well as a walkway and a gate.
“The house will be two colors, taupe with black shutters, railing and canvas awning. The steps going up the porch will be wider and we will replace all the windows with impact glass,” Heydt said. “And I have a darling black bench that’s going to go there,” she adds, pointing to a spot by the front door.
Inside, the floor in the old sunroom was raised to meet the floor in the living room for one big space and a faux fireplace has been removed. The cypress beams will be washed white and Heydt envisions that the room will have a stone floor.
To the north of the entry will be an office and the Heydts plan to stain the oak floor white like they’ve done in their own home.
The kitchen’s sturdy wood cabinetry will stay, but it will be painted and hardware will be changed. The Mexican tile will stay, too. “We are going to take out the stove and put a doorway into the great room there,” said Heydt, pointing. We will build out a pantry, recess the refrigerator, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do about the brick wall where the oven was — probably keep it and paint it.” All the appliances will be replaced.
In the adjoining breakfast room, she plans to build in a banquette at one end, and she puzzled out how to make a laundry room.
On the south side of the house, the first bedroom will probably serve as a den — or maybe she’ll put in an armoire and use it as a bedroom. The corner bedroom has hardwood floors and built-in shelves, which will stay.
The layout of the master bedroom will pretty much stay as it is, as well as some elements of the master bathroom. “I am going to keep the green cultured marble and we always have a glass-block shower in all our houses, and here it is,” she said, gesturing. A big window by the soaking tub will offer nice views of the lush landscaping that the Heydts plan to have.
In the back, there will be fencing, a hedge, pool, deck, an outdoor shower and a nice big lawn — it’s a double lot. “A man walked around and told us what trees we could save, which we then trimmed and fertilized. They have all summer to be happy.”
The Heydts hope to have all the work completed by fall, and the house back on the market ready for some other vintage cottage lover who
will not be able to resist.

NOTE: The Coastal Star will feature photos of the finished cottage in an upcoming edition.

Towns rejoice: Ocean Ave. bridge to remain open much of next winter

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:20

By Tim O’Meilia

    The closing of the East Ocean Avenue Bridge to begin construction of its replacement has been pushed back to March, giving oceanside residents and avenue merchants an extra winter without detours.
    “That will be wonderful. At least we can get through the season,” said South Palm Beach Mayor Donald Clayman. “It will be a two-year disaster as it is.” Palm Beach County engineers said they didn’t want the start of demolition on the deteriorating 61-year-old bridge to conflict with repainting of the Lake Worth bridge — the closest detour north — by the state Department of Transportation.
    “We’re trying to minimize the inconvenience as much as we can,” said Deputy County Engineer Tanya McConnell. “We don’t want two bridges to be closed at the same time.”
    The $32.4 million project, which includes a $500,000 fishing pier beneath the west end, still will begin in late November or early December, as the construction firm begins staging equipment for the work. The company will have to negotiate to find a location for its equipment and begin preliminary work before actual demolition begins.
    Bids for the work are being accepted until July 12 and the contract will be awarded Sept. 13, according to the present schedule. The notice to proceed from the county will not occur until December, said Assistant County Engineer Steve Carrier.
    The later start of construc-tion won’t affect the completion date, which remains October 2013.
    “It’s a great thing, whatever the reason,” said Lantana Town Manager Michael Bornstein. “The bottom line is there’s less time for the bridge to be out of service.”
    The new span will be more than 11 feet taller at the center of the channel, allowing for 40 percent fewer openings. The new bridge will have two shoulders/bicycle lanes and sidewalks doubling the current 3-foot width. The 800-foot fishing pier is meant to discourage fishermen from using the new, taller bridge.
    The Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce has already postponed its demolition street party until March 4.
    Merchants are hoping to create a series of festivals, fishing derbies and other events to lure barrier island residents in South Palm Beach and Manalapan. Coastal residents will be forced to drive six miles to the north or nine to the south to reach the 30 or so shops on the street.
    Manalapan Mayor Basil Diamond was skeptical that this would be the last schedule change. “This new date represents the fourth or fifth change. They haven’t finalized anything yet. The construction contract hasn’t been signed.”         Diamond has had discussions with officials from other barrier-island towns to try to pool resources while the bridge is out. “We’re going to need some intergovernmental cooperation,” he said.
     “At least it’ll bypass this winter season,” Diamond said. “The Ocean Avenue bridge in Boynton was finished early. Maybe we’ll be as lucky.”      Ú

