Bindi Evans of South Palm Beach wears a dress she designed for the Little Miss Nation pageant. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Pine Crest School fourth-grader Bindiya “Bindi” Evans has big dreams and a big personality to get her there. She’s already a model, pageant winner and a fashion designer; now she’s eager to try her hand at acting. “I think I’ll be good at it,” she says.

The 10-year-old girl has her fingers in lots of pies. She says her friends like her because she’s super-positive, doesn’t take sides and supports conflict resolution. “I’m a Libra,” she says. “I like to balance things.”

Bindi’s credentials include her own fashion line, Bindi Fashion Designs, with dozens of dresses — her strong suit — from frilly to red-carpet ready. She credits Nora Marvilli and her company Bella Fashion for showing her what’s possible.

The South Palm Beach preteen is the reigning “Little Miss U.S. Nation,” a title she won wearing a dress that revealed an American flag. But really, Bindi lives a multinational life. Her mother, Rahonie, is Indian and came to the U.S. from Guyana in South America. She is a family nurse practitioner working in cardiology and internal medicine and is pursuing a doctorate in psychiatric and mental health. Her father, Lee, was born in Missouri, and his heritage is French, Irish and German. He’s a medical technologist who works in a lab.

When Bindi was a baby, they hired a nanny who spoke only Spanish so Bindi would learn the language seamlessly.

She did, and being bilingual helped Bindi land a spot on a Telemundo television show in development, working title “Bella Divas.” Step one: Lessons to get her camera-ready in poise and etiquette, walking and sitting properly, and speaking well, skills she’ll use when she visits New York, London and Milan this spring. When she’s not busy preparing for filming the Telemundo show, she’ll explore fashion, modeling opportunities and show her clothes on those trips. Bindi loves the pageant world, but she’s a savvy girl so she knows that for some people, being nice is just an act. “You can tell who your real friends are,” she says.

They’re the ones who are genuinely happy when you win. Bindi wears her graciousness like an invisible crown. She knows that someone else’s success does not detract from her own accomplishments. She’s excited that in her next pageant, in March in Orlando, she’ll be working on the other side of the aisle, crowning the winners and being a featured performer on the violin.

“I think crowning and the titles inspire kids that don’t have confidence,” she says.

Confidence is one of Bindi’s strengths. She’s direct. She makes eye contact. She’s clever and funny. Her hands fly up to frame her face and to silence her mother so Bindi can tell her own story. Her pageant platform is “kids living without stress.” Stress is something she sees a lot.

Some of it comes from parents, she says, who are under stress too. “Be nice to your parents” is her advice. “You don’t know what they’re going through.” Bindi may not know the word empathy yet, but she already understands it.

Her world is full of the arts. She started violin at 3, is learning piano and guitar, loves to draw and paint and likes reading and writing in school. She finds inspiration and creativity everywhere she goes.

“I get inspired by nature,” she says. “It makes me want to design flowery dresses.” One of her most popular creations is a vibrant floral-print party dress with a wide pink sash. Her favorite pieces are a tutu-inspired two-piece leotard and poodle skirt and a neon green outfit that’s an age-appropriate ace-bandage dress but with a big skirt.

Ask what she loves, and she provides a list: “I love Harry Potter. I love anime. I love theater. I love my guinea pigs, Oreo and Sylvester Stallone. I love being unique.”

Her mom looks surprised when Bindi says, “My friends sometimes call me a weird goofball and I’m OK with that.”
But that’s Bindi. Just go with it.

Enjoy sunsets from two vantage points of the entertainment loggia, complete with outdoor kitchen.

This home, a waterfront estate designed by Randall Stofft on a one-acre-plus lot, has more than 470 feet of Intracoastal frontage and a dock with room for a 100-foot-plus yacht.

The home is comfortably spacious with more than 12,567 total square feet. A private, detached one-bedroom, one-bath house is situated on the property for staff or guests.

This home occupies a south point lot, has a gracious layout and panoramic views of the water.

Top-of-the-line details and marble tile flooring fill the formal living room overlooking the waterway.

The main home has a total of six en suite bedrooms and seven baths.

It features a spacious first-floor master, epicurean kitchen; informal dining room; formal dining room; sun-filled family room; state-of-the art home theater; dual offices; exercise room; massage room; loft area, and three-bay garage.

The home’s design incorporates charming elements such as this cozy spot in a bay window.

A five-star resort pool and spa are main components of the loggia.

Offered at $13,495,000. Contact the Friis team at the Corcoran Group, 901 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach, FL 33483. Office phone is 561-278-0433. Contact Candace Friis at candacefriis.com or 561-573-9966; Phil Friis at 561-706-1922.

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.

