UPDATE: Coastal Stewards' president resigns after reducing nonprofit's staff; rehab center vet and coordinator have accepted jobs elsewhere

Visitors to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton on Friday could only view patients in the nature center's rehabilitation unit from behind a gated fence after the Coastal Stewards abruptly closed the marine hospital and the nature center's gift shop following a Thursday vote by the nonprofit's board of trustees. BELOW RIGHT: A sign posted on the fence alerted patrons to the nonprofit board's decision. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

The public can no longer visit the sea turtle hospital or buy gifts at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton following a decision by the nonprofit Coastal Stewards to cease operations there.

“While public access to the rehabilitation center has ended, the 13 sea turtle patients currently under care will continue to receive veterinary attention onsite,” the group announced in a news release Friday. The nonprofit is working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to ensure their safe transfer to other licensed facilities, it said.

“Like many environmental nonprofits, the Coastal Stewards has faced increasing difficulty securing consistent and sustainable funding,” Shivani Gupta, a member of the group’s Board of Trustees, said in the release.

The trustees voted to end the rehabilitation program June 12.

Their meeting marked the unraveling of the Coastal Stewards in its present form. John Holloway, the group’s president and chief executive, tendered his resignation but will stay on as a consultant while the Stewards wind down the turtle hospital

Veterinarian Shelby Loos and rescue and rehabilitation coordinator Kara Portocarrero will also stay on to care for the turtle patients but have accepted jobs elsewhere, Holloway said. He said he had terminated the group’s chief financial officer and support staff.

“I’ve done all I can do, and the organization cannot afford a staffing,” he told the trustees.

Holloway, who joined what was then known as the Friends of Gumbo Limbo in 2020 as its first paid president, quickly faced the challenges of that year’s COVID pandemic and the city’s extended closure of the nature center and gift shop, as well as the city’s 2023 decision to keep donations collected at the door to run Gumbo Limbo rather than turn them over to the nonprofit.

That resulted in “an immediate annual loss of approximately $350,000 to our operating budget,” said Holloway, who was paid $122,323 in 2023, according to Internal Revenue Service records.

Holloway thanked colleagues for their services including his husband, Chad Farnum, “who stepped in to do half-price event planning.”

Earlier in the meeting, the trustees were told that they have $1,000,012 in their bank and investment accounts. That’s down from $3.8 million the group reported having in assets to the IRS in 2020.

Holloway said he had contacted city officials in February about getting financial help and received no response. He tried again in May and got a reply that “the city is working on a response.”

The trustees' moves come after the Coastal Stewards in April vacated their rented office space in an unincorporated county pocket between Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes.

Boca Raton, which operates the nature center, posted on Facebook that “the city is committed to the mission of Gumbo Limbo and will thoughtfully evaluate future opportunities, including potential partnerships for continuing rehabilitation efforts and repurposing the gift shop space.”

The closure of the rehabilitation center does not affect the three “resident” sea turtles housed in outdoor tanks at Gumbo Limbo, which remain on display and available for public viewing. The city holds the FWC permit for keeping the resident turtles, while the Coastal Stewards were given the permit for giving veterinary care.

Also still open are the city-run turtle nesting and hatchling programs, youth camps and community education, the butterfly garden, boardwalk and observation tower. 

One of 13 ailing sea turtles now being treated at Gumbo Limbo that will  have to be transferred to another facilty after the decision by the Coastal Stewards to end its operations at the nature center.

Boca Raton used to operate all facets of Gumbo Limbo, but it decided in March 2023 to fire its sea turtle rehabilitation coordinator, who held the FWC permit, and her assistant coordinator. The FWC then ordered all ailing sea turtles and resident sea turtles transferred to other facilities.

The terminations came as the city was developing a plan to transfer the rehab unit — including its financial obligations — to the nonprofit Coastal Stewards and a month after Maria Chadam, the unit’s on-call veterinarian, resigned.

Since then, the Coastal Stewards hired veterinarian Loos and two other employees full-time to qualify for a new permit.

The road to the permit was hampered by a series of missteps by both the Coastal Stewards and the city, and it wasn’t until April 26, 2024, that the first new sea turtle patient arrived.

Ann Paton, the group’s onetime grants coordinator, told the trustees that raising money is difficult because everyone thinks the city and not the Coastal Stewards runs the rehab unit.

“As soon as you start to explain it, you can look into the eyes of the person you’re talking to, and within 30 seconds they’ve glazed over because they’ve always believed that that whole magilla, that whole beautiful institution, is one entity,” she said.

The agreement with Boca Raton calls for the Coastal Stewards to give 90 days’ notice if they want to terminate it. Holloway said he hoped the city would end it in 45 days.

Chadam, the former part-time veterinarian at Gumbo Limbo, said she heard last month that Holloway would be leaving by year’s end.

“He's blaming the city of course,” she said.

But city officials, in her view, don't care about the turtles.

“I predict a pickleball court coming to GLNC,” she joked.

This is an updated version of the original story, which was posted at 4:38 p.m. June 13, 2025.

By John Pacenti

Less than 12 hours after Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney criticized his department, Police Chief Russ Mager resigned on Wednesday.

Mager submitted his resignation on June 4 after serving the city for 29 years. He had long hinted at retiring. His last day will be July 4.

The announcement came after Carney criticized Mager’s department for failing to conclude an internal investigation involving the firefighter who drove a truck into the pathway of a Brightline train.

It also comes the same week that Mager sent an email to commissioners expressing concern about 15 vacancies in the department, as the police union and the city haggle over a new contract. 

“Chief Russ Mager has been a dedicated public servant and an integral part of the Delray Beach Police Department for nearly 30 years,” said City Manager Terrence Moore.

“His leadership, integrity, and commitment to our community have left a lasting impact on our city. We are deeply grateful for his service and wish him all the best in this next chapter.”

Carney struck a positive tone, as well, on hearing of the resignation.

“He’s had a great career with Delray Beach, and it’s been an honor to have him,” he said. “I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Carney said he wasn’t criticizing Mager personally at the June 3 commission meeting, saying his comments on the internal investigation were more directed to Moore.

But the mayor wanted to make clear he was unhappy the internal investigation had not been concluded by Mager’s internal affairs unit.

In June 2023, firefighter David Wyatt drove his car into a tree on Atlantic Avenue. Though police suspected a DUI, neither a breathalyzer nor a blood test was taken. Some police officers also turned off their body cameras once they learned Wyatt was a firefighter.

The investigation was looking into police conduct in responding to the crash. Wyatt ended up getting a ticket, but his license was suspended for failing to attend driving class. For nearly two months, he drove a firetruck without a valid license.

It was Wyatt behind the wheel of an aerial ladder firetruck when it went around lowered railroad crossing gates on Dec. 28 and was struck by a Brightline train.

“I don’t know how this city can be satisfied that it has taken as long as it has to investigate that accident on West Atlantic,” Carney said about the 2023 crash investigation. “It’s been over four months.”

Mager has previously said he has had trouble scheduling officers for interviews.

“If I couldn’t get people in to testify, I would suspend them,” Carney said at the June 3 meeting.

Moore told Carney that he would have Mager approach the dais and explain, but the mayor said, “I don’t want to hear from the chief. These are the commissioners’ comments. I think I made my point pretty clear.”

Besides the investigation regarding the Wyatt crash, the department has yet to conclude another into police competency in the investigation that led to the arrest of a code enforcement officer for bribery in October. 

The State Attorney’s Office, though, has declined to file charges because of problems with the case.

UPDATE: The city announced on June 6 that Assistant Chief Darrell Hunter will serve as the interim police chief. Hunter joined the Delray Beach Police Department in 2007.

Preserver is credited with Memorial Day rescue

A new water-rescue ring stands at the Boynton Inlet, thanks to the work of Sarah Perry. Her nonprofit donated the devices in honor of her late son, Aden Perry, whose photo graces each one (at top). Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

By Tao Woolfe

 If you’re at the Boynton Inlet or Boca Raton Inlet this summer and you spot an official-looking lifesaving ring mounted near the water, you can thank Aden Perry, an altruistic young man who might still be alive if he’d had access to one of the bright orange flotation devices in 2022.