Lake Worth: Changes on the menu for city restaurant scene

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:18

By Jan Norris

    Though John G’s move from the Lake Worth Casino to Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar is a fait accompli, several other Lake Worth restaurants have changes in the works.
    Brogue’s, the Irish pub that opened in 2002 at the corner of Lake Avenue and K Street, has been sold.
    Emily Regan, owner of the Bees Knees in Lake Worth, bought it, and with her husband, Rob, and daughter, Tania, will convert it to Brogue’s Down Under.
    “We’re going to change it to an Australian bar and restaurant,” she said. “We used to own a deli and restaurant in Australia.”
    They’re changing the food first. “We’re going to have nice food like different salads, fish dishes, quiche, and Australian and New Zealand wines.”
    She and Rob are from New Zealand, but moved soon after they were married to Australia, where they reared their family. “We’re citizens of Australia, and our children were born there,” she said.
    As for traditional foods, they’ll be there, too. “Bacon and egg sandwiches, sausage rolls, chicken pie — that sort of thing. We won’t have Vegemite till Christmas when our grandson is bringing it over from Australia.”
    They’ll have music for the bar, to be renamed the Aussie Boomerang Bar. “I don’t know if we can find someone to blow the didgeridoo for the opening, but I’m going to try. If you know of anyone who plays the didgeridoo, let me know.”
    While they officially take over at the end of June, they’ll ease into the re-do of the restaurant over the summer, she said.          Safire, the Thai restaurant on the west end of Lake Avenue near Dixie, also has sold. New owner Nok Krusan is familiar to many diners. She owned Thai Garden near Publix in the Boynton Plaza in Boynton Beach. “I lost my lease when Publix expanded,” she said.
    Safire, at 817 Lake Ave., became available, and she moved in. The menu won’t change much yet, she said. “We do specials, you get more for your money now. Instead of just an entrée — Chilean sea bass, we have it for the same price, $25, with choice of sauce — you can have basil, garlic or ginger — and with soup or salad and green tea ice cream for dessert. It’s a special.”
    She’ll wait till fall to implement other favorite dishes when the weather cools and heartier foods are on diners’ minds, she said. “In fall, we’ll do beef shortribs. They were very popular at my other restaurant,” Krusan said. “Beef shortribs with basil sauce, or sometimes, with panang curry — and I make that with noodles sometimes, too.”
     Matthew Lamstein, a bread baker from New England, has partnered with Jacqueline Moore to open the J Street Bakery in the old Dolce Vita wine shop location at 9 N. J St.
    Lamstein handles the bread side of the bakery. For the last three years, he’s sold his Common Bread to residents and restaurants in the area. He now brings artisan breads, such as challah, Brooklyn rye, M Street sourdough onion rye and some fruit and raisin breads to his customers.
    Moore handles the sweet shop side, called Sweets 4U2 — focused on diabetic and gluten-free cakes, cupcakes and cookies. All natural ingredients like whole grains and natural sweeteners are used in her products. Carrot cake, Chocolate Bliss cake, oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies are some of her offerings.
    Dolce Vita Wines has moved from its small quarters on J Street to the old Soma Center at 609 Lake Ave., and set up shop as a wine and tapas bar and store.          Asher White, one of the co-owners with his parents, said, “We’re thinking about opening the back room Wednesday to Saturday night as a lounge. We’re just kicking around ideas in the summer.”
    The room seats 20 to 25. Right now, it’s where tastings are held every Friday night from 8 to 10 with food pairings.
     “We do live jazz every Saturday night, Sexy Jazz is the group. They’re drawing in a lot of people. They’re so amazing.”
    An expanded menu also is in the works, White said, but they’ll stick to the current list of small tapas plates for the summer.
    Rum Shack has closed; the sign on its door indicates it will become the Tin Roof BBQ and Sports Bar when it reopens. Renovations are planned, possibly to include moving the bar and opening the two rooms into one, our sources say. The “barbecue” sign indicates a new concept is also planned for the menu. It’s slated to reopen sometime in September.       Ú

