By Jane Smith

Residents and art patrons waiting to hear about Delray Beach’s plans for its 4-acre Old School Square campus will have to wait until the Feb. 8 City Commission meeting.
At the Feb. 1 meeting, City Manager Terrence Moore told commissioners about the “efforts underway” for developing a plan for the Cornell Art Museum, creating a Delray Repertory Theater and restarting in-person arts classes.
“I’ve had several conversations with outside vendors, such as Live Nation, and will come back with interim agreements in a week,” Moore said.
Live Nation is an events promoter.
Commissioner Ryan Boylston asked, “Ever considered a relationship with the current OSS management as an interim solution?”
No, Moore said. “I made it clear that the city was open for all offers, but they never approached me,” he said of OSS managers.
Commissioner Juli Casale also spoke during the city manager’s presentation.
After voting Aug. 10 to end the lease, she left that meeting saying that if OSS turned over the necessary financial documents, she would reconsider her vote.
“But the OSS managers didn’t provide the required documents and two days later they sued the city,” Casale said at the Feb. 1 meeting.
The current operators of the campus, the Old School Square Center for the Arts, have been waging an emotional battle for the soul of Delray Beach. Commissioners, though, say they are accountable to taxpayers and must ensure that the money OSS gets can be documented.
The commission chamber was packed with OSS supporters after an email blast sent Jan. 30 by the OSS board chairwoman. It asked people to attend the meeting to tell commissioners how important the arts and cultural center is to their lives. Of the 19 public speakers, 17 talked about their love of the center.
“We’re not a management company, but a family,” said Melanie Johanson, curator of the Cornell Art Museum. She lives in New Orleans. “We work ourselves to the bone.”
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Shelly Petrolia expressed how painful the stand-off with OSS management has become because of the lawsuit and the nonprofit’s continuous public outreach.
“This is not easy,” she said. “This is very, very difficult.”
The OSS managers pay the city $1 in rent annually for the campus. The six-month termination notice in the deal means their lease ends Feb. 9.
Since receiving the notice on Aug. 10, the OSS managers abruptly ended the arts classes on Sept. 30 and ended events in the Field House.
They blamed the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency for not releasing the rest of its money for the last budget year. OSS has received only the first-quarter payment of $187,500.
Along with the city, the OSS managers named several other individuals in their Aug. 12 lawsuit. Petrolia, Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, Commissioner Casale, City Attorney Lynn Gelin, former Executive Director Shannon Eadon and ex-board chair Joy Howell were named.
Petrolia and Johnson joined Casale in voting to end the lease on the advice of Gelin.
The OSS managers tried for an early mediation session, but their motion was denied on Jan. 20.
Casale was dropped from the lawsuit on Jan. 25. Her attorney argued that sitting commissioners are immune to lawsuits for their votes taken while on the dais. He also demanded that if she wins, then the OSS managers would have to pay her attorney’s fees.
The OSS managers’ lawsuit has a calendar call on Feb. 9, when their jury trial request will receive a date.
The campus carries a deed restriction.
It must remain an arts and cultural center. If it does not, the property reverts to the Palm Beach County School District.
The campus has five entertainment venues: the Field House, the Crest Theatre, the Creative Arts School, the Cornell Art Museum and the Pavilion.

By Jane Smith

Fired manager George Gretsas has sued the city of Delray Beach, claiming wrongful termination, and is seeking 20 weeks’ severance pay.
Gretsas’ claim also asks for his benefits of car allowance, cellphone allowance and health insurance premiums, about $145,000 in all.
In addition, he wants the city to pay for his attorney’s fees. Gretsas hired G. Ware Cornell Jr., based in Weston, to represent him in the Dec. 30 lawsuit.
Gretsas could not be reached for comment, including a request for explanation as to why he waited more than a year to sue the city. Gretsas was fired in November 2020.
His attorney responded via a Jan. 24 email to The Coastal Star: “It is not my firm’s policy to discuss pending litigation with the press. Consequently, neither George nor I will be responding to your inquiry.”
The city’s outside counsel, Michael Gore of the Jones Foster law firm in West Palm Beach, sought 20 extra days to respond by Feb. 14. The judge agreed on Jan. 21.
Gretsas, who previously was Homestead city manager, started in Delray Beach on Jan. 6, 2020. Less than six months later, he was suspended with pay on June 24, based on accusations of bullying and creating a hostile workplace atmosphere, especially for women.
He chose to fight the charges but was faced with new violations uncovered by the city’s internal auditor, Julia Davidyan. She found he violated the city charter by improper spending and hiring.
Gretsas was fired five months later, on Nov. 20, 2020. He did not attend that hearing because he was in Montana, awaiting the birth of a child.
In the lawsuit, Gretsas claims he was fired for his “refusal to give cover to the mayor and commissioners” on the reclaimed water controversy. The highly treated wastewater became an issue just before Gretsas started.
His lawsuit also mentions allegations of corrupt activities “such as awarding a $50 million contract to a crony of a commissioner who was still on felony probation.” The lawsuit does not name the contract, the commissioner or the contractor.
In December 2021, the city won a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former manager Mark Lauzier, who was fired in March 2019.

By Joe Capozzi

The thieves rode in on a jet ski. 
Under cover of darkness, they boarded boats tied to docks in Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes and sped off with tens of thousands of dollars in high-end electronic equipment and fishing gear. 
In all, 18 pleasure boats were entered between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Dec. 31 by two thieves on a single jet ski, according to images captured by two private surveillance videos, Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones told The Coastal Star.
Of that total, eight or nine boats were hit in the Briny Breezes Marina, said Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc. 
The boats were boarded between the Briny Breezes Marina and the canals behind Waterview Drive, Ixora Way, Harbour Drive North/South and Ocean Harbour Estates Canal, Jones said.
One video shows a suspect climbing off the jet ski and entering a boat while another holds onto the sea wall so the jet ski does not float away with the current, he said. No evidence indicates that more than one jet ski was involved.
All but two of the 18 boats either had electronics and fishing gear stolen or wires cut from the equipment. The most popular items stolen were Garmin and Simrad GPS devices and depth finders with a combined value of about $100,000, Jones said. 
“The target seems to have been newer, high-end electronics,’’ Gallacher said in an email to residents, noting that GPS devices, radios, scuba gear and other equipment were not removed from smaller boats.
The Ocean Ridge Police Department, which also patrols Briny Breezes, is encouraging all boat owners to lock their hatches and to remove and secure all electronics that are removable from their boats when not in use. 
‘‘We are working an active investigation with a couple of identified suspects,’’ Jones told the Briny Breezes Town Council on Jan. 27. “I can’t share any details, but we are working an investigation that may lead to some additional details.’’
Jones called it “extremely unusual’’ for people arriving on personal watercraft to commit crimes in Ocean Ridge.
But he said it’s not uncommon in other waterfront municipalities for thieves to arrive on various watercraft, from small boats to kayaks and paddleboards, many of them stolen.
Although jet skis are loud at full throttle, they can be relatively quiet when idling, which explains why homeowners never heard them. 
“It is likely that these suspects use any type of watercraft they can steal to commit these crimes,’’ Jones said. Anyone who has questions or information about these thefts can contact Detective Aaron Choban at 561-732-8331 or achoban@oceanridgeflorida.com.
Police also want to hear from residents who may have captured suspicious video images from their home surveillance systems.