The life rings, previously installed near waters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, were added last month to the two South Palm Beach County inlets and to other county locations thanks to a donation from Aden’s mother, Sarah Perry.

Perry has been on a mission since her 17-year-old son drowned trying to rescue a car crash victim on April 20, 2022. She believes that had life rings been available on the final night of her son’s life, Aden — and the man he was trying to save — might not have been sucked down into the waters of a dimly lit pond in Sunrise.

“I would like to see life rings installed by every body of water in Florida,” Perry said, explaining that her organization — the Aden Perry Good Samaritan and Scholarship Fund — has so far donated some 500 life rings to municipalities and counties throughout the state.

The life rings began appearing in Palm Beach County parks in May — National Water Safety Month. In addition, Perry said her organization is in discussions with Boynton Beach and Delray Beach fire departments about adding more ring stations in city-owned waterfront parks.

Dane Kris and his son, Beau, of Deerfield Beach watch Oscar Orellana of Pompano Beach and William Newby of Texas fish near a newly installed life ring station at South Inlet Park in Boca Raton on May 26. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

Paddleboarders rescued

The rings are already proving to be worth their salt.

The ones at Ocean Inlet Park in Boynton Beach arrived close to a year after 8-year-old Saul Cerrato-Vasquez of West Palm Beach drowned there, falling into the inlet’s dangerous waters while on an early morning fishing outing with his father on June 13, 2024.

On Memorial Day, one of the new Aden Perry life rings was used during a rescue there.

At about 1 p.m. May 26, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to a 911 call reporting two “distressed” paddleboarders. 

Teams from both the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit and Ocean Rescue pulled the paddleboarders out of the typically strong current, with one of them transported to a hospital. No serious injuries were reported.

A video of the incident, which was sent to Perry, shows one of the Boynton Inlet’s three life rings being used by one of the rescued paddleboarders.

“The ring did exactly what it was supposed to do — help someone who fell into rough water,” Perry said. “This is why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

At a May 1 unveiling ceremony at South Inlet Park in Boca Raton, county rescue personnel performed a mock rescue using a life ring, which is mounted on a stand that is accessible to anyone — whether that person is walking or in a wheelchair, Perry said.

The ring, manufactured by Datrex, which is based in Kinder, Louisiana, is made of low-density polyethylene. The company website describes the material as one that provides “superior life expectancy in the most severe environments.”

The rings cost about $140 apiece, according to the Datrex website.

Aden’s message

Aden Perry drowned while trying to rescue a car crash victim. Photo provided

Perry said she raises the money to pay for life rings from people and companies all across the country. The Aden Perry Foundation partnered with the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation Department, for example, to place the most recent rings along county waterways.

Each life ring bears a small patch containing a photo of Aden Perry and a message that says: “A hero is a person of distinguished courage and ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

The rings look like those you might see on cruise ships or cargo vessels, Perry said, adding that when she looked out over the rocks and breaking waves at the Boca Inlet, she was reminded of how quickly water can turn deadly.

“It hits me every time,” she said.

Sarah and Aden Perry had been walking the family dog along a retention pond in Sunrise on the night of the 2022 incident. They saw a driver lose control of his car, crash into a tree, and land in the water. Aden Perry jumped into the pond to help, but he hit a rock and both he and the driver — an 18-year-old man — drowned.

The Carnegie Institute presented Sarah Perry with a posthumous hero medal for her son in August 2023. The organization honors selfless acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada.

Sarah Perry had begun on her mission to provide life rings and scholarships to Florida parks in February 2023. The first of them were installed along Coral Springs waterways.

“Aden was very bright and wanted to be a neurosurgeon,” Sarah Perry said. “He just wanted to help people. Our foundation’s motto is: ‘It’s great to be brilliant, but it’s more important to be kind.’” 

Boca photographer counsels St. Vincent kids to be caretakers

This sea turtle was saved from mistaking the plastic bag for an edible jellyfish when the photographer grabbed the bag. Photo provided by Ben Hicks

By Ron Hayes

When Denise O’Loughlin, the principal at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School in Delray Beach, introduced that morning’s guest speaker, about 100 middle schoolers gathered in Kellaghan Hall welcomed him with polite applause.

When he had finished speaking 45 minutes later, the applause was loud and long, borne on a wave of enthusiasm mere etiquette cannot inspire.

In between, Ben Hicks had taken them underwater to visit sea turtles and jellyfish. He had shown them a Galapagos shark off the coast of Hawaii, a whale shark off Borneo, and a jaguar stalking turtles in Costa Rica.

He had shown them beautiful creatures in their natural habitat, shown them how human beings threaten those creatures, and then what human beings can do to save them.

Hicks, 45, is a nature photographer who travels the world from his home in Boca Raton, bringing back images that have been displayed in the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Manhattan skyscrapers and Central American hotels.

“I like to talk to young people,” he says. “I tell them my background, the stories behind the images, and how I use the images as a voice for environmental awareness.”

On that Wednesday morning in May, Hicks began with a very simple statement.

“I press the button for a living,” he said, and then he filled the big white screen at his back with some of the marvelous images that button-pressing had captured.

When he showed the students a hundred-foot wave curling before a fiery sunrise, they oohed.

And when he revealed that in fact that wave was really only two feet high, shot in only a few feet of water off Boca Raton’s Red Reef Park one morning, they gasped in amazement.

A gray triggerfish is not the cutest of creatures, and to see one close up, swimming straight for Hicks’ camera by the Boca Inlet, brought startled “oohs.”

•

“A lot of times I’ve spent 21/2 hours to get close,” he explained. “I’m in their habitat, so I let them have their space. I spent three days in North Florida waiting for manatees.”

He showed them the manatees those three days had earned him.

“I also use drones,” he said, and took the students high above the curving coastline of Costa Rica, and then had them look down on tiny sea turtles swimming far below in clear Indonesian waters.

The students learned that the beak of a macaw, photographed only a few feet away, can be a beautifully unnerving thing. And they oohed.

And then the screen was filled with an anonymous couple seated at a rustic table, with one of Hicks’ most popular prints, a baby loggerhead sea turtle, hanging on the wall above.

He’d happened on it in a hotel during a trip to Costa Rica last October. The hotel’s owner had found it online and enlarged it.

“He was a little embarrassed when I told him I’d taken the picture,” Hicks said, “but I told him it was all right, and then I signed the photo.”

•

Raised in Venice, Ben Hicks arrived at Florida Atlantic University in 1998 to pursue a degree in audiology. He’d had ear surgery as a child, so that seemed a sensible career.

Six months later, he switched to graphic design. And then he found photography.

“I borrowed my sister’s camera to shoot my surfer friends,” he recalled. “This was freshman year, she was still in high school, and that Christmas I asked for a camera and got a Canon EOS Rebel.”

In college he had a design internship at a local advertising agency and was offered a full-time job when he graduated in 2003. “But I quickly found out the cubicle life was not for me.”

•

The majority of Ben Hicks’ portfolio deals with sea turtles, with many of the photos from near his home, including this loggerhead hatchling shot in Boca Raton. Photo provided by Ben Hicks

Hicks stayed at the agency a year to learn the business, and then he hit the road.

“I packed my truck and drove around the country for three months first, exploring where I wanted to go.”

He surfed the Pacific coast, did freelance work with a Canon 10D, his first digital camera, and found work as a mechanic in a San Diego bike shop.

Back in Boca Raton by 2005, he bought a casing to keep his camera dry underwater, and when a friend invited him to shoot sea turtles, he found his calling.

In 2008, the Friends of Gumbo Limbo, now called the Coastal Stewards, invited Hicks to display his work at their Sea Turtle Day, and he began selling his photos in their gift shop.

Today he has 43 retailers throughout the Southeast.

His work has appeared in both National Geographic magazine and on the Disney Channel.

His cinematography for the PBS documentary Troubled Waters: A Turtle’s Tale won an Emmy, and he was part of the team that created We’re All Plastic People Now, also for PBS, which won another.

Come July he’ll be in Mexico, to surf and photograph more turtles.

