By Jane Smith

To meet growing traffic demands, the state will do a $5.2 million construction project at the Atlantic Avenue Interstate 95 interchange in Delray Beach.
The project will begin in September and is expected to last slightly longer than one year, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
The improvements will take place mainly along a 1-mile stretch of Atlantic Avenue from the E-4 Canal, just west of Congress Avenue, to Northwest/Southwest 10th Avenue. FDOT owns Atlantic Avenue in this area.
FDOT predicts the average annual daily traffic to increase from 47,000 vehicles in 2016 to 59,800 in 2040, growing at an annual rate of 1.39 percent. The department will showcase its redesign to the public between 4 and 6 p.m. Aug. 30 at the city’s Environmental Services building, 434 S. Swinton Ave.
While the state talks about traffic capacity and safety of drivers, Delray Beach city commissioners are focused on a multimodal transportation plan that includes walkers and bicyclists.
FDOT representatives said they first met with Delray Beach residents in July 2014. They also heard from Human Powered Delray, a nonprofit group dedicated to bike and pedestrian safety.
The department listened to the group’s suggestions, but FDOT did not incorporate most of them into the redesign because of cost constraints and lack of space, said Guillermo Canedo, FDOT spokesman.
Bill Bathurst, a new commissioner who was designated as the FDOT point person at the July 10 commission meeting, said, “We are getting a little bit more of what we wanted. I’m still concerned that it’s dangerous for walkers and bike riders who live east of the interstate and walk west on Atlantic.”
When his son was in high school and wrestled on the Atlantic High School team, Bathurst picked up his son and teammates daily after practice to drive them home, east of I-95. The high school sits on Atlantic Avenue, west of Congress.
The Palm Beach County School District usually does not provide bus service to students living within 2 miles of the school. But for Atlantic High students who live east of I-95, the district makes an exception and provides bus transportation, according to Shane Searchwell, general manager of transportation services. Bathurst is trying to set up a meeting with FDOT representatives and various community leaders before the construction work starts.
FDOT will upgrade the Interstate 95 on-ramp lanes to be “segregated, exclusive safety lanes” from westbound Atlantic, Canedo said. The lanes, also called turbo lanes, will be separated from the other travel lanes by a 4-inch raised concrete barrier that has 5-foot plastic batons on top, he said, to prevent vehicles from crossing over at the last minute.
“The angle of the southbound on-ramp will be changed to improve pedestrian safety,” Canedo said.
East of the interstate on the north side of Atlantic, walkers will have a 6-foot-wide sidewalk and bike riders will get a dedicated 7-foot lane. West of the interstate, bike riders will share the lane with vehicles from the southbound I-95 off-ramp west to Congress Avenue.
Pedestrians and bike riders must cross over the turbo lanes twice when traveling westbound on Atlantic. Eastbound walkers and cyclists also must cross over the regular traffic getting onto the southbound on-ramp and on the other side of the interstate, traffic lanes for vehicles exiting the northbound interstate.

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream will lower its property tax rate to just below the rollback rate for the second time in two years.
At their July 13 meeting, town commissioners set the tentative tax rate for the 2018-19 budget year at $4.05 per $1,000 of taxable value, down from $4.36 in the current year and 0.99 cents under the rollback rate — the rate that would produce the same revenue as the previous year, using current assessments.
The first public hearing on property taxes and the town’s budget will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 14.
Town Manager Greg Dunham’s proposed $5.58 million budget includes $531,383 for the first year of Gulf Stream’s 10-year capital improvement plan. The money will be spent on designing and getting permits for rebuilding roads and improving drainage in the worst part of town, the northern core area. Construction, which has an estimated price of $3.7 million, would follow in 2020.
The northern core includes Bermuda Lane from Sea Road to the south end, Gulf Stream Road from Sea Road to Banyan Road, Old School Road from Gulf Stream Road to the cul-de-sac, Oleander Way from Banyan to the north end, Polo Drive from Old School to Banyan, Wright Way from Old School to the cul-de-sac, Sea Road from Ocean Boulevard to Gulf Stream Road, North County Road from Ocean to Sea Road, and Banyan from Ocean to the cul-de-sac.
Projects in Place Au Soleil, the southern core, the water main on State Road A1A, and work in Hidden Harbour and Pelican Lane would come in later years.
Dunham also said he and town accountant Rebecca Tew expected to add at least $1 million to Gulf Stream’s reserves, pushing the total cushion to $4.8 million or more. The reserves dropped to $752,858 in the 2013 budget year as the town wrestled with requests and lawsuits over public records.
The tax rate topped out in fiscal 2016 at $5 per $1,000 as commissioners rebuilt the reserves.
Dunham also recommended that Gulf Stream pay 80 percent of health insurance premiums for the families of town employees. The Police Department recently lost a promising job applicant to Highland Beach, which pays the entire family premium, he said.
“Towns and cities really compete for the labor force,” Dunham said.
Gulf Stream pays all the health premiums for its 20 employees but nothing for family coverage. Only two employees pay extra to cover their dependents, Dunham said, an amount that in one case equals half of each paycheck.
The additional benefit would cost Gulf Stream $246,000 a year, Dunham said.
Commissioners noted that the town already gives employees a $3,000 flex benefit to offset health deductibles and co-pays and decided to discuss the idea further.
“I think there should be some give-and-take” between the flex benefit and family coverage, Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
Dunham also said he will promote Tew from town accountant to chief finance officer. Tew started working for Gulf Stream in 2014. At the commission meeting the Government Finance Officers Association gave her its Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for her work on the 2017-2018 budget.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach commissioners agreed to lower the tax rate slightly, keeping a promise to their residents to reduce the tax rate each year for 10 years.
The commission action July 10 capped the total tax rate at $6.97 per $1,000 of property value for the next financial year, which starts Oct. 1. It would be the sixth consecutive year that Delray Beach is lowering its tax rate.
“I want to keep the promise to our taxpayers,” said Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “I am challenging the city manager to find flexibility in the low-hanging fruit of outstanding parking tickets and from our reserves.”
Delray Beach has a lush reserve account of more than $34 million as of June. That amount represents about 28.9 percent of this year’s operating budget. The commission wants to set aside 25 percent, or $29.6 million, for hurricane-related expenses and other emergencies.
Florida does not have a law requiring municipalities to set aside a certain percentage for reserves, said Kurt Wenner, research vice president at Florida TaxWatch. “Most local governments have their own internal policies on reserves,” he said. Florida TaxWatch is a nonprofit organization that researches and analyzes state and local government taxation issues.
Nearby Boynton Beach has a lower reserve goal of 10 percent set aside for emergencies, according to information presented in mid-July at its budget workshop. Boca Raton also has a 10 percent goal. When the current financial year started, Boca Raton had about 34 percent of its operating budget, or $53 million, in reserves.
In Delray Beach, City Manager Mark Lauzier said the lower rate would not allow the city to continue to increase the size of its public safety staff, which was reduced during the Recession. Another five police officers and eight fire-rescue employees are needed, he said.
Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson was the lone no vote on the reduced tax rate. She wants to see more police on the streets.
Lauzier also said the city’s rollback rate is $6.55 per $1,000 property value. The rollback rate is the rate that would generate the same tax revenue as the prior year with allowances for new construction.
Even though the tax rate will be slightly lower, city property owners will pay about 3.2 percent more in property taxes.
In addition, Lauzier talked about the looming budget amendment, where voters statewide will be asked in November whether they want another $25,000 reduction on top of their homestead exemption of $25,000 in property value.
If that passes, the city’s property tax collection would be reduced by $1.3 million, he said.
Lauzier gave each commissioner a thick budget book to read before the Aug. 14 meeting when they will hear presentations by departments.
He also planned to hold three budget town halls in August for residents. The dates and places were: Veterans Park on Aug. 2, Delray Beach Municipal Golf Course on Aug. 6 and Pompey Park Community Center on Aug. 8, all at 6 p.m.
The city’s proposed tax rate has two components. The operating tax rate is $6.76 per $1,000 value and the debt service rate is 21 cents per $1,000 value. The total tax rate for the current year is $7.09 per $1,000 value with an operating rate of $6.86 per $1,000 value and debt service rate of 23 cents per $1,000 value.
Lauzier had wanted to keep the next budget year’s operating tax rate the same as this year’s.
The tax rates had to be set by the end of July in order for the county property appraiser to mail notices in mid-August to every property owner. The notices cover assessed values and proposed tax rates.
The rates can be lowered but not raised during the city’s budget hearings in September.