Lantana/South Palm Beach: Breakwaters look dead in the water

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:16

Plans for breakwaters designed to halt erosion on the sand-starved beaches of South Palm Beach and Lantana were cancelled, in effect, by Palm Beach County commissioners at a June 28 workshop.
Faced with the inability to get a federal permit for above-water structures off the Singer Island beach after three decades of discussion, commissioners were not willing to pursue a project of submerged breakwaters, which county officials said would be far less effective and more expensive.
The decision also affects breakwater projects for Lantana-South Palm Beach and Jupiter. “If we can’t do this one (Singer Island), there’s no sense pursuing the others,” said Commission Chairwoman Karen Marcus.
Instead, commissioners urged county engineers and federal and state agencies to work together on projects focusing on T-shaped groins to help hold the sand on the beaches.
Commissioner Steven Abrams, who represents the south county district, was unable to attend the meeting because of his wife’s surgery. No public comment was allowed at the workshop, although both South Palm Beach and Lantana sent letters supporting the breakwater project, which would have cost an estimated $15 million to $25 million.
— Tim O’Meilia

Boca Raton: Veteran crossing guard lauded for years of excellent service

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:13

By Paula Detwiller

It might have been a broad-daylight traffic tragedy.

The light turned red, but the car didn’t stop. The driver, focusing on his cell phone, swung into the intersection to make his left turn — straight into the path of a young boy.

“That’s when I grabbed him and snatched him back,” said crossing guard Daisy Marshall, who was escorting the boy across busy NW 12th Avenue to Boca Raton Middle School. The driver screeched to a stop within 10 inches of Marshall’s leg. “I put my hand on his hood and yelled ‘You almost hit this child!’ ” Mitchell said.

Protective instincts and quick thinking are qualities every local police department looks for in a school crossing guard. In this case, Boca Raton police have been blessed with 19 year’s worth of Marshall’s protective instincts. Her track record — and especially that close call with the cell-phone-distracted driver — earned her a Distinguished Service Award from the Traffic Safety Committee of the Palm Beaches during the organization’s annual service awards luncheon June 2.

Marshall, 57, has bonded with hundreds of school children over the years. When school is in session, she’s on duty at 7:15 a.m. at Mitchell Elementary School, then switches to her post outside Boca Raton Middle School at 8:35 a.m. She comes back later to do the after-school shift at both locations. Then she goes off to her night-shift-supervisor job at a large commercial print shop.

“I like doing it because of the kids,” Marshall says of her crossing-guard duties. “The little kids always have a story to tell me or something going on. I had this one kid, his mom yelled at him before school, and I told him, ‘OK, don’t worry, take a deep breath, dry your eyes, and let’s go to school.’ He looked at my uniform and said ‘Are you gonna lock my mom up?’ I said, ‘Well next time she hollers at you, you let me know.’

“His mom came the next day and he said, ‘Can you please lock her up now?’ and I said ‘noooooo … but maybe next time she yells at you, I’ll do it then.’ ” She winks and laughs.

After gripping her hand-held stop sign at the same schools for so many years, Marshall has watched students grow up, become parents themselves, and send their own children to her crosswalks. And she has seen a lot of change in the way kids behave.

“Ten years ago, kids were more laid back. They’d tease me, do silly stuff like tap me on the shoulder. But now they act like big kids. They have cell phones and they don’t like to stop and walk their bikes across the street,” Marshall says. She makes them do it anyway. If they disobey, she makes sure they miss the traffic signal and have to wait for the next one.

“I think I make a good impression on the kids because they listen to me … even though they get upset when I tell them to do something right, you know,” she says.