And he does all this without scuba diving.

“I had scar tissue from the ear operations, so growing up they said I shouldn’t scuba dive because it would create pressure in my ears,” he said. “I’m pretty much deaf in my right ear, so I only use a mask, snorkel and fins. That keeps it simple. I can walk the beach with my gear.”

 •

“Who knows what jellyfish look like in the water?”

“Translucent,” one student called out.

“Plastic bags,” another said.

“That’s right,” Hicks told them, and now he’d arrived at the real reason he was there that morning.

“Sea turtles eat jellyfish,” he said, “and they can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish.”

On the right side of the screen, a green sea turtle approached a plastic bag on the left.

“Six years ago, it finally happened,” Hicks said. “I’ve been shooting since 2006, and in 2019 I was shooting this turtle and a plastic bag floats in.”

He pressed the button, then grabbed the bag before the turtle could eat it.

“PLASTIC KILLS,” the screen told the students.

“How long does plastic last in the ocean?” he asked. “Anybody know? A minimum of 1,000 years.”

He showed them a photo of a dead 4-inch baby turtle next to hundreds of plastic pieces found inside it.

“Thousands of baby turtles leave our coast every morning in [nesting] season,” he explained, “and plastic is found in their stomach. Most of the time, the plastic breaks down into small pieces that are easier for turtles to eat, unfortunately.”

Ask Hicks for the one shot he longs to get, that single photo that eludes him, and he says it’s not about the shot. It’s about the viewers’ reaction.

“For me, that one shot is the one that will impact the most to bring environmental awareness,” he said. “You don’t know the shot that will really impact people on how they care about the environment, but a lot of people tell me, ‘I’ve never been in the ocean before.’ And then they see a baby turtle.”

“Pick up trash on the beach,” he encouraged the students.  “Carry your water in a reusable bottle. Bring your own straw.

“You guys are the next generation,” he said. “It’s important that you guys know our planet needs your help at all times.”

•

When the long, loud, enthusiastic applause had died down for the man who’s pretty much deaf in his right ear, the students said they had heard him perfectly.

“I heard a lot about how we can take care of the ocean,” said Alora Kuzzy, 12, a seventh-grader from Greenacres. “There are things we can change by what we buy and reusable items and cleaning the beach.”
Dylan Urrutia, 13, a seventh-grader from Delray Beach, said, “He showed me how even a little plastic can hurt a turtle. And how much plastic is in them.

“The photos were really impressive and hard to take, but they told a great story.”

•

Hicks ended his session at St. Vincent Ferrer by taking a selfie with students and staff. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Last October, Hicks traveled to Tortuguero, Costa Rica, hoping to photograph a jaguar preying on a sea turtle.

“They’re not a threat to humans,” he told the students, “but jaguars roam the beach along the rainforest, where the mother turtles return to lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born.”

One night, Hicks got unlucky. The jaguar appeared, coming toward him out of the jungle, but he couldn’t get a camera out of his backpack fast enough, and went home with only an unfocused, badly lit shot with his iPhone.

“I’ll be back this year,” he promised. 

To see more examples of Ben Hicks’ nature photography, visit benjhicks.com.

By Mary Hladky

The taxable value of Palm Beach County properties has cooled for the second year in a row, heading back to a more typical rate of increase following stratospheric gains in 2022 and 2023.

But even with the smaller value jump, this marks the 14th consecutive year that taxable values have increased in a long rebound from the 2008 Great Recession.

In southeastern Palm Beach County, Ocean Ridge led the way with a 9.9% taxable value increase, closely followed by Briny Breezes’ 9.5%.

Gulf Stream was up 8.5%, Delray Beach 8.3%, Manalapan 7.6%, Boca Raton 7.1%, Highland Beach 6.7%, and Boynton Beach and Lantana, both 6.4%.

South Palm Beach was the only community in the county to see its taxable value drop — down 0.62% — the first time there’s been a year-to-year decrease for a county municipality since 2013. 

South Palm Beach Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the town’s taxable value — which comes overwhelmingly from aging condos — is finally feeling the impact of the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse and costly new state regulations that came about because of it.

“I think this is the first time we’re actually seeing those numbers reflected in the property appraiser’s assessment,” Titcomb said.

Healthy growth

Still, while County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks’ report is not as glowing as in the past few years, other communities had to be pleased with what they were hearing from her office, which will continue to refine the numbers until they are finalized at the end of June.

“While overall taxable value continues to increase, the rate of increase has slowed compared to last year,” Jacks said as she released the June 1 taxable value estimates.

The countywide increase of 7.7% from 2024 to 2025 was down from the previous year’s 10% but is still a healthy rate of growth.

Jacks provided a snapshot of the market to the County Commission on April 22 while her office was still tabulating the data.

She was surprised to see that $5.4 billion in new construction was added to the tax rolls this year on top of $5.1 billion in 2024.

That includes the construction of 2,700 single-family homes, while 22 new apartment complexes with a total of 3,773 units also were built, she said.

The number of home sales declined 3% in 2024, but the median sales price for single-family homes increased 6%, according to Jacks’ office.

Condo market

Similarly, condo sales were down but values increased slightly, Jacks said.

Despite fears that condo values would tank because of changes enacted after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Jacks said that is not evident in Palm Beach County. Last year, she had expected a decline in condo values over the next few years.

“We are in good shape in the condo market,” she said. She acknowledged, however, that prospective condo buyers aren’t acting blindly and are looking carefully at the adequacy of reserve accounts and insurance coverage.

In South Palm Beach, Titcomb said his town was hurt because it doesn’t have the mix of residential and commercial properties more typical in county municipalities. The town is almost exclusively condominiums — just under 1,900 condos and only four single-family homes — and most of the condos are old, dating as far back as the 1950s, he said.

Those buildings now must comply with the recent state laws that require inspections and adequate reserve accounts to pay for repairs. That has resulted in higher maintenance fees and special assessments, prompting potential buyers to seek price reductions.

Even with the drop in value, the town’s tax rate may not increase. 

“I have no intention of proposing an increase in the rate,” Titcomb said.

The last time a county municipality faced a drop in its taxable value was 12 years ago. In 2013, values dropped in four municipalities — including Briny Breezes — which were still experiencing the lingering effects of the Great Recession.

“In 2006-2007, values ballooned due to the housing market bubble and in 2008, values in Palm Beach County declined across the board when the housing market crashed,” Becky Robinson, public information officer for the Property Appraiser’s Office, said in an email. “Some municipalities continued to see declines in taxable value year over year through 2013, which was the last year that we saw that. After that, all saw taxable value gains until this year.”

Values affect tax rates

Of the county’s 39 towns and cities, Boca Raton continues to have the highest total taxable value of $40.1 billion, followed by Palm Beach’s $34.4 billion.

Taxable value increases are great news for municipal leaders as they work to finalize their budgets for the new fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.

Local governments use taxable values to calculate how much property tax money they can expect. They then set their annual budgets and tax rates.

An increase in taxable value means they will collect more money from property owners if they keep their tax rate the same as the previous year.

Unless governments lower their tax rate, homeowners will face higher property tax bills at a time when inflation and rising interest rates are straining family budgets.

To prevent a tax increase entirely, elected officials would have to use the “rolled-back” rate, which state law requires them to calculate. That rate would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, not counting taxes that come from new construction.

Municipalities seldom go to the rolled-back rate — though Delray Beach did last year — because they all face rising costs. For example, Boca Raton, a rapidly growing city with resident demand for quality services, usually lowers its tax rate by a minuscule amount, which allows city leaders to say they have cut the rate while still benefiting from increased revenue.

Homeowners with homesteaded properties, however, don’t feel the full brunt of rising property values because state law caps the taxable value increase to 3%. Non-homesteaded properties are capped at 10%.

The taxable value numbers are based on market conditions as of Jan. 1, so they do not reflect any changes in 2025. The final figures will be submitted to the Florida Department of Revenue at the end of this month. Local governments set their property tax rates in September. 

Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.

