Capt. Christopher Colletta of Delray Beach takes a selfie as members of his Army tank unit open some of the Project Holiday boxes sent from Delray Beach to Camp Casey in South Korea. Photo provided

By Ron Hayes

On the morning of Nov. 7, Delores Rangel arrived at work and found an email from Dongducheon, South Korea.

This was unusual.

The executive secretary to the Delray Beach City Commission did not often deal with people 7,662 miles away and 14 hours ahead of her.

Ms. Rangel,

My name is Captain Christopher Colletta and I was born and raised in Delray Beach until I turned 18 and went off to college.

Since then, I commissioned into the Army and now am the Executive Officer of a tank company deployed to Camp Casey in South Korea, a few miles from the DMZ separating North and South Korea …

I recently saw on Facebook that you are in charge of collecting supplies to send to soldiers deployed overseas …

• 

Actually, Delores Rangel is a lot more than the person in charge. She is the reason Project Holiday exists.

“My daughter, Melissa, joined the Air Force right after 9/11, and my husband and I were devastated,” she remembers. “We knew we were going to war and she was sent overseas. She was barely 5 feet tall and she was in war zones.”

Rangel started sending her daughter boxes of goodies every week — through five tours in Iraq.

Before long, her City Hall coworkers were leaving donations on her desk — candy bars, toiletries, paperback books — and soon she was mailing several boxes each week, which E3 MP Melissa Rangel would share with her colleagues.

At Christmas 2006, Rangel joined with two established programs, You Are Not Alone and One Soldier at a Time, and Project Holiday was born.

• 

... Let me know what I can do to get a few goodies for my soldiers. I know it would mean a lot to them.

Very Respectfully,

Christopher Colletta

P.S. I love Delray so much that I even named my tank “Delray” at one point. Check out the picture of it during a training exercise in California — you’ll see it written on the gun!

• 

For Christmas 2017, the 12th annual Project Holiday sent hundreds of packages to service members in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and Korea.

Everything, from the candy bars, toiletries and paperbacks to the postal costs and hours spent packing the boxes, was  donated.

The Delray Beach Property Owners Association contributed. Crane’s Beach House hosted a fundraiser.

“The community just opens their hearts and wallets,” Rangel said. “It’s a great event. So many are still in harm’s way, and so many families can’t afford to send a package.”

In 2006, the military postal rate for a single box was about $10. In 2017 it was $15.95. One year, Rangel remembered, the total postage cost hit $7,000.

“All I need is one name,” she explained. “The boxes are rejected if they’re just sent to an unnamed soldier.”

• 

I went to Gulf Stream School. I loved it. My best friends were almost all made there — about half of us went to the same high school, and then we always meet back up for holidays and for weekend trips in between. — Colletta in one of a series of email exchanges with The Coastal Star.

Project Holiday volunteers listen to a presentation as they gather at the Delray Beach Community Center to stuff holiday boxes for troops. World War II veteran Edward Storck (right) was acknowledged at the event. His granddaughter is deployed in Afghanistan. 

• 

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3, more than a hundred men, women and children wait in the bleachers at the Norman C. Rolle Gym of the Delray Beach Community Center.

Edward Storck, a World War II veteran, is there from Lake Worth. His granddaughter Trisha is deployed in Afghanistan.

Johnny Castro with American Legion Post 367 has brought seven fellow legionnaires.

Out on the floor, three long tables hold large cardboard boxes brimming with stocking stuffers —edible, readable, spreadable and playable. The paper signs taped to the tables below each box identify its contents. This box has “socks.” That box is “sunscreen.”

We’ve got books, CDs and DVDs. Scarves and underpants. Lip balm and chewing gum, tuna fish and Slim Jims.

We’ve got granola bars, cookies, crackers and popcorn. Baby wipes, deodorant and playing cards. Even some yarmulkes.

And, of course, “miscellaneous.”

Meanwhile, in the room next door, a giant pile of 300 priority mail boxes waits.

• 

At 18 I left Delray to attend Vanderbilt, spending 4 years in Nashville. I also applied for and earned an Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps scholarship, which paid for my schooling and began my service.

The same day I graduated, I also received my commission and my parents pinned on my rank insignia as a brand new Second Lieutenant.

Christopher Colletta’s parents, Kathy Schilling and Joseph Colletta. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

• 

“He’s a real character,” Capt. Colletta’s father will tell you. “He’s very inquisitive, into multiple things. He went to a summer music school at the University of Miami and plays guitar and got an undergraduate degree in history and Chinese culture at Vanderbilt. He speaks Mandarin.”

Christopher’s father, Dr. Joseph Colletta, is a breast surgeon at Boca Raton Regional Medical Center. His mother, Dr. Kathy Schilling, is a radiologist and the medical director of the women’s health and wellness center at the hospital. His older brother, Matthew, has just begun an MBA program at Northwestern University. The family has lived in Delray’s Seagate community since 1982.

“We’ve never considered moving anywhere else,” his father says.

As part of the ROTC program at Vanderbilt, Christopher spent a summer teaching English at an elementary school in China, then two more summers in Taiwan and Vietnam.

“The Gulf Stream School taught him very good principles and civility,” his father says. “He’s never given us any trouble. He’s the life of the party, an organizer. Oh, and he does charcoal drawings.

“Hopefully, he’ll be coming back [on furlough] in March.”  

• 

Apache Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment consists of around 75 soldiers and officers, the 14 M1A2 Abrams tanks we operate, and a small fleet of other tracked and wheeled vehicles used to haul supplies and provide critical maintenance and medic support.

The soldiers come from all walks of life, and from every corner of the country from New York, to Alabama, to America’s Pacific Islands. We are all stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, where we spent over a year training for this deployment.

• 

In the gym, Dave Smith, a retired Air Force colonel who has been Project Holiday’s volunteer facilitator since the beginning, welcomes the volunteers.

Rangel and the other organizers are introduced with expressions of gratitude. They all say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. The crowd stands to have its picture taken behind a banner that promises, “You Are Not Alone: Delray Beach Supporting Military Families.”

“Every box is a special box,” Smith reminds them, “so don’t try to make yours more special.”

And so they begin.

• 

Earlier in my career as a second lieutenant, I was a platoon leader in Dueler Company, Apache’s sister company. It is an unwritten rule that you name your tank something that starts with the same letter as your company, which was D at the time, so I named it Delray.

That tank stayed at Fort Hood when I went to Korea. It’s still there, though it likely has a new name.

I have yet to name my tank here … I think Atlantic Ave. wouldn’t be a bad idea!

Project Holiday volunteers Alicia Martinez, 16, and Isabella Balestriere, 15, pack one of the 241 boxes sent overseas. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

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Isabella Balestriere of Boca Raton is a Project Holiday veteran who has attended the annual packing sessions since they began. And she’s only 15.

“I brought her here when she was 3 or 4 years old,” says her mother, Cathy, the general manager at Crane’s Beach House. “It was all because of Delores Rangel and her story. It’s not just about packing boxes. It’s about bringing my daughter, bringing the families together.”

Isabella grabs an empty postal box and joins the line of volunteers moving along each table of donated items. She tosses in some scarves and ear plugs, some body powder, a toothbrush, AAA batteries and Doublemint gum, Clif bars and peanut butter crackers until the box is full.

• 

The executive officer is the second in command of the company and working behind the scenes to ensure all the logistical infrastructure is in place.

My lane is beans, bullets and turning wrenches. I oversee all the maintenance that we conduct. To put it in Florida terms, tanks are like boats — if you let them sit, they seem to fall apart.

• 

When the box is full, Isabella carries it to the final table, where Esther Rose waits, a roll of heavy-duty packaging tape in hand. She and her husband, Adrian, have been coming up from Boca Raton to volunteer since 2007.

“We have no family,” she explains, “but my father was in World War II. It was in England, but that’s OK. We were on the same side.”

After volunteering for 10 years, Rose has mastered the tape dispenser. A box appears before her and in three quick swipes — zap, zap, zap — it’s taped and moved along.

“I just like to help,” she says, zapping as she speaks. “What do the soldiers do for us?”

• 

Being just miles from the DMZ at Camp Casey, our duties daily involve carrying out training that we have developed to ensure that we are ready to “fight tonight” as the saying goes here.

If my commander identifies a skill set that he believes our soldiers need to practice, rifle marksmanship being a simple example, we put it on our calendar and do it.

• 

Capt. Colletta, 26, and his company are deployed near the border with North Korea, where the winters are very cold and the political climate increasingly hot.

