Medical staff members at Boca Raton Regional Hospital enjoy their sweet treats. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

On Sept. 9, through its “Giving Back Program,” Tire Kingdom Service Centers thanked medical staffers at Boca Raton Regional Hospital for their dedication and extra effort to combat COVID-19 by treating them to a little sweet relief from Kona Ice. Tire Kingdom also shared its “Essential Business Appreciation Offer” with the team to provide special discounts for front-line workers at all Tire Kingdom locations. 
“We had a lot of smiling faces under their masks waiting in line for Kona Ice and more smiles as they were enjoying every bite of it,” said Bina Wagjiani, director of the hospital’s office of patient experience.

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Marcus Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida and based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, has expanded its services, to Boynton Beach. The new location, at 2800 S. Seacrest Blvd., Suite 160, offers neurology and neurosurgery services.
At the Marcus Neuroscience Institute, which was established in 2015, experts address conditions from brain tumors to back pain, including movement disorders, seizures, strokes and aneurysms, memory disorders, migraines, spine conditions and diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. For information, call 561-955-4600 or visit BRRH.com/MNI.

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The Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital has expanded its cancer diagnosis and treatment services in Palm Beach County to a new location at Bethesda Health City, part of Bethesda Hospital East. The facility is located at 10301 Hagen Ranch Road, Boynton Beach. “We look forward to this partnership that will help us bring state-of-the-art comprehensive oncology care closer to our patients and community,” said Nelson Lazo, CEO of Bethesda Hospital East and Bethesda Hospital West.
For more information, call 561-955-6627 or visit www.brrh.com/Services/Lynn-Cancer-Institute.

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Baptist Health Medical Group North has named Marcella Gravalese, MBA-HSA, as vice president. She will lead the physician group’s development and operations and recruit new members to join the primary care and specialty physician practices.
With more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, she most recently served as assistant vice president of operations at HCA Physician Services Group, east Florida division. In 2017, she was one of six scholars selected for the Thomas C. Dolan Executive Diversity Program by the American College of Healthcare Executives, and more recently, she was recognized as a “Dynamic Influencer” by the International Association of Women.

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In August, Delray Medical Center began to use the CORI surgical system for knee replacement surgery. The CORI is a handheld robotics-assisted technology that helps the surgeon plan and perform the procedure. Patients regain function faster and return home sooner with this technology. They also can keep more of their natural bone and ligaments. The 3D digital model allows for a surgical plan to be customized to a patient's anatomy, and the surgeon is able to choose from the widest selection of implants available for precision matching.
For more information, visit www.delraymedicalctr.com/services/orthopedics, or call 561-498-4440.

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Delray Medical Center also announced that it now uses the RED 62 Reperfusion Catheter & Benchmark BMX96 for stroke patients.
“The RED 62 is engineered with some of the latest innovations in tracking and aspiration technology to address large vessel blockages from a stroke located in more challenging areas, while maximizing powerful aspiration to remove blood clots,” said neurointerventionalist Dr. Dennys Reyes.
“With the help of the Benchmark BMX96 access system, hypotube technology provides a higher stability for more complex cases when it comes to treatment of a stroke. In addition, when performing a procedure, the catheter is designed to increase versatility and visualization designed to help offer patients the best possible outcomes.”
For more information, call 561-498-4440 or go to www.delraymedicalctr.com/services/neurosciences.

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The Palm Beach Research Center is recruiting participants for a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine study, which might appeal to some still hesitant to get vaccinated. According to researchers, the tobacco plant is used to carry a protein that mimics COVID-19. Once introduced through the body, it would create an immune response.
“No chemicals, all natural, and it is an injection— you do not smoke it,” said lead researcher David Scott of the Palm Beach Research Center. “The nicotine is not part of this. Tobacco is an intelligent plant, with many uses.”
Kentucky BioProcessing, based in Owensboro, is growing tobacco plants for the COVID-19 vaccine. According to KentuckyBio Processing, other phases of the clinical trial show the plant-based vaccine is safe, and the company is further investigating its benefits with a yearlong study. Participants will be paid more than $3,000. For more information, call 561-689-0606.

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JFK Medical Center received three American Heart Association Achievement Awards through its participation in the “Get With the Guidelines” programs for implementing improvements that ensure cardiovascular patients receive efficient and coordinated care.
“We are pleased to recognize JFK Medical Center for their commitment to cardiovascular care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairman of the association’s quality oversight committee. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the American Heart Association’s quality improvement programs often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

***

BioFlorida, representing 6,700 establishments and research organizations in the bio-pharmaceutical, medical technology and bio-agriculture sectors that collectively employ 94,000 Floridians, has added five new board members. They are Thomas Equels of AIM ImmunoTech, Mark Friedman, Ph.D., of Axogen, Geoff Green of Longeveron, Adam Grossman of ADMA Biologics, and Joe Sardano of Sensus Healthcare.
“BioFlorida provides Florida’s life sciences industry with a venue to collaborate to address global health challenges,” said Rob Herzog, chairman of the BioFlorida board and vice president of research and operations at Advent Health. “I look forward to working with our new board members to continue to build Florida as a life sciences destination.” 

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

By Joyce Reingold

On Sept. 9, the Biden administration announced plans to require hospitals and health care facilities receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding to vaccinate their employees against the coronavirus.
“As the Delta variant continues to spread, we know the best defense against it lies with the COVID-19 vaccine,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator, said in a press release. “Data show that the higher the level of vaccination rates among providers and staff, the lower the infection rate is among patients who are dependent upon them for care. Now is the time to act.”
Several hospital systems in South Florida had already done just that. In August, Baptist Health South Florida, whose hospitals include Boca Raton Regional and Bethesda East and West, announced an Oct. 31 deadline for employees, medical staff and volunteers to be immunized.
By early September, Dr. Samer Fahmy, vice president and chief medical officer of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, said approximately 70% of Baptist Health South Florida employees had been vaccinated, “regardless of any policies that were put in place.”
“So that was encouraging, and we’ve seen more and more folks step up and get vaccinated over the last couple of weeks now that they know that it will be required to continue working within the Baptist Health system,” said Fahmy, who has helped lead the pandemic response for Boca Raton Regional and Baptist Health South Florida.
Also prior to President Joe Biden’s announcement, some hospital systems said they would recommend but not require vaccinations. Tenet’s Palm Beach Health Network, which includes the Delray and West Boca medical centers, said in a statement, “We are strongly encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations for all of our employees. We have implemented vaccine education, a vaccine referral program and are offering on-site vaccine clinics.”
In May, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said employers may require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but must make reasonable accommodations for employees who don’t get vaccinated because of a disability or a “sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance.”
Baptist Health is allowing religious and medical exemptions and has committees to review employee requests. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a medical exemption would apply to people “at risk for an adverse reaction because of an allergy to one of the vaccine components or a medical condition.”
Still, vaccine mandates have already been the subject of legal challenges and more will surely follow. In June, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Jennifer Bridges and 116 other Houston Methodist Hospital employees challenging the organization’s vaccine requirement.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes said, “Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus. It is a choice made to keep staff, patients, and their families safer. Bridges can freely choose to accept or refuse a COVID-19 vaccine; however, if she refuses, she will simply need to work somewhere else.”
In August, the Houston Chronicle reported that 62 former employees had sued the hospital, claiming wrongful termination. The suit was still pending in mid-September.
Fahmy acknowledges staff losses are a possibility, of course, but he’s cautiously optimistic.
“Is there the potential that the end of October rolls around and there are some unvaccinated employees that may be subject to termination from Baptist Health? Yes. That’s how serious we are about our vaccination efforts. You need to get vaccinated against COVID-19, not just for your own safety, but for the safety of the patients that you care for within our facilities. …
“Our hope is that it doesn’t have to come to that and that we can convince the folks that are eligible to receive vaccines to get them. But if it did come to that, there are plans in place for contingency staffing, if needed,” he said.