Lantana’s policy is to leave sargassum alone, but the record amount forecast prompted the town to seek expert input on whether to rake its beach (above). Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Related: Along the Coast: Record seaweed levels headed our way

By Mary Thurwachter

It’s that time of year again when beachgoers arrive at the Lantana shoreline to find large swaths of seaweed blanketing the sand. It leaves little, if any, space to park a chair or spread a beach blanket.

Called sargassum, the golden-brown seaweed is unsightly, smelly and sends many would-be sunbathers to nearby, more frequently raked beaches such as in Lake Worth Beach or alongside Boynton Beach.

Lantana has been grappling with the problem for years and it’s getting worse.

The town’s long-standing policy has been to limit raking and not to remove sargassum. The thinking has been that seaweed was essential for marine life, kept replacement sand on beaches and provided nutrients to plants on dunes.

But leaders may have different ideas now with newcomer Jesse Rivero on the Town Council. Rivero defeated 21-year incumbent Council member Lynn “Doc” Moorhouse in the March election and is very pro-raking. In April, he asked that the town reconsider its raking policy and for the topic to be put on a future agenda.

Sargassum removal will be an agenda item at the town’s June 9 meeting, but in advance of that, Town Manager Brian Raducci invited Marc Fichtner, the town’s marine safety supervisor, to talk about the problem at the council’s May 12 meeting.

Fichtner is at the beach almost daily, talks to beachgoers and has firsthand knowledge of conditions, Raducci said. And Fichtner has consulted with experts.

“We’re seeing an increase in sargassum at Lantana Beach,” Fichtner said. “It kind of disproportionately affects us because we’ve got 750 feet of beach and you’ve got the high tide mark at 10 to 15 yards wide at a max,” leaving only a thin strip for sunbathers, he said. “We’ve been getting increasing complaints from patrons on the beach. I just wanted to let you all know what I researched and what I came up with.”

Fichtner had spoken with Dr. Brian LaPointe, a research professor at FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, who said 14 million tons of sargassum is expected in the Caribbean this year.

“It’s the most there’s ever been on record,” Fichtner said. “At some point, whether that’s June, July or August, it’s going to hit our beach.”

Fichtner said erosion wouldn’t be much of a problem because the dunes in Lantana are behind the sea walls. What would be a serious concern, however, would be the bacteria that form from rotting sargassum. “One of the biggest things with that is hydrogen sulfide and ammonia produced by decomposing sargassum, which is toxic to animals and people as well,” Fichtner said.

Raking the beach could prevent that, he said.

Sargassum can trap small sea turtles and removing it decreases the mortality of hatchlings, he said.

“Raking also removes litter and pollutants that get caught up in the sargassum, which is one of the big issues we’ve been having,” he said. “We get a lot of trash in the sargassum.

It also increases beach usability, limits insect infestation and prevents small turtles from exposure to toxic gases.”

As long as the town has proper permits and secures the go-ahead from sea turtle experts, the process can be started, Fichtner said. “It’s doable. It’s sustainable. It doesn’t have much of a — or any — negative impact on the beach.”

Mayor Karen Lythgoe said she thought the council was in favor of doing something about the problem.

“It is very controversial,” Lythgoe said. “It’s always been happening, and it always will. There are some downsides to it.”

She asked Raducci to find out what raking would cost on an “as needed basis,” and what kind of disposal would be best.

Vice Mayor Kem Mason said something needs to be done. “This will only get worse,” he said. “It’s been growing for 20 years. The problem is not going away.”

Rivero, a fireman with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue based in Manalapan, said he is 100% for raking as often as weekly during the summer.

“I go walking on the beach regularly,” he said. “It’s very therapeutic and it keeps me in good shape. I just see throughout the season what’s going on and that (not raking) is not doing any good for the beach. Aesthetically and health wise, everything would be so much better for everybody” if the beach were raked during the summer months. 

Riptides at the beach. Strong currents in the inlet. Distractions on State Road A1A.

And, oh yeah, hurricane season has arrived. Can’t you feel them circling, honey?

Be careful out there.

Since A1A is now officially the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, let me quote the great beach bar balladeer: “Fruitcakes in the kitchen, fruitcakes on the street, Struttin’ naked through the crosswalk in the middle of the week.”

I don’t know about fruitcakes, but there is definitely a healthy dose of near-nakedness in the beach crossings along A1A. I guess some driver distractions are more welcome than others.

But I digress.

Let's start with hurricane season. There’s a mass preoccupation with what may be brewing offshore and what category an approaching storm will reach. Ice cream cone debates (one scoop or two) become less important — and far less chilling — than getting the scoop on the cone of a hurricane’s forecast track.

If you’ve never been through a hurricane, just know this: If one hits us, we’re in for a heap of misery.

So, stock up on water and other essentials, make sure your generator is ready if you have one, and get your emergency evacuation plan in order.

Be prepared out there.

And not just for hurricanes.

Say, for instance, you go out for a refreshing dip in the ocean. As best as you can, choose lifeguarded areas when you’re at the beach and pay attention to signs warning of riptides and other dangers.

Be smart out there.

Take advantage of help that’s available to you. At the Boca Raton and Boynton inlets, safety has improved thanks to life ring donations in May from the Aden Perry Foundation. It didn’t take long for one of the new arrivals to serve its purpose, during a Memorial Day rescue at the Boynton Inlet just weeks after it was placed there.

Then there’s the elephant on the island — A1A — with lots of crosswalks in some areas and none in others. Use them when you can.

But please, don’t try to be macho when crossing A1A. If the crosswalk has a button to make lights flash, press it. Also, no one will think less of you if you carry one of those orange flags — provided at some crosswalks — as you cross the road. 

Remember: It’s not about your abilities; it’s about the abilities of the driver coming at you. Have you seen how some people drive lately? Anything that can draw attention to yourself as you cross the street is a good thing.

Last of all, for drivers, I realize you’re facing plenty of distractions that have nothing to do with the amount of clothing worn by beachgoers. Avoid the urge to catch a glimpse of the ocean or see what’s behind the gate of an estate you’re passing.  

Depending on the day, it may feel like it takes all of your energy just to watch out for those ubiquitous A1A bicyclists. Maybe you’re taxed having to drive through a road construction project that has shifting lanes and is loaded with traffic barrels and heavy equipment. 

No matter the circumstance, the advice is the same: Pay attention out there.

— Larry Barszewski,

Editor

By Mary Hladky

One year after discontinuing its commuter pass, Brightline once again is offering one to South Floridians who had used the original pass to get lower-cost fares.

But the rides now cost more, which undoubtedly displeases commuters who had relied on the old pass to afford transportation from homes in one city to jobs in another, or those who want to use the trains frequently for other reasons.

Boca Raton riders were shocked that the pass was eliminated June 1, 2024, telling City Council members this was a “declaration of war against commuters” and a “bait-and-switch.”

A reprieve seemed in the offing on Jan. 10, when Brightline announced that it expected to launch a new commuter pass in March.

But nothing happened until May 6, when the high-speed rail line unveiled new multi-ride passes. However, the 40-ride pass best suited to regular commuters was shockingly more expensive than the original one.

That pass for travel anywhere between Miami and West Palm Beach cost $899, or nearly $22.50 per one-way ride and $45 round trip. The original $399 pass cost $10 one way and $20 round trip. Riders, needless to say, did not like it.

Ten days later, Brightline announced “the return of the commuter pass.” The 40-ride option had been reduced to $599, or just under $15 per ride. There’s a caveat: “Passes are available in limited quantities, while supplies last,” the company said.

The change, Brightline said, was “based on guest feedback” and would “add even more value for our most frequent and loyal riders with deeper savings.”

Brightline officials did not respond directly to a question from The Coastal Star about whether customer complaints had prompted the change.

“We always continue to refine product offerings to try and match the needs of our guests and the demand for the offering,” spokeswoman Ashley Blasewitz said in an email.

Brightline has insisted since its inception that it is not a commuter rail line. The goal was to offer much more profitable long-haul service to and from South Florida and Orlando.

And yet, when Brightline expanded service beyond Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach to build stations in Boca Raton and Aventura, it became a de facto commuter line for many riders.

Brightline de-prioritized those passengers one year ago when it eliminated the old pass and prioritized those going to and from Orlando. Since then, short-haul ridership has declined while long-distance ridership has increased substantially.