North Korea is testing intercontinental ballistic missiles it claims can reach the United States.

President Donald Trump has threatened to respond with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

The North Korean foreign secretary says Trump is “begging for nuclear war.”

During a September speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he would “totally destroy North Korea.” 

• 

It’s not our job to provide our opinions, only to provide the best prepared soldiers possible so that when our political leaders say they have an Army at their disposal that is lethal and should not be provoked, they can say that with confidence.

• 

Isabella carries her taped box over to the stage, where Scott Petrolia, 15, of Delray Beach and Felipe Mora, 15, of Boca Raton, are waiting with scales and a black marking pen.

Scott weighs the box.

“Ten and a half,” he tells Felipe, who scribbles “10.5” on the side.

And then an address label goes on:

CPT. Christopher Colletta

A CO 1-9 CAV, Unit #15919

APO, AP 96224

• 

Our food service specialists are the real heroes on Christmas. They’ll be up extremely early to get to work — I’m talking 3 or 4 in the morning. I think this year we can expect some more turkey (we had some at Thanksgiving), and some ham.

Then, at lunch and dinnertime, we officers and senior noncommissioned officers will arrive in our blue dress uniforms and serve all the soldiers.

It’s been a tradition longer than anyone I work with can remember. I think all senior leaders value the opportunity to show the soldiers how much we appreciate their hard work.

• 

By 12:30, the packing is done and the volunteers wander out, or linger to chat and enjoy the complimentary coffee and pastry.

On the stage, 241 red, white and blue priority mail boxes form a neat stack about 5 feet tall.

One year not long after Project Holiday began, a small child was discovered drawing on one of the boxes. Now that’s a tradition. The kids too short to reach a table decorate the completed packages with holiday greetings.

“Merry Christmas” some wish in crayon, or “Happy Holidays.”

On one box, an especially ambitious artist has drawn a colorful rainbow, arching over the message “Your Awesome.” 

Children personalize Project Holiday boxes sent to troops. One is  marked with a rainbow and ‘Your Awesome!’

• 

This is my second rotation to Korea. I was here from June 2015 to February 2016. I missed the holidays that year, but was glad to be back home for Christmas 2016.

Hopefully this will be the last one I spend away for the foreseeable future.

The cold and snow over here isn’t kind to native Floridians.

• 

On Dec. 6, Delores Rangel mailed 49 of the Project Holiday boxes to Camp Casey, South Korea.

“I have not heard from Captain Colletta as it is still too soon for him to receive the boxes,” she reported Dec. 13. “If I were to guess, they should receive them by Monday, Dec. 18.” 

She guessed about right.

• 

For the past two days, I had been getting all kinds of phone calls to pick up my mail since it was clogging up the mail room. The clerks ended up having to do something about it themselves and delivered it to our door since there was no way I could transport it all myself …

We all had a formation outside our company headquarters after dinner chow, and that’s where I explained the rules of how we were going to get all the gifts evenly distributed. The snow was really coming down.

I had everyone go into the conference room by reverse rank order, with the lowest-ranking soldiers going first. They’re the ones who are most likely to have never spent a holiday away from family before, let alone across the Pacific Ocean. Besides that, they can afford the least when it comes to having gifts shipped overseas.

They picked a box, any box, and couldn’t peek. Eventually, every box had an owner. I told the guys that if there was something that they’d be willing to give up or trade, they could put it in the middle of the table and it would be a free for all after that.

And chaos ensued. Everything was over in probably 15 minutes, a loud 15 minutes of boxes opening, soldiers bartering, and all kinds of things flying across the room to their new owners.

You never know what you’re going to get in a box from someone you don’t know, but I think Project Holiday nailed it on the head in terms of providing some useful stuff. There wasn’t much left over when it was all said and done.

We have one Jewish soldier in our ranks, Private Cutler, and he’s built up quite a yarmulke collection — he specifically wanted to say thanks for that.

• 

The 12th annual Project Holiday sent 241 boxes of goodies to U.S. service members in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and, of course, South Korea.

“I’m so happy the community has put smiles on their faces and let them know they are not forgotten,” Delores Rangel said.

“It’s a lot of work putting Project Holiday together, and it’s a team effort, and they’ve done an amazing job of helping us thank our troops.

“Freedom is not free, and I thank God for them.”

Christopher Colletta wears an Army Stetson indicating his promotion to captain in a ceremony in November in South Korea. Photos provided

• 

I’ll be in the Army for about six more months, until May, which is when I plan on transitioning to civilian life.

I intend to earn a master’s degree in international affairs at a school in Europe, but those applications are still in progress.

Wish me luck! 

Capt. Christopher Colletta’s original tank at Fort Hood, Texas, bore the name ‘Delray’ in honor of his hometown.

Hudson Holdings’ Midtown Delray project would sit on the south side of Atlantic Avenue in the Old School Square Historic District. Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

The city’s Historic Preservation Board unanimously rejected a site plan for Midtown Delray last month, saying the project hadn’t changed enough since it was last reviewed as Swinton Commons in June. 

At the special meeting on Dec. 19, the seven-member board also unanimously denied waivers that would have allowed new buildings to be wider than the historic district’s 60-foot rule, and a landscape plan that allowed the developer to pay $139,800 to the Delray Beach Tree Trust Fund. The money would compensate the city for the developer’s removing trees from the western side of a South Swinton Avenue block. 

“The visual compatibility standards are for comparison with the historic structures on Swinton Avenue,” said John Miller, board chairman. “We also need to consider the rhythm of the buildings on the street and the open spaces between them.”

The proposed 6.4-acre Midtown Delray project would sit on the south side of Atlantic Avenue, within the Old School Square Historic District. The district carries a local historic designation and will soon be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Of the city’s total properties, only 1.75 percent is historic, Miller said. 

“If we can’t save this historic district, we might as well resign our seats on the board,” he said.

The site of the proposed Midtown Delray contains three structures associated with the city’s history. 

The Sundy House, built in 1902, was the home of the city’s first mayor, John Sundy. The two-story building carries local and national historic designations. The Sundy House now houses a restaurant and a bed-and-breakfast inn.

The Cathcart House was built in 1902 in the French Colonial Revival style. The two-story building is named for William Cathcart, who purchased the home in 1910 and ran a lumber company. 

The Rectory, built in 1912, was part of the original Methodist church destroyed by the 1928 hurricane. The historic building now houses the Yaxche Tearoom, featured on culinary tours.

J.R. Leatherman, a citrus farmer and builder, built all three structures.

Midtown Delray is a joint venture of investor Rick Marshall and developer Hudson Holdings.

On Jan. 2, the team appealed the Historic Preservation Board’s denials of its site plan, relocations and demolitions to the City Commission. Hudson Holdings Managing Director Steven Michael is banking on the success of the project because he lives in Delray Beach. In a prepared statement on Dec. 20, he said his firm has met with community leaders many times to discuss historic concerns, job creation, tax base increase and revitalization of the south and southwest neighborhoods.

“We have amended and redesigned this site plan significantly to accommodate many local requests. We have changed things from trees and landscaping to tile in the courtyard, as well as public courtyard designs,” he wrote. “We have reduced density as well as height. We have worked with the community tremendously in good faith and we are now prepared to go to the City Commission with an improved and first-class project.”

Architect John Szerdi, who said he’s worked 20 years on the property, said Midtown Delray would eliminate nearly 2 acres of surface parking with an underground garage, created in the first block and under the historic structures. 

Midtown Delray also will no longer have the two hotels it planned in June, Szerdi said. Now the project plans to build residential inn units, sold individually as condos, he said. 

The project consists of 39,386 square feet of retail space, 11,117 square feet of restaurant space, 55,218 square feet of office space, 45 dwelling units and 39 residential inn units, a specific designation created for this property.

Eleven of the 17 people who spoke at the Historic Preservation Board meeting were against the project.

Expert witness Steven Avdakov, hired by the private Historic Preservation Trust group, is a registered architect in five states and holds a master’s degree in historic preservation from Columbia University. 

He called the Old School Square Historic Arts District the geographic crossroads of Delray Beach. 

“The Secretary of Interior standards [for historic designations] are close to the Ten Commandments, the bible of historic preservation,” Avdakov said. Structures should not be shifted around on the site in a historic district and demolition was permanent, he said. The Miami Beach-based architect called for retaining an authentic sense of history, not a “Disneyfied version.”

The Delray Beach Preservation Trust prepared the Historic District application now awaiting listing approval on the National Register. 