“This one kid, his friends were telling him to say the D word — damn — and I said no! That’s a bad word. I told his mom he was using bad language around me, and she made him go home and write ‘I’m sorry Miss Daisy’ 300 times on a piece of paper. I felt bad for him! He’s a nice kid.”

And then there was the not-so-nice kid who was fooling around in the middle of the road, being deliberately dangerous as his friends egged him on.

She followed him home.

“I watched to see where he went, and at the end of my shift I drove over there and knocked on the door,” she says. “He came to the door and his eyes got so big! He said ‘Please go — I’m sorry, I won’t do it again’ and I heard his mom say ‘Who’s down there?’ and the kid said ‘Please, Miss Crossing Guard, please, I promise you, just go!’ Well, I left ’cause I didn’t want him to get in trouble.

“I had no more problems with him,” Marshall says. “He became my best friend. When he went into eighth grade, he gave me a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.”

What’s next for Marshall? Retirement?

“No, I’m a workaholic. I don’t like being home doing nothing,” she says. “I’ll be doing this until God says I can’t do it any more.”

Other Boca Raton honorees at the Traffic Safety Committee of the Palm Beaches’ 26th annual Distinguished Service Awards included a police DUI-testing inspector and a Boca-based nonprofit devoted to traffic fatality reduction.

• Boca Raton police officer John Brock, who primarily does traffic law enforcement, was recognized for his “side job”: keeping the department’s Intoxilizer 8000 functioning according to state specifications. The Intoxilizer is Florida’s standard evidentiary breath-testing instrument used in DUI arrests. A reading of .08 or higher is evidence of unlawful intoxication behind the wheel.

“In the city of Boca Raton, we make a lot of DUI arrests,” said Brock. “So I’d like to say, hey, if you’re going to come to Boca, you better get a designated driver or call a cab. Don’t drink and drive.”

Brock says the average DUI arrest costs defendants about $5,000 when all is said and done.

“It’s gonna cost you a night in jail, your car’s gonna get towed, you’ll need to hire an attorney, there’ll be fines to pay, and you’ll lose some work time going to court.” DUI arrestees who refuse to provide a breath sample via the Intoxilizer automatically lose their driver’s licenses for one year.

• The Dori Slosberg Foundation was recognized for its efforts to get teenagers to buckle up. The foundation sponsored a seat belt compliance contest called “In the Click” that counted the number of students, parents and teachers wearing their seat belts both before and after being exposed to seat belt safety messages. The school that showed the most improvement in usage (Boca Raton High School) was awarded a cash prize to put toward “safe graduation” parties designed to keep partying teens off the road.

The foundation was established in Boca Raton seven years ago to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Florida roadways. It is named after the daughter of state Rep. Irving Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, who died in a car accident while unbuckled.

Boca Raton: House party parents escape conviction

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:10

By Steve Plunkett

The parents charged with hosting an “open house party” crashed by hundreds of beer-toting high school students in the gated Sanctuary enclave ended their day in court with adjudication withheld.

Shlomo and Jeannie Rasabi, who pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge, will not have a conviction on their records. Judge Barry M. Cohen assessed court costs of $253 each but no jail time or fine.

“Good luck to you both,” Cohen said after sentencing them June 20.

Violations of the state’s “open house party” law carry a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. But a pre-sentence investigation said at worst, the Rasabis should be given six months probation, ordered to serve on a victim impact panel, work 100 community service hours and give 12 lectures on teen alcohol use.

Cohen said he did not want to clog the probation system with NORPs, meaning “normal, ordinary responsible persons.” He said the Rasabis did not purchase, arrange for or have prior knowledge of alcohol at the Oct. 10 party. He also noted that the pre-sentence report said the Rasabis had already suffered.

“The economic costs resulting from this incident to the couple has been great, and the publicity generated by the media has cost them dearly in terms of stress and difficulty with the children’s school and parents of children at American Heritage,” the report said, referring to the private school in Plantation where the Rasabis’ two sons attended.