April long-distance ridership was up 20% compared to April 2024 and short-distance ridership was down 3%, according to Brightline’s April revenue and ridership report. The report mainly attributed the short-distance decline to the elimination of the original commuter pass.

Another potential problem for commuters is that train schedules are not set in stone. Brightline can eliminate certain trains but leaves open the option of adding them back to the schedule. So a rider who relies on a specific departure time might have to switch to a less convenient time.

“Our schedules change quite regularly depending on demand for certain times/availability of trains,” Blasewitz wrote.

People who have pre-purchased a ticket on a train that is eliminated or whose departure time is changed are notified. 

Seaplanes can’t dock in Lantana — The Lantana Town Council unanimously voted to amend its ordinances May 12 to prohibit the docking or tying up of seaplanes or flying boats — seaplanes with a fuselage designed as a hull, allowing them to operate on water — to any pier or dock in Lantana. The amendment aims to address concerns related to safety, noise, and compatibility with existing land and water uses.

The change was made as part of an ongoing review of regulatory provisions and was reviewed and unanimously approved by the Planning Commission on May 8.

Free smoke detectors — Lantana residents who signed up by last month’s deadline will get free smoke and carbon monoxide alarm installations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 14 in their homes. To learn more about the program, call 561-616-7034.

Pickleball court survey — The town is conducting a survey to collect feedback on the proposed conversion of the north tennis courts at the corner of Iris Avenue and South Lake Drive to pickleball courts.

Participation will help the town better understand the community’s needs and preferences for court usage. The project involves converting the two existing tennis courts into six pickleball courts.

To take the survey, visit s.surveyplanet.com/kf46cyhl

Budget talks to begin — Lantana will hold its first budget workshop beginning at 5:30 p.m. June 9 in the council chambers at 500 Greynolds Circle.

— Mary Thurwachter

Sydney Michelin will be on a boat as a volunteer medic during the Bahamas-to-Lake Worth Beach Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis this month. She enjoys paddleboarding herself, here at Rutherford Park in Boca Raton. Michelin lost two cousins to cystic fibrosis when she was young. ’The challenges that they faced drove me to stay in the fight against CF,’ she says. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Kathleen Kernicky

After moving back to South Florida three years ago, Sydney Michelin was looking for a nonprofit where she could help others, advocate for a meaningful cause and volunteer her skills as a registered nurse.

Michelin, 30, who lives in Boca Raton, found a perfect fit as a volunteer at the ninth annual Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis this month. Participants on paddleboards and surf skis, or in kayaks, canoes and rowboats, will make an 81-mile ocean crossing from Bimini, Bahamas, to Lake Worth Beach, arriving June 22 after some 12 hours of travel following a midnight departure. 

The Crossing benefits CF patients and their families through Piper’s Angels Foundation. The nonprofit was founded by paddler enthusiast Travis Suit after his daughter, Piper, 17, was diagnosed with CF at age 4.

An avid paddleboarder, Michelin will be assigned to a boat that provides medical support to paddlers and their accompanying boaters throughout the journey. It is her second trip as a Crossing volunteer.

“Obviously, it’s an intense physical and mental journey,” she said. “You’re watching for dehydration, exhaustion, injuries. Some of the paddlers have CF, so it’s also a way of being aware of their feelings and making sure you’re communicating with them.

“It can be an emotionally exhausting experience. You’re there to be a calm, steady presence.”

Michelin has a personal connection to cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that primarily attacks the lungs and digestive system. Two cousins died of CF when she was young. “The challenges that they faced drove me to stay in the fight against CF,” Michelin said.

Volunteering at the ocean-crossing event and its annual gala at the Kravis Center is a way to “honor my cousins’ memory and support others living with the condition.” 

A nurse for the past six years, Michelin works as an IVF coordinator at CCRM Fertility, a leading fertility treatment center based in Denver.

“I was drawn to fertility nursing because it blends science with compassion and advocacy in a way that is pretty unique. I’ve always been passionate about women’s health. The idea of being able to help someone build a family resonates with me,” Michelin said.

Her work in the medical field dovetails with her support of the CF community. As a fertility nurse she guides patients through the process of genetic testing, which includes screening for CF and other genetic mutations. 

“It made me more aware of the role genetics can play in our life,” she said. “It pushed me to look at my own genetics, given I have CF in my family. It deepened my empathy for the patients and the families.”

Michelin grew up in South Florida, graduating from St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton before earning a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. She played soccer in high school and during college.

“That shaped my love for teamwork and staying active,” said Michelin, who enjoys running and paddleboarding. “It’s my way of staying grounded and balanced outside of work.”

Volunteering offers a sense of purpose and connection.

“The Piper’s Angels Foundation came into my life for a reason that’s both a work purpose and personal,” she said. “You never know what people are fighting through. There are people out there who are paddling 81 miles in the ocean and fighting CF while they’re doing it. I look at myself in the mirror and think if they can do it, I can do it. 

“I feel honored to be able to support people who are pushing themselves for such a meaningful cause. I am proud to contribute however I can.” 

For more information on the Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis, visit crossingforcysticfibrosis.com.

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Rodman ‘Rock’ Leas lives on Hypoluxo Island across from the Lantana Nature Preserve. He and his wife — avid birders — enjoy the wildlife preserve’s scenery. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

From Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea to Jimmy Buffett’s Son of a Son of a Sailor, the romanticism of the job of a fishing captain has become firmly established in American lore. Having lived that life for about 20 years, Rodman “Rock” Leas can testify that the experience is all it’s cracked up to be.

“I loved the ocean,” said Leas, 67, a Hypoluxo Island resident whose fish stories nowadays occur only when he joins friends to charter a boat about once a month.

“I explored the out islands of the Bahamas when nobody could get there, when they were untouched except for the natives. Later on, I heard Jimmy Buffett went to those places and all the yachts followed him there. So, I’m pleased I was able to get to those places when it wasn’t that way.”

Socializing while coming of age around Palm Beach, Leas had plenty of temptations to take a different path.

“There was a bar called the 24 Club, and my friends would start there and would go out the back door and head to the Marakesh to go dancing,” he said. “I knew if I went out the back door I’d be up until 4 in the morning, and if I went out the front door, I’d be up at 6. I always wanted to fish, and it kept me out of trouble.

“That’s why I support the West Palm Beach Fishing Club: Get kids into fishing and they stay out of trouble. It kept me on the straight and narrow, and then it turned into a career.”

Leas earned a degree in seamanship from the Chapman School in Stuart in 1977, started out as a mate and moved up to captain in 1985. As time went by, he became more confident in his ability to help clients catch the big ones.

“I remember running the daughter of the owner of the boat up the coast of this (Bahamian) island to the airport, and told her, ‘The plane isn’t going to get here for about 40 minutes. You want to catch a blue marlin?’ I was serious, and she said sure. I put the baits out, 10 minutes later we hook up, 20 minutes later we were releasing the fish, and the plane (on its way to landing) flies over the boat.

“It was so cool to be in that situation. To be able to offer this girl this opportunity and be serious about it. They say 10,000 people can go blue marlin fishing and 1,000 will catch one, so that’s 9,000 people who come up empty. So, to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got half an hour, would you like to catch one,’ that’s something.”

One thing Leas doesn’t miss about the job was always having to stay on top of the weather forecast.

“The temperature range, precipitation, the wind — especially the wind,” he said. “Even when I was on vacation, I was watching the weather in Palm Beach. It’s so nice not to have to do that.”

A member of the Sailfish Club in Palm Beach, Leas set out to play golf in retirement but found more willing companions in skeet shooting. He has improved significantly and has joined the South Florida Shooting Club in Stuart. He is also an avid birdwatcher and is a member of Audubon Everglades.

