Editor's Note: Delray commission owes taxpayers the truth

By Jane Smith

After five months of emergency repairs to the city’s botched reclaimed water system, 90% of the customers should have been back on line by June 30, the city said.
As of June 17, the cost of the repairs had grown to more than $850,000 in labor and materials and more than $100,000 in overtime pay for city employees, city spokeswoman Gina Carter wrote in an email response to questions from The Coastal Star.
Fixing the rest of the system could push the bill over $1 million.
“That’s a lot of money to fix a system that was working fine for most people,” said Bill Petry, a barrier island resident who did not yet have his reclaimed service restored. For Mayor Shelly Petrolia, the cost was unfortunate, but necessary.
“We cannot put a price on the health and safety of our citizens,” she said. “The city had to scrutinize the entire system at great cost in both time and expense.”
The system was poorly designed and maintained and has been mismanaged practically from its inception in 2006.
The city has hired a firm run by Fred Bloetscher, an associate dean at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, to conduct a total review of the city’s reclaimed water program, Carter said. Bloetscher’s firm will receive a maximum of $20,000 under an emergency order. The forensic engineering investigation will be finished in September.
These costs and ongoing system repair costs come at a time when Delray Beach has an $8 million deficit for the current budget year, Petrolia said. The city lost revenue from business tax receipts, parking meter income, parking violations, valet stand income and rental income from city-owned properties during the coronavirus shutdown.
“It’s in bits and pieces, but it all adds up,” she said.
In early May, City Manager George Gretsas apologized to the City Commission and residents and graded the program a D-minus. The only reason he didn’t give it an F was the initial good intention to stop piping raw sewage into the ocean.
The reclaimed water lines provide partly treated wastewater meant solely for lawn watering. The lines were installed as part of a settlement that Delray Beach reached with state and federal regulators.
The city must reuse 3.85 million gallons a day by 2025, according to the settlement. Its current level is 2.85 million gallons a day.
Most of the city’s water customers on the barrier island have reclaimed water service for lawn irrigation. Golf courses, city parks and facilities, and master-metered communities west of the interstate also use reclaimed water. There are about 1,500 reclaimed water customers citywide, according to Gretsas.
On Feb. 4, the city shut down Delray Beach’s reclaimed water program to avoid a citywide boil water order. The Florida Department of Health wanted that drastic move after it began an investigation into complaints that the city’s drinking water had become contaminated with reclaimed water.
In late April, the city discovered 30 barrier island homes had reclaimed water lines installed within three feet of the drinking water lines. The city requested that it be allowed to restore the reclaimed water service to the homes soon, instead of waiting for the lines to be moved in six months.
The close proximity of the lines was thought to be a potential Florida Department of Environmental Protection violation. In Florida, the local DOH enforces the DEP rules.
But when the local DOH leaders met with their counterparts at the Florida DEP, they “determined there was a distinction between the mains and service lines,” Steven Garcia, a DOH environmental supervisor, wrote in a May 28 email to his supervisor.
Delray Beach is inspecting each reclaimed location at the behest of the local DOH.
As the city made the inspections, it found 268 locations without any backflow prevention devices, which prevent the wastewater from mixing with drinking water. Slightly more than 71% served barrier island residences.
The city has not found records indicating why the backflow preventers were not installed.
Garcia has written that the DOH is waiting for the entire Delray Beach reclaimed water system to be restored before possible violations will be forwarded to the DOH legal team.

Pressure devices an issue
As of June 17, five condominium buildings on the barrier island were still not reconnected to the reclaimed water service, Carter wrote. One required a reduced pressure zone device, which is the owner’s responsibility to install, she wrote.
The RPZ is a type of high-hazard backflow device that protects the drinking water system by disposing of any backward-flowing water if check or relief valves fail.
Two other condo buildings have installed their RPZ devices and are ready for inspection, according to Carter. The other two are waiting DOH approval.
“However, all commercial accounts and when a larger than 2-inch meter is required, water customers must install an RPZ at their own expense and provide the city with annual testing and recertification of the RPZ,” Carter wrote.
The RPZs cost between $3,000 and $4,000 each, not including installation or testing. Basic backflow devices used with single-family homes vary in cost from $50 to $500, depending on quality and size.
Chris Heffernan, who lives in a seven-unit condo complex on Thomas Street, fought the installation of the RPZ device at his building. He thought the city was creating a two-tiered level of service on the barrier island when forcing the high-priced backflow devices on condominium buildings.
“Within two hours, city workers were at my condo,” he said. They installed a lower-cost dual check valve at the city’s expense.
His condo building likely was able to use a dual check valve because the meter size was less than 2 inches, according to Carter.
The Dorchester, with 20 units at 200 N. Ocean Blvd., never was connected to the reclaimed water program. The reclaimed water main sits on Thomas Street and is available to serve this property, according to Carter.
“There are no records to indicate why they were not connected,” Carter wrote in a June 19 email.

On Feb. 4, the city of Delray Beach was told by the Florida Health Department that it must implement a citywide boil water order after receiving complaints that the city’s drinking water had become contaminated with reclaimed water.
The order was avoided only by an agreement to shut down the reclaimed water system while the problems were identified and repaired.
Move forward to late June. About 90% of customers are back on line, and the cost for fixing the system is nearing $1 million.
Yes, you saw that right: $1 million. Add that to the $8 million budget shortfall already facing the city.
Taxpayers have a right to know who is to blame for this expensive debacle. After all, they are going to pay for it.
City Manager George Gretsas did the right thing in his first few months on the job by contracting with a consultant to analyze what went wrong, and hiring a highly respected director for fresh oversight of the Water Utilities Department. The DOH supports these decisions.
Then, on June 24, city commissioners voted 3-2 to suspend Gretsas and file a notice to terminate, even before an independent counsel released results of an investigation into a personnel matter that alleged bullying, gender bias and emotional abuse by Gretsas.
According to one complaint, Gretsas was irate over how the reclaimed water project repairs were being managed.
Is that a surprise?
Management failures have long plagued City Hall. There have been five city managers and three interim managers since the water project began in 2006.
That leadership void at the top allowed a revolving door in the department overseeing the project. Mismanagement and a lack of oversight were the result.
Whether anything criminal occurred has not been determined.
At press time, it was not clear if Gretsas’ termination is warranted, but there’s little doubt it would be dramatic, divisive and expensive for the city.
The residents of Delray Beach have had their health jeopardized by systemic mismanagement.
The truth must be known. Investigations begun by Gretsas must not be abandoned because of his suspension, and Hassan Hadjimiry, the new Water Utilities director, must be retained and given authority to assure confidence in the water system.
Elected officials owe taxpayers that much, and more.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

The proposed Mizner Ballroom will occupy 10,000 square feet and house conference and meeting facilities now in the resort’s Great Hall. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

