Save Boca battles unfavorable court ruling

The latest Terra and Frisbie Group plan for Boca Raton’s downtown campus has office, hotel, multifamily and commercial buildings (1-7) on 7.8 acres east of Northwest Second Avenue, with park and government space to the west. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

Terra and Frisbie Group, which plan to develop a 7.8-acre section of the city’s downtown campus, have unveiled new details about what they envision.

Boca Raton voters will decide whether the downtown campus project can go forward in the March 10 city election.

But the city and Terra/Frisbie are moving quickly to finalize a master partnership agreement and the 99-year lease of city land to the developers so that the project can move ahead quickly if voters give their approval.

Final City Council votes on both matters are expected on Jan. 20 in what will be pivotal decisions.

Though it now seems an unlikely outcome, a council majority vote against the partnership agreement and lease would kill the project unless the council takes some other action.

It would also nullify the March 10 ballot question that allows voters to cast up or down votes on the downtown campus redevelopment plan.

Yet it probably would be too late for the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections to strip the measure from the ballot. In that event, city and election officials would have to explain to voters in advance that the measure no longer is operative.

The project originally was to encompass the entire 31.7-acre downtown campus. But after residents who have banded together as Save Boca strongly opposed that, Terra/Frisbie agreed to leave the nearly 17.3 acres west of Northwest Second Avenue as recreation and park space along with a new City Hall and Community Center.

The developers confined the land they would lease to 7.8 acres on the east side of the street. Nearly 6.7 other acres on that side are part of the campus and will not be leased. They will remain under city control.

Latest design
Presenting their conceptual plans on Dec. 15, Terra/Frisbie said they plan seven buildings and a parking garage on the site.

They include a 120,000-square-foot office building and a 30,000-square-foot grocery store on a parcel immediately west of the Brightline station and east of the Downtown Library.Below that, a 180-room hotel would front Northwest Second Avenue.

Four residential buildings would be built south of the hotel with a total of 765 rental units.

A condo building with 182 units would be located east of the hotel.

The maximum height for the office building is proposed to be nine stories, while the other buildings can be up to 12 stories.

City officials have not yet provided a location for the parking garage but have said it will have about 1,900 parking spaces.

The city will own the garage but will share it with private users. It will include public parking.

The buildings will include restaurant and retail, generally on the ground floor.

A pedestrian promenade will run through the property from the Downtown Library to West Palmetto Park Road.

Council members did not offer their opinions on the plans, with several saying they needed time to digest what they had seen.

City’s proposed ordinance
In another matter related to the development project, Mayor Scott Singer has proposed an ordinance that would set procedures for when the city wants to sell or lease any city-owned land greater than one-half acre.

The ordinance is Singer’s answer to Save Boca supporters who insist that city residents be able to vote before the city leases or sells any city-owned land greater than one-half acre.

To enable that, Save Boca wanted changes to a city ordinance and the city charter so that a vote by the public is required.

The measures were aimed against the City Council’s plans to lease downtown campus land to Terra/Frisbie.

Voters were going to have their say on the ordinance and charter changes in a special Jan. 13 election. But Palm Beach County Circuit Judge G. Joseph Curley ruled on Dec. 1 that both be stricken from the ballot because one was unconstitutional and the other required a vote before Jan. 13.

Singer’s ordinance would require two public hearings before a sale or lease is approved.

Before each hearing, the city would have to mail a notice to all property owners within 500 feet of the city-owned land and post a notice on the land so that residents know what is happening.

Council members will consider the ordinance this month.

But Save Boca founder Jon Pearlman already has panned the idea, saying it is “a political maneuver by Mr. Singer.”

“It is a fake Boca law,” he said at the council’s Dec. 16 meeting, that still allows the council, and not voters, to decide whether land can be sold or leased.

Save Boca fight continues
Pearlman has not given up on the ordinance and charter changes.

The litigation has not ended between him and retired Boca Raton attorney Ned Kimmelman — who argued that the wording of the two changes is misleading, confusing and violates Florida law.

Pearlman now is seeking to have Curley’s Dec. 1 order vacated. He also wants the proposed ordinance and charter changes to go before city voters at a regularly scheduled election.

Kimmelman had dismissed Save Boca and Pearlman as defendants in his lawsuit in November, which prevented them from defending the two changes in court.

So Pearlman is also seeking to be returned as a party to the case. Curley ordered on Dec. 23 that the two sides schedule a hearing on that matter.

“The case is still ongoing, and we are actively fighting it,” Pearlman told the council on Dec. 15. “We are very confident that we will ultimately prevail and that these Save Boca laws will go before the voters, who will then have the opportunity to enact them into law.”

The legal sparring has grown increasingly heated over the past month.

In a court pleading, Kimmelman contends that Pearlman and his supporters began collecting voter signatures to place the two changes on the ballot before registering as a political committee, a violation of state law.

