By Steve Plunkett

Savvy negotiating by town officials will save each Gulf Stream household about $60 on trash pickup this year.

Waste Management, which has collected the town’s garbage since 1993, first demanded $38 a month, up 25 percent, to extend the contract five years. Town Manager Greg Dunham and Staff Attorney Trey Nazzaro talked the company down to $33 a month, about a 6 percent increase.

“I would feel comfortable calling this a successful negotiation,” Dunham told town commissioners March 8.

The waste hauler offered its first price in September and held firm through December, Nazzaro said. It went down to $36 in January, to $34 in February and $33 in March, he said. Households paid $30.31 through September, then $31.13 after an adjustment related to the Consumer Price Index.

The new rate will be adjusted each year based on the Water, Sewer and Trash Index, which is higher than the CPI. Increases will be capped at 4 percent.

Without the extension, Gulf Stream would have needed to request bids from interested haulers with the risk that the winning bidder might have offered a lower price and lower quality of service. Dunham said Waste Management does a “very good” job. “We get very few complaints,” he said.

Under state law, the town will have to go out to bid in 2023. The winning company then will be eligible for extensions up to 30 years.

In other business:

• Comcast said it would finish underground connections to homes by the first week of April. The cable TV-internet provider has crews working two shifts a day to complete the project. Then AT&T will begin its changeover.

• Commissioners passed an ordinance limiting the time between demolishing a home and starting construction of a rebuild to 60 days. Nazzaro originally proposed only 30 days between phases but Vice Mayor Thomas Stanley said that was unrealistic. Ú

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach property owners will not have to pay a separate fire assessment fee in the next financial year.

City commissioners on March 12 unanimously approved stopping the consultant from doing any more work on the fee.

The item appeared on the consent agenda, meaning it was not discussed.

The amount assessed depended on the type of property held.

Single-family home and condo owners were supposed to pay $80.88 in the first year.

Commercial, industrial and warehouse owners were going to be assessed a fee per square foot. Commercial owners would pay the highest fee, at $11.77 per 100 square feet. Vacant-land owners were to pay $59.81 per parcel.

Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, who voted for the fire assessment fee in December, had second thoughts in early February. From informal surveys of residents, Johnson said, “Most were not happy about it.”

She asked then-City Manager Mark Lauzier to check how far along the consultants were in the process of creating the fee.

Lauzier reported at the second February meeting that Stantec Consulting Services of St. Augustine would stop further study of the assessment.

In October, the city had agreed to pay $23,613 to Stantec to develop the preliminary fire assessment, based on the recommendation of Fire Chief Neal de Jesus. The Dec. 11 commission vote gave Stantec the go-ahead to finish the assessment report for $21,380.

Stantec had recommended starting the fee low and then gradually raising it until the assessment covers the full cost of firefighting services. The fee does not cover rescue services. The consultant did not explain how after the fee was assessed that Delray Beach could separate its firefighting from emergency medical services costs.

On March 1, city commissioners fired Lauzier for actions they said violated the city charter. On the same day, they asked de Jesus to serve as interim city manager. 

At the March 12 commission meeting, Jack Warner, former chief financial officer of Delray Beach, said he was in favor of the fire fee assessment, if it can be offset by a similar number in the tax rate.

Commissioner Bill Bathurst, who voted against the fire fee in December, was pleased that work on the fee ended.

“I didn’t vote for it in December,” he said. “I think we can manage our budget through the millage rate [the tax rate per $1,000 property value] and not by adding another tax.” Ú

Ray Charley says his wife, Kate, a former triathlete, trained with him and supports him. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Stephen Moore

Long-distance cycling is a sport enjoyed by all types of athletes, men and women. Some begin at an early age and continue throughout their lives. Others gradually ease into it in their later years after practicing other athletic endeavors.

But few approach the sport as part-time Ocean Ridge resident Ray Charley did two years ago.

Nearing his 66th birthday in 2017, Charley was asked by a friend what he was going to do on his birthday. Charley could think of nothing better to say than “I’m going to bike 66 miles.” And then he said to himself, “How am I going to bike 66 miles?”

“I didn’t think I would be able to do it,” he said. “But when I turned 66 two weeks later, I did it.”

Nothing like diving headfirst into a sport. It was like learning to swim by tackling the English Channel.

But the most amazing aspect of Charley’s baptism into cycling was that it was his first serious attempt at any sport. No organized sports growing up. No JV basketball in high school. No intramurals in college.

“The closest I got to athletics was stocking shelves in a grocery store,” he said. “If the sport required a lot of coordination, it wasn’t for me. I’m really not that athletic. But now I can make the wheels on my bicycle go around.”

On April 1, Charley began Trans-America Cycling’s Ride Across America from San Diego to St. Augustine. He posted on Facebook that he rode his bike through the Pacific Ocean surf to begin the ride. At the end of the day, he posted again, saying, “It was only 33 miles today, but a tough 33 miles with a steep incline. But the sun was shining, it was warm, about 90 degrees.”

Charley was one of 15 riders facing 48 days and 3,050 miles through the hills and deserts of Arizona and Texas and all the small towns along the way.

All the riders are raising money for charities. Charley is riding for professional golf announcer David Feherty’s Troops First Foundation. The foundation helps service men and women who have been injured in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Charley said last month that close to $30,000 was already donated.

Charley’s ties to South Florida date back 40 years when his parents bought a home in Ocean Ridge. When his parents died in 2011, Charley purchased the home.

He owns three Shop ’N Save Supermarket stores in Pennsylvania that his two sons, Mike and Tom, are now running. His daughter, Sarah, is a professor at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.

So how does a 67-year-old novice train for this king-size challenge?

“My wife,” he said. “She is an athlete and thank God she is here. A few years ago my wife stopped running triathlons and I wanted to tag along with her. I could bike. I can’t really run because I have bad knees.”

Kate Charley, 65, was an accomplished triathlete in races all over the country. In 2016, “she won seven or eight triathlons in her age group,” her husband said. Now she rides with him and trains him.

“I’m more like a training partner,” she said. “We ride together almost every day. He is very strong about this, he can stay on the bike for a long, long time. I think a lot of what he is doing is mental.

“He has a good mindset going in. He is not thinking about a race, he is just going to do his pace. Training like this just takes your life away.”

They started training hard in October. In January, they came to South Florida to get acclimated to the warm weather.

“Well, getting in shape is the most important part of it,” Ray Charley said in mid-March, “and riding and riding and riding. My day consists of getting up and saying what is today going to bring — ride or take a break? Since January, I have been averaging 30-40 miles per day. I have logged 1,912 miles since January.

Ray and Kate are both concerned about the mental and physical struggles this ride holds, but there is one aspect of the training that is almost impossible to address in Florida — hills.

“Training down here he doesn’t get the opportunity to do as many hill climbs,” Kate said. “I suggest that we really do lots of bridge work. If not, it is just going to be a long walk up the hill for him.”