The new owner of the Boca Raton Resort & Club is planning a massive makeover of the iconic property.
In a frank admission that the 337-acre luxury resort has lost its luster, MSD Partners said in documents filed with the city that improvements are needed.
Despite renovations over the years, the resort “is not the global player in the luxury hotel market that it once was,” the company said in submissions filed by the Dunay, Miskel and Backman law firm. “Significant renovations internal to the building … improvements to the property and new world-class amenities are required to transform the property back to such a world-class resort.”
MSD Partners, formed by billionaire Michael S. Dell’s private investment firm, bought the resort last year for $875 million in Palm Beach County’s biggest-ever property deal.
While the planned changes will touch most parts of the resort, key elements include the demolition of the nearly 42,000-square-foot Great Hall and construction of a 10,000-square-foot Mizner Ballroom. The plans emphasize making better use of the resort’s location on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Built in 1969, the Great Hall is now dated, said John Tolbert, the resort’s president and managing director. What he and MSD Partners envision is the “most elegant” ballroom for all types of celebrations.
They also want to better connect members and guests to water views. “One of the most underutilized parts of the club is the 800 feet of waterfront,” he said.
Meeting and conference space will decrease, but “we will have better, more flexible and more relevant space,” he said, that is part of “revisioning our conference space for today’s market.”
The improvements “will allow us to have the foremost club and hotel and resort in the country,” he said.
Members of the city’s Community Appearance Board got their first look at the designs at their June 16 meeting.
Scott LaMont, principal of the planning and design firm EDSA, said the resort had “fallen behind” other resorts and that “we are trying to bring the resort back to its former glory.”
CAB members liked what they saw.
“I think you guys have done a crazy good thing,” Tiery Boykin told architects Jorge Garcia and Peter Stromberg of GarciaStromberg/GS4Studios in West Palm Beach. “I really like this project.”
Once the Great Hall is gone, its conference and meeting facilities would be relocated to the Mizner Ballroom, which will be located adjacent to the existing Mizner Center.
The Great Hall space would be redeveloped as a new luxury pool club and amenity area. The existing Flowrider wave simulator, slide, cafes and cabanas, now located north of the Great Hall, would relocate to this area.
The company also plans to upgrade the main resort entrance with new landscaping and add a new porte cochere, allowing improvements to valet service.
The Morimoto restaurant, which is open only to members and guests, will move and replace the existing Monkey Bar. The Lucca, Garden room and Palm Court restaurant area will be enhanced.
MSD Partners also plans renovations to hotel rooms and common areas.
The company’s plans were submitted to the city on May 12, and some of the changes will require city approval. The Planning and Zoning Board will review them on July 9 and will make a recommendation to the City Council. More presentations also will be made to the CAB.
A Fitch Ratings report one year ago said MSD Partners planned to invest $75 million over four years.
Tolbert said the cost of the project is still being calculated, but $75 million is the minimum. He said it would be “one of the most significant capital investments into a resort and club in the world.”
The project completion date is not yet set. Tolbert said the work would move forward as quickly as possible but will be done in a way that minimizes disruption to resort and club operations.
Tolbert, a high-profile member of the city’s business and philanthropic community, will depart in July after accepting an executive position with BRE Hotels & Resorts, Blackstone’s hospitality platform. An affiliate of Blackstone acquired the resort in 2004 and invested more than $300 million in the property before selling to Dell.
While the Fitch report described the resort as well maintained, it said the resort’s room revenues underperform those of its competitors, including PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, The Breakers in Palm Beach and Eau Palm Beach resort in Manalapan.
About 60% of the resort’s demand in 2018 came from meeting and group business, compared to 49% for the overall hotel market. Meeting and group bookings are at lower rates than leisure bookings.
That brought down overall room revenue. But the resort’s total revenue per available room in April 2019 was $620, “which is considered strong,” the report said.
The resort dates to 1926, when famed architect Addison Mizner opened the Cloister Inn on the shore of Lake Boca Raton.
It has since grown to 1,047 hotel rooms, two 18-hole golf courses, a 50,000-square-foot spa, seven swimming pools, 30 tennis courts, a 32-slip marina, 13 restaurants and bars and 200,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Boca Raton Resort & Club partly reopened on June 4 with new safety protocols after the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of hotels and resorts in March.
While he is pleased with the number of people booking rooms, Tolbert said “our emphasis is on quality and luxury and not quantity at this time.”
Like other properties, the resort is offering incentives to lure back guests. Its website announces a “Your Summer Restored” package that offers a fourth night’s stay at no charge and a waiver of resort fees.

By Mary Hladky

Former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie’s trial on public corruption charges has been postponed until Sept. 21 due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.
Prosecutor Brian Fernandes and Bruce Zimet, Haynie’s criminal defense lawyer, agreed to cancel a scheduled July 20 trial and to set the new trial date because the pandemic has made it difficult to complete pretrial discovery.
They also were concerned that not enough potential jurors would be available in July.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen agreed to the new trial date on May 28.
A March trial date also was postponed.
Compounding the difficulties of setting Haynie’s trial date is that the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, where her trial would be held, has been all but shut down since April due to the pandemic.
Only essential hearings, such as pleas and bond reduction motions, have been held in person or though video-conferencing.
Jury trials have been postponed, and on June 17 Florida Chief Justice Charles T. Canady ordered the postponement extended until at least July 17.
Haynie, 64, was arrested on April 24, 2018, on charges of official misconduct, perjury, misuse of public office and failure to disclose voting conflicts. She faces more than 20 years in prison if she’s convicted.
Prosecutors contend that Haynie used her position on the City Council to vote on six matters that financially benefited James Batmasian, the city’s largest downtown commercial landowner, and failed to disclose income she received from him.
Haynie has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Zimet has repeatedly said she will not accept a plea deal.
Then-Gov. Rick Scott suspended Haynie from office, but she never resigned.
Her option to reclaim the mayor’s post ended March 31 after Boca Raton voters elected Scott Singer, who was elevated from deputy mayor to replace Haynie during her suspension, to a full term as mayor succeeding her.