As a result, the signatures are invalid and the two changes cannot be voted on, the pleading states.

For his part, Pearlman has accused Kimmelman of “judge shopping” in order to get a favorable ruling from another judge.

That prompted Kimmelman to send Pearlman a letter, saying Pearlman “defamed” him. Kimmelman told him to “cease and desist publishing these falsehoods immediately or I will sue you for compensatory and punitive damages.”

If Pearlman prevails in the litigation, it might have no effect on the Terra/Frisbie project since no new election can be held before the one already scheduled for March 10 when voters are now expected to have a say.

But it would impact future land leases or sales, and city officials say holding elections for them would be cumbersome and costly and delay routine transactions that voters most likely would approve.

Project clears P&Z hurdle
The city completed a procedural step toward moving the project forward on Dec. 18 when the Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council lease the 7.8 acres to Terra/Frisbie.

But the board’s review was limited in scope. Members were not tasked with evaluating the project, but only to say whether the lease is “advisable” from a planning perspective.

Work has begun on an oceanfront four-story home in Boca Raton east of State Road A1A.

Delray Beach-based Azure Development LLC, which owns the .42-acre property at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd., applied for a building permit on April 30 after the Boca Raton City Council in October 2024 granted a variance to build a home on the sand east of the city’s Coastal Construction Control Line.

The application values what will be a 6,931-square-foot structure, across A1A from the Blue Water Townhouses, at almost $3.2 million.

The city’s Development Services Department issued the permit on Dec. 4 and collected fees of $69,122.

To get the permit, Azure had to meet 17 conditions, 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.

Azure first sought permission to build on the dune in February 2019 but was rejected by the City Council. The property appraiser’s office values the vacant land at almost $3.4 million.

— Steve Plunkett

Anyone who was at the Delray Beach Historical Society on Dec. 6 honoring the life of Bob Ganger had to feel his presence. The people who spoke acknowledged how deeply he had touched their lives, both as a mentor and a friend. 

I remember the first time meeting Bob at his office located in the alleyway a few doors down from my home, the historic Hartman House. Although the room was small and a bit dark, his brilliant light shined through and I knew he would help ensure Delray would retain its charm and character. 

The Florida Coalition for Preservation was and will always be his baby. There is no denying how much he saved from the wrecking ball, with Briny Breezes being near the top of the list, providing affordability for everyday folks to live by the water. 

Honestly, there was no scope above his reach in saving our shores. And the little guy and gal always came first with him.
As one of the speakers at the celebration of life said, what Bob’s name stood for was, and will always be, the best of the best.

— Benita Goldstein, Delray Beach

I was tickled by the article regarding Milani Park in the recent The Coastal Star.

I was reminded of a Highland Beach public meeting probably 10 years ago.

I was the only resident speaking for the renovation. There was talk about the arrival of drug traffic, that the portable johns are notorious for homosexual activity, the increase of traffic itself, nudity and sex on the beach, possible immigrants from Cuba, and uninhabited houses/apartments being vandalized.

Well, my words were forgotten when this Native American and his wife came charging into the room whooping and dancing like a Native American in a John Wayne movie.

Why? It seems there had been the discovery of the remains of a Native American, buried 500 years ago.

The entire audience immediately became lovers of Native American history. Unlike a movie with John Wayne under the stagecoach, rifle in hand, Native Americans circling, there weren’t no John Waynes in the bunch. 

Immediately, the crowd had many suggestions which, in my opinion, would result in very few visitors. There was talk about a Native American museum, researching the area for a possible Native American graveyard, pay parking for the lot, and no access to the beach because of the graveyard research.

The list went on. In my suspicious mind, I believed and still believe the only issue was to severely impede the visitors to this park.

— T. Hoy Booker, Highland Beach

Boca Raton will soon begin work on projects along the coast estimated to cost $6.5 million.

The City Council on Nov. 18 approved hiring Burkhardt Construction of West Palm Beach to serve as construction manager on the projects.

The work will include the replacement of three restrooms at Spanish River Park, the replacement of six lifeguard towers and the rehabilitation of three sea walls that protect against flooding.

The sea walls are located on the east side of Southeast Wavecrest Way near Lake Drive, at Jeffery Street along the Intracoastal Waterway and at east end of Northeast 32nd Street.

After design drawings are completed for each of the projects, Burkhardt will update the costs, which then must be approved by the City Council.

For now, the lifeguard tower replacements are projected to cost $1.6 million, the new restrooms almost $2 million and the improved sea walls $3 million. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has provided a $950,000 grant to help defray the sea wall cost.

— Mary Hladky

A special statehouse election primary will be held Jan. 13 for the District 87 seat that was vacated when former state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned his position after being appointed Palm Beach County’s clerk of court and comptroller by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The district includes most of Manalapan, eastern Lantana, plus South Palm Beach and points north to Juno Beach.