“The hills are still a challenge to be met,” Charley said. “I’m concerned about the hills and climbing the hills. But training on bridges is not comparable to mountains we will encounter.

“There are some gargantuan days coming up. But I’m ready. I know you can’t always have the wind at your back and smooth roads going downhill all the time.”

The Singer Island Bridge provided the best opportunity to hill train, but it is only 65 feet high. In nine of the first 11 days of the ride, the riders’ ascent distance is greater than the descent distance. And in five of those days the discrepancy is more than 1,000 feet. On four riding days, the altitudes will be more than 4,000 feet.

“The beginning of the race is going to be tough with all the hills and mountains,” Ray said. “I’m concerned about it.”
If Charley can overcome mental and physical hardships and negotiate all the hills and mountains, he may be in for the experience of a lifetime.

“This ride was of interest because it had a hot shower and a bed every night,” Charley said. “I just don’t see how I could do this with a group that camped. Sounds really cool, but I really wanted to have a shower. Plus, I’m 67. I don’t know how many next times I’ve got left.

“I am pretty confident that I can do this at 67. I don’t know if at 68 I’m a guy who says I’m gonna do it.”

The trip schedule calls for 45 days of riding with three rest days. The daily distances range from the shortest of 22 miles on day 5 to be followed by the longest of 96 miles on day 6. The riders will average 67 miles per day.

Trans-America Cycling will have a van and a camper following the riders that will carry luggage, spare bikes, parts, water and snacks.

“Everyone rides at their own pace,” said Larry Love, an executive with Trans-America Cycling, who planned to drive one of the support vehicles. “We have nightly meetings to go over the next day’s ride. We review the map and detail the support stops along the way. We have support stops every 25 miles or so.”

Love said almost all the participants in these events finish the ride. He said the weather is usually the hardest part.

“If it rains, they ride,” Love said. “We have the hotels all reserved and so there is very little room for error. Hardest part of this ride is probably at the beginning. These will be some challenging days with the hills outside San Diego. But the wind is the biggest factor throughout. The wind can make a long, straight road very easy or very difficult depending on which way it blows.”

Another mental aspect Charley will have to overcome is being away from his family for almost two months.

“I’ve never been away from my family, my wife for more than … a meeting somewhere,” he said.

When he gets back he’ll have some family milestones to catch up with.

“Well, I am turning 68 during the ride,” he said. “And my daughter is having a baby during the trip. That was the hardest thing, I really wanted to be there for that.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife for allowing me to do this, my kids for running my business and my daughter for not shooting me because   I’m missing the birth of her child.” 

How to donate

To donate in Ray Charley’s name to the Troops First Foundation, go to

troopsfirstfoundation.org. Click on donate in the top right corner. In the next screen, click on Support Ray’s Ride. The foundation raises money for service men and women who have been injured in Afghanistan and Iraq.

By Dan Moffett

Manalapan commissioners are more than a little interested in moving the town’s Police Department into the vacant bank building in the northeast corner of Plaza del Mar.

Commissioners are so interested, in fact, that they unanimously approved authorizing Town Manager Linda Stumpf to negotiate a deal to buy the property, which was formerly occupied by BB&T and is now listed for $1.6 million.

The decision to pursue a purchase came after the town received two appraisals of the site. Mayor Keith Waters proposed offering up to 80 percent of the lower appraisal, and the commission agreed during its March 26 meeting.

The appraisal amounts are exempted from Sunshine Law disclosure, Town Attorney Keith Davis said, because state statutes allow municipalities to negotiate real estate deals without public disclosure. Davis said details of negotiations and terms of a deal are not required to be made public until a contract is signed.

Newly seated Commissioner Stewart Satter said one of the appraisals came in significantly higher than the other, and the lower number could offer the prospect of getting “a hefty discount from $1.6 million.”

Late last year, the commission passed a moratorium on business development at the plaza, in part to deal with the bank parcel.

“We don’t want to see a convenience store there,” Waters joked. “The thought of having a Subway drive-thru at the corner is not something that appeals to me.”

The mayor said the property, which covers about two-thirds of an acre, could still end up “being a parking lot forever,” if a sale falls through or if moving the Police Department isn’t feasible.

A service station stood on the site decades ago, and officials are uncertain whether environmental issues such as the removal of buried gas tanks might complicate a deal.

Police Chief Carmen Mattox is optimistic, however. “I got plans for that building,” he told commissioners.

The old bank would give Mattox’s growing department roughly three times the space it now has at Town Hall. Last year, the commission authorized expanding the police force from eight full-time officers to 12, so more space would be useful.

In other business:

• The commission unanimously approved the appointment of Commissioners Simone Bonutti as vice mayor and Jack Doyle as mayor pro tem. Bonutti replaces Peter Isaac, who was required to leave the commission as of the March 12 election because of term limits. Satter, who qualified for the election but was unopposed, fills the vacant at-large seat left by Isaac’s departure.

In February, commissioners appointed Richard Granara to serve out the remaining year on the Point seat of Monica Oberting, who moved out of town.

Waters, Doyle and Commissioner Hank Siemon also were unopposed in the election.

• Commissioners want the town’s Zoning Commission to take a more detailed look at the building code changes needed to allow construction of primary residences on the east side of A1A at the town’s southern entrance.

The proposed changes would apply only to the seven lots that are immediately north of the Boynton Beach Inlet. Palm Beach developer Jeff Greene owns three of the lots and wants to flip the zone’s housing pattern and build residences on the ocean side.

Waters said the zoning board needs to give the commission specifics on setbacks, building heights and architectural requirements before com-missioners can change the code. “We need the technical details,” the mayor said, and predicted the zoning changes would take months to complete. Ú

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge voters elected Steve Coz to another term on the Town Commission during the March 12 municipal election, and they chose Susan Hurlburt over John Lipscomb to fill an open seat with a partial one-year term.

Coz, who was appointed mayor late last year, won 320 votes, or 44 percent of the 721 cast, to claim the full three-year term. Hurlburt finished second with 243 votes, 34 percent, to edge out Lipscomb who had 158, or 22 percent. In all, 28.6 percent of the town’s 1,624 registered voters cast ballots.

During the campaign, Coz pointed to his record of service to the town over the past decade as reason for voters to support him. Before serving the last three years as commissioner, he was a member of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission and its Board of Adjustment.

Three former mayors — Ken Kaleel, Geoff Pugh and James Bonfiglio — endorsed his election.

“There’s one reason that all three of them gave for endorsing me: experience,” Coz said.

During a candidates forum in February, Coz said he believed the most pressing issue for the commission is deciding on a permanent replacement for Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, who resigned last month to take a similar position in Loxahatchee Groves. Town Clerk Tracey Stevens is replacing Titcomb on an interim basis for six months.