By Steve Plunkett

Four of the five candidates hoping to become the next District 89 state representative in November will first duke it out in the Aug. 28 Democratic and Republican primaries.
On the GOP side, barrier island resident and Delray Beach accountant Mike Caruso faces Boca Raton lawyer Matt Spritz.
Registered Democrats in District 89, which leans Republican and stretches along the coast from Boca Raton to Singer Island, will choose either Ocean Ridge Mayor Jim Bonfiglio, a lawyer, or Boca Raton real estate agent Ryan Rossi, a former high school teacher.
Bonfiglio, 64, who promises to make life on the barrier island “easier, safer and better,” has been on the Ocean Ridge Town Commission since 2014 after 14 years on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
He had $29,497 in campaign contributions through July 20, the latest report available. He also lent his campaign $65,000. Contributors include the law firm of former Ocean Ridge Mayor Ken Kaleel ($1,000), numerous other lawyers and law firms and the Palm Beach Classroom Teachers Association political action committee ($500).
Rossi, 33, a Florida Atlantic University graduate who taught government and economics at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, offers himself as part of a “new generation” of Democratic leaders.
Campaign finance reports show him with $16,287 in donations and $1,100 in self-loans. His donors include county Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks ($100), Florida College Democrats ($100), Gulf Stream resident George Elmore ($150), the Economic Council of Palm Beach County PAC ($1,000) and Boca Raton activist Judith Kaye ($1,000).
Republicans also have a choice between generations.
Caruso, 59, a forensic CPA who qualified to run for the Florida House by collecting 1,241 petition signatures, says he will bring “real, experienced, community-based leadership” to Tallahassee. He has been a member of the Delray Beach Police Advisory Board and the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition Board and also president of the Villas of Ocean Crest homeowners association and Atlantic Grove condominium association.
As of July 20 he had $66,770 in contributions and loaned his campaign $210,000. Among the contributors are Caffe Luna Rosa restaurant owner Francis Marincola ($2,000), Palm Beach Kennel Club ($1,000), the nonprofit Florida Limousine Association ($1,000) and west Delray farmers Richard Bowman ($1,000) and Theresa Bowman ($1,000) and their Beefy Tree Farm ($1,000).
Spritz, 35, is no stranger to state politics, according to his LinkedIn biography. He was a campaign manager for Naples Republican Matt Hudson’s unsuccessful 2016 Florida Senate primary run, then managed the successful Florida House campaign of Sarasota businesswoman Alex Miller. After Miller was elected, Spritz became legislative aide to Naples businessman and state Rep. Bob Rommel for the 2017 legislative session. Rommel, Miller and Hudson all have endorsed Spritz’s candidacy.
Spritz gained brief media attention in 2012 in the New York Daily News — he graduated from New York University School of Law — when he and a friend sued celebrity fitness trainer Harley Pasternak after a squabble about a basketball court.
He has $135,485 in campaign contributions and gave himself a $40,000 loan. His supporters include JM Family Enterprises ($1,000), Palm Beach Kennel Club ($1,000), Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association ($1,000), Sunshine State Conservatives ($1,000), former Manalapan Mayor David Cheifetz ($1,000), Florida Bankers Association ($1,000) and Gulf Stream resident George Elmore ($250).
State Rep. Bill Hager, who first won the District 89 seat in 2012, cannot run because of term limits. The primary winners will also face Delray Beach business owner Deborah Wesson Gibson, who is not affiliated with a party, in November.

How to vote
When: Early voting is Aug. 13-26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voting on Election Day, Aug. 28, is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Early voting sites include the Downtown Boca Raton Library, 400 NW Second Ave., and the Boynton Beach Civic Center, 128 E. Ocean Ave. For other sites across Palm Beach County or to look up your precinct place, go to pbcelections.org

Gulf Stream resident Kevin Anderson acknowledges the crowd after he outlasted John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set of a Wimbledon semifinal that was the second-longest match in tournament history. Anderson went on to his second runner-up finish in the past four Grand Slam events. Thomas Lovelock/AELTC

By Steve Pike

Kevin Anderson has been on the doorstep of winning two of the past four professional tennis Grand Slam events — the 2017 U.S. Open and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. But each time the door slammed shut.
Anderson, a 32-year-old resident of Gulf Stream, finished second to Rafael Nadal in New York and to Novak Djokovic last month at Wimbledon.
Back in Gulf Stream with his wife, Kelsey, following his Wimbledon run, Anderson discussed his plans to finally knock down the door.
He beat top seed Roger Federer in a five-set quarterfinal and outlasted John Isner in a historic six-hour, 36-minute semifinal, which ended 26-24 in the fifth set.
“I think my game is definitely there,’’ said Anderson, who planned to return to the court for the summer hard-court season at the Rogers Cup starting Aug. 3 in Toronto. “I’m on the right path and as I keep learning how to handle these big moments, I think I will become more comfortable as well. I am going to keep looking forward — winning one of the Slams is a huge goal of mine.’’

Kevin Anderson (right) holds the plate awarded to the Wimbledon runner-up as he stands with champion Novak Djokovic during the trophy ceremony. The result gave Anderson a career-high No. 5 world ranking as he prepares for the U.S. Open. Joe Toth/AELTC

Anderson’s Wimbledon run moved him to No. 5 in the ATP world rankings — the highest of his 11-year pro career and the highest of any South African-born player since Kevin Curren rose to No. 5 in 1985. Eric Sturgess and Cliff Drysdale were ranked No. 4 during their careers, but that was before the official ATP world rankings. 
“Achieving a top-five ranking has been a big milestone for me,” said Anderson, who has dual U.S. and South African citizenship. “It makes me the highest ranked South African man in the open era of tennis, which means a great deal. I have a huge amount of respect and have always looked up to Wayne Ferreira, Johan Kriek and Kevin Curren, who were some of the best players in South African history. I’m honored to be in such great company in terms of my ranking and tennis achievements.’’
Anderson’s defeat of Federer, in which Anderson was down two sets and faced a match point before winning 13-11 in the fifth, set up the semifinal vs. Isner. Each man was near exhaustion before Anderson became the first South African to reach a Wimbledon men’s final in 97 years.
Following the match, the second-longest in Wimbledon history, Anderson, Isner and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe were among those who called for a change in the rules to prevent such long final sets. Isner also played the longest match, a 70-68 victory over Nicolas Mahut in 2010 in 11 hours, five minutes over three days.
Does Anderson believe Wimbledon will seriously consider their remarks?
“I think in some aspects, yes, because it happened in the semifinals as opposed to the first round,’’ Anderson said. “On the other hand, John’s previous marathon match lasted almost twice as long as this one and they didn’t consider a rule change.
“Obviously it’s been spoken about, but at the end of the day there’s a lot of history with playing the long fifth set. On the plus side, my match was something that will definitely go down in the history books.’’
With the U.S. Open set to start Aug. 27, Anderson is primed for more history.
“My results at Wimbledon this year were further confirmation that my game is good enough to compete at the best level,’’ Anderson said. “I’ve had that belief already, but now it has come down to believing and performing against the best players on the biggest stages in the world.’’