Patrick Goddard, president of Virgin Trains, speaks during a news conference after the City Council’s 5-0 vote to OK a station in Boca Raton. From left are Andrea O’Rourke, Mayor Scott Singer, Jeremy Rodgers and Monica Mayotte. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Even before City Council members cast their votes, a euphoric Mayor Scott Singer hailed their approval of a deal that would allow construction of a Virgin Trains station and parking garage on city-owned land.
“This will be a moment of triumph for Boca Raton,” he told residents at a jam-packed Dec. 10 council meeting.
A unanimous council quickly made it official: The city will lease 1.8 acres east of the Downtown Library to Virgin Trains for the much-coveted station and garage, beating out other cities that badly wanted this prize. Even station critics expected no other outcome.
Standing minutes later with Virgin Trains President Patrick Goddard, Singer declared, “Tonight was a great win for Boca Raton.”
“I think it is phenomenal,” Goddard said. “Creating mobility is what we are all about.”
But before shovels hit the ground, the city and for-profit rail company have more work to do.
Virgin Trains will submit a site plan for the station and garage that the council must approve. The plan will provide project specifics, such as the final designs of both buildings, which could spur new objections from station opponents.
Virgin Trains also will submit a study on how the station and garage will affect traffic on nearby streets. The traffic analysis will be used to determine if any road changes or improvements are needed. If so, decisions will have to be made on how to pay for them.
The City Council must approve a temporary parking lot on city-owned land south of the Downtown Library that patrons can use while much of the existing library parking lot is blocked off during station and garage construction.
One significant matter remains unresolved. Virgin Trains wanted the construction of an elevated pedestrian bridge that would let people walk safely across busy Dixie and Federal highways to Mizner Park.
Deputy City Manager George Brown said at the Dec. 10 meeting that the bridge may not be feasible since it would need approvals from Florida East Coast Railway, the county, state and property owners.
The bridge could cost between $7 million and $12 million. The potential price tag is high because the bridge likely would need to be enclosed and air-conditioned due to Florida’s climate. That has prompted concerns about vagrants camping out in the bridge.
An alternative is an enhanced pedestrian walkway at ground level that is less costly and easier to achieve, Brown said.
While Virgin Trains hasn’t crossed the finish line yet, the rail company is expected to move just as quickly to iron out final matters as it did to get the long-term lease. The city and company reached an agreement less than five months after Virgin Trains said it wanted to build a station in the city.
Virgin Trains hopes to break ground in February or March, with the station completed and operating by the end of 2020.
Residents filled every seat in the council chambers and spilled into an overflow room for the chance to speak for or against the project. More than 60 voiced their opinions during the nearly six-hour meeting.
Key business groups, employers and many residents are thrilled to have a station, saying it will lure more companies to locate in the city, increase property values, draw visitors to cultural venues and provide an alternative to clogged Interstate 95 to reach West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, where Virgin Trains already has stations.
“It certainly is a game-changer for our city,” said Troy McLellan, CEO of the Boca Chamber. “The overwhelming support throughout the city is loud and clear.”
Jorge Pesquera, CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches, said having a station in Boca Raton is like “winning the lottery.”
But residents of the Library Commons neighborhood just north of the station site objected to a 4.5-story garage looming over their homes and fear Virgin Trains eventually will damage the character of the area by developing adjacent city-owned and privately owned land.
Supporters of the heavily used Downtown Library also worry about the potential for multistory development and patrons losing easy access to the building.
Others expressed doubts that Virgin Trains is financially viable and sharply questioned city officials about their rationale for leasing land to the rail company for the nominal amount of $1 a year and paying most of the cost of the garage.
“It is basically a giveaway to a private company,” said Manju Pendakur, a retired Florida Atlantic University professor.
Library Commons resident Charles Bennardini said Virgin Trains’ goal is to develop land near the station.
“They are interested in using your tax dollars to further their revenue interests,” he said.
But opponents failed to sway council members.
“This is about an opportunity, a rare opportunity,” Singer said, later adding, “This is an investment worth making.”
Council member Andrea O’Rourke said 98% of the emails she received about the station came from people supporting it.
“To have the opportunity to have this train station is invaluable,” said council member Monica Mayotte. “The economic value this station will bring is evident.”
Virgin Trains will pay for the $25 million station and nearly $2 million for 64 garage spaces on the ground floor reserved for library patrons, who will park at no cost and will have their own garage entrance.
The city will pay the lion’s share — nearly $12 million — of the remaining cost of building the 455-space garage, which Virgin Trains will operate and maintain. Virgin Trains will give 50% of the garage revenues to the city. Drivers who don’t use the train or library also will be able to park in the garage.
The city’s share of garage cost will not result in a tax increase, Brown said. The money is coming from city reserves.
The city considers the lease a land sale because of its length. The initial lease term is 29 years but with renewals could total 89 years.
Virgin Trains initially asked the city to donate about 4 city-owned acres east and south of the Downtown Library. It wanted to develop about half of that.
The company put development plans on ice after hearing strong objections from residents, but that does not mean they have been scrapped. Virgin Trains has a right of first refusal if the city decides to sell the property after Dec. 31, 2024. The city would not sell it before then.
City code requires any sale or lease of city property to be done at fair market value. There is an exception, however, for the sale or lease of property that would be of “significant economic benefit” to the city.
Virgin Trains provided an economic impact study that says the station will contribute $15.5 million annually in economic benefits, including $10.9 million in money spent by visitors using the train to come to Boca Raton.
In a concession to Library Commons residents, Virgin Trains agreed in November to push the garage 25 feet south. Adding in a 20-foot easement, there will be a 45-foot buffer between the neighborhood and the garage.
The rail company also will pay up to $300,000 to relocate the Junior League of Boca Raton’s Community Garden, which will be displaced by the station and garage. City officials have identified Meadows Park as a potential new location for it because it has ample parking, room for expansion and is pesticide-free.
While that doesn’t satisfy some of the avid gardeners, most Junior League members and gardeners who spoke at the Dec. 10 meeting supported the Meadows Park location.
Virgin Trains’ financial viability remains a concern for some residents. A consultant’s report to the city found that while ridership and revenues are increasing, both fall significantly below projections.
But Jose Gonzalez, executive vice president of Florida East Coast Industries, told council members that the projections cited by Colliers International are outdated because they are based on Virgin Trains’ having service to Orlando. FECI is a subsidiary of the private equity firm that operates Virgin Trains.
Although the Orlando station is built, the start of service was delayed by litigation and is now expected to begin in 2022, he said.
Virgin Trains was on track to have 934,000 passengers in 2019, which Gonzalez said nearly meets the company’s targets.
The company also has approvals to build stations at PortMiami and Aventura. Those and the Boca Raton station will increase ridership by 2 million passengers once they are operational, the company has said.
To protect the city against the possibility that Virgin Trains could go out of business, its deal with the rail company says it may terminate the lease for the station and garage land if the company discontinues service or service diminishes substantially.
In that worst-case scenario, the city would take over the parking garage and could repurpose the train station for other uses.
Virgin Trains, the rebranded name of Brightline, has drawn scrutiny for the number of people who have died on its tracks.
While all railroads in South Florida have struck people, Virgin Trains is responsible for the most deaths, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.
None of the deaths was caused by crew error or faulty equipment, according to federal reports. The majority have been suicides, while others involved people who tried to beat the train or ignored gates and warnings.
In early December, Goddard said the company would contribute $150,000 to support the 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast Helpline, a service for people with mental health issues.
That would be added to $500,000 in state funding that State Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, is seeking in a bill intended to reduce the number of suicides by train.
The Florida Department of Transportation also has announced it will spend $60 million to make safety improvements to more than 4,000 rail crossings over the next two years.

Inside the work of Gumbo Limbo crew

that strives to be biggest ally of these at-risk sea creatures

ABOVE: Gumbo Limbo workers roll a 350-pound female green turtle named Yamato to the ocean at Spanish River Park before a crowd typical of such turtle releases. Yamato, who was treated for partial paralysis after being hit by a boat, wears a satellite-tracking device and is strapped into a custom-built gurney. BELOW: Veterinarian Maria Chadam raises her arms as sea turtle rehab coordinator Whitney Crowder hugs Gumbo Limbo manager Leanne Welch to celebrate the release of Yamato. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Larry Keller

It’s a typical Sunday afternoon at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and visitors cluster around the aquarium, stroll the boardwalk and explore the butterfly garden.
It’s the injured and ailing sea turtles in outdoor tanks, however, that inspire the most fervent reactions.
A little boy stands at one, gawking at a turtle named Cane swimming languidly. “That’s so ginormous!” he exclaims.
It’s doubtful many of the 200,000 annual visitors are aware of the array of scientists, educators, interns and 150 volunteers who work together to protect and heal turtles, and inform the public about them, or the specifics of what they do.
“They are the go-to place for the south end of Palm Beach County and south of that. These are very important nesting beaches,” says Larry Wood, a biologist affiliated with the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation.
Here are a few members of Gumbo Limbo’s sea turtle team:

Sea Turtle Conservation
& Research Program
“I absolutely love what I do,” says David Anderson, sea turtle conservation coordinator. “Being on the beach every morning at sunrise — that’s my office. You encounter something different every day.”
Plus, people thank him for what he’s doing, tell him how lucky he is to be doing it and snap photos of him at work.
“It must be a pretty cool job,” Anderson says with a laugh. “I feel very fortunate.”
Anderson and his team count and record data during sea turtle nesting season, and a whole lot more. He and marine conservationist Kirt Rusenko are the only full-time staffers in this unit of Gumbo Limbo.
Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in history from Auburn University and a master’s in physical geography from the University of Alabama.
Rusenko has a doctorate in zoology from Clemson University and has been Boca Raton’s marine conservationist since 1995. He was recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association in 2013 for his work in protecting sea turtles.
Five part-time staffers assist them during nesting season, March 1 through Oct. 31. They have degrees or are pursuing degrees in marine sciences, and each has spent two or three years with the team.
Anderson was a middle school and high school science teacher, and an adjunct professor at Broward College, when he began volunteering at Gumbo Limbo in 2006, then worked part-time there in summers.
“All teachers need a second job,” he quips.
When the job Anderson now holds became vacant in 2015, he applied and got it.
During nesting season, Anderson’s team meets at Gumbo Limbo about 30 minutes before sunrise. Then, equipped with tablet computers, water bottles and rain jackets, they head to the 5-mile section of beach that they survey.
Once there, they record information on the types of species that came ashore in darkness — they can tell by the pattern of their tracks — as well as geographic data, whether they found nests, the condition of them and other information.
Then they return to Gumbo Limbo to input the 1,300 data points.
“It’s very data-intensive work,” Anderson says.
He also supervises guided nighttime viewings of wayward hatchlings being released in the ocean, and group outings to search for adult females laying eggs. He estimates a 70% success rate at this — while being vigilant that nobody disturbs the turtles with lights from cameras, cellphones and the like.
In the off-season, Anderson remains busy fine-tuning data for submission to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, attending workshops and conferences and making presentations to civic groups.
One highlight of his job occurred when a high school girl from North Dakota, who wanted to be a turtle biologist for a day, visited courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
It wasn’t a banner year for green turtle nests, so when Anderson took her to the beach, they got a surprise. “One of the biggest green sea turtles I’ve seen was finishing her nest on the beach,” he recalls. “It was like it was purposely for her.”