“We want to make sure that nothing upsets how the town runs,” Coz said. “It’s a quality of life issue, and the town manager, let’s face it, is the CEO of Ocean Ridge. We want to make sure the CEO keeps the town on track.”

Hurlburt, a political newcomer, brought to the race credentials in art museum administration and historic preservation. She served 12 years on the Beach Property Owners Association in Delray Beach before moving to Ocean Ridge five years ago.

Hurlburt said she ran “the lowest-key campaign ever” and speculated that her record as an advocate and volunteer might have made the difference in defeating Lipscomb.

“I bring in a lot of community interaction and civic services,” Hurlburt said. “I like working in government. I’m not a big fan of politics but I do like government.”

Voters also gave overwhelming approval to four charter amendments. The new provisions call for term limits for commissioners, changes to the town manager’s authority, procedures for selecting mayors and vice mayors, and charter language editing.

At the April 1 meeting, on a 3-2 vote, the commission selected Coz to serve another one-year term as mayor.

Phil Besler and Hurlburt joined Coz in voting for his appointment. Don MaGruder and Kristine de Haseth voted for MaGruder.

The commission gave MaGruder another term as vice mayor on a 4-1 vote, with Hurlburt voting for de HasethÚ

On the day of the vote, dozens of residents who opposed the measures displayed their feelings with the word NO on their shirts.  Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Just weeks after an election in which voters turned out in record numbers to overwhelmingly shoot down three referendum issues and narrowly choose a newcomer over an incumbent, Highland Beach commissioners are now focused on filling yet another vacant seat following Vice Mayor Alysen Africano-Nila’s resignation.

Following contentious campaigning, a record 55 percent of Highland Beach’s 3,712 registered voters showed up at the polls March 12 and voiced their objection to proposals that would have allowed town leaders to spend up to $45 million on improvements in conjunction with the state’s planned reconditioning of State Road A1A.

At the same time, attorney Evalyn David narrowly defeated incumbent Elyse Riesa, winning with a total of 990 votes to Riesa’s 955 votes.

Evalyn David won her commission seat with a 35 vote margin over incumbent Elyse Riesa.

Just two weeks and a day after the election, Africano-Nila submitted her resignation, citing her own health conditions and those of a close family member.

Voters were asked to give commissioners permission to issue up to $16.55 million in bonds for a stormwater improvement project, up to $11.25 million for improvements to the Ocean Walk multiuse corridor and surrounding areas and up to $17.2 million to place utility wires underground. 

Only about 6 percent of those casting ballots voted yes for funding the stormwater project and yes for underground utilities, while only 5 percent voted yes for the multi-use corridor improvements.   

“This was a very big vote,” said John Ross, one of the founders of the Committee to Save Highland Beach, which led the opposition to the referendum items. “It was an overwhelming rejection of half-baked plans.”

Nila, who was appointed by the commission to serve as a liaison with the state and who worked closely with the consultant developing conceptual plans for three projects on the ballot, said her decision to step down was not linked to the outcome of the vote.

“Due to the timing, I am sure most of you will think this resignation is for another purpose,” she said in her March 25 resignation letter. “That is not true, that couldn’t be further from the truth or the facts.”

Nila, who had been absent from a commission meeting, a special commission meeting and the last commission workshop, did not specify what health issues she and her family member are facing but said they demanded her full attention.

“This resignation is solely due to my declining personal health and illness, which is real, and now my family’s medical crisis and health issues, which unfortunately are also very real,” she wrote.

The vacancy leaves the five-member commission with only one commissioner — Peggy Gossett-Seidman — who has been in her same seat for more than three months.

In January, Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker was appointed mayor, filling the spot left open by the December death of Mayor Carl Feldman. At the same time, the commission appointed a former commission candidate, Barry Donaldson, to fill Zelniker’s spot. David attended her first meeting as an elected official last month.

Town Manager Marshall Labadie told commissioners they had 30 days to fill the vice mayor vacancy, according to the town charter, and that would make it difficult to hold a special election.

Instead, he recommended filling the open slot through a short application process that would include background checks, work history and affiliations, followed by public interviews and a selection.

Labadie discussed a timeline that would require applications by April 9.

Commissioners agreed to allow public comment  about each candidate during interviews before final selections.

During a workshop meeting late last month, commissioners also discussed moving forward with any work that could be done regarding issues such as drainage and walking path improvements that were put in front of voters in the referendum.

“We have to move forward with transparency and truth,” said Gossett-Seidman, who did not feel that was the case with the way the referendum issue was handled.

Other commissioners joined Gossett-Seidman in calling for possibly a citizens committee or an open forum to discuss the issues.

“Let’s work this out together,” she said. “I want everyone together to decide what we want to do with the street.” 

By Steve Plunkett

A waterway cleanup company that started out by selling recycled glass and plastic bracelets on the internet has extended its canal-cleaning gig in Boca Raton by up to three years.

4Ocean LLC, founded by Florida Atlantic University graduates Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze, will be paid an estimated $180,000 a year to collect and dispose of debris from the city’s canals. The contract calls for three eight-hour days each week plus two unscheduled days each month.

4Ocean began picking up trash in the Intracoastal Waterway at no cost to Boca Raton in 2017. It funded its operations through sales of a $20 bracelet for which it promises to collect 1 pound of plastic from oceans and coastlines.

To date, it has rounded up more than 4.1 million pounds of debris, its website says. An estimated 16 billion pounds of plastic gets tossed into oceans each year, the company says.

Boca Raton waived its normal bidding procedures and awarded 4Ocean a nine-month contract in March 2018 to clean the canals. This time, 4Ocean won the contract as lowest bidder, beating Breen Acres Aquatics Inc. ($410,400), SWS Environmental Services ($844,740) and Commercial Diver Services Corp. ($900,000).

The original contract came after City Council members decided it was cheaper to outsource the cleaning than it would have been to buy a new skimmer boat and hire two full-time employees to staff it.

There are approximately 27 miles of canals within Boca Raton, city officials say.

4Ocean, headquartered in Boca Raton, prefers to call itself a “global movement” instead of a for-profit company, “removing one pound of trash at a time.”

It gives the city weekly updates on vegetation and debris quantities removed and monthly summaries with photos and videos of the material it collects. It also identifies hot spots such as the El Rio Canal and other areas of concern.

In addition to canal patrols, 4Ocean helps sponsor beach cleanups once or twice a month between Miami and Jupiter. Ú

By Mary Hladky

After a six-month hiatus, BocaWatch is back.

Al Zucaro, the blog’s creator who is returning to his role as publisher, resumed online publication in March.

But many of his contributors, with the exception of managing editor Jason Pelish, have jumped ship to create their own BocaFirst blog.

All insist no disagreements or animosities triggered the breakup.

Zucaro, who placed BocaWatch on “sabbatical” immediately after he was soundly defeated by Scott Singer in the August mayoral contest, said he was aware that some of his contributors “were not happy” when he shut down the site.

After conceding defeat on election night, Zucaro said that he would look for someone to take over the blog.