Chris Warren practices with dance partner Loreta Kriksciukaityte, owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Boca Raton. Warren will be one of eight contestants in the annual fundraising event benefiting the George Snow Scholarship Fund. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

One of the eight contestants in Boca’s Ballroom Battle has two daughters enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Rachel is 20, and Grace is 19. The contestant’s 14-year-old son, Christopher, attends St. Andrew’s School.
Higher education comes at a high price, and that is one of the reasons Chris Warren, dad to all three, agreed to participate in the George Snow Scholarship Fund benefit.
“It’s a great cause,” said Warren, a founding partner of Lawless, Edwards & Warren Wealth Management. “I’m able to provide an education for my children, my parents provided an education for me, and if I can help some other kids get to school, wow, that’s awesome.”
Warren, a graduate of Michigan State University, does not like the spotlight. He would rather let his actions speak to who he is and what he is about — a financial planner helping clients reach their goals and discovering what is important to them.
“I said no last year, and Tim came back,” said Warren, referring to the nonprofit’s president, Tim Snow. “Saying no again would be me just chickening out.”
So in the spotlight he will be during the Dancing With the Stars-style fundraiser, set for Sept. 14 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.
He will cut the rug with seven other contestants — Samir Changela, Nancy Dockerty, Matthew Maschler, Cristina Mata, Jamie Rosemurgy, Tracy Tilson and Joseph Veccia — in the quest for the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.
“I do like to dance, but it’s not like I’ve done anything like this before,” Warren said. “I feel like I have two left feet.”
What is the 55-year-old’s game plan?
“I’m going to try to have my routine down cold, but you know, prayer — practice and prayer,” said Warren, who bikes, runs, swims and practices yoga. “The physical part of this is not the issue — it’s more the repetition of learning my routine and then making it look good.”

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Went to Michigan State University. Great education. Great place to grow up.

Q. In what professions have you worked, and which ones make you the proudest?
A. Started a landscape business in high school. Grew it to 80 clients. Started my career as an auditor for Domino’s Pizza, then assistant controller in Pompano Beach. Wanted to start my own business, so I got into the wealth-management space 29 years ago. Along with my partners, I have built a successful business providing great service and value to our clients/friends.

Q. What advice do you have for young adults selecting a career today?
A. Where you start is not where you will finish. Take a chance. Don’t be afraid of failing, and work to find your passion.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club?
A. We had a growing family and needed a bigger home. Royal Palm is a great quality neighborhood.

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club?
A. My office is just across Federal Highway. I love being east — easy access to the beach. So many reasons.

Q. What books are you reading now?
A. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. He’s a very impressive / driven guy. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. A great book about the importance of focus. Also He’s Not Lazy: Empowering Your Son to Believe in Himself.

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration or want to relax?
A. I like all types of music. Classical helps me relax. Also I like rock ’n’ roll, blues, bluegrass, etc.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?
A. Two: Never give up. The Lord is my shepherd.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life — individuals who have inspired your decisions?
A. My mom and dad.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, whom would you want to play you?
A. Matt Damon. Mark Wahlberg is pretty cool, too. Clint Eastwood?

If You Go
What: Boca’s Ballroom Battle
When: 6-10 p.m. Sept. 14
Where: Boca Raton Resort and Club, 501 E. Camino Real
Cost: $185
Information: 347-6799 or scholarship.org.

By Dan Moffett

Despite opposition from southern neighbors and second thoughts among some residents, South Palm Beach is setting aside more money to pay for a controversial groin project that would stabilize the town’s eroding beaches.
In fact, South Palm Beach recently sent a check for $66,500 to Palm Beach County, its partner in the project, to cover some of the administrative costs of obtaining permits.
Town Manager Mo Thornton estimates the town will need roughly $2.1 million in construction costs over the next 10 years to pay its share of the project. This does not include costs of periodic replenishment with sand.
Thornton, during a budget workshop July 23, said about half the $2.1 million could come from the penny sales-tax increase county voters passed in 2016. The town could take in between $80,000 and $90,000 a year from the tax, which is restricted by law to infrastructure spending only.
Installing the concrete groins on the beach is one obvious place to use the penny tax revenue for a town that has no roads, schools or parks.
This won’t play well in Manalapan, however, where officials have threatened to sue to stop the groin project. Ocean Ridge also objected. The towns fear the groins will disrupt the sand flow to the south and damage their beaches.
Because of the opposition, South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer and other Town Council members have considered looking at other possible solutions to stem the town’s beach erosion. But as that debate goes on, so does the county’s effort to get federal and state construction permits for the groins. And the project, 12 years in the making, continues to stagger forward.
Fischer says South Palm Beach, which has no public access to the ocean, became part of the county’s groin plan because its southern boundary borders Lantana Municipal Beach.
“Bottom line, the only reason this project was ever initiated was because of Lantana beach,” the mayor said. “The county is very concerned about redoing that beach. We’re lucky that we can tandem onto it.”
Thornton’s proposed budget, her first since taking over as manager in January, calls for dropping the millage from $4 per $1,000 of taxable value to the rollback rate of $3.79. The rollback rate keeps tax revenue flat from last year. South Palm Beach property values are up about 5 percent, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.
“My recommendation is full rollback,” Thornton said. “We’ll still have excess revenue of $80,000 with the full rollback. I feel very comfortable with that.”
The 3550 S. Ocean Blvd. luxury condo project, on the site of the old Hawaiian Inn, doesn’t come onto the tax roll for two years but has already been a significant revenue source. Last year, due to the project’s construction costs, revenues from building and permit fees nearly tripled to $524,000.

