By Steve Plunkett

After serving nine months on the Briny Breezes Town Council and with four months to go, Alderman Keith Black says that will be enough.

Black will not run for a full term, he announced at the council’s Oct. 24 meeting as Town Clerk Sandi DuBose listed the timetable for March’s municipal election.

Black tried to run for mayor in last March’s balloting but complained in December 2023 that the county supervisor of elections rejected five of the 23 signatures he had collected to support his candidacy. Mayoral candidates in Briny Breezes must submit 20 valid signatures from registered voters in town.

After council veteran Sue Thaler resigned in late December, Black was the only person to send in a letter of interest to fill the remaining year-plus of her position. He previously sat on the Planning and Zoning Board.

His Seat 1 will be on the March 11 ballot along with Council President Liz Loper’s Seat 3 and Alderman Bill Birch’s Seat 5. The qualifying period is noon Nov. 12 to noon Nov. 26.

Also at the Oct. 24 meeting, Town Manager Bill Thrasher said he will convene a stakeholder meeting to provide information and answer questions on the town’s sea wall and drainage plans.

The meeting, which is tentatively set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Community Center, must be held for the town to actually receive $5,000 of its already awarded $330,000 planning grant from the state.

Thrasher said he is also required to take attendance at the meeting.

The Town Council will skip its Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 meetings to avoid conflicts with the holidays and meet instead at 4 p.m. Dec. 12.

King tides affected coastal Palm Beach County in October and another round is expected Nov. 14 through 18.

ABOVE: Robert Stalzer, the tennis pro at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, assists a hotel guest with crossing the flooded road in front of the resort.

BELOW: Corey Roberts and Thor Arnold struggle against the strong winds to load a customer’s boat onto their trailer in the flooded parking lot of Sportsman’s Park in Lantana.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

In a stunning revelation, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore could not assure the public that an alleged bribery scheme within the city’s Code Enforcement Department is contained and that the department isn’t riddled with corruption.

Moore’s comment came at the Oct. 15 City Commission meeting when Vice Mayor Juli Casale asked him about the arrest of a code enforcement officer accused of shaking down two residents.

Khatoya Markia Wesley, 35, was arrested Oct. 3 on two counts of extortion threats and two counts of unlawful compensation, second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison. She was fired Oct. 7 for accepting money, willful misconduct and conduct unbecoming a city employee, according to a memo written by Moore.

City Attorney Lynn Gelin has asked the Office of the Inspector General to conduct a review of the department, Casale said after the Oct. 15 commission meeting. She did not know if the OIG asked to conduct the investigation was with the state or with Palm Beach County. Gelin did not return an email seeking comment on Oct. 18.

Casale pressed Moore on the bribery arrest at the meeting, noting that the code compliance officer fired is accused in the police report of using surrogates and multiple Cash App accounts.

“Did we do a full investigation into this department to make sure that this is one individual and not a bunch of people working together?” Casale asked.
Moore said a “review process was imminent.”

“What do you mean a review process is imminent?” Casale shot back.

“We will be reviewing our processes to be on point in that regard because, of course, my concern is if there’s more than one individual other than who was apprehended in the most recent events,” Moore said.

Casale asked Moore why the city took so long to investigate Wesley and why commissioners were not informed.

“Our residents deserve better,” Casale said. “We are here to clean up, not cover up, and that’s what it feels like is going on when we don’t get information about one of our employees bribing people and extorting them.”

She told Moore she was frustrated that it took so much time to investigate Wesley, who was on paid administrative leave for four months before being arrested a year after the alleged bribery took place.

Moore, who has increasingly been on the defensive with Casale, said he was “not happy with the application” but that probable cause had to be established along the lines of the city’s policies and procedures.

“In all fairness, as far as the time frames you outlined, it was not a function of irresponsibility on our part, (it’s) simply taken time to put the pieces together. That is policy, that is process. And ultimately, we got to a place in which the arrest had been made,” Moore said.

Wesley is accused of demanding payment from John “The Ribman” Jules, who sold barbecue ribs out of his home at 1048 Sunset Ave. Jules said he gave Wesley $1,500 in cash and $800 in food for her and her associates, according to an Oct. 3 arrest report.

Wesley is also accused of trying to shake down Yves Merzius, who police said owned UU Auto Sales at 210 SE Third Ave. “He stated Wesley came to the lot on several occasions and stated that she was going to report his business to code enforcement unless he paid her,” the report stated.

Both men had been subject to code enforcement complaints in the past. Jules faced complaints because of traffic jams in the neighborhood around his house as he sold rib plates for $20 apiece. Merzius told police that he had a shop but code enforcement shut it down and he was storing cars at the address in question.

Wesley was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Oct. 4 after posting a $10,000 bond. The phone number listed on the police report for Wesley was disconnected. The public defender representing Wesley has not yet responded to an Oct. 19 email seeking comment.

An investigation into Wesley — who lives in Delray Beach — started in February when a fellow code enforcement officer reported her after he spoke to a family member of an alleged victim, police said. The alleged extortion and bribery took place in October 2023, according to the report.

In the police report, Wesley complains in a text message that Jules’ account was frozen and that he could pay only $560. A contact phone for Jules was not included in the police report and he could not be reached for comment.

Wesley was explicit in her threats, according to the police report.

“If nothing sent tonight it ain’t nothing ima be able to do to help bro ’cause I gotta pay somebody else,” she told Jules on one occasion. Police said she followed it up with a text message that said, “They sending fire department and everything tonight if the event paperwork not shown.”

Text messages between Wesley and Merzius were recovered but they did not have any payment information, according to the arrest report.

The Ocean Ridge Commission on Oct. 21 agreed to have the Planning and Zoning Commission and the town lawyer reexamine an ordinance prohibiting political signs in swales during election season.

“I don’t think the town of Ocean Ridge should be driving around — the Police Department, especially — moving signs, touching signs. I don’t appreciate that,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said.

At the meeting, former Commissioner Terry Brown said a police officer came to his home on Oct. 17 after a neighbor complained that his sign supporting Vice President Kamala Harris was not 3 feet back from the street.

“Why would you dispatch a police officer to come and out and do that?” he told The Coastal Star. Brown moved the sign into his tree.

Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the town is not out looking for political signs that are in the rights-of-way, but said police or code enforcement officers are dispatched when there is a complaint from a resident.

Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. then suggested that there should be a policy that police and code enforcement ignore complaints about political signs during election season.

For the time being, Brown put his offending sign up in a tree but he told commissioners he has a Constitutional right to place political placards where he sees fit. “I will be using the road’s right-of-way for signs the week before the election,” he said.

— John Pacentii

Boynton Beach city commissioners approved an agreement Oct. 15 with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection related to a massive sewage spill into the Intracoastal Waterway in July 2023.

The city didn’t admit or deny any of the department’s findings in the so-called consent order, but agreed to a $182,008 civil penalty and to pay $1,000 to cover FDEP investigation costs and expenses, along with undertaking corrective actions. Boynton Beach has the opportunity to avoid paying the cash penalty if it instead implements an approved pollution prevention or in-kind project worth $273,012 (150% of the civil penalty).

The commission approved the consent order without comment.

“The [consent order] reflects the City and FDEP’s mutually agreed upon resolution of the matter and the City agrees to comply with the corrective actions within the time periods set out in the [consent order],” the staff’s agenda report says. “The Utility sees this as an opportunity to continue its vision of improving infrastructure assessment, asset management, and repair and replacement projects to continue providing exceptional services to our customers.”

About 22 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Intracoastal over six days due to a broken sewer line at the eastern end of Boynton Beach Boulevard. The city spent $1.6 million to repair the line and clean up the spill.

— Larry Barszewski

BOCA RATON — Helen Marie Bates Babione, with her husband a pioneer of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, died Oct. 5. She was 95.

Helen Bates moved to Lake Worth from Ohio in 1948 and in 1950 married Robert Babione. They moved to Boca Raton in 1960, where they opened Babione Funeral Home and became active members in the community. 