The state says the Jan. 13 election will have a Republican primary between Gretchen L. Miller Feng and Jon Maples, and a Democrat primary between Emily Gregory and Laura Levites.

The winners of the two primaries will face off in the special general election on March 24, two weeks after the county’s March 10 municipal elections.

Caruso replaced former Clerk of Courts Joseph Abruzzo, who was hired as county administrator by the County Commission.

— Staff report

Several hundred people gathered in downtown Boca Raton for the annual menorah lighting to mark the fourth night of Hanukkah and honor victims of the deadly attack in Sydney, Australia. Before the celebration began, the community paused for prayers and reflection, remembering the 15 people killed and dozens more wounded in the horrific shooting at Bondi Beach during a celebration on the first night of Hanukkah. For Rabbi Ruvi New of Boca Beach Chabad, who addressed those in attendance, the tragedy is deeply personal. Two of his cousins were wounded, with one, 20 years old, still hospitalized after being shot twice. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

The Ocean Ridge Town Commission at its Dec. 1 meeting for 61 minutes grappled — in what Mayor Geoff Pugh called “a great discussion” — with whether single-family property owners could exceed the town code for house size in exchange for easements needed for flood control. 

It will come up for a second reading at the commission’s Jan. 12 meeting.

The town needs an easement on a property on Harbour Drive North, a street that frequently experiences flooding. The homeowner, according to Town Manager Michelle Heiser, wants to add 500 more square feet.

“The homeowner, like it or not, knows we need that easement and says, ‘This house my wife wants, it includes a bigger closet,’” Heiser said. 

The proposed addition to the home also would not be visible from the roadway and the ordinance is an effort to solve the impasse, she added.

The issue at hand is FAR — floor area ratio — the measurement of a building in relation to the size of the lot or parcel on which it sits. Currently, the town allows a 36% FAR for parcels up to 20,000 square feet.

For the Harbour Drive North home in question, which sits on an 11,761-square-foot lot, the proposed ordinance would allow the property owner to go from a 36% FAR to a 42% FAR, increasing the house maximum — now at 4,704 square feet — to 5,227 square feet.

“The proposed ordinance would create a sort of tiered approach to allow for properties to increase their FAR up to a certain percentage based on the town’s request for an easement,” Town Attorney Christy Goddeau said.

Goddeau said any prospective single-family residence would still have to pass muster with the Planning and Zoning Commission, be compatible with the neighborhood, and satisfy other factors.

Future consequences

Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy spoke out against the ordinance as proposed, saying the town has crafted rules to keep property owners from “maxing out” their residences. She noted that the ordinance really is because of an “uncooperative homeowner” on Harbour Drive North.

“To build an ordinance because of one property owner, because we need it now, I think, is a mistake,” Cassidy said.

“This is a blanket ordinance for the entire community that we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” she noted. 

Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. asked Goddeau if such accommodations would be a rare circumstance.

Yes and no, she said. Currently, there are only two properties, besides the one on Harbour Drive North, where the new ordinance would apply.

“But as you know, things change in town, given drainage issues and flooding issues, there may become a need that this is utilized more by the town,” Goddeau said.

Public comments were also pointed.

“I think it’s a really slippery slope, whether you’re doing it for one homeowner or only because of an easement or only on a certain street,” said former Mayor Kristine de Haseth, executive director of the Florida Coalition for Preservation. “The character of our town is based on the fact that we don’t have these Boca McMansions.”

Former Commissioner Terry Brown had the opposite viewpoint. “In my opinion, you’ve got to do horse trading. And this is an example of where you’re going to do it,” he said.

Cassidy asked whatever happened to the idea of the town abandoning the right of way. 

Heiser said that the town engineer did not see that as a good solution because of flooding issues and has already started the permitting process with the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District.

“It looks like we’re trying to solve a problem, but I want to make sure there aren’t unintended consequences that we just can’t foresee,” Aijala said.

Flooding issues

Commissioner David Hutchins and the mayor live on Harbour Drive North.

“When it floods on that street, it’s dramatic, and it can affect a lot of activities,” Hutchins said. “The reason we were looking at this easement was so we could move the water off the street, at least on a high tide.”

He said the homeowner has “got us over a barrel,” but the goal has always been flood control.

Pugh said it was time to make a deal. 

“So if you want me to tell everybody on my street who complains vociferously about the flooding on the street that we didn’t do it because we wouldn’t give that guy 500 more square feet,” Pugh said. “I’m not willing to do that.”

In the end, the commission passed the ordinance on first reading but with amendments, including a preamble that the commission intends for such easement swaps to be limited use and that it would periodically review requests. The commission also asked Goddeau to tighten up the language on whether the easement remains with the town if the property is sold and to explore if the FAR percentages could be lowered.