Jeanette Wyneken, a professor of biological sciences who oversees the Florida Atlantic University Research Gallery at Gumbo Limbo, holds a pair of female 4-month-old green sea turtles that were part of her sex/temperature research.

Florida Atlantic University
Research Gallery
In one corner of Gumbo Limbo’s complex is an FAU research laboratory. Visitors can look down from the second floor upon tubs of turtles, and usually a professor or a student is on hand to answer questions about the work underway.
“Our lab is in many ways unique in the world,” says Jeanette Wyneken, an FAU professor of biological sciences and researcher who oversees the facility. “We’re not only doing the science, but we talk about it in real time.”
FAU researchers once had to lug jugs of saltwater from the ocean to the lab for their work. “It limits what you can do,” Wyneken says. Nowadays, ocean water is pumped directly there via underground pipes and into a storage tank.
Wyneken’s doctorate in biology is from the University of Illinois, far from any oceans. But she had small pet turtles as a child (after her mother explained that a pet dinosaur wasn’t an option) and eventually a box turtle that she kept for more than 50 years. It was more than 100 years old when it died, she says.
Her research at the Gumbo Limbo lab includes an ongoing years-long study into how temperatures affect the gender ratios of sea turtles. Gender isn’t established until after eggs are laid. She has found that the warmer the climate, the more likely hatchlings will be females. In seven of the past 10 years, loggerhead hatchlings have all been females, she says.
“If we have too much of one sex and not the other, we have a problem because we’re dealing with endangered or threatened species,” Wyneken says. A gender imbalance greatly affects reproduction and the survival of those species.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be documenting the effects of climate change,” Wyneken says. “The turtles tell the story clearly and non-threateningly.”
Hotter temperatures not only affect the hatchlings’ gender, but their very survival. Some 79% to 82% of loggerhead sea turtle eggs on the Boca Raton beach used to hatch, but that was down to 58%, and then 38%, in the particularly hot years of 2015 and 2016 respectively, Wyneken says.
“This is serious. They can’t dig themselves away from the hot temperatures, so they die.”
Green turtle successful hatch rates are on a similar track, Wyneken adds. (Leatherbacks nest in far smaller numbers in Florida and are harder to study for various reasons.)
The 2017 and 2018 nesting seasons rebounded somewhat, and 64% and 70% of clutches successfully hatched respectively, still lower than what used to be typical.
Other turtle research at the lab has long been conducted by Wyneken’s fellow professor Michael Salmon. He has shown, for example, that sea turtles can see color, and perceive some colors more clearly than others. One of Salmon’s clever students devised a turtle maze and reward system for the study.
“We now know another piece about the biology of these animals,” Wyneken says.
And the information has potential practical uses. Long-line fishing operators bait thousands of hooks on gear that contains lights. Using a lighting color that doesn’t attract turtles to the baits could help save them from being inadvertently killed.
Gumbo Limbo lab research isn’t exclusively devoted to sea turtles. Professor Stephen Kajiura and his students have been studying sharks, including their senses of smell and sight. And Professor Marguerite Koch is studying the effects of ocean acidification — caused by absorption of increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — on seagrasses.

Rehabilitation coordinator Caitlin Bovery photographs an albino sea turtle hatchling during a release at sea.

Sea Turtle
Rehabilitation Facility
The rehabilitation team could very well be renamed the creative team. Its members have made a brace from zip ties and epoxy. Learned to apply honey as a topical antibiotic. Used medicinal leeches to reduce swelling from fishing-line entanglements. Applied medicinal maggots to remove dead tissue from infections.
“You definitely get creative,” says Caitlin Bovery, an assistant sea turtle rehabilitation coordinator.
Perhaps never more so than last summer when two adult, eggs-carrying females were admitted to the rehab center with serious boat strike injuries.
The hospital team created a quiet environment in tanks for them and, several times, administered a labor-inducing drug. The tanks were drained and the turtles were elevated on a large tire so their eggs could drop with gravity. It worked, but when staff buried the eggs on the beach to incubate, no hatchlings emerged. Still, both mothers recovered from their injuries sufficiently to be released and perhaps nest again.
Not only turtles have received medical care. A porcupine fish in the nature center’s aquarium was sedated and kept damp with seawater-soaked towels while staff veterinarian Maria Chadam surgically removed a fishhook from its small intestine. The fish made a quick recovery.
Bovery is one of three full-time staffers in the rehab unit. She has a master’s degree from FAU in environmental studies. Before joining the rehab team, she was a volunteer.
“I fell in love with sea turtles when I was a little kid,” Bovery says. “I loved the idea of these magnificent creatures that have been around since the dinosaurs. They’re so charismatic.”
Emily Mirowski has the same title as Bovery. She was quoted in media globally in October after she removed 104 pieces of plastic that had been ingested by a sick baby turtle that died after being taken to Gumbo Limbo.
Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Coordinator Whitney Crowder has worked in sea turtle biology since 2002, including managing the Turtle Hospital in Marathon Key for two years. She was invited by Greenpeace to speak with ocean activists including Jane Fonda and Ted Danson at a rally in October at the U.S. Capitol.
Chadam, the veterinarian, is on site two days a week. Turtles whose injuries prevent them from ever being released are usually given to other facilities, such as aquariums. Two are permanent residents at Gumbo Limbo.
The turtle hospital was designed for 30 patients a year but treats from 50 to 100, Bovery says. Helping them all is a challenge.
“We find the space,” she says. “We make the time.”

Thank you for your excellent coverage of the septic-to-sewer issue in Ocean Ridge and surrounding coastal communities. We must, however, face the reality that during the estimated 10 years such a conversion would take, residents’ lives will be significantly disrupted while we are paying millions of dollars, our roadways are constantly torn up and additional hookup costs and user fees lurk.
Further, transferring from septic to centralized sewer will not stop sea level rise now occurring due to the warming climate. In 10 years, some roads will need to be abandoned, due to the extraordinary expense of elevating them. This is already happening in the Florida Keys.
Equally alarming, most of the processing facilities for coastal sewer systems are at the lowest elevation due to gravity flow.
Many such sewer sites are themselves at high risk of flooding, compromising the plant. These plants will need to be re-sited and upgraded, costing the public millions more to correct.
A more prudent expenditure of our funds would be to conduct a survey, as Monroe County/Key West has done, to determine which of our streets will have to be either abandoned or elevated and then issue a budget to cover such expenses.
It is urgent that Ocean Ridge, Hypoluxo Island (which on its own is particularly vulnerable), Manalapan and all the coastal and barrier island towns consider the upcoming costs associated with sea level rise.
The urgency arises because sea level increase is now known to be occurring much faster than previously predicted. All these communities are now experiencing periodic flooding cycles. Many of these roads are at near sea level most of the year.
Our failure to plan and budget for the inevitable would be irresponsible. We ignore it at our own peril. Property values will soon plummet, and insurance companies will no longer offer coverage for property in such high-risk areas.