By Mary Hladky

Steve Abrams intends to resign as executive director of Tri-Rail following controversy over construction defects that delayed the commuter railroad’s extension of operations into downtown Miami.
Tri-Rail has long planned to run trains into Brightline’s MiamiCentral station, and the upscale train company is constructing a platform for them.
But in December, Abrams told the board of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates Tri-Rail, that a structural engineer working for Tri-Rail discovered problems that include a platform too narrow to accommodate Tri-Rail trains and station bridges that possibly are not strong enough.
Board member Raquel Regalado, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, expressed anger that the board was just then hearing about the issues when Tri-Rail knew about them in April. She called on Abrams to resign, the Miami Herald has reported.
Abrams, a former Boca Raton mayor and Palm Beach County mayor and commissioner selected to run Tri-Rail in 2018, told The Coastal Star that he has the support of most board members but Regalado has been a constant critic.
That prompted his decision, made during a Jan. 28 SFRTA board meeting, to seek a negotiated separation agreement, he said.
“It is the accumulation of the fact that, although I have the support of the majority of my board, I have one board member who is intent in undercutting my ability to perform,” Abrams said.
“In my judgment, I have accomplished a lot here and in a 30-year career,” he said. “It has been a good record. I am not willing to be trashed by this commissioner.”
Abrams said he is open to remaining on the job until a new executive director is hired.
Abrams blames the construction defects on Brightline, whose workers are constructing Tri-Rail’s part of the MiamiCentral station. “Brightline gave us a defective platform,” he said.
Tri-Rail’s consultant issued a report critical of Brightline’s platform work and the bridges that link the train tracks to the station.
In retrospect, Abrams said, he should have alerted the board to the problems sooner. “I have taken responsibility for that,” he said.
He delayed, he said, because he knew there were defects but did not know how extensive they were or what needed to be done to fix them. He wanted to first get a report from a structural engineer to provide the board with that information.
In response to questions from The Coastal Star, Brightline provided a Dec. 14 letter from its president, Patrick Goddard, to Abrams that acknowledges problems with the platform, which he said were discovered by Brightline last April, and that Brightline is obliged to fix them.
Brightline suggested at the time that the easiest and quickest way to resolve this is for Tri-Rail to modify its trains’ entrance and exit steps, an idea that he said Tri-Rail’s engineering team agreed with. Tri-Rail had not taken steps to do so in December but last month presented a timetable for making the changes.
Goddard, however, denied that there are any problems with the station’s structural designs or with its bridges. A Dec. 21 letter from a Brightline consultant to Goddard said the bridges are appropriate and safe.
He outlined two other matters Tri-Rail has not yet addressed, saying they were the most significant impediments to starting Tri-Rail service into MiamiCentral.
Abrams told The Coastal Star that there aren’t quick and easy answers to a number of the issues. For example, the train steps could be modified, but he needed to find out if that change would create problems at Tri-Rail’s other stations.
Looking back on his tenure with Tri-Rail, Abrams said “we have had some great accomplishments.”
When he was hired, Tri-Rail had a $16 million deficit, which is now erased. Train tracks that were in disrepair were replaced and, as a result, speed restrictions on trains were eliminated. That, in turn, helped Tri-Rail improve its on-time performance to 93%, he said.
He also noted that the American Public Transportation Association found that Tri-Rail was second only to Denver’s commuter railroad in how quickly it recovered ridership lost during the coronavirus pandemic.

Related story: Delray Beach: Taking shape — Atlantic Crossing gets ready for its first openings

By Larry Barszewski

A battle over late-night downtown activity was put on hold when representatives of the Bounce Sporting Club planned for the $300 million Atlantic Crossing development temporarily withdrew their request to have a 2 a.m. closing time.
Downtown Delray Beach residents living near the Intracoastal Waterway have objected to the proposal, which had already won the 4-3 approval of the city’s Planning & Zoning Board in December.
The issue was supposed to come to a head at the City Commission’s Feb. 1 meeting, but that changed a day earlier when Neil Schiller, an attorney for the high-end sports bar and restaurant, requested a delay.
“Based on the outpouring of community feedback related to our application, my client would like to withdraw this application from consideration from tomorrow’s noticed City Commission meeting to be heard at a properly noticed meeting in the future,” Schiller wrote to the city.
Many people living near the development currently under construction have complained they can already hear the noise from late-night establishments along Atlantic Avenue west of Federal Highway in the heart of downtown. They don’t want a new after-midnight establishment closer to their homes east of Federal and outside of the officially designated entertainment district, which is west of Federal.
Bounce representatives say they’ve been misunderstood, that they’re not seeking to be a nightclub pounding out live music in the early morning hours. They say what they’re trying to ensure is that their patrons can watch — uninterrupted — West Coast games, pay-per-view events and other televised sports that might go past midnight.
Jack Indekeu, president of the Palm Trail Homeowners Association, told his neighbors that Bounce’s decision to withdraw its proposal is only a partial victory against the restaurant that anticipates opening this summer.
“Given Bounce’s prior aggressive tactics and propaganda, it’s very likely that they will continue their lawyering and lobbying and re-apply for conditional use at a later date — regretfully, they may try to bounce back,” Indekeu said in an email blast to neighbors.
Residents have said they do not want the city to set precedent by allowing a 2 a.m. closing at Atlantic Crossing. But two bars on the south side of the street across from Atlantic Crossing already have those extended hours — the Hurricane Bar & Lounge and the Blue Anchor restaurant and pub. Those establishments were grandfathered-in when the city set earlier closing times in the area.
Prior to withdrawing its request, Bounce had agreed to close its outdoor dining area, all its doors and windows — and not have any live music — after 11 p.m. It also said it would have at least six security personnel on duty between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.
While commissioners did not get a chance to vote on Bounce’s extended hours request, they did not stop a separate item that will allow Bounce to change its entrance. The alteration will turn what would have been an enclosed area of Bounce restaurant space at the corner of Atlantic and Southeast Seventh avenues into an open-air lobby where lines can form to get inside. Some opponents have complained the change could create a rowdy, noisy atmosphere as people queue up.
Arlen Dominek, who lives at the Barr Terrace condos across the Intracoastal Waterway from Atlantic Crossing, told commissioners that the change was not acceptable.
“I want it to be the kind of place that appeals to many different people,” he said.
Atlantic Crossing expects to finish construction of part of its first phase in the first quarter of 2022. That includes the buildings that will house Bounce, three other restaurants and Chico’s women’s clothing store.