The report included an example of hate mail the Rasabis received that Cohen read in court. “You are also perfectly behaving in a manner Boca Jews can only conduct themselves — selfish and arrogant,” the letter said.

After the sentencing Jeannie Rasabi said their sons’ classmates marveled at the home in the Sanctuary they were borrowing for the after-homecoming event. They found pictures online of the 17,000-square-foot house, which is unfurnished and for sale, and said, “Ooh, we have to go to this party,” Rasabi said.

“Obviously we care about teen, underage drinking,’’ Jeannie Rasabi said. “We never suspected they’d be intoxicated in our home.”

Media coverage was intense. “No shelter at The Sanctuary for liquored up American Heritage pupils,” The Palm Beach Post blogged. “Son held drunken party for 600 friends after banishing parents to bedroom of their multi-million-dollar mansion,” England’s Daily Mail reported online.

Shlomo Rasabi, who lives with his family in Plantation, is the property manager of the house and asked its owner for permission to hold the party. He and his wife also hired four men to help chaperone the event and told the Sanctuary’s homeowner association and security service about it, they told the pre-sentence investigator. They expected about 100 guests to arrive in two chartered buses, but at least 500 teenagers in four buses arrived, the pre-sentence report said. They quickly asked security to call the police, it said.

The Rasabis disputed a police report that said they stayed “in their bedroom” during the party, “which is understandable in light of the fact that the house was unfurnished,” the pre-sentence report said. Instead, Shlomo Rasabi stationed himself on a rear balcony and Jeannie Rasabi kept near the swimming pool because they worried someone might drown, the report said.

They also complained that when Boca Raton officers took them to the police station, they left 26 teens at the house with no adult supervision and also left the alcohol there, the report said.

“They said , ‘It’s OK, we have pictures [for evidence],’ ” Jeannie Rasabi said after the court hearing.

The Rasabis’ older son graduated from American Heritage in May with high honors, but they could not keep their younger son there “because of the financial burden associated with defending themselves,” the pre-sentence report said. Neither boy was found to be drinking at the party, Rasabi attorney Adam Harmelin said.

Paul and Ingrid Paolino, the parents charged the following weekend with hosting a similar though much smaller party on Spanish River Road, also had adjudication withheld and paid $253 each in court costs. But their case was resolved by a plea deal in May, just hours before their attorney was prepared to argue that police searched their property without a warrant.

Jeannie Rasabi was surprised to hear the other couple was not punished more severely, saying the Paolinos admitted knowing their underage guests were drinking. But Rasabi said she and her husband could not have accused police of making an illegal search.

“We let them in,” Jeannie Rasabi said. “We wanted help.”