Terry Brown,
Ocean Ridge

Welcome back to all snowbirds. Greetings to all permanent parties, too. I’m a very frequent walker and driver on Old Ocean Boulevard in Ocean Ridge. My request to everyone is not difficult: Please, when walking, walk facing oncoming traffic.
My mother many years ago taught me that was proper. Of course I always followed her advice.
But seriously, it is so much more comfortable when walking or driving to be facing whatever is approaching. Safer, too. Say hello: I’ll be the one with trekking sticks and the Tilley hat.
Joe Kirk,
Ocean Ridge

The week preceding the holidays, there was a bit of sensationalism going on concerning the community of Briny Breezes — none of it prompted by the board of directors of the corporation, members of the Town Council or the mayor or even a shareholder vote.
Another proposed “billion-dollar sale,” but this time to buyer President Trump to house his presidential library, build a hotel and rename our small community “Trump Town USA.”
Promulgated by real estate agent and shareholder James Arena, who had invited other shareholders to hear a yarn, the story suggested that the president might want to buy Briny Breezes for $1 billion and was supported by his son Donald Trump Jr. and a friend, rapper Vanilla Ice.
The following week on Fox & Friends — and later in tweets — we learned that Vanilla Ice and Donald Jr. were not involved. Tony Kovach of MHProNews.com blogged that “Arena is either being creatively pragmatic or is a con man who should have his real estate license revoked.”
Or perhaps this was all a figment of his imagination. The ethical standards of the National Association of Realtors do not permit Realtors to offer for sale/lease or advertise any property without authority. Arena has no such authority. He invited The Palm Beach Post to this shareholders-only event as he advertised this plan.
Regardless of the story and the unsubstantiated reports of Briny’s ills, Arena has no official capacity within our corporation or our town.
Arena pitched the idea of selling Briny Breezes for a billion dollars several years ago and the corporation received no offers. This sensationalism, while it might be nice to dream about, serves not only to spotlight Arena but it also negatively impacts the residents of our community.
After 60-plus years Briny Breezes is still vibrant. We have many second- and third-generation families as well as newer ones. Many folks are startled and confused by the intimidation factors and untruths being told. This all inspires general uncertainty in our community, all for a personal spotlight.
Briny Breezes is a corporation and would require a firm equipped to handle dissolution of such an entity. A local real estate agent would not be engaged to handle any such transaction.
Regardless of Arena’s efforts, the corporate board members of Briny Breezes will continue to serve their elected positions by always doing due diligence for all shareholders of the park.
The all-volunteer board takes the state of infrastructure, maintenance and financial matters very seriously and has nothing to gain from publicity. Rest assured, the board will always vet any purchase offer before asking shareholders for a vote to sell.
Our hope is the publicity surrounding Arena will not cause stress to our residents and everyone can enjoy a fabulous 2020.

Susan J. Brannen,
President, Briny Breezes Inc.

By Rich Pollack

Crime remained low in South County’s small coastal towns with just 65 incidents reported during the first six months of 2019.
The number of crimes reported in both Ocean Ridge and Manalapan remained flat year over year, according to statistics released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement last month, while Highland Beach, Gulf Stream and South Palm Beach all reported small increases.
The larger cities — Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Lantana — all reported drops in major crimes, with the number of reported incidents in Lantana dropped by 14%.
Law enforcement officials say increased awareness among residents is responsible for both the drop in some communities and the increase in others.
In Lantana, for example, Police Chief Sean Scheller says a number of factors could be responsible for the decrease, including an awareness among residents to report situations that don’t seem right.
“Our department has continued to increase community relations and educate our residents on reporting suspicious activity,” Scheller said.
Also helping to keep crime down, he said, is an increased police presence in residential and commercial areas.  
In Highland Beach, where the number of reported crimes increased from 17 during the first half of 2018 to 28 a year later, Police Chief Craig Hartmann says part of increase is due to residents being more diligent in reporting crimes.
He said residents are also more aware of the importance of locking their cars and removing wallets, jewelry and other items overnight.
“The community is doing a much better job of not leaving valuables in their vehicles,” he said.
Highland Beach reported five stolen vehicles in the first part of the year, and Hartmann said in most of those cases, keys were left in the ignition.
Highland Beach residents also reported several thefts from homes, with police believing some of the missing pieces may have been taken by workers or others who were invited into the homes.
His advice to residents: “Be aware of the valuables that are in your home and secure them.”
He also recommends remaining in your home while workers are present whenever possible.
Hartmann said it appears the town would finish 2019 with close to the same number of crimes as reported the year before.
Overall, crime in Palm Beach County dropped about 15% during the first six months of 2019, according to the FDLE, which compiles the statistics. Statewide, crime dropped about 6% during that time period.
In Gulf Stream, Police Chief Edward Allen reported two cases of suspected “porch thieves” striking in November, compared to none the previous year. Ú

Hundreds of South Palm Beach residents and Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies gathered to get acquainted at a Dec. 12 picnic event on the pool deck of the Barclay condominium. A downpour and blustery winds canceled a planned boat and helicopter demonstration by the town’s new police presence. ABOVE: Deputy Michael Canavan interacts with niece Amelia, who is the grandchild of resident Mike Cavanaugh.

LEFT: Joan Pickford, a resident for more than 20 years, deals with the downpour. She was a member of the preservation committee that gathered signatures to make sure the town kept its building height limit. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

In writing about the turn of the new year the standard is to look back at the events of the past or to look forward, anticipating what the turn of the calendar page might bring. At the end of this year, I’m finding both options to be difficult.
I’m even hung up on the simple act of typing the numbers 2020!
So, as I’m editing this edition of The Coastal Star, I’m searching out bits of wisdom shared by those in our community less paralyzed than I am by the turmoil of 2019.
In our Finding Faith column on Page 14 in the Home, Health and Harmony section, there is sound advice from spiritual leaders in our community. Insightful suggestions like searching out like-minded people to help us attain our goals, becoming more accepting, generous and empathic and removing the word “hate” from our vocabularies. All good advice.
I’d also toss in that dropping the word “should” can be helpful for maintaining healthy relationships and self-esteem.
One of the most intriguing pieces of advice I found came from Michelle Maros, who runs Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life in Boca Raton. She suggests selecting an intention word to help us stay focused on our highest ideal for the coming year. Words like truth or trustworthy (Barb Schmidt’s selections), or maybe grateful or empathetic can help us to focus on who we really hope to be in 2020.
You can read about Maros and Schmidt’s advice starting on the front page of our Home, Health and Harmony section. What would your word be?
As I’ve tried to shed my “Bah! Humbug!” feelings about the new year, it’s been helpful to recall that even the Grinch ended up embracing joy, kindness and generosity. So, as I reluctantly wade into the roiling surf of 2020, I’m embracing my inner Grinch and offering this toast: “To kindness and love, the things we need most.”
Happy New Year.

Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

In a tribute to the time, effort and money that Tom Kaiser has invested in the park, it is now the Tom Kaiser, USN, Boynton Beach Veterans Memorial Park. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Stephen Moore