By Steve Plunkett

An expert witness in Richard Lucibella’s police brutality lawsuit says the onetime vice mayor of Ocean Ridge lost more than $9.4 million just in past and future earnings as a result of his arrest by Officers Richard Ermeri and Nubia Savino in 2016.
Lucibella’s complaint also asks for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for physical and mental suffering as well as his attorney fees and costs.
Economist and expert witness Hank Fishkind said Lucibella “was suspended from managing his health care practices. In addition, he could not effectively manage his other health care-related businesses while defending himself against the defendants’ wrongful acts.”
As a result, Fishkind said, “there was a sharp erosion of the profitability” from two of Lucibella’s businesses, Primus, a management services organization, and Accountable Care Options LLC, a managed care organization.
But Frank Mari, the attorney for Ermeri and Savino, argues that Fishkind is not qualified to make such statements.
“Fishkind has never specialized in health care economics, has never published on health care economics, and has never lectured on health care economics,” Mari wrote in a motion asking the U.S. District Court to exclude his opinions and testimony from Lucibella’s trial.
Mari also faults Fishkind’s analysis for its reliance on what Lucibella told him before he prepared his report.
“In short, Fishkind’s opinions are speculative and merely parrot Plaintiff’s unsubstantiated, unverified allegations regarding Plaintiff’s claimed damages,” Mari wrote.
Similarly, Lucibella attorney James Green is seeking to bar the testimony of police expert witness John Peters supporting the defense. Peters, Green wrote in his motion to exclude, “admitted that there wasn’t anything in the training records that he reviewed that indicated Ermeri had received training specific to leg sweeps. … Nor was there anything in (Savino’s) training records that Peters reviewed that indicated (Savino) had received training specific to knee drops.”
Both tactics were used during Lucibella’s arrest.
And in a brief filed Jan. 31, Green argued that Fishkind, a former associate director at the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, is indeed qualified to be an expert in the case.
“Dr. Fishkind reviewed thousands of pages of financial and other records in this case … and dozens of articles on the business of healthcare and specifically, Accountable Care Organizations,” Green wrote.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon has not ruled on Green’s or Mari’s challenges. She has rescheduled the trial for April 11 at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce.
Lucibella’s federal lawsuit alleges battery by Ermeri and Savino, that they used excessive force and that they conducted an unreasonable search. The officers dispute all three counts, and Police Chief Richard Jones has said the arrest was proper after he concluded his internal investigation.
Cannon on Nov. 23 dismissed all of Lucibella’s claims against the town of Ocean Ridge. The town’s attorneys are seeking $134,573 from him for their fees and costs.
Savino, meanwhile, claims Lucibella battered her during his arrest and has a civil lawsuit pending in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. That case is scheduled for a jury trial in May.
Lucibella’s lawsuit centers on his Oct. 22, 2016, arrest. Savino, Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan, who has since retired, went to Lucibella’s home that night after neighbors reported hearing shots fired. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the patio.
At one point Lucibella forcefully poked Ermeri’s chest with his finger. During the arrest, he was taken to the ground, pinned to the patio pavers and suffered injuries to his face and ribs.
On Feb. 1, 2019, a Circuit Court jury found Lucibella not guilty of felony battery on a police officer and resisting the officer with violence but guilty of misdemeanor simple battery, a lesser included offense.

By Steve Plunkett

Resident Martin O’Boyle, a perennial legal foe of the town, has claimed another court victory in his long-running battle with Gulf Stream, but the state is appealing the outcome.
A County Court jury last August decided O’Boyle was guilty of resisting a police officer without violence but not guilty of disorderly conduct at Town Hall after a 2015 budget hearing had ended. County Judge Ashley Zuckerman thanked the jurors and sent them home, then agreed with a defense motion to acquit O’Boyle of resisting.
The judge did not elaborate on her decision, according to the transcript of the trial.
“Upon review of the applicable case law and, while always mindful and respectful of the jury, the motion for judgment of acquittal as to the resisting is granted,” Zuckerman said.
O’Boyle’s attorney, Michael Salnick, had argued that the disorderly charge, on which jurors found his client not guilty, was a “precursor” to the resisting charge.
“I don’t know how legally the resisting can survive,” Salnick said. But prosecutor Nicole Bloom said the case was about resisting a lawful order to leave Town Hall, not about resisting an arrest.
“If this was resisting the arrest for disorderly conduct then perhaps we would be in a different situation, but that’s not where we are,” Bloom said.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Fred Haddad is representing O’Boyle in the case and has until March 1 to file his brief with the 4th District Court of Appeal.
What Gulf Stream called a disturbance happened as people were leaving a Sept. 22 budget hearing in the commission chambers. In a probable cause affidavit Sgt. John Passeggiata said O’Boyle “attempted to deface public property by writing with a marker on a poster displayed in Town Hall.”
Passeggiata said he tried to get O’Boyle to stop and leave the building but O’Boyle answered with a loud obscenity. Then-Police Chief Garrett Ward intervened and also was targeted with obscenities. After puffing up his chest and shoulders in “a combat stance,” O’Boyle knelt in a doorway to keep police from escorting him outside, the sergeant said.
“Meeting attendees were passing through the lobby and subject to Mr. O’Boyle’s tirade of obscenities and his disruptive and disorderly behavior,” Passeggiata wrote.
The incident took place after town commissioners approved a budget raising taxes 38% and earmarking $1 million for legal fees to fight lawsuits from O’Boyle and then-resident Chris O’Hare over public records requests. O’Boyle and O’Hare at that point had made about 1,700 requests for records over a three-year period and filed dozens of lawsuits.
Many of the lawsuits have been settled, won by Gulf Stream or withdrawn. O’Boyle was the victor in a federal case accusing him of racketeering and in a public records case involving police radio communications. The amount of legal fees the town will pay O’Boyle’s attorneys in the police radio case is also being appealed.
The two sides have also skirmished over large cartoons of commissioners that O’Boyle painted on the sides of his Hidden Harbour home and about an oversized dock he wanted to build.