He approached his contributors and others, but “neither of those two things worked out,” he said in a March 7 interview. Over time, he decided the absence of BocaWatch “left a black hole in the marketplace. I decided it was not fair” to his many readers.

“I have no problem with them doing what they want to do,” he said of his former colleagues. “I wish them the best.”

Several said they moved ahead with BocaFirst after Zucaro did not restart BocaWatch.

“We were thinking BocaWatch was going to relaunch. When it didn’t, we decided to form BocaFirst,” said Jim Wood, one of BocaFirst’s founders. “We felt as if there are a number of topics Boca residents want to hear about. With BocaWatch, it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen.”

“He just shut it down,” Jack McWalter said of Zucaro. “We as a group, about 10 of us, were in limbo for about six months. We wanted to be a voice of the city.

“We are not competitors,” he added. “We are just trying to inform the public as to what is going on.”

John Gore, president of the BocaBeautiful blog who knows many members of the old BocaWatch team, said he didn’t think there was disagreement with Zucaro on the issues.

“Because Al ran for office twice and lost, there was some political baggage there and they wanted a voice that was independent of Al,” he said.

Zucaro also was defeated in a 2017 run for mayor.

Gore views the start of BocaFirst and relaunch of BocaWatch as good news.

“We think it is terrific there are now two instead of one watchdog publications,” he said.

Zucaro is a polarizing figure in Boca Raton. BocaWatch offered sharp critiques of Boca Raton City Council members and city administrators over their failure to rein in what the blog and its supporters considered to be downtown overdevelopment.

The blog blasted large downtown projects such as Mark at CityScape, Palmetto Promenade and the now-named Alina Residences, and championed efforts to turn the Wildflower site into a park instead of a restaurant.

Zucaro supported “resident friendly” City Council candidates Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte, who won office in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

He played an apparently important role in the downfall of Susan Haynie, who was suspended as mayor last year by then-Gov. Rick Scott after she was arrested on public corruption charges.

Zucaro filed complaints with the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics and the Florida Commission on Ethics about Haynie’s financial relationship with Jim Batmasian, the city’s largest downtown commercial property owner, and spoke with and provided documents to state prosecutors.

Zucaro appeared to be softening his tone in the first issue of the revived BocaWatch. He praised recent council actions on transportation for downtown special events, voting against a four-story duplex on the beach and moving ahead to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

But back in old form, he criticized city leaders for not allowing any residential development in Midtown and failing to negotiate a settlement with landowner Crocker Partners, which has sued the city over the issue. That stance of siding with a developer is at odds with Zucaro’s previous complaints about developer proposals for large buildings in the downtown.

For its part, BocaFirst praised BocaWatch and Zucaro in its first edition “for blazing the trail, setting a standard and providing inspiration” and giving residents a voice in city affairs.

In interviews, its members said their blog would aim to be informative and not adversarial. But they vowed not to shy away from issues such as quality of life, traffic and infrastructure.

BocaFirst “might not be as hard-hitting as BocaWatch was,” said Katie Barr, who will conduct interviews on city issues just as she did for BocaWatch. “We don’t aim to be controversial, just informative.”

Zucaro “will have his voice which is an important voice in the community, and ours, which will be a little more gentle,” she said.

“We have a different tone,” McWalter said. “Our goal is to be a positive force in the city to help the city residents understand some of the issues that affect their daily lives. We have no partisanship. We don’t support people running for office. We will not endorse anybody. We are going to remove any possible negativity.”

Both BocaWatch (at www.bocawatch.org) and BocaFirst (www.bocafirst.org) are seeking contributing writers. Ú

By Mary Hladky

Boca Raton will not join the parade of cities that are banning plastic straws.

Despite pleas for a ban from environmentalists and a group of city schoolchildren, Boca Raton City Council members decided March 25 to instead improve public awareness about how plastic straws harm the environment and marine life and to encourage residents and businesses to voluntarily stop using them.

“We can be a leader and do something different and get voluntary compliance,” said Mayor Scott Singer.

South Florida cities that have enacted plastic straw bans or are phasing them in include Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Miami Beach and Coral Gables. Large corporations, such as Starbucks, Hyatt, Hilton and American Airlines, also are discontinuing plastic straws.

City Council member Monica Mayotte urged her colleagues to join the effort.

She proposed a phased-in approach, starting with restaurants providing plastic straws only on request. After their straw inventory is depleted, they would have to switch to straws that are not made of plastic. Exceptions would be made so straws could be provided to people with disabilities, while stores could still sell plastic straws.

“Plastic straws are just the beginning. I call it the low-hanging fruit,” Mayotte said.

She would like eventual bans on plastic water bottles, grocery bags and utensils.

Her proposal garnered strong support from environmentalists, who outlined the harm caused by the estimated 500 million plastic straws used each day in the United States.

Many end up in the ocean, where they do not biodegrade. Instead, they break up into small pieces that are ingested by marine life, often causing death.

Plastic straws are only one part of the problem. A recent report from the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said that by 2050 the oceans will contain more plastic trash of all types than fish, by weight, if nothing is done.

Speaking about plastic straws, Drew Martin of the Sierra Club said, “We are using a temporary item that could last 1,000 years in the environment. They don’t biodegrade.”

While all council members acknowledged the problems caused by plastics, they were swayed by a video of testimony by a member of Disability Rights Florida, who said many disabled people need straws to drink, and nonplastic alternatives are inferior. Governments enacting bans could be sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, she said.

Christopher Cartenuto, with Tucker Duke’s Lunchbox in Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach, said he does not provide straws unless asked and that “has reduced our consumption about tenfold.”

But he argued against a ban.

“More rules are just not a great way to go,” he said. “Let the market decide. Let us as business owners make the decision.”

Another factor is that a bill has been introduced in Tallahassee that would require local governments to wait five years before enacting or enforcing a plastic straw ban to give the Florida Department of Environmental Protection time to study the issue.

This is part of the Florida Legislature’s multiyear effort to diminish home rule, a provision in the Florida Constitution that gives local governments the authority to deal with local issues.

Singer said a ban would be bad for businesses, in part because nonplastic alternatives cost more. And because a ban might be effectively outlawed, Singer said, he wanted to do something else “that is bulletproof.”

He proposed a series of measures that would encourage city residents and businesses to voluntarily use fewer plastic products.

They include providing and eventually selling city-branded reusable water bottles, grocery bags and straws, reducing the city’s use of plastic products and stopping the use of Styrofoam cups and plates, and encouraging business owners to use alternatives to plastic.

He would expand Boca’s Coastal Connection program, which recognizes restaurants that are environmentally friendly with a starfish rating that they can advertise and promote.

Restaurants earn one starfish if they provide straws by request only, reusable tableware and non-plastic takeaway containers. Two starfish are awarded for also providing environmental education for staff and customers, starting a recycling program, and conserving water and energy. A three-starfish rating goes to those who also reduce light pollution and serve sustainable seafood.