In the meantime, negotiations continue with the homeowner. 

By Mary Hladky

In yet another sign of trouble for the Mandarin Oriental project in downtown Boca Raton, affiliates of developer Penn-Florida Companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 23 after they were unable to repay lenders about $210 million at loan maturity.

The affiliates, Via Mizner Owner II and Via Mizner Pledgor II, are building the 164-room Mandarin Oriental hotel on Federal Highway to the north of Camino Real.

The hotel and adjacent branded condo residences were to be completed in 2017. But construction has proceeded very slowly with long periods of no activity. Many Boca Raton residents complain that the construction site is an eyesore.

A summary of the bankruptcy case states that the Penn-Florida affiliates and secured lenders “seek to engage in a consensual chapter 11 process for the reorganization of their businesses and to protect the high market valuation of the property for the benefit of all parties of interest.”

They estimate the value of the building upon completion at more than $450 million.

They have asked to file the case under seal because public disclosure of certain information could chill interest in the property and could be used for negotiating leverage.

One year ago, another affiliate of Boca Raton-based Penn-Florida filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to head off an auction of its 101 Via Mizner luxury apartment building located immediately south of the condos and hotel.

Penn-Florida faced losing that 366-unit building because it failed to pay off a $195 million senior loan provided by an affiliate of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in 2022.

That problem was resolved in July when Cardone Real Estate Acquisitions — led by real estate investor and social media celebrity Grant Cardone — purchased the building for $235 million and creditors were repaid.

A number of would-be condo owners who had placed large deposits on units, and were tired of waiting for the building to be completed, have filed lawsuits seeking return of their money.

Contractors also have filed suits, claiming they had not been paid for completed work.

Greg Dunham is retiring after nearly nine years as town manager, effective Jan. 30. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream Town Manager Greg Dunham is calling it quits after almost nine years at the helm of town government.

“This is a great town to retire from. It’s been a great ride,” said Dunham, whose last Town Commission meeting will be Jan. 9, with his last day on the job coming Jan. 30. 

Dunham, who became Gulf Stream’s town manager on May 1, 2017, told commissioners and town employees of his imminent departure at Mayor Scott Morgan’s annual Christmas party for the Town Hall staff on Dec. 19.

When he was hired, he told commissioners he jogged 3 miles a day, six days a week and hoped to keep working until he turned 75, depending on “how my knees do.” 

He almost made it. Now 73, he had one knee replaced two years ago and the other one last year.

Under his watch, Gulf Stream finished the second phase of its long-drawn-out project to bury electric, telephone and cable TV lines and remove all the utility poles. It also embarked on an ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan to upgrade its stormwater drainage system, replace its water mains and repave its streets. 

The town is now in the eighth year of the project, with work in the Core District expected to finish in April before moving on to Place Au Soleil.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed being here because we accomplished a lot,” Dunham said.

And while he accepted the job in 2017 with enthusiasm, he admitted he almost didn’t come to Gulf Stream. At the time, the town was still battling resident and twice unsuccessful commission candidate Martin O’Boyle in court over his hundreds of public records requests. Gulf Stream and O’Boyle settled the last of 44 lawsuits the following year.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to do this.’ And then the mayor got on the phone,” Dunham said. “He was very convincing.”

Morgan called Dunham “a great town manager.”

“He not only brings decades of experience, which gives him the judgment to handle almost every issue that can come up,” the mayor said. “The most significant thing about Greg I think is his personality. He is a genuinely kind and considerate and smart manager.

“And what always impressed me was not only the way he could manage staff, but whenever a resident had an issue, they would call him. He didn’t want to talk to them on the phone about it; he always wanted to go meet them in person at their home.

“And that was a striking and demonstrative element of (his) managerial skill. (He) would resolve things directly with our residents, and I really appreciated it,” Morgan said.

Dunham started out as a police officer and assistant city manager in Texas, then moved to Florida State University to finish a master’s degree in public administration. With diploma in hand, he got work as an assistant city manager in Palm Beach Gardens, then was town manager in Ocean Ridge from 1998 to 2002 and in Manalapan from 2002 to 2010. After a break from government jobs, he served as town manager of Kenly, North Carolina, for five years before coming to Gulf Stream.

He plans to travel in retirement. His first trip will be to Vietnam with his older brother, who was badly wounded there when Dunham was still in high school.

And he’s looking forward to the birth of a grandchild in May. 

“I don’t think I have any regrets,” said Dunham, who just received a plaque from the International City/County Management Association for his 45 years of public service.

“I wouldn’t trade any of my career in local government service for anything,” he said. 

At least one homeowner on Sailfish Lane says blighted homes and properties such as this one at 5 Sailfish Lane are lowering property values. This home was cited for overgrown vegetation. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

A stroll down Sailfish Lane in Ocean Ridge finds a street in flux. 