By Rich Pollack

Over the past seven years, Virginia and Harvey Kimmel have supported many of Delray Beach’s arts and education initiatives, from library programs to Milagro Center activities.
Now they are adding a new area of investment to their philanthropic portfolio — homelessness.
In late January the Kimmels announced a $300,000 grant designed to help the Police Department expand support services to the city’s homeless population.
The grant, which will provide $100,000 a year for three years to cover the salaries and benefits of an additional service population advocate, is the largest the Kimmels have made in Delray, Harvey Kimmel said.
“We hope this grant will provide services that the people experiencing homelessness here need by adding more resources,” he said.
Thanks to the efforts of Ezra Krieg, chair of the Delray Beach Initiative to End Homelessness, as well as others in the community, the Kimmels learned of the widespread support for helping people in need and decided to join in.
“Homelessness really became our choice because we believe some of those in the homeless community, if given support, can turn their lives around,” Kimmel said.
The Delray Beach Police Department’s community outreach team, which consists of a licensed clinician and two police officers, last year placed 70 people in shelters and 15 others, including homeless seniors, in permanent housing.
In addition, the outreach team helped hundreds of people in both the homeless and recovering communities connect to needed services.
Services include helping people get Social Security cards and other forms of identification, transportation, health care and other basics.
“They just need so much and they’re such nice people,” Virginia Kimmel said.
With need continuing to grow, the Police Department has already hired a new service population advocate, a clinician who will start in the middle of February.
Ariana Ciancio, who in 2017 became the department’s first service population advocate and one of the first in the state in a police department, says the new member of the team will help her focus more on members of the recovery community while still doing homeless outreach.
She said the additional clinician will also help with the city’s homeless prevention efforts for people on the verge of needing places to live.
Krieg sees the Kimmels’ donation as an important step toward addressing the needs of people living without permanent housing in Delray Beach.
“This investment helps a good program get even better,” he said. “With very little financial assistance, we’ve been able to create a collaborative that has impacted the lives of a number of people. The support from the Kimmels to expand the Police Department’s community outreach team can do even more for more people.”

Related story: Obituary: Allen ‘Chick’ Behringer

By Joe Capozzi

In their first meeting since the Jan. 11 death of Alderman Allen “Chick” Behringer, Briny Breezes Town Council members offered tributes to his service and moved quickly to fill the vacancy. 
“He was outgoing, cheerful and friendly. He cared about people and he was accepting of everyone. He was a marvelous chef and if he were here he would have said, ‘Raise your glass and toast,’” said council President Sue Thaler, sitting next to Behringer’s empty seat at the start of the Jan. 27 meeting. 
“So please join me in a virtual toast and a moment of silence. Here’s to you, Chick. Thank you for all the love, the laughs and the good times you gave us.’’
About a half hour later, council members appointed Briny Breezes resident Liz Loper to serve the final year of Behringer’s term, which expires in March 2023. 
Loper, 70, who worked in retail before retiring, submitted a letter of interest in the vacancy after reading a notice in the Briny Bugle newsletter requesting candidates to serve the rest of Behringer’s term.
By Jan. 27, she was the only person to express interest. The council could have waited another month to consider more candidates before a Feb. 24 deadline to appoint a replacement. But council members decided it was wiser to fill the vacancy as soon as possible, especially since they considered Loper a solid candidate.
Had the council failed to appoint a replacement by Feb. 24, the town would have needed to spend money to hold a special election. 
“I understand that I would never be able to replace Alderman Chick Behringer, but I would like to carry on in his place,’’ Loper said. “I am honored and looking forward to it.’’
In other business:
• Town Manager William Thrasher received unanimous praise from council members in their annual review of his performance. 
When Thrasher was hired in January 2020, he was given permission to split time between homes in Boynton Beach and Andrews, North Carolina, an arrangement that council members said has worked well. 
“He has responded very quickly to things whether he was here or whether he was there,’’ Mayor Gene Adams said. 
“He brings professionalism to the town. I appreciate how he will share his experience and knowledge with council, but not push his agenda forward and leave it to the council to make that decision without any kind of pressure.’’ 
• The council directed Town Attorney Keith Davis to draft a charter change that will stagger the appointments of Planning and Zoning Board members over even- and odd-numbered years, replacing the current process of appointing all members at the same time.
Council members endorsed the change to, among other reasons, ensure continuity of experience among members. Under the current process, “we could have a completely new board with no experienced members,’’ Adams said.
If the change is approved, the staggered terms would take effect in 2023. 
• Ocean Ridge Police Chief Richard Jones will host a public meeting with Briny Breezes residents on Feb. 8 to discuss public safety and crime reduction efforts. The meeting will start around 9:30 a.m. in the auditorium following the Boating and Fishing Club meeting.

Rich Curtis of Briny Breezes, enjoying a game with his friend Ron Vaughn, has played shuffleboard for 12 years. It took him only a year to qualify as a pro. Now he has earned induction into the Southeast Coast District Hall of Fame of the Florida Shuffleboard Association. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Briny Breezes seasonal resident Rich Curtis admits he gets some strange looks when he tells people in his hometown of Templeton, Massachusetts, that he’s a professional shuffleboard player in Florida.
“A lot of people laugh when I say I’m a state pro,” said Curtis, who portrayed a very different image during his 28 years working in the state prison system. “It’s like, ‘State pro in shuffleboard? Yeah, OK.’”
Curtis, 68, was introduced to the sport 12 years ago during a visit with the mother of his wife, Mary, who also lived in Briny Breezes. Now he is about to be inducted into the Southeast Coast District Hall of Fame of the Florida Shuffleboard Association.
“I enjoy it,” he said of a game that is a favorite pastime of many South Florida seniors. “It’s what I do more than anything when I’m down here. We go up to the courts almost every night.”
Curtis started out in quarter games, in which two players face off for three games and the loser gives the winner a quarter. Pretty soon his mother-in-law took him to a tournament “and I was hooked,” he said.
Points are awarded in district tournaments; Curtis competes mostly on courts in Hollywood, Davie, Deerfield Beach and Briny Breezes. Compiling five points qualifies a player to become a state amateur, and a first-place finish with at least five points makes him a pro. Then he starts compiling Masters points, and players reaching 200 qualify for Hall of Fame status.
It took only one year for Curtis to reach pro status, but since then, he said, the game has gotten more difficult.
“Some of these pros are kind of nasty,” he said. “They’re out for blood.”
The game, the origins of which date to ancient England, is played on a court 6 feet wide by 39 feet long. Each player gets four discs, each 6 inches in diameter, and a two-pronged metal shooting stick. The object is to slide your discs into the 6-by-9-foot scoring area while knocking your opponent’s discs out of it.
“There’s all sorts of strategy,” Curtis said. “You can do nothing more than clear your opponent off the court and shoot your last disc, but that’s boring. It’s more fun to put up a hide and work from there.”
A hide refers to the art of maneuvering one disc behind one or more others to make it difficult for an opponent to knock it out.
Curtis won the district Masters title in 2017, a tournament featuring the top eight pros where everyone plays everyone else and the player with the most wins comes out on top.
“Then the next year I came in last,” he said. “If you’re having a bad day, or if you’re thinking about something else, you’re not going to play well.”