By Jane Smith

Illustrated Properties recently received a $37,122 grant from the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency to help build out its office space at 700 E. Atlantic Ave.
The money — payable after the work is done — represents 40 percent of the allowable costs because of the office’s location, said Elizabeth Burrows, CRA economic development manager.
“The real estate office sits across from the now underway Atlantic Crossing project,” she said at the July 12 CRA meeting.
Illustrated Properties merged with the Keyes Co. real estate brokers in 2016. They want to combine their Delray Beach staffs at one location and triple the number of agents to 90 people who will work out of the 1,600-square-foot office, Burrows said.
The office sits on the ground floor of a building currently owned by a company headed by Lucille Handelsman, the ex-wife of real estate mogul Burt Handelsman, and their adult children.
The Handelsmans were married for more than 67 years when Lucille, known as Lovey, filed for divorce in March 2016. The corporate ownership record for 700 E. Atlantic was changed a few months after the divorce filing.
A judge granted their divorce earlier this year. Now, the two — Burt, 90, and Lucille, 89 — must finish dividing their multimillion-dollar commercial real estate holdings.
The CRA board passed the grant unanimously. Shelly Petrolia, who is both Delray Beach mayor and CRA chairwoman, said at the CRA meeting that she would like to reconsider whether the agency will pay to build out interiors.
“I thought we only paid for exterior improvements,” Petrolia said.
Burrows said CRA board members would be able to comment on any grant changes they would like to see at an upcoming workshop meeting.
At that July 16 workshop, Petrolia said she wants to move away from remodeling spaces of wealthy businesses and “spend the CRA tax dollars to improve streets, connect sidewalks and cure blight.”
Board member Ryan Boylston agreed.
He said when he first started Woo Creative, now known as 2TON Creative, he was interested in a CRA buildout grant for the second-floor office at 135 E. Atlantic Ave. in another Handelsman building. But he was told nothing was available.
Four years later — starting in April 2016 — the CRA began offering interior grants, Burrows said. The grants cover flooring, walls, doors, electrical and plumbing for offices and art galleries, she said. The CRA does not award grants to restaurants and retailers, she said.
If the interior improvement program is scaled back to cover only electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning systems, Illustrated Properties would be eligible for a total CRA reimbursement of $16,016.80. That amount is less than half of what the real estate company was awarded.
Burrows said the staff would take feedback from the workshop, revise the interior buildout grant program, then bring it back to the CRA board for approval at a future date.

By Jane Smith

Two weeks after the parking meters were activated in downtown Delray Beach, the City Commission agreed on July 10 to issue two types of parking passes for residents. One pass is available to any resident who can show a utility bill or a Florida driver’s license with a Delray Beach address. Those residents pay $12 for the annual parking pass that allows three free hours daily between noon and 6 p.m. on the side streets that are metered, west of the Intracoastal Waterway.
City Manager Mark Lauzier told the commissioners that the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board did not support the resident parking pass. But its Downtown Development Authority did and wanted parking on Atlantic Avenue to be included.
“Atlantic Avenue is too prime to be included,” Lauzier said.
The commissioners agreed to exclude Atlantic but expressed support for a resident parking program. “We are inviting our residents back to the downtown,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said.
Residents had asked for the program because they felt their taxes were used to purchase the meters and for repairing the side streets and city-owned parking lots and garages.
“It’s another benefit to being a Delray resident,” Commissioner Ryan Boylston said.
The other type of parking passes will go to curing what was seen as an oversight. Both will be available around the end of September.
Tenants who live above the stores and offices along Atlantic Avenue used to park on the side streets or in the city-owned lots for free. Some even lost parking spaces to the city and its Community Redevelopment Agency for redevelopment.
About 50 people are in this category. They can now pay $96.30 for an annual parking pass that allows their vehicles to park all day and overnight in the city-owned lots and garages, west of the Intracoastal Waterway.
The city clerk, who oversees the permits, will make sure that residents of the newer condo and townhouse buildings on the side streets do not apply for an extra place to park their vehicles, Lauzier said. They already have garages as part of their condos or townhomes, commissioners said.
Petrolia, who voted against installing the parking meters, thinks the parking management system has become complicated. The city paid for the meters, then had to hire a company to manage them and enforce the parking times, the mayor said.
“If it was really to turn over the spaces on Atlantic Avenue, then we should have increased enforcement of the time limits,” Petrolia said. “But instead, staff is talking about using the meters to make money for the city.”

By Dan Moffett

South Palm Beach council members considered some ambitious plans to renovate or replace Town Hall during the last year — but it may be that their options are more limited than first thought.
Town Manager Mo Thornton says an architect hired to review the condition of the aging building is concerned that it may not have sufficient elevation to comply with today’s flood plain standards. If the structure is sitting too low, in other words, renovation might not be feasible. The only option would be to demolish and replace it.
“We’re waiting to get the results of an elevation survey,” Thornton said. “Then we’ll know for sure whether the building is renovate-able or not.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has revised elevation building standards to improve resistance to storm surge and flooding. If the Town Hall doesn’t meet the standard, renovation could require raising the entire structure to comply with building codes and insurance requirements.
“That would be too costly to do,” Thornton said.
The council hired North Palm Beach architect John Bellamy in June to review previous proposals for the building. Thornton gave Bellamy high marks after working with him in her last job as manager of Atlantis. She said she expects to have a report from Bellamy before September.
“I’m confident he can tell us what’s possible and what it will take to get it done,” she said. The Town Hall was constructed 42 years ago originally as a public safety building and has undergone multiple repairs and additions. Last year the council unanimously rejected as too costly and extravagant a $6 million proposal from another architect to replace the hall with a five-story building.
In other business:
• Town Clerk Maylee DeJesus resigned in July to take a position as deputy city clerk in West Palm Beach.
DeJesus came to South Palm Beach in January 2016 from Palm Springs, where she served eight years as assistant deputy clerk. In 2017, DeJesus was named president of the Palm Beach County Municipal Clerks Association.
Thornton said the town has begun advertising for a new clerk and is looking for candidates with financial backgrounds. The job pays about $55,000 per year. The town also is continuing its search for a new police chief and has received several dozen responses from qualified applicants, Thornton said.
• After months of debate, the council unanimously agreed on how much to fine violators of a new ordinance that prohibits dogs on the beach. Police will give first offenders a written warning, and then all subsequent offenses will draw fines of $100 each.
Mayor Bonnie Fischer had objected to a previous proposal that would have fined repeat offenders as much as $250 for each violation. “I think that is just too high,” she said.
• The council’s next regular meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 21. The meeting was postponed to accommodate vacations and ensure a quorum.

Sargassum clogs a harbor along the shore of Guadeloupe. The windward sides of the islands are much harder hit than the leeward sides. French America Climate Talks