By Charles Elmore 

An emergency order puts beaches out of bounds for the Fourth of July weekend across Palm Beach County.
The county’s order to temporarily close beaches joined similar decrees in Miami-Dade and Broward counties aimed at avoiding large gatherings during the three-day weekend to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner told media outlets it would be “highly irresponsible” to keep beaches open and said the county’s priority remains “public health first and foremost.”
Beaches are set to close from 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 3, until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 5, reopening Monday.
The order applies to “all public, municipal and private beaches,” according to a county statement.
Individual violators face potential civil fines of $25 for a first offense, with subsequent offenses drawing $50 to $100, according to the order.
Restaurants and retail establishments within beach parks are allowed to remain open if they follow rules on mandatory masks and social distancing, officials said.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach commissioners, faced with a 10.3% increase in how much they’re charged for fire service from Delray Beach, are questioning why they are being asked to pay for four additional firefighter/paramedics to be assigned to the station in town.
Under a 20-year agreement signed in 2016, Highland Beach pays for the salaries of 22.5 firefighter/paramedics assigned to the station next to Town Hall — a staffing level that includes two personnel on the one rescue vehicle operating out of the station.
In its latest projection of costs to Highland Beach, however, Delray for fiscal 2021 included the addition of four firefighter/paramedics, helping to push the cost from $4.43 million to $4.89 million, an increase of about $458,000.
The increase sent shock waves through Highland Beach residents who for years have contended the fire contract was unfair because there was little town input into how much it is being charged.
“We can’t afford this, we don’t have flexibility,” Commissioner Evalyn David said after hearing of plans to add four personnel. “They may not have taken into account that we don’t want this or need it.”
While the request to add staff took the town by surprise, Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey said his department has been telling Highland Beach officials this would be coming for the last three years.
Delray Fire Rescue administrators say that the city already has three paramedics assigned to each rescue truck at all of the stations it operates, with the exception of Highland Beach.
Currently all medical calls in Highland Beach require that a rescue wagon and the ladder truck assigned respond so that a paramedic/firefighter is available should one be needed to assist while a patient is being treated and taken to a hospital.
With a third person on the rescue wagon, the ladder truck would not be needed and could be available to respond to a simultaneous call, Tomey said.
Helping to cover the cost of the additional staffing — at least for three years — is a Safer Grant that Delray received from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for eight additional firefighter/paramedics. Four would be going to the Highland Beach station.
During the first two years, the grant would cover about 75% of the cost but only about 35% of the cost the following year. After that the communities would have to cover the full cost.
That will add to Delray’s already projected operational costs, which increased even more in June when Delray commissioners voted to approve the first contract for four department battalion and three division chiefs.
The contract with the chiefs includes a special stipend of $82 an hour for working special events such as parades or festivals outside normal hours. The cost to taxpayers was estimated to be $189,000 annually.
Highland Beach leaders say they too are facing financial challenges and having to pay for four additional personnel will create a hardship for the town both in the short term and the long run.
Town officials said they were given no opportunity to discuss the addition of four personnel prior to being given the cost estimate for the upcoming year.
“We are customers of Delray Beach Fire Rescue and the Delray Beach commission and we were not brought into the discussion,” said Highland Beach Mayor Doug Hillman. “This is not treating us as a partner or a customer.”
The mayor said he and other commissioners also were concerned about what they were told would happen if Highland Beach didn’t agree to pay for the additional four staff members.
“We were informed that if we didn’t accept this, the Delray Beach commission would cancel the contract,” he said. “Is this the proper way to treat a customer?”
In an unusual move, the Highland Beach commission held off on voting to reject Delray Beach’s request to amend the contract to include the additional staffing. Instead they dispatched Vice Mayor Greg Babij to meet with three Delray Beach commissioners who voted for the Safer Grant and share with them why voiding the contract would not be in Delray Beach’s best interest.
Highland Beach commissioners and residents have repeatedly pointed out that the vehicles and crew at the station in town often respond to calls in Delray Beach. From May of last year to May of this year, the staff at the station responded to about 750 calls in Highland Beach and about 600 calls in Delray.
Hillman said that should Delray cancel the contract, it would lose the staff to respond to those calls outside of the town and it would lose about $5 million a year in revenue from Highland Beach.
Tomey agrees that the relationship between the two communities is mutually beneficial and pointed out that since Highland Beach is considered part of Delray’s service area, it has access to all of Delray Fire Rescue resources.
“When Highland Beach residents dial 911 and the crew at Station 116 is dispatched to a call, the town’s residents are getting access to more than they may realize and more than they pay for,” he said. “From backup vehicles such as ladder, rescue and special operations trucks to extra personnel such as battalion chiefs, a medical director, fire investigators, human resources, purchasing and logistics specialists, they have the support of the entire department.”
Highland Beach officials said they want to continue the contract with Delray but need more input in how their bill is determined.
“We would like to maintain our partnership with Delray Beach,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. “One way to do that is take a serious look at the financial elements of the contract and improve collaboration.”

By Mary Hladky and Jane Smith

As small-business owners reeled from shutdowns mandated to stop the spread of COVID-19, South County cities pitched in to help them offset calamitous revenue losses.
Responding to Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce pleas, the City Council on May 27 authorized spending $500,000 in city money on a Small Business Recovery Relief Grant program that would provide $5,000 grants to small businesses with at least three employees and no more than 25.
Council members debated over many weeks how to structure the program, and then were stunned when city officials said they would not be able to get the money out the door until late July — far too late to do much good, council members reasoned.
After they simplified the program so money could be doled out in June, the city began accepting applications online for grants that could be used for salaries, rent, utility payments or personal protective equipment.
But the expected deluge of applications didn’t happen, possibly because business owners applied for larger grants offered by Palm Beach County from federal CARES Act money it received, or because the city’s grant criteria were too strict.
City Manager Leif Ahnell said that as of June 5, the city had received 104 applications, but 80% did not meet the criteria. For example, 12% didn’t have a business in the city, 40% had too few employees, and 33% had received county or federal funding that made them ineligible.
The number of applications had grown to 119 by June 24, and the city had disbursed money to seven businesses. Two more would get grants soon, and Boca Raton was continuing to process applications.
Boynton Beach and its Community Redevelopment Agency gave out $1.06 million in loans that became grants if businesses showed they spent the money on rent, payroll or utilities within six months.
Under the programs approved by the CRA and City Commission on April 21, the CRA distributed $1 million to businesses within its borders in $10,000 allotments. The city gave out $60,000 in $3,000 allotments.
Boynton Beach also found another source of money to help businesses. It made available $300,000 in Community Development Block Grant money awarded to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the CARES Act.
Officials offered businesses $10,000 grants that could be used to cover payroll, utilities, rent or mortgage and COVID-19-related expenses such as personal protective equipment and lost inventory. Businesses within the CRA area are not eligible to receive that money.
Businesses are qualified to receive the money if they have gross receipts under $3 million and 25 or fewer employees, and if they had not received any other coronavirus-related assistance. They could apply online beginning June 26, and David Scott, the city’s director of economic development and strategy, expected the money to go quickly.
The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority on June 19 awarded 30 small businesses affected by the coronavirus shutdowns with $1,000 grants.
To be eligible, a business must have operated for at least five years, have 25 or fewer employees and be locally owned and operated.
The grant application period opened at 8 a.m. June 16 and ended at 11:59 p.m. June 17. The first to apply that met requirements were awarded the grants.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia said at the June 2 City Commission meeting that she preferred to use city tax dollars to support group ad buys.
“The grants to businesses are not really fair. They are more about who has the fastest computers,” she said. “Advertising for all would be better.”
The executive directors of the DDA and Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce will return with marketing options in July.
Lantana did not launch a grant program but did implement certain fee waivers.
They include:
Fees for new permit applications are waived until Sept. 8; business tax receipt delinquency fees for fiscal 2020 are waived for businesses that become compliant before Sept. 8; restaurants can apply for temporary outdoor seating permits for surrounding off-street parking; and the city suspended penalties and stopped turning off water service due to non-payment.

Mary Thurwachter contributed to this story.

By Mary Hladky

Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, will deploy in August to Qatar in support of NATO operations in Afghanistan.
Rodgers, who announced his deployment at the June 23 City Council meeting, said he wants to complete his term of office by attending city meetings remotely.
If that cannot be accomplished, Rodgers, 41, said he would submit a leave of absence and council members would appoint someone to temporarily fill his seat until his term ends on March 31, 2021.
But he will step down as deputy mayor, saying that position should be held by a council member physically present in the city. He asked that his colleagues make the selection at the next council meeting on July 28.
The job of a reservist is to be ready for active deployment, he said.
“Recently, I received that call,” Rodgers said. “It is my turn to serve and I am needed. The military selected me for deployment and I stand ready.”
Rodgers was elected to a three-year council term in 2015 and won re-election in 2018.
In an interview, Rodgers said he had planned to mobilize after his term ended but was selected earlier than he expected.
Rodgers, a cryptological officer, will manage an intelligence team for missions in Afghanistan. His position may entail travel to that country, he said.
Rodgers, the father of four children, has worked at IBM for almost 20 years and now leads a technical sales engineering team for IBM’s security product.
He comes from a military family.
Rodgers’ father was an Army master sergeant, and his two grandfathers served in the Navy. While he has not served in the active-duty military, he joined the Navy Reserve in 2011.
Council members wished Rodgers well.
“I just request that you please stay safe,” said Monica Mayotte.
“We will miss you, Deputy Mayor Rodgers,” said Andy Thomson. “Godspeed, sailor.”