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: We moved around a lot so I went to somewhere between nine and 17 different schools growing up, but I graduated from Burncoat High School in Worcester.
My dad was a salesman for Look magazine until it finally folded when I was finishing sixth grade. I was always the new kid on the block, so I wasn’t very outgoing. That’s changed a lot since graduation, but I’m still kind of quiet and listen more than I speak.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: My parents moved to Florida the day after I graduated, but I stayed up there and went to work for a pizza chain, Papa Gino’s, and joined their management program. I worked at five different stores and became a manager after Mary and I got married. It was a good place to work, but too many hours, close to 80-90 a week.
The best job I had was 28 years working in the prison system. I went up the ranks from corrections officer to sergeant to lieutenant to captain and had 150-175 staff beneath me and close to 1,050 inmates. I was at North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner, Massachusetts.
I also worked 30 years as an EMT and one time there was an escape. So, they had me come in and do a presentation for a couple of the commissioners on what they were doing wrong, and my group was brought in to work with the superintendents across the state.
I’m still involved with emergency management. I tried to quit when we came down here seasonally, but they didn’t let me. If there’s an emergency I’m the one who starts the declaration, I sit down here and do my work. With Zoom we can do so much.
Being involved in emergency services is my thing, it’s what I do. I don’t get paid for it, but volunteering for the town in emergency management is the way I give back. And I’ve brought in more than $100,000 in grants since 2008. I’ll keep doing it until they kick me out.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Select a field of work that has good benefits, a retirement package, and that you enjoy working at. You don’t have to have a college degree to have a happy and comfortable life.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Briny Breezes?
A: My wife and I are third generation here in Briny Breezes. My wife’s parents and grandparents and an aunt and uncle all had places here. We would visit on vacation and liked it here. One year we rented two doors down. At one point Mary’s mother couldn’t make it down anymore, so we started coming and took it over.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Briny Breezes?
A: Shuffleboard is my favorite activity, but there are many available. I have even gotten into making segmented bowls at the Chiselers Club. I’ve made seven or eight bowls, and if I need to repair something I’ll go down there. It’s handy.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: Skeeter Jones, by Ronald “Butch” Vaughn, who lives here in Briny Breezes and is one of my best friends. It starts out based on a true story, but then he uses his imagination. It’s about a man who killed three people, but what happened after that is made up. He uses very similar names to people he knows. For example, I was a sheriff but instead of Curtis it was Kurtz.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: Everything but rap and heavy metal. One bluegrass group I like is the Kruger Brothers. We used to go to a lot of bluegrass festivals and they were always there. I’ve even taken up the banjo but haven’t gotten very far.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My parents got me to the point where I could be responsible, so there’s that. But believe me, the prison system is one place you’re on your own. A lot of it might be a byproduct of moving so much growing up.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: When I watch movies and listen to music, I don’t pay attention to the names of characters and musicians. Just never got into it.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: My wife, family and good friends. They all make life good. Comedians I like are people like Jay Leno, Jonathan Winters, George Burns. That’s what I grew up with.

By Mary Thurwachter

After hearing comments from dozens of residents, the Lantana Town Council voted unanimously on Jan. 24 not to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.
Lantana has prohibited them since December 2017, but the issue resurfaced last summer when a local businessman asked the Town Council to reconsider and enact an ordinance allowing the pharmacies. At that time, the town voted down the ordinance.
Last October, Mayor Robert Hagerty asked that the issue be brought back for consideration, saying he wanted to look at the matter from a different perspective.
Frustrated residents who had attended multiple meetings to protest the ordinance returned en masse on Jan. 24, bringing reinforcements — including a retired professor from Wharton School of Business, a drug intervention therapist and others.
Opponents maintained the dispensaries weren’t needed here, brought in no tax revenue, and did not present the image they wanted for the town.
“This is really like Groundhog Day,” said Media Beverly, one of many Hypoluxo Island residents who oppose allowing the dispensaries. “This is the seventh time I’ve been here and provided verifiable statistics from months of research.”
Beverly said no matter how many times the issue resurfaced, she and others would return. “Let’s stop wasting time and money on this issue and let’s get to work on the master plan.”
A few residents did speak in favor of the ordinance. Most notable was Dave Arm, president of the Lantana Chamber of Commerce and owner of Lantana Fitness at 700 W. Lantana Road. He wants to have a dispensary in his building and said the issue was about “attracting 21st century vendors in a town that desperately needs good retailers.”
Arm said medical marijuana treatment centers are well-capitalized by major national corporations, are attractive and provide good jobs in the community. He said they do not cause an increase in crime.
“Our building, Lantana Fitness building, is 25 years old and we’re the newest building between Broadway and KFC. It’s time we get some responsible development in here and development begets development, as anyone in commercial real estate knows.
“This place is deteriorating and if we have someone who is willing to spend $75,000 to a million dollars to redo a building, to put in landscaping, we should be encouraging that.”
Opponents argued that there were plenty of dispensaries in neighboring cities.
Joni Epstein-Feld of Hypoluxo Island said she is a marijuana user and has no problem going to Lake Worth or Boynton Beach, or having it delivered if she needs it.
“I am certainly not against medical marijuana,” Epstein-Feld said. “I am against medical marijuana in this town. I want restaurants. I want a nice little downtown area … and I think you should consider the fact that 9 out of 10 people have gotten up here and did not want to have it here.”
Ted Cook, who lives in the Moorings, said allowing dispensaries was not good for the town.
“We’ve got 3 square miles. We need to change our image. And this doesn’t help it,” he said.
John Brune, a drug and alcohol interventionist and a semi-retired commercial real estate developer who lives in the Moorings, said putting medical marijuana dispensaries on Lantana Road wasn’t a good idea.
“If this is going to be the entrance to Lantana, I think it deserves a higher and better use,” he said.
A proponent of the ordinance, Vice Mayor Pro Tem Karen Lythgoe, said she was pro-business and anti-blight.
“I’m tired of the run-down businesses I see on the south side of Lantana Road, and I didn’t want to see the gym, which is one of the nicest buildings on that side of the road, go to some other company that’s not going to put money into it.”
However, “based on how things are going tonight, I’m not going to vote for it, but I’d like to leave it open for our town vision meeting if we’re going to have a master plan.”
Council member Lynn Moorhouse said he agreed with Erica Wold, a member of the planning and zoning board, who said this wasn’t about denying people the medication they need.
“It is readily available,” Moorhouse said. “If I called at the beginning of the meeting, we’d have had a delivery by now.”
Moorhouse said he didn’t think people were scared, as someone alleged. “They just don’t want it here. I get it. I don’t care if you don’t want it because you think it’ll bring insects into the town. It doesn’t matter your reason. … On the other side, I totally understand that. You do want it, but I don’t think it has to be here.”
Moorhouse wanted to put in a contingency where the matter couldn’t come back anytime soon. But Town Attorney Max Lohman said it would be difficult to “bind the hand of a legislative body.”
In other action, the council:
• Voted to hire the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to create a master plan for the town for $169,800.
• Approved spending $26,849 to lease a 2022 Ford Explorer from Enterprise Fleet Management for the town manager.
• Heard from former Mayor Dave Stewart, who said his bank account was fraudulently charged $17,000 because someone got his account number, routing number and signature off checks the town had published in its meeting backup materials. The materials were available online and not removed when Stewart asked.
The checks were connected to a sexual harassment suit. After Stewart was exonerated by the Florida Commission on Ethics in 2019, the town agreed to reimburse him for legal fees.