By Cheryl Blackerby

A natural disaster has hit the Caribbean. Barbados has declared a national emergency, and the sprawling St. James Club resort in Antigua has been forced to temporarily close its doors and direct guests elsewhere. Marine experts are looking at damaged coral reefs and sea turtle mortalities.
And Puerto Rico has another emergency on top of last year’s catastrophic hurricane damage.
In a region with its share of hurricanes, active volcanoes and earthquakes, the Caribbean has a new problem, one never seen before 2011 — sargassum.
The seaweed is being dumped by ocean waves on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it’s arriving faster than it can be removed. It’s clogging waterways, shading coral reefs and killing marine mammals that drown underneath its thick mats stretching for miles.
And this is happening in a region that generally has very little seaweed.
Sargassum has always been in Florida, the Bahamas and other islands. But scientists are alarmed at research that shows the seaweed piling up on shores since 2011 is not the same plant as that in the past, which arrived at predictable times of the year from the Sargasso Sea. This new species is coming from the south near Brazil and is quickly spreading on ocean currents that are deviating from normal patterns.
The Caribbean islands worst hit are Barbados, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Martinique.
Mexico’s Riviera Maya is also seeing massive amounts of seaweed.
Residents, hotel employees and military personnel are being called on to clean the beaches by rake and wheelbarrow to preserve sea turtle nests and the area’s famous white sand.
Beyond the beaches, the bigger picture is even worse: Satellite imaging shows the seaweed growing and spreading over a swath of ocean from Brazil to West Africa and north to Florida, a new and troubling phenomenon.
“We saw it for the first time in 2011. It was really bad in 2014 and 2015. This year is the worst, with no end in sight,” Dr. Hazel Oxenford, professor of fisheries and marine ecology at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, said in late July.
“It’s essentially a natural disaster with long-term effects on fisheries, coral reefs and sea grasses. We’re looking at some significant problems,” she said.
Marine scientists were surprised by this seaweed, which hadn’t been seen in the Caribbean in the past. Researchers at first assumed it had drifted south from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, where the open-ocean seaweed is generally found. But satellite imagery and ocean current data showed an unusual stretch of sargassum off the coast of Brazil.
Dr. Jim Gower, a remote-sensing expert with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, tracked the sargassum and by 2013 he had reached a conclusion: Satellite observations showed the seaweed event of the summer of 2011 “had its origin north of the mouth of the Amazon in an area not previously associated with sargassum growth. … By July it had spread to the coast of Africa in the east and to the Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean in the west,” he said in a report published in The Journal of Remote Sensing Letters.
Dr. James Franks, a fisheries biologist, and his colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory came to the same conclusion about why a once seaweed-free part of the ocean is now filled with seaweed. Tracking the seaweed mass-blooming events back in time showed its path from the tropical Atlantic east of Brazil.
“Invariably, in all of those instances, it tracked back to the tropical region (Brazil). None of it ever tracked northward into the Sargasso Sea,” Franks told Science Magazine in June 2018.
In the Caribbean, islanders were stunned and bewildered by the piles of sargassum as much as 6 feet high dumped on their beaches. They hoped it was a one-time event, but that wasn’t the case.
Sargassum, which is essential for sea turtle hatchlings that ride the ocean currents on the nutrient-rich mats in the first few years of their lives, is now a danger to turtle hatchlings on land, where the seaweed smothers nests and poses obstacles on their beach path to the ocean.
“The Barbados government declared an emergency and is using military personnel to help. Removing it requires a tremendous amount of manpower. They are using appropriate methods, not machinery but rakes, to preserve turtle nests and sand,” Oxenford said.
In the ocean, turtles and marine mammals can’t surface and may drown under the thick seaweed, a new species that has larger blades than seaweed usually seen in the Sargasso Sea.
“We have had a few mortalities (of turtles) this year,” Oxenford said. “But we have very active conservation groups that are helping.”
She and other scientists are studying the sources and causes of this new sargassum, which has marine researchers scrambling to understand it.
“It’s a new source of sargassum. It’s not from the Sargasso Sea, but from Brazil and West Africa. It’s coming at the whim of the ocean currents and trade winds, which normally have a pattern,” she said.
Ocean currents are deviating from normal, another mystery that is alarming scientists.
“There’s been tremendous variation in the ocean current patterns,” Oxenford said.
No one knows with certainty what is causing the massive seaweed bloom, but there are educated guesses.
“The causes run a whole gamut, with a combination of higher water temperatures caused by climate change, higher nutrient levels, and pollution from deforestation and industrial development,” Oxenford said.
The one bit of good news is that the sargassum is piling up on the windward side of the islands, and most hotels in the Caribbean are on the calmer leeward side. Hotels have temporarily closed — this is the second time since 2011 that the St. James Club has closed (from July 1 to Oct. 1 this year) because of seaweed — but luckily the sargassum hit at a time when Caribbean hotels traditionally close for renovations.
To make matters worse for the big resorts on the windward side, most are located on bays and coves, which quickly get choked by the seaweed piling up in the waterways and blocking passage for boats.
No one can predict how long this seaweed event will last or how bad it will be in the future.
“We’re not going to get it stopped in a hurry. It’s a long-term problem. It would be like stopping hurricanes,” Oxenford said. “We have to learn to adapt.”

Crews work to rid the beaches of Cancun, Mexico, of seaweed. In Mexico, residents, hotel employees and military personnel have been called on to clean the beaches by rake and wheelbarrow to preserve sea turtle nests and the area’s white sand. Reuters

Dealing with sargassum
The Antigua Hotels and Tourist Association and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association have released a guide for residents and hotels dealing with the sargassum crisis.
Some of the suggestions:
• Leave or bury the sargassum on the beach.
• Use rakes and wheelbarrows to gather and transport the sargassum, being careful not to disturb sea turtle nests.
• Incorporate sargassum into landscaping after it’s cleaned of sea salt. It provides a nutrient-rich source of compost, fertilizer and weed control.
• Eat it. After it is thoroughly cleaned, it can be cooked in lemon juice and coconut milk: “The most popular preparation is a quick fry, followed by simmering in water, soy sauce and other ingredients.”

By Steve Plunkett

As his trial date nears on felony charges stemming from a 2016 shooting incident at his house, onetime Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella proclaimed his innocence and renewed his attacks on how Ocean Ridge police treated him.
“I look forward to a public airing of the facts, including the fact that I was not intoxicated, never fired a weapon and never assaulted either of the two able-bodied officers who broke three of my ribs AFTER slamming me, face-first, into the pavement,” Lucibella said in a written statement to The Coastal Star.
He and his defense attorney, Marc Shiner, went to court July 20 to renew Lucibella’s demand for a speedy trial, which they originally filed in March. The case was docketed for a calendar call Aug. 20.
“OK, so a demand for speedy trial was filed, this case is already set for trial, I believe it’s set within the window,” said Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss, who left the Aug. 20 court date as set.
Lucibella is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, both felonies, and firing a weapon while under the influence of alcohol, a misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty.
After the hearing, Shiner said he refiled the demand for speedy trial to ensure that Weiss knew the timeline of the case. Judges at a calendar call hear the cases of people who are in jail first, then move to the oldest cases, he explained.
He said the trial might not begin for a week or two after the calendar call. “Nothing’s certain in the courthouse,” Shiner said.
Lucibella was arrested Oct. 22, 2016, after Ocean Ridge police went to his oceanfront home to answer neighbors’ reports of hearing gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.
He and a police supervisor, Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, were both on the patio and “obviously intoxicated,” the officers said. Both men denied firing the gun. Officers later determined the seized gun was Wohlfiel’s.
Lucibella resigned his vice mayor and town commissioner positions Dec. 7, 2016.
His trial was first scheduled for April 2017 but was postponed to July 2017, then October, then this April and now August after Shiner and Assistant State Attorney Danielle Grundt needed more time to question witnesses and then Shiner hurt his leg. Weiss is the third judge on the case, following routine reassignments of Judges Charles Burton and Meenu Sasser.
“These charges were leveled, and then doubled, in an effort to hide the abuses of power by these officers and their Chief,” Lucibella said in his statement. “I look forward to demonstrating that the Chief of Police involved himself in this investigation after admitting he’d been drinking so heavily that night, his wife had to drive him to the police station.”
The State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Lucibella’s remarks.
Chief Hal Hutchins said Lucibella’s statements mostly repeated claims he and Shiner have made all along.
“They’re entitled to say whatever they like,” Hutchins said. “We should let the criminal justice system do its job.”
Early on, the chief said he had some wine with dinner that Friday night and had his wife drive to avoid even a suggestion of DUI.
Nubia Plesnik, one of the arresting officers, is privately suing Lucibella over injuries she says were a result of the incident.