Helen and Robert joined St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, where they were among the pioneer families that helped grow the church and school into the beautiful sanctuary and campus they are today. As a devoted parishioner for 50-plus years, she was surrounded by her many friends and family for her 90th birthday party in the church’s Mercy Center in March 2019.

Mrs. Babione was preceded in death by her beloved husband in 2004, as well as by her daughter Mary Veccia, son Robert Babione Jr. and his wife, Sue Babione, son-in-law Mike Haggerty, and grandson Brian Veccia.

She was a compassionate, generous and kind woman who loved helping others and bringing people together. She was an advocate for women and children her whole life, encouraging everyone to stay happy and healthy.

She leaves her family with many fond memories. She is survived by daughters Kathryn (Mark) Rogers, Phyllis Haggerty, Ashley (Tim) Glick and Jean (Bill) Giffin; son Paul Babione; and son-in-law Joe (Damiana) Veccia. She was blessed with 11 grandchildren: Tiffany (Don), Kimberly (Nick), Jennifer, Pamela (Seth), Robert (Stefanie), Cindy (Daryl), Alyson (Fergus), Kaitlyn (Marcello), Jonathan (Rachel), Laura and Trevor. Along came 13 great-grandchildren: Kade and Quinn FitzHenry; Madelyn and Abigail Veccia, and their mother, Jaime; Alexis and Savanna Babione; Kyle Smith; Bruno, Amelia and Clara Amsalem; Georgiana and Zinnia Keatinge; Liliana Barioli; also many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Mrs. Babione was very proud of her work on the “Honor Your Doctor” annual luncheon organized by the Downtown Rotary Club. The Soroptimist Club, which she started in Boca Raton, was also dear to her heart. And she was a donor to the growth of Boca Raton Regional Hospital (she co-chaired an annual Go Pink luncheon), as well as a life member of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.

She was a founding member of the Society for the Disabled in 1960 and from that the Twin Palms Center for the Disabled and the Habilitation Center of Boca Raton were started. She supported the work of American Association of Caregiving Youth; she was also involved with the Downtown Kiwanis and Key Club work.  

The Babiones received many honors over the years for their community service, including the “Heartland Award” presented by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles and the “Family of the Year” award from the Florida Knights of Columbus.

Most recently, she received a beautiful figurine from St. Joan of Arc Church for her faithfulness and love of Jesus.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Oct. 14 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church followed by interment at Boca Raton Cemetery.

At Helen’s wish, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made at glickfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/Helen-Babione#donations. The funds will then be distributed by the family to many of Helen’s most beloved charities.

— Obituary submitted by the family

DELRAY BEACH — It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Deborah “Debbie” Ann Grove. On Oct. 7, she succumbed to her long battle with cancer. She was 67.  

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Ms. Grove attended Mount Pleasant High School and the School of Cosmetology, later becoming the owner of the popular Charles Davis Salon in Centerville. 

After meeting the love of her life, John Belmonte, Ms. Grove moved to Delray Beach where the couple lived for 25 years. Together they enjoyed traveling overseas in exploration of the world.

Ms. Grove was a caring and fun-loving person with a wonderful sense of humor. She had a passion for animals, always having a dog by her side for her daily walks on the beach.

She was a beloved member of The Colony Beach Club for over a decade, where she cultivated many special friendships. She and John loved entertaining; she was the quintessential “hostess with mostest.” 

She was preceded in death by both of her parents, Edward Sr. and Marjorie Grove. She is survived by her brother, Edward Grove Jr., and her sister-in-law, Rosemary, as well as John Belmonte and her many extended family members. She will be deeply missed. Services are private. 

— Obituary submitted by the family

The Carlisle is on Ocean Avenue just west of State Road A1A in Lantana. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

The Carlisle Palm Beach, a senior living facility in Lantana, is celebrating its 25th birthday with a Seaside Soiree from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the facility, 450 E. Ocean Ave.

The event will include live music, chef-prepared hors d’oeuvres and house-made cocktails.

Press materials for the Carlisle call it “a hidden gem set between the ocean, the Lantana Nature Preserve and the Intracoastal Waterway.”

Part of the Orlando-based Bridge Senior Living, the Carlisle offers 144 upscale independent-living apartments, with a variety of one- or two-bedroom floor-plan styles. It recently underwent a multimillion-dollar modernization that included the lobby, dining room and wellness center and state-of-the-art fitness facility.

For reservations to the soiree, call 561-295-1262 or visit CarlislePalmBeachEvents.com.

***

Grove Rosebud Two LLC, managed by Randal Perkins, deeded the 141-room hotel The Ray, 233 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach, to a joint venture between the New York-based Certares and the Delray Beach-based TMGOC Ventures after they assumed its mortgage.

Recorded in September, the deed’s doc stamps were based on a value of $57.7 million because that was the mortgage assumed by the buyer; however, the consideration for the property conveyance was $47.84 million, according to the deed.

Totaling 96,631 square feet, the hotel was built on the 1.09-acre site in 2021. When Grove Rosebud Two was incorporated in 2021, Menin Development was the manager. Perkins was named manager in place of Menin in November 2023. 

Certares is a global investment firm focused on the travel and hospitality industries, and TMGOC Ventures is a real estate investment firm.

***

A seven-bedroom, 12,408-square-foot ocean-to-lake estate at 3090 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, owned by oil heiress Jean Christine Thompson, sold to call-center entrepreneur Anthony Marlowe in October for $15.589 million.

One Sotheby’s International Realty agents Madison Collum and Sandra Tagliamonte handled both sides of the sale.

Built in 2000, the estate sits on 1.75 acres. Thompson’s company paid $11.5 million for it in 2011. The estate had been on the market since April 2023, when it was listed at $28.5 million.

***

Piano Man Billy Joel did finally sell his mansion at 1110 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan after it went pending in late August with a closing date scheduled for Oct. 2. The $42.6 million sale was recorded Oct. 23.

Joel listed the property for $54.9 million in January and reduced it to $49.9 million in March.

The new owner, Dr. Armin Oskouei, bought the estate through 1110 S Ocean Blvd LLC, a limited liability company. Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented both sides of the deal.

***

Macy’s sold its 224,396- square-foot department store at the Boynton Beach Mall to the mall’s owner, Boynton Beach Mall LLC, which is part of the Washington Prime Group, for $15 million.

The store is expected to stay open at least through 2025.

What is happening with the mall in general? Known as Boynton Beach 91, the 91-acre site was recently marked for sale by JLL Capital as a mixed-use project. Boynton Beach city officials are keen for the mall’s owner to move forward with redevelopment. 

***

The Gold Coast PR Council in October gave out its annual Bernays Awards to honor excellence in local public relations campaigns, marketing programs and media coverage.

The President’s Award went to Marie Speed. The PR Star Award was given to Don Silver of Boardroom PR. The Founders Award went to Sandy Collier. Tania Rogers received the Tim Byrd Award. CRL Media LLC received the Judges Award. 

The Best Nonprofit Project or Campaign/Large award went to the Palm Beach County Library System for its 2024-2028 strategic plan and its 2024 action plan. The Best Nonprofit Project or Campaign/Small award went to Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for “Space Explorers: The Infinite.” The Best Marketing Material/Print award went to Anne M. Gannon, Palm Beach County’s tax collector, for Welcome Home to Palm Beach County.”

The Best Marketing Material/Digital or Video award went to the Palm Beach County Library System for “Embracing the New — The Complete Renovation of www.pbclibrary.org.”
The Best Special Event award went to Kaye Communications for “Concert 4 Kindness.” The Best Social Media Campaign/For Profit award went to Boardroom PR for “Gloria Gates Care.”

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County arts and culture ambassador Nick Mele received the Best Social Media Campaign/Nonprofit award. The Best Crisis Management award was given to Food for the Poor’s “Food For The Poor Responds to Crisis in Haiti.”

The Best PR Campaign by a Small Company or Firm award went to Ed Katz, Katnip PR, for Chris Sarandon’s “Cooking by Heart” podcast promotion. The Best PR Campaign by a Large Company or Firm award went to the Palm Tran “Let’s Get On The Bus! Challenge.”