The towns of Lantana and South Palm Beach will hold municipal elections, and Highland Beach has a ballot referendum, on March 8. Below are the dates and deadlines voters need to know:
Deadline to register: Monday, Feb. 7
Deadline to request a vote by mail ballot: 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26
Early voting: 10 a.m. -7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 to Sunday, March 6
Deadline to return vote by mail ballot: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8
Election Day: 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8

Source: www.pbcelections.org

By Mary Thurwachter

Construction on Lantana’s library halted early in December after town officials discovered the general contractor, Sierra Construction Management & Remodeling Corp., was operating without a license.
Council member Mark Zeitler discovered the problem when he questioned a change order for additional air-conditioning work at the library. He noticed the absence of a license number for Sierra on the company’s sign in front of the construction site. 
“If they don’t have a license, they can’t have insurance,” said Zeitler, an air-conditioning contractor with 28 years of experience.
Zeitler took his concerns to Town Manager Brian Raducci, who halted construction Dec. 9. 
“Sierra was unable to timely meet all of the state-required contractor technical qualifications,” said Eddie Crockett, Lantana’s director of operations. Crockett said since then, Town Attorney Max Lohman and staff recommended assigning the agreement from Sierra to Multitech Corp., a qualifying contractor employed by Sierra throughout the renovation. 
“Multitech currently meets all state and local contractor requirements and the town, Sierra and Multitech are all amenable to this assignment,” Crockett told the Town Council at its Jan. 10 meeting.
Vice Mayor Pro Tem Karen Lythgoe asked Crockett if Sierra’s license had expired since the initial contract was signed or if the staff just missed it when reviewing the bid.
“We missed it,” Crockett said.
“And we’ve got processes in place now that when we sign a contract with some business that we check licenses now?” Lythgoe asked.
“That is correct,” Crockett responded. 
The Town Council voted 4-1, with Zeitler dissenting, to assign the contract to Multitech. Zeitler questioned whether Multitech had workers compensation insurance.
Reached by phone on Jan. 25, Raducci said the contract with Multitech has been signed.
“We’re just getting all the verification process out of the way to make sure there are no further issues with insurance requirements and making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed,” he said. “It takes time to verify some of the documents.” 
He said he hoped construction would resume early in February.
Crockett confirmed that a restart date had not been firmed up and he wouldn’t estimate when the library would reopen. It has a temporary home at the town’s Recreation Center.
“Material and equipment delays will also be a concern going forward,” he said. 
Mayor Robert Hagerty thanked Zeitler and Raducci for bringing the issue to light.
In what Lantana officials would not say was a related matter, the town placed Assistant Director of Public Works Joel Cortes on administrative leave in mid-January.
“We are not currently at liberty to discuss active personnel actions,” Human Resources Assistant Director Myila Young wrote in an email to The Coastal Star.
The town awarded the library contract to low-bidder Sierra, of Weston, for $723,200 on July 26. The next-lowest bid came in at $883,932 from West Construction of Lantana.
The library has been at 205 W. Ocean Ave. since the early 1990s after the Carteret Savings & Loan failed. Before that, it was housed since 1947 in the former bridge tender’s house on Ocean Avenue.
Once the renovation is complete, the library will have ADA-compliant restrooms, a centralized circulation desk, special spaces for children and teens and a community center for adult activities.
“We’re very happy with the work that has been done,” Raducci said. “It’s going to be the town jewel when it’s done.”

By Jane Smith

When Delray Beach reorganized its Utilities Department in late January, it abruptly ended the employment of an industrial pretreatment inspector.
“It was done for efficiency and austerity reasons,” City Manager Terrence Moore said on Jan. 28. He approved the reorganization.
The inspector, Christine Ferrigan, was notified on Jan. 26 that her services were no longer needed, effective immediately.
Ferrigan declined to comment.
Hired in June 2017, Ferrigan often sided with barrier island residents and provided information to the Florida Department of Health after it began investigating the city’s reclaimed water program in January 2020.
In late 2018, Ferrigan interviewed people and inspected South Ocean Boulevard locations where residents were reported being sickened after reclaimed water was connected. It apparently mixed with drinking water.
The city issued a boil-water order in that area in December 2018.
In February 2020, Delray Beach shut down its entire reclaimed water system to avoid a citywide boil-water order, triggered by a South Ocean Boulevard resident’s complaint.
That investigation led city commissioners to sign a consent order on Nov. 9 with the Health Department, agreeing to pay $1 million in civil fines for violations in the city’s water program.
Since Dec. 1, Delray Beach has operated under a Health Department consent order that lasts five years.
The next consent order deadline for Delray Beach is Feb. 28, when a quarterly progress report is due, ensuring all reclaimed water customers comply with the rules.

