A screenshot from www.cruisemapper.com shows cruise ships off the South Florida coast on the afternoon of April 23. Map provided

By Mary Thurwachter

Coastal observers who gaze out into the ocean after dark have seen large cruise ships lighting up the horizon in April. The vessels, bound by a no-sail order due to the coronavirus, had nowhere to go but they are still on the move.

On the east coast of South Florida, at least a half dozen ships have been in the same boat, so to speak — Celebrity Edge, Norwegian Bliss, Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas and three Carnival cruise liners: Conquest, Horizon and Fascination.

“We have announced a pause in our operations until June 26,” says Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen. “All 27 Carnival Cruise Line ships have been docked at our North American or Australian homeports with crew members, no guests, since mid-March. We have ships docked in ports such as Miami, Tampa, Port Canaveral and other homeports.  Ships are either docked in port or anchored at sea near the specific homeport.”

On April 22, Fascination and Horizon were anchored near Miami, Gulliksen says.  “Conquest was docked in Miami.  But this is constantly changing.”

Cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron, aka “Cruise Guy,” says there are many cruise ships based at Port Miami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. “They are continuously sailing up and down the east coast of Florida, keeping ships in working order. Crews onboard are performing maintenance and upgrades to ships. There are only minimal crews left aboard the ships, no passengers.”

The largest clusters of cruise ships have been in the Bahamas north of Bimini and west of Great Harbor Cay, Chiron said in April. But in May, there have been fewer ships cruising up and down the Florida coastline.

"Some ships are heading to ports to begin cold storage preparations until operations are normalized," he said. "When cruise lines resume sailings, fewer ships will be used at the beginning," Chiron said. "Carnival Cruise Line provided an example that they intend to begin sailing from three ports, Miami, Pt. Canaveral and Galveston, using eight of their 27 ships."

Chiron, based in Miami, is confident the cruise industry will rebound.

“I hope sailings begin to resume in July,” he says. “There are going to be many schedule changes as fewer ships will be sailing in Alaska and Europe this year. There are many people ready to go now. They're just waiting to be told when and where. People holding reservations should wait and let the cruise lines cancel so they can take advantage of future cruise credits and other enticements. Bookings are up for 2021. For 2020, people wanting to make reservations are just waiting for details.”

The boat ramp at Boca Raton's Silver Palm Park had been closed to commercial and recreational boaters alike since March 22. It is still off-limits to non-commercial fishermen. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

The Silver Palm Park public boat ramp opened for use by commercial fishermen today, April 22, but will remain closed to recreational boaters.

City Council members took the action as part of a lengthy April 21 workshop meeting held to discuss matters related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision came one week after commercial fishermen asked for relief so they can get out on the water and pursue their livelihoods.

But council members opted not to enforce who is using the boat ramp after City Manager Leif Ahnell said it would cost the city as much as $12,000 a week to staff the ramp 24/7 to make sure no recreational boaters launched their vessels from it.

“That becomes very expensive,” Ahnell said. “It is also onerous.”

City staff will monitor boat ramp usage for the remainder of the week. The ramp will be closed on Sunday, when the rowdy Boca Bash boat party was scheduled to be held on Lake Boca. One organizer has urged boaters not to participate in the annual event because of the coronavirus, but it is not clear what impact that will have.

Ahnell will report to council members on Monday on whether residents are taking advantage of the lack of enforcement to launch recreational boats.

“If we see it is out of control with a lot of people who are non-commercial fishing people, we would shut it down before Sunday,” Ahnell said.

“If we see too many recreational boaters, they will have ruined it for everybody and we will have to close it down,” said council member Monica Mayotte.

The decision is certain to upset recreational boaters, who have wanted to use the ramp to get out on the water as relief from COVID-19 emergency orders that prevent many outside activities.

The ramp opening is the city’s first small step toward reopening beaches, parks, marinas and golf courses.

While other openings are fraught with difficulties, opening the ramp to commercial fishermen was an easy step because Palm Beach County allowed this in March.

Council members want to do more as soon as possible, but cannot act until the county changes or eliminates restrictions to keep people from congregating and potentially being exposed to the virus. County officials are working on that now.

Since council members want to be able to act as soon as they can, they agreed that they need to start planning now.

But they sidestepped a resolution proposed by council member Andy Thomson that urged the county to reopen beaches, passive public and private parks, tennis courts and private golf courses “as soon as prudently possible” and in a way that does not expose city employees and residents to the coronavirus.

Instead, they opted for a wide ranging discussion of what should be opened and how to do that.

A majority of residents who commented on the issue urged the council to act.

“We have been living with this for about a month and a half and it is getting really old,” said Brad Bowman.