ER doctor calls mandates essential
Dr. Bill Benda, an emergency room physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at Florida Atlantic University, said in September he was surprised by the number of hospital workers who hadn’t been vaccinated — “I can’t give you anything exact. I’m going to guess a third or possibly less, including emergency department staff” — and believes the mandates are essential.
“Biden’s doing what has to be done. The military has to have it. Federal workers have to have it. These hospital systems are saying their employees have to have it,” says Benda, who lives in the County Pocket near Briny Breezes. “We tried conversation, we tried reasoning, and either people’s assumptions or their politics are getting in the way. And it’s not acceptable anymore. It’s not a big sacrifice.
“My father was a farmer’s son. And in the ’40s he enlisted in the Army to go to a country halfway across the world to protect people that he had no clue who they were. And fight an evil that wasn’t a direct threat to him. And not only did he do it, but rock stars like Elvis Presley did it. Movie stars — Jimmy Stewart — did it. Athletes — Joe DiMaggio — did it. And they did it because it was the right thing to do.
“People need to get off their collective asses and do the right thing … because the risk they are running is nowhere near what my dad faced. He did it because it was the right thing to do it. I don’t know how we lost that directive.”

Joyce Reingold writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to joyce.reingold@yahoo.com.

The Rev. Dennis Gonzales celebrates a Mass for health care professionals in November at St. Ann Catholic Church in West Palm Beach. Gonzales, who has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, took over as pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach in September. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

First and foremost, Father Dennis Gonzales is a healer.
Bishop Gerald Michael Barbarito handpicked Gonzales as the pastoral administrator for St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach to replace retired Monsignor Tom Skindeleski. He took the reins on Sept. 1.
Raised in a Catholic family in the Philippines, Gonzales, 48, dreamed of the priesthood, but he knew a nursing degree could provide him and his family with financial security. So instead of entering the seminary, he earned a bachelor’s in nursing from Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.
After graduation, a hospital in Washington, D.C., sponsored him, and his childhood dream of coming to the United States came true. Sending money home to help educate his younger siblings and support his parents fulfilled another important goal.
Still, the priesthood was never far from his thoughts.
Health care and spiritual care have always coexisted in Gonzales’ mind, especially as he cared for dying patients. He completed an internship program in clinical pastoral education at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, ministering to terminally ill patients who were participating in clinical trials.
While in Washington, Gonzales earned a scholarship to pursue his master’s degree in theology at the Washington Theological Union. When he completed the program, he was ready to fully commit to the priesthood and began looking for a seminary.
After visiting a friend in South Florida, Gonzales was ready to abandon snow for sand. He earned a master of divinity at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach and was ordained in 2013 by Barbarito at the Cathedral of Saint Ignatius Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens.
Since his ordination, Gonzales has served at St. Helen in Vero Beach and St. Ann in West Palm Beach. He has also served as a hospital chaplain, lending support to hospice clients and their families, as well as the health care staff.
As the coronavirus pandemic raged in the fall of 2020, Gonzales celebrated the fourth annual White Mass at St. Ann on Nov. 14, where health care professionals renewed their physician and professional health care promises to God and to adhere to the Catholic faith in the practice of medicine.
He said then, “Love God — the greatest commandment — and then love your neighbor as you love yourself. Loving yourself is part of the equation. My friends, taking care of ourselves does not mean that we neglect the needs of others until our own needs are satisfied. It means we have to be aware of nurturing sound and healthy attributes to ourselves.
“There is a saying that goes, ‘You cannot give what you do not have.’ So, if we don’t have strength, our energy quickly dries up.”
Gonzales believes that the callings to nursing and the ministry overlap. “In his ministry, Jesus was always caring for and healing the sick, touching the outcast and untouchable. He healed them not only physically, but also emotionally, spiritually and socially,” Gonzales said in an interview with Global Pinoy Nursing in 2018.
Gonzales is humbled that Barbarito chose him to lead St. Vincent, and says, “I’m so thankful to Monsignor Tom that I inherited a parish on sound footing, with a strong staff and a great school.”
Gonzales’ goal at the church and in the community “is to have a healing conversation, to stop the division in our society, and to look for the positive. We need to talk about our differences and not let issues further divide us.”
The former registered nurse calls the fighting over vaccinations and masks “sad,” but he believes confronting people isn’t the answer either. As a man of medicine, he is ready to talk. “I never imagined vaccinations would be a thorny issue. But I see myself as a community builder, a unifier. I would tell people to reflect on what is good for their family and for the community.”
After that, it’s up to them.

St Vincent Ferrer is at 840 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach. 561-276-6892; https://stvincentferrer.com.

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.

Volunteers crowd the finish line at CROS Ministries’ 2019 Hustle to End Hunger 5K in John Prince Park. This year’s race, Oct. 2, has live and virtual options. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

CROS Ministries’ annual Hustle to End Hunger 5K on Oct. 2 at John Prince Park in Lake Worth Beach will raise money and awareness about the shortages at local food banks.
The run/walk has live and virtual options — with registration at https://runsignup.com/Race/FL/LakeWorth/Hustle2EndHunger5K. But the mission to help hungry people doesn’t end when the race is over.
First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach participates in the race each year, then continues to collect nonperishable food for CROS Ministries’ pantries throughout the month.
All gifts of canned or boxed, unopened, unexpired, nonperishable food can help. You can leave your donation in the lobby on Sunday mornings or on the cart outside the sanctuary doors by the covered circle during the workweek at 33 Gleason St., Delray Beach.
For other ways to help, visit www.crosministries.org.

Drive-thru blessings for animals on Oct. 3
St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church’s annual Blessing of the Animals drive-thru event returns from 4 to 5 p.m. Oct. 3 on the church campus at 3300A S. Seacrest Blvd., Boynton Beach. Pets will again be blessed by one of the priests through car windows. Call 561-732-3060.

Pumpkin fun on tap at Delray Beach church
Pumpkins are set to arrive at Cason United Methodist Church, 342 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, in mid-October. The Pumpkin Patch opens at 9 a.m. Oct. 15 and continues through the end of the month. A trunk-or-treat event takes place Oct. 30. Call 561-276-5302 for more information.

Clothing donations needed for shower truck clients
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Interfaith Committee for Social Services has partnered with the Delray Beach Police Department to keep its shower truck operations available to homeless people.
A major aspect is the distribution of clean clothing to participants. The shower truck is desperately in need of men’s shorts and jeans in sizes 32-34.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, is assisting with the collection of clothing. Contact Caren Kilpatrick, parish administrator, at 561-319-7947.

Send religion news to Janis Fontaine at fontaine423@outlook.com.