By Tao Woolfe

The Coastal Star scooped up 16 writing awards — for everything from breaking news stories and features to commentary — from the Florida Press Club’s 2021 Excellence in Journalism competition.
The Jan. 22 annual awards celebration — which was held as an online event to shield participants from omicron exposure — honored stories, design, commentary and photographs appearing in publications statewide between June 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021.
Mary Kate Leming, Coastal Star editor, said she was delighted by the awards and gave all the credit to her staff.
“We don’t enter contests to compete with other journalists, we submit entries to recognize the efforts of the excellent journalists who contribute to our publication each month,” Leming said. “They are what make the paper valuable and entertaining to our readers. I’m thrilled they were recognized by this statewide group for their efforts.”
Coastal Star reporter Rich Pollack picked up prizes for writing public safety news (first place), government news (second place), breaking news (third place), and serious features (third place), and was among the Coastal Star staffers who collected more than one award.
Other Coastal Star double winners were Larry Keller, who won writing prizes for environmental news (third place) and minority news (second place); Charles Elmore, who won for writing breaking and business news stories about the coronavirus (second and third places); and Mary Hladky, who shared the breaking news award with Pollack (third place) and won for her pandemic coverage (third place).
Other Coastal Star winners were:
• Ron Hayes, who won first prize in the “That is So Florida” writing category, awarded to weird Sunshine State stories.
• Larry Barszewski, who won for environmental news writing (second place).
• Joyce Reingold, who won for health writing (second place).
• Willie Howard, who won for sports column writing (second place).
• Brian Biggane, who took first prize in the sports features writing category.
• Leming, who won for commentary writing (third place).
• The Coastal Star staff also was awarded a prize for coronavirus pandemic features reporting (third place).
“These awards show the breadth of reporting: from lighthearted stories about legless crabs to in-depth features on local residents and deep dives into municipal shake-ups concerning public safety,” Leming said of the awards’ diversity.
The Coastal Star won most of its awards in the Class C category, which is for smaller daily and non-daily newspapers and websites, but took some overall prizes awarded for general excellence.
For nearly 70 years, the Florida Press Club has been honoring the best in Florida journalism from layout to photography to writing, according to the club’s awards announcement. 
“It was originally called the Florida Women’s Press Club, as no other clubs allowed women to compete when it was started. Honorees have expanded to include men and digital-only publications,” the club said.

Mist rose from the sea as temperatures dipped into the 40s across south Palm Beach County on Jan. 23. The next weekend, an even colder front moved through the area, dropping the mercury to 39 degrees in Boca Raton and 37 in West Palm Beach. Accuweather.com predicted the temperature would bounce back to 80 degrees on Feb. 4. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

People renting beach chairs and umbrellas at the Delray Beach municipal beach will pay 20% more for daily rentals and 17% more annually than they did last season.
City Manager Terrence Moore, who arranged the mid-January deal, also put a 600 cap on the number of setups (two chairs, a table and an umbrella or cabana) that Oceanside Beach Service Inc. can rent during the peak season and during off-season and holiday weekends.
The daily rental rates increased by $10 to $60 for a setup and annual memberships increased by $100 to $700.
Moore’s decision essentially keeps intact the increases OBS imposed last fall without city manager approval, but he also determined the company should contribute $2,500 to the city’s beach fund to settle the matter.
OBS had offered to contribute $1,500 to charity.
Company President Michael Novatka said in a letter to Moore in November that OBS raised rates because its labor costs had increased by 30% and equipment costs by 60% in the past year. But the company did not respond to a question from The Coastal Star about the length of time that OBS raised its rates last fall without city manager approval.
At a City Commission meeting last month, Moore told commissioners that the vendor “has two more years in the contract, making it in everyone’s interest to work together.”
OBS has a five-year contract that started in January 2019 and allowed 350 setups most of the year and as many as needed during the peak months. The peak months were defined as Dec. 15 through April 30, and on the holiday weekends of Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
The setup number had increased 40% from 250 in the previous contract. The cap is intended to prevent overcrowding on the beach.
After Moore shared the new terms, Mayor Shelly Petrolia said she supported his decision to raise the rates and cap the number of setups. She also said the city is not getting any extra money from the agreement.
As to the $2,500 donation, she has said that OBS should refund those customers it overcharged in the fall, when it unilaterally raised rates.
“We should not be relying on residents, such as Mr. MacNamee, to point out problems with our vendors’ performance,” Petrolia said.
Ken MacNamee pointed out the rate increases and lack of posted rate signs in November emails to the City Commission, city manager and city attorney.
“It is clear cabana rental customers were overcharged and should be reimbursed,” he wrote in a Jan. 22 email to The Coastal Star. “Anything less is capitulating to a … contractor and incompetent city staffers’ failure to enforce the contract.”
Under the 2019 agreement, OBS was able to end gradually increasing penalties for violations that might result in the loss of its contract. The deal now says OBS is subject to a flat $1,000 fee per calendar day for violations in the off-season and non-holiday weekends. Violations during the season or holiday weekends are not mentioned, and what constitutes a violation is not defined.
The five-year contract was negotiated by Mark Lauzier, who was fired as city manager in March 2019. It called for OBS to pay the city $405,000 in the first two years and $415,000 in the last three years.
“I see it as our beach going into a different era,” Petrolia said during commission discussion at the Jan. 4 meeting.
“We had a quaint and quiet beach. We pushed back from commercialization. I see that changing. People came down here and were not allowed to set up an umbrella before a line [in front] of the vendor’s chairs.”
Deputy Vice Mayor Adam Frankel, however, praised the vendor. “Your employees are doing a great job,” he said.
Novatka was asked by The Coastal Star in January about whether the city required invoices to back up his statement about higher costs.
Vice President Sylvia Bednarz responded in an email that anyone who thinks costs have not increased “is not so informed with current events that have impacted the majority of businesses in our country.”
Bednarz provided a list showing the new rental rates in Delray were the same as in the five other Palm Beach County municipalities OBS serves, including Boynton Beach and Boca Raton.

Gulf Stream resident Kevin Anderson is among three former champions scheduled to compete in the 30th annual Delray Beach Open by Vitacost, Feb. 11-20 at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
Anderson, who won the event in 2012, was expected as of late January to be joined by former winners Reilly Opelka (2020) and Frances Tiafoe (2018).
“We are thrilled to welcome an incredible field of players for our 30th anniversary event,” tournament director Mark Baron said. “It is exciting to bring back many of our fan favorites in addition to some of the ATP Tour’s rising stars who will be making their debuts in Delray Beach.”
Anderson, who has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the world, is one of three entrants who won an ATP event in 2021. The others are Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who at No. 13 was the highest ranked player to enter the tournament, and Sebastian Korda, the son of Czech tennis legend Petr Korda.
Tickets are available at YellowTennisBall.com and at the on-site box office (561-330-6000, 30 NW First Ave.).