Mayotte said she would wait to see whether legislators act against a plastic straw ban. But she indicated she would prefer a ban. “Let’s lead by example and get rid of plastics in the city,” she said. “We have work to do here.” Ú

By Mary Hladky

Boca Raton residents offered their ideas on ways to improve environmental safeguards and sustainability at a March 27 session that sought their input.

Their views will be incorporated into a city sustainability action plan, the first major initiative of the new Office of Sustainability launched in May with the hiring of Lindsey Nieratka as manager.

The plan will be updated every five years and will focus on resource use, waste, the environment, building structures and transportation.

“The sustainability action plan will be our road map going forward,” Nieratka told the 20 residents who attended the session.

Among the goals are reducing water and electricity usage, using renewable sources of energy, decreasing waste and increasing recycling rates, reducing water pollution, improving habitat for wildlife, constructing new buildings in the city that have less environmental impact, adding trees and green space, increasing the number of green buildings and improving the city’s ability to withstand flooding and sea level rise.

Residents offered a range of ideas, including some measures the city already has implemented.

Among them were adding solar panels to rooftops, glazing windows, holding programs to teach people how to recycle correctly, reducing or eliminating pesticide use, subsidizing fares for people using ride-sharing services, revamping bus stops to make them more comfortable, harvesting rainwater and increasing the size and funding of the sustainability office.

The sustainability action plan will complement a climate change vulnerability assessment being developed by the Coastal Resilience Partnership, which consists of Boca Raton and nine other coastal cities and towns. It will assess the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change and sea level rise.

Nieratka will hold additional public input sessions before the plan is finalized.

By Steve Plunkett

Hot on the heels of its January recommendation not to grant permission to build a duplex on the beach, the city’s Environmental Advisory Board this month will consider an application to build an equally controversial mini-mansion two lots south.

The City Council caused a public outcry in late 2015 when it approved a zoning variance for the proposed four-story home at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice to proceed, certifying that the project would not “weaken, damage or destroy the integrity of the beach and dune system.”

The EAB review is the last step before a final council vote. The environmental board will meet at 5:30 p.m. April 10 in the council chambers at City Hall. Plans call for a single-family structure with 10,432 square feet of habitable space.

The EAB recommended Jan. 10 that a variance to build a four-story duplex east of the Coastal Construction Control Line at 2600 N. Ocean be denied.

“Environmentally the Coastal Control Line is there for a reason, and it was put there for a good reason,” advisory board Chairman Stephen Alley said then.

Robert Sweetapple, the attorney for the applicant at 2600, asked the Palm Beach County Circuit Court on March 28 to grant a “writ of certiorari” and review the EAB and City Council’s decision and proceedings and determine whether any irregularities occurred.

Seeking such a writ is a prelude to filing a Bert Harris Act lawsuit for damages resulting from a government taking of private property. Sweetapple said a recent appraisal indirectly requested by Boca Raton valued 2600 N. Ocean at $7.2 million when developed. 

Separately, Sweetapple asked a judge March 15 to order Boca Raton to turn over social media postings, cellphone texts and emails from and to City Council members and EAB members he said the city has unlawfully withheld. Ú

By Steve Plunkett

Four artists who decorated walls at Red Reef Park last fall have won return engagements to create more murals on the entrances to Spanish River Park’s tunnels under State Road A1A.

They will be joined by two artists, both from Boca Raton, who were unneeded alternates for the Red Reef project — Agata Ren and Gregory Dirr.

The tunnels are the second mural project for the city’s Art in Public Places Advisory Board, which chose the artists March 8 and approved their final renderings March 20. There were 20 applicants, and City Council member Andrea O’Rourke, a stalwart supporter of public art, said “they were all wonderful.”

Joining Dirr and Ren from the first go-round will be Ivan Roque of Miami, Craig McInnis of West Palm Beach, Tom D’Auria of Lake Worth and Peter Agardy of Boca Raton. The approved artwork, which will be on display at Spanish River Park for an April 6 event called Springfest, ranges from realistic to abstract and features South Florida flora and fauna and even a trident-wielding god of the sea.

The Red Reef project drew 47 applications, more than double this time, but advisory board chairman Irvin Lippman was not worried about the falloff in interest.

“It’s a far more complex project. The three tunnels are not so accessible … and they’re quite far apart,” said Lippman, who is also executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

D’Auria and Dirr will tackle the central of the three tunnels during the weeks of April 8 and 15. Then McInnis and Roque will work on the north tunnel the weeks of April 22 and 29, followed by Agardy and Ren on the south tunnel the weeks of May 6 and 13.

Work on the murals is allowed only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; no work can be done on the weekends. A “mural reveal” event will take place May 18.

Lippman said the fact that the Red Reef artists applied again to do the Spanish River project was “very positive.”

“They took a maintenance wall and turned it into a point of interest and conversation,” he said of the Red Reef work. 

Company discards plan to build two mixed-use projects in downtown plaza

By Mary Hladky

Investments Limited has withdrawn plans for redeveloping two portions of Royal Palm Place and instead wants to build an extended-stay hotel and restaurant on the middle portion of the 14-acre site.

A proposal submitted to the city in December calls for an eight-story hotel with a maximum of 144 rooms that would sit atop a seven-story parking garage, with three below-ground levels for valet parking.

The 390-space parking garage is intended to address the parking shortage for patrons of the iconic shopping and dining destination.

“Overall, the proposed … development will reduce the current parking deficiencies by providing up to 171 surplus parking spaces,” the proposal states.

Armen Batmasian, Investments Limited’s director of acquisitions and development, declined to elaborate on the project until plans are more advanced.

“Hopefully, [the hotel] will fulfill a need we have for families,” he said.

The hotel would sit on Federal Highway about midway between the 200-room Hyatt Place and the 164-room Mandarin Oriental now rising from the ground.

The hotel, restaurant and garage would be located where the Black Rose Irish Pub and 4th Generation Organic Market & Cafe now sit.

The project would include an expanded “Garden of Humanity” at the center of Royal Palm Place and pedestrian walkways, green spaces and shade trees, along with public space for special events. The Addison Mizner statue would remain.

Those elements were included in plans submitted to the city in 2017, when the largest commercial property owner in the downtown called for two new buildings.

One would have been located on Federal Highway between Southeast Second and Third streets, about where the hotel is now slated to go, and included 69 upscale rental units, just over 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurants and parking for 301 cars.

The second building on the northeast section of the property, at the intersection of Southeast Mizner Boulevard and Southeast First Street, would have included 220 high-end rentals, about 4,500 square feet of retail and restaurants and parking for 500 cars.

While the new proposal does not say why those plans have been withdrawn, it suggests Investments Limited still plans a major redevelopment of the entire site at some point.