Rabbi Leibel Stolik from Chabad of South Palm Beach performs the Tashlich ceremony, which traditionally takes place on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

The rabbi reads from the Torah with some of his family and members of the Chabad during the ceremony. Jews symbolically cast off the sins of the previous year by tossing pebbles or bread crumbs into flowing water. This group began walking at the Lantana Nature Preserve and ended at Lake Worth Cultural Plaza while making several stops along the way. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Jewish law states that the shofar be blown 30 times on each day of Rosh Hashanah, and by custom it is blown 100 or 101 times each day.

By Janis Fontaine

When you encourage a child, Willie “James” McCray of Delray Beach believes, it’s like the ripples a pebble sends across a pond — they touch things you didn’t expect.
McCray has been sharing his love and his talent for the game of chess with kids in the West Settlers District, a historically Black area of Delray Beach, for more than two years. James Chess Club meets weekly at Delray’s Spady Museum, where McCray teaches kids to play the complicated strategy game.
McCray, 71, also holds chess tournaments with cash prizes every couple of months. The last tournament took place Sept. 3 in Libby Wesley Park. The next one will take place Nov. 28, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, possibly at Old School Square. Stay tuned, McCray says.
Chess presents many important principles, one of which is “You have to learn to lose to win,” McCray explains.
“It’s a brain game, a thinking game,” he says. “It’s about the choices you make and that you can’t blame anyone else. It also teaches life skills like patience, and it encourages the kids to think on their own.”
As kids practice and compete, they hear words like “options, obstacles and opportunities” and “choice, consequences and responsibility.” These are the lessons of chess, McCray says.
He learned them the hard way, on the streets, before he discovered the board game in his 20s. He hopes that learning chess will help kids avoid the pitfalls he had to overcome.
Each chess piece has its own strengths and weaknesses, just like people. “I like the knight,” McCray says. “You can always go back where you came from.”
But the pawn is perhaps the most inspiring piece to him.
“In life’s struggles, you don’t have to be the king to be something. Look at the pawn.”
The pawn, if it makes it all the way across the board, can become any piece it wants. “And you get eight chances!” McCray laughs.
The message: “You can be as successful as you want to be, but it takes sacrifice.”
Teaching chess to kids — one-on-one instruction can cost as much as $140 an hour with a player of McCray’s caliber — “is a gift that I can give,” he says.
James Chess Club meets from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, 170 NW Fifth Ave. There is no cost. Call or text McCray for more information at 561-352-7145.

Fuller Center taking applications for mentors
Mentors are needed at the Fuller Center, a not-for-profit, education-focused organization based in Boca Raton.
The center is looking for mentors to help teenagers and children. Mentors focus on developing positive relationships and assisting with homework. They work after school for at least one hour weekly at one of the two Fuller Center locations in Boca Raton.
Applications from adults and teens 16 and older are being accepted. Mentors must pass background screening and commit to mentoring a minimum of once a week for one year. Training is provided.
Ellyn Okrent, CEO of the Fuller Center, said in an email, “We believe it’s critical that we come together to help one another, particularly as our students begin a new school year, after going through such a challenging time.”
The center will also launch the Promise Program in October with 16 participants ages 16-22 who need access to a positive, caring relationship with a non-parental adult mentor or coach. The participants will also learn leadership skills and get work experience.
If you can’t volunteer, you can “Adopt a Class” with a $1,500 contribution that will fund a classroom for the entire school year.
The East Campus is at 200 NE 14th St. The West Campus is at 10130 185th St. South.
For more information, contact Olga Bearhope at obearhope@ffcdc.org or at 561-391-7274, ext. 136.

BOYNTON PARK TO GET NEW RAMPS: Boat launch ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park will close in the spring, probably in April and May, so they can be rebuilt. Photos by Willie Howard/The Coastal Star  

By Willie Howard

Boca Raton’s Silver Palm Park and its boat ramp closed on Sept. 7 as work began to transform the 3.7-acre park with new amenities.
The closure is expected to continue for about six months. New boat ramp permits will not be issued until the park reopens once construction is complete.
The adjacent 2.3-acre Wildflower Park closed in January, also for construction work.
When the multimillion-dollar Wildflower/Silver Palm Park project is completed, the parks will be connected and will include promenades, a pavilion, event lawn, enhanced landscaping, a third boat ramp and public art.

In Boynton Beach, popular boat-launching ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park will close for two months in the spring so the aging ramps can be rebuilt.
The four launch ramps have been damaged over the years — partly because boat propeller thrust, created when boaters use their engines to push vessels onto trailers, has undermined the base that supports the ramps.
Gary Dunmyer, interim director of public works and engineering for Boynton Beach, has heard complaints from boaters about crumbling concrete on the launch ramps, which he said have reached the end of their useful life.
The Florida Inland Navigation District will pay the $1.2 million cost of rebuilding the ramps, which means taxpayers from 12 Florida counties bordering the Atlantic Ocean will share in the cost of the work.
Closing the Oyer Park boat ramps for construction is expected to happen during April and May, though the schedule could change based on the availability and arrival time of materials needed for the job.
The contractor, which had not been selected as of early September, must have the materials on site before work can begin, Dunmyer said. The goal is to minimize the number of days boaters will have to go elsewhere to launch and retrieve their boats while the Oyer Park ramps are renovated.
Dunmyer said the contract stipulates that the ramp rebuilding must be completed within 60 days after work begins.
Updates on the project can be found at www.Boynton-Beach.org/newsletter.
Alternative boat ramps in the Boca Raton/Boynton Beach area include Knowles Park at 1001 S. Federal Highway in Delray Beach; Mangrove Park at 1211 S. Federal Highway in Delray Beach; Sportsman’s Park at 320 E. Ocean Ave. in Lantana; Bryant Park on Golfview Road at Second Avenue South in Lake Worth Beach, and to the south, Pioneer Park at 217 NE Fifth Ave. in Deerfield Beach.
Prices for next year’s annual parking passes at Oyer Park — required for the extra-long truck/trailer spaces — have been adjusted to reflect the two-month construction closure. The annual pass price will be $165 for Florida residents and $290 for out-of-state residents.
Separately, Palm Beach County, working with the city of Boynton Beach, plans to dredge the channel leading from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Oyer Park boat ramps.
Dredging should make the channel 3 to 4 feet deeper and will be done in conjunction with the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway and the sand trap inside Boynton Inlet, said Andy Studt, environmental program supervisor with Palm Beach County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.
The dredging work is expected to begin in February or March, depending on the time required to obtain permits.

Bobber’s Under wins top prize in Gerretson
Ryan Lucas and his teammates on Bobber’s Under won the prize for heaviest fish in the 26th annual Mark Gerretson Memorial tournament with a 22.6-pound kingfish.
The Bobber’s Under team won $1,600 for the kingfish, which it caught in somewhat sloppy seas Aug. 28.
Josh Obem and his team on The Boat King won the kingfish division and a $1,000 prize with a 17.8-pound kingfish.
Marc Herman and his team on Uranus weighed the heaviest dolphinfish (mahi mahi) at 8.6 pounds to win $1,000.
Mia Scalo won the mystery fish category (and top female angler) with a 0.8-pound yellowtail snapper.
Sixteen boats participated. The event was postponed by two weeks because of unstable weather during the second week of August.
No wahoo were weighed in this year’s tournament, and none of the fishing teams delivered a trifecta — kingfish, dolphin and wahoo — meaning the trifecta prize increases to $4,000 for next year’s tournament.
Named for its late founder, the Gerretson tournament is run by volunteers and is a nonprofit organization that benefits youth causes in Delray Beach.