Older ranch-style residences, built in the 1950s, are mixed with modern, larger homes and even brand new construction that looks spectacular but also out of place. 

There are established families who have lived in their homes for decades alongside rental properties. And all of it within a short walk to the beach — a neighborhood with homes having market values just north of $1 million.

Eric Brief, who lives at 8 Sailfish Lane, appeared at the Nov. 3 Town Commission meeting and said he was ready to sue the town over properties that are not being properly maintained.

“We don’t hear about blight a lot in our town, but it exists and it’s not being dealt with, and it’s a real problem, and you’re going to have a problem on your hands,” he said.

His panorama of complaints included an Airbnb that wakes him up routinely, cars being parked on the lawn, a garage held up by a 2-by-4 and a house with a lawn that was two feet high.

“You’re probably looking at a bunch of residents getting together to sue the town over this, because it’s hurting our lifestyle and our real estate values,” he told commissioners. “I’ve been coming here for 10 years, and I’m not going to put up with it anymore, and it’s going to get ugly.”

However, Brief also said he files complaints against families over what they say are trivial matters: a beach chair or barbecue equipment left outside the garage after an outing, a random car seat left out after cleaning of the vehicle.

Other homeowners didn’t want to go on the record because they feared retribution either from Brief or the town, but they said he has been harassing certain neighbors for years, calling him a bully.

New measures considered

Vice Mayor Steve Coz said the town is working to tighten property-maintenance rules to address visible signs of blight without imposing “draconian” measures that would pit neighbors against one another.

Coz said Ocean Ridge does not have a formal blight ordinance to present and that he has been consulting with the town attorney, the town manager and residents while drafting proposed language. He said the effort is focused on clarifying code language to target what is visible from public streets.

“No one would complain about what the neighbor has in their front lawn if they can’t see it,” Coz said. He said the town’s existing codes were written decades ago and need tightening so enforcement is clear and defensible.

Coz offered examples of conditions the proposed language aims to address, including front yards that mix stone with construction debris and lawns overrun by weeds.

Coz acknowledged the temporary loss of a code-enforcement officer when a contracted inspector took another job. He said hiring a replacement and putting clearer guidelines in place will make enforcement less ad hoc and reduce the need for police involvement in code matters, which he said can inflame situations.

The vice mayor said he expected to present discussion points to the Town Commission after the holidays. “It’s going to take a couple of months,” he said, and emphasized that any ordinance would avoid being heavy-handed.

Are existing laws enough? 

Town Manager Michelle Heiser, though, said that the town does not need a new blight ordinance — it needs to enforce the ordinances it already has.

Heiser said the town has statutory and local tools to address blight and code violations. Rather than drafting new rules, she urged better use of existing processes, including working with property owners and, when necessary, using the town’s special magistrate for enforcement.

Heiser said town staffers have been actively engaging with one particular homeowner on Sailfish Lane across from Brief with what looks like concrete chunks as ground cover. “They’re going to at least come into the minimum compliance by putting some sod down,” she said.

She emphasized a willingness to work with residents but defended the town’s current approach of education first, enforcement when required.

A neighbor, who had been subject to complaints from Brief, did not want to comment when contacted. The home in question was not one of the 1950s models but a modern single-family residence with landscaping and not a hint of blight in sight. 

Other homes — also subject to Brief’s complaints — had received notices from code inspectors days after he addressed the commission.

Big houses, small lots

Brief, who said he has lived in Ocean Ridge for 33 years, said he doesn’t want to be the bad guy. “If somebody doesn’t call on it, the town doesn’t do anything,” he said.

Former Commissioner Terry Brown lived on Sailfish Lane briefly when his house was undergoing repairs. His insurance company put him up in a home that was being rented. 

He agreed that Ocean Ridge residential streets are transforming as the town updates zoning and encourages larger single-family homes in areas once dominated by duplexes and modest old seasonal Florida cottages.

“They’re allowing huge houses to be squished into small lots,” he said.

Brown said the town is actively reviewing nonconforming lots on streets. “They’re trying to clean up the south end, and we’ll see what happens,” he said. 

Former Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long easily defeated Republican Maria Zack in the Dec. 9 special election for state House District 90.

District 90 includes Ocean Ridge, Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and parts of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.

Long, the Democrat, took 63.2% of the vote to Zack’s 35.9%. Karen Yeh, with no party affiliation, garnered less than 1%. There was 14.7% turnout.

The seat was vacant because of the death of Rep. Joe Casello, D-Boynton Beach, in July.

Long said he believed he earned the vote of independent voters who are alarmed by the direction of the country under President Donald Trump.

“They’re tired of not being able to afford anything. They’re tired of seeing what’s happening to folks from the immigrant community,” Long said.