Tom Kaiser’s handprints are all over the Boynton Beach Veterans Memorial Park. The park was his idea and he began working on it in 2008. He raised money through fundraisers and by selling recognition bricks, worked with the city to secure property and hold event and has helped design and approve almost every piece of granite and every written word on the 25 monuments and 12 benches in the park.
He has even purchased or helped buy some of the monuments.
This year, a new monument will be added with a new name for the park — the Tom Kaiser, USN, Boynton Beach Veterans Memorial Park.
“I know every blade of grass in this place,” said the 91-year-old Kaiser, a WW II Navy veteran. “I love every one of the monuments and benches.”
Kaiser and Stan Gavlick, an 88-year-old Korean War Navy veteran, have been the driving forces behind this park, which is a tribute to all who have protected, fought for and died for the United States.
“Stanley is the co-chairman, finance officer and brains of the unit,” Kaiser said. “He deserves as much credit as I do.”
Gavlick said it’s been a labor of love. “Tom is so generous. Sometimes he would pay for the monuments himself.”
State Rep. Joe Casello, was the first to suggest the renaming of the park at 411 N. Federal Highway when he made a proposal to City Manager Lori LaVerriere in May 2019.
“He thought some of the guys on the City Council would OK this proposal,” Kaiser said. “But we ran into some opposition. It took three commission meetings before it was resolved.”
The first monuments went up in 2008, but there were some bumps along the way. When the city put up a flagpole, it was in the wrong place — in the middle, right in front of the large monument.
“You couldn’t take a picture without the flagpole being in the middle of the picture,” Kaiser said.
“It must have been about seven years ago,” LaVerriere said. “I went to meet Tom at the park, and I started looking at this flagpole and it is right in the middle of everything and I said ‘what is up with that?’ … I said ‘OK, we are not talking rocket science here, so let’s move the flagpole.’ It was a no-brainer to me.”
Two weeks later the flagpole was moved.
The two co-founders say the park is complete now.
“No more monuments are planned,” Kaiser said. “There is no room. The last one was the Purple Heart monument.”
The monuments include tributes to all of the branches of the armed forces, famous battles and groups that distinguished themselves. And for every granite monument, Kaiser has a story to tell.
A pigeon figure is perched atop the Lost Battalion monument, and Kaiser knows the history.
“Carrier pigeons were the most reliable means of communications during the First World War,” he said. “About 500 of our guys were surrounded and pinned down by the enemy and every pigeon we sent was shot down until the last one. Well the last one (named Cher Ami) also got shot down. He took one to the leg, one through the side and he was blinded in one eye. He hit the ground then got up and flew 30 miles to its cage to tell them that our guys were still alive. That pigeon saved a lot of our guys.”
Another monument is a testimony to the USS Trout, a submarine that went missing in 1944 with 81 sailors aboard, including Kaiser’s brother, Robert.
Other monuments include testimonials to Pearl Harbor, Gold Star mothers, the Night Stalkers (the team that was responsible for killing Osama bin Laden), Vietnam vets, African-American vets, the unknown soldiers and the Missiles of October 1962.
Every monument has been made by Lake Worth Monument, and Kaiser and Gavlick are quick to credit that company. “Through all these years, they never raised their prices,” Gavlick said. “We would still be building this park if they had.”
“We did all of those monuments (24 of them) at cost besides the (40-ton) centerpiece,” said Fred Menor, owner of the company. “I made money on the big monument but over the years I have taken them under my wing. I love to help veterans, it’s truly an honor.”
The new monument with the updated name of the park will be installed in early 2020 and replace the existing yellow sign with the heading of Recreation and Parks Department.
On each side of the monument will be a smaller plaque, one recognizing former Boynton Beach Mayor Jerry Taylor and late Vice Mayor Robert Ensler. The other will be a tribute to Gavlick.
“These are all my children,” Kaiser said of the monuments. “We raised each one of these kids. Stanley feels the same way.”

By Dan Moffett

Dozens of South Palm Beach residents seem to have disappeared over the past decade — gone missing with scarcely a trace or a clue.
Whole buildings appear to have been wiped off the town’s map, erased as if by some cosmic delete key.
What sounds like the script for a low-budget science fiction movie has been reality for Robert Kellogg, the town manager, who has spent much of the past year trying to unravel the enigma.
During the Town Council’s Dec. 10 meeting, Kellogg announced he has done just that.
“The mystery has been solved,” he said, “and what we discovered is what we suspected from the very beginning.”
Blame the U.S. Census Bureau.
It turns out the federal government’s people-counting agency made an unfortunate error when it conducted the 2010 census. The town’s two southernmost condo buildings — Imperial House and South Palm Villas — were counted as part of Lantana.
No one is quite sure how the error happened. But it cost the town about 130 condo units and perhaps as many as 200 residents in population. This helps explain why the 1990 census found 1,480 people in the town and the 2010 count came in at 1,171.
In between, there were major problems with the 2000 census, which first put the town’s population at 699 and then months later corrected it to 1,455. For some reason, the government has trouble counting South Palm Beachers.
The consequences of an inaccurate count can be far-reaching. Mail service to the two buildings has been affected. The Florida League of Cities says each person is worth about $1,600 when the state goes after some $700 billion in federal funds each year. Municipal population is also a factor in state and county decision-making.
Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she noticed the error when looking at FEMA flood zone maps that excluded the two condo buildings. This was especially alarming to Fischer, who lives in Imperial House and doesn’t want to go down in history as the first Lantana resident to be elected mayor of South Palm Beach.
Kellogg said he is working with the Census Bureau to correct the mapping mistakes, and the town is hopeful the agency will perform better for the coming 2020 count.
In other business:
• Council members say they are looking at internet alert systems or other ways to get emergency information to residents after a water main break Thanksgiving weekend exposed communication shortcomings.
The break occurred the evening of Nov. 29 outside The Mayfair condos, and part of the town lost water service for hours. Palmsea Condominiums reported damage to its pumps because of the interruption.
A boil-water advisory went into effect soon after the break, but officials were hard-pressed to get the word to residents. Officials resorted to posting fliers in condo lobbies.
“What good is it to put notices up at 11 o’clock at night?” Fischer said.
The city of West Palm Beach supplies the town’s water, and Kellogg said the utility department insists on controlling messaging. Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb said the council has to look at better use of the internet and social media to transmit essential information to residents.
• Three candidates have qualified for two open council seats in the March 17 election.
Gottlieb is seeking another term. Former Councilwoman Elvadianne Culbertson, who ran unsuccessfully last March, and Ray McMillan, who ran unsuccessfully in 2018, also have filed.
Incumbent Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan has decided not to seek another term. Ú

By Dan Moffett

Vice Mayor Don MaGruder’s decision not to run for a second term in the March 17 election left two seats open on the Ocean Ridge Town Commission with two candidates qualified and ready to claim them.
Incumbent Commissioner Susan Hurlburt returns for a full three-year term on the commission after serving out a partial one-year term that began last year.
Political newcomer Martin Wiescholek takes over the seat held by MaGruder, who announced in November plans to move to North Carolina after more than 30 years in Ocean Ridge.
Wiescholek, a frequent contributor during public comment periods at town meetings, says he looks forward to advancing MaGruder’s agenda.
“I will be filling his seat and hope to be able to make a smooth transition, carrying the torch of environmental responsibility and smart government he has held in town for so long,” Wiescholek, an ICT Group managing partner, said in an email to The Coastal Star. ICT Group is a private investment firm advising clients in wealth planning and international investment strategies.
On recent hot-button issues, Wiescholek has spoken in support of police body-worn cameras as a way to protect the town against lawsuits, and he supported letting voters decide whether to require supermajority commission votes to guard against excessive development.
A three-year resident of Ocean Ridge, Wiescholek says he wants to draw on the experience gained living in other Florida oceanfront communities to help guide his commission work. He has scheduled a meet and greet event for 6 p.m. on March 4 in Town Hall, to introduce himself to residents and discuss issues facing the commission.
Hurlburt was the choice of voters last March to fill the remainder of the term left by former Mayor James Bonfiglio, who resigned to run for the state Legislature. He was unsuccessful. Ú

Psychodrama therapist Pamela Goffman adorns her office in Delray Beach with colors and heart figures that help her bring comfort to clients. Goffman is a lover of the arts and an ardent supporter and former board member of the Arts Garage. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

The Arts Garage didn’t exist when Pamela Goffman moved to Delray Beach in 1998, and once it came into being in 2011 it took her another year to get involved. But once she did, becoming a member of the board of directors in 2013, she was all in.
“When I do something I really dedicate myself to it,” said Goffman, a psychodrama therapist based in Delray Beach. “And I felt I did that with Arts Garage because I just love it.”
Health concerns prompted Goffman, 60, to give up her board position this past fall, but she plans to continue her involvement.
The Arts Garage — a nonprofit organization and multidisciplinary performing arts venue dedicated to providing arts experiences to the community — is her favorite cause.
“First, because any community is enriched by the arts, and second, for the education,” she said. “The reason we raise the money we do is to serve all people, but especially kids who can’t afford it. We want it to be successful for everybody. And we succeed. Two summers ago we had two sessions of theater of summer camp that were completely funded by donations. This past summer we had three.”
She will continue to support the Arts Garage and CEO Marjorie Waldo.
“I’m a frequent audience member, give money when I can, get people to go,” she said. “And now Marjorie is bringing theater back, too. There’s several classrooms there now. It’s really great.
“I have been a lover of the performing arts my entire life, and it’s why I do psychodrama.”
Goffman also enjoys traveling with her husband, and especially loves visiting Portugal, where she has colleagues and enjoys collaborating with them professionally while she’s there. She also enjoys going to the theater, movies and swimming.