Boynton Inlet spruced up and spritzing sand

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:06

By Tim O’Meilia

Thirty-odd years ago, a barely teen-aged Geoff Pugh and his brother would climb down to the rocks at the bottom of the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet and spear fish until a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy shooed them away.
Other days they would cast nets for sheepshead or whatever was running that time of year, always keeping an eye out for the deputy.
“But the next time he came out in a boat through the inlet,” said an all-grown-up Pugh, now a town commissioner in Ocean Ridge. The deputy didn’t take them to any juvenile detention center. “It was a different time. He took us to the north end of Lantana and made us walk home.”
That same grown-up Geoff Pugh and officials from nearby coastal towns, along with Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, clipped a red ribbon with golden scissors June 16 to officially christen the latest incarnation of the first fixed sand transfer plant built in the world (in 1937).
Never mind that for 18 months the new plant has already been spritzing sand slurped from a pit on the north side of the inlet — officially known as the South Lake Worth Inlet — and spitting it out 700 feet south of the inlet.
What’s important to fishermen and beach-goers is that the refurbished north and south jetties — now outfitted with breakaway deck panels in case of a ferocious hurricane — are sporting new concrete decks and guardrails and 200 new concrete piles to support the north jetty. The jetties opened in May.
All of which earned a puzzled look from the suntanned and shirtless 10-year-old who padded barefoot through the ceremony — fishing pole in hand — to his favorite casting spot on the north jetty.
County officials had hoped to keep one of the jetties open for fishing while the other was under construction but delays forced both to be closed most of last year. Beach access remained open although parking was reduced as well.
12 years in the works
Aside from the new plant, duded up with a Mizneresque barrel tile roof and a Palm Beach sand-colored hue, the nearly $8 million project includes the updates of the two jetties and a new 200-foot seawall for Beer Can Island — now known by the more upscale appellation of Bird Island — on the Lake Worth Lagoon side of the inlet. Included are native plantings along the north jetty and along the Bird Island seawall.
“It’s important for navigation, for improving the jetties and for a better quality of life for our residents,” said Abrams, whose district includes the inlet and Ocean Inlet Park.
The project, in the works for 12 years, was needed because the transfer plant was more than 40 years old and no longer repairable, the jetties needed work and the Bird Island seawall was failing, said Tracy Logue, the county’s project manager.
Both jetties were fitted with new decks atop the old. The Bird Island seawall was entirely replaced and the sand transfer plant was built with 18-inch thick concrete walls, hurricane-impact windows and submarine-style doors to keep nor’easters outside.
A small pump was added inside to siphon off storm water during bad weather. A 450 horsepower electric pump replaces the old diesel model. Although it’s more efficient, it’s not designed to pump more than the previous 200 cubic yards per hour capacity of the old pump.
“It’s 100 percent quieter,” Logue said. The noise was long a bugaboo for nearby Manalapan residents.
Inlet affects sand drift
The man-made inlet was dug in 1927, not for navigation purposes, but to flush the Lake Worth Lagoon, which was becoming rapidly polluted. But the inlet did what all man-made inlets do: allowed sand to accumulate north of the inlet, to shoal in the inlet itself and to inhibit the natural north-to-south flow of sand to beaches south of the inlet. Erosion became a problem.
The world’s first fixed sand transfer plant in 1937 was the solution. Repaired several times, the plant was replaced in 1967. Meanwhile Bird Island was created in the 1950s from sand dredged from both the inlet and the lagoon.
The plant will spew 80,000 to 100,000 cubic yards a year through its 14-inch pipe onto eroded Ocean Ridge beaches, a deal negotiated with Manalapan, which feared losing too much sand.
That’s enough sand to fill a football field more than 17½ feet high.
“It’s built like a lighthouse. We hope it lasts another 50 or 60 years,” said Dan Bates of the county’s environmental resources management department.
“The only problem is the pipe isn’t long enough to go all the way to South Palm Beach,” joked South Palm Beach Mayor Donald Clayman.

South Lake Worth Sand Transfer Plant
By the numbers:
Location: Ocean Inlet Park
Sand Transfer Plant built: 1937, rebuilt 1967, rebuilt 2011 at cost of $2.6 million
Ocean Inlet Park parking spaces: 152 spaces
Jetties rebuilt at a cost of $2.8 million: North jetty, 760 feet, 200 concrete piles added; south jetty, 415 feet, a few concrete piles added
Discharge point: 700 feet south of inlet
Discharge pipe: 14-inch diameter
Discharge capacity: 200 cubic yards per hour
Sand pumped: 80,000-100,000 cubic yards annually
Bird Island seawall: 200 feet; cost $1.9 million
Vegetation: more than 20,000 salt-tolerant plants moved or added
Total cost: $7.9 million