“There’s a lot of outrage right now, and a lot of people struggling right now, and they are ready to see some change and some action.”

Long credited his volunteer team for getting people to the polls for a December special election.

“It was just an amazing community effort, and I’m super grateful,” he said.

Delray Beach commissioners at their Dec. 8 meeting couldn’t agree on someone to replace Long until the March 10 elections are over.

Yvonne Odom, grandmother to tennis star Coco Gauff, and Price Patton, a member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Board and part owner of The Coastal Star, each lost out on 2-2 votes.

— John Pacenti

Capt. Austin Nuquist and Lt. Ross Gornall of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue demonstrate using a lifesaving ring at Sportman’s Park. Several rings were installed in Lantana as part of the Aden Perry Hero Life Ring Initiative. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Aden Perry died trying to save a motorist who drove into a lake.

L-R: Lantana Mayor Karen Lythgoe; Council member Mark Zeitler; Sarah Perry, Aden’s mother; Council member Jesse Rivero, and Town Manager Brian Raducci attended the ceremony. 

By Steve Plunkett

The state’s Sunshine Law, the town’s weak-mayor form of government and a deep personal goal led Ted Gross to be a one-term-and-done mayor of Briny Breezes.

Gross, who did not file qualifying papers in November to run for reelection, used the time allotted for the “Mayor’s Report” at the Town Council meeting to elaborate on his three reasons for not seeking office again.

The Sunshine Law, which states in part that two or more government officials cannot discuss government business without first notifying the public of their planned conversation, was “quite restrictive,” Gross said.

“I have close friends who sit on the dais and who hold official roles within the corporation (Briny Breezes Inc.). And my interactions with them became limited,” he said. “I was unable to discuss anything that might be on an agenda or could come before the council in the future.

“In Briny that’s almost everything,” Gross said.

He had spoken several times during his term about his dissatisfaction with being a weak mayor, one who must sign contracts and is the face of the town but who does not have a vote on issues.

“The weak mayor framework makes the role primarily ceremonial. While respect and attention shown to the mayor is meaningful, I often felt I did not deserve it because when residents brought any concerns or ideas, my ability to help was very limited,” Gross said. “I found myself unable to make the level of impact that I believe a mayor should be able to make for their constituents.”

Last, “and probably most important,” Gross said, he wanted to book more of his time “to a mission that is deeply important to me and I have been working on it for a while, and one that I believe that I can make a meaningful impact — that is supporting individuals affected by sex trafficking and abuse, particularly boys and men.”

Gross said this group receives “far too little recognition or support” and the issue is especially significant in South Florida, “and yet resources remain scarce.”

“I feel the call for this work and I believe I can make a difference by focusing my energy there,” he concluded, adding that he is grateful for the opportunity he had to serve.

Gross’ wife, Kathy, resigned as an alderwoman in October 2024 after he had been in office almost a year and she had been on the dais almost six years.

Also declining to run for election was Alderwoman Holly Reitnauer, who is married to Alderman Bill Birch. Reitnauer, who took Kathy Gross’ Seat 2 in December 2024, will have been in office only 15 months when her tenure ends in March.

She was absent from the council’s Dec. 11 meeting and has not publicly discussed her reason for not running for office.

Alderman Jeff Duncan, who drew no challengers during November’s qualifying period, was automatically elected to his Seat 4 position and will serve a second two-year term.

Under the town’s charter, the council will choose a “qualified elector” to be Briny’s new mayor and a new alderman at its first meeting after what was to be the March 10 election. 

Employee of the Year recognized — Marc Fichtner, chief of Lantana’s Ocean Rescue, was honored as Employee of the Year during the Dec. 8 Town Council meeting. The award recognizes his dedication and service.

Fichtner “plays a vital role in keeping our beachgoers safe. He consistently demonstrates leadership, professionalism and has an unwavering commitment to protecting the community,” Police Chief Sean Scheller said.

Free movie night Jan. 9 — Lantana invites residents to enjoy a free movie night starting at 7 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Sports Park. The featured movie will be How to Train Your Dragon, a fantasy adventure film and a live-action remake of the 2010 animated film, which itself is loosely based on the 2003 novel by Cressida Cowell. In the film, a Viking boy named Hiccup defies centuries of tradition by befriending a dragon named Toothless. 

Snacks and refreshments will be available.

For more information, contact Nadine Shawah at 561-540-5754 of nshawah@lantana.org.

See what’s going on at the beach — Lantana’s beach webcam is up and ready to watch on the town’s website. See earthcam.com/usa/florida/lantana/?cam=lantanabeach#google_vignette.

The webcam allows visitors to check conditions before they head to the beach.  

— Mary Thurwachter

Manalapan Town Manager Eric Marmer told commissioners at their Dec. 9 meeting that the town will save nearly $150,000 a year while locking in predictable garbage collection rates and expanding services to residents.