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and had the good fortune of going to a Quaker high school, and that informed a lot of what I do today. It made me think in a spiritual vein, and psychodrama has a very strong spiritual component.
When I went to college my family moved to Manhattan, so I spent my young adult life in Manhattan. I did my undergraduate work at Ithaca College and then got a master’s degree in social work at Fordham.
Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: My first career was teaching movement to actors in New York City. And when I decided to go back to graduate school … I studied acting and directing, so I worked in the theater and did some television work, mostly in soap operas, little stuff.
Professional accomplish­ments start with the training institute, having trained other health professionals in this fabulous method. That’s something I’m proud of, though I don’t do much of it anymore. But I would say long-term sustainability for me is just the work I do every day with each individual client: working with couples, getting them to access their vulnerability so they can have truth between them, and also my individuals.
And I love my groups. Magic happens within psychodrama. One of the hallmarks of that is you get to reverse roles. And it’s incredible how people 50, 60, 70 years old grow up, because they get to see themselves in the role opposite of what they are. The level of insight and the shifts they make, to become responsible for who they are, is amazing.
The other thing is I give hope to people. What I tell people who come in hopeless and anxious is we have all roles available to us, but we have not been trained to take on those roles. We’re all raised in families and we’re all given a role. When we realize, oh, I could be the bad one, or the nasty one, or the leader or follower, or I could be the good one. How do I do that? It’s not easy to take on a new role, but it’s so freeing and we can expand who we are.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career?
A: Try a lot of things. Like taking new roles. Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t be afraid to try all kinds of things. We don’t really find out who we are for a long time. And until our dying day we need to give ourselves permission to try new things. So just don’t be afraid.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Delray Beach?
A: When I moved to Delray 21 years ago, the reason I chose it is for what I knew of Florida — which wasn’t a lot — it was the one place I saw that had a soul. And to me the soul comes from art. There was art here. Arts Garage wasn’t here yet, but there were performing art venues, music venues, stuff like that.
They maintain the older buildings, and it didn’t feel like it was something along a highway, brand new. And it was anchored by the ocean, which to me is a very spiritual kind of feeling. So I just fell in love with Delray, and I’ve been in love with Delray ever since.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Delray Beach?
A: Has to be the Arts Garage. When it came on the scene, I was like, “Wow, finally, this is fantastic.” They asked me when I came on the board what my interest was and I said arts education for kids, because they’ve taken it out of the schools.
Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I just finished reading American Snake Pit, written by Dan Tomasulo, a psychodramatist, and it’s both horrifying and hysterical at the same time. It’s kind of fictional autobiography, about the time he was getting his Ph.D., and it was written during the deinstitutionalization movement in the late ’60s, early ’70s. A great read.

Q: What music do you listen to you when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: When I want to relax, standards, like the Great American Songbook. And when I want to be inspired it’s usually either R&B or Motown, if I want to clean the house, or Stephen Sondheim, for pathos. He’s one of my favorite composers.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: I’ve had some incredible teachers who are role models and mentors. And in my field, they’re mentors as therapists, as teachers, but also as human beings. Nina Garcia, Jackie Siroka and Dale Buchanan. Nina and Dale have published a lot, while Jackie is well-known. They’ve influenced me with their compassion, undying passion, brilliance, spontaneity and creativity. And huge hearts.

Q: If your life story were made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I asked my family and we came up with Sally Field. There’s a physical resemblance, I think, and because she expresses great joy and pathos. She’s spunky. And I think I’m spunky.

Q: Who or what makes you laugh?
A: My husband, Sam Snyder, has an adorable sense of humor. A turn of a phrase, clever wordplay, physical humor, like Tim Conway. Seinfeld. And Kevin Hart, his movies make me laugh. He’s very self-deprecating. I like that.

By Mary Hladky

Seven municipalities and Palm Beach County have joined forces to determine how they are threatened by climate change and to devise ways to protect residents from its effects.
Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Ocean Ridge and the county have approved an agreement to conduct a climate change vulnerability assessment. The County Commission was the last to sign on, voting Dec. 17.
Once the municipalities and county have data on the threats they face, they will take up the task of making the region more resilient.
“We have put a lot of work into the development of this interlocal agreement and are very proud to see it materialize,” said Rebecca Harvey, Boynton Beach’s sustainability coordinator. “This collaborative approach will enable us to confront the challenge of climate change as a unified front, and we hope it will serve as a model for other communities nationwide.”
The municipalities and county set a Jan. 15 deadline for consultants to submit proposals on how they would conduct the vulnerability assessment, and will select one in February to do the work.
The consultant’s tasks will be completed in two phases, with two tasks to be completed by June 30. The remaining tasks will be finished and a final report issued by March 31, 2021.
The consultant also will create a geographic information system-based interactive mapping tool that can be updated with new data and will allow users to zoom in on a specific neighborhood to see climate change impacts or zoom out to see regional impacts.
The assessment will evaluate the vulnerability of people, property, water and transportation infrastructures, critical facilities, the economy and natural resources.
The governments have budgeted $366,797 to do the work and will share its cost, supplemented by a $75,000 Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant to Boynton Beach.
Students at Harvard University Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic determined how much each municipality and the county would pay, based on the size of the city or town, its property values and median resident income, Harvey said.
Boca Raton will pay the most, with the City Council approving the $85,000 expenditure on Nov. 26. The county will pay the least, $20,000, since only small pockets of unincorporated areas are located within the assessment region.
“It is hard to know what to do until you know where you are,” said Boca Raton City Council member Monica Mayotte, an advocate of environmental initiatives. “This assessment will hopefully be our baseline and tell us where we need to go.”
By working together, the cities and towns reason they can get more bang for the buck by avoiding duplicate spending and operating more efficiently.
The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, a collaboration of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and many South Florida cities, calculated about seven years ago that the area could lose as much as $4 billion in taxable real estate with a 1-foot rise in sea level.
But the compact’s data, centered on sea level rise, is now dated, said Katelyn Cucinotta, environmental analyst with the Palm Beach County Office of Resilience. The vulnerability assessment will update the data and take into account additional threats, including storm surge, extreme heat and rain, hurricanes, saltwater intrusion and pest and disease outbreaks.
“What we are doing now is not sea level rise-centric,” she said. “We are looking at different threats. We are taking a much deeper dive.”
Although some cities, such as West Palm Beach, have done their own assessments, Cucinotta said this initiative differs because eight governments are working together and looking at a region.
“It is novel in that it is a collaborative micro-regional effort” that will not be limited to each city’s individual boundaries, she said.
Florida governments are beginning to grapple with how to pay for climate change adaptation.
Monroe County officials have concluded the county would need billions of dollars to remain a viable place to live in the near future, an amount the county would not be able to pay.
Delray Beach learned in February that it will have to pay more than $378 million to raise roads and seawalls to protect against rising waters.
The consultant is tasked with finding ways to pay for adaptation.
Possibilities, according to interlocal agreement documents, include state and federal funds, special taxing districts, revolving loan funds, public-private partnerships and new types of insurance programs.