By Jane Smith

Within a week of receiving Boynton Beach City Commission approval in mid-June, Riverwalk Plaza had finished landscaping the parking lot and entrances off Woolbright Road.
“The easternmost entrance had a weird S-curve shape,” said Luke Therien, who reopened his family’s Prime Catch restaurant on June 24. “Now you can drive south to Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts store or turn left to Prime Catch.”
Therien closed his restaurant in mid-March when all nonessential businesses were shut down to limit the spread of the coronavirus. He did not reopen Prime Catch in May for takeout orders because the parking lot was torn up to install storm drains. He waited until that work was finished.
“Now the parking lot in the whole center is paved,” Therien said. “All the landscaping is done, and new storm drains have been installed.”
Riverwalk Plaza, owned by Isram Realty, sits at the southeast corner of Federal Highway and Woolbright Road in Boynton Beach. It has city approval to replace the main building with a 10-story apartment project.
The Hallandale Beach-based company paid $9.5 million for the aging center in March 2011. The nearly 10-acre plaza contained a Winn-Dixie grocery store that closed in January 2015.
Throughout 2019, Isram built a dual-space Federal Highway building, which houses a Chipotle’s fast-casual restaurant and has space for another tenant.
Isram renovated another building in the plaza that houses Walgreens drugstore, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, Sushi Simon restaurant and Bond Street Ale and Coffee.
At the same time, Isram had to update the underground utilities, fix the drainage for the complex and raise the parking lot, creating driving challenges for shoppers and diners.
Isram has submitted its building plans to the city for the 10-story apartment complex, said Baruch Cohen, chief operating officer for the firm. Construction will start Sept. 1 and take two years to finish.
The rainy weather and the coronavirus shutdown are not responsible for the delayed start, Cohen said. The parking lot work was complex, he said.
Initially, Isram had wanted to use the part of the westernmost parcel of two it owns on the plaza’s south side for a construction staging area for the project. But because the parcels contain mangroves, their use must be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Isram plans to donate the easternmost parcel, about 5.8 acres, along the Intracoastal Waterway to Boynton Beach.
On June 9, Isram supplied additional information that still must be reviewed, according to the Army Corps spokeswoman in Jacksonville.
In other action at the June 16 meeting, city commissioners approved the rezoning of the 108-acre Boynton Beach Mall. It went from the community mall category to a suburban mixed-use category. The city became the petitioner on the second reading while the five owners try to create a master plan for the property. The site plan will come up for approval in the future.

Bobby Kane of Ocean Ridge with his wife, Lynsey; son, Bobby, 3; and daughter, Ellie, 20 months. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Charles Elmore

Isolation. Loneliness. Underemployment or no job at all.
Millions are grappling with that reality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping that threats to health, lives and livelihoods subside and better days lie ahead.
But such challenges are not new for many people that Best Buddies was created to serve — those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said Ocean Ridge resident Robert “Bobby” Kane III. 
In January, Kane was named chair of the county’s Best Buddies advisory board.
The organization promotes one-on-one friendships and inclusion. It works to explore job possibilities for people whose unemployment rate ranks among the highest in society, often exceeding 75%.
“A lot of people have a family member with IDD,” Kane said. “I just feel like too much of the burden gets placed on the families. We as a society should be the ones helping.”
Kane, 34, handles complex commercial litigation, among other things, as a shareholder in the law firm of Greenberg Traurig. On the way to earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida, he suited up for national championship football teams with the Gators.
“I walked on,” Kane said, meaning he joined the team without an athletic scholarship. “It was right when (coach) Urban Meyer got hired. I was a backup. I got on the field some as a special teams player. We won two national championships in four years with Tim Tebow at quarterback. The talent we had ...” he laughed before adding, “Not myself. But the talent was just unbelievable.”
Kane calls his role in Best Buddies (www.bestbuddies.org/florida/) a “natural progression.” He joined volunteer programs in college and undertook free legal aid work during his professional career, with the blessing of an employer he said encouraged it.
Since 2017, Kane has been a member of the local Best Buddies board.
With headquarters in Miami, Best Buddies International describes itself as the world’s largest nonprofit devoted solely to “providing opportunities for friendship, employment, leadership development and inclusive living” for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Founded in 1989, it counts nearly 3,000 chapters around the world, serving 1.3 million people. Best Buddies has chapters in 30 schools in Palm Beach and Martin counties.
Theresa Colandreo, a senior at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton and a Best Buddies member, shared online that growing up watching her older brother, Michael, contend with multiple disabilities “inspires me to pursue a purpose-driven life.”
Best Buddies is having to adapt to a world with the coronavirus. A June 20 Best Buddies Friendship Walk in Palm Beach County and other locations around the state became a “virtual walk,” with participants connecting online, not gathering in large groups.
The virus also has complicated job initiatives. Local participants have found employment from bagging groceries to working in companies’ social media campaigns over time, Kane said.
Best Buddies in Palm Beach and three other regions in the state is supporting 155 adults and youths with disabilities in Florida who are either seeking or successfully employed in jobs.
In some cases, job participants placed by Best Buddies were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 because they were often the first to get terminated or furloughed. The organization has also wrestled with budget constraints during a time of economic uncertainty.
Still, it’s a program worth fighting for, Kane said.
“To our Buddies, their jobs help provide a sense of belonging, independence and accomplishment,” he said.
Kane said his role would not be possible without his wife, Lynsey, who is active with community work, including Best Buddies.
In his free time, you will likely find him boating with his family, including son Bobby IV, 3, and daughter Ellie, 20 months. The couple are expecting their third child in October. Kane likes to sneak out before work to go fishing at sunrise on his Conch 27 center console.
He donates fishing excursions in the Florida Keys for honorees in the Best Buddies Champion of the Year Gala, which is virtual this year on Oct. 23.  He also plays an organizing role with the Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Nonprofit Fishing Tournament, which benefits the Legal Aid Society’s Education Advocacy Project for children.
“Best Buddies is something we do together as a family,” Kane said. “It’s important for me to expose my children to people from all walks of life and encourage inclusion. They need to see life through other people’s prisms and experiences.”

By Jane Smith

During an often contentious meeting, a divided Delray Beach City Commission voted 3-2 on June 24 to oust City Manager George Gretsas from his $265,000 position without seeing a final report of the bullying accusations made against him.
Gretsas had been less than six months on the job and was the fifth full-time city manager in the past eight years.
Voting to proceed with termination were Mayor Shelly Petrolia, Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson and Commissioner Juli Casale. Voting against were Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston and Commissioner Adam Frankel.
The virtual meeting started an hour late because of technical difficulties and to give Gretsas and his attorney, Carmen Rodriguez, time to review a resignation offer from the city.
Rodriguez said they submitted on June 29 a demand for a public hearing.
“Mr. Gretsas has not done anything wrong and wants an opportunity to present his side in front of the City Commission,” Rodriguez said.
At the June 24 meeting, Gretsas said he had already spoken with the city’s outside counsel, who had given him a package with terms of a resignation.
“The city’s labor counsel said if I didn’t accept the 20 weeks [of severance pay], a bad report would be released,” Gretsas said. “There are credibility issues with the employees involved. What is the rush?”
Frankel, a lawyer, said the timing of the vote denied Gretsas “due process and fundamental fairness.”
Gretsas was suspended with pay. City Attorney Lynn Gelin said Gretsas cannot be terminated for a minimum of 120 days from June 29, the day of delivery of the demand to see written charges and have a public hearing.
Hired last October, Gretsas did not start until Jan. 6. He replaced Mark Lauzier, who was fired March 1, 2019.
Jennifer Alvarez, the city’s purchasing director, became the interim city manager by a 4-1 vote, with Boylston voting no.
Johnson nominated Alvarez, who joined the meeting by telephone and gave her background as being responsible for the capital budget for Miami-Dade County and having 21 years of city and county service.
Boylston preferred another city employee, Assistant City Manager Allyson Love. She had run Fort Lauderdale after Gretsas’ city manager contract was not renewed there.
Johnson, though, said Love was a Gretsas ally and couldn’t support her.
Frankel asked if Alvarez was a witness in the investigation.
“Yes,” Gelin said. “But you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the city at the department head level who was not interviewed.”