By Jane Smith

Commuters will have to endure at least another three months of construction at the Woolbright Road/Interstate 95 interchange and another month at the Hypoluxo Road interchange.
The Woolbright interchange needs more work and is expected to be finished by the end of October, said Andrea Pacini, Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Construction started there in January 2016.
The Hypoluxo/I-95 interchange should be finished by the end of August, Pacini said. Work started there in June 2015.
The two projects are part of a $32.5 million, five-interchange contract that also covers Donald Ross Road in Jupiter, 10th Avenue North in Lake Worth, and Hillsboro Boulevard to Southwest 10th Street in Deerfield Beach.
Community Asphalt Corp., a division of OHL North America, was supposed to finish construction in November. That means FDOT will fine the contractor $8,401 per day since Nov. 4, Pacini said.
“When a contractor has exceeded contract time, they are not eligible to receive weather days or holidays,” she said.
“The contractor’s past performance rating is also being penalized, which can affect their ability to bid and win future FDOT work.”
The contractor has been working through challenging, unforeseen conditions and design issues on this project, said Fallon McLoughlin, OHL North America spokesman. “We are confident that these issues have been resolved and we plan to have construction completed by early fall.”
At the Woolbright interchange, the contractor has “substantial work outstanding. The contractor needs to complete the widening of the I-95 northbound off-ramp, finish the south-side widening, construct the sidewalk, install drainage and add lights and traffic signals,” she said.
That’s why the FDOT contract administrator is estimating an end of October completion date. The Hypoluxo Road interchange is nearly done, Pacini said.
“The contractor needs to finish grading, sodding and striping there,” she said.

By Rich Pollack

HIGHLAND BEACH — In the world of high-level professional sports car racing, few were as well respected — and feared by competitors on the track — as Devinder “Dave” Maraj.
The founder and driving force behind highly regarded Champion Racing, and the owner of Champion Porsche in Pompano Beach, Mr. Maraj guided his race team to victory from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s in some of the most competitive and challenging races in the world, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
That win, in France in 2005, marked the last time an American team won the grueling endurance race.
So when word of Mr. Maraj’s drowning death late last month began circulating among people in the auto world, disbelief set in and then quickly turned to shock and grief.
“Dave’s professionalism and demand for excellence was in a league by itself,” said Scott Atherton, president of the International Motor Sports Association and someone who knew Mr. Maraj well professionally. “He was the benchmark example of a team owner and competitor.”
Mr. Maraj, 65, who lived in Highland Beach, was discovered in the water near the Boca Raton Resort and Club by Boca Raton police divers early on Sunday, July 22, after friends had reported him missing. Boca Raton police are investigating his death as an accidental drowning.
Although Mr. Maraj — originally from Trinidad — had folded the racing team in 2008, he continued to operate Champion Porsche, which grew to be the largest-volume Porsche dealership in the world. Mr. Maraj had previously owned a Broward County Audi dealership.
“Dave was a great man to deal with,” said Cliff Ray, auto show coordinator for the South Florida Automobile Dealers Association, of which Mr. Maraj was a member for about 20 years. “He was always cordial and kind.”
In recent years, Mr. Maraj had traded his love for auto racing into a passion for sailing, according to Atherton. Still he linked the two together, naming his racing sailboat 24 Heures, or 24 Hours in French.
Atherton said there was a common denominator between Mr. Maraj’s success in auto racing as well as in business.
“Dave’s greatest strength was his ability to surround himself with outstanding people who knew how to get things done,” he said.
While the 24 Hours of Le Mans may have been Champion Racing’s greatest accomplishment, it was just one of many victories for the team, which raced for more than a decade.
Champion Racing won the American Le Mans series championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005, racing as an independent team, frequently competing against teams run by manufacturers, which had greater resources. The team, later racing under the Audi Sport North America name, won two more times.
“Dave’s team was always the one to beat on the global scale,” Atherton said. “Champion was the one everyone measured against.”
Very detail oriented, Mr. Maraj was known as a no-nonsense kind of owner, both with the team and the dealership.
“With Dave, nothing was left to chance,” Atherton said. “He was the most intense — and quietest — competitor I ever dealt with.”
Atherton said his organization provided decals that paid tribute to Mr. Maraj with his name and favorite saying, “One Last One,” for teams to place on their cars during a recent race.
“Dave was held in the highest regard possible,” he said. “He passed way too soon.”
Memorial services were held July 27 at Glick Family Funeral Home in Boca Raton.

By Jane Smith

Barrier island residents may see some water-related changes starting in October after Boynton Beach passes its $91.1 million budget.
Condo residents of four complexes south of Woolbright Road in Ocean Ridge will be part of a $400,000 request to study how their aging septic systems can connect with Boynton Beach’s wastewater system, according to Joe Paterniti, interim utilities director.
Paterniti made his department’s budget presentation July 17 at the Boynton Beach budget workshop.
The force main would go under the Intracoastal Waterway to serve condo communities along State Road A1A, Paterniti said.
The complexes involved are Ocean Ridge Yacht Club, Crown Colony Club, Colonial Ridge Club and Turtle Beach Club.
In addition, Boynton Beach has developed a master plan for its water reuse system, said Colin Groff, assistant city manager who used to be the utilities department director.
About 60 big water customers indicated they are interested in having the reuse water to use for irrigation, Groff said. Most of these are on the west side of the Intracoastal, he said.
Two likely clients on the east side of the ICW are golf courses at The Little Club in Gulf Stream and the St. Andrews Club in Boynton Beach.
“Between October and January, we’ll contact them again to make sure they are still interested,” Groff said.
The reuse irrigation pipes would be installed under Federal Highway to coincide with the Florida Department of Transportation’s repaving project, he said at the July 17 budget workshop.
The pipes would then cross under the Intracoastal at the Boynton Beach-owned Jaycee Park.
The two golf courses may have to wait a year to get the reused water.
“We may have to build a pump station on the west side of the Intracoastal to supply condo complexes in Boynton Beach that want to have the reuse water for irrigation,” Groff said.
The four-year project is estimated to cost $8 million, Groff said.
Boynton Beach also is proposing a 2.2 percent rate increase for its water customers in Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and the County Pocket. That increase also will take effect in October.