***

Florida Atlantic University’s College of Education and College of Engineering and Computer Science received a $9.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to provide technology job training to people with disabilities.

“By bridging the gap between disability and technology careers, we are not only opening doors to competitive integrated employment but also fostering a more inclusive and diverse workforce,” FAU principal investigator and associate professor Ayse Torres said.

The five-year project will offer counseling and training that can lead to certificates in cybersecurity, cloud computing solutions and computer-aided design and 3D printing. The college will focus on youth and adults who have high school diplomas and are current or former participants of state vocational rehab services.

***

Carbon Limit, a Boca Raton-based company that makes a concrete additive that absorbs carbon dioxide, just debuted CoolCrete, a cooling technology that improves concrete’s ability to reflect sunlight to reduce overall heat absorption up to 6 degrees Celsius.

“We’ve created an enhanced sustainable solution to directly address the heat crisis we’re experiencing across the globe,” said CEO Tim Sperry.

The company hopes its additive can be used to combat the urban heat island effect. CoolCrete can replace up to 40% of conventional cement and reduce the carbon footprint of concrete production by 40%, the company reports.

***

This summer, Florida Power & Light Co. debuted a tool giving customers tips to keep their bills low, with the chance to win a $150 prize pack. Every two weeks, the top 10 eligible players have the option to receive their prize pack or donate the value toward FPL’s “Care To Share” program that helps Floridians in need. For information, visit FPL.com/HouseofSavings. For more tips and resources, customers can go to FPL.com/WaystoSave.

***

Florida Atlantic University has gained ground in the new U.S. News & World Report national ranking of best universities, ranking No. 189, up from 209 last year.

***

The Boca Raton/Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Boynton is Booming Business Expo will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Marriott Courtyard, 1601 N. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach. People will have the opportunity to network, learn about brands and marketing, and generate leads and potential sales. The event is free for Chamber members, and $20 for non-members.

***

Verizon Communications and the Boca Raton-based telecommunications firm Vertical Bridge have entered into an agreement for Vertical Bridge to get the exclusive rights to manage and lease 6,339 wireless towers across the nation from Verizon for about $3.3 billion. This deal works like a prepaid lease, where Verizon gets $2.8 billion in cash up front. Verizon will also sign a 10-year agreement to rent space on the towers from Vertical Bridge, and it can extend the deal for up to 50 years.

Verizon will still be able to use some extra space on the towers in the future, but with some limits. This agreement helps Verizon lower its tower costs. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024.

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

By John Pacenti

After a year of drama and turmoil surrounding Delray Beach’s previous fire chief, City Manager Terrence Moore failed to discover the replacement he hired had three internal complaints filed against him that were pending when he resigned as chief of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District.

The complaints from the first week of March 2023 centered on a secret affair between Fire Chief Ronald Martin and the fire district's human resources manager.

Among the allegations, staffers said the HR manager was promoted to leadership roles and that resources were expended so the couple could continue their romance on out-of-town business trips.

Moore was made aware of the complaints by Vice Mayor Juli Casale after Moore picked Martin in September.

“The gentleman's personal relationship with the woman is not of concern, but in reading these complaints closely you see that there are accusations of abuse of authority and misuse of taxpayer funds,” Casale said in an Oct. 11 email to Moore.

The Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District did not take action to determine the merits of the complaints because Martin resigned on March 17, 2023, the same day that a district report says officials were to meet with him about the accusations.

“I categorically deny every single one of those allegations,” Martin told The Coastal Star on Oct. 21. The HR manager, Colleen Brooks, who is now Martin’s fiancée, was by his side during the interview but did not comment.

Casale told Moore in emails and at the City Commission’s Oct. 15 meeting that the “shocking” failure to properly vet Martin calls into question the city’s hiring practices.

“If you have somebody who's been employed a long time in a city, they have a record, and we're not even asking for that in the hiring process," Casale said at the meeting without mentioning Martin by name.

“So, we hired an individual, and we're very hopeful that it will turn out to be a great hire, but basically, it will be a matter of luck and not the competency of the process, because the process is flawed,” Casale said.

At the same meeting, Martin was introduced as the new chief.

During his interview with The Coastal Star, Martin said he was unaware of the complaints until the paper asked him about them. They were not brought up when he tendered his resignation or met with the fire district’s attorney and the chairman of its board of commissioners, he said.

Martin said he stepped down because of a cancer scare and that he felt the district could be dissolved in a changing political climate. Martin also spoke about the mental fatigue he experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made a catastrophic hit on Fort Myers Beach a half-year earlier on Sept. 28, 2022.

When asked if he thought the affair was inappropriate, Martin said, “Between two consenting adults? Absolutely not.”  He said the romance was a blessing considering the issues he was dealing with at the time.

Martin said that the district was audited and found no financial wrongdoing in attending conferences during the period in question.

He also said that Brooks reported to the director of finance, not him.

Yet one of the complaints said that in the months before Ian struck, “Chief Martin had been elevating Mrs. Brooks status in the organization, changing her scope of duties, and moving her up to the Senior Leadership Team” — adding that “these changes meant she was now reporting directly to Chief Martin.”

Mayor Tom Carney, reached for comment on Oct. 21, said he had not researched the hiring process or Martin’s past. “It would be irresponsible for me to make a comment until I have all of the facts,” the mayor said.

Commissioner Rob Long said he spoke to Moore about the hiring and was told that the complaints were known and that since it was consensual — as opposed to unwanted advances — it did not dissuade the city manager from hiring Martin.

“Terrence said that like he knew about it, and it wasn't something that they that they ignored,” Long said.

The email traffic between Casale, Moore and Delray Beach Human Resources Manager Duane D’Andrea, however, tells a different story — that Delray Beach didn’t know about the complaints when it hired Martin.

Moore announced Martin’s hiring in one of his weekly information letters in September. Casale on Oct. 8 asked Moore in an email if personnel files and professional references were requested. She said a simple Google search would discover that Martin resigned abruptly.

“This seems like a clear red flag,” Casale wrote to Moore.

When she was told by D’Andrea that the city did not request Martin’s personnel file from the Fort Myers Beach fire district, the vice mayor responded, “Wow. That is Shocking.”

Moore was asked on Oct. 22 if he knew of the complaints or not. He didn’t answer but provided a statement:

“During the interview process, I had the opportunity to meet with Chief Martin to discuss his employment history and experience. There is no legitimate reason for an unsubstantiated claim or allegation to affect a prospective employee’s future. Martin has no disciplinary actions in his personnel records which might in any way negatively impact his ability to successfully serve in his new role.”

In coming to Delray Beach, Martin is inheriting a department still reeling from the drama surrounding its former chief, Keith Tomey.

Tomey was fired in May for allowing on-duty firefighters to participate in a charity softball game, taking an engine out of service for hours. A firefighter also got hurt during the game and sought worker’s compensation.

Tomey also accused Moore of sexually harassing him. An independent investigation found the allegation could not be substantiated. Tomey has filed suit against the city, saying he was retaliated against for making the complaint against Moore.

Martin worked for the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, in various capacities, since 1992. After his resignation, he took a job with Lee County and then as the chief of fire safety for the Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal.

In the email exchanges with Moore and D’Andrea, Casale asked why they felt Martin’s file was “clean” and that the allegations were “unsubstantiated.”

D’Andrea explained under city policy there was a panel who interviewed Martin, who said he left his position at Fort Myers Beach for personal reasons. Background screening included a review of Martin’s driver’s license record, a physical, a drug test and two personal references, D’Andrea told Casale.

Casale, during the Oct. 15 meeting, said the city should consider hiring a headhunter to find candidates for open positions.

By John Pacenti

In a stunning revelation, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore could not assure the public that an alleged bribery scheme within the city’s Code Enforcement Department is contained and that the department isn’t riddled with corruption.

Moore’s comment came at the Oct. 15 City Commission meeting when Vice Mayor Juli Casale asked him about the arrest of a code enforcement officer accused of shaking down two residents.