Two complain of bullying
Gelin said on June 30 that the investigative report, done by an independent counsel, was not ready and that she hoped for its release July 3.
The investigation began after two city staff members filed bullying complaints against Gretsas.
Assistant City Manager Suzanne Fisher claimed the bullying forced her to take a medical leave on May 15 for mental and emotional distress, according to her June 10 complaint.
One situation reported involved Gretsas’ calls over the city’s reclaimed water problems, where Fisher claimed Gretsas began screaming at her and the assistant Public Works director in a tone that Fisher described as irrational, belligerent and profanity-laden.
“Good employees have to be treated well,” Casale said on June 25. “And what he was doing?” she asked, based on Fisher’s complaint.
Boylston told The Coastal Star on June 27 that Fisher has credibility problems.
Her bullying complaint was filed against Gretsas five days after he had sent her a notice of termination for “misusing her office.” Fisher had hired boyfriends twice for city jobs they were not qualified to do, according to the June 5 termination notice that Gretsas emailed to Fisher. The most recent hire was March 28.
Her current boyfriend, Andy Reeder, began working as the food and beverage/clubhouse manager at the city-owned Delray Beach Golf Club, according to the email.
“Both you and your direct subordinate, the Director of Parks and Recreation, are responsible for judging your boyfriend’s work product and therefore you had an obligation to inform me of your conflict of interest and to recuse yourself from all matters related to the Delray Beach Golf Course,” Gretsas wrote.
The other employee who has claimed Gretsas bullied him is Sam Metott, who replaced Fisher as Parks and Recreation director when she became an assistant city manager. His complaint has not been made available because it is part of the ongoing investigation by the city’s outside counsel.
Metott, though, gave Boylston a different impression.
The parks director sang Gretsas’ praises from mid-April through May, Boylston said.
“Every Wednesday while I volunteered at the city’s Feeding South Florida food giveaway, Metott told me the commission had chosen well with Gretsas,” Boylston said. He said Metott seemed pleased that Gretsas was holding people accountable.

Fisher had previous run-ins
Fisher has filed bullying complaints in the past. In October 2016, she filed a complaint against Michael Coleman, who was then the director of Neighborhood and Community Services. He had complained that her lack of oversight and mismanagement of maintenance alongside the city’s gateway feature on the east side of Interstate 95 had allowed the grounds to deteriorate.
An outside firm hired to review Fisher’s complaint found she had “fomented fear and discontent among her staff by telling them outright lies to strengthen her position.”
In August 2019, Coleman filed a whistleblower lawsuit again the city, saying he was forced to resign two months earlier because he had exposed mismanagement in the parks department headed by Fisher in 2016. The suit alleges Fisher engineered his firing when she became an assistant city manager three years later.
Also in 2016, Fisher had a run-in with Tennille Decoste, then the city’s Human Resources director. Decoste filed a bullying, discrimination and harassment complaint against Fisher, who then filed similar charges against Decoste.
An outside firm investigated and found Fisher did bully Decoste and that Fisher’s counter-allegations were not true.
The outside investigator recommended that Fisher be subject to disciplinary actions “up to and including termination.” Fisher remained with the city.

In defense of Gretsas
Despite the bullying allegations against Gretsas, Boylston remains his supporter.
Gretsas walked into a City Hall that had relatively new department heads, according to Boylston.
“Then the world was hit by a pandemic not seen in a century and people took to the streets protesting against mistreatment of Black people,” he said.
If the bullying allegations are true, Boylston said, he is inclined to suggest leadership training or other disciplinary measures not as severe as firing.
A previous city manager, David Harden, offered to step in as the interim city manager, according to a June 26 email Frankel sent to his commission colleagues, but as of press time, Gelin told Frankel that commissioners had not come to a consensus on that option. Still, the offer might come up at a July 7 commission meeting.
Harden served as the Delray Beach city manager for 22 years until Jan. 3, 2013. He was long seen as bringing stability to the city, but in his last year residents criticized him for renewing contracts, such as garbage collection and beach cabana services, without going through the bid process.
If Harden is not selected, the city will ask the International City/County Management Association for an applicant from its pool of retired city managers.
“Gretsas has 20 years of experience in two cities — Fort Lauderdale and Homestead,” Boylston said. “I have no idea why anyone would want to come and work here if we fire a city manager in the middle of a pandemic.”

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge commissioners want to make it a lot more difficult for the town to merge its Police Department with another law enforcement agency.
With a unanimous vote on June 12, the commission gave final approval to a charter amendment proposal that requires voters to pass a ballot referendum before any police merger can move forward. Beyond the consent of voters, the proposal would mandate a four-vote supermajority from the Town Commission just to get a merger referendum measure on the ballot.
Taken together, the two requirements suggest it would take a groundswell of popular support — both in the commission chambers and at the polls — before a major overhaul of the town’s policing could happen.
“The ordinance hopefully establishes a clear message to the PBA that at this time we’re not interested in making a change,” Mayor Kristine de Haseth said, referring to the police union.

The proposed town charter change still needs the approval of the town’s voters to become law. It will be on the ballot for the Aug. 18 Florida primary election, and de Haseth said she is concerned residents might not be paying attention.
“With the combination of it being in summer, and people not being comfortable going to public places because of COVID, this could get lost,” the mayor said. “People need to get their absentee ballots early and plan to vote by mail if they don’t want to go to the polls.”
In recent weeks, the Police Benevolent Association and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have made overtures to Ocean Ridge officials and residents about the sheriff’s taking over the town’s law enforcement. Some officers in the department have expressed support for the idea and floated it to commissioners.
Last year, South Palm Beach disbanded its department and contracted with the Sheriff’s Office, citing a potential savings perhaps as high as $1 million over five years.
Facing a tight budget year and rising personnel costs, Ocean Ridge commissioners have heard from supporters of a merger, who argue that the cost of maintaining the department has grown too high and a larger agency might deliver better service.
Before the final vote on the ordinance on June 12, David Hutchins, a member of the Planning and Zoning commission, offered a defense shared by many for keeping the department and its small-town approach to policing.
“The main thing in my mind that allows Ocean Ridge to maintain its unique character doesn’t go to architectural standards, doesn’t go to building that’s going on — it’s our police force,” Hutchins told the commission. “The police force is an excellent safety department. They look in on elderly people. They know almost all of us by name. And they’re here for us.
“I’m greatly concerned that if we ever change the situation and go to another department, we’d lose that ability — we’d lose the friendliness of the police.”
De Haseth said the ordinance shows that commissioners “have our finger on the pulse of our residents.” She said requiring a four-vote commission majority to put a referendum on the ballot is warranted for major decisions, such as those concerning public safety or septic-to-sewer conversion.
“The supermajority has to be used sparingly,” de Haseth said, “but it is very important to maintaining the character and financial stability of the town on very large issues.”
Vice Mayor Steve Coz and Commissioner Phil Besler had expressed reluctance to support the ordinance’s supermajority requirement. Coz said he was “very, very uncomfortable with the concept of a supermajority” and worried it could set a troublesome precedent.
Besler said he changed his mind from an earlier “no” vote and concluded that the supermajority stipulation could end up saving the town money over the long run. Both Besler and Coz voted for the ordinance at the final reading.
“The supermajority is not something I take very lightly,” said Commissioner Susan Hurlburt. “But this is a specific situation where without it we could have some political overtones. This extra layer of defense I think is necessary.”