“We can’t remain quarantined forever,” said another speaker. “The parks, beaches and boat ramps must open.”

But the speakers did not reflect the sentiments of a majority of residents who sent emails or left voicemails on the subject.

While 12 emails and one voicemail supported opening parks and businesses, 126 emails and one voicemail expressed opposition to the openings out of concern that lifting restrictions too soon could result in city residents contracting COVID-19.

While all council members favored loosening restrictions in a careful and deliberate way to safeguard residents, Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers was most emphatic about acting soon.

“It is time to return sanity to our world,” he said.

Projections about how many people will be sickened or die have so far not been accurate, he said. While the virus is dangerous, lockdowns also are hazardous to health, he said.

“It is time to stop living in fear and it is time to start living,” he said.

Sandi Savia, the EMS liaison at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health South Florida, blows a kiss through her mask to a Boca Raton Fire Rescue crew as they and more than 20 other first responder vehicles parade past the Emergency Room entrance on April 17. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Throughout south Palm Beach County, first responders and residents are showing support for hospital workers on the front lines battling the coronavirus.

On Friday evening April 17 more than a dozen emergency vehicles — lights flashing and sirens blaring — paraded past Boca Raton Regional Hospital as employees changed shifts.

“It was just an incredible experience,” said the hospital’s president and CEO, Lincoln Mendez. “Everyone felt it was very emotional.”

Dozens of hospital employees gathered at 7 p.m. April 17 to watch a parade of fire trucks and squad cars manned by first responders who drove by to honor them. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The show of support — featuring representatives from Boca Raton’s fire rescue and police departments as well as from Delray Beach Fire Rescue, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and the Broward Sheriff’s Office — was just one of many being held at area hospitals.

On Monday, April 20, first responders from Delray Beach Fire Rescue and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue were at Delray Medical Center to cheer on medical personnel, and similar events are planned for Bethesda Memorial Hospital’s two locations.

At Delray Medical Center, firefighters hoisted a huge American flag in front of the hospital and after a short presentation “took a knee” to thank hospital employees.

Delray Beach Fire Rescue personnel 'take a knee' out of respect for the staff at Delray Medical Center on April 20.  Photo courtesy of Delray Beach Fire Rescue

Those events, as well as others throughout the county, are being coordinated by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue in conjunction with local first responders.

“It’s been a great morale booster not just for the hospital staff but also for the firefighters because they’re happy to show their support for our healthcare heroes,” said Tara Cardoso, a healthcare specialist with county fire rescue. “You can see the smiles underneath the masks.”

Appreciation of emergency medical personnel, as well as police, firefighters and paramedics, is also coming from community members.

In Highland Beach, for example, residents took to their balconies at 7 p.m. Friday, April 17, for a “clap out,” with some applauding and others banging on pots and pans to show support.

“It was quite loud,” said Highland Beach Mayor Doug Hillman, who helped get the word out to residents at Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina, where he is president of the board of directors. “The response was fabulous.”

At 7 p.m. on April 17, residents of the Boca Highland Beach Club & Marina in Highland Beach stood on their balconies to applaud first responders and healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured top to bottom, (l-r), Audrey Gluck, Sergio De Simone, Walter Jones, Pat Jordan, Rod Werner and Bob Caprice.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The clap out, promoted by the town through emails, started with one resident organizing her community but grew into a community-wide event.

Carol Wittenberg, of Regency Highland, originally organized a clapping event to thank the workers of her condominium and found that it was greatly appreciated.

“The look on their faces was phenomenal,” she said.

She decided to take a next step and organize an event to bring the town together in support of the medical community, first responders and others who are serving the public at their own risk.

“This shows our appreciation,” she said. “It sends a message that we can’t even begin to show how much we appreciate what they’re doing. They’re putting their lives on the line for us.”

At Boca Regional that message was well received by those who were on hand to see the first responders parade past the hospital — and even by those who weren’t there.

“I think all healthcare workers really appreciate the show of support,” Boca Regional’s Mendez said.

By Mary Hladky

Nearly one month after the closure of beaches, parks, natural areas and golf courses, some stir-crazy Palm Beach County residents are pushing back against COVID-19 emergency orders that keep them from enjoying the outdoors.

The unrest flared in Boca Raton on April 13 and 14, when residents asked the City Council to open the Silver Palm Park public boat ramp so they can get out on the water.

This issue, which council member Monica Mayotte called “the elephant in the room,” dominated the council’s discussions during a series of “virtual” meetings over the two days — the first ones held online to spare residents and council members from crowding into the cramped council chambers and violating social distancing rules.

“I want to be able to launch the boat with my wife, with social distancing,” one resident told council members.