— Brian Biggane

Hurricane Alley’s owner says the money could come partly from the developer or as a stipend or grant. Staff photo

By Larry Barszewski

Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant expects to have a new downtown home in the coming years, and its owner says Boynton Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency may need to pick up as much as $300,000 of its relocation costs.
The popular downtown restaurant on Ocean Avenue will be losing its current digs to a planned redevelopment by Affiliated Development, which says it will relocate Hurricane Alley to another part of its project. The restaurant’s new, larger building is to be on the south side of Boynton Beach Boulevard immediately east of the Florida East Coast railway tracks.
The CRA purchased the Hurricane Alley site in December. It plans to include the property as part of a larger redevelopment parcel on the west side of Federal Highway between Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard. It is now working on an agreement with Fort Lauderdale-based Affiliated Development for that project.
“With our relocation, we’re looking to either secure some type of funding from the CRA to relocate, either if that’s working with the developer or as a stipend, or as in grant money,” Hurricane Alley owner Kim Kelly told city commissioners sitting as the CRA board at the Jan. 10 meeting. “We’re seeking about $300,000. This move will probably cost us over $500,000.”
Commissioners have supported keeping Hurricane Alley downtown. The restaurant played a role in their choosing Affiliated — which Kelly supported — for the redevelopment project. After Kelly spoke, Commissioner Justin Katz wondered if Hurricane Alley’s relocation expenses should be handled by Affiliated.
Affiliated has proposed a $73.1 million mixed-use project called The Pierce, which would include 236 apartments, a public parking garage and retail, office, restaurant and open space.
“I was under the impression that during the pitch by Affiliated for the project, it was repeated over and over again, that any machinations revolving around the move and relocation to the new property that was part of the pitch, that that was all taken care of. Am I confused?” Katz asked.
CRA Executive Director Thuy Shutt said Katz wasn’t confused; that is what had been proposed. The CRA has never given such a large sum of money to a tenant of a building who is not the property owner, she said.
“I believe before we really commit to anything, we should really go through the negotiation with Affiliated to see what he has to offer,” Shutt said. “Once we turn the property over to Affiliated, they have every right to negotiate. They have a side agreement with Ms. Kelly already for the relocation and they can sequence the construction to make sure that it is mutually benefiting to all parties.”
Kelly said she wants to make sure she isn’t put in “debt to where we can’t get out of a bad hole” because of the redevelopment project.
“This is just a move for us that wasn’t anticipated six months ago,” Kelly said. “Now we’re faced with this huge debt, so if it’s in the form of grants or negotiations with the developer, that’s all we’re looking for. It’s not going to be a cheap move.”

In other CRA matters
Hyperion Development Group, whose affiliate purchased the Ocean One Boynton property north of Ocean Avenue on the east side of Federal Highway from developer Davis Camalier for $12 million in December, is seeking either tax increment financing or direct financing from the CRA for its project there. Camalier previously had a tax-financing plan tied to the project he had proposed for the site, but he gave that up last year when he wasn’t able to get his development plans off the ground.
Hyperion CEO Rob Vecsler said in a letter to the city that Hyperion would seek to adjust the boundaries of some streets neighboring its project area to be able to increase the density of the residential portion of the project. The project is proposed to include at least 348 residential units along with commercial and retail space.
Hyperion also has a contract with Camalier to purchase the Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery site on the west side of Federal that could become part of the Affiliated project. However, commissioners said they would not allow Hyperion to use the sale of that property to gain leverage so it could secure financing from the CRA for its project across the street. They said they want to keep the two projects separate.
Affiliated is still working out its agreement with the CRA for its Pierce project. One major question is whether the city will agree to buy back the planned parking garage after Affiliated has built it. The second is if Affiliated will agree to keep 50% of the project’s apartments as “workforce housing” in perpetuity instead of for only 15 years as it originally proposed.

The Magnuson House’s historic designation might present a hurdle to the entrepreneur who wants to turn it into a restaurant. Staff photo

By Larry Barszewski

A decade after adding the home of Boynton Beach pioneer Oscar Magnuson to the city’s list of historic resources, the City Commission may strip the home of its protected status.
Commissioners are concerned the home’s historic designation could impede plans by restaurateur Anthony Barber to turn the Ocean Avenue property — currently owned by the Community Redevelopment Agency — into a vibrant downtown eating spot. They worry the designation may require history-related renovations that could prove too costly and dash the redevelopment plans.
At the Jan. 10 CRA meeting, commissioners sitting as the CRA’s governing board voted 4-1 to recommend doing away with the designation. Any formal change would have to be voted on by commissioners at a City Commission meeting.
Only Mayor Steven Grant objected to the recommendation. The CRA plans to sell or transfer the house and property at 211 E. Ocean Ave. to a corporation being formed by Barber.
“If we remove the historical designation, and we sell the property to someone else, that means that they can change their mind and tear it down. Is that a possibility?” Grant asked.
The city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board could still make a recommendation against the house’s demolition even if the designation is gone, but the city would have “even fewer teeth in the process to preserve it,” said Michael Rumpf, who serves as the city’s staff liaison to the preservation board.
Commissioner Justin Katz, who made the motion to recommend removal of the historic designation, does not think the century-old house merits special attention.
“I’ve always been of the belief that while it is an old house, that it is not in my opinion historic,” Katz said.
In an email to The Coastal Star following the meeting, Katz added: “The designation was explicitly put on to qualify the property for potential grants. It was a play at free funding that ultimately never paid off. The building is not historic.”
But Janet DeVries Naughton, past president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society, says the home does have historic value and is probably older than its estimated construction date of 1919.
She said she has found documents indicating the home was built in 1913, which she said would make it the second- or third-oldest in city history.
“I not only would like to see the historic designation retained, but I’d also add that the Boynton Beach CRA has the moral responsibility to keep the few historically designated homes in the downtown area,” DeVries said.
Magnuson himself is a historic figure whose home warrants the designation, she said: He founded the 1916 Boynton Growers and Shippers Association; he started the Bank of Boynton; he was one of the town’s original five firemen; and he had significant real estate holdings and public office positions.
At the CRA meeting, Katz said the designation “would dramatically change the landscape of [the restaurant developers’] expectations and proposals if they had to maintain the historic guidelines in their renovation.”
According to Barber’s proposal presented last year, he plans to keep renovation costs down by bringing several large corrugated steel shipping containers on site and converting them into kitchen, storage and restroom space — rather than try to incorporate those uses into the existing building. Dinner seating would include a new, expansive, outdoor patio deck in addition to any indoor seating.
The real cost of the house restoration would most likely be tied to meeting the building code requirements in changing it from a residential to commercial use, CRA Executive Director Thuy Shutt said when contacted following the meeting.
“Removing the designation doesn’t help him lessen his costs in still converting the building into commercial use,” Shutt said. “It may help him in his flexibility of how he may use the site.”
If the designation is removed, the CRA could still put language in the purchase and development agreement to include protections for the house if those are desired, Shutt said.
Barber, who owns Troy’s Barbeque on South Federal Highway, is teaming up with Rodney Mayo of the Subculture Group — which runs restaurants from Jupiter to South Beach — to turn the Magnuson House into a dining spot. Mayo has said he plans to invest $1 million into the effort, including $450,000 to renovate the house, $240,000 to add the shipping containers, and $310,000 for site work and other costs.
In the purchase agreement, the CRA has proposed including a deed restriction limiting the property to a restaurant use for at least 20 years. Another proposed term would give the CRA the right of first refusal should the new owners decide to sell the property within five years of completing the renovation work. Also, the CRA would not transfer title to the property until the work is completed.
The CRA still needs additional information from Barber and Mayo before an agreement can be finalized.