By Rich Pollack

With the town’s budget still in flux, Ocean Ridge’s septic-to-sewer citizens advisory committee has agreed to hold off on requesting funds for a cost analysis from an outside firm.
Voting unanimously, the five-member committee, charged with studying the feasibility of replacing septic systems with a sewer system, agreed that it would be premature to request funding for a study to be conducted by Raftelis Financial Consultants.
The committee did, however, agree to seek $6,000 in the town’s upcoming budget for assistance on uncovering possible grant opportunities that could help cover some of the initial costs as well as $3,000 for engineering costs and $1,000 for legal fees.
In addition, the committee asked the Town Commission to allow funds coming to the community from the countywide 1-cent infrastructure sales tax to stay earmarked for the septic-to-sewer conversion, should the town decide to go forward with such a project.
That fund has close to $400,000, according to Town Manager Tracey Stevens, and it initially was expected to grow to about $1 million during its 10-year lifespan.
But that is likely to change.
“We have seen a sharp decrease in sales tax revenue due to COVID-19, so that number is expected now to be lower,” Stevens said.
An expected shortfall in the town’s overall revenue for the coming year was one of the factors behind the committee’s decision to delay going forward with a financial analysis, which would include a rate study and identifying funding sources.
In a memo to members of the committee, Stevens said that the town is likely facing an $800,000 budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year. She later told the committee that the cost for the financial study by Raftelis was estimated to be around $30,000.
Committee members, citing the shortfall, agreed that there was no need to rush for the financial study.
“I see little value in using money for Raftelis,” committee Chairman Neil Hennigan said. “I don’t think anything they’re going to give us would be urgent.”
The committee, which has not yet made a recommendation on whether to proceed with a septic-to-sewer conversion, agreed to wait for additional direction from the commission before meeting again in August.

Plastic netting surrounds the historic Australian pine trees that line A1A in Gulf Stream to ensure that workers installing a water main do not damage the roots. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

The town will ask a federal judge to order AT&T to finish putting its lines underground after the telecommunications giant walked off the job in May.
The contract dispute could add another year to the overall project, which started in 2013. AT&T wants more than $1 million to complete the job; Gulf Stream says it owes only $400,000.
Joanne O’Connor, an attorney for the town, showed town commissioners a draft lawsuit at their June 12 meeting. Commissioners unanimously agreed to file suit.
“I don’t think we have any alternative but to follow this advice and get a lawsuit filed as soon as possible,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.
Robert Wright, a Tallahassee lawyer who specializes in utilities, will assist the legal action. O’Connor said the lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court in part to get action more quickly.
“We can’t get the lawsuit done over the summer. But compared to being in state court where this could take three to five years, if we file imminently … generally they set trial dates one year out,” O’Connor said.
Wright agreed to discount his legal fees to $250 an hour.
Town officials, surprised by AT&T’s demand for more money, are continuing to ask the company for more details to explain the higher cost. Comcast, which also put its lines underground, said it encountered nothing in the field to make its job more costly, Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said.
Morgan said AT&T put its lines underground in the southern half of town for $160,000 and now wants $1.2 million for the northern half, “a striking difference,” he said.

In other business:
• Foster Marine Contractors began installing a new water main along State Road A1A on June 8. The $1.9 million project will force traffic detours into town at times. Residents close to the work will receive an informational flyer 24 hours ahead of time and can call 888-267-0321 with concerns.
• Commissioners gave Chet Snavely permission to demolish the decrepit house at 2775 Avenue Au Soleil and sod the lot. Snavely, who is also president of the Place Au Soleil Homeowners Association, bought the house for $400,000 after the heirs of deceased homeowner Richard Lavoie paid Gulf Stream $125,000 in code enforcement liens. Ú

DELRAY BEACH: A group of about 100 gathered May 31 at Veterans Park to peacefully protest the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, while he was in the custody of a white Minneapolis police officer. By the end of June the protests had largely stopped in South County. They were peaceful, according to police. Photos by Tim Stepien and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

DELRAY BEACH: As Dan Allen and Mary Adams joined dozens of others at a May 6 protest in Delray Beach, they started talking, realized they shared many of the same concerns, and decided to start dating. He has lived in a variety of places, including Boca Raton, she in Boynton Beach. Ten days later they were planning a vacation together. ‘We have been talking every day; can’t believe it, it never happens this way,’ Allen says.

BOCA RATON: A group of nearly 400 people, including supportive police officers, marched from 100 NW Second Ave. to Federal Highway on June 6 in a peaceful protest.

BOCA RATON: Nearly 120 people rallied in front of the Boca Raton Police Station on June 22 to demonstrate their support for law enforcement and President Donald Trump’s administration.

BOYNTON BEACH: On May 31, dozens of protesters gathered around the city, including this group that traversed the Ocean Avenue bridge into Ocean Ridge a few times. The sign paraphrases Martin Luther King Jr.: ‘It’s not the violence of few that scares us, it’s the silence of the many.’

By Rich Pollack

June is normally when real estate professionals — who help connect sellers and buyers of luxury homes along South Florida’s coast — can relax a little and catch their breath.
This was not a normal June, however, and instead of kicking back, many real estate professionals went into July working overtime as the residential home market kicked back up.
“This has been the busiest June we’ve had in my 17-year real estate career,” said Nick Malinosky, executive director of luxury sales for Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “I’m three times busier than I would normally be this time of year.”
The driving force behind this seeming real estate boom — with increased demand for rentals as well as condo and single-family home sales — may be COVID-19.
Pent-up demand in the real estate market, which all but dried up early in the pandemic, combined with people’s desires to flee urban areas hit hard by the virus, made for busy phones in local real estate offices.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” said Steven Presson of the Corcoran Group, who specializes in coastal homes in South Palm Beach County. “Every day I’m seeing homes that were on the market for a long time being sold.”
In Palm Beach County, there were 138 closed sales of homes over $1 million in March, down 25% from the previous year, and only 93 in April, down 37% from April 2019.
But from May 1 through late June there were about 250 closed sales of homes over $1 million. That’s still down from the 392 similar sales during the same period last year, or 36%, but it shows that a recovery is taking place. “The fact that we’re that close and that high considering the pandemic is indicative of how quickly we’ve recovered,” said Jarrod Lowe, president of the Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors. “It’s a testament to how much of a thriving market we’re in.”
Lowe said the trend crosses all aspects of the residential home-buying market in Palm Beach County. “The residential market is just on fire,” he said.

Rentals also heating up

Demand also is high for rental properties, especially from residents of the Northeast and the Chicago area. Demand began growing soon after the number of coronavirus cases began rapidly increasing in those areas, according to agents.
“We started getting an incredible amount of calls from people looking for rental properties,” Malinosky said.
That helped push the price of rental units up — in some cases dramatically.
To illustrate the point, Presson highlights a coastal home that rented for $25,000 a month for three months. Normally, he said, that same home would have rented for about $10,000 a month during the same time period. Even higher offers came in after the first offer had been accepted.
Real estate agents will tell you that the market could be even hotter were it not for some unexpected obstacles.
“Our biggest problem right now is low inventory,” says Patricia Towle, a sales associate at Sotheby’s International Realty in Palm Beach who sees the market on track to make a strong come back. “Sellers pulled their homes off the market because of uncertainty.”
Buyers were a little nervous as well.
Towle says she had a buyer who put in an offer on a home prior to the pandemic but pulled it once conditions deteriorated.
The buyer stayed in touch with her and came back after the slowdown with the same offer on the table with no conditions and a quick closing.
Towle, who specializes in Point Manalapan and Hypoluxo Island, said that in mid-March there had been seven closings and three sales pending. After a lull in activity during April and May, sales picked back up, with 12 closings by mid-June.
One area where there’s not as much activity as there is with single-family homes is in the condo and townhouse market — with restrictions brought on by the pandemic having a lot to do with that.