Eric Finn, a commercial fisherman who owns Finn-Atic Fish Co. in Boca Raton, which supplies local restaurants and sells directly to consumers, said fishermen should be able to use the boat ramp. City workers would not need to monitor them, he told council members.

He also communicated directly with Mayor Scott Singer on Facebook.

“I understand commercial fishing isn’t your priority right now, nor should it be. But people still need to eat,” he wrote. “Again I’ll ask, why can’t Silver Palm Park be open to those of us who have commercial fishing licenses?”

Council members were sympathetic to both boat owners who want to escape their homes and commercial fishermen.

But as with everything else related to the coronavirus pandemic, a decision on opening the boat ramp is complicated.

Palm Beach County closed boat ramps, docks and marinas on March 22. The next day, the county clarified that they were closed to boats used for recreational purposes but open to commercial fishermen.

The county acted immediately after people posted photos on social media of boat parties at sandbars in the waters near Tequesta and Jupiter.

Boca Raton warned people on social media not to congregate on Lake Boca, a popular spot for boat parties and the alcohol-fueled Boca Bash held annually on the last Sunday in April, after photos showed the lake crowded with vessels.

The city does not control Lake Boca, which falls under state jurisdiction. But Singer issued a sharp rebuke nonetheless.

“Let me put it bluntly,” he posted on Facebook on March 21. “This is not the right time to invite a bunch of friends on your boat for a big party.

“Right now, there’s a deadly virus that’s circling the globe and can seriously affect (or even kill) you, your family and anyone you might contact for weeks.”

While council members understood that residents would love to launch their boats from the boat ramp for recreation, City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said the county directive applied to all cities and towns, effectively tying the council’s hands.

The boat ramp could be opened to commercial fishermen, if in fact they were actually intending to fish and not using their license to evade restrictions on recreational use, she said.

Mayotte noted that she had seen an April 10 report on WPTV-Channel 5 that there has been a recent surge in people applying for commercial fishing licenses.

Council member Andy Thomson said he had looked into that, and found that before the boat ramp closure, 25 boaters in Boca Raton and 400 in the county had a commercial license. In the past few weeks, an additional 400 people have applied for the licenses, with 40 of them in the city.

Council member Andrea O’Rourke asked how the city could determine which of those actually fish for a living.

“I am in favor of opening the boat ramp to existing commercial fishermen,” Thomson said. A majority of council members agreed.

City Manager Leif Ahnell said municipal employees would have to monitor the ramp’s use, putting them at risk of not being able to socially distance themselves from the boaters.

Frieser also said that if the ramp is opened to commercial use, commercial fishermen from throughout the county and other counties who also have a city permit to use the ramp would be able to use it.

But it may be possible to restrict access only to city residents, she said.

The council reached no decision on April 14, opting instead to have Ahnell and Frieser provide options and recommendations at the next virtual council meeting on April 28.

By Steve Plunkett

A National Guardsman provides instructions as cars pull into the drive-thru testing site at the South County Civic Center on April 7. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

A total of 250 patients are scheduled to be tested for COVID-19 today, April 8, at the South County Civic Center, and 146 had appointments for Thursday, April 9, Palm Beach County and the Cleveland Clinic said.

During the first day of drive-thru testing at the South County center on Tuesday, April 7, 138 people were tested, Cleveland Clinic said. Appointments can be made at 561-804-0250.

By Steve Plunkett

Telephone reservations for drive-thru COVID-19 testing at the South County Civic Center will begin at 10 a.m. April 6 with the earliest appointment available at 8 a.m. the following day.

The reservation phone number is 561-804-0250.

After the first day the phone line will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Pre-approval and appointments are required, County Commissioner Mack Bernard said while announcing the details April 5. Cleveland Clinic of Florida will screen callers for presence of symptoms, exposures and risk factors, he said.

The South County center, at 16700 Jog Road west of Delray Beach, will have 2,000 test kits available, Bernard said. The county's first coronavirus test site, at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, will have more than 1,000 kits, he said.

"This is a time to remain calm; it's not a time to panic," state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, said. "If we do what the protocols and the president of the United States have indicated such as social distancing, washing our hands and sheltering in place, we can get through this."

County Commissioner Robert Weinroth said his office has been besieged by people wondering why they cannot play golf, one of the many activities not allowed now.

"Please, adhere to these executive orders. Don't try and be a lawyer and figure out how to punch a hole between the lines and figure out how you can do things. ... We don't want to be like New York."

After the South County site opens, testing will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to noon.

A testing site for coronavirus will open April 7 at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach.

"More info to follow," County Commissioner Robert Weinroth said April 2 in a COVID-19 email announcing the opening.

The South County center is at 16700 Jog Road. The testing site will be the county's second: its first opened at the FITTEAM Ballpark of Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach on March 31.