LEFT: Marc Herman prepares to weigh an 8.6-pound dolphinfish at Palm Beach Yacht Center. It was the largest dolphin caught in the 26th annual Mark Gerretson Memorial tournament, held Aug. 28.

Fort Lauderdale boat show starts Oct. 27
The 62nd annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is set for Oct. 27-31 based at Bahia Mar Yachting Center, 801 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
General admission tickets cost $37 for adults and $15 for ages 6-15. The show managers with Informa note that 80% of the show will be outdoors and that health safety protocols will be in place.
Show hours are 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. except on opening day (Oct. 27), when the hours are noon to 5 p.m. The show closes at 6 p.m. Oct. 31.
Details and tickets can be found at www.flibs.com.

Mary Hladky contributed to this column.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Email tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

Allison and Luke Van Natta photograph their 8-month-old daughter, Elizabeth, while a limestone boulder is deployed to the reef. The Van Nattas were in town from Wisconsin, visiting family members in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The snorkeling area just off the beach at Red Reef Park was expanded in September with the placement of 15 limestone modules, which were added to six artificial reef structures already in place at the south end of the 40-acre oceanfront park. The reef should attract fish such as sergeant majors, parrotfish, bar jacks and pinfish.

Currently arranged as a residence/medical office, this recently constructed home features a 12-car garage that’s big enough for a serious automobile collector. 

Would you like to turn your dream of "live, work, play" into your next real estate purchase? This concrete residence/office of 10,248 total square feet is the ultimate in work-at-home synergy. Use it as all home or office or both, or make it your own private getaway. Where else locally can you park your car collection in your own protected 12-car garage with charging stations, on the ground floor of your own home? This structure at 226 Palm Court in Delray Beach’s Del Ida Park Historic District is a fresh, contemporary art deco building design, zoned RO. The residence has volume ceilings with wrap-around floor-to-ceiling glass, four bedrooms, four full and three half baths, den, laundry, a private executive office with steam shower and full bath, a reception area and a complete one-bedroom apartment. The exterior allows for large free-standing signage on a highly visible corner. An open balcony is on the second floor, and the third-floor rooftop terrace has plenty of open space for you to add a lap pool, spa, putting green or outdoor kitchen.
The commercial aspects of the property include 14 parking spaces, all impact glass, a commercial elevator, a 130-kilowatt generator, a natural gas generator and security cameras. The three-phase electric post-tension construction creates large open space with few interior columns and high ceilings for the ultimate in loft living.
Offered at $5,950,000. Joyce Schneider, Castles by the Beach Realty, 561-392-8770 (office), 561-212-4403 (cell). 889 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33432. joyces1919@aol.com

The home features an open chef’s kitchen with dining area and plenty of natural light. It has a natural gas stove and stainless steel appliances.

A rooftop terrace for relaxing or entertaining is accessible from an outdoor spiral staircase.

The office portion of the home has 10 private offices/rooms and a large reception area.

Each month, The Coastal Star features a house for sale in our community. The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers with a peek inside one of our houses.

By Steve Plunkett

Appeals judges have denied a request from Boca Raton to review a ruling that the City Council must hold another vote -— minus two prejudiced members -— on whether to allow a duplex to be built on the beach.

The three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal on Aug. 18 also denied the city's request to hear oral arguments in the case.

The dispute centers on a Feb. 26, 2019, council decision not to allow construction of 2600 N Ocean LLC's proposed four-story, 14,270-square-foot residence east of A1A between Spanish River Park and Ocean Strand.

In a Sept. 16, 2020, ruling, Circuit Judges Jaimie Goodman, Janis Keyser and G. Joseph Curley said emails to residents from council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte — saying they had “no intention of granting [the application]” and “[would] do all I can to prevent this from happening” — showed they were not impartial.

“This was more than mere political bias or an adverse political philosophy — it was express prejudgment of Petitioner’s application,” the circuit judges said.

Their ruling said the landowner “is entitled to a new hearing without the participation” of Mayotte and O’Rourke, who has since become deputy mayor. That would leave Mayor Scott Singer and council members Yvette Drucker and Andy Thomson to rehear the application.

The city appealed the circuit judges' decision to the 4th DCA on Nov. 18 and 20, 2020.

Each side of the proposed duplex's roof would have a pool, spa, fire pit and outdoor kitchen. The building would have special glass facing the ocean that would transmit only 10 percent of interior light, below the city’s request for 15 percent, and have only 8 percent reflectivity.

Lighting is a concern for nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings.

By Steve Plunkett

After almost 17 months of coronavirus seclusion, Gumbo Limbo's indoor nature center and gift shop, aquariums and sea turtle rehabilitation facility are open again to the public.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 4 p.m. Monday.

The popular destination's outdoor nature trails are open every day from 7 a.m. to sunset, though restrooms are not available when the nature center is closed.

City officials closed the center in mid-March 2020 in response to the COVID threat. Workers continued to rehabilitate injured or sick sea turtles and maintain sea creatures in the aquariums, just without public participation.

The not-for-profit Friends of Gumbo Limbo, which operates the gift shop and collects the suggested $5 donation for entrance, said last winter that it was $900,000 short in contributions and sales.

In normal times the nature center hosts more than 200,000 visitors a year.

A1A is lined with condos in Boca Raton, where 77% of barrier island condos are 40 years or older. While the City Council considers a measure to inspect buildings taller than three stories 30 years after construction, the League of Cities is pursuing an even more rigorous standard. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Related story: Plan targets buildings 25 or older for inspections, regardless of height

Residents bear rising costs of upkeep to live by water

By Joel Engelhardt

The average age of more than 300 condominiums dotting the oceanfront and Intracoastal Waterway along the barrier island from South Palm Beach to Boca Raton is 44 years, a Coastal Star analysis of property records shows.
That’s four years older than Champlain Towers South, the 12-story Surfside condo building that collapsed on June 24.
In the three towns with the most high-rises — South Palm Beach, Highland Beach and Boca Raton — the average building age is 42 and the average height is seven floors, the analysis showed.
In Delray Beach, Manalapan, Boynton Beach, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge, the average age rises to 47 and the average height drops to three stories.
The 19-mile strip of richly landscaped estates and glossy high-rise condos is ground zero in Palm Beach County for the newfound focus on inspections and repairs born of the collapse in Surfside, which killed 98 people.
Nearly two-thirds of the 348 condos reviewed by The Coastal Star were built in the 1970s or before.
North Palm Beach structural engineer Don Chalaire said that most are supported by concrete columns that initially resist water, a seal that eventually gives way, allowing water and air to rust the critical rebar supports within.
“Every building we look at we see spalling damages that need to be repaired,” Chalaire said.
Local governments initially indicated they were preparing to require inspections for “threshold buildings,” those defined in Florida law as greater than three stories or 50 feet tall.
Such buildings make up nearly half of the buildings analyzed by The Coastal Star.
In all the communities, 58 buildings, or 17%, are east of State Road A1A on the ocean, aged 40 or older and more than three stories tall. Boca Raton has the most of those buildings, with 18, followed by Highland Beach with 16 and South Palm Beach with 11.
Experts say older coastal buildings close to the water, particularly those that don’t routinely conduct repairs, are most at risk.
But age alone is not a deciding factor, said Ben Messerschmidt, a forensic engineer at Epic Forensics & Engineering in West Palm Beach.
“It’s how well you maintain that 40-year-old building,” he said.
Overall, about a third of the barrier island condos are east of A1A, with the most in Highland Beach, 34, Boca Raton, 27, and Ocean Ridge, 19.
Local condo leaders, sporting hard-earned expertise in the nuances of concrete repair, say they are well aware of their responsibilities to assure routine maintenance, although they acknowledge it can take years to go from inspections to a completed restoration project.
One hurdle they all face: persuading condo owners to pay the bill.
“It’s the price you pay for living on the beach,” said Vito Licata, a past president at Highland Towers in Highland Beach.
The key is to keep up with degrading conditions, said Chalaire, who has worked in the area.
“If you do small projects more often, you’ll never have the big projects. What the condos are afraid of is the big projects,” he said. “But the costs are not optional. You have to do them.
“A lot of the boards don’t fix their buildings. It’s like being told they have cancer and passing on the surgery.”