By Jane Smith

Boynton Beach residents and others using city services will have to be patient for the next two years while the city builds out its Town Square complex.
Civic buildings, including the City Hall, Public Library and Fire Station 1, will be demolished and staff will work out of different locations around town.
The library is closed and will reopen 9 a.m. Aug. 13 in a shared space with the Congregational United Church of Christ at 115 N. Federal Highway. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency purchased the church building that originally was a bank and a nearby parking lot in the spring.
The city recently agreed to hire Jade Communications of Boca Raton for $25,878 to upgrade the Wi-Fi capabilities at the temporary library site.
“People will have to be patient and pay attention where they are going,” said Colin Groff, assistant city manager in charge of Town Square. “We will put out notices wherever we can — social media, in utility bills, signs at the site.”
The city held a plant giveaway at its already closed Civic Center on July 19. The cuttings came from plants around the City Hall, Civic Center and the library.
About 150 people came to the plant giveaway, said Eleanor Krusell, city spokeswoman.
The remaining plants around city buildings will be replanted elsewhere around Boynton Beach — medians and parks, Krusell said. With its private development partner E2L Real Estate Solutions, Boynton Beach hopes to create a new downtown in the 16-acre area, bordered by Boynton Beach Boulevard on the north, Northeast and Southeast First Streets on the east, Southeast Second Avenue on the south and Seacrest Boulevard on the west.
Private development will include apartments, restaurants and a hotel in the $250 million project. The city’s share is about $118 million.
The historic high school renovations will be complete in March, Groff said. But it won’t be able to hold city recreation programs until the City Center complex is finished in early 2020, he said.
“There won’t be more than 40 parking spaces available until the new garage, part of the City Center complex, is ready,” Groff said. People can still rent out the second floor for banquets and weddings, he said, but they must provide offsite parking.

City Hall move: September
City Hall staff will move over two weeks in mid-September to Quantum Park, Groff said. City Hall will reopen Sept. 24 at 3301 Quantum Blvd.
The City Commission, CRA meetings and other city advisory board meetings will be held at the City Hall Commission Chambers during August. In September, they will move to the Intracoastal Park Clubhouse at 2240 N. Federal Highway.
Fire Station 1, which also serves Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes, will divide its staff and vehicles between Fire Station 4 on South Federal Highway and Fire Station 5 on High Ridge Road.
“We will be the last to leave,” said Fire Chief Glenn Joseph. The departure time will be in mid-September. One lieutenant and two firefighter/paramedics with a rescue vehicle will work out of the South Federal Highway station, he said.
About 70 percent of the emergency calls are medical, Joseph said. The fire truck and three staff members (lieutenant and two firefighter paramedics) will work out of Fire Station 5.
Joseph expects the response times to increase by 30 seconds. His team will monitor them and if they rise over 1 minute, the team will look for space east of Interstate 95. Joseph knows it won’t be easy to find a building big enough to house the fire truck.

Dwarfed by construction cranes already on the job site, city and county tourism officials joined representatives from Kolter Hospitality and KAST Construction for a groundbreaking to celebrate the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Delray Beach. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Christine Davis

Kolter Hospitality, the company developing the new Courtyard by Marriott, will move its headquarters from West Palm Beach to Delray’s Pineapple Grove District next summer. That news, announced by Kolter President Scott Webb after ground was broken for the hotel in July, is expected to bring 50 jobs, along with another 60 needed to run the Courtyard by Marriott, in addition to the 75 to 125 construction workers needed to build the hotel.

The 150-room hotel will have 2,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop pool and should open by September 2019. Rendering provided

The Courtyard by Marriott, at 135 SE Sixth Ave., will be Kolter’s second hotel in town, joining Hyatt Place. It is scheduled to be completed by September 2019.
“We see the value of investing in Delray’s economy and we are once again demonstrating this commitment,” Webb said. “The interesting thing about the hotel business is, we are not competitive with the local economy, but rather more symbiotic in nature. This hotel will put, on average, about 175 people every day out into the community looking to eat and shop, and this, in turn, will create even more jobs for Delray.”
 According to Kolter’s website, the hotel will have 150 guestrooms, 2,000 square feet of meeting space, a rooftop pool and parking.

Jeb A. Conrad started work as the new president and CEO of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce in May. Previously, he was the president of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce in Indiana. Conrad, a graduate of Indiana University School of Business, held leadership roles at Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance and Indianapolis Economic Development. He also worked for Simon Property Group and the Indianapolis Water Co., both based in Indianapolis.

During the second annual Downtown Delray Beach Summer Sidewalk Sale, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 25-26, shops and galleries will offer savings and a chance to win a “Summer Fun Delray Beach” prize package.  For details, visit DowntownDelrayBeach.com/SidewalkSale.

As it does each August, the Boca Chamber is facilitating community-building events during Boca Chamber Festival Days 2018. Events pair the chamber’s for-profit members with nonprofit members. Held at various locations in South Palm Beach County, wine tastings, museum visits, cocktail parties, pizza tossing, bowling, and a karaoke contest will raise money and awareness for nonprofit members. To take part, visit bocaratonchamber.com and click on events, then choose community events from the drop-down menu. Navigate to August for a full list.

The Boca Chamber Education Foundation’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy is enrolling students in grades 6-12 through Sept. 14. During the 25-week curriculum, students will work with leaders of industry, community members and educators to develop life skills, generate business ideas, conduct market research, write business plans and launch their own companies. The program culminates with a shark tank-style event where students will pitch their ideas to a panel of investors and ask for funds to support their business ventures. For more information, go to bocaratonchamber.com/yea.

Ranked from nearly 14,000 U.S. real estate sales associates, a handful of local agents made “The Thousand” list, which is compiled by Real Trends, an online real estate research and consulting firm, done in partnership with The Wall Street Journal. For individual agents to be ranked, they must have closed 50 sides of a transaction or $20 million in closed sales volume in 2017.
Paul Saperstein of Re/Max Advantage Plus of Boynton Beach closed 137 sides, and was ranked 198. For volume, David Roberts of Royal Palm Properties, Boca Raton, was ranked 34, with a volume of almost $189 million in closed sales. Pascal Liguori, an agent with Premier Estate Properties, Delray Beach, was ranked 45, with a closed sales volume of $167.759 million.
For team rankings, the team must have closed 75 sides of a transaction or $30 million in closed sales volume in 2017. Boca Raton’s Premier Estate Properties team, D’Angelo/Liguori, with Carmen D’Angelo, Gerard Liguori and Joseph Liguori, ranked 241 with a closed sales volume of $126.11 million.

Gail Adams Aaskov, broker of Ocean Ridge Realty, has moved her office to 326 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach. Her real estate office had been a fixture in Ocean Ridge since 1981. Agents Maria Carrasco, Christiane Francois, Al Fries, Albert Medina, Denise Medina and Sandy Wolforth and Administrative Assistant Sonia Wexler will continue their real estate work from this new location. Contact them at 276-3220.

Next month, Lang Realty will launch a lifestyle real estate channel, Lang TV to stream worldwide online (at (langrealty.tv), featuring South Florida agents, real estate, lifestyle activities, interior design and travel.
“As marketing platforms continue to evolve, this innovative format is designed to provide our agents with a competitive advantage in connecting with potential home buyers, sellers, other agents and local businesses throughout South Florida,” said Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty.
Produced by BYL Network, Lang TV will stream on smart TVs and will broadcast throughout Lang’s 11 offices and online at langrealty.com. For more information, call 998-0100.

More than 300 guests attended the opening of the new Movie Bistro Restaurant and Bar in May. Following complimentary cocktails and appetizers, guests attended a complimentary movie on Cinemark Palace 20 and XD’s Premier level. Movie Bistro, a full-service restaurant at Cinemark Palace 20 and XD, 3200 Airport Road, Boca Raton, offers lunch, dinner, happy hour and dessert, whether diners plan on going to movies or not.