The combined cases for Boca Raton (135 as of April 2), Boynton Beach (117), Delray Beach (100), Lantana (6) and South Palm Beach (1) represent 49% of the county's 737 total cases.

—Steve Plunkett

Second-graders Emma Imperatore and Valentina Autiero presented their request for duck crossing signs to the Town Commission after a duck was killed near Gulf Stream School. “We don’t want that to happen again,” Valentina said. Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

A duck that sadly became roadkill near the Gulf Stream School may become the impetus for new warning signs for motorists in town.

Second-graders Emma Imperatore and Valentina Autiero implored town commissioners to consider creating the signs in what Mayor Scott Morgan proclaimed was an “excellent presentation” on March 13.

“Good morning, everyone,” Valentina began while standing before commissioners. “A few weeks ago outside of our school on Gulfstream Road near the Little Club golf course, I saw a duck that had been run over and killed.

“We don’t want that to happen again because the black Muscovy ducks … cross the street many times a day,” she continued, flanking with Emma a poster board the two girls had handcrafted. “We would like to have two street signs installed that tell people: ‘Slow down, ducks cross here.’ Thank you.”

With their teachers and classmates watching, Emma then gave the girls’ recommendation on where the signs should be located, one for southbound traffic and one for northbound.

Morgan praised the second-graders for undertaking “a very important civic experience.”

“That is, you’ve seen a problem in our town, you want to address it and so you’ve come before the municipal body that has some authority to help grant what you’re seeking,” he said.

Because their proposal would affect both the Gulf Stream School and the Little Club, Morgan told the girls to contact the school’s headmaster and the club’s president and get their consent to installing the signs, then return to the commission on April 9.

“You were very persuasive,” Commissioner Donna White added.

Vice Mayor Tom Stanley wanted more information about Valentina and Emma’s suggested sign, which featured a mama duck leading her three ducklings.

“Can you read the little words on the sign? I mean ‘Duck Crossing’ is good — we all know what that is. But there’s also some extra words on there for emphasis. Can you tell us what those are — for the record?’ he asked.

“Quack, quack, quack, quack,” Emma and Valentina replied to the delight of the commission chambers.

In other business:
• The Little Club withdrew its controversial application to build four pickleball courts. Neighbors at the Hillside House and St. Andrews Club, some of whom lived just 50 feet away, had protested that the fast-growing but noisy sport would detract from their quality of life.
• Town Manager Greg Dunham said he was not permitting members of the public to enter the business side of Town Hall because of the coronavirus. He and other town employees meet people who need services in the lobby, he said.
• Dunham showed commissioners a map of a proposed street running from the entrance of Place Au Soleil to the Intracoastal along the north side of the subdivision. The street would have 14 lots, with the four nearest the waterway being larger than the 10 others.
The Gulf Stream Golf Club and the Florida Inland Navigation District own the land. Dunham said he has hired a land-use expert to evaluate the proposal.
• Commissioners denied a request for a variance from Daniel Stanton that would have let him add a second floor to his Place Au Soleil house 14 feet from the property line instead of 15 feet. Stanton had proposed buying a longtime eyesore next door, demolishing part of it and combining both it and his existing house to make what would have been the largest residence in Place Au Soleil.
Commissioners said the size and mass of the proposed structure were not in keeping with the neighborhood. His purchase of the decrepit house hinged on his getting approval of the remodeling plans.
Real estate broker Zac Mazur, representing the heirs of deceased homeowner Richard Lavoie, said if commissioners would rescind a demand to demolish the property at 2775 Avenue Au Soleil, he could sell it within 90 days to someone who would renovate it.
Over 10 years Lavoie ran up $1.9 million in code enforcement violations at the property, primarily for having a dead lawn and no fence around his swimming pool. Commissioners last October agreed to reduce the lien to $125,000 after Stanton proposed joining the lots.

By Dan Moffett

Ray McMillan eked out a 17-vote victory over Elvadianne Culbertson in the March 17 municipal election to claim a seat on the South Palm Beach Town Council.

McMillan, a New Yorker who has been a part-time resident of the town for 32 years, was buoyed by the endorsement of two council members, Bill LeRoy and Mark Weissman.

However, a week before the election, Weissman rescinded his endorsement, citing differences with McMillan over the fate of Town Hall.

What to do about the aging building became a central issue in the campaign. The council is considering how to renovate or rebuild the structure, and many residents told candidates they worried about the expense.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has told officials he would be willing to partner with the town on the project, with the idea of improving the working facility for his deputies.

Some voters told the candidates about concerns the sheriff’s help might lead the council to spend too much money on the project. McMillan was endorsed by the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, the police union, and Culbertson was not.