Khatoya Markia Wesley, 35, was arrested Oct. 3 on two counts of extortion threats and two counts of unlawful compensation, second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison. She was fired from her position Oct. 7 for accepting money, willful misconduct and conduct unbecoming a city employee, according to a memo written by Moore.

City Attorney Lynn Gelin has asked the Office of the Inspector General to conduct a review of the department, Casale said after the Oct. 15 commission meeting. She did not know if the OIG asked to conduct the investigation was with the state or with Palm Beach County. Gelin did not return an email seeking comment on Oct. 18.

Casale pressed Moore on the bribery arrest at the meeting, noting that the code compliance officer fired is accused in the police report of using surrogates and multiple Cash Apps accounts.

“Did we do a full investigation into this department to make sure that this is one individual and not a bunch of people working together?” Casale asked.

Moore said a “review process was imminent.”

“What do you mean a review process is imminent?” Casale shot back.

“We will be reviewing our processes to be on point in that regard because, of course, my concern is if there's more than one individual other than who was apprehended in the most recent events,” Moore said.

Casale asked Moore why the city took so long to investigate Wesley and why weren’t commissioners informed.

“Our residents deserve better,” Casale said. “We are here to clean up, not cover up, and that's what it feels like is going on when we don't get information about one of our employees bribing people and extorting them.”

She told Moore she was frustrated that it took so much time to investigate Wesley, who was on paid administrative leave for four months before being arrested a year after the alleged bribery took place.

Moore, who has increasingly been on the defensive with Casale, said he was “not happy with the application” but that probable cause had to be established along the lines of the city’s policies and procedures.

“In all fairness, as far as the timeframes you outlined, it was not a function of irresponsibility on our part, (it’s) simply taken time to put the pieces together. That is policy, that is process. And ultimately, we got to a place in which the arrests had been made,” Moore said.

Wesley is accused of demanding payment from John “The Ribman” Jules, who sold barbeque ribs out of his home at 1048 Sunset Ave. Jules said he gave Wesley $1,500 in cash and $800 in food for her and her associates, according to an Oct. 3 arrest report.

Wesley is also accused of trying to shake down Yves Merzius, who police said owned UU Auto Sales at 210 SE 3rd Ave. “He stated Wesley came to the lot on several occasions and stated that she was going to report his business to code enforcement unless he paid her,” the report stated.

Both men had been subject to code enforcement complaints in the past. Jules faced complaints because of traffic jams in the neighborhood around his house as he sold rib plates for $20 apiece. Merzius told police that he had a shop but code enforcement shut it down and he was storing cars at the address in question.

Wesley was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Oct 4. after posting a $10,000 bond. The phone number listed on the police report for Wesley was disconnected. The public defender representing Wesley has not yet responded to an Oct. 19 email seeking comment.

An investigation into Wesley — who lives in Delray Beach — started in February when a fellow code enforcement officer reported her after he spoke to a family member of an alleged victim, police said. The alleged extortion and bribery took place in October 2023, according to the report.

In the police report, Wesley complains in a text message that Jules' account was frozen and that he could only pay $560. A contact phone for Jules was not included in the police report and he could not be reached for comment.

Wesley was explicit in her threats, according to the police report.

“If nothing sent tonight it ain't nothing ima be able to do to help bro 'cause I gotta pay somebody else,” she told Jules on one occasion. Police said she followed it up with a text message that said, “They sending fire department and everything tonight if the event paperwork not shown.”

Text messages between Wesley and Merzius were recovered but they did not have any payment information, according to the arrest report.

 While damage from Hurricane Milton was negligible in coastal South County, this half-sunken sailboat at Sportsman's Park Marina in Lantana was affected by its winds, crashing into the sea wall there. The photo was taken Oct. 10. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star  

By Rich Pollack

With Hurricane Milton still several hours away, the small group of Briny Breezes residents who stayed home despite being urged to evacuate weren’t about to let expected tropical force winds stand in the way of the regular Wednesday afternoon social hour.

“A bunch of us went down and watched the ocean and talked a bit” on the porch of the oceanfront clubhouse, said Briny Breezes Mayor Ted Gross. “Everyone was prepared.”

The town, like most of the other coastal communities in south Palm Beach County, saw little or no impact from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday near Sarasota.

“We prepared for the worst and the best happened,” said Gross, who along with several other residents of the mostly mobile home community hunkered down despite a county evacuation order.

“We have a decent amount of communication with one another,” Gross said, adding that he and other residents were ready to leave if it appeared a change in Milton’s path would have a greater chance of affecting the town.  

A boat carrying migrants beached in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Gulf Stream on Oct. 9 ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall on Florida's west coast. Authorities said 11 migrants were taken into custody. The boat was removed the following day. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Just to the south of Briny Breezes that same afternoon, Boynton Beach police and fire and other agencies responded to the arrival of a boat with refugees coming ashore.

Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones said that 11 migrants were taken into custody at about 4 p.m. in the 4000 block of North Ocean Boulevard after the boat came ashore near the Ballantrae condominiums. Jones' department assisted in the effort along with other first responder agencies including Delray Beach and Ocean Ridge.

As for the hurricane's impact, Highland Beach Fire Chief Glenn Joseph said his department responded to some downed and arcing powerlines on State Road A1A, while in Delray Beach and Gulf Stream officials said damage was limited to a tree branch or two in the streets.

Boca Raton also emerged from the storm in good shape.

“All generally OK and grateful for it,” Mayor Scott Singer said in a text message.

“No major impacts at all,” said city spokeswoman Ileana Olmsted in an email.

Officials in Manalapan, Lantana and South Palm Beach reported little or no issues with beach erosion — with the storm coming from the west — or with street flooding as a result of minimal rainfall.

While much of the focus was on Milton and its winds, a tornado spawned in one of the hurricane’s outer bands was blamed for multiple deaths in a Fort Pierce-area senior mobile home community that was similar in many ways to Briny Breezes.

In Palm Beach County, other tornados caused destructive damage in parts of Wellington and Palm Beach Gardens.

About 31,000 of Florida Power & Light’s 784,000 customers in Palm Beach County remained without power as of noon Thursday, although there were no outages reported by local community leaders in the coastal south county area.

Mary Thurwachter, Jerry Lower, John Pacenti, Mary Hladky and Brian Biggane contributed to this story.

Jay Kelley (left) and his wife, Jo Bennett, help Briny Breezes resident Holly McCarthy secure her home on Oct. 8 after Palm Beach County urged evacuation for people living in mobile and manufactured homes. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A proposed home at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. east of State Road A1A won a variance from the Boca Raton City Council on Oct. 8. The plans still need approval from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection before construction can begin. A larger scale proposal was rejected by the council in 2019, leading to a pair of contentious lawsuits that ended recently. Rendering provided

By Steve Plunkett

Almost six years after being denied permission to erect a duplex on the beach and 12 days after an advisory panel gave a thumbs-down to a scaled-back plan, the owners of an undeveloped parcel east of State Road A1A won their long-sought OK.

The Boca Raton City Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to grant property owner Azure Development LLC a variance to build a single-family home on the sand east of the city’s Coastal Construction Control Line at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd.

“I feel like we’re finally being given our constitutional rights,” Azure partner Brian Grossberg said after the decision.

The lone vote against the proposal came without elaboration from Council member Andy Thomson, who also said no in February 2019.

Calling the vote “an unpleasant moment for me,” Mayor Scott Singer, who also opposed the project the first time it came before the council, noted that Azure had reduced the building size and an updated staff report said the impacts on nesting sea turtles had been reduced.

“I don’t think … going back a third time and a fourth time and getting them to negotiate down foot by foot, piece by piece is something reasonable,” he said.

More than a dozen nearby neighbors urged the council to deny the variance, with many of them arguing that Azure bought the parcel knowing that it is east of the CCCL and that, as one said, “they could never build there.”

But Azure’s attorney, Robert Sweetapple, said the CCCL did not prohibit construction seaward of the line.

“This property came with the right to seek a variance. That’s part of its bundle of rights,” he said.