Source: Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management

Mayors seek ways to work together: Study proposed for coastal area

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 15:00

By Steve Plunkett,
Tim O’Meilia
and Margie Plunkett

Cooperation was at the top of the menu for the first luncheon of mayors from South Palm Beach to Gulf Stream.
Mayor Ken Kaleel of Ocean Ridge organized the meeting at Callaro’s Prime Steak and Seafood shortly before the restaurant left Manalapan, mostly so coastal leaders could get to know each other better. By the end of the meal they decided hiring a consultant might be the best way to consolidate services and save tax dollars.
The consultant could view the towns as a blank slate, consider the best way to operate and make recommendations, Kaleel told his commissioners afterward. Kaleel envisioned the consultant’s looking at the personalities of each town and asking, “In what ways can we make it better for our communities?”
If each municipality kicked in “a couple grand” for the study, it would be money well-spent, Kaleel said, noting in his town it could come out of the contingency fund.
Lantana was the first to commit money, voting to spend up to $5,000 on the cooperative study when Mayor David Stewart updated his commission June 13.
Mayor Roger Bennett of Briny Breezes said that amount was more than his town was prepared to spend.
“We would pitch in a little bit if need be,’’ Bennett said. “We’re such a small operation. … I’m just more or less along for the ride.”
In Manalapan, commissioners on June 28 told Mayor Basil Diamond to continue talking with the mayors and report back on the consultant’s cost.
“We don’t know if this would cost $2,000 or $3,000 per town or less,” Diamond said.
South Palm Beach Mayor Donald Clayman was on the other side of the fence .
“I will listen to anything, but I am very happy with our situation,” Clayman said later. “I am not interested in paying to do a study. Those cost a lot of money. Lake Worth recently did one on their police situation and it cost something like $20,000.”
Council Members Stella Jordan, Susan Lillybeck and Joseph Flagello disagreed.
“I think we need to get to the table with these other cities. If we don’t like it, we can step away from it,” Flagello said.
No vote was taken.
The towns already share some services. Briny Breezes gets police patrols from Ocean Ridge, for instance, and South Palm Beach contracts with Lantana for emergency dispatch services. Gulf Stream pays Delray Beach for fire-rescue, while Manalapan has fire-rescue from the county.
There is no timetable for hiring a consultant, and the mayors have not scheduled a second get-together. Kaleel said with budget season already here, the mayors were not in a rush to choose a consultant.
“It’s really something for next year,” Kaleel said. “For this year it’s too late.”

Early overtures made
Meanwhile, Manalapan made its own efforts to consolidate services in June. The town issued a request for proposals to take over its police dispatch service, which has four full-time dispatchers and four part-timers and costs its taxpayers $367,700 a year.
Atlantis, Greenacres, Lantana and Ocean Ridge picked up copies of the RFP, but only Ocean Ridge filed a bid.
Ocean Ridge wants $450,000 the first year, followed by $257,500 the next and $265,255 the third year. While the three-year total is a net gain of $130,375 the first-year amount is $82,300 more than Manalapan currently spends.
“This is a bit of a sticker shock,” Manalapan Vice Mayor Robert Evans said, explaining that he had expected bids closer to the $57,000 South Palm Beach pays Lantana for dispatching.
Manalapan commissioners told their town manager and police chief to work with their Ocean Ridge counterparts to fine-tune the proposal, but agreed they might be better off waiting for a consultant.

Another proposal offered
While Ocean Ridge was developing its bid, Manalapan Mayor Diamond wrote Clayman offering to put his town’s police and dispatchers on duty in South Palm Beach.
Under one scenario, he wrote, South Palm Beach would become part of Manalapan’s South Ocean Boulevard zone for $201,570, saving South Palm Beach about $730,000 a year. A second scenario had South Palm Beach becoming a third zone in Manalapan with its own full-time officer for $531,177, a savings of $401,000.
Clayman rejected the unsolicited proposals.
“Our residents have been vocal about maintaining a high level of visual police presence in the community to keep crime incidents to a minimum, and to provide swift service when called,’’ he wrote back.
“I also believe, as we are anticipating a minimum of two (2) years for the closing of the Lantana Bridge, this is not a good time to be looking at a reduced police presence on the island for either of our communities.’’
Such differences aside, Kaleel said towns on the barrier island have common issues and a lot of similarities, including “a like mind as to what they see the future of our communities to be.”
But annexation is not an option.
“I don’t think we could annex,’’ Kaleel said. “We’re not looking to be one town.” Ú