Trust President JoAnn Peart said her members had to go outside of the county to hire a historic preservation architect as an expert witness. The experts in the county declined because they are working on a project with the Midtown Delray historic preservation architect, Rick Gonzalez.

They also won’t go against him in case they have to appear in front of him on the state’s Review Board, Peart said. That board hears applications from local historic projects that want to be listed on the National Register.

Gonzalez also took a different position about development at the Old School Square site three years ago. Before he worked for Hudson Holdings, the Delray Beach Planning Department hired him as an expert on historic districts. 

Gonzalez spoke at the June 17, 2014, Delray Beach City Commission meeting when the city considered a private application to allow a commercial district overlay in a portion of the Old School Square Historic Arts District. 

Hudson Holdings wanted the overlay to build higher structures, decrease the space between new buildings, and construct hotels. Allowing the commercial overlay, Gonzalez said in 2014, would be “basically deteriorating the south side of the district, cutting its leg off.”

At the Dec. 19 meeting, Gonzalez said, “Historic preservation needs development that is slightly lower than allowed by code.” He called Midtown Delray “a positive change for Delray.” 

John Boyle, who lives nearby, said Midtown Delray “is exactly what the neighborhood needs. Most of my neighbors agree.” 

Historic Preservation Board member Price Patton is a founding partner of The Coastal Star.

By Jane Smith

The city’s mayor says he will not seek another term in office.

Cary Glickstein has served as Delray Beach mayor for five years. He could have run a third time. During his first two-year term, voters approved a longer term for each commissioner of three years. This overlapped with Glickstein’s existing term, allowing him to run again.

But he is not. 

“I ran for mayor because I love our town and didn’t care for the direction it was heading,” he said. “It seemed City Hall was measuring its success simply by busy Atlantic Avenue restaurants. … Resident concerns — from all corners of the city — were just not that important.”

He considers the city’s actions to change the substance abuse treatment industry a highlight of his time in office. According to Glickstein, the city has moved from being perceived as a “rehab pariah” to presenting a new image of “forceful, proactive leaders,” crafting changes on the local, state and national level. 

The city leaders now want to protect the vulnerable people seeking recovery, while “shuttering shoddy treatment centers and sober homes,” he said.

Delray Beach became a prime recovery destination with websites showing palms wafting in the ocean breezes. Recovery was rare and relapses occurred frequently, overwhelming the city’s public safety departments with a spike in overdose calls.

In late December, Delray Beach became the first Florida government entity to sue opioid makers and distributors over the marketing and prescribing of painkillers. Once the prescriptions run out, a majority of the users turn to street drugs such as heroin, because they are addicted, he said. 

Other highlights of his time in office Glickstein lists are: rewriting land development rules that provide clarity to developers “while preserving our small-town character”; a focus on education and third-grade reading that led to the city’s third All-America City award; completing Federal Highway and the Beach Master Plan projects; moving the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency and all nonprofits to be more accountable when spending taxpayer dollars; reining in special events by choosing quality over quantity; and restoring order to city procurement and public works projects.

Glickstein regrets not having the current senior management and leadership in place when he started as mayor in 2013. 

“Coming from the private sector, I’ve had to temper my expectations regarding the pace of change in government,” he said. “It’s akin to turning the Titanic.”

What’s next for the lawyer turned developer turned mayor?

It won’t be a higher office. 

“I would find it frustrating to go from an executive role I enjoyed in both private and public sectors to a legislative body that moves at a glacial place, where politics are valued over ingenuity or the merits of an idea,” Glickstein said. “That’s not for me.”

Instead, after March, he will focus on consulting with startups and mid-level firms around the country, he said. 

“On a personal side, the mayor’s role made extended travel impossible,” Glickstein said. His kids are older and in college, allowing him freedom to play in his University of Hawaii alumni baseball game. He also has “surfing trips planned with friends for Hawaii, Morocco and Indonesia.”

Two current city commissioners have qualified to run for mayor on March 13: Jim Chard and Shelly Petrolia. 

Three men have qualified to fill Seat 1: Richard Alteus, Eric Camacho and Adam Frankel.

Two men have qualified to fill Seat 3: incumbent Mitch Katz and Ryan Boylston.

For Seat 2, William Bathurst automatically will take Chard’s seat after no one else qualified for that seat. 

A candidate forum hosted by the Beach Property Owners Association will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Northern Trust Bank, 770 E. Atlantic Ave., Second Floor. 

By Dan Moffett

For the first time in nearly two decades, Ocean Ridge won’t have Geoff Pugh playing some role in the town’s government. 

Pugh decided not to seek another term on the Town Commission after holding a seat since 2003 and serving the last six years as Ocean Ridge’s mayor.

“Basically, after 15 years on the commission you kind of want to say, ‘I did my public duty, served the town and did a good job,’” Pugh said. “Now I’m going to pull back a little bit and spend more time with my wife.”

Pugh’s exit from the March election leaves three candidates competing for two open seats. The top two vote-getters will win them.

Gail Adams Aaskov, a former mayor and a commissioner for the last six years, is seeking another three-year term against two political newcomers: Kristine de Haseth, director of the Florida Coalition for Preservation, and Phil Besler, the owner of Besler Consulting in Boynton Beach.

Pugh helped the town navigate through some difficult issues during his last term as mayor.

Rapid growth in Boynton Beach and elsewhere across the bridge strained Ocean Ridge’s police, crowded its beaches with out-of-town visitors and created traffic congestion problems.

Three years ago, an ugly dispute between Commissioner Richard Lucibella and Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi led to the chief’s resignation and an unsuccessful recall attempt against Lucibella.

In 2016, Lucibella resigned from the commission after a shooting incident in his backyard and an altercation with an officer who responded. The Police Department’s morale suffered.

A personnel overhaul at Town Hall complicated matters for Pugh and the commission. Within weeks two years ago, the town attorney, manager and clerk retired.

Pugh, 54, served on the town’s Board of Adjustment before joining the commission. The owner of Pugh’s Pools, a spa and pool contractor, he has lived in Ocean Ridge for 22 years. 

Michelle Donahue of Hypoluxo Island says you don’t have to know it all to make a difference if you tap into the people around you. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Michelle Donahue is proof that a combination of intelligence, energy and enthusiasm can go a long way in the volunteer world.

After years of success as an advertising executive and corporate trainer, Donahue became a homemaker after the birth of her second daughter, then turned her energies to volunteer work, where she has made a difference on several fronts.

A native of Miami, she moved with her family to Delray Beach as a child and then graduated from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.

Donahue and husband, Sean, have spent the past 18 years in the same house on Hypoluxo Island in Lantana.

Now a Realtor with Douglas Elliman of Delray, Donahue, 48, wears a number of other hats: president of the Hypoluxo Island Property Owners Association, vice president of the Delray Beach Historical Society and, most recently, an alternate on the Lantana Planning Commission.

She brings a sense of anticipation and excitement to any issue she is asked to address.

“With any of these groups, if I feel I can help in any capacity, whether it’s just a dent or a big change, then I feel I need to do what I can,” she said.

“For me, we’re standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. People came here with nothing, they did the best they could. And here we come. We have to look back at them every once in a while.

“And from there, we get guidelines on how to proceed with responsible development, maintaining the culture, and keeping people unified. Because when you forget your history, what do you have? You have nothing.” 

— Brian Biggane

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. In Miami — I’m a second-generation Miamian. At 10, I moved to Delray Beach. Miami influenced me significantly because we’re so deeply rooted there, the McCormick family. Delray was a new area for us, but again, we became very rooted and made a solid foundation there. When we grew up, my brother and I came back to that area. Our hearts are really rooted in Delray Beach.

We went to St. Vincent Ferrer and Pope John Paul High School, but the common denominator between growing up in Miami and all the way through was that I went to Catholic schools — starting off at St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores through St. Thomas University for my master’s degree. In college, I went to Loyola University in New Orleans. The Catholic education really instilled a sense of values, the faith I have, the need and want to give back, not just to other Catholics but to the community. It has laid such wonderful morals and values within me. I’m so grateful for it.

I also think that I was a different learner. Nowadays they can tell if your kid is different, if your kid is struggling, but back then it was one size fits all. This is how you’re going to learn. And I didn’t always grasp that. If I was born into today’s world my parents would have had me diagnosed as ADHD or something like that. 

It’s a huge blessing, because I know my strengths and my weaknesses, I get people around me who can support my weaknesses, and use my strengths to go forward and do all that I do. The energy level I have is incredible. 