The second annual Culinary Job Fair is set for 2 p.m. Aug. 7 at Benvenuto Restaurant in Boynton Beach.
It’s the brainchild of Sherry Johnson of the Secret Garden, a culinary business development center.
Sponsored by the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, the city of Boynton Beach, Palm Beach County, PNC Bank, Community Action and PBC Career Resource Center, it’s meant to help anyone looking for a job in hospitality. That includes chefs, front- and back-of-house workers, prep cooks, stockers, deli specialists, nutritionists, bartenders and dishwashers.
The list of vendors participating is available online at cccgbb.org/culinary-job-fair.

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

GULF STREAM — William Scott Tiernan, who grew up in Delray Beach, died July 27 in Laramie, Wyo. He was 67. 
Mr. Tiernan — who went by “Grand Dude” when with his grandchildren and by “Wild Bill” when on his Wyoming ranch — was born in West Orange, N.J., on May 18, 1951. The second of four kids, he grew up on the ocean in Delray Beach and spent his childhood summers surfing on Cape Cod and in East Hampton. 
He attended high school at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, where he lettered in football, wrestling and lacrosse. After graduation, he served on the school’s board and donated a wrestling room in honor of his late father, John W. Tiernan.
After a series of adventures and surf trips around the world, Mr. Tiernan moved to Gulf Stream — just down the road from the home he grew up in — where he became a partner in the real estate brokerage firm Allmon, Tiernan & Ely. He also served on the board of his family’s company, Mark, Fore & Strike. After his retirement, he bought a property just outside Laramie, where he built a ranch and enjoyed making huge metal sculptures — much to his kids’ and grandkids’ delight. 
Mr. Tiernan is survived by his mother, Lynda Scheerer Stokes of Gulf Stream; the mother of his four children, Kim Allmon Tiernan of Guana Cay, Bahamas; his three sons: Scott Durand Tiernan of Newport Beach, Calif., Parker Knight Tiernan of Delray Beach and John Sears Tiernan of Great Falls, Mont.; a daughter, Cary Tiernan Butterfield of Bermuda; Cary’s three children: Ava, Cruz and Elle Butterfield; three siblings: Michael Whitaker Tiernan and Ann Purcell Tiernan of Delray Beach and Martha Tiernan Ely of Gulf Stream. Scores of family and friends will remember fondly his bright blue eyes, surfer dude hair, and thirst for adventure.  A celebration of Mr. Tiernan’s life will take place at a later date.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Steve Plunkett

The city’s downtown post office is staying put, postal officials announced July 5.

The U.S. Postal Service told Boca Raton in February that it had been unable to get a new long-term lease on the facility at 170 NE Second Street. 

“The Postal Service and the landlord since have been able to come to a long-term agreement to stay at the current location,” USPS spokeswoman Debra Fetterly said.  Landlords James and Marta Batmasian bought the site, which has housed the post office for decades, in 2013.

Mayor Scott Singer called it “a great outcome” ending months of concern for city officials and downtown businesses and residents.

“I’m glad the Postal Service listened,” Singer said.

Residents crowded a room in the Community Center Annex on March 29 to plead with postal officials not to relocate the post office, saying it was part of the city’s history. The lease was set to end July 13.

Damian Salazar, a USPS real estate specialist, said the agency wanted a lease for at least 10 years with three five-year renewals.

James Batmasian, who attended the meeting, told Salazar that was the first he had heard that the Postal Service wanted a longer lease and offered on the spot to redo a four-year lease he and his wife had negotiated in September.

By Steve Plunkett

If mayoral candidate Bernard Korn votes in the city’s Aug. 28 special election, it will be the first ballot he has ever cast in Palm Beach County, the county’s top elections official says.
Korn registered to vote for the first time April 9, according to Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. Her office has no record of his voting in previous elections or even signing up to vote.
“That’s all I can find,” Bucher said.
Korn’s voter registration may also be the first official document he has showing a Boca Raton address: 720 Marble Way on the barrier island. But he also asked Bucher’s office to send any mail to 19078 Skyridge Circle, a house far west of the city that he and his wife, Kathy, bought in 2000.
Property records showing his ownership of the Skyridge Circle house — plus his use of a Pak Mail of West Boca post office box on campaign documents — have raised questions about Korn’s residency ever since he opened a campaign account in January.
Outside City Hall on June 12, he said he has been asked “a thousand times” about where he lives — “I’ve been a resident since 2000,” he said, adding it was “all in the documents.”
“The City Clerk’s Office, the Supervisor of Elections, the state Division of Elections — they’ve all signed off on it,” Korn said as he passed out palm cards and shook hands with people going into the City Council meeting.
But City Clerk Susan Saxton, who acts as the elections supervisor for Boca Raton contests, said she does not check residency beyond making sure a candidate signed the city’s sworn affidavit.
“How could we check? If they’re renting there’s really no way” beyond taking them at their word, Saxton said.
Korn on May 11 signed a notarized statement that he is “a qualified elector” of Boca Raton and has been a resident for “not less than thirty (30) days prior to the first day of the qualifying period for candidates.” He submitted the document May 21, the first day of qualifying, thus becoming an official candidate.
Also qualifying for the mayor’s race were lawyer and Mayor Scott Singer and lawyer Al Zucaro.
Korn’s campaign took an unusual detour April 1 when he signed on as campaign treasurer of Richard Vecchio’s short-lived run for mayor. Korn simultaneously was treasurer of his own campaign. Vecchio did not follow through on officially qualifying.
Korn’s April 9 voter registration was one of two steps he took that month to establish Boca Raton residency. On April 12 he filed a Declaration of Domicile in Palm Beach County’s official records stating 720 Marble Way is his “predominant and principal home” and has been for “5 (five) years.”
Property appraiser records show he and Kathy Korn have a homestead exemption for the Skyridge Circle house, which is in the gated Saturnia community west of U.S. 441, that started in 2001 and continues today. Homestead exemptions are granted “if your property is your permanent residence,” Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks says on her website.
Jacks’ records show the house at 720 Marble Way also has a homestead exemption — for Vecchio, who like Korn is a registered real estate broker.
Neither Korn nor Vecchio returned a phone call or replied to an email seeking comment by press time.
On the same day Korn registered to vote using the Marble Way address, he re-registered with the state two franchise businesses he operates — Undiscovered Properties Inc. and Travel Lines Express Inc. — using the Skyridge Circle address.
Campaign finance reports for May, the latest available, show Korn has received no contributions from individuals or businesses. He has lent his campaign $2,602.72 so far.
Zucaro lent his campaign $3,500 during the nine days in May he was a candidate. Singer, who has taken contributions since October, has $84,345.
Singer and Zucaro both have voted regularly in past elections, records show.
The website Korn uses to solicit clients for Undiscovered Properties and Travel Lines Express also seeks support for his 2020 campaign to become president of the United States.
On July 24 the City Council will consider asking voters whether a candidate should be a resident for a year to qualify. The proposed language also would disqualify a person who has a homestead exemption on a residence outside the city during that time.

Candidate forum
WHAT: Candidates in the Aug. 28 special election will answer questions posed by a moderator from the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations.
WHO: Running for mayor are real estate broker Bernard Korn, lawyer and current Mayor Scott Singer and lawyer Al Zucaro. Running for City Council Seat A are consultant Kathy Cottrell, actress Tamara McKee and lawyer Andy Thomson.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Aug. 9
WHERE: Municipal Building, 6500 Congress Ave.