The city’s Development Services Department had recommended that the variance be approved after attaching 17 conditions for Azure to meet, including that the building’s windows transmit no more than 31% of any interior lighting onto the beach, which is nesting habitat for protected sea turtles.

The home will still have four stories but will be approximately 38 feet tall and have 6,931 square feet of enclosed space, down from the originally proposed nearly 49-foot height and 14,270 square feet.

Azure must now get an OK from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection before obtaining an actual building permit from Boca Raton.

The property is one of two remaining undeveloped parcels on the beach. A federal judge in March ruled that the owner of 2500 N. Ocean Blvd two lots south of 2600 had a “vested right” to build on its property.

In August, the city and Azure agreed to pause two contentious lawsuits and to decide within 90 days whether to allow the home to go up on the beachfront.

The agreement also called for the developer and Boca Raton to pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs. Sweetapple has said the legal tab on Azure’s side is more than $1 million.

By John Pacenti

A Delray Beach code enforcement officer has been fired after being charged with extortion for demanding payment from two residents if they wanted to avoid being cited for violations.

Khatoya Markia Wesley, 35, faces two counts of extortion threats and two counts of unlawful compensation, second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Wesley is accused of demanding payment from John “The Ribman” Jules, who sold barbeque ribs out of his home at 1048 Sunset Ave. Jules said he gave Wesley $1,500 in cash and $800 in food for her and her associates, according to an Oct. 3 arrest report.

Wesley is also accused of trying to shake down Yves Merzius, who police said owned UU Auto Sales at 210 SE Third Ave. “He stated Wesley came to the lot on several occasions and stated that she was going to report his business to code enforcement unless he paid her,” the report stated.

Both men had been subject to code enforcement complaints in the past. Jules faced complaints because of traffic jams in the neighborhood around his house as he sold rib plates for $20 apiece. Merzius told police that he had a shop but code enforcement shut it down and he was storing cars at the address in question.

An investigation into Wesley — who also lives in Delray Beach — started in February when a fellow code enforcement officer reported her after he spoke to a family member of the alleged victim, police said. The alleged extortion and bribery took place in October 2023, according to the report.

“If nothing sent tonight it ain't nothing ima be able to do to help bro 'cause I gotta pay somebody else,” Wesley allegedly said in a text message to Jules on one occasion. Police said she followed it up with a text message that said, “They sending fire department and everything tonight if the event paperwork not shown.”

Text messages between Wesley and Merzius were recovered but they did not have any payment information, according to the arrest report.

Wesley was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Oct 4. after posting a $10,000 bond. She was fired from her position Oct. 7 for accepting money, willful misconduct and conduct unbecoming a city employee, according to a memo written by City Manager Terrence Moore.

 "Ms. Wesley's actions are in direct violation of the ethical standards expected of all City employees," police spokesman Theodore White said. "The City of Delray Beach takes these allegations very seriously and remains committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity and transparency in all its operations. We will continue to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation."

Wesley, whose phone number listed on the police report was disconnected on Oct. 8, could not be reached for comment. 

Update: This story was updated at 3:53 p.m. Oct. 9 to include comments from Delray Beach police about Wesley's arrest.

Jay Kelley (left) and his wife Jo Bennett help Briny Breezes resident Holly McCarthy secure the clam-shell shutters on her home in Briny Breezes.  Lily the dog is an evacuee from Tampa who is staying with Kelley and Bennett during Hurricane Milton. Palm Beach County announced the mandatory evacuation of mobile and manufactured homes effective noon Wednesday, Oct. 9, in anticipation of the storm. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

With Hurricane Milton zeroing in on Florida, Palm Beach County residents living in manufactured or mobile homes — including those in Briny Breezes — have been ordered to seek shelter elsewhere by county leaders.

An evacuation order, announced Tuesday afternoon, comes as the county remains under a tropical storm warning and flood watch, with the potential for sustained winds of between 30 mph and 40 mph and gusts of between 50 mph and 60 mph.

The mandate goes into effect at noon Wednesday.

The order from county leaders was all that was needed to persuade Briny Breezes resident Holly McCarthy to fasten her shutters and flee to Lake Worth Beach where she will stay with a friend.

“She wasn’t going to leave until they told her it was mandatory,” said friend Jo Bennett. Bennett and her husband, Jay Kelley, helped McCarthy prepare to leave.

In Briny Breezes, town leaders have sent information to residents encouraging evacuation but adding that police will not force anyone to leave.

“But if you choose to stay you have to remember that emergency personnel may not be able to get to you until conditions clear,” the notification to residents said. “That’s why it’s important to follow these orders.”

Should there be a tornado warning, the town is urging resident who stay to shelter in one of a handful of bathhouses in the park because they are more secure than the community’s mobile homes.

Palm Beach County will be opening five general population shelters, a pet-friendly shelter and a special needs shelter on Wednesday at noon.

For residents of Briny Breezes, the nearest general population shelter will be at at Park Vista High School at 7900 Jog Road, west of Lake Worth Beach.

In an apparent effort to discourage onlookers, bedsheets were used for a couple of days to try to conceal the hotel name where the Sept. 20 murders occured. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Larry Barszewski and Jane Musgrave

Boca Raton was on pace to hew to a one-murder-a-year crime statistic this year — that is, until gunshots erupted Sept. 20 in a hotel parking lot on State Road A1A.

Mayor Scott Singer, trying to put the city’s best face on the double murder that took place there, said the “incident was more shocking because homicide and violence in our city are so rare.”

He praised police and assured residents they were well protected during a city-arranged appearance with Police Chief Michele Miuccio in front of TV cameras and other media three days after the shootings.

“This was an isolated incident, but the swift response by our Police Department is part of their continued excellence,” Singer said.

How swift? Barely 12 hours passed from when two hotel guests from Oakland Park were shot to death at 365 N. Ocean Blvd. — and a third person wounded — to when the suspect after fleeing 500 miles up the coast was pulled over in his 2017 silver Jaguar by a Georgia sheriff’s deputy and taken into custody.

The scene at 365 Ocean, a self-described boutique extended stay hotel on A1A across from South Beach Park, where a room could be had on Booking.com for as low as $131 a night in September, became a hub of police activity that Friday after the first 911 call came in at 4:53 p.m.

The murders were the first on the city’s barrier island since February 2020. That’s when police say a homeless man was stabbed and strangled to death by his homeless son while the two were spending the night at a since-demolished parking garage at A1A and Palmetto Park Road.

The 365 Ocean deaths were the second and third killings in the city this year, following a murder-suicide earlier in September. There had been only one murder recorded in the city in 2022 and again in 2023.

At 365 Ocean, the initial reports from police point to a purse-snatching gone bad, though police say the people involved may have known each other and there may be more to the story.

“We can’t definitively say they were all friends, but it does appear that they did know each other and it wasn’t random that they were just somebody that was walking by that stepped in,” Miuccio said.

Police at the scene of the shootings, after which the suspect, a Boynton Beach resident, drove 500 miles before his arrest. Larry Barszewski / Coastal Star

Suspect and victims
As of Oct. 1, De’Vante LaShawn Moss, 30, of Boynton Beach, still sat in the Laurens County jail in Georgia, awaiting extradition on two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.

The deceased are Christopher Liszak, 49, and Chandler Dill, 32. Police have not released the name or other information about the wounded male, who was taken to Delray Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, because he is a witness to what happened. He has since been released from the hospital.

Moss, Liszak and Dill have criminal histories.

Moss was charged in U.S. District Court in April 2022 with possession of fentanyl. He became a target of an investigation by federal and Palm Beach County law enforcement agents after the overdose death of a 26-year-old Lake Worth Beach woman, who they believed was one of Moss’s customers, court records show.

Moss sold undercover agents two packages of what later tested positive as fentanyl for $1,400. While another purchase was planned, Moss fled, records show. When agents tracked him to a parking lot in West Palm Beach, they searched his car.

They didn’t find any drugs, but did find a 9-millimeter pistol. During an interview with agents, Moss was candid, according to court records. “Moss told law enforcement he is a drug addict and sells drugs when he is able to get his hands on them,” agents said.