I joke around with people when I get on boards. I say, “Look, all I’m going to do is bring a whole lot of enthusiasm to the table, but the rest is up to you guys.” People have their strengths and weaknesses. You don’t have to be a person who has everything and knows everything. You have to tap into the people around you. And that’s been the greatest success for me moving forward in life and giving back.

Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

A. I worked in advertising at The Miami Herald, then went on to corporate training for Blockbuster and Wayne Huizenga. From there I went to St. Joseph’s Episcopal School in Boynton Beach as director of development. I’ve been a Realtor for the past few years with Douglas Elliman.

As many accomplishments as I’ve had, the one thing I did that I’m really proud of was at St. Joseph’s. As director of development, I worked with Elizabeth Eubanks, a friend who had been at St. Mark’s Catholic School and jumped on board with the Palm Beach County School District and the FAU Pine Jog Education Center and had created a green school recognition program. I jumped on board with that and for the next four years I worked with every single grade from pre-K to eighth grade and created this Mac Daddy garden out in the back. We won a first-place award for that program in Palm Beach County and we took first place in the state the following year. 

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?

A. Follow your heart. That’s what you should be pursuing.

Q. How did you choose to make your home on Hypoluxo Island?

A. We were a young couple just starting a family — we had our daughter Meaghan and I was pregnant with our second (Erin) and wanted to get a little bigger home. We were looking up and down the coast. One day, we were in Ocean Ridge and the bridge was closed, so we came up a little further and we literally stumbled on this house for sale on Hypoluxo Island. We fell in love. We’ve been here more than 18 years and have never looked back.

I love history, and the history of the house was huge for me. It was built in 1927, it’s an Addison Mizner, built for his interior designer. I had grown up in an historic house in Delray and I already had that connection, so I just fell in love with this place, as did my husband. 

Q. What is your favorite part about living on Hypoluxo Island?

A. First, the community of the island itself; the people here are fantastic. It’s pretty much why we’ve stayed so long. You just make really good friends.

There’s an incredibly rich history to this island that I don’t think many people understand — the level and magnitude of its contribution to the history of the state of Florida.

Q. What book are you reading now?

A. A Land Remembered, by Patrick D. Smith. 

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration, and when you want to relax?

A. I love music, but my family is always saying I’m not one to listen to it for inspiration. I have it on in the background. For inspiration, I listen more to the TED Talks. I love them. When I’m getting ready in the morning I turn those on and use them for inspiration. You can listen to music that brings you joy, but for inspiration that’s what gets me going.

To relax, I enjoy today’s country, like Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney. We’ve seen Buffett well over 40 times. My husband’s lifelong dream is to meet him. 

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?

A. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?

A. My parents were the biggest mentors for me growing up. Both of them have contributed so much in volunteerism, and giving back to others. My mother, even today, runs circles around us with her energy, her enthusiasm for life, and I feel like I’m such a clone of that. And from my father, it’s his rose-colored glasses. He is the most optimistic man I’ve ever met. My brothers and I both grew up in such a loving home. We were never pressured to be more than we could be. They inspired us, and they guided us, but it was never more than a gentle push.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would play you?

A. Julia Roberts. We’re about the same age. I remember being in high school and watching her career get started. I’ve always loved her. 

By Jane Smith

Detective Nicole Lucas, who works for Delray Beach police and is a member of the State Attorney’s Sober Homes Task Force, was honored recently for her investigative work.

In collaboration with 13 other agencies, her work led to the arrest of substance abuse treatment center owner Kenneth Chatman and his federal prison sentence of 27.5 years for health care fraud.

Chatman was convicted of skirting state law by having his wife sign the paperwork as owner of the Reflections Treatment Center and Journey to Recovery in South Florida. He also owned several sober homes where residents were given free rent and gifts as long as they attended his centers for treatment and submitted to drug testing, the investigation found. The residents also were allowed to continue using drugs in the sober homes. Several people had fatal overdoses in Chatman’s sober homes.

In addition, the investigation found Chatman and others gave female residents drugs to prostitute themselves. Chatman and others kept the money.

Chatman also paid other sober home operators to send patients to his treatment centers. The two treatment centers billed more than $1 billion to insurers, the investigation found.

The federal government named the investigation Operation Thoroughbred. It involved 14 teams, including Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Marie Villafana, who tried the federal case; seven FBI agents in Palm Beach County; and Lucas of the Delray Beach Police Department. 

Three members of the State Attorney’s Office also were recognized. They are Al Johnson, chief assistant who runs the Sober Homes Task Force; Justin Chapman, assistant state attorney assigned to the Task Force; and Ted Padich, insurance investigator for the Task Force. 

The team members worked under federal laws that guard the privacy of patients, including drug addicts.

The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association gave the 14 teams its Investigation of the Year Award in November at its training conference in Orlando. 

“The Chatman case is the first federal case that successfully targeted the serious fraud problem that continues to permeate the addiction treatment industry nationwide,” according to the awards luncheon brochure.

Lucas joined the Task Force on July 1, 2016, from the Delray Beach Police narcotics unit. She immediately worked her contacts and asked them about the worst sober home operator. Chatman’s name was raised repeatedly, she said.

“I met with an informant who said Chatman gave him as much heroin as he needed and a gun if he would collect the money from the men visiting a sober home where the women were kept as sex slaves,” Lucas said. Chatman wanted to make sure the women didn’t leave the residence. 

Lucas secured the informant’s sworn statement and immediately told her supervisors on the Task Force. 

When federal officials were informed, they said they also were working the Chatman case, Lucas said.

She was able to participate in the raid. 

“I’m happy he’s off the streets,” Lucas said. “It was too little, too late for some. He was imprisoned for health care fraud, not human trafficking. This is not a Third World country where women can be kept as sex slaves.” 

Longtime employee Emi Ebben (left) talks with customers Lawrence Katzen and Ann Frumpkin during Jewelry Artisans’ reopening party Dec. 15 in Plaza del Mar. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

Jewelry Artisans has celebrated its reopening as stores continue to resettle in Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar.

After being in the same location at the mall for 28 years, the store moved to make way for a new Publix grocery being constructed to anchor the mall.  

Owner Pedro Maldonado is “excited about the plaza and our customers are happy with our larger display space. It allows us the opportunity to relax and create in a more open environment.”

If you’re looking for a bargain — and who isn’t? — you’ll be pleased to know there’s a new upscale consignment shop in Delray Beach. Affluent Finds consignment boutique just moved from Lake Worth to 809 George Bush Blvd. 

The shop carries designer brands such as Armani, Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada, Gucci, Lilly Pulitzer, Pucci, Roberto Cavalli, St. John, and Valentino. Affluent Finds is owned by April Willis, who has a background in luxury retail with Cartier. 

At the new location, Willis plans to hold in-store events, along with neighboring merchants Cheap Frills, Bella Reina Spa, and Second Time Around. 

If hardware and garden supplies are more up your alley, there’s good news for you, too. Orchard Supply Hardware, a home, garden and hardware store, has opened five new Florida stores. One is at 525 Congress Ave. in Boynton Beach, and another at 510 Linton Blvd., suite 120 in Delray Beach.

DK Delray Downtown LLC, a Kolter affiliate, will build a four-story, 150-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 135, 145, 169, and 185 SE Sixth Ave., according to property records and news reports. 

The development and investment firm closed on a $27.3 construction loan from PNC Bank mid-November, and plans to break ground early this year and open the hotel in 2019. Slattery & Associates is the architect.

The median sale price of single-family homes in Palm Beach County has seen a 10 percent year-over-year increase to $330,000, according to the Florida Realtors Monthly Market Detail report for November. The number of closed sales increased 1.5 percent to 1,243, with cash transactions down 8.2 percent to 427. The median time to contract increased 14 percent to 57 days. Inventory of active listings decreased 4.4 percent to 7,058 and the month’s supply of inventory decreased 2 percent to 4.9 months.  

Christel Silver, broker/owner of Silver International Realty, was approved by the Florida Realtors professional development committee and confirmed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to instruct Graduate Realtor Institute appraising and international real estate courses. Her office is at 55 SE Second Ave., No. 206, in Delray Beach.

Members of the Women’s Council of Realtors of Greater Palm Beach County met in December at The Polo Club in Boca Raton to pass the gavel from President Cathy Lewis to incoming President Debra Shapiro. 

The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s new board of directors began its term Dec. 6. Michael Mohl, owner of Senior Helpers, is the 2018 chairman, and Sophia Eccleston of FPL is the new 2019 chairwoman-elect. 