Condo buyer frustrated

Many condo associations, according to Malinosky, didn’t allow showings, while others restricted access so that even after a unit was purchased the new buyer could not move in right away.
That proved to be frustrating for 84-year-old Tom Carr, who closed on a condo in Highland Beach on March 9 but discovered two days later that the condo association would not allow his furniture to be delivered.
“The virus made it impossible for me to move in,” he said.
Carr, who had to be out of his nearby rental unit by the end of April, ended up living in a neighbor’s apartment and overseeing some repairs while the neighbor was away. He was able to move into his new condo in mid-June, with all of the deliveries coming in one day.
Another challenge for those selling condominiums and townhouses has been travel restrictions and a reluctance of prospective buyers to fly in.
To get around that problem, some agents have been offering virtual tours and have seen units sold without the buyers’ ever stepping foot inside.
Malinosky says there were still quite a few sales in the condo market as well as inquiries, and he foresees improvement as restrictions are loosened. “The demand is there,” he said.
The demand is especially high, he believes, for spacious condos where residents can work from home, perhaps with a window view of the ocean.
Privacy is also an issue, with some buyers looking for units that come with a private elevator and even private pools.
When it comes down to it, what buyers of both condos and single-family homes are looking for is the same thing — the Florida lifestyle.
“People are figuring that if they’re going to be anywhere, they would rather be in Florida,” said Malinosky, adding that some see it as a more open and safer environment.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that taxes in Florida are more affordable than those in many parts of the Northeast.
Presson says a lot of buyers he’s seeing these days are people who have been indecisive about moving to Florida.
“COVID pushed them off the fence,” he said.

By Dan Moffett

Town Manager Robert Kellogg had plenty of good news to report about the financial health of South Palm Beach during the Town Council’s meeting on June 9.
Kellogg told council members that the town’s taxable value has skyrocketed 21.7% this year over last, far more than any other municipality in Palm Beach County.
Two reasons for the surge: the $70 million luxury condominium building, 3550 South Ocean, has finally come onto the tax rolls. And so has developer Frank McKinney’s five-bedroom, five-bath single-family home at 3492 S. Ocean Blvd., currently on the market for $13.9 million.
The net result is a $78 million jump in taxable value for the town, from $361.5 million in 2019 to $439.6 million in 2020, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.
But wait. Council members have more good news as they begin to deliberate next year’s budget.
The town is projected to save about $200,000 this year because it has merged its Police Department with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Moreover, cash reserves are healthy, too, because money that for years was set aside to pay for an expensive beach stabilization project won’t be needed. That beach plan fell apart last year and has been replaced with a far less costly sand dune replacement project.
“This is the best it’s ever looked,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who has served on the council since 2011. “What we do with the revenue will be determined during a budget workshop as a decision by everybody.”
The continuing budget issue facing the council is whether to repair or replace the aging Town Hall building. Officials have wrestled with a decision on that for the past three years, going through a number of false starts and aborted plans over how much to spend and how far to go in upgrading the building.
“It’s a live wire,” said Fischer, who said she expects the debate to begin anew as the council begins deliberating this summer on a budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
One thing the mayor has already promised from the new tax windfall, however: “We will be able to buy more masks,” she said with a laugh.
The council intends to continue distributing free face masks to residents as long as the COVID-19 pandemic threat remains, she said.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a contract with The MS Factor Inc., a West Palm Beach public relations and advertising firm, to improve communication services between the government and residents.
Fischer said she wants the town to have a stronger internet presence and be able to inform residents quickly during emergency situations with text messages and emails.
“We hope to see improvements on our website and how we get information out to our residents,” Fischer said.
Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb has argued for months that the town should use social media and the internet to get more people involved in government and civic activities.
The contract with MS Factor calls for paying the company on an hourly basis for specific assignments the council approves. The MS Factor is a partnership between former state Rep. Sharon Merchant and marketing specialist Valerie Staggs. Merchant’s firm has done work for West Palm Beach, Palm Beach and Boynton Beach, as well as the Florida Department of Transportation.

By Dan Moffett

Manalapan can move forward with a plan to improve water delivery to its oceanfront homes after the Town Commission approved two ordinances that will allow an easement for pipeline construction across property owned by Commissioner Hank Siemon.
One ordinance removes the requirement that homes be built before docks are added as accessories. The change means that Siemon can get his dock construction underway before completing his new residence at 1660 Lands End Road.
The other ordinance removes the requirement that the town’s Architectural Commission must review dock projects. Both passed unanimously on June 23.
Because the positioning of Siemon’s dock can now be laid out and approved, the town can determine its easement space and begin work on installing the pipe that will significantly increase water flow to homes along the ocean.
In January, the commission approved a variance to code that allows Siemon to build a dock some 30 feet farther out into the Intracoastal than existing limits. Some neighbors and two former mayors objected to allowing the exception.
Commissioner Stewart Satter commended Siemon for working with the town to get the water project going.
“He’s doing us a favor,” Satter said. “He’s not trying to pull a fast one. He’s trying to cooperate with the town because that dock needs to go in before the water line.”
Mayor Keith Waters said the commission has been talking about improving its water delivery for 15 years, and Siemon’s willingness to work with the commission is making it possible.
“We asked him. He didn’t ask us,” Waters said. “We asked him to go ahead and move forward because we need that dock in place.”

In other business:
• Manalapan commissioners are facing some hard choices as they begin deliberations in July on the town’s 2020-2021 budget. Tax revenues are down and expenses are rising.
Property tax valuations are essentially flat year-over-year, up only 1.5%, the lowest increase in Palm Beach County. Several Manalapan property owners petitioned the value adjustment board and had their valuations decreased, Town Manager Linda Stumpf said. Meanwhile, next door in South Palm Beach, valuations are up almost 22%, the highest in the county, which will take a toll on Manalapan.
The town and South Palm are connected in a package deal with the county for fire-rescue services. The big jump in South Palm valuations means both municipalities will have to pay the county significantly more this year.
Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has crippled business at Plaza del Mar and Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, reducing tax streams to the town. Manalapan’s county and state tax receipts are down, too.
On the expense side, personnel costs keep rising, the Police Department has expanded and an ambitious multiyear, multimillion-dollar septic-to-sewer conversion project looms on the horizon.
“We’re working really hard to bring in the budget and make some cuts to it so hopefully we can absorb the reduction and not increase the tax rate,” Stumpf said. “But I can’t say for sure if I’ll be able to do that.”
• The commission unanimously approved an ordinance that allows the placement of liens on properties with unpaid water service charges. Until passing the law, the town had little means of enforcing collection of delinquent water bills, Stumpf said.
• Manalapan is claiming a first for the town. Because of COVID-19 restrictions that have closed Town Hall, video of the commission meeting on June 23 was streamed live via Zoom on YouTube.
“This is the first in the history of the town that we’ve had a video Town Commission meeting,” Waters said, smiling. “We are the astronauts of the future for town government.”