The Town Commission recently approved the agreement with Waste Pro, which includes an initial five-year term with the option for a five-year extension. A key feature is a 3% cap on annual price increases, tied to the Consumer Price Index, that Marmer says will keep waste collection costs stable for at least the next decade.

The first year of the contract is $53,000.

Marmer told commissioners that the anticipated savings from the new deal will be steered toward other community priorities, including a recently launched beach cleanup program with town staff.

Residents will see little change in their day-to-day garbage and recycling routines. The new vendor will use existing cans and maintain current collection days, though residents needing replacements will be able to request them directly.

Collection under the new contract will begin the first week of January.

— John Pacenti

NMP Golf Construction Corporation workers dig in to a $28.5 million renovation that has closed Delray Beach’s historic municipal golf course, which originally opened in 1926. The renovation will include new practice facilities, improved parking, bridge replacements, new cart paths and a remodeled clubhouse. The course and clubhouse are expected to reopen in November 2026. Tim Stepien / The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

Even as it continued planning toward the construction of a new Town Hall, the South Palm Beach Town Council received sobering news from Town Manager Jamie Titcomb about another significant expenditure: the new wastewater lift station.

Titcomb told the council at its December meeting that the initial estimates for the lift station of about $1 million have increased considerably, and the new price tag figures to be in the $3 million to $4 million range.

Titcomb added that “we made some very important connections” at a legislative conference in Orlando prior to the council meeting and that he’s hopeful the town will secure a federal grant to cover most, if not all, of the lift station expense.

Whereas Titcomb said the timeline for the grant would likely be 12 to 18 months — and getting it may prove unsuccessful — Vice Mayor Monte Berendes expressed optimism it would be secured. He said he was part of a specific conversation Titcomb had with an unnamed official in Orlando.
“He was very positive we could get the money if it was under $5 million,” Berendes said. “I would like to recommend that we do go after it.”

Added Titcomb: “I think we got the sense from talking to our federal partners that there’s kind of a golden opportunity, timeline wise, to go get this in the hopper.

“Florida is a donor state to Washington; we only get 85 cents back on the dollar of what we send there. So, we’re certainly entitled to go after those kinds of resources.”

While Titcomb said he would expect the new lift station to last up to 50 years, he acknowledged the existing one will likely need repairs while the grant process plays out. One emergency repair on a pump in 2025 cost $54,000, and he said he was told by an engineer that a bypass valve needs to either be repaired or replaced soon.

“My biggest concern is that the projected costs are, in my opinion, three times what they’ve been projected over the last several years to rebuild or relocate this station. That’s a direct result of post-pandemic supply-side availability of construction materials and companies’ tariffs,” he said.

If the grant did not materialize, Titcomb said, the other option would be to pursue a bond through the League of Cities or another entity, such as “a very, very low-interest capital infrastructure dollar loan, or some other combination of assets we already have in place.”

The council unanimously approved a motion instructing Titcomb to pursue the grant.

Meanwhile, no representative from CPZ Architects attended the meeting, leaving it up to Titcomb to update the Town Hall timeline for the council. He said the firm expects to complete drawings for the new building by early January, at which time bids for the construction firm to oversee the project will be sought for a period of 30 to 45 days. He suggested the council anticipate a special meeting in late February to select a contractor.

Of course, elections involving four of the five seats on the council could make all that planning moot. Mayoral candidate Rafael Pineiro and council candidates Fran Attardi and Adrian Burcet are all running on the platform that they would prefer a retrofit of the current 50-year-old building over a new structure.

Both Titcomb and the current council insist that won’t work as state laws mandate the current structure be demolished if the cost of the project is more than half the value of the Town Hall’s current value. 

Correction: The print version of this story misspelled the name of one of the council candidates. The candidate is Adrian Burcet.

Utility also serves Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes

By Rich Pollack

Palm Beach County commissioners are waiting for a deep-dive look into Boynton Beach’s water utilities before moving forward on a possible purchase of the operation, a step that could potentially affect residents in three South County coastal communities.

The idea of Boynton Beach’s selling its utilities department to the county surfaced unexpectedly in October when City Manager Dan Dugger made the offer to county commissioners who appeared opposed to the city’s annexation of several communities west of its municipal boundaries.

The city, Dugger said, would be willing to drop its efforts to annex western communities if the county purchased the water utilities operation.

Those communities in the unincorporated area receive water from Boynton Beach Water Utilities, as do water customers in Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes, with Gulf Stream to be added.

Following a preliminary report in December, county commissioners gave staff the green light to take a harder and more thorough look at Boynton Beach’s water treatment operation. It will review finances and the future needs of the two water plants the city operates, as well as infrastructure.

That due diligence will take at least a year, staff told the commission, and could take as long as two years should the two governments get to a point where they’re ready to negotiate a deal that makes sense for both.