A Coastal Star: Officer honored for impact in SPB community

Posted by Mary Kate Leming on June 29, 2011 at 14:50

By Tim O’Meilia

The first driving-under-the-influence arrest South Palm Beach Police Officer Jason LaForte ever made was almost his last.
The suspect was a Palm Beach resident — but let’s not stereotype here — weaving through the town’s five-eighths of a mile of two-lane A1A. After the driver failed the roadside sobriety test and was handcuffed “he went ballistic,” LaForte explained.
“After he was in the patrol car, he tried to kick out the window. He was belligerent all the way to (the Palm Beach County) jail,” he said.
The driver kicked at the bars in the holding cell and told deputies he was having a heart attack. Paramedics were called to check him out. While his heart was fine, he complained that his foot was injured kicking the bars. He wanted more medical treatment.
“After that, I didn’t know if I ever wanted to do that again,” LaForte said with a smile, years after that incident. “It was one of those long nights and it was my first DUI.”
LaForte persevered. He’s had 11-plus years of nights on patrol, but few as troublesome as that one. Last year, he made four DUI arrests (with a 100 percent conviction rate) and wrote 125 traffic citations on his 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift.
For that, he was recognized with one of the Palm Beach County Safety Council’s Distinguished Service Awards for Enforcement. He was one of 30 people honored during the council’s 26th annual traffic safety award luncheon at the Airport Hilton last month. Honorees came in categories ranging from crossing guards to police officers to ordinary citizens heroes to the Dori Slosberg Foundation that sponsors several “In the Click” seat belt compliance contests for students across the state.
“We’re not just out to give awards to officers who write a lot of tickets. We want people who engage the public and make a lot of effort outside just ticket-writing,” said Donna Bryant, marketing director for the Safety Council.
South Palm Beach isn’t known as a speed-trap, ticketing-writing hot spot. LaForte issues plenty of warnings and makes an attempt to hear out the driver.
“I don’t go out looking for stats,” said LaForte, 39. “But I am looking for people drinking and driving. They need to be stopped so they don’t kill someone.” Never has a DUI suspect whom LaForte has detained passed the breathalyzer at the jail.
And your child better be in a child restraint, said LaForte, who has daughters 7 and 8 years old. “There’s no excuse for that one.” Ring up a $166 ticket.
He hears parents complain that little Johnny doesn’t like the restraints. They make him cry. “I say, ‘Who’s the parent, you or him?’ They don’t seem to realize what can happen if they’re not restrained.”
Most of LaForte’s traffic stops earn a $139 ticket for going up to 10 miles over the 35 mph speed limit in town. More than 10 miles over the limit earns a $206 ticket. Unbuckled seat belt equals $116.
“It’s a straight run through town. No traffic lights. A lot of people think the speed limit’s 45,” he said. Most drivers are just passing through. “You’d be surprised how many people prefer A1A rather than I-95,” LaForte said.
Although born on Staten Island, N.Y., LaForte grew up west of Lake Worth and graduated from Santaluces High School. He earned an associate degree at then-Palm Beach Junior College and is a few credits short of his degree in criminal justice from Florida Atlantic University.
He worked briefly at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office but enjoys the small-town atmosphere of the community of mostly retirees. The town has an eight-man force with five of them on road patrol like LaForte.
The town is small enough that LaForte knows many residents by name and they know him. Folks on their evening walk stop at his patrol car to chat. “They tell us we’re doing a good job and we appreciate that. It’s nice to have that relationship,” he said.
The police reciprocate.
“We always have a police officer out on the road,” LaForte said. “You’re always going to see the police cars.”
Residents give the police plenty of extra eyes. Beachgoers are protective of turtle eggs laid on the beach and don’t hesitate to call the police. Night strollers too close to condos can expect a patrol car to stop by.
The police even get thanks from unlikely places.
A man whom LaForte had arrested on a DUI charge stopped by the Police Department during his shift. “He thanked me for being professional and thanked me for the arrest. It made him realize he had a problem and was getting help for it,” he said.
“I was shocked. I never would have thought that would happen in a million years,” LaForte said.
It must be those small-town cops.