Both McMillan and Culbertson said they favored a limited Town Hall renovation — not a full reconstruction or expensive overhaul. Weissman has said he would consider a more extensive project.

“I’m for making repairs, not rebuilding,” McMillan said, and called his election win “fantastic.”

“Our priority now would be getting the Town Hall updated,” he said.

Both McMillan and Culbertson had lost previous attempts to join the council. McMillan ran unsuccessfully in 2017, and Culbertson lost a reelection bid in 2019 after being appointed to an open seat three years ago.

The other winner last month was Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb, a homeowner in South Palm since the early 1970s, who coasted to reelection with 44% of the vote (297 votes) in the three-way race for two seats. McMillan got 29.3% (198) and Culbertson 26.8% (181).

Gottlieb will be serving his seventh term after first joining the council in 2005. The election brings to an end a 10-year run in office for Stella Gaddy Jordan, who late last year decided not to seek another term.

South Palm voters also overwhelmingly approved three of five proposed amendments to the town charter.

The most significant change was the approval of an amendment that increases the terms of council members and the mayor from two years to four. McMillan and Gottlieb now will serve until 2024, and the other three council members will come up for reelection in 2022.

Voters also approved giving the mayor power to declare emergencies during natural disasters or other crises and a provision that updates and revises language throughout the charter.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would give council members the power to increase their pay while in office, and a measure that would have reduced the signature requirements needed for ballot initiatives from 15% of registered voters to 10%.

By Dan Moffett

The town of South Palm Beach is facing a lawsuit stemming from the forced resignation of a police officer in August.

Alicia and Michael Baum have filed a suit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court naming the town and former Officer Jose M. Fernandez as defendants and claiming damages in excess of $30,000 because of what the suit calls his harassment activities last summer.

The town declined to comment on the suit.

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s investigators booked Fernandez at the county jail on Aug. 28 and charged him with two misdemeanors — stalking Alicia Baum and unlawfully installing a GPS tracking device on her car.

Fernandez resigned from the department two days later. In October, the Sheriff’s Office took over the department and policing in the town.

Michael Baum told PBSO investigators in July that Fernandez, 51, had carried on a yearlong affair with his wife that she wanted to end. Baum said he found a GPS device attached to the bottom of his Toyota SUV, and investigators then traced the tracker’s registration to Fernandez.

Alicia Baum told deputies she was “constantly looking over her shoulder” because Fernandez was following her and, despite her requests, refused to end their relationship. She accused Fernandez of following her while she jogged on Ocean Boulevard and while she shopped outside the town.

Alicia Baum said she did not fear physical harm from Fernandez but felt harassed.

Fernandez admitted to investigators, according to the PBSO report, that he bought the device and placed it on the car a few days before Michael Baum discovered it on July 30. But Fernandez said he did so because he feared retribution from Baum.

The former officer denied he was stalking the woman. He posted a $500 bond and left the jail shortly after his booking. No trial date has been set.

The Baums’ suit, filed by Palm Beach Gardens attorney Stuart Kaplan, accuses Fernandez of a “pervasive pattern of constant harassment” and violation of their constitutional rights. The suit accuses the town of negligence and “failing to supervise” Fernandez. The complaint also alleges the town’s police had pressured the Baums to sign a nonprosecution agreement.

OCEAN RIDGE: Bulldozers work in the surf at the north end of Palm Beach County’s Hammock Park as sand is pumped from the dredge through the floating pipe and then to shore, where a sand and water slurry is spread to widen the beach. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star and Kimberlee Duke Pompeo

Restoration projects wrapping up along beaches with public access

By Jane Smith

Sand lost to Hurricane Irma was restored by mid-March to the coast in southern Delray Beach and along Boynton Beach’s public beach and into Ocean Ridge. Renourishment efforts continued in Boca Raton.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which is managing the $26.5 million project, split the work in two with Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge and Boynton Beach grouped together and Boca Raton by itself.

Three days later from the same location, the beach sand is much wider.

The Delray Beach segment, about 1.8 miles from Casuarina Road south to the city line with Highland Beach, wrapped up March 13, Army Corps of Engineers spokesman David Ruderman said in an email.

The dredge then moved up to Boynton Beach/Ocean Ridge over the March 14 weekend, Ruderman said.

In Boynton Beach, heavy equipment was stationed at the city’s Oceanfront Park. The beachfront park, about 1,000 feet long, received sand, as did the beach about 3,000 feet north of the park and about 2,000 feet south of it. Both parcels sit in the town of Ocean Ridge.

That part of the work was finished March 27, according Tom Mahady, ocean rescue chief for Boynton Beach.