The board was joined by new members Edward Boylan of the Boynton Beach Mall; Debbie Eisenberg of Porges, Eisenberg, Levine, CPA; Michael Kolesar of Atria at Villages of Windsor; Ela Lena of Bethesda Health; Veronica Rogers of Allegro; and Debra Slobodow of Primerica.

CPA Neil H. Fishman of Fishman Associates, Boynton Beach, will speak on the effects of the changes in tax law at the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 10. Fishman is a member of the Florida Institute of CPAs, the New York State Society of CPAs, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, the Forensic CPA Society, and the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, where he serves as executive vice president. 

From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the IRS advisory council. To purchase tickets, visit www.boyntonbeach.org. The price is $35. The luncheon will be at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Also, the Chamber’s Business Awards Gala will be at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at Benvenuto’s restaurant.

Jerry Hildebrand, a pioneer in social entrepreneurship, will be the director of Lynn University’s new Social Impact Lab. Serving as a career launch pad for young professionals, the lab will offer real-world experience, professional connections and mentorships, as well as industry preparedness and training. It will also serve as a talent pipeline for startups, impact investment firms and social enterprises. For more information, visit www.lynn.edu. ;

Additional news from the university: Anthony Altieri was appointed vice president of student affairs.

Having passed all canine tests, including cuddling and posing for pictures, Kol, a certified therapy dog, returned to Florida Atlantic University in December to comfort students studying for final exams. 

The 71-pound golden retriever and his owner, Jane Eisenberg, are volunteers with Therapy Dogs International and have visited nursing homes, hospitals, schools and other institutions for five years. College testing does not bother him in the least, Eisenberg says.

His visit was sponsored by the FAU Mentoring Project. 

The American Greyhound Track Operators Association gave its Lifetime Achievement Award to Dennis Bicsak, a greyhound-racing owner and a breeder. He is also a photographer, journalist, racing official, handicapper, simulcast sales director and industry managing coordinator. 

“I love the greyhound breed and the wonderful people in the industry,” Bicsak said. “Working with everyone from breeders, kennel operators, track management and industry partners made me feel part of the movement to move greyhound racing forward.”

Louie Bossi’s Ristorante in Boca Raton has a new general manager, Richard Douglas. Previously, Douglas was general manager at Brand Steakhouse in the Monte Carlo Hotel/Casino, and the CarneVino Italian Steakhouse in Las Vegas. He also served as a specialty wine sales representative for J&P Wholesale.

Employees from Source1 Purchasing, a Boynton Beach supply chain management group, participated in Feeding South Florida’s Mobile Food Pantry in West Palm Beach. The team volunteered its time to package vegetables and hand out food items for individuals to take home for their families.

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will host County Commissioner Dave Kerner speaking on “Palm Beach County vs. State of Florida: Who Makes the Decisions for Us?”

The luncheon will be  from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Blvd., Lake Worth. Tickets are $35. To RSVP, call 968-4123 or visit www.lwvpbc.org.

At the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches’ luncheon Jan. 23, MSNBC producer Debbie Bornstein Holinstat will share her story of survival in honor of National Holocaust Remembrance Day. She will also be available to sign Survivors Club, a book she co-wrote with her father, Holocaust survivor Michael Bornstein. 

The luncheon, which is open to the public, will begin at 11:30 a.m. and take place at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott, 4000 RCA Blvd. Tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased by visiting www.ewpb.org. For information, call 868-7070.

At the Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs/South Florida Business Owners Networking luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 25,  participants will  learn to market their businesses online using systems and automation for Messenger Bots, Facebook ads and social media tools. To register, visit https://standoutonlinesystem.com/lunch. The event will be at Pavilion Grille, 301 Yamato Road, No. 1201, Boca Raton. 

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

No, the Boca Raton Resort and Club is not changing its colors. The peach color many residents noticed in mid-December is a primer coat. A second coat of paint will restore the historic club’s tower to its iconic ‘Boca Pink’ hue.  ‘Oh, no, we would never abandon the color pink,’ said John Tolbert, club president and managing director.  ‘We’re passionate about pink. We love it.’  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Mayor Susan Haynie will now be able to vote on matters involving James and Marta Batmasian, the city’s largest commercial landowners, without being dogged by questions about whether such votes violate state and county ethics rules.

Haynie announced at the Dec. 12 Boca Raton City Council meeting that her husband, Neil, has ended his business relationship with the master association of Tivoli Park, a 1,600-unit apartment complex in Deerfield Beach.

The Palm Beach Post reported on Nov. 5 that Community Reliance, a property management firm started by Haynie and her husband, has been paid $12,000 a year since 2010 by the master association. Susan Haynie left the company last year.

The Batmasians own 80 percent of the Tivoli Park units, and five of the six Tivoli board members work for the Batmasians’ company, Investments Limited, The Post reported.

The article raised the question of whether Haynie had a conflict of interest in voting on matters involving the Batmasians and should recuse herself. Haynie has cast at least 12 votes on matters involving the Batmasians, according to The Post.

Haynie is now a candidate for the Palm Beach County Commission seat being vacated by term-limited Steven Abrams, a former Boca Raton mayor. Haynie has repeatedly denied she acted improperly. She requested an advisory opinion from the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics in 2013 on whether she could vote and was told she could.

But the opinion was narrowly written and was based on a specific instance in which James Batmasian was neither the applicant nor the developer of a project coming to the City Council for approval.

“I truly believe that I have always held myself to the highest standards of ethical behavior and remain steadfast in my belief that I have followed the law in accordance with that advisory opinion,” Haynie said at the Dec. 12 meeting. “Hopefully that will put this matter to rest.”

Now that Neil Haynie has terminated his company’s contract with the Tivoli Park master association, no ethical cloud hangs over his wife if she votes on matters involving the Batmasians. Even though Susan Haynie is no longer involved with Community Reliance, the county’s ethics code prohibits an official from casting a vote that benefits a spouse or relative.

But her past votes likely will remain under scrutiny.

The ethics commission’s executive director, Mark Bannon, has neither confirmed nor denied that the commission is investigating Haynie.

Yet, a commission investigator in November filed a public records request with the city asking for copies of Haynie’s and Boca Raton City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser’s emails between January and December 2013 that contain certain keywords. The investigator also requested all site approval plans from January 2013 until November 2017 containing many of the same keywords. Those keywords include Batmasian and Investments Limited.

Al Zucaro, publisher of the BocaWatch blog and a Haynie adversary, has filed complaints with the Florida Commission on Ethics and the county’s ethics commission.

The Florida ethics commission, like Palm Beach County’s, will not say if an investigation is underway.

Zucaro’s original state complaint seeks an investigation on grounds that Haynie did not disclose her ownership of Community Reliance or her income from it in financial disclosure forms that elected city officials are required to file annually. He updated his complaint in November after The Post published its story.

His county complaint raises the financial disclosure issue and contends Haynie had a clear conflict of interest.

Contacted after Haynie announced her husband had ended the contract with the master association, Zucaro said that “does not put the matter to rest.”

“The matter is not about today. The matter is about the last seven years that she has taken votes on behalf of issues she should not have taken votes on,” he said.

Zucaro denied that he filed the complaints because Haynie defeated him in March’s mayoral election. 

“This is purely bad governance,” he said.

Haynie made her announcement after Bannon, at the invitation of city officials, delivered an ethics tutorial to council members without mentioning the mayor.

Council members, who agreed in November that they needed to be more transparent on ethics matters, unanimously approved an ordinance aimed at keeping themselves and the public informed when ethics issues are raised.

The ordinance requires notifying other council members and the public when one of them requests an ethics opinion, when any additional communication about the request takes place and when an ethics opinion is issued. It also does not allow the hiring of outside attorneys advising the city on ethics issues if they have had recent involvement with a city election campaign or made campaign contributions.

Investments Limited is known primarily for its property portfolio, but it also has been a developer.

The company recently submitted plans for redevelopment of two portions of its Royal Palm Place, a 14-acre downtown destination featuring retail and restaurants. 

By Rich Pollack

When residents in the quiet Bel Lido section of Highland Beach discovered that a locally produced television movie about the mob was being filmed in a neighborhood home several months ago, they were anything but star-struck.

Instead, many were concerned about the possible erosion of their privacy and the commotion caused in the neighborhood by the filming — which has since wrapped — and subsequent parties.

Their concerns could be alleviated soon, however, if town leaders give their approval to a proposal that would regulate commercial filming in the town, addressing hours when shooting could take place and requiring companies that want to film commercially to complete a permit application issued through the Palm Beach County Film Commission. 