“Over time, Royal Palm Place will evolve into a world-class identity, patterned after a European Renaissance village,” the proposal states. “The most important redevelopment goal of Royal Palm Place will be to enhance the globally recognized Boca Raton brand.”

Investments Limited wants to eventually transform Royal Palm Place, built in 1966, from the appearance of a suburban-style shopping center to an urban mixed-use “live, work, play” development. 

By Mary Hladky

A third lawsuit filed by developer and landowner Crocker Partners claims the city made misleading statements in public documents and violated the state’s Sunshine Law to prevent residential development in Midtown.

Emails and documents Crocker Partners obtained during the discovery process for two previous lawsuits it filed against the city show that city officials, including two or more unidentified Boca Raton City Council members, acted in secret to thwart its plans for Midtown, the lawsuit states.

“It really is a paper trail that shows this concerted effort to deceive and delay, and it appears to be led by the city attorney and one or more of the council,” said Crocker Partners managing partner Angelo Bianco, referring to City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser.

City officials declined to comment on the allegations made in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

“The city has not been served with this lawsuit,” city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said in a March 29 email. “If and when the city is served with the lawsuit, we will review it and prepare an appropriate and timely response.”

Midtown landowners, including Crocker Partners and Cypress Realty of Florida, joined forces about four years ago in an ambitious plan to redevelop 300 acres west of Interstate 95 and east of the Town Center mall where no residential development is now permitted.

They envisioned a “live, work, play” project where people would live in as many as 2,500 residential units and walk or take shuttles to their jobs, shopping and restaurants.

For that to happen, the city would have to approve land development regulations allowing residential development in the area.

But on Jan. 23, 2018, City Council members indefinitely postponed a vote on proposed regulations that would have allowed residential development if certain conditions were met.

Instead, the council voted to have city staff develop a “small area plan” for Midtown, an idea proposed by council member Andrea O’Rourke. That work would delay finalizing and enacting the regulations by about a year.

Frustrated by the delay, Crocker Partners and Cypress Realty filed lawsuits.

Crocker Partners’ third lawsuit, filed on March 27, states that the city misrepresented in a memorandum to the City Council what transpired at a May “public visioning session,” where residents offered their thoughts on how Midtown should be redeveloped.

The memorandum, first drafted by Development Services Director Brandon Schaad and a consultant, was changed by Deputy City Manager George Brown to make it appear as if many residents opposed any residential development, the lawsuit states.

Crocker Partners contends that residents attending the session generally favored low-density or mid-level-density development.

The Coastal Star attended the session, where residents were divided into groups that came up with recommendations.

Of those groups that directly addressed residential development, only one opposed it and another implied opposition. The rest called for low-density development. Two suggested no more than 600 units be allowed, and one proposed no more than 1,250.

The lawsuit also outlines how the city abruptly halted the creation of the small area plan in November.

It includes verbatim comments from Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers and Mayor Scott Singer at an Oct. 9 meeting that indicated work on the small area plan was proceeding. A second public session was still being planned and an email from Schaad said the session would be held on Dec. 4.

But on Nov. 14, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution that states that the small area plan exercise “was concluded” by City Council consensus on Oct. 9 and that the council directed city staff to proceed with drafting land development regulations.

The lawsuit cites an email sent the next day by Schaad to the consultant handling the public sessions that stated he did not need to do any more work.

On Dec. 4, instead of holding a public session similar to the one in May, Schaad met with city residents to outline the city’s plans for Midtown, which included gradual improvements to streets, street lighting, landscaping and the like, but did not include any residential development.

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Jan. 8 that includes the city’s plans for Midtown that Schaad presented to residents the month before. City officials have said they enacted land development regulations for Midtown by adopting the ordinance.

Crocker Partners alleges, without offering proof, that on three occasions two or more City Council members secretly communicated with each other through a city official, who is not named.

The meetings resulted in Brown’s being instructed to edit the memorandum to the council, the termination of the small area planning exercise, and an agreement to adopt the Midtown ordinance, the lawsuit states.

Such meetings, if held, would violate the Sunshine Law that requires City Council decisions be made during public meetings.

“The council was obligated to comply with the Sunshine Law but, instead, circumvented its public meeting requirements,” the lawsuit states. “These meetings were not noticed or open to the public. … Such secret meetings deprived the public of any contemporaneous knowledge of what was going on and appeared to be designed to prevent discussion of any kind as to the merits of the council’s actions.”

Asked why Crocker Partners provided no proof, Bianco said, “From the evidence we have been able to put together, the change in council members’ public statements from one meeting to the next can’t be explained in any other way. … We have email correspondence that things were happening behind the scenes.”

Corroborating evidence could be added to the court file as the case proceeds.

The lawsuit asks a judge to invalidate the Midtown ordinance and city resolution. It also asks for an order that the city hold new meetings where decisions on Midtown redevelopment would be made in public.

Crocker Partners, which owns 67 acres, sued the city in October, seeking $137.6 million in damages on grounds that the delay created an impermissible building moratorium that took away its property rights.

The company filed a separate legal action in May, asking a judge to compel the city to write the regulations. The city asked the court to dismiss the case in February, saying it is moot because the city has now adopted land development regulations for Midtown.

Cypress Realty, which owns 10.2 acres, sued in October, asking that the city be required to process its August development application. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen dismissed the lawsuit on Jan. 15, and Cypress Realty immediately appealed to the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. Ú

By Rich Pollack

Five-minute public comment is back in Highland Beach.

Since the summer, residents coming to the podium to express concerns and opinions at the beginning of Highland Beach Town Commission meetings and then again toward the end of the meeting have been limited to speaking in three-minute segments.

That’s because commissioners in July rolled back public comment in response to some residents launching long tirades, which led in part to commission meetings and workshops lasting as long as five hours.

At a meeting earlier this month, commissioners voted unanimously to return to allowing people to speak for five minutes each at the beginning and the end of the meeting.

Several residents said they were glad to see the commission allow residents to speak for five minutes.

“Having more time allows some speakers to get their point across more effectively,” said resident John Boden, who spoke out when commissioners first cut back on the time allowed for public comment. 

Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman, who supported cutting public comment to three minutes during the summer, brought up the idea of reversing the previous decision after hearing from residents.

“It was in response to the public feeling they didn’t have a voice,” she said. “People emailed me and called me and said they felt their voices were being squelched.”

In returning to the five-minute period, Highland Beach is one of the few South Palm Beach County communities to allow the public to speak that long; and the only one to give speakers up to a total of 10 minutes – five in the beginning and five at the end. 

At this month’s meeting, where residents were given the opportunity to speak for the five minutes, only a few used their full allotment. 

“Even with the return to the five minutes there was a significant increase in civility and polite comment,” Boden said.  

By Steve Plunkett

An online blog report of a proposal to build a Ritz-Carlton hotel on the Ocean Strand park property caused ripples of concern among neighbors of the undeveloped barrier-island parcel.