“They’re removing their gear, which is estimated to be done by April 1,” Mahady said in an email.

BOCA RATON: A Weeks Marine crew positions a dredge pipe on Boca Raton’s northern beach. Work there should wrap up by the end of April. Photo provided by City of Boca Raton

In northern Boca Raton, from just north of Spanish River Boulevard south to Red Reef Park, 1.45 miles of beach restoration is underway.

That work, which started in early March, involves placing 770,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach. “They are about 35% complete,” Ruderman said March 25.

The contract award was for $12.8 million.

“They are aiming to be done by April 30,” Ruderman wrote. “They should be off the beach in time for the major part of the sea turtle nesting window.”

Sea turtle nesting season started March 1.

The sand renourishment was paid for using federal tax dollars authorized by Congress in June under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies Act.

The approximate cost for restoring the beaches in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Ocean Ridge is $13.7 million. The beaches received nearly 800,000 cubic yards of sand, equal to the amount needed to fill about 250 Olympic-size swimming pools.

DELRAY BEACH: Cliffs up to 3 feet tall are common along the edge of renourishment projects as ocean waves work to level the newly pumped sand. This is usually a prime spot to gather shells. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Illinois dredged the sand offshore for the three beaches. Weeks Marine Inc. of New Jersey is handling the Boca Raton work.

Tracy Logue, coastal geologist with the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management department, said extra steps were needed once the sea turtle nesting season started March 1:
• Hourly nesting surveys within the construction area.
• Relocation of any nests that could be affected by construction to a designated site outside of the project limits.
• Limited construction lighting for nighttime operations to avoid excessive illumination of the water’s surface while meeting federal standards for construction lighting at night.

New Commissioner Karen Lythgoe brought her granddaughter Sadie Smith to the ceremony. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

A couple of political newcomers looking to turn the tide in Lantana will have a chance to do so after handily beating two Town Council incumbents in the March 17 election.

Karen Lythgoe, the top vote-getter with 690 votes, defeated incumbent Phil Aridas, who received 487 votes for the Group 4 seat he has held since 2011.

The other newcomer, Mark Zeitler, outpolled incumbent Edward Shropshire, who has just completed his first three-year term. Zeitler received 637 votes to Shropshire’s 567 for the Group 3 seat. Three years ago, Shropshire defeated five-term incumbent Tom Deringer by a two-vote margin.

“It’s apparent that the residents of Lantana looked at the issues and looked at the candidates and felt maybe it was time for a change,” said Mayor Dave Stewart. “I will reach out and work with those who have been newly elected and, hopefully, as a council we can do the things that the residents feel are important.”

Lythgoe, 60, said her sizable win took her by surprise.

“Everybody told me ‘you’re never going win the first time out, we wish you well, don’t take it personally, we’re not going to give you money because we don’t know that you can be elected,’” she said. “When I began to see the initial returns, I was shocked. And as it kept going I was like, wow, I’m by myself, I’m self-quarantining and I’ve got nobody to tell.”

Before long, she was flooded with calls and congratulatory text messages.

Having garnered the most votes of any of the four candidates also amazed her.

“I sent out no fliers, no door hangers and my signs were tiny,” Lythgoe said.

Mark Zeitler is sworn into office.

Zeitler, 63, an air-conditioning contractor, spent election night watching TV and pacing outside his home.

“It kept saying 80%, I was waiting on the whole thing to come about,” he said. He awakened early the next morning to see congratulatory texts from friends and fans. By 5:30 a.m., he was out collecting campaign signs before going to work.

“I didn’t know how it was going to go and he did have a pretty good team and I thought because of that it would make things a little harder,” Zeitler said of Shropshire.

Both Lythgoe and Zeitler say their first order of business will be to listen and learn what they need to know about serving on the Town Council.

“I need to understand how the sausage is made, I have questions, I have things I’m wondering about,” said Lythgoe, an IT specialist who works in risk solutions for LexisNexis. One of the things she plans to investigate is how well the town is covered as far as computer vulnerabilities. “We need to protect our data.”

Zeitler said he needs to begin finding out “what’s what and what needs to be taken care of and what things are put on the table. I want to take a look at code enforcement, the aggressiveness of it.”

One of the reasons he ran, Zeitler said, was that he felt the town and Shropshire had become too gung ho about code enforcement. The two men live across the street from each other in the Lantana Heights neighborhood.

At the swearing-in ceremony on March 23, Lythgoe brought along Sadie Smith, her granddaughter. Sadie celebrated her seventh birthday the day after the election and was so happy and excited for her Nana. “One of the reasons I ran was to show her you can do anything you want to do,” Lythgoe said.

Another birthday was not as joyful.