“They’re looking at everything,” said County Commissioner Marci Woodward, whose district includes the coastal communities that could be impacted by the change.

During the presentation to commissioners, Chief Deputy County Administrator Todd Bonlarron said a preliminary look at the water operation showed an operating budget of about $72 million and a capital budget of about $36 million.

The utility, he said, has about $53 million in debt, which expires in 2035.

Bonlarron pointed out specifically that the utility plans a 15% rate increase for the current fiscal year and an 8% to 11% increase over the next four years.

As part of the presentation, Bonlarron pointed out that the Boynton Beach utility has a $467,808 capital improvement plan that includes upgrades to the facilities.

The utility, according to county staff, has about 125,000 customers and about 150 employees.

Of those customers, 11,425 are outside of the city, including 3,158 in Ocean Ridge, according to the city. Briny Breezes has a master meter, which includes all users in the mobile home community.

Gulf Stream — which is currently served by Delray Beach — signed a 25-year agreement with Boynton Beach in late 2024 and will pay $2 million to have a new pipe laid to connect with its water system. That may not happen until October 2027.

Should Palm Beach County buy Boynton Beach’s water utilities department, it would also take on responsibility for maintenance of the distribution system including pipes, city officials said.

In examining the costs of water to residents from Boynton Beach and the county, staff looked at how much a customer using 5,000 gallons pays on a monthly basis.

Customers outside of Boynton Beach pay about $82 a month while those in the city pay about $66 for 5,000 gallons, according to county numbers.

Palm Beach County Water Utilities customers pay an average of $67.52 for single-family homes and $57.48 for multifamily units for 5,000 gallons, according to the county presentation.

Woodward said county staff believes the county might be able to offer a lower rate than what some Boynton Beach customers are paying now.

The commissioner said she believes the decision on whether the deal goes through will likely come down to how much the county is willing to spend on the system and if the purchase makes sense from the county’s viewpoint.

Woodward said she believes the city has a quality water utility operation, but she also praised the county’s operation.

“We have a great water utility department,” she said. “It pays for itself.”

Bonlarron said staff will come back to the County Commission after the financial review in a few months for guidance on whether to continue with the due diligence.

By John Pacenti

Scott Porten — a strong defender of the former nonprofit that ran Old School Square Center for the Arts — is facing 12 counts of child pornography after Dropbox reported his computer to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a police report.

The 63-year-old real estate developer from coastal Delray Beach was arrested Dec. 11 on 11 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of “obscene communication” involving transmitting child pornography, according to an affidavit by Delray Beach Police Detective Michael Liberta.

The national center forwarded the tip to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to Delray Beach police spokesman Ted White. The Broward Sheriff’s Office forwarded the information to Delray Beach police, who began their investigation Nov. 28, the affidavit said.

The original tip came from Dropbox, a popular cloud-based storage service for electronic files.

A Dropbox user with the screen name “Scott Porten” allegedly uploaded seven photos that depicted sexual abuse of children or unclothed children. Dropbox also reported emails associated with Porten with the account, including his business, Porten Companies.

A search warrant for the Dropbox account discovered the seven images. In addition, four other images apparently from the same series were located, as well as 500 images of AI-generated images of nude prepubescent children, Liberta said.

There were also 26 images advertising child pornography websites, 63 thumbnail images advertising child pornography, and two videos of anime that depicted the sexual performance of a child, according to the report.

Court records show Porten was taken to Palm Beach County Jail and released on $120,000 bond — $10,000 for each count — on Dec. 13. In a Dec. 19 filing, defense attorney Scott Skier said he is representing Porten.

A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “face sheet” says Porten was arrested at 1000 James L Turner Blvd. in West Palm Beach. However, no such address exists. But Palm Beach International Airport has a similar address: 1000 James L. Turnage Blvd.

Porten has a long track record of civic involvement in Delray Beach. He was profiled by The Coastal Star in 2012 after he assumed leadership of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce’s governmental affairs committee and was chair of the Old School Square nonprofit group.

Later, he was part of the pushback when the city demanded financial records from the nonprofit Old School Square Center for the Arts, which ran the Cornell Art Museum, the Crest Theatre, the Fieldhouse and the outdoor Pavilion. The long-term lease for the organization was terminated in August 2021.

“You decided without notice and took the nuclear option,” he told the City Commission at the time.

The city’s fight with the non-profit polarized residents and split political factions.

Today, the city shares running Old School Square with the Downtown Development Authority.

In the “Meet Your Neighbor” feature from 2012, Porten said, “Now that I am raising my children in Delray Beach, I realize the important role that the arts played in my development. This observation has been my focus in recent years and is the reason behind my involvement at Old School Square Cultural Arts Center.”

The story showed a photo of Porten with his wife and two children.