Leas has been married to his wife, Maria, for 23 years and has a daughter and a son by an earlier marriage.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: Born in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb just north of Philadelphia, and moved to Florida at 15, where I graduated from St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton. My senior year introduced me to water skiing after school and fishing off the beach. The crystal-clear waters of South Florida and the friendships I made ignited my lifelong love for the sea. I graduated from the Charles S. Chapman School of Seamanship in 1977.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: As a sport fishing captain until my retirement in 2005, I had the incredible opportunity to explore the Bahamian islands, fish in prestigious tournaments, and introduce people to the beauty and wonders of the ocean. It was deeply rewarding to help others catch their first billfish or bonefish. One of my proudest moments was being recognized for heroism in rescuing the crew of a capsized boat, a moment where preparation met opportunity. The Palm Beach Civic Association honored me with the Raymond Kunkel Award for heroic action because of my efforts that day.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Every truly successful person I’ve met — whether a mason, photographer, lawyer or house painter — had one thing in common: They loved their work. That passion fueled their thriving businesses. My best advice? Show up and give your best effort, and love what you do.

Q: How did you choose your home on Hypoluxo Island?
A: My older brother was selling his house, and I found myself fishing off his dock constantly. When I got married in 1986, the timing was perfect to settle down and start a family here.

Q: What is your favorite part about living on Hypoluxo Island?
A: My neighbors are the best part of living here. Also, this island has so much wildlife, which always fascinated me. My wife and I are avid birders, keeping a close watch on the visitors passing through our feeders on their way to warmer grounds. They mark the seasons for us. Buntings in the fall and cedar waxwings in the spring and the crows of summer.
Living across from the Lantana Nature Preserve is a privilege — we often take walks through its serene paths, hoping to catch glimpses of owls or kingfishers.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I’ll admit it, I enjoy beach reads. This winter my daughter nudged me toward a few rom-fantasy novels, filled with flying dragons and daring quests for love. They were fun, but I’ve since returned to my usual reads. I recently finished Mind’s Eye by Douglas E. Richards and am now diving into Perimeter by M.A. Rothman. Action-packed adventures filled with heroes who possess extraordinary abilities to save the world.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: Naturally, I connect with Jimmy Buffett’s music. Motown and the songs of the ’70s bring back the memories of my early summers. I listen to old radio detective shows when on long drives in my car.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: I looked up to tournament-winning fishing captains, asking endless questions, eager to learn. One captain taught me the art of varnishing, a skill I still value. My father had a saying: “If you’re allowed to be five minutes late, you’re allowed to be five minutes early.” That perspective shaped my career and much of my life.
I idolized Jackie Morrow. He was an excellent bluefish and sailfish captain out of Palm Beach and he once called me on the radio back around the late ’70s or early ’80s and asked me what I saw in the water. Just the fact that he thought I was a good enough fisherman that he would call and ask if I was getting any bites meant the world to me.
When I feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next, I simply focus on doing the next right thing, and somehow everything falls into place.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: My father was friends with Sean Connery, so my pick is an easy one.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Rodney Dangerfield’s stand-up always got me laughing, and John Oliver never fails to deliver sharp, insightful humor that exposes society’s absurdities.

By John Pacenti

Just like a heart patient with clogged arteries, a bypass will be used to shore up Ocean Ridge fire hydrants that do not have adequate water pressure due to aging, corroding pipes. In the meantime, the town is moving up the timeline on an infrastructure project to replace those pipes.

Boynton Beach Fire Rescue, which services the town, has had crews doing drills in Ocean Ridge to ensure homes in the affected area on Hudson Avenue are protected in case of fire.

The plan, Fire Chief Hugh Bruder told the Town Commission at its June 2 meeting, is to run hoses on one of two nearby lines on State Road A1A that have the standard pressure of 1,500 gallons per minute.

Bruder said the bypass is necessary because hydrant flow tests discovered that inadequate water pressure along Hudson Avenue would severely limit firefighting effectiveness.

“I think we have a plan in place that the residents can feel safe, that if there’s a fire in this area, we’re going to be able to get to it and put it out as quickly as possible,” Bruder said.

Homes in the Pelican Cove development — and those on Ridge Lane, Anna Street, Engle Drive and Edith Street — are in the affected area, according to a map presented by Bruder.

Town Engineer Lisa Tropepe recommended that the town expedite Phase 4 of its ongoing plan to replace aging water pipes, saying that phase would cover most of the affected area of the low-flow fire hydrants. The town has estimated the overall replacement project will cost $39 million and be done over eight years. Commissioners voted to approve $24,000 for a study of the pipes for Phase 4.

“The first step is to collect the data. The first step is to get the survey done right from Ocean Avenue to Corinne (Street),” Tropepe said.

Bruder told commissioners his department is set to receive a new fire boat in August that could also be used in the event of a fire. He said “it’s going to be a critical piece of equipment for us to fight fire from the water.”

By Rich Pollack

Boaters will be less likely to have an encounter with law enforcement come July as the result of Florida’s new Boater Freedom Act.

Currently law enforcement officers can stop boats to conduct safety and marine sanitation inspections without having evidence that a violation of the law has taken place. 

Under the new legislation, officers will need to have reason to believe that vessel safety laws have been violated. A violation of marine safety laws may only be considered a secondary offense. 

State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Boca Raton, a boater, says that there was a belief, especially among longtime responsible boaters, that some of the inspections were unnecessary.

“The overwhelming feeling is that there were probably too many random stops,” said Gossett-Seidman, who voted for the law. “Now the focus is on real rule breakers.” 

Under the provisions of the law, marine officers will have the authority to inspect for the necessary safety equipment and licenses should a boat be stopped for another violation. 

The required equipment includes engine cut-off switches, personal flotation devices, visual distress signals, fire extinguishers, and backfire flame controls.

The proper number of life vests is one of the priorities, and Florida law also requires that all children under 6 must wear a personal flotation device.

While the effect of the law will not be felt for several months, leaders of at least one local law enforcement agency say they don’t expect major changes in the way the marine unit operates. 

“The new law won’t have a big impact because our focus is on speed reduction education and manatee zone enforcement,” said Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann. 

The town’s marine unit, he said, will continue to educate boaters on safety requirements and perform inspections if a boat is stopped for speeding or other violations. 

In addition to requiring probable cause before an inspection can take place, the law will require the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to create Florida Freedom Boater decals that can be placed on a boat that has completed a safety inspection. 

The decal, Gossett-Seidman said, will let law enforcement and others know that the operator is a responsible boater. 

“This is very decent legislation,” she said. 

A preliminary design shows a two-story Town Hall. The council also looked at three-story proposals. Rendering provided

By Hannah Spence

The South Palm Beach Town Council decided at its May meeting to construct a two-story Town Hall instead of a three-story one — while facing opposition from a handful of residents who insisted that renovating the existing structure was all that was needed. 

“It doesn’t seem necessary as of right now,” said Olga Serafimova, who was among a group of about 20 residents who attended the regular Town Council meeting on May 16. “Lots of buildings in our area are a lot older than that. Nobody thinks of tearing them down.”

However, according to Town Manager Jamie Titcomb, a new building is necessary — and he said the town has the data to prove it. 

“It has been determined through multiple studies contracted out by the town over several years that the current facilities were beyond useful functionality and condition,” said Titcomb. 

A renovation of the current building would automatically trigger upgrades needed to meet the current Florida Building Code and more recent FEMA regulations. The cost and rehabilitation studies done prior to the pandemic, along with significant code and FEMA regulation changes, make renovation of the current facility untenable, Titcomb said. 

Links to multiple assessment study reports performed on the existing facilities for the town can be viewed on the “Town Hall” tab on the town’s website, www.southpalmbeach.com.

For about five months, CPZ Architects — the company hired to design the project — has held individual meetings with each council member where it discussed matters such as building design and identifying the project scope. 

According to a financial report presented at the May 16 meeting, the town has the $6 million to $6.5 million that has been identified as conceptually needed for the project and that no additional taxation of residents would be required. The available money is taxpayer dollars that have been saved over the years with the intent of putting the money toward the Town Hall.

Council member Sandy Beckett admitted she used to be among those who felt the existing Town Hall could be renovated, but she now agrees with her colleagues that it’s time for a new building.

“First of all, to make it more attractive and more modern,” said Beckett. “Some people expressed we don’t need a place for meetings and such, but we do try to promote community involvement and events, so we certainly want some space for that.”