Joe Pedalino, a vocal activist against a 2009 idea to build a members-only beach club at Ocean Strand, returned to the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s meeting room March 18 seeking assurances that the land would not be sold.

“Would you ever entertain selling the property to a private developer knowing that he’s going to develop it?” asked Pedalino, who lives in the Boca Towers high-rise just south of the nearly 15-acre property.

Andrea Stekloff, another Boca Towers resident, was amazed by the scope of the proposal, which would have twin 11-story towers.

“How are they going to be getting away with this when we can’t even add two docks to our condominium? Something is wrong here and needs to be protected,” she said.

Steve Engel was the only beach and park commissioner to take a firm position against selling the parkland.

“This is an OMDB issue as far as I’m concerned — over my dead body,” Engel said.

District Chairwoman Susan Vogelgesang and Commissioners Robert Rollins and Craig Ehrnst wanted more input from constituents.

“I don’t want to say yes, I don’t want to say no,” Ehrnst said, noting that the district has multimillion-dollar obligations to build a golf course. “I think we have to look at all of our options.”

When asked for a copy, Vogelgesang emphasized that the proposition from Boca Raton-based Compson Associates was informal and delivered via discussion. “There is no proposal; I have no proposal,” she said.

No one brought up the Ritz idea at the Boca Raton City Council’s workshop March 25, including Boca Save Our Beaches founder Jessica Gray, who was there to support a city ban on plastic straws. No one brought up Ocean Strand at the council’s regular meeting the next evening, either.

Afterward, council member Andy Thomson said about 50 Boca Towers residents had emailed him. “It doesn’t seem like the Beach and Park District is interested in selling, so it appears to be a moot point from the city’s perspective,” Thomson said.

The hotel that Compson pitched to city and district officials would also have underground parking, a tunnel under State Road A1A and a marina on the Intracoastal Waterway. The marina would be open to the public.

City code bans development for private uses on property owned by the city or the Beach and Park District on the barrier island. But no rules prevent the district or Boca Raton from selling public land.

The district bought the ocean-to-Intracoastal parcel in 1994 for $11.9 million to save it from becoming a residential development similar to the Boca Raton Yacht and Racquet Club farther north.

In other business, beach and park commissioners will meet with the City Council for a workshop April 22 and a joint session May 13 to discuss building and paying for the planned Boca National Golf Course.

Commissioners approved the design of the new course and detailed estimates of its $27.6 million construction cost Feb. 25, having been told that city staff would need only two weeks to review the material and schedule a joint meeting. But council members decided they wanted a workshop first to absorb the numbers, with a second meeting to take action.

The district hopes to open the course in September 2020. 

Darius J. Manuel (right) reacts as he is awarded top prize in the National Society of Arts and Letters' regional drama contest at the Crest Theatre. He earned a spot in the national competition. With him are Joshua Hernandez, who placed third, and Aletta Kemp. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

One at a time they will step from behind the curtain and stand center stage at the Crest Theatre in Old School Square.

“Good morning,” they will say, “I’m No. 1.” Then “I’m No. 2. … I’m
No. 3. ...”

They have names, but the trio of judges in the front row won’t know them.

They are from Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, but the judges won’t know where they live.

All the judges will know for sure on this Saturday morning, March 9, is that each of them has a dream.

They are 12 aspiring actors — seven young men, five young women — dressed in black slacks, black skirts, black blouses, black shirts.

They have no costumes, no sets, no music, and when they are done, they will have no applause.

All they have is a chair, two brief monologues and eight short minutes with which to attempt to win one of the top three spots in the Florida East Coast Chapter awards for the National Society of Arts and Letters 2019 Drama Competition.

The first-place winner will receive $2,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the national competition May 30-June 2 and a chance to win $12,000.

The second-place winner will go home with $1,000, and the third-place winner with $750.

The other nine will go home with no prizes.

“But it’s wonderful whether they win or lose, because they make connections that can last a lifetime,” says Judi Asselta, president of the Florida East Coast Chapter, one of 17 chapters nationally.

Founded in 1944, the NSAL sponsors competitions and scholarships in the visual arts, dance, literature, music, musical theater and drama.

The local chapter was founded in 1984, and Asselta has been involved since 2007.

“There’s no elimination for this contest,” she explains. “The hopefuls have only to apply. We had 14 originally, but two had to drop out because they got work.”
And so they begin.

“No. 1,” a disembodied voice announces, and Nikembe Patterson, 24, of Coral Springs appears.

For four minutes, he will be Tartuffe, from Molière’s play of the same name, then Alfred Doolittle from My Fair Lady for four more.

But Tartuffe has scarcely begun to speak before Judge Jeffrey Bruce, a professional actor with a résumé longer than eight minutes, interrupts.

The acoustics are not great here, he tells Patterson gently, and many in his audience may be elderly.

In other words, speak up.

This is the only time any of the judges interrupts. In addition to Bruce, they are Barbara Bradshaw, a professional actress for more than 42 years, and Sue Ellen Beryl, managing director of Palm Beach Dramaworks.

“No. 2 …”

Charles Alguera, 20, of Lake Worth, is Troilus from Troilus and Cressida, then instantly transforms himself into Vince from Buried Child.

They are called. They appear. They perform a short speech from one classic play and one modern play, and they disappear.

No one stumbles or forgets a line. Rebecca Seide, 25, of Boynton Beach is a commanding presence, with a wild storm of thick black hair she whips about with passion during her performance as Shaw’s Saint Joan. She is also the only performer to use the chair, which she kicks.

By the time No. 12 is called and Darius J. Manuel, 25, of Fort Lauderdale has taken his turn in Titus Andronicus and Fences, the empty stage has been inhabited by William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams, George Bernard Shaw and Aristophanes, Christopher Durang and August Wilson.

Asselta thanks them all, and the judges disappear to choose the winners.

Another half-hour passes and they are all called on stage again, where they finally hear applause.

Third place goes to Joshua Hernandez, 23, of Miami for his excerpts from Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona and Water by the Spoonful, by Quiara Alegría Hudes.

“I chose that selection because she’s a Puerto Rican playwright and I’m Puerto Rican,” he said later.

A graduate of Florida State University, he has appeared at GableStage in Coral Gables.

“My parents supported me, but they told me to have a backup plan,” he said. “I think they saw how serious I am.”

Second-place winner is Jarod Neil, 20, a freshman at Lynn University, for his speeches from Romeo and Juliet and Laughing Wild, by Durang.

And first place, $2,000 and a trip to Washington, goes to Manuel, for Titus Andronicus and Fences.

“I didn’t think I did well,” he said later. “I didn’t think Fences was going well. The words were all jumbling together in my brain.”

Now all the actors sit along the edge of the stage to hear the judges’ praise and criticism.

Bruce singles out Seide, she of the stormy black hair and kicked chair.