The pitfalls of selling

At Wiltshire House in Highland Beach, a seven-story oceanfront condo facing a $2.5 million repair bill, some owners sought out a developer who would knock down the structure and rebuild. But they couldn’t find a willing buyer because the site would be limited to four stories under the town’s height cap, board President Becky Schmaus said.
And even then, they didn’t have the unanimous or near-unanimous support it would take to sell out.
The Wiltshire’s $2.5 million estimate — to replace windows and sliding glass doors, waterproof and paint the 25-unit condo — came before the coronavirus pandemic and now is likely to go up. But even at $2.5 million it amounts to $100,000 per unit.
Despite the potential expense, five units sold between May 2019 and June 2021 for prices ranging from $325,000 to $749,000, property records reveal.
Although the building is listed in property records as having been erected in 1974, it actually rose as a hotel in the 1950s, Schmaus said, and was converted to condominiums in the 1970s.
Recent buyers knew about the coming assessment and, like many longtime owners, didn’t want to sell, Schmaus said.
“There are so many homeowners that would never vote” for selling, she said. “We’re willing to pay the assessment to keep it safe and to keep it going. The view we have, you don’t get that with all the new” condo buildings.

Repairs ‘never-ending’

Of the 97 buildings completed before 1970 along the 19-mile stretch of barrier island, 12 are eight stories or above: five in Boca Raton, five in Delray Beach and one each in Highland Beach and South Palm Beach.
Among the tallest, the 17-story Sabal Ridge at 750 S. Ocean Blvd. in Boca Raton, underwent $10 million in restoration work between 2016 and 2018, property manager Devin Wardell said.
Workers removed the garage ceiling, where water had been penetrating, and installed all new steel and concrete, Wardell said.
But the garage, although beneath the tower, isn’t the key structure holding up the 53-year-old building. The board restored foundational concrete columns in 2013, Wardell said, and is working with engineers now to rebuild balconies.
“It’s never-ending when you live on the ocean,” he said.

A major project completed

A January message on the Facebook page for Penthouse Towers, built in 1970, said, “It was a rough day today. No power, and concrete work still continuing.”
But the rough days were scheduled to be over by the end of July as the 11-story building on the ocean in Highland Beach completed a 21/2-year project, with new windows and restoration of all the concrete walkways and balconies, board President Skip Mongon said.
“We basically plan on concrete restoration every five years,” Mongon said. The board tested a small area five years ago and was impressed by the results. The cost is in the millions but owners are willing to pay.
“Any time you live on the water, it’s a big job,” he said.

How to spot weaknesses

For signs of trouble, look for gutters installed in garages to ferry dripping water away from cars or makeshift efforts to shore up weak spots, forensic engineer Messerschmidt said.
Large cracks in concrete can indicate spalling, when rebar within corrodes and expands so much it fractures the column.
Insurers are required to appraise a property to make sure policies cover replacement costs, but they can also exercise influence by jacking up rates on buildings with aging roofs or insufficient windows, compelling condo boards to make improvements, said Allison Hertz, a lawyer with Kaye Bender Rembaum who works with condos.
“It’s difficult to be a board member. The opposition to assessments is huge but they know they’ve got to do the right thing,” Hertz said. “The vast majority do it and they do it well.”

Condos line State Road A1A in South Palm Beach, where the median age of the buildings is 47 years. One resident says ‘pretty much every building ... has been under scaffolding in the last few years,’ a sign of ongoing maintenance. The condo collapse in Surfside has put a bigger focus on inspections and construction safety. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Confidence in South PaIm

Matthew Horey, a petroleum engineer who lives at the Imperial House in South Palm Beach, isn’t concerned that the six-story condo is 60 years old.
Aside from the unlikely chance of a second major building collapse, he points to high-quality construction in the ’60s, “when people still cared about their work,” and to the building’s supports on “a forest of concrete piles.”
Since part of the building’s seawall collapsed in 2007 and high waves in 2009 threatened the building’s foundation, forcing an evacuation, he said the condo board set up a continuous maintenance program, including concrete repair.
“Living on the beach carries a cost,” he said. “The salt and water eat away at the concrete and steel.”
Neighboring condos get it, Horey said.
“Pretty much every building in South Palm Beach has been under scaffolding in the last few years. I’m glad to see people investing in maintenance.”

Inside the numbers

The Coastal Star focused its review on condos and co-ops on the barrier island, excluding townhomes, hotels and other commercial properties.
Completion dates, building names, addresses and in some cases building heights were pulled from Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office records, compared when possible with town records, Google images and property and real estate websites.
Highland Beach has the most buildings with eight stories or more, at 40, with just 13 of them directly on the ocean. Boca Raton has 36 buildings topping seven stories, with 17 of them on the ocean. South Palm Beach has nine, seven of them on the ocean.
Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and Boynton Beach have no buildings topping seven stories and Gulf Stream has just one.
Just one in 10 of the condos along the barrier island went up after 1992, when Hurricane Andrew’s destructive path led to toughening of Florida’s building code.
Two-thirds of those 39 post-1992 buildings were over three stories and 10 were taller than seven.
The condo stock is oldest in Ocean Ridge, with a median age — at which half are older and half are younger — of 52 years among its 33 condos.
Buildings are newest in Highland Beach, where the median age is 40 and the median height is seven floors. That height is matched only by those in South Palm Beach (median age 47) and Boca Raton (median age 46).
Boca has the tallest towers, led by the 22-story twins called Ocean Towers I and II at 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., and Chalfonte North and South, at 500 and 550 S. Ocean Blvd.
Also topping 20 stories in Boca: Stratford Arms at 2600 S. Ocean Blvd., and Marbella at 250 S. Ocean Blvd. All six buildings were completed between 1973 and 1975, property records show.
The tallest building in Boca, the 27-story Boca Raton Club Tower built in 1969, is on the mainland.
All but four of the 28 condos in South Palm Beach are threshold buildings, taller than three stories. Only one, the seven-story 3550 South Ocean building completed in 2019, has been built since 1995.