In November 2022, he pleaded guilty to a charge of distribution of fentanyl and was given two years of probation.

Liszak was a fugitive from the Florida Department of Corrections for failing to show up for a court-ordered drug offender probation program, according to the prison system’s website. A Broward County judge in April issued a warrant for his arrest for violating his 2023 probation on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of cocaine.

Liszak served time in state prison. He was sentenced to five years in 2010 after being convicted in Broward County of heroin trafficking, selling opioids and grand theft. He was released in May 2014.

Unlike Moss and Liszak, Dill had not faced drug charges.

In 2021, when she was living in Tamarac, she was twice charged with grand theft auto after police said she stole cars from people pumping gas at service stations. She was found guilty of both charges in 2023 and was sentenced to the 364 days she had already served in the county jail.

Shots fired at hotel
Dill and Liszak had adjoining rooms at 365 Ocean on the day of their deaths; Dill had rented Room 101 the day before, while Liszak had checked into Room 102 on Sept. 9, according to the police report.

The following narrative is based on information from police, which they pulled together from their investigation, witness statements, interviews with hotel staff, and surveillance video at the hotel. It begins with Moss and Dill exiting her room.

“It appears they had an argument, and Moss fled the room carrying the victim’s purse,” Miuccio said. “[Dill] ran after him and yelled at him, give her purse back. She argued with him by the silver, four-door Jaguar and tried pulling her purse out of his arms.”

Dill had rushed out of the room wearing only a black tank top, trying to recover her black, Juicy Couture purse. As Moss tried to get into the Jaguar, the unidentified male victim came over to intervene. That’s when Moss got out of the driver’s seat and got something from the backseat, while the man ran to a truck and removed a small bag.

At this point, Liszak also exited his room and came over, apparently to intervene.

“The male victim returned from the truck, opened the passenger side door of the Jaguar, and, after seeing Moss, quickly moved and took cover towards the rear of the vehicle,” Miuccio said.

Moss got out of his car and fired at the man, then turned his 9mm pistol and shot Dill and Liszak at close range. Dill was shot in the neck, forearm and upper back, Liszak in the chest.

The other man ducked along the passenger side of the Jaguar and started moving away. Moss pointed the gun at him over the roof of the car and shot again; the man fell and attempted to crawl toward the hotel. He stopped at the hedges in front of Liszak’s room and got into a seated position.

Moss ran across the parking lot to him. As the man raised his empty hands over his head, Moss shot him again before fleeing the scene. The man was shot in the buttocks, thigh and scrotum.

Boca Raton police closed A1A to traffic for several hours during their investigation into the shootings. Larry Barszewski/The Coastal Star

Investigative work pays off
Police made quick progress when they arrived. They matched witness statements with available hotel surveillance video, from which they were able to pull the car’s license tag number. They determined the car was owned by Moss, that he was their suspect, and that he had left the city.

They got a search warrant for his Boynton Beach residence, where his fiancée told police that “at 5:30 p.m. he had returned home, packed a bag, and said he was headed for Jacksonville for work,” Miuccio said.

Police were able to determine Moss was heading to Georgia and notified Georgia State Police. A Laurens County deputy spotted the Jaguar around 5:20 a.m. Sept. 21, conducted a traffic stop and took Moss into custody without incident.

Miuccio, too, called the shootings an isolated incident. “We’re fortunate to be in a city with a low incidence of crime. There’s been a continued decrease in violent crime in the last five years,” she said.

The 2020 murder
September’s double homicide has one coincidence with the 2020 murder at the One Ocean Plaza garage at 1 S. Ocean Blvd., which was four blocks from 365 Ocean. The suspects in the two cases, Moss and Jared Noiman, were born one day apart in 1994.

The 2020 case isn’t over yet. Noiman had been ruled incompetent to stand trial in the death of his father, Jay Noiman, 59. That changed in July, when Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele found Jared Noiman, now 30, competent to stand trial. That ruling followed a report by the Florida Department of Children and Families that found him competent and that he no longer met the criteria for involuntary commitment.

A May trial has been scheduled.

The proposed home at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. would have two living floors, basement and a rooftop terrace with pool Renderings provided

City Council will have the final say

By Steve Plunkett

Boca Raton’s Environmental Advisory Board has delivered a strong “no” to plans for a scaled-back residence on one of the two remaining vacant parcels in Boca Raton east of State Road A1A.

The board, meeting Sept. 26, voted 4-0 to recommend that the City Council not approve a variance to build on the ocean side of the Coastal Construction Control Line, despite city staff’s recommendation to approve the application.

The vote is not binding on the council, which was scheduled to take up the matter Oct. 8.

Azure Development LLC and its affiliate, 2600 N Ocean LLC, originally proposed a duplex on its property at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. with four living floors, an uninhabitable basement and a rooftop terrace with pool. It now wants to build a single-family home with two living floors, the basement and rooftop terrace with pool. The residence would have 6,931 square feet of air-conditioned space, four bedrooms and a garage. The rooftop would also have a gym room, a summer kitchen and a spa.

The new design has 2,550 square feet of glass facing the Atlantic Ocean, down about 29% from the original plan’s 3,600 square feet.

Rick Newman, chairman of the advisory board, was not swayed.

“It’s still a tall building. I don’t know why they didn’t go for a lower building,” Newman said.

Only four members of the public spoke at the meeting, all opposed to the beachfront home: a lawyer for the Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton, north of the property; Jorge Salinger, president of its condo board; longtime opponent and Yacht and Racquet Club resident Michael Laszlo; and Grant Kelly, a nearby neighbor on Lake Wyman Road.

The Yacht and Racquet Club’s residences are on the west side of A1A, with only a gated dune crossover on the east side. The condo also has a permit to keep vegetation trimmed so as not to block the ocean view.

Tamashbeen Rahman, the city’s chief planner, said her department had included a number of conditions for the developer to meet, including installation of an astronomical clock that will automatically turn off any pool lighting no later than 9 p.m. during sea turtle nesting season, and submitting a tree-pruning plan every two years for city review.

Brandon Schaad, Boca Raton’s director of development services, said the city’s comprehensive plan, zoning code and zoning map all designate the property for use as residential development.

“We believe at this point, with the mitigation measures that the applicant has incorporated, with the design that they have set forth, and with the robust and extensive conditions that we have placed in the recommended development order, that that constitutes reasonable use,” Schaad said. “It’s up to the board to determine if you agree or not.”

After the meeting, attorney Robert Sweetapple, who represents Delray Beach-based Azure, said he was pleased by the city staff’s recommendation for approval and looked forward to the City Council’s deliberations.

“There’s nothing that the Environmental Advisory Board would ever approve, because they want the beach to remain in its natural state,” he said.

In August, the city and Azure agreed to put two contentious lawsuits behind them and to decide within 90 days whether to allow the home to go up on the beachfront.

The settlement calls for both sides to pause legal activity for at least 90 days or until the City Council makes its decision on the CCCL variance. If the variance is denied, the settlement becomes void and legal action will resume.

The agreement also calls for Azure and Boca Raton to pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs. Sweetapple has said the legal tabs on his side exceed $1 million.

Notable in the settlement language is this: “The City recognizes that 2600 is entitled to construct a single-family home on the Property, subject to satisfying the CCCL variance criteria as set forth in the City’s Code of Ordinances and all other zoning, building and other applicable regulatory requirements.”

In 2020, a panel of Palm Beach County Circuit Court judges ordered a rehearing of Azure’s variance request and disqualified then-Council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte from voting on it based on email messages they sent to constituents and to each other that showed they were not impartial.

The path heading from Old Ocean back to Fayette Drive. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Neighbors claim private right to walkway at end of street; people west of A1A have used it for 40 years, others say

Related: Ocean Ridge: For irate owner wrongly forced to trim hedges, apology doesn’t cut it

By John Pacenti

Nothing turns neighbor against neighbor in Ocean Ridge like beach access. It’s Florida’s modern take on the Hatfields and McCoys.