By Steve Plunkett

Residents got a “friendly reminder” in their mail last month to check how often their sprinklers turn on.
Town Manager Greg Dunham said a combination of tides, rain and the core area’s low geography was causing a slippery situation.
“There’s water standing, you know, on the streets all the time,” Dunham told town commissioners at their Dec. 13 meeting.
He planned to send a mass mailing with a copy of Gulf Stream’s rules on landscape irrigation. “We’ll approach it, you know, in a friendly way,” he said.
Commissioner Joan Orthwein said some people are not even aware of how often their grass is watered.
“Oh, my lawn people have taken care of it,” Orthwein said those residents say.
Vice Mayor Thomas Stanley said some lawns on Polo Drive are watered twice a day. “It’s just a little much,” he said.
And, said Dunham, “In some cases they’re being watered five days a week.”
Earlier in the meeting, commissioners were told excess water had slowed the underground connection of homes to Comcast’s new fiber-optic system.
“We had the king tides, which caused some issues with some of the houses where we were digging. Now when you dig down a foot and you hit water, you need to stop and wait till the tide comes out,” Comcast subcontractor Steve Rosa said.
Rosa said 35 out of 100 homes had been connected and he hoped to finish the job in late January or early February.
AT&T is connecting customers to underground phone lines after Comcast has finished a section.
In other business:
• A decision on the Little Club’s request to install pickleball courts near the Hillside House and St. Andrews Club will not come until April. Mayor Scott Morgan and Dunham made a field trip to the Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club to hear the differences between tennis and pickleball and decided to hold another demonstration from inside a Hillside House condo.
• Outside attorney Jeffrey Hochman told commissioners that Martin O’Boyle filed a federal lawsuit similar to one by his former employee Denise DeMartini, claiming the town’s unsuccessful RICO action was unlawful retaliation against him. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued what Morgan hailed as “a very significant decision” in November that the town had good legal reason to pursue the RICO claim against DeMartini and others.
• Morgan and the town’s four other incumbent commissioners were re-elected Dec. 17 after no one filed to run against them in the coming election. The town’s registered Democrats still will vote in Florida’s March 17 presidential primary. Ú

One of Kristine Kreidler’s goals is to make the library more appealing to young readers. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

For nearly 23 years, Sid Patchett devoted himself to seeing the Lantana Public Library shine in quality where it couldn’t compete in quantity.
Five days a week, from September 1996 when he became its director until shortly before his death last Sept. 18, Patchett drove from his home in Miami’s Coconut Grove to 205 W. Ocean Ave., determined to honor the mission he’d placed on the library’s website.
“A Place For Serious Readers.”
“We don’t stock multiple copies of the bestsellers,” he would say without apology. “We use our limited budget to create the thinking person’s library. We’ll get just one copy of a new Stephen King, and then we’ll get, say, The Princeton Guide To Evolution.”
Now the library Sid Patchett loved and led is evolving.
On Nov. 13, Kristine Kreidler began her first day as its new director. She didn’t have to drive from Miami.
Kreidler, 38, was born in Lantana. She attended Lantana Elementary School, Lantana Middle School and Santaluces High School. She still lives in town.
“I want a community library where people of all backgrounds and ages feel welcome,” she said recently. “Think about it. A library is still one of the few places where you’re not expected to buy anything.”
Her first week at work, she was off to Tallahassee to attend the Florida library directors meeting. In early December she was back, but still settling in.
Waiting to be explored on her desk were the three large file boxes her predecessor had labeled “Urgent” and “Less Urgent.” On her computer, she found the letter she’d written back in 2010, applying for an internship at the library she now leads.
“I didn’t get it, and I never met Sid,” she recalled. “But the more I find out about him, the more I wish I’d met him. I don’t know how he drove from Miami for so long. I had trouble driving to Boca Raton.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and women’s studies from Florida Atlantic University and a master’s in library and information science from Florida State University — and failing to receive that internship here — Kreidler began her career with a year’s internship at the Broward County African American Library and Cultural Center, then became the youth services librarian at the Boynton Beach City Library from 2011 to 2019.
She comes to Lantana from the Boca Raton Public Library, where she supervised 17 employees and saw 45,000 patrons attending youth programs in a single year.
“This is my dream job,” she said. “I get to be the boss, but the library’s small enough that I can also interact with the patrons on a daily basis. Most library directors don’t get to do that.”
Yes, the library is small, but it’s growing. When Patchett was interviewed by The Coastal Star in February 2015, he counted about 23,000 volumes on the shelves. Kreidler arrived to find 24,194.
In 2015, the annual budget was $170,000. Today, it’s $217,000, including $20,000 for purchasing new books.
Now Kreidler is eager to bring a younger, more expansive vision to the library’s mission.
“Sid marketed us as a library for serious readers,” she said. “But are serious readers really coming here?” To find out, she plans to sponsor community surveys and focus groups. She wants to ask the library’s patrons, “What do you want?”
What she wants is the best of all worlds.
“I see lots of kids and teens walking by here,” she said. “Our children’s collection needs work, and I’m going to create a young-adult collection.”
The library has only two computers for public use. Kreidler wants more.
“I’d like to create a digital studio for teens, where they could use Photoshop and be more content creators instead of just passive consumers.”
She envisions working with AmeriCorps volunteers and perhaps the Friends of the Library’s 175 members to offer free GED training, homework help and English language classes.
She wants to start a children’s story time.
And she plans to order books based on patrons’ requests and suggestions from the online Booklist, in which the American Library Association recommends upcoming titles.
“I think our strength lies in our size and our neighborhood library status,” she said. “We’re walkable for so many, our staff knows you by name and what you enjoy, so we can recommend books you might like and anticipate your needs. We’re a small municipal library so we have more flexibility in responding promptly to patron requests for materials or programs.”
In short, Kristine Kreidler wants the Lantana Public Library to be a place for all readers, young and old, serious and not so serious.
“I don’t know if I’ll follow Sid’s philosophy,” she said. “If there’s a new Stephen King novel, I might buy two or three copies.”
For more information, call 561-540-5740 or visit www.lantanalibrary.org

By Dan Moffett

The Briny Breezes Town Council spent the holidays examining the résumés of candidates for the open part-time positions of manager and deputy clerk.
During a special meeting on Dec. 19, the council interviewed three candidates for manager and decided one of them was right for the town’s opening.
He was a familiar choice: William Thrasher, who worked for 21 years as the town manager next door in Gulf Stream, until retiring in 2017.
“The love of management has never left me,” Thrasher told the council.
His familiarity with Briny and experience dealing with code enforcement and his record of working with other Palm Beach County municipalities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency impressed council members.
They voted 5-0 to authorize Mayor Gene Adams to negotiate a contract with him. The town will offer up to $38,500, and council President Sue Thaler says she’s hopeful a new manager will be on board within weeks.
The other two candidates the council interviewed were Lee Evett and James McCroskey. Evett is the former city manager of Jupiter; Pueblo, Colorado; Clayton, Missouri; Cape Coral; and most recently Frostproof.
McCroskey is the former city manager of Holly Hill, assistant manager of Daytona Beach Shores and most recently interim manager of Estill, South Carolina.
In November, Town Manager Dale Sugerman and Deputy Clerk Maya Coffield told the council they would resign at the end of 2019. Sugerman and Coffield complained that the workload for their part-time jobs had steadily increased during the last two years, and their pay was inadequate compensation for the growing responsibilities.
Adams consulted with the senior advisers group of the Florida City and County Management Association to recruit candidates for the manager’s job. The advisers help municipalities find qualified applicants for administrative positions.
Thaler said interest in the deputy clerk position has been strong after the town posted a job listing on indeed.com. She said 33 qualified applicants sent résumés, and the council is considering at least five candidates with significant municipal experience.
The deputy clerk currently earns about $30,000 a year in hourly wages, including some overtime. Both the clerk and manager positions call for working three days a week and roughly 20-25 hours.
Sugerman and Coffield attributed much of the reason for their increasing workload to nagging problems with the town’s building permit process.
During Briny’s Dec. 5 town meeting, the council unanimously approved giving Mayor Adams the authority to terminate the existing contract with C.A.P. Government Inc., the town’s building inspection contractor.
Sugerman told the council that C.A.P. continues to cause the town problems because of inspectors who aren’t qualified for mobile home assignments and chronic permit processing errors. He said the company has been unresponsive to staff’s calls for changes.
“We’re at wits’ end trying to get this resolved,” Sugerman said.
The council is considering terminating the C.A.P. contract and switching to another inspection vendor that is more experienced in dealing with mobile home cases.
Alderwoman Christina Adams proposed hiring a part-time permit clerk to help reduce the workload at Town Hall. Her motion was defeated 4-1, but council members said they were willing to re-examine the idea after the hiring of a new manager and clerk.
Besides starting the year with a new staff, the town could have new faces on the council.
Charles Swift and Lynne Weiner have qualified to run against three incumbents in the March 17 municipal election. Seats held by Christina Adams, Bill Birch and Kathy Gross are up for re-election. Ú