Oldest condos date to 1939

Delray Beach’s barrier island condos have the second-highest median age at 51 and include the two oldest buildings: The Bahama House at 72 S. Ocean Blvd. and Coral Cove at 88 S. Ocean Blvd. The two-story buildings both date to 1939, property records say. The city’s barrier island also has among the fewest high-rises in the area. Its tallest buildings, the twin Seagate Towers, are 13 stories. Nearly 90% of the city’s 93 barrier island condos are below eight stories.
Just nine of Gulf Stream’s 23 barrier island condos are over three stories, with the tallest at eight floors. Half of the condos were built before 1974 and half after, with the newest, the two-story Villas at 4001 North Ocean, built in 2014.

Mary Kate Leming, Jerry Lower, Joe Capozzi, Rick Pollack, Mary Hladky, Michelle Quigley and Kathleen Bell contributed to this story.

By Joel Engelhardt

A proposal to have the vast majority of older condos, apartment buildings, hotels and office buildings inspected in Palm Beach County is emerging from a coalition of cities studying the issue.
The group is taking aim at buildings — without regard to height — that are 25 years or older east of Interstate 95 and 35 years or older west of the highway, a draft proposal obtained by The Coastal Star revealed.
That standard is more rigorous than the 40-year reinspection rule in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Like the Broward approach, it would exclude one- and two-family dwelling units and most government buildings, including schools. While early discussions centered on so-called “threshold” buildings, which are greater than three stories tall, the draft proposal makes no reference to height. 
The draft, by a coalition under the county’s League of Cities, came in response to the June 24 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside. Despite a 2018 report outlining structural issues, the 40-year-old, 13-story Surfside condo had not addressed the issues before it collapsed in the middle of the night, killing 98 people.
More than 90% of the 348 condos along the barrier island from South Palm Beach to Boca Raton are 25 years or older, a Coastal Star analysis found. About half of those are four stories or taller.
Delray Beach has the most condos 25 or older, with 88, followed by Boca Raton, 73, and Highland Beach, 71. 
Ocean Ridge has 31, South Palm Beach has 27 and Gulf Stream 19, the analysis of county property records revealed. It also showed five in Manalapan and three on the barrier island in Boynton Beach.

Boca Raton to be first

Building officials from the county and its 39 municipalities are participating in the drafting of the rules, which are not binding on any city. While the building officials agree on several key factors, League of Cities President Kim Glas-Castro said July 28 at a membership meeting that the final decision “is ultimately up to you, the elected officials in each of our cities.”
Boca Raton is moving forward with rules of its own, proposing a review of threshold buildings after 30 years and every 10 years thereafter. A threshold building is defined in state law as greater than three stories or 50 feet tall, with other definitions applying to buildings that offer large gathering spaces, such as churches and bus stations.
City Council members plan to vote on the rules Aug. 24, which would make Boca the first city in Palm Beach County to pass such an ordinance. 
However, the city is not opposed to tweaking its rules after seeing the league’s effort, Mayor Scott Singer said. “We will work together to harmonize and not have conflicting or confusing regulations,” he said. “The goal is safety and it is a shared goal.”
The league’s draft, which is about a month from completion and is modeled on Broward County’s rules, also calls for buildings to be reinspected every 10 years after the initial review.
The draft calls for buildings 25 or older to seek inspections according to a staggered schedule based on building size to avoid creating too much demand at one time for engineers.
Highland Beach, where more than half its 83 condos are 40 years or older and 60% rise above three stories, also is pursuing its own rules, with inspections of threshold buildings at 25 years and as often as every seven years thereafter. The rules could be in place by September. 
“The overwhelming position is, this needs to be a unified process,” town building official Jeff Rems told the Town Commission at a July 13 meeting. “We also realize we all have to customize it for where we live.”
Although county commissioners discussed countywide rules at a July 13 meeting, the county can only make rules to govern areas outside of city boundaries. That could lead to different rules in various cities and at the county level.  
County Vice Mayor Robert Weinroth, a former Boca Raton council member who now represents all of South County’s barrier island towns, initially urged cities to proceed in unison and suggested a 2022 countywide referendum to approve a single set of rules to apply to all.  
“I don’t think we need to deal with this like the next building is going to fall down next week,” he told county commissioners July 13. “God help us, I hope not.”
But, he said July 27, while he expects state action to outweigh local approaches, he had reconsidered his insistence on uniformity after speaking to city officials. 
“I don’t want to jam down the throats of any of our cities something put together at the county level,” he told The Coastal Star. 
Still, he would be concerned if too many cities make their own rules. “I wish that wouldn’t happen,” he said. “That would be confusing.”
His concerns are echoed by Michelle DePotter, chief executive of the Florida East Coast Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America.
“We would support consistency from jurisdiction to jurisdiction,” she wrote in an email to The Coastal Star. “At a minimum, we may be supportive of something countywide. However, our desire would be something statewide.”

Who’s going to pay?

While Highland Beach is looking at some combination of the League of Cities standard and its own rules, the town wrote to condo presidents and building managers July 20 to let them know that they would soon impose a reinspection standard.
Town officials are working to determine which buildings have undergone structural inspections and when those inspections took place.
Highland Beach officials talked about helping with financing, while South Palm Beach officials talked about providing money to help condos foot inspection costs.
“There are creative ways to finance these things,” Highland Beach Mayor Doug Hillman told commissioners on July 13, citing a friend who works in finance.
South Palm Beach council member Mark Weissman suggested the town consider grants to condo boards in need. While he told The Coastal Star he agrees that condo owners should be responsible for covering the inspections, he said the town should still consider at least helping with the costs.
“They should pay for it themselves, but I don’t want a tragedy in our town either,” he said.
South Palm Mayor Bonnie Fischer also called for inspection of seawalls.
Fischer lives in the Imperial House, where pounding surf whipped by Tropical Storm Noel led to the collapse of the building’s seawall in 2007. At the time, many residents didn’t know that the condo was built in 1961 on pilings, which she said saved the building from collapsing into the sea.
“That’s a real Achilles’ heel in this town because we have no access to the beach and there’s no way for anybody to even address or repair the seawalls,” she said.

Details of Boca’s plan

In Boca, inspections must be conducted by both a structural and an electrical engineer. Owners would be given 180 days to complete the repairs, although they would have to be done sooner if the inspection identifies serious problems. 
The city’s chief building official, Michael DiNorscio, will send a “notice of required inspection” to the owners of each building requiring certification at least one year before the recertification deadline.
Owners are responsible for hiring the engineers to inspect and prepare reports which will be submitted to the city. If city officials find problems with the reports, owners will have three chances to meet city requirements.
If problems persist, cases will be referred to the Permitting and Construction Review Board, which can turn the matters over to a special magistrate to enforce the requirements.
The city plans to create a database available to the public that will list every building 30 years old or older, when it is due for recertification and whether it is in compliance, among other things.
In a memo to the City Council, City Manager Leif Ahnell said many buildings in the city will need to start the recertification process. On the barrier island, the city has 53 threshold buildings at least 25 years old, The Coastal Star analysis showed. Twenty additional buildings are less than four stories.
Ahnell expects a backlog. As a result, DiNorscio will prioritize buildings based on age, location, construction material and number of residents. Waterfront condos will be high on the priority list.