Joe Barry, vice president of CPZ Architects, said his firm is very early on in the conceptual design. The difference between the two-story and three-story building options was roughly 1,500 square feet, with the two-story model costing roughly a million dollars less than the three-story option.

“Obviously there are going to be some people who aren’t happy with the decision,” said Beckett. “But hopefully, as time goes on and this building evolves and we make other decisions, there will be more input that will help us to design a building that everybody will be happy with.”

About an hour and a half into the meeting, resident Rafael Pineiro said he was appalled that none of the council members had made a single comment about what would happen with the existing turtle sculpture now at Town Hall. 

Mayor Bonnie Fischer, responding about what is to be included or excluded at the new Town Hall, said Pineiro’s “statements are conjecture, not factual, as decisions on these matters have not even been made to date. However, the Town Council has indicated all along that the turtle sculpture and the memorial bricks will be utilized in the new town campus.”

Also, Fischer said, the Town Council will determine all final configurations and amenities of the new Town Hall design that gets bid out to contractors. 

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream residents will face higher water bills this fall before the town switches its water provider from Delray Beach to Boynton Beach.

The town was already braced for Delray Beach’s expected boost from $4.49 per 1,000 gallons to $5.28 per 1,000 come Oct. 1. That long-planned 18% increase was part of Gulf Stream’s motivation to find a new provider.

But in a May 9 letter to Delray Beach city commissioners, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore said Gulf Stream wants service to continue until October 2027 and that his utilities director will “evaluate potential rate adjustments to offset increased service-related expenses.”

No dollar amount was given, and Gulf Stream Town Manager Greg Dunham said neither Moore nor Delray Beach Utilities Director Hassan Hadjimiry had contacted the town with a figure.

When Gulf Stream connects to Boynton Beach’s system, the cost to town customers will plummet to $3.75 per 1,000 gallons under a 25-year agreement the town and the city signed last fall.

But before that can happen, a water main must be laid from Seacrest Boulevard east along Gulfstream Boulevard to a connection just inside the entrance to Place Au Soleil. 

The main will be installed in conjunction with a roadway improvement project on Gulfstream Boulevard, which separates Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. Both cities are sharing the cost of improving the road.

“The most up-to-date estimate for this work to be completed is 18 months,” Dunham told Moore in an April 15 letter. “Thank you for continuing to provide water during this transition period.”

The water arrangement has soured relations between Delray Beach and Gulf Stream somewhat. Dunham has said the town first approached Moore in August 2022 to see if he would lower the customary 25% surcharge that Gulf Stream was paying, the maximum the state allows. 

But Delray Beach said no and encouraged the town to seek a better rate elsewhere. 

“It was only at the Delray Beach city manager’s direction that the town started talking with the city of Boynton Beach and its utility department,” Dunham has said.

As recently as April 12, 2024, Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said it looked like Gulf Stream would be renewing its contract with Delray Beach. But six days later Dunham told Moore that the town would switch its water provider to Boynton Beach.

And six days after that, Moore told Gulf Stream officials that the town would have to get off the city’s water system by June 17, 2025.

He also said Gulf Stream “has been on formal notice of the city’s intention not to renew the agreement since May of 2022, if not before.”

At the time, Delray Beach was charging the town $3.81 per 1,000 gallons.

Delray Beach is raising its water rates to pay for building a new water plant. The city says it can only afford a plant large enough to serve its own population, which is expected to grow by 7,000 residents. 

Water payments from the newcomers will more than offset the money Gulf Stream has been paying. 

Delray Beach has supplied Gulf Stream with water since at least 1976. It also provides fire rescue services for the town and until August 2022 handled its building permits.

Along with lower rates, Gulf Stream expects to get better water pressure from Boynton Beach once it connects. 

A gate to the beach completed last month at the end of Tropical Drive protects a pathway that had been the subject of a dispute between drive residents and their Turtle Beach condominium neighbors. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Jane Musgrave

A long-running feud between Ocean Ridge neighbors over beach access appears to be over.

In May, the finishing touches were put on a 4-foot-high wooden gate that gives Tropical Drive residents exclusive use of a 5-foot-wide strip of sand at the end of the narrow street that leads to the ocean.

The fence, which cost $800 according to town records, is the only concrete evidence that residents of Tropical Drive and Turtle Beach condominium have reached a truce in the battle that began in 2022 when the 26-unit complex put up “No Trespassing” signs on its swath of the beach outside its gated entrance. The signs inflamed residents of Tropical Drive.

Tropical Drive resident Debbie Cooke, who helped coordinate the project, said she and the other roughly four dozen property owners and renters who live along the street just want to enjoy the beach.

“We need to be assured all of our residents and residents on Tropical Drive will be able to continue to use the path they always did without fighting and without looking at signs,” she said in a text.

Channeling poet Robert Frost, who wrote that “good fences make good neighbors,” Cooke voiced hope that the gate will end years of acrimony.

“We hope this leads to being friendly neighbors with the residents of Turtle Beach and live happily ever after,” she said.

Tropical Drive vs. condo
Cooke’s upbeat view belies the stormy history between the neighbors and the fact that it took a lawsuit and an ingenious real estate purchase to end the dispute. Along the way, insults were hurled, an arrest was made and, under pressure from Ocean Ridge residents, the Town Commission voted to change the code to clarify the number, location and appearance of signs on the beach.

The actions that led to the gate began in March 2022 when Tropical Drive property owner Bryan Joffe paid $40,000 for a strip of land that leads from that street to the beach.

The purchase came as emotions were running high about the signs Turtle Beach posted on the beach.

Part of the land Joffee purchased borders the back entrance to the condo’s property and has long been used by Turtle Beach for garbage pickup.

Months after buying the land, Joffe turned it over to Sunrise Beach LLC, a newly formed group of Tropical Drive residents.

In early 2023, Sunrise Beach sued Turtle Beach, accusing it of trespassing on the recently acquired land. It asked for an injunction, stopping the complex from continuing to use the property for trash pickup.

The condominium responded by filing a countersuit against Sunrise Beach. It claimed Turtle Beach had used the land for years, giving it what essentially amounted to squatter’s rights. It called the use of the land for garbage pickup “essential.”

Last summer, the suit was settled for undisclosed terms, court records show. Mark Feinstein, a lawyer who is president of the Turtle Beach Condominium Association, didn’t return a phone call for comment. The association’s attorney, Spencer Sax, declined comment as did attorney Robert Hartsell, who represented Sunrise Beach. Cooke declined to offer specifics.

It’s not unusual for legal settlements to include confidentiality clauses, preventing those involved from revealing the terms.

But, while the property suit was settled, one more is pending.

Libel suit unresolved
Feinstein in 2023 sued Sean Currie for libel after the then 35-year-old who lived with his parents on Tropical Drive posted a comment on the town’s Facebook page accusing Feinstein of engaging in a bizarre sexual act.

Currie had strong feelings about the “No Trespassing” signs Turtle Beach posted on the beach. In January 2022, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief after police said he grabbed one of the signs and threw it. The charge was dismissed after Currie agreed to pay $300 to replace it.

The libel case was scheduled to be tried before Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Maxine Cheesman in early May. However, court records indicate no trial took place.

As in the property case, all of the attorneys involved declined comment. Whether a settlement is in the works is unknown.

Early in the litigation, Feinstein offered to settle the lawsuit for undisclosed terms. When the offer wasn’t accepted, he unsuccessfully sought punitive damages, which could have drastically increased the amount he could be awarded.

In court papers, an attorney for Currie said the two lawsuits were both were spurred by the uproar over beach access.

Just as Sunrise Beach sued Turtle Beach in response to the condo’s “No Trespassing” signs, Currie blasted Feinstein on social media because he felt strongly that the signs were wrong, wrote attorney Douglas Allison, asking that the suit be thrown out.

Feinstein claims he was defamed when Currie publicly accused him of a “heinous, despicable act.” But, Allison said, Currie used the term only to emphasize his belief that Ocean Ridge officials and Turtle Beach “are unlawfully erecting signs on the public beach that are washing away in storm surge and causing pollution.”