Aridas, a county park ranger, turned 66 on election day but didn’t quite get the present he hoped for — another three-year term. He took the news well and appreciated all the kind words he received from residents who called him to say they were sorry he lost.

“I had nine years in there, and it was a great experience,” Aridas said. “I thought the voter turnout was kind of lousy, but you just never know about an election. I hope everything goes very well. There’s some very important things coming up in the town and I hope they’re handled right.”

Shropshire, who did not return calls as of press time, encountered a rocky road in his quest for second term.

In January, he was told by town staff that he had not qualified for the election, that his name would not appear on the ballot and that Zeitler won by default. Shropshire, 67, had not turned in the petitions from registered voters necessary to qualify, although the County Supervisor of Elections Office certified he had them and he was cleared by the former town clerk as having checked all the necessary boxes to qualify.

After Shropshire challenged the decision in court, a circuit judge ruled that he could remain on the ballot.

By Mary Thurwachter

One way or another, substantial changes are coming for the Lantana Public Library. The town has earmarked $400,000 for upgrades to the building, and architectural plans for those renovations are to be viewed by the Town Council on April 13.

But at the March 9 town meeting, a few other proposals were pitched by a developer hoping to build a hotel on or beside the town-owned library at 205 W. Ocean Ave.

Tony Mauro and his son Michael Mauro, who own the land behind the library (where the old bowling alley once stood) as well as the post office building next to the library, said they wanted to include the town in the vision for their development.

“Michael and I feel we have enough land with the bowling alley property to do something nice, but in all the design we’ve been playing with for over a year, it’s become pretty clear to us that to do something that will withstand the test of time, and make everyone very proud, it would be nice to be able to bring the library into the project,” Tony Mauro said.

“Our No. 1 choice would be to design and develop a hotel,” he said. “The design would be very different if it were just on our portion of land right now, and if the library were included it would change the design totally.”

One of the options the Mauros proposed was for them to purchase the library for a sum to be determined by multiple appraisers. Another option would involve exchanging the library for another parcel in the town and funding the construction of a new building.
A third proposal would be to build a new library at 500 Greynolds Circle to create a more centralized town municipal center, which would allow all of the funds to be utilized for the structure itself.

Council members quickly declined to consider a fourth option, which would be to provide a dedicated and permanent location for the library within a new overall project designed by the developers.

“Our library needs to be not in control of anyone else’s facility,” Mayor Dave Stewart said.

But some of the other proposals would be worth looking at, council members agreed. The Mauros will return with more fleshed-out ideas at the May 11 meeting.

In the meantime, the town will have an opportunity to see plans two Miami architects have put together for the Library Foundation.

Robert Barfknecht, president of the Lantana Library Foundation, asked the council to delay any decision on the Mauro proposals until he had a chance to show them the architectural plans the foundation had sponsored.

“We’re delighted to know that the town has budgeted a significant amount of money to upgrade the library to conform to ADA laws, etc., and we have offered to support architectural drawings and a new concept for this upgrade,” Barfknecht said. “We have dedicated $10,000 of our funds from the foundation to create architectural drawings and plans which will include cost estimates for upgrading the library. We’ll be ready to present these to the council in April and I think you’ll be delighted to see what’s coming along.

“The architects we have working on this are coming up with some very interesting ideas to make it a beautiful building which will include community spaces,” Barfknecht said. “I think you’ll be very pleased and proud that the building can be something really special. It already is special, but it can be much more special.”

“The way I see this, these are just ideas,” Stewart said. “We are getting ready to spend considerable money on the library and before we spend considerable money on the library, I think the question is would the council like to see a new building somewhere else, or would they like to see it as part of whatever project is going to be on the property? And there are all kinds of stipulations.”

For one thing, if the town would choose to sell the library, that would need to be voted on by residents, according to the town charter.
Lantana’s Public Library was founded in 1947 in the former bridge-tender’s house on Ocean Avenue.  The town bought the current library building, which is 50 years old, in the early 1990s after the Carteret Savings & Loan failed. It is operated by one full-time employee and a small army of volunteers.

By Dan Moffett

Three incumbents easily won reelection in the March 17 municipal election to keep their at-large seats on the Briny Breezes Town Council.

Christina Adams led all candidates with 103 votes, or 31.2% of the ballots cast. Bill Birch got 102 votes (30.9%) and Kathy Gross received 101 votes (30.6%).

Political newcomer Charles Swift had 15 votes and Lynne Weiner nine.

A month before the election, Weiner withdrew from the race, though her name remained on the ballot.

Council members serve two-year terms. Adams has served four years on the council.

Birch and Gross are beginning their second terms. All three cited improving relations between homeowners and building officials — in particular, simplifying and improving the town’s permitting procedures — as a priority for the council.