Appraiser likes 5.9% growth as county awaits impact of pandemic

By Mary Hladky

The taxable value of Palm Beach County properties has increased for the ninth year in a row, although the rate of growth continued a multiyear trend of slowing down.
The numbers, however, do not reflect any impact from the coronavirus pandemic since they are based on market conditions as of Jan. 1.
Countywide taxable property values jumped 5.9% from 2019 to 2020, down from last year’s 6.2%, according to the 2020 preliminary tax roll that the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office submitted to the state.
The total taxable value of countywide properties is $210.3 billion, up from $198.9 billion last year.
The total market value of countywide properties increased to $288.6 billion from $277.6 billion in 2019.
New construction added to the tax rolls totaled $3 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2019.
The taxable value rise “is very healthy,” said Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks. “It is not too high and not too low.”
It is too early to predict what impact COVID-19 will have on next year’s values, Jacks said, but she expects hotels, non-essential retail and restaurants will take a hit.
“A lot of that property is a tenant-landlord relationship,” she said. “If tenants don’t return, or tenants ask for some dispensation from their rent for a period of time, all that impacts the owner’s income. Their income will be reduced.”
As of mid-June, she had not seen an impact on the residential market. “But what it will be over the next six months is the real rub. We are just not sure if there is going to be a larger recession that will cause a decline in residential.”
So far, signs are hopeful.

Lots of Realtors report people from New York and the surrounds are looking, maybe making decisions to move up retirement, or work from home. A lot of people have ties to this area. They may choose to move on their plans sooner rather than later. That helps the market, Jacks said.
Since 70% of the county’s taxable value comes from residential, a solid residential market would offset commercial market losses, she said.
Despite the pandemic, the Palm Beach County median home sales price was holding steady at $365,000 as of May, Jarrod Lowe, president of the Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors, announced on June 22.
That’s virtually the same as last year. Yet the median sale price usually increases year over year. Last year’s increase was 3.1%.
But Lowe was upbeat.
“Most would assume that the market would be derailed after the past few months, but this just goes to show how resilient our county is,” he said. “If you are looking to sell, there are also fewer competing properties right now and fewer days on market.”
Closed sales decreased by 47% because many closings were postponed due to the coronavirus, he said, adding that he expects to see the market begin to normalize this summer.
Like last year, new apartment complexes, hotels and warehouses bolstered the rise in new construction.
Boca Raton’s taxable property value, which increased $1.1 billion from last year’s $25 billion, continues to outpace every other city in the county. The city’s value rate was up 4.75%, compared with 4.9% last year.
“We are continuing to see robust investment and steady growth in our assessed values,” Mayor Scott Singer said in an email. “Even with the COVID-19 downturn, residential properties are selling briskly and we are seeing even more interest from people and companies from other states.”
Delray Beach’s taxable value jumped 7.6%, up from last year’s 6.6%. Boynton Beach’s value increased by 6.8%, down from 7.4% in 2019.
Delray Beach added $225.6 million in new construction to its tax roll, narrowly besting Boca Raton’s $223.7 million.
High-value redevelopment projects in the city’s eastern communities and downtown added to the tax roll, said Anthea Gianniotes, Delray Beach’s development services director.
“We are growing like crazy,” she said. “A lot of this is a realization of a lot of the hard work that went into revitalizing our downtown over the last 20 years. We have created a beautiful downtown.”
Gianniotes said next year’s new construction numbers would be strong as well, as the iPic theater building, Ray Hotel and portions of the Atlantic Crossing project will be added to the tax roll.
The overall taxable value percentage growth leader in south Palm Beach County was South Palm Beach, which jumped a whopping 21.7%.
Town Manager Robert Kellogg attributed that to the addition to the tax roll of 3550 South Ocean, a seven-story oceanfront luxury condo, as well as a new single-family home on the ocean.
That’s a one-year boon for the town, as Kellogg said he does not expect any new construction to take place in the foreseeable future.
Property values increased by 11.1% in Briny Breezes, 2.8% in Gulf Stream, 2.5% in Highland Beach, 6.8% in Lantana, 1.5% in Manalapan, and 4.8% in Ocean Ridge.
The largest Boca Raton projects added to the tax roll this year were a new $57 million headquarters for prison and immigrant detention center operator GEO Group at 4955 Technology Way, new construction at Cade Boca Raton apartments at 950 Broken Sound Parkway NW, and a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion at 1160 Royal Palm Way.
Delray Beach’s largest were the 66-condo 111 First Delray Beach at 111 SE First Ave., the Aloft Hotel at 202 SE Fifth Ave., and a Courtyard Marriott at 135 SE Sixth Ave.
Boynton Beach’s biggest were the 324-unit Pacifica apartment complex at 1080 Audace Ave., The Club at Boynton Beach assisted living facility at 623 S. Federal Highway, and an Aldi supermarket at 3452 W. Boynton Beach Blvd.
Local governments use the taxable value numbers to calculate how much property tax money they can expect in the coming year so they can set their annual budgets and 2020-2021 tax rates.
The overall increase in taxable values was welcome news for municipal leaders since a decline would have meant less tax revenue coming in and forced difficult budget decisions.
But as the coronavirus pandemic continues, cities will see a decrease in other expected income, including sales tax revenue. As of late June, it was not yet clear how big those losses would be.

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By Mary Thurwachter

During Lantana’s first budget workshop on June 8, Mayor Dave Stewart warned residents that the upcoming budget years would be very challenging.
“Property taxes will bring in about $4 million,” he said. “What it costs to run the town from A to Z for everything we do is about $19-$20 million. Your property taxes are very necessary, but they are only about 20% of what it costs to do all the services.”
Other money comes from gas tax revenue, sales tax sharing and revenue sharing from the state.
“The state last I heard, with its almost $90 billion budget, was projecting a $5 billion deficit, and that trickles down to everybody,” Stewart said. “Our sales tax receipts are projected to be considerably less — people aren’t buying in the same manner they were before the virus. And of course, with fewer people driving, there’s less gas being purchased. It’s a good thing to have some reserves, because things are going to be very, very tough.”
Stewart is proud that the town has built up a healthy $9 million in reserves, something he says took 20 years. The account had just $600,000 when Stewart took office in 2000.
“It’s a good thing I’ve been a little cheapskate with spending all these years,” he said.
Finance Director Stephen Kaplan, in presenting the budget, said property values increased by $78 million, or 6.9%, to $1.21 billion for the coming fiscal year. That number includes $14.4 million in new construction.
Property taxes, using the same $3.5 tax rate as the current fiscal year, would bring in $4.05 million. Total revenue projections are for $12.4 million, an increase of $229,000 compared with the current budget.
Kaplan said the town projects receiving $80,000 in federal Community Development Block grants.
The town is planning to give employees a 1.5% cost-of-living raise and possible merit raises up to 5% based on annual evaluations.
Pension costs are projected at 39.51% of wages for sworn police officers at a cost of $932,000. Pension costs for other employees are 7% of wages with a matching program of up to 2%. The total cost for this is $325,000.
Health and dental insurance are expected to increase 20% each for a total cost of $1,720,000.
Money the town receives from the penny sales tax surcharge, an estimated $785,500, is earmarked for projects such as a launch deck at Sportsman’s Park ($9,000), beach walkway rails ($120,000), playground relocation and upgrade at Bicentennial Park ($120,000) and paving projects ($450,000).
The budget calls for adding a dispatcher and a detective to the Police Department; and reclassifying and promoting several positions in the finance and development services departments.
Also on the expenditure list is increasing part-time staff hours at the library and spending $15,000 for books. The library is due for massive renovations and expansion, much of which was covered in the current budget and from donations. The remaining $300,000 will come out of reserves.
The town is looking into costs associated with body cameras for police at the mayor’s suggestion.
“I know we’ve had this discussion before, but when you see all that we see on TV, that officer from the sidewalk, I really think — and you know how I am about spending money — maybe we should spend money for body cameras to protect ourselves,” Stewart said. “I know that’s a controversial thing.”
Kaplan says the town expected to receive certified taxable values from the county’s property appraiser on July 1.
A second budget workshop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. July 13 — the same night a proposed tax rate will be set. There will also be two public hearings on the budget in September.