“It’s unlikely that our little town would be picked for a movie, but it was,” resident Peggy Gossett-Seidman said. “It caught everyone off guard.” 

The residents, as well as some town commissioners, were surprised to discover commercial filming in the town is unregulated. 

“I was told we didn’t have an ordinance to address the issue,” said Commissioner Elyse Riesa, who raised concerns about filming after receiving calls from residents.

One provision of the proposed rules, expected to be discussed by the commission at a meeting this month, would require that nearby residents where filming is scheduled be notified in advance. 

“It has to be managed so people are aware of what’s going on and can plan for it,” Riesa said. 

The commissioner said she has been working with the town’s attorneys since August to come up with requirements to help address the concerns of residents. 

“This resolution will establish, for the first time, rules and regulations for commercial filming in Highland Beach,” Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said. 

Torcivia said that in drafting the resolution, his office looked at similar ordinances and resolutions used in other towns. 

The draft ordinance includes specific guidelines for commercial filming. 

As part of the permitting process, film production companies will be required to show proof of liability insurance, list the size of the production crew and provide a description of activities. 

The proposed regulations also require companies to provide a lighting and parking plan. 

Under the proposed rules, filming would be prohibited after 6 p.m. and before 8 a.m., as well as all day on Sundays and holidays.

Filmmakers would also have to let residents within 500 feet of the location know when the filming will take place at least 48 hours before shooting begins and will need written authorization from the property owner.

Also, a permit could be revoked for several reasons, including if the filming activity is conducted in a “disorderly manner or in a manner which endangers the public health, safety, welfare or in any manner which disrupts the public peace.”

The draft ordinance spells out penalties of $500 a day and revocation of the permit should filmmakers fail to comply with conditions imposed by the town.

Riesa said she expects commissioners to make some changes to the proposal before it’s finalized but sees it as a good start, as does Gossett-Seidman. 

“We need to ensure the privacy of our neighbors,” she said. 

By Mary Hladky

The proposed Midtown project is beset by complications as city staff and a city board are at odds about what rules the developer will have to follow.

The intracity disagreements surfaced at a Dec. 11 Boca Raton City Council workshop when city staff presented its analysis of conditions the Planning and Zoning Board recommended the City Council adopt before giving the developer the go-ahead to build.

The debate will continue during two public hearings on Midtown expected Jan. 8 and 23.

As it stands, city staff and developer Crocker Partners disagree on key parts of proposed ordinances that set the framework for how Midtown can be built, and city staff has rejected some of the planning board’s recommendations.

“We have a difficult road ahead,” council member Scott Singer said near the end of the meeting. “I am at a loss as to how we are going to harmonize” the positions of staff, Crocker Partners and other property owners in the 300-acre Midtown site.

Although Crocker Partners managing partner Angelo Bianco considers some conditions proposed by the city to be unconstitutional, he still hopes they can reach an agreement.

“I am very hopeful we will reach an acceptable solution,” he said after the meeting. Midtown “will be a real bonus for our city.”

Midtown, located between Interstate 95 and the Town Center at Boca Raton, is envisioned as a “live, work, play” transit-oriented development where people will live and walk or take shuttles to their jobs in the area, shopping and restaurants.

As many as 2,500 rental units would be built where no residential now exists. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority is considering building a Tri-Rail station that would bring people to and from the area at one of two possible locations near Northwest 19th Street along the CSX railroad tracks.

Among the areas of disagreement:

• Crocker Partners and other landowners want to build 2,500 units. City staff wants no units built until the Tri-Rail station is working, saying Midtown can’t be a transit-oriented development if there is no transit. 

The planning board recommends that 600 units can be built before the station is running.

Crocker Partners supports a Tri-Rail station, but says it is not necessary to the success of its project and that mandating a station before construction can begin is unconstitutional. The developer contends the restriction creates a building moratorium until 2022 when Tri-Rail officials have said the station, if approved, would be built.

• Crocker Partners wanted to build some units as small as 500 square feet for young people likely to use mass transit.

The planning board recommended the smallest units be 700 square feet. City staff agreed to revise the proposed ordinance to make that change.

• The planning board recommended a shuttle system controlled by the city be in place before any residential units are approved.

Staff agreed to add that provision, saying shuttles would support both the transit-oriented development and the Tri-Rail station. But they don’t agree that the city must operate the shuttles.

Crocker Partners has said it wants and will support a shuttle system.

• The planning board recommended that no residential development be approved until all street infrastructure is constructed to new standards in the proposed ordinances, all power lines are buried, bike pathways and sidewalks are built, and landscaping completed.

City staff suggested a middle ground: Once infrastructure improvements are completed in one area, development can proceed.

Crocker Partners says completing all infrastructure improvements prior to construction is not feasible and the requirement is unconstitutional because it would create a development moratorium. The developer also says it would leave the city on the hook for paying for all of the very costly improvements, rather than sharing the costs with the county and other government entities.

• City staff wants building height in the area limited to seven stories, or 105 feet.

Crocker Partners contends the 105-foot limit is arbitrary and wants a maximum height of 145 feet.

The planning board recommended 145 feet, but city staff does not want to make this change. 

By Rich Pollack

Saving the sensitive and environmentally important sand dunes along Highland Beach’s 3-mile stretch of oceanfront is becoming a priority for the town’s fledgling Beaches and Shores Club.

Formed after the Town Commission dissolved its Beaches and Shores Advisory Board, the new club is putting a focus on educating residents about the need to preserve the marine dune ecosystem through the eradication of invasive species, which can push out protective native plants. 

At the next meeting at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 10 in the Highland Beach Public Library, the committee and members of the public are expected to hear from town resident Dan Bellante, co-owner of Green Coast Consulting, which has experience in dune restoration.  

The club is also expected to elect officers that day. 

“Preserving the dune is in everyone’s best interest,”  Bellante said. 

Bellante and George Gann, founder and chief conservation strategist for the Delray Beach-based Institute for Regional Conservation, say that eradicating invasive species on dunes — and allowing native plants to come back — can have many benefits. 

“The closer you get to the historic dune system, the better it is for nature and the better it is for people,” Gann said. 

For nature, a restored dune benefits birds and other wildlife by providing native habitat. The healthy dune also helps protect beaches from erosion in several ways, including allowing plants to thrive that hold the sand well. 

“It’s what you have to do if you want to stop erosion,” Bellante said. 

People also benefit from healthy dunes  because of increased aesthetic appeal, especially if residents create a beach garden with native plants. More important, residents who live near the beach benefit because the dune creates a buffer that will break up waves.

“The dune is the only thing between you and the ocean,” Gann said. 

Without a healthy dune, ocean water could end up in backyards and on roadways. 

The problem could become even greater, Gann says, if sea water rises as predicted. 

“The higher the sea gets, the less distance there is between us and it,” he said. “The wider the dune is, the more protection you have from sea-level rise.”

In addition, nonnative vegetation on a dune can easily be ripped from the sand and become projectiles. 

The biggest problem, however, is that invasive plants can spread and crowd out native species.  

“Anything that reduces diversity in a dune system will make it less resilient,” Gann said. 

Plants such as Brazilian pepper, for example, can take over a dune and crowd out beneficial indigenous grasses and plants, including sea oats, which tend to capture sand. 

Even native species, such as sea grapes, can be a problem when they get too big and prevent other short, grassy plants and shrubs from thriving.

“Invasive species are a community problem,” Gann said. 

That’s the message Bellante and the Beaches and Shores Club hope to get across to beach-property owners in Highland Beach.  

Because the town has no public beach, much of the responsibility for removing exotics will fall on the shoulders of individual homeowners or condominium associations with beach property. 

“We’re hoping to encourage them to restore their dunes to a natural healthy state,” Bellante said. 

One way to educate residents, he said, is through a report he is creating as well as through presentations — like the one he is giving this month — to beach property owners. 

Eliminating exotic species, Bellante says, is an important step in restoring an ecosystem that has been damaged over time. 

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. 

By Rich Pollack

Two incumbent officials in Highland Beach will face opposition in the March 13 municipal election.  

In addition, voters will be asked to fund up to $2.1 million for a streetscape plan that includes replacement of the 3-mile existing walking path with decorative concrete.

In the race for vice mayor, two candidates qualified to be on the ballot. Incumbent Bill Weitz, who is completing his first three-year term, will face opposition from political newcomer Alysen Africano-Nila. 