“You were using your hair as a second character, so we couldn’t see your face,” he tells her. “If you start high, you have nowhere to go. If you’re yelling, you start speaking faster and we can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Bradshaw echoes Bruce more generally. A lot of these young thespians have used their hands incessantly, as if they were conducting the words as they spoke.

“When you gesture,” Bradshaw advises, “make sure it has a meaning behind it.”

And Beryl seems to wonder whether some of them knew the context in which they were speaking.

“Read the entire play, so you know what you’re talking about,” she says. “Still is more powerful than hysteria. Underplaying is listening. Slow it down and enunciate.”

And so, they go upstairs for a lunch provided by the NSAL.

Seide was neither disappointed nor hurt by either her loss or the criticism.

“This was my first experience,” she said. “I have no theater experience. I’m a visual artist, but I messed up my hand — carpal tunnel — so I needed an artistic outlet and decided to apply.

“I guess they didn’t like my hair and my … overall-ness,” she concluded. “I guess stillness was preferred to hysterics.” 

Darius J. Manuel, drama competition winner, takes center stage between (l-r) event co-chairwoman Joy Banton, third-place winner Joshua Hernandez, co-chair Judi Asselta, judge Sue Ellen Beryl, second-place winner Jarod Neil of Lynn University and judge Barbara Bradshaw. Certificates and totes were among the thespians’ souvenirs. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Impact 100 Palm Beach County board members (seated, l-r) Renee Feder, Cindy Krebsbach, Kirsten Stanley, Kathy Adkins, Lisa Mulhall, Marilyn Swillinger, (standing) Allison Davis, Peggy Jones, Mary Donnell, Laura Bull, Sue Diener, Sarah Crane, Suzy Lanigan, Holly Schuttler, Ellen Elam, Kim Beaumont, Karen Sweetapple, Lauren LeBas, JoAnne Greiser, Kathryn Gillespie, Susan Brockway, Karen Rogers, Helen Ballerano, Nancy Dockerty and Kelly Fleming. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

The finalists for Impact 100’s gifts are Autism After 21, Center for Child Counseling, Digital Vibez, Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County, HOW Foundation of South Florida, Palm Beach Dramaworks, StreetWaves, The Institute for Regional Conservation and WiseTribe.

The 10 nonprofits — all vetted and visited by Impact 100 Palm Beach County’s grants committee — will vie for five $100,000 checks to fund innovative programs that change lives.

“We look at not only the financials of the programs but the financials of the organizations as well,” said Kirsten Stanley, president of the women's charity group whose members donate $1,000 apiece.

“Beyond that, with the nonprofits, we look to see whether they are established and sustainable.”

The winners will be announced April 17 during the eighth annual Grand Awards Celebration at Lynn University in Boca Raton.

Some of the 500-plus women who have pooled their resources will vote for the 2018-19 winners after hearing a five-minute presentation from each finalist.

“The ideas you will hear on April 17 are truly inspiring,” Stanley said. “To me, it’s been surprising just to recognize how many organizations have something very significant to offer.”

When Impact 100 Palm Beach County requested letters of inquiry for the new funding cycle last year, 59 were submitted in the focus areas of arts and culture, education, environment, family, and health and welfare. The list then was cut to 25 semifinalists.

“We want to make sure we give every nonprofit the opportunity,” Stanley said. “That said, we are stewards of $100,000 in each case. We want to make sure we give it to an organization that truly has the capability of managing that.”

The finalists were announced April 1.

“For us, the very nature of it is its high impact,” Stanley said of the program.

“High-impact grants foster effective changes that are long-term, positive and measurable, support programs that change the way an organization or a community operates and have the potential to be sustained into the future.” 

If You Go

What: Eighth annual Grand Awards Celebration

When: 5:30 to 8 p.m.

April 17

Where: Lynn University, 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton

Cost: Free for members

Info: 336-4623 or impact100pbc.com.

Brian David Klein and Alexandria Rae Feinstein were married March 23 by Rabbi David Steinhardt at the Eau Palm Beach Resort and Spa in Manalapan.

Brian, 33, is a director at Rialto Capital Advisors in Miami. He graduated from the University of Michigan and subsequently received a JD/MBA from the University of Miami.

He is the son of Ron and Dori Klein of Boca Raton. Ron Klein is a partner at Holland & Knight LLP and a former U.S. congressman.

Alexandria, 30, is an attorney in Plantation for Feinstein & Sorota, P.A. She graduated from Indiana University and subsequently received an M.A. from the University of London-Queen Mary and a JD from Nova Southeastern University.

She is the daughter of Mark and Sherri Feinstein of Ocean Ridge. Mark Feinstein is a founding partner at Feinstein & Sorota, P.A., in Broward County.

A $150,000 gift to the SouthTech Academy in Boynton Beach from the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Family Fund of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties will benefit three school programs — the culinary arts, the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Family STEM Lab and the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival. “We believe in supporting effective programs and organizations that change young lives for the better,” Harvey Kimmel said.

Entrepreneur grant for FAU

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded Florida Atlantic University’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship a two-year, $110,000 grant to expand its Entrepreneur Boot Camp, Business Plan Competition and other activities that will contribute to Palm Beach County’s economic development.

Youth tennis group grant

In March, the United States Tennis Association Foundation awarded a $37,500 grant to the Delray Beach Youth Tennis Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2015 that aims to improve the lives of underserved students living in the city.

The program started with 24 children, 150 have gone through it, and 200 are enrolled this year.

Jewish Federation turns 40

The hub of the Jewish community for Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach is celebrating 40 years since its incorporation in November 1979.

The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County has engaged partners and supporters in addressing and planning for the current and future needs of those it serves.

“Celebrating 40 years is not simply an anniversary but rather a commemoration of how far we have come,” said Matt Levin, the federation’s president and CEO.

“We are a Jewish community that has matured and evolved into a multigenerational community where boards are populated by young and old, residents live east and west, and children who grew up here are raising their own families.”

Successful food, wine event

The Junior League of Boca Raton celebrated its annual food-and-wine extravaganza Flavors by showcasing 30-plus restaurants, an art exhibit by Kourosh Keynejad and celebrity emcee Samantha DeBianchi.

Patrons — 700 in all — bid in a silent auction offering gourmet dinners, wine tastings, sports tickets and jewelry. 

“We will gratefully use the proceeds from this year’s event to continue the mission of the Junior League of Boca Raton and its programs that serve the nonprofit community,”said Cristy Stewart-Harfmann, the league’s acting president.

Pickleball with a purpose

The Delray Beach Pickleball Club joined forces with the Valencia Palms Gift of Life Club to sponsor the third annual Round Robin Pickleball Tournament to benefit the Gift of Life Marrow Registry.

Sixty-plus players, in addition to numerous volunteers and spectators, lined the courts at the Delray Beach Tennis Center to help those battling blood diseases find a cure through marrow and stem-cell donation. One of them, Barbara Cohen, spoke to a hushed crowd prior to being presented with a $1,000 check.

Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net