Property rights vs. safety concerns

There are no signs so far that condo owners object to recertification despite the potential for high-cost repairs. 
Contacted before she had read the ordinance, Beach Condo Association President Emily Gentile said she expected to be supportive. 
“A certified building will give confidence to the people in residence and future buyers,” she wrote in an email.
One of the challenges all municipalities face is determining just how far they can go to make sure owners keep up private property. 
“The town has responsibility to ensure the collective safety and health of the community but doing so can’t strip everyone of private property rights and responsibilities,” Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. 
After Surfside, many officials believe the government’s safety responsibilities outweigh private property concerns.   
“I have always felt that the responsibility for public safety lies in government,” Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Sachs, whose South County district is west of Military Trail, said at the July 13 commission meeting. “It’s the No. 1 obligation of government.”
In a presentation to the commission during that meeting, the county’s building director, Doug Wise, urged condo boards to act. But he said if a Palm Beach County building had done nothing to fix the problems identified in 2018 at Champlain Towers South, the county would have taken action.
“There would have been a placard on that building: You fix this in so many days,” he said. 
The responsibility to maintain adequate reserves and to make repairs falls on the condo owners, he said.  
“The cost of the maintenance of the building is what it is. But if you defer the maintenance, it’s going to cost more and it might cost lives. That’s the truth of it,” Wise said. 
“People say, ‘You’re going to make it cost money for me.’ No, I’m not going to make it cost money. It is what it costs. You’re going to live on the beach, maintain it.”

Joe Capozzi, Rich Pollack and Mary Hladky contributed to this story.

In your June/July article about bicycling on A1A, you only made a short statement referencing large groups of bikers. I find it very disturbing that I have observed over the past 10 years large groups of bicycles — 30 to 90 bikers — who ride in the middle of the street and will not move over for vehicles. 
The law states they must ride one behind each other and only two side-by-side when passing and only when they do not interfere with traffic. Your article needed to put more on the laws currently on the books.
These large groups do not have a permit and are a danger to our streets. Even some of the local police have turned a blind eye to them. It leaves the local resident to maneuver around them, putting them and oncoming traffic in danger.
You mention the new laws, saying the driver has to wait till a safe time to pass. In most cases that you mean, the large groups take control of the roads. And I would have to follow them for miles at a reduced speed. Not what the roads are for. If they want to act like they are in some race then do it off A1A. Do this in a race that blocks off the roads and has the proper permit.
I would like for you to do another article on how the large groups are a huge problem.

Greg Harrington
Highland Beach

Thank you for your coverage of not just our Ocean Ridge municipal meetings but all of our neighbors’ meetings in your paper. An invaluable asset to the coastal communities.
In the article about the May 2021 Ocean Ridge commission meeting is one point I would like to clarify:
I object to the implication of my being a “de Haseth supporter.” This implies there are factions in town with voting blocs. I hope that is not the case. I, for one, vote on issues before me, not in support of one or another fellow member. Where I agree with Mayor de Haseth, she will have my support and where I agree with any of my other fellow commissioners, they will have my support.
We are five individuals mandated to make decisions with the best interest of our residents in mind. Most often they are unanimous decisions, and those that are not are done after hearing each other’s arguments for or against. It is imperative to hear the arguments on critical issues, most important those with which we do not agree. 

Martin Wiescholek,
town commissioner
Ocean Ridge

In a June/July story on the contentious Ocean Ridge Town Commission meeting held in May, two items were incorrect:
Vice Mayor Susan Hurlbert made the motion to delay nominations to the Board of Adjustment; she also made the motion to approve the nominees following the commission vote.
In a statement about the last-minute withdrawal of a BOA member, the order of what transpired was incorrect: Carolyn Cassidy hand-submitted her application for a seat shortly before board member Polly Joa’s withdrawal of her intent to remain on the board.

A June/July story about bicycle safety incorrectly reported that charges against a man accused of reckless driving were dismissed because a Manalapan police officer failed to attend the trial. The case was dismissed because a witness failed to attend the trial. The officer was in attendance at the driver’s traffic infraction trial, which was held on Zoom.

By Mary Hladky

The massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is providing much-welcomed relief to southeastern Palm Beach County cities and towns strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they aren’t rushing to spend the money.
They are proceeding carefully and deliberately, soliciting input from their communities on what the biggest needs are and matching that against U.S. Department of Treasury guidance on what they can use the money for.
Cities and towns are heeding advice from both the Treasury Department and the National League of Cities to take it slow so they make the best use of the money and avoid errors that would compel them to return funds spent on ineligible projects.
They are not under pressure to make decisions quickly. The Treasury Department gives them until Dec. 31, 2024, to obligate the money and until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend it.
Municipal leaders are awaiting final rules on how the money can be spent from the Treasury Department, which accepted comments on how they would like to see the rules changed until July 16.
“We will be cautious. We will vet it out,” said Boynton Beach City Manager Lori LaVerriere.
“We are going at a measured pace,” said Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer. “We are not rushing to spend it all immediately. We are going to take the appropriate amount of time to get it right.”
Ocean Ridge Town Manager Tracey Stevens said she told her town commission, “You don’t want to make your decisions quickly. Let’s wait for the final rule and then we can move forward.”
But that doesn’t mean municipal officials are sitting on their hands. They already have good ideas on what they would like to use the money, and at least some have projects that could be implemented quickly.
But the process hasn’t been easy. The initial Treasury guidance issued in May was 151 pages long, and its list of answers to frequently asked questions kept growing over the summer.
“We have spent hours and hours reading this,” LaVerriere said. “It is really intense.
“It is going to be a tremendous amount of work. But it will also be, if we do it right, a tremendous impact on the community. We can do some amazing things with it.”
South Palm Beach Town Manager Robert Kellogg said in early July that he had read the guidance at least four times and finds it understandable.
His issue is that the rules provide his town with limited opportunities to spend the money, and he hopes the Treasury Department makes them more flexible.
Kellogg thinks that other small towns likely are facing the same problem. “I am hopeful as this progresses, they will ease up on restrictions,” he said.
Stevens was considering hiring a grants administrator to ride herd over the process and keep up with reporting requirements. The legislation allows cities to use some of the money they receive to do that.
For Briny Breezes Town Manager William Thrasher, any headaches that come along with ARP funds are manageable considering the town stands to gain about $242,000.
“I am sure I can work through the problems for that,” he said. “That is a lot of money for Briny.”
The ARP allocates $130.2 billion for cities and counties, with cities and towns receiving half of that. The first tranche of money already has gone out, with the rest arriving next year. Of that, southeast Palm Beach County cities and towns will get almost $48 million.
The amount going to the biggest cities has been revised from the initial estimates released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Boca Raton will receive $12.2 million, Delray Beach $11 million and Boynton Beach $13.6 million.
The process is different for small towns. The Treasury Department is sending money they will receive to the state, which will divvy it up largely based on population and send it out.
The ARP allows municipalities to use the funds to cover costs incurred responding to the COVID-19 public health crisis and to replace tax dollars lost during the pandemic. If cities laid off workers because of budget shortfalls, the money can be used to bring them back to work.
Money can go to provide “premium pay” for essential workers who worked long overtime hours and were subjected to health risks because they could not work remotely.
The ARP supports economic recovery by allowing municipalities to provide financial assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, and to impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality.
Municipalities also can make investments in improving water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. But since these types of infrastructure aren’t necessarily neatly located within a city’s boundaries, a regional approach might be needed.
One example of the range of expenses and programs that can be paid for under the bill, approved by Congress on March 10, is the category of COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
They include vaccination programs, testing, contact tracing, isolation or quarantine expenses, personal protective equipment, giving vulnerable populations access to medical or public health services, surveillance of coronavirus variants, enforcement of public health orders, communication to the public, expanding health care facilities, prevention programs in schools and congregate living facilities, improving public health data systems, and ventilation improvements in health care facilities.
The ARP also spells out what the money can’t be used for.
Cities can’t cut taxes and then replace the lost revenue with ARP money.
They can’t make a deposit into a pension fund to reduce an accrued, unfunded liability. They can’t use it to pay off financial indebtedness such as a loan.
Other ineligible uses include using the money to fund debt service, pay legal settlements or judgments, or to put the money into rainy day or reserve accounts.
Infrastructure spending is limited to water, sewer and broadband.