In the race for a seat on the Town Commission, three candidates qualified to challenge incumbent George Kelvin, who was appointed in February to fill a vacant seat. 

Carl Lee Gehman, who ran unsuccessfully last year, is joined in the bid for the three-year term on the commission by Margaret “Peggy” Gossett-Seidman and John Hart Ross. Both Gossett-Seidman and Ross are regular commission meeting visitors, but neither has run for political office in the town before. 

The voting in the Highland Beach municipal election will be held at St. Lucy Catholic Church, 3510 S. Ocean Blvd. 

The former site of the Wildflower restaurant was a popular viewing location for the 41st annual Holiday Boat Parade.  With the park recently open to the public, hundreds of residents jammed the area, which provided some of the most intimate views. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

The Related Group is making a new pitch to the city to build an indoor performing arts center downtown while also buying city-owned land to build about 300 luxury apartments.

In another sign of its interest in doing projects in the city, Related also has proposed a public-private partnership with Florida Atlantic University that would include a convention center, hotel, apartments and retail on 30 acres on the southeast portion of its Boca Raton campus.

“The Related Group wants to do a lot more development deals in Palm Beach County,” said Glenn Gromann, an independent consultant with Related. “We are looking at a lot of deals in Boca Raton … and also in Delray Beach.”

While Related has made the overtures, the city and FAU have taken no action. Related has said it is willing to amend its proposals to align with the city’s and FAU’s needs.

“We have put that [proposal] out there for discussion and ideas,” Gromann said of Related’s communication with the university.

City officials have said they can’t reach any agreements with Related until they are further along in planning a new downtown governmental campus on 30 city-owned acres around City Hall. 

FAU Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater met with Related Group representatives once in a “courtesy” visit, Joshua Glanzer, the university’s assistant vice president for media relations and public affairs, said in an email.

“While a hotel and convention center has long been part of FAU’s master plan, the project is a very long way from reality, and before it is, many policies and procedures must be followed before development partnerships are established,” he said.

Related’s offer to the Boca Raton City Council is a redo of one made in July that ignited controversy.

Related proposed building a 1,500-seat indoor performing arts center and adjacent parking garage in the new downtown campus.

In return, the city would give Related about 3.6 city-owned acres in the northeast section of Mizner Park, where the developer would tear down the aging outdoor amphitheater and build as many as 400 residential units, retail space and a parking garage the public also could use.

But that idea died a quick death after residents objected to the loss of the beloved amphitheater, and city officials are now considering putting a retractable roof on it or possibly redesigning it.

The latest Related proposal, outlined in a Nov. 30 letter to the City Council, calls for an indoor performing arts center and parking garage in the downtown campus or whatever other location the city chooses.

Related, South Florida’s largest luxury condo developer also known for its large mixed-use projects, would buy the city-owned “old library” that now houses city offices and land north of it located east of Boca Raton Boulevard between Northwest Fourth and Second streets. The “old library” would be torn down to make way for about 300 luxury apartments. 

“The new proposal is a win-win for the city,” Gromann said. The money from the land sale “can be used for the performing arts center or whatever else the city wants to do.”

William Shewalter, Related’s senior vice president for development, set out his ideas for FAU in a Nov. 1 letter to Atwater in what he envisions as a $250 million project.

Related would develop about 120,000 square feet of retail and 360 luxury apartments on 27 acres along Glades Road west of El Rio Trail. The target market for the rentals would be graduate or medical students.

The retail would include full-service and fast-casual restaurants, “entertainment oriented components” and a grocery store or possibly a pharmacy.

Related or a hotel developer would build a 150-room hotel on 3 acres, and a 400-space parking lot would be located on the western edge of the project.

Related would build the 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot convention center, but FAU would pay for it and would own it.

FAU would realize $34 million if such a deal is reached.

In his letter, Shewalter describes the proposal as “initial ideas” and said Related would be very flexible.

Shewalter could not be reached for comment. But in a November email to university officials, he wrote, “I wanted to share with the entire team an exciting opportunity to partner with Related Development on what we feel would be financially positive to the university, an iconic place making a statement and would enhance the student and faculty experience at FAU.”

While Related is extremely active in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, it also has a presence in Palm Beach County.

Its projects include the Boca Grand condo in downtown Boca Raton, SofA rentals in Delray Beach, Slade condos in West Palm Beach and Marina Village mixed-use project in Boynton Beach, according to its website. 

By Steve Plunkett

The Beach & Park District may not have to use eminent domain to seize two controversial properties on the oceanfront.

Arthur Koski, the district’s executive director and legal counsel, has been negotiating a way to take possession of undeveloped 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. and 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. since September.

“The owners of 2500 and 2600 are both willing to sell,” Assistant Director Briann Harms told district commissioners at their Dec. 18 meeting in Koski’s absence.

City officials have given Koski complete records of both sites and all ongoing projects there, Harms said. Both parcels have submitted plans for four-story residences that sparked an outcry from neighbors.

“The fact that those two properties are willing to entertain an offer is good,” Commission Chairman Robert Rollins said, noting that the district has ordered appraisals of the parcels.

“I think there may be some things in process that may make the property more affordable,” Rollins said.

The owners of 2500 N. Ocean have permission from the state but not yet the city to build a four-story residence east of A1A and the Coastal Construction Control Line. A city consultant is preparing a final review of 2600 N. Ocean’s plan for a duplex on the beach.

Koski also will negotiate with the owners of a long-occupied, neighboring duplex at 2330 N. Ocean, seeking to raze the residences and connect 2500 and 2600 to Ocean Strand, 15 acres straddling A1A that the district has been saving for a future park.

Janet Graham, a niece of Al Petruzzelli, who lives in the northern side of the duplex at 2330 N. Ocean, has said her uncle is not interested in selling.

“It’s been in our family for more than 70 years,” said Graham, who lives nearby on Northeast 24th Street.

But Al Petruzzelli’s brother Frank and his living trust sold the duplex’s south unit in 2013 for $900,000. The county property appraiser values that parcel today at $865,743.

2500 N. Ocean sold in 2011 for $950,000 and, because it is vacant, has a value of $140,000, the property appraiser says. 2600 N. Ocean sold in 1994 for $850,000 and, also vacant, is valued at $150,000.

Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell urged the district in August to consider using eminent domain, calling it an option “when there is not a willing realistic seller.”

Koski has said pre-suit requirements include getting an appraisal of each parcel and sending it along with a notice of intent to the owner. Then negotiations take place, with the district filing suit to condemn the property only if a price cannot be agreed on.

The district was given the power of eminent domain when it was created in 1974 but has never used it.

Mayor Susan Haynie asked the district in late 2015 to look into buying undeveloped beachfront parcels a week after she and the rest of the City Council reluctantly granted a zoning variance for 2500 N. Ocean. Angry residents almost immediately organized as Boca Save Our Beaches to fight the proposal.

The state issued 2500 N. Ocean a “notice to proceed” in October 2016, ruling that the project would not “weaken, damage or destroy the integrity of the beach and dune system.” 

By Steve Plunkett

A city consultant’s recommendations on undeveloped Ocean Strand and the popular Gumbo Limbo Nature Center caught Beach & Park District officials by surprise.

Kona Gray, of EDSA Inc., which is creating a comprehensive master plan for Boca Raton’s waterfront parks, said the city should make Ocean Strand its No. 5 priority for improvements, after the Wildflower parcel and South Beach, Spanish River and Palmetto Dune parks.

But the city does not own Ocean Strand; the Beach & Park District does.

And at Gumbo Limbo, recommended changes include dismantling the relatively new, $2.3 million saltwater exhibit tanks. The city owns Gumbo Limbo, but the Beach & Park District pays for its upkeep.

District Commissioner Susan Vogelgesang got an update on the Gumbo Limbo plan Dec. 1.

“The smoke was coming out of my ears when the first thing out of their mouths was that they want to destroy the current tanks,” she told fellow commissioners at their following meeting. 

Commission Chairman Robert Rollins agreed. 

“I would not want to do anything to destroy those tanks because we paid a pretty good penny for those not too long ago,” he said.

Gray, who is doing a separate master plan for Gumbo Limbo, was not aware that district officials are “important stakeholders” and that the tanks are only 6 years old, Vogelgesang said.

“I am imploring the city to please include us,” she said.

Commissioner Craig Ehrnst complained that the city still has not rebuilt Gumbo Limbo’s observation tower after insisting in mid-2016 that it, and not the district, should supervise projects there.