Recently, Turtle Beach condo owners battled Tropical Drive residents with slurs on social media and the tearing down of signs. There was even an arrest for criminal mischief.

Now, it’s the dispute over a 100-yard elbow-shaped path at the end of Fayette Drive that abuts the Colonial Ridge condominium complex and ends at Old Ocean Boulevard. It’s residents of Fayette Drive versus the residents across State Road A1A at Crown Colony and the Ocean Ridge Yacht Club.

“We just want peace. We want to be left alone. We want to keep our walk private,” said Fayette resident Sarah Steies, whose house is at the end of the road and adjacent to the path.

She said three lawyers hired by the town and two attorneys in private practice have found the bypass is exclusive to Fayette Drive homeowners. Residents Steies, Melanie Rodriguez and Elizabeth Hamilton have been the voice for the neighborhood in the dispute.

Britt Flanagan, a former board member for the Yacht Club, said the women have made the path an issue only recently.

“There is something else called pre-existing use and since the Yacht Club opened in 1987 residents of that Yacht Club have used that path,” she said. “The history of the path is that for all these years everyone has co-existed amicably.”

The Yacht Club and Crown Colony reached out to Town Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy for help in April, complaining about the installation of a gate on the walkway ­— even though no such gate existed. There is a new gate with a lock to Fayette Drive’s deck; that lock was recently vandalized with glue.

Cassidy said these disputes are unseemly for Ocean Ridge but acknowledged they are commonplace in coastal Florida when it comes to beach rights. “We went through this with Tropical Drive and Turtle Beach,” she said. “There’s this infighting with residents. It’s neighbor against neighbor.”

Vice Mayor Steve Coz sides with the residents of the Yacht Club and Crown Colony. “They have 40 years of customary use, right? And any judge on the planet will grant them that permission and that access,” he said.

Controversial crosswalk
When it comes to this grassy path known as “the Walk,” Ocean Ridge politics reigns supreme.

Fayette residents said commissioners ignored their concerns when approving a crosswalk installed in 2021 just south of the street’s entrance on A1A that they say funnels vehicular, e-bike and even more foot traffic onto their dead-end street.

“Our cars have been hit six times,” said Steies, who has watched vehicles get caught like flies in honey trying to maneuver back onto A1A.

Steies and Rodriguez said commissioners are supporting their friends at Crown Colony and the Yacht Club in taking the side that the walk is open to the public. Rodriguez said the commission has ignored Fayette residents’ concerns about safety issues since 2018.

But on a commission where elections are won by a few hundred votes, the condos are an important electoral bloc, said former Commissioner Terry Brown. “Crown Colony has a lot of votes. If they support you they can basically call an election,” he said.

Brown said the commission inappropriately used taxpayer dollars to pay for the crosswalk to cater to Crown Colony and the Yacht Club, directing people to private property.

“They were told by their lawyers and other people that they hired that the walk was private and not open to the public and they did it anyway,” he said.

Steies said the two condo communities also provide something else to commissioners that 14 homes on one road cannot — business opportunities. She noted that Cassidy is a real estate agent, as is Coz’s wife.

“They don’t make money as commissioners. They become commissioners so that they can further their private businesses,” she said.

Reams of documents
Steies and Rodriguez sit at the kitchen table in Steies’ home. Steies’ mother had this home built in 1968 when Crown Colony was just converting from a co-op and the Yacht Club was some nice Intracoastal Waterway property.

Fanned out around them are reams of documents stretching back years, showing legally the walk is private. Steies holds uncashed checks in nominal amounts from Yacht Club residents like she is playing the card game Go Fish, saying the condo community aimed to claim ownership of the deck by contributing to recent maintenance.

Flanagan said when interviewed she thought her condo complex had contributed to recent renovations.

Recently, the three Fayette residents hired renowned land-use attorney Alan Ciklin, who reached back to 1952 in finding a dedication on the plat for the neighborhood that makes the path exclusive for Fayette Drive residents.

Following the path across Old Ocean Boulevard, there are two decks, one dedicated to homeowners on Fayette, the other leased to residents of Crown Colony.

“The ‘Walk’ is not necessary for Crown Colony to access its leased property. Crown Colony can access the leased property via other means,” Ciklin wrote on Sept. 10 to an attorney representing the condominium complex.

Beachway Drive, a couple of blocks north of Fayette and directly across from Woolbright Road, is the public access point. Steies noted Coz lives on Beachway and “is very happy to divert traffic to us and that is probably why he pushed for the crosswalk when he was mayor.”

A couple who used the Crown Colony gate and declined to be identified bicycle down the path on their way to visit the ocean. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Renewed feud
The issue over the pathway had been simmering since at least 2017 when an attorney hired by the town found, like Ciklin, the path was dedicated to Fayette residents. The issue started to get heated in 2019 when the crosswalk was proposed.

It was this April when Flanagan and Ron Kirn, president of Crown Colony, filed a complaint, sending it to Cassidy, Town Manager Lynne Ladner and Zoning Official Manny Palacios. They said Fayette residents violated the commission’s decision in July 2021 by installing the phantom gate on the pathway, installing another gate on its deck without a permit, and placing signs that say “private walk.”

Kirn could not be reached for comment.

Steies and Rodriguez said Fayette Drive residents didn’t have a problem for decades with residents of Crown Colony using the walkway — it was the neighborly thing to do. Then, Kirn made an allegiance with the Yacht Club, “who decided that they wanted to start sitting on our deck and walking down our walk, too, and we were like, ‘No — you picked the Intracoastal,’” Steies said.

The issue really boiled over at the Aug. 5 commission meeting.

“There are two individuals in neighboring communities who have shared untrue stories about people in my neighborhood,” Rodriguez told commissioners. “The stories are slanderous, attack our character and simply not true.”

Rodriguez said, for instance, she has never chased anyone off the beach.

Rodriguez said commissioners have repeated these untrue stories regarding “Fayette’s private walk and private access without doing their due diligence to find out the facts.”

Cassidy approached Steies and Rodriguez after the meeting, but there was no detente.

Cassidy told The Coastal Star that she was trying to respond to constituents’ needs by making access to the walkway a priority.

“I seem to be a bit of a scapegoat on this for them,” Cassidy said. “I just think it’s unfortunate. They’ve all retained attorneys at this point — the Yacht Club, Crown Colony and the Fayette Drive community. The attorneys are communicating, and I’ve been advised by our attorney to just stay out of it.”

Coz said that he has been told by town officials that the residents on Fayette Drive could pull a permit to gate the path for real this time. He has also been told the residents of Crown Colony could pull a permit to remove the gate.

“They could do this all year long — just go back and forth,” he said.

This sign identifies the dune crossover and deck on the beach reserved for Fayette Drive residents. John Pacenti/The Coastal Star

Water, sewer, other essential services get most attention

By Jane Musgrave

With nearly $48 million from the federal government to jump-start the economy from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, municipalities in southern Palm Beach County have upgraded water and sewer lines, built a fire station, armed police and paid frontline workers.

The money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act — more than the combined annual budgets of six of the area’s 10 smallest municipalities — is running out.

Local governments, including those from South Palm Beach to Boca Raton, have until Dec. 31 to decide how to spend what they have left of the windfall. All of the money, which began flowing in July 2021, must be spent by the end of 2026.

Money that isn’t earmarked or spent would have to be returned to the federal treasury.

While most towns and cities have used up their allotments, Boynton Beach still has $5.3 million to spend of the $13.6 million it received.

When reviewing previously approved projects, the city’s grants manager discovered that one of the projects — nearly $100,000 to install audiovisual equipment at the Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center — wasn’t eligible under the rules of the federal program.

Worried that other ineligible projects may have slipped through and the city could be in jeopardy of losing its remaining money, grants manager Mirna Crompton combed through city records.

“I just wanted to make sure we go by the books,” she said, adding that no other ineligible projects were found.

After finding another way to pay for the arts center equipment, the city revised its spending plan.

“We definitely burned some midnight oil to make sure that the city didn’t lose those funds,” City Manager Daniel Dugger told commissioners in August, days after federal officials said they wouldn’t penalize the city.