Courts have consistently ruled that such political speech is protected. “One can readily see that (Currie) was simply using impassioned, loose, and figurative language to enhance the town’s awareness of the issue,” Allison wrote.

“While it may have been ‘vulgar’ or ‘gross,’ no reasonable person could ever view Currie’s insult of Feinstein in context and conclude that it was meant literally rather than as an epithet or rhetorical insult.”

While much has changed, Feinstein has said he wouldn’t back down. “I’m not litigious,” he told The Coastal Star last year. “I don’t want his money. The whole idea is to let him know his actions have consequences.” 

I have been a resident of the Seagate neighborhood for 26 years. My wife, Linda, and I are avid readers of The Coastal Star, which we think does an excellent job of informing us about what is going on in our beautiful coastal communities. It has always been refreshing to get our local news without the political bias and opinionated news of our mainstream media.

If you are going to write about people’s opinion [O Canada, Will You Still Come and Visit? — May 2025], you should cover both sides. 

We know many Canadian visitors that are appalled by what is happening in their country and would love to live here in Florida all year round if they could. They tell us about the Canadian government’s failures — including affordability, housing, public debt, inflation, devalued currency, poor national health care, out-of-control immigration, decline into wokeness, failed global ideology, government’s overreach into citizens’ freedom and the politicization/weaponization of federally run institutions. 

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, had to resign due to his failures and the discontent of the Canadian people.

Last year we were in Montreal and stayed at the W Hotel across from Victoria Park, where there was an anti-Israel encampment with antisemitic signs and banners. The statue of Queen Victoria in the park had been defaced. At McGill University there was a huge encampment with signs like “No Jews Allowed” and “Death to Israel.” 

This lawlessness and racism would not be tolerated here in Florida. We are very fortunate to live in the greatest, freest, most prosperous nation on Earth. We are also blessed to live in a state that upholds law and order. 

You should keep in mind that you are in a state and in a country whose people voted for our current government.

It is Canadians’ choice to come to our beautiful, free and safe area — or not. They can stay in their country enduring their frigid winters if they wish.

What you ignored is that for every Canadian that dislikes our government, there are many others that would love to live here and enjoy our way of life.

— Joe Carballosa

Delray Beach

 Boynton Beach firefighters/paramedics wheel a gurney back to their medical transport vehicle following a possible electrocution on June 4 in Ocean Ridge. Boynton Beach Fire Rescue and Ocean Ridge police responded to reports of a tree trimmer being electrocuted while trimming fronds on a coconut palm behind a home on Beachway Drive.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Henry Fitzgerald

A worker was killed Wednesday morning while trimming a palm tree behind a residence at 4 Beachway Drive in Ocean Ridge. He appeared to have been electrocuted while trimming the tree.

The 26-year-old man could be seen dangling from the coconut palm tree by his harness about 30 feet off the ground for several minutes before Boynton Beach Fire Rescue firefighters in a bucket truck managed to get him down. Powerlines could be seen close to the tree, which appeared to have burn marks.

Chelsea Sanabia, a spokesperson for Boynton Beach, which provides fire rescue services to the town, said town police got a call at 10:50 a.m. of smoke in the area. When police arrived, they discovered the tree trimmer.

“When officers arrived, they noticed the man stuck in the tree,” Sanabia said. “They immediately called Florida Power & Light to shut off the power so they could start the rescue. OSHA was called and the investigation is continuing.”

Tom Pelegrin, who lives at 16 Adams Road directly behind the home, said his neighbor told him she was in her back yard at about 10:45 when she heard a scream.

“She told me she looked up and saw the gentleman in distress,” he said. “She also saw smoke, then she called 911. This is horrible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Police said the man was working alone. They declined to identify him pending notification of next of kin.

Power was restored around 12:20 p.m.

This is the second incident this year in Ocean Ridge of a tree trimmer being killed. A man was caught in a wood chipper and killed while working at Ocean Ridge Town Hall on Jan. 28.  

Ocean Ridge commissioners unanimously endorsed the site plan for a 15-unit condominium at the former home of a co-op at 6855 N. Ocean Blvd. Rendering provided

By John Pacenti

In the first Ocean Ridge development of a multifamily condominium in decades, town commissioners and the public embraced the design for the proposed condominium to grace a former co-op site.

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the major site plan review for the property at 6855 N. Ocean Blvd. It is the first multifamily development since the early 1990s when the Portofino condominiums were built.

Commissioners praised the staff of the Building & Zoning Department for working with Ohio-based Edwards Companies and its associated contractors to address any concerns with the design.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had somebody come in front of us with [Building and Zoning] and the company, and everybody agrees and works together very well,” Vice Mayor Steve Coz said at the commission’s May 5 meeting.

Mayor Geoff Pugh said, “This is exactly what the Town Commission has always strived to get people on [Building and Zoning] to do this type of work: detailed, comprehensive, and it’s just an impressive form of work.”

Edwards bought the since-demolished co-op in October 2022 for $29 million. West Palm Beach architect Keith Spina unveiled a four-story Dutch Colonial design to the commission that decreases the 22 units of the co-op to 15, plus garage parking, swimming pool and deck, resident bar/grill area, and interior amenities.

“It’s fantastic,” said Pugh, noting how reducing the number of units reduced the density. Bryan Donahue, a land planner with Insite Studio, told the commission that the reduction in units means fewer daily trips on State Road A1A. 

A rendering shows a structure in white with cobalt blue accent shutters and gables. Units have setback windows with balconies. Spina said the designs were changed — at the town’s suggestion — from a more contemporary design so that the building more closely matches Ocean Ridge’s aesthetic. 

“Our building is designed so that we can have a 10-foot ceiling in the master bedroom and in the living area,” Spina said.

The Ocean Club, next door, will have access to the fitness center at the new development. Ocean Club President Allen Weaver said there is agreement on shared parking spaces and an access road.

“We have a 60-year history of those properties — separate ownership yet common usage,” he said.

Resident Terry Brown, a former commissioner, praised developers for planning a crosswalk. “This property is going to be a wonderful property,” he said. 

By John Pacenti

In a surprise, Ocean Ridge Interim Town Manager Michelle Heiser said she would be amenable to staying on in the position permanently. 

Heiser’s comments at the end of the Town Commission’s June 2 meeting came after she attended a municipal managers conference in Tallahassee at the end of May. Earlier in the month, she helped outline for commissioners a detailed process to find a permanent replacement.

Heiser said at the June 2 meeting that she came back from the conference with a handful of potential candidates who would be interested in the job. She then added her name to the mix.

“I completely understand if that’s not a fit in your eyes. It’s nothing personal, but I do want you to know that I’ve enjoyed working with each of you,” she said.

Mayor Geoff Pugh suggested that Heiser discuss a potential offer with Town Attorney Christy Goddeau. Commissioners have been effusive in praising Heiser — especially when it came to financial matters. Lynne Ladner, who resigned in April, struggled with the budget to the commissioners’ frustration.

Pugh said the beginning of the fiscal year 2026 budget process with Heiser has been like “night and day. A breath of fresh air.”

“I’ve worked closely with Michelle and her team, and it’s quite a difference,” Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. said.

Heiser has recommended a salary range of $180,000 to $270,000 — a significant increase from the current $144,000 base salary. “It gives you an opportunity to consider where they’re at within their lifespan of their professional career,” she said.

If the commission decides to go in a different direction from Heiser, she helped outline a plan in choosing a permanent replacement, including round-robin interviews with elected leaders and a final public interview.

Commissioners emphasized the importance of finding a candidate with strong financial management skills. “We want somebody who understands how to budget and manage a budget process,” Aijala said.

The search comes with some constraints, including mandatory considerations for veterans’ preference in hiring even if there is one desired candidate the town wanted to recruit. 

The commissioners stressed flexibility in their search, acknowledging that the perfect candidate might not meet every initial criterion. 

“I don’t want to overweigh what we think is most important, so they self-select against coming,” Aijala said. “I might be willing to take somebody with less financial background if they were an incredible superstar.”

The town lost some candidates during its last search for a town manager because it didn’t pay enough for travel reimbursement.

 “We should pay reasonable travel,” Aijala said.