By Jane Smith

When Terrence Moore stepped into his city manager position Aug. 2, he was the fifth manager in eight years for Delray Beach. When interim staffers are included in the count, the number jumps to 11.
“I can provide stability,” Moore, 51, told The Coastal Star on July 20. When he left his city manager position in College Park, Georgia, on March 2 he was that city’s longest continuous serving manager.
The College Park City Council offers only one-year contracts for its city manager. Moore, who had been with the city for eight years, decided against asking for another year and put himself on the city manager market.
His city manager experience also includes a five-year stint in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and a six-year run in Sebastian.
In addition, he will live up to his promise to buy a home in Delray Beach. He has selected a townhouse in the Legacy community, west of the interstate. Moore said the closing would take place at the end of August.
“I will be a true, vested stakeholder by owning and living in the city,” Moore told commissioners in early June. “I can be more effective and responsive. … Delray deserves nothing less.”
His base salary is $230,000, less than those of the two previous city managers, who were both fired by the commission. Mark Lauzier made $235,000 and George Gretsas started at $265,000.
At the June 10 special commission meeting held to vote on Moore’s contract, City Attorney Lynn Gelin said, “Negotiations went very smoothly. It was actually a pleasure. It’s fair to him and very fair to the city.”
Gelin also negotiated the compensation package for Gretsas. She told commissioners it favored Gretsas, not the city. But they hired Gretsas.
Moore also will receive 14% of his salary, or $32,200, into his retirement account, $600 monthly for a car allowance, moving expenses from College Park not to exceed $7,500, and $2,000 a month for six months for temporary living expenses.
He initially faced three challengers for job. His competitors were: Michael Bornstein, ex-city manager of Lake Worth Beach and former town manager of Lantana; Joseph Napoli, city manager of Cooper City in Broward County and one of the Delray manager finalists in 2019 when the job went to Gretsas; and Leonard Sossamon, Port Richey interim manager who was fired in August 2019 as administrator of Hernando County, just north of Tampa.
The morning of the commission interviews, June 8, Napoli unexpectedly dropped out. He sent an email at 7:48 a.m. that day saying he wished no longer to be considered.
Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, who supported Napoli, gave a cryptic comment at the start of the June 8 meeting, congratulating all those who were involved in getting him to pull his name from consideration.
Johnson then grilled Bornstein, who has 23 years of city manager experience in Palm Beach County, about his role in clearing out immigrants and senior citizens from mobile home parks in Lake Worth Beach.
Bornstein said, “There were lots of un-permitted additions and health and safety violations. … It was never the intent to move people out of their homes.”
Moore, though, tugged at the commissioners’ heartstrings when he talked about growing up on the South Side of Chicago without a father and being raised by his grandmother. She recently died, he said, his eyes watering.
He earned his undergraduate degree in economics and a master’s in public administration from the University of Illinois.
In Delray Beach, Moore plans to spend time on community assessment, which he defined as “matters related to roads, finances and visiting job sites to find out how Delray Beach is viewed. … I will address all concerns about utilities.”
The city faces a proposed $1.8 million fine from the Palm Beach County branch of the Florida Department of Health for its botched reclaimed water program. Delray Beach also needs a new water treatment plant and is in the process of figuring out how to pay for it.
Moore, who was on a house-hunting trip during the first week of July, came to the July 6 commission meeting with his two sons and proudly introduced them. Parker, an incoming sophomore, is a dean’s list student at Texas A&M, and Grant is an incoming high school sophomore who plays football. Moore is divorced. His sons will spend school breaks in Delray Beach.

Lauzier’s trial coming up

Although they haven’t been in the manager’s office for months, Delray Beach’s two previous city managers are still around the area.
Lauzier, fired on March 3, 2019, sued the city in April 2019 for wrongful dismissal. He asked for a jury trial. Those trials were suspended for much of 2020 after the city and counties nationwide shut down because of the coronavirus. His lawsuit has an Aug. 6 hearing, and the trial is expected to be scheduled for sometime between Aug. 16 and Sept. 10.
Gretsas, fired on Nov. 20, could not be reached for comment. He resides in Fort Lauderdale with his family.
The next position for interim City Manager Jennifer Alvarez will be determined by Moore.
Alvarez recently received a 5% increase in her salary that was converted to 13 sick days. The City Commission gave her the raise at its July 13 meeting in recognition for her “stepping up” to fill the city manager role. Alvarez had asked for six weeks’ worth of sick days. Commissioners also agreed to evaluate her work by mid-August.

By Mary Hladky

The taxable value of Palm Beach County properties jumped higher than Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks estimated in May, defying fears that the coronavirus pandemic would deal a harsh blow.
The preliminary tax roll that Jacks’ office submitted to the state Department of Revenue on June 24 showed that countywide taxable values increased by 5.8% from 2020 to 2021, just under last year’s 5.9% rise and above the May estimate of 5.05%.
That translates to a total countywide taxable value of $222.1 billion, up nearly $12 billion from last year and including $3.2 billion in new construction added to the tax roll.
This marks the 10th year in a row that taxable values have increased.
Jacks had expected last year that the taxable value of commercial properties such as office buildings, hotels and restaurants would take a hit because of the pandemic.
That proved true but not across the board. Hotels and entertainment venues such as movie theaters and bowling alleys were hit hard, but warehousing remained strong. Restaurants suffered, but fast-food eateries with drive-thru did well.
The commercial declines were offset by an increase in the taxable value of residential properties which began to improve at the end of last year.
“It may be difficult to recall the uncertainty of COVID-19’s disruptions on real estate markets last spring, especially as residential values saw a strong rebound at the end of 2020,” Jacks said in announcing the updated numbers. “However, other sectors continue to recover at a slower pace.”
The valuations are good news for municipal officials, who are in the process of crafting budgets and setting tax rates for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Officials use taxable values to calculate how much property tax money they can expect in the coming year. A decline in values would have meant less tax revenue coming in, which would have forced difficult budget and tax rate decisions.
All 10 cities and towns in southeast Palm Beach County realized taxable value gains, although seven saw smaller increases than last year’s.
Boca Raton was up 3.8%, Boynton Beach 5.2% and Delray Beach 5.3%.
Briny Breezes increased by 10.4%, Gulf Stream 2.5%, Highland Beach 3.5%, Lantana 9.3%, Manalapan 7.2%, Ocean Ridge 4.5% and South Palm Beach 4.4%.