The remaining money is likely to be used for road paving, Dugger said. Other projects are on the table. The final decision will be made by city commissioners.

Like other cities, Boynton Beach used much of the money, roughly $3.6 million, to replace cash it lost when demands for services, particularly police and fire-rescue, soared even as sales and gas taxes, building permit fees and other revenue plummeted because worried people stayed in their homes during the pandemic.

Boynton shares the wealth
Boynton Beach used another $1.6 million for overtime or hazard pay for workers and $295,000 to encourage its employees and others, particularly vulnerable seniors and low-income residents, to get COVID-19 shots by rewarding them with $100 gift cards at city-run vaccination centers.

But, unlike other cities, Boynton Beach also shared the money with others in the community.

It provided $350,000 in grants to small business owners, gave $910,000 to its public schools to boost academic achievement and sent $75,000 to Pathways to Prosperity, a Boynton Beach-based nonprofit that provides services to low-income children and families.

It also did an affordable housing study and contributed $500,000 to Wells Landing, to cover pandemic-related construction cost increases in the 132-unit workforce housing community on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

“We wanted the residents and the taxpayers to see what the relief funds were used for,” Dugger said of the city’s philosophy.

Boca’s grant ‘not pennies’
Boca Raton and Delray Beach, which, along with Boynton Beach, are South County’s largest cities and therefore the largest beneficiaries of the relief program, said they used much of the extra cash to cover revenue that was lost because of the pandemic.

Delray Beach officials said the city used $10 million of its $10.9 million allocation on “essential government services,” namely public safety expenditures. The remaining roughly $956,000 is to be spent on stormwater-related projects, according to a city spokesperson.

Boca Raton City Manager George Brown acknowledged the $12.2 million the city received was substantial. “It is definitely helpful. It is not pennies,” he said.

Boca Raton used the money for “revenue replacement,” said Ileana Olmsted, a spokesperson for the city. The bulk of it, $9.2 million, was put in Boca Raton’s general fund, which is used to pay for services, including public safety, she said. The remaining $3 million was set aside for capital improvements. No specific projects were named.

Lantana, which received $6.3 million, used the money for a variety of projects, according to town records. The town used it to pave streets, repair sea walls and buy equipment, including four vehicles, a drone and less lethal weapons for police, and for water and sewer improvements.

Coastal town priorities
Smaller towns, such as Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and Highland Beach, also allocated money for water and sewer projects.

Ocean Ridge, for instance, is using its nearly $980,000 in relief money to install a new water main on North Ocean Boulevard. Manalapan is using its roughly $230,000 allocation for upgrades in its reverse osmosis water system.

Highland Beach spent about $460,000 on sewer line improvements. But, the bulk of its money, $1.5 million, went toward building a new fire station and for fire-fighting equipment.

South Palm Beach received $736,255 and used it to replace lost revenue.

Gulf Stream received $493,000, which it spent on across-the-board revenue replacement in fiscal year 2023 for public works and the Police Department.

Briny Breezes received almost $290,000. Half was spent toward a new water main, $80,000 for a topographical town wind survey, and finally $65,000 for a conceptual drainage plan.

The money for the smaller municipalities came through the state and was distributed based on population. Larger cities received distributions from the federal government based on population and their percentage of low-income people.

Nationally, $350 billion was sent to state and local governments to help them deal with effects of the pandemic.

Mary Hladky, John Pacenti, Brian Biggane, Rich Pollack and Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.

The people we feature in the pages of this newspaper frequently comment on how one of the things they love about living in our coastal communities is the “friendliness” of their neighbors. And sometimes, our reporting shows this neighborliness to be, well, not so much.

Our area is not unique. It happens everywhere.

Sometimes a dispute is about walls and hedges (well, OK, it’s often about walls and hedges). With increasing frequency, battles rage about access to the beach, and occasionally dogs and bicycles are the subjects of discord.

Almost always, disagreements bubble up when politics is involved. You might not notice it in a presidential election year, but at the most basic level of a democracy, all politics is local.

The guidelines and laws enacted by each of our cities and towns provide the framework for a civil society of neighbors. The number of small municipalities strung like pearls along the coast in southern Palm Beach County goes to show how uniquely each place sees itself — illustrating the importance of home rule. But I digress.

What often comes back to bite local residents is how campaign tactics used in local elections often tap the playbook of national politics. When cloaks, daggers, subterfuge and personal smears are used to secure a seat on the dais in a small town, discord among residents is bound to ooze out as shifts in focus occur during their daily life.

And as much as we all want to think innocently of our neighbors, it’s wise to learn how they are motivated. Trust but verify. Or to quote Ben Franklin, “Love your neighbor: yet don’t pull down your hedge.”

If you have a chance, invite the curmudgeon down the street to join you at a local meeting. It’s eye opening once you understand why things work the way they do.

Most fences (and hedges) in our coastal municipalities should be easy to mend. All it requires is for residents, elected officials and staff to behave like the neighbors they would like to have living next door.

— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor

Scott Lawlor (far right) with (l-r) his wife, Elena, and their children, Marian, Bobby, Kaylie, Cassie, Nina and Scottie. The kids have all volunteered at Boca Helping Hands. Photo provided

By Hannah Spence

“In my view of the world, folks who are able to help ought to do all they can to help folks who need the help,” said Scott Lawlor, who, along with his family, has been volunteering with Boca Helping Hands for about eight years after moving to Florida from Connecticut.

The east Boca Raton resident has more than 35 years of experience on subject matters including real estate acquisitions, financing and asset management. Despite being the busy founder and chief executive officer of Waypoint Residential, which develops multi-family properties in the Sunbelt, Lawlor makes it a priority to help others who are less fortunate than himself.

“Volunteering is just something my family has always done,” said Lawlor, 59. “Shortly after I got down here, I found Boca Helping Hands. I thought it was a terrific organization with a lot of different ways we could get involved and help.”

Boca Helping Hands, founded in 1998, provides a number of basic services — as well as monetary assistance — to help people achieve financial independence.

Lawlor assists the nonprofit with actions such as bringing food to people who are homebound or can’t afford groceries, and providing mentoring for the job training program, which helps young people understand business and build their careers.

Lawlor also aids Boca Helping Hands through his company.

“On one Friday afternoon a month, the group goes over and helps unpack things and does stuff around the warehouse,” said Lawlor. “And once a year, we have a charity event — it’s like a bowling event to raise money.”

Lawlor’s compassion and dedication to helping others are things the executive director of Boca Helping Hands, Greg Hazle, admires.

“Although we frequently have corporate groups that volunteer like his team does, it is very unusual for us to have the CEO personally involved even more often as a volunteer as the employees are,” said Hazle. “That’s one of the remarkable aspects of Scott’s experience.”

Lawlor and his wife, Elena, have six children: Cassie, 24; Nina, 22; Kaylie, 21; Marian, 20; Scottie, 18; and Bobby, 17.

“My kids go and help out at the facility when they are home on break and such. In addition to the things we do regularly as a family, they do similar stuff around the warehouse like people at my company do,” said Lawlor.

“It seems to me like it is important for Scott to be passing along to his kids whatever lesson he learned that made him such a giving person,” Hazle said when discussing the volunteer work in which Lawlor’s sons and daughters participate. “And the kids seem like they are eating it up. Sometimes you see that kids have been dragged in to do volunteering reluctantly, but where his kids show up, they are fully engaged and seem to be enjoying not only the work but enjoying each other.”

Although Lawlor is happy to volunteer, he laments the negative realties of the situation.

“We do the best we can, but I work, my kids go to school,” Lawlor said. “The sad thing is, whatever the amount of work we do, there’s a whole lot more people that need help.

It’s not like you do the food drop-off and that takes care of all of Boca Raton. Unfortunately, it takes care of a small fraction of the needs of the whole community. That’s just not enough.”

Boca Helping Hands (bocahelpinghands.org/about) is always looking for volunteers and Lawlor encourages people to get involved.

“At least try it,” he said. “You won’t be disappointed and almost certainly will want to get more involved.”

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR
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