By Sallie James

OCEAN RIDGE — Faith, family and friends are the values that defined the life of Ocean Ridge resident Thomas M. Roland, a proud World War II veteran, husband and father who also served his country with stints in the U.S. Border Patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He died on Dec. 15 after a brief illness at age 92.
His grandchildren were pallbearers at his funeral.
The former New Yorker married Eleanor Hakkerup on May 2, 1954, in New Hyde Park, New York. The couple were together 65 years and had three daughters. A son preceded him in death.
“We had a lovely life together,” Eleanor Roland said.
The two lived most of their married life together in Baldwin, New York, traveling to Florida for nearly 30 years as snowbirds before moving here permanently about 12 years ago.
“His biggest thing was family. My dad grew up without a father and his most important thing was to be a good father,” said his daughter Jean Callaghan, of Yaphank, New York. “He never missed a good party and he was very, very funny. He could laugh at himself and he taught all of us to be able to laugh at ourselves.”
During his retirement, he became an avid card player, theater lover and reader. He and his wife were active members of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach and the Ocean Ridge Crown Colony condo community.
A wide-ranging career took Mr. Roland to faraway places such as Thailand, Africa, China, Haiti and Ireland, his daughter said.
“He’d be gone for two or three months at a time,” Callaghan recalled. “He couldn’t have done it without my mother.”
Mr. Roland assisted foreigners with the paperwork they needed to move to the United States, she said. His assignments included being a refugee officer in Indochina and Africa, and working with the Haitian Migration Interdiction Operation with the U.S. Coast Guard, and Northern Ireland’s Project Children Operation.
Most recently, the former U.S. Marine participated in the Southwest Florida Chapter of Honor Flight and traveled to Washington, D.C., in 2018. Relatives saw him off in Florida and more relatives greeted him when he landed in the nation’s capital, his daughter said.
His military service was a source of pride: Mr. Roland enlisted in the Marines shortly after the two-year anniversary of the invasion of Pearl Harbor, becoming a member of the Marine Corps 5th Marine Division “Spearhead” on Dec. 14, 1943. Two years later, he was shot three times during the invasion of Iwo Jima. He was evacuated to Guam, becoming one of 6,218 Spearhead Marines wounded in action.
Upon his return to the States, Mr. Roland attended Seton Hall College. He joined the Border Patrol in 1951 and served in Texas and New York. He eventually transferred to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Montreal.
Mr. Roland was not one to sit still so when he retired, he took another job helping guide couriers with fine art cargo through JFK Airport in New York. He subsequently escorted the couriers to their New York City museum destinations, his daughter said.
“He knew his way all around JFK,” she recalled. Burial was Dec. 23 at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth Beach.
“He is going to be missed. He loved my mother very much. Everybody should be loved like that in their lifetime,” his daughter said.

At issue is the proposed structure atop the three-story duplex. Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

Some barrier island residents are hoping the Delray Beach City Commission will tighten the rules to allow only mechanical devices on the roofs of single-family homes and duplexes in residential multifamily districts.
That way, the maximum height of structures in those districts would be 35 feet with a 6-foot parapet on the roof.
The commission will decide Jan. 16 whether to review the issue.
For single-family homes and duplexes, this translates into three stories and another 6 feet for a parapet on the roof. Behind the parapet wall, there could be an elevator shaft, an air handler and other mechanicals.
But not a grill or a wet bar, said Debbie Lynott of Miramar Drive during the Dec. 11 meeting of the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board. She lives next door to a duplex that is under construction at 100 Gleason St. in a residential multifamily zoning district that begins just south of Atlantic Avenue and extends a half mile south to Bucida Road.
“This is the first time (an appurtenance) is being built on a single-family home or a duplex,” she said. “It looks out of character for the city.”
The issue came up because the city stopped construction of the Gleason Street duplex and forced the architect to seek approval from a city advisory board for its appurtenance — a structure that sits on the roof and is not considered living space. According to the city’s rules, these can exceed height limitations when specifically approved by the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board.
The owners of the duplex, retired podiatrist John DeLeonibus and his wife, Sally, demolished a one-story duplex in March and are replacing it with a three-story duplex, designed by architect Richard Jones. The couple will live in one half. Their son, Jones said, will live on the other side.
The DeLeonibus couple had received a city building permit in July to proceed with a 35-foot-high duplex with a 230-square-foot, 12-foot-tall roof structure that shields the elevator shaft, air-conditioner mechanicals and a grill and a wet bar.
But the city’s newest development services director, Anthea Gianniotes, said the duplex needed city board approval because of the appurtenances. Most duplexes and single-family homes don’t require this approval because they lack this rooftop structure.
At SPRAB’s Nov. 20 meeting, five members directed the architect to reduce the size of the rooftop appurtenance. (Two board members were absent.)
Jones made these changes: reduced the height by 2 feet, moved the air-conditioner mechanicals to the third floor, increased the western setback by 4.25 feet and reduced the area from 230 square feet to 195 square feet.
The elevator shaft, a grill and a wet bar remained.
At the board’s December meeting, when the reduced appurtenance was reviewed, Jones said he was back because of “confusion in the city’s zoning code.”
One- or two-unit residential structures don’t need board approval and can go directly to the building permit stage, Jones said.
“One sentence in the code, a needle in the haystack that Anthea found, says turn left and we went right,” Jones said.
“The neighbors are upset because their ocean views will be blocked by my developed property,” John DeLeonibus said at the December meeting. “They all want to be the last man in paradise.”
He said 47 other appurtenances have been approved by the board.
But the property owner did not say they were all on multifamily buildings. Jones later said they were all his designs, representing six or seven projects.
Veteran residential real estate broker Peg Delp also spoke in favor of approval.
“The community has changed from one where people would need a beach cottage for a month or two to one with more year-round residents,” she said. “Homeowners have certain amenities they want in their homes. … They want rooftop decks and need to have access to them.’’
But the duplex neighbors disagree.
Lynott said she was in favor of only the 6-foot-high parapet on the roof.
“The modifications are excessive, unnecessary and don’t fit in with the character of the neighborhood,” said Lauren Lynch, who lives just south of the duplex.
“If approved, it would open the doors for applications of greater height and permanently change the character of our neighborhood.”
Neighbor Herb Sidel, also living south of the duplex, said, “If we don’t have codes, we have anything-can-go and that’s what is happening here.”
Even so, a majority of the approval board members sided with Jones, voting 5-2 to recommend approval to the City Commission.
“I’m sympathetic with the neighbors who want to keep the character,” board member Todd L’Herrou said when voting for approval. “The role of SPRAB is to approve the things that keep the town moving forward.” Ú