“That tower may not mean anything to you if you’ve never been here, but for those like myself who have brought their kids up that tower … it is a big deal to a kid, it’s a big deal to our residents, that makes it unique,” Ehrnst said. “If you want to hire some big consultant to level it and start over again, I don’t think you need to do that.”

Ehrnst questioned whether the district should continue funding Gumbo Limbo 100 percent.

“If the city wants to run it with EDSA, I think they should, and they should pay the bill, too,” he said. 

On Dec. 11, Gray updated City Council members on the comprehensive park plan. 

“We want to thank the Beach & Park District for their input,” he said. “We presented to them … in May and they were very forthright and they gave us some good ideas about how we could make it better. This is with their input.”

EDSA’s concept for Ocean Strand includes a winding entry for cars, parking on grass for about 20 vehicles and a large green space for multiple events. The proposed park would also have a community garden, a botanical garden and a “sunset amphitheater” on the Intracoastal Waterway facing west.

“This existing natural hammock and all the trees that you see here are being saved,” Gray said. “We provided a little lookout pavilion so people can get out to the water. We also provided a non-motorized-boat dock.”

Rollins, who was not at the council’s presentation, was surprised to hear the priority Gray attached to developing Ocean Strand and said the district has no money set aside to build a new park.

“It’s really not on our radar in the immediate future,” Rollins said.

The district’s current commitments include building a new community center at the Swim and Racquet Center, installing artificial turf fields at Patch Reef Park and acquiring the Ocean Breeze golf course.

“That’s enough to keep you awake at night,” Rollins said. 

The Wildflower parcel would be transformed into an urban oasis with flowering trees if Boca Raton adopts the master plan. EDSA Inc. via City of Boca Raton

By Steve Plunkett

If the city does nothing else with its parks, it should turn its Wildflower parcel into a park, combine it with neighboring Silver Palm Park and create a “destination waterfront park” downtown, its consultant says.

EDSA Inc., charged with developing a comprehensive plan for all of Boca Raton’s waterfront parks, was asked after its work began to also examine the city-owned Wildflower site.

“We found out … that that property is pretty crucial,” EDSA’s Kona Gray said at a Dec. 11 City Council workshop.

Gray showed two concepts for the site, at the northwest corner of the Palmetto Park Road bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. One had slightly more parking spaces but a smaller event lawn.

Participants at a public outreach meeting in July preferred a blended approach, choosing a larger event lawn, a boardwalk connected to Silver Palm Park and suggesting additions such as a stop for a water taxi, Gray reported.

“What you have right now is a major opportunity to take advantage of this gateway at Fifth [Avenue] and East Palmetto Park. It’s pretty tremendous,” Gray said.

EDSA was not asked at first to look at both the Wildflower site and Silver Palm Park.

“But as master planners when you look at something holistically, you’ve got to kind of understand really how all the pieces come together,” Gray said. “This is a bigger vision, this is a long-term vision.”

Gray said the city’s first step toward creating a destination park would be to enhance the Wildflower entrance with a “magical entry drive with colorful flowering trees.” A “green” parking lot would transform to be a “parking lot when we need it and become park when we need it.” 

The planners also thought Wildflower should have a playground, a play area and a splash pad. “My nieces live right up the street from here, so I’m here every weekend with them, and you’ve got to get them out because they’re very active and they want playgrounds,” Gray said. 

He urged the City Council to purchase the vacant lot at the northeast corner of Palmetto Park and Fifth, which would allow people on foot to make their way “seamlessly” into the site.

The park could be used for an arts festival, farmers market and other events, Gray said. Eventually a boardwalk under the Intracoastal bridge and over the water would link the Wildflower and Silver Palm parks together.

Boca Raton opened the Wildflower site as a dawn-to-dusk passive park in late November.

EDSA started its master planning by visiting the city’s 14 parks with access to water, and then focused more on Spanish River Park; undeveloped Ocean Strand, which the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District owns; Red Reef and South Beach parks; and Palmetto Dune Park along West Palmetto Park Road.

“We’re designers, we’re landscape architects, but what we do is we facilitate action,” Gray said.

Changes at Spanish River Park include a new lookout tower and enhancements for playgrounds, the tunnels under A1A and a little-known boat dock on the Intracoastal.

Red Reef Park would get an enhanced entrance and pavilion and have its boardwalk extended. 

“At South Beach people really wanted to be on the beach. This is all about beach activities,” Gray said.

“Right now it’s just a little bit tired. It’s nice, but it could be a lot nicer.”

Palmetto Dune Park would get a dog park, a drop-off area and a launch for non-motorized boats.

Council member Robert Weinroth suggested adding a pickleball court to Palmetto Dune’s green space.

Mayor Susan Haynie thanked Gray for his work. “You really captured what our community wants out of these waterfront parks,” she said.

Gray will return in about a month with economists’ projections on what his big-picture concepts might cost.

“I keep saying this over and over again to all of our clients, if you don’t start you’ll never finish,” Gray said. “So let’s get started.” 

By Sallie James

The Boca Raton City Council this month is expected to consider an ordinance to require permanent emergency generators in nursing homes, able to power the facilities for up to 96 hours.

But the executive director from one elder-care facility says it goes too far.

Kevin Wrenne, executive director of the 125-bed Banyan Place, at 2950 NW Fifth Ave., said the proposed ordinance has two major flaws: It requires the installation of diesel-powered generators and disallows cleaner-burning natural gas; and it requires the emergency generator to power 100 percent of a facility’s electrical systems during an emergency.

Wrenne said city officials seem agreeable to amending the ordinance to allow natural gas. But they seem less willing to revise the 100 percent requirement in regard to electrical systems.

“They don’t want to move on that,” Wrenne said. “We have an irrigation system that draws a lot of electricity and it’s certainly not needed in an emergency. We have a lot of exterior lighting. We have a 300-KW generator that covers emergency lighting which covers every other light. There isn’t a building [in the city] that’s compliant with the city’s proposed ordinance, including Boca Regional Hospital.

“The ordinance says 100 percent of the electrical systems. It creates a whole bunch of questions that no one can answer,” he added.

There are 13 elder-care facilities in Boca Raton that will be affected by the city’s ordinance if it is approved, Wrenne said.

“My concern is that it goes way beyond the question of life safety and it goes beyond convenience,” Wrenne said. “To just make a statement and say that it’s going to be a requirement doesn’t seem reasonable.”

The ordinance was introduced in November after nursing home residents at Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Broward County died in sweltering heat after Hurricane Irma knocked out power to the facility when it struck on Sept. 10. The tragedy — eventually 14 residents of the home died — put a spotlight on the need for more comprehensive emergency backup plans in facilities that serve frail and elderly people.

Boca Raton’s proposal got the nod of approval from the city’s Planning and Zoning Board in October and would apply to adult congregate living facilities, nursing homes and convalescent centers. The new emergency generators would have to be installed by June.

The purpose of the proposal is to ensure the retirement facilities are “self-reliant in the event of an emergency such as a hurricane event where there could be an extended time period with a loss of power,” according to a city memo.

The emergency generator requirement has not been without controversy.

Gov. Rick Scott issued an emergency order requiring elder-care facilities to upgrade their generator systems by mid-November. But a judge ruled in October that the deadline was unrealistic and hundreds of facilities missed the deadline, according to published reports. 

The facilities were initially ordered to upgrade within 60 days or face fines of $1,000 a day. 

BOCA RATON — Francis “Frank” Peter Cardinale, age 63, passed away peacefully Dec. 25 at Trustbridge Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton.  He was born Dec. 4, 1954, in Jersey City, N.J.  

He was preceded in death by his father, Peter, mother, Livia, and sister Phyllis. He is survived by his loving wife of 26 years, Mary Ellen, sister Teresa and twin sister, Angela. 

He will also be missed by his aunt, mother-in-law, sister- and brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, great-nieces and his great-nephew, as well as many dear friends. 

After graduating from St. Peter’s College, Mr. Cardinale moved to Florida in 1979 and settled in Boca Raton shortly after. He worked for Dr. Paul Jagers, optometrist. In 1997, Mr. Cardinale along with colleague and friend Lauri Saunders opened Eye Catchers Optique, where they enjoyed serving the community for over 20 years.   

A funeral Mass was held at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Boca Raton on Dec. 29.  

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: Phyll’s Fund, established in honor of his late sister, Phyllis: Henry G. Klein, esq., Court Plaza South; East Wing, 21 Main St., Suite 101, Hackensack, NJ 07601, or Boca Helping Hands,  www.bocahelpinghands.org.

­— Obituary submitted
by the family