About 31% of Briny’s 330 registered voters turned out, compared with Palm Beach County’s overall turnout of 26.6%.

Commissioners Evalyn David and Peggy Gossett-Seidman with the documents. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

It was a Highland Beach happening that had all the earmarks of a made-for-TV special.

A safety deposit box is discovered that no one currently involved with the town knew anything about and that apparently hadn’t been opened for years.

Commissioners give the town staff the green light to move forward and a date is set to have the box forced open, mystery contents revealed.

“We authorized them to open it hoping it would contain valuable Spanish gold coins or something like that,” said Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman, adding that she couldn’t help thinking of Geraldo Rivera’s opening of Al Capone’s vault in 1986.

Alas, when the day came to open the box and its contents were at last revealed, what was discovered inside was indeed valuable — if only to town historians.

Tucked away were some important papers, including the original Town Charter created 75 years ago and other documents that could have historical significance.

One page from the historic documents found inside the box describes concerns about vagrants and con men at the time.

“Sadly, there was no gold,” Gossett-Seidman said.

What was inside might have continued to be a mystery had a bank representative not asked if Highland Beach wanted to keep the safety deposit box.

The answer from town officials was “What safety deposit box?”

“We were surprised when we got the call,” said Town Manager Marshall Labadie.

Even John Rand, a former commission member some 30 years ago, was surprised to learn the box existed.

“He couldn’t believe it,” Gossett-Seidman said. “He said he never heard of it.”

Former town finance director Cale Curtis said he was aware the box and a couple of other safety deposit boxes existed but didn’t know historical documents were stored inside.

During a Town Commission meeting last month, Labadie announced contents of the box, which included water revenue bonds dating to 1956. He said the town is working to find ways to make it possible for residents to view the documents.

“There was no gold bullion or anything cool like that,” he said, much like the disappointing Al Capone vault opened on TV 34 years ago.

That led to a witty comment shouted from the audience.

“Or so you say,” a smiling resident said.

By Mary Thurwachter

Despite the uncertainty connected to the coronavirus, Town Manager Deborah Manzo didn’t have to wait long for an answer when she asked whether or not to commit to a fireworks contract for the Fourth of July.

The $30,000 contract with Zambelli Fireworks would need to be signed soon to reserve the date, Manzo said. But if the town decided at some point to cancel, Lantana would lose between $6,500 to $17,000, depending on how close to the show date the cancellation was made.

The council voted March 23 to go ahead, regardless of the possibility of cancellation due to COVID-19.

Even if a large gathering in Bicentennial Park were prohibited at the time, the fireworks could still go off from a barge on the Intracoastal Waterway so residents would have something special to watch that evening, council members agreed.

Memories of the last time Lantana didn’t have fireworks on the Fourth of July, in 2011, still haunt Mayor Dave Stewart and Vice Mayor Lynn Moorhouse, who were both on the council at the time.

“I had 30 unhappy people at the door. We had sad little kids dressed in red-white-and-blue turn out at Bicentennial Park,” Stewart said. Father David Kennedy of Church of the Holy Guardian Angels “was praying for me. He said fireworks are America and help people shake off a depressing economy.”

“It was horrible,” Moorhouse added. “Let’s have fireworks!”

Stewart said the plus side of contracting for the fireworks show outweighed the possibility of financial loss.

“Fireworks make people feel good,” Stewart said, “and people need that.”

A concrete answer for the nature trail

On another matter, the council voted to pave the Lantana Nature Preserve trail with concrete, a choice rejected previously as it was considered too costly (about $130,000). In addition to money the town has already set aside for the project, about $60,000, funds will be taken from reserves and paid back from annual payments received from the Carlisle assisted-living facility for maintenance.

The council debated what type of material to use for the trail for more than two years, and twice decided on asphalt — an unpopular choice with Friends of the Nature Preserve.

In February, another option was considered: crushed concrete, which was less costly than asphalt and more eco-friendly.

But on March 23, Stewart proposed concrete, considered the best long-lasting solution.

“We’ve kicked this tin can down the road so long it’s not even a can anymore,” Stewart said. “I don’t want this to come up ever again in my lifetime!”

“That’s music to my ears,” Manzo said.

In other news, the council, for safety reasons, voted to remove obtrusive road striping on Hypoluxo Island in compliance with Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices guidelines for streets and highways. Removing the yellow lines will cost about $5,000.

Islanders, in person and with letters, urged the town to remove the double yellow lines after several residents had to leap into the bushes to avoid being hit by speeding vehicles whose drivers would not pull over.

Hypoluxo Island does not have sidewalks.

Layton had three more ‘Jive At Five’ sessions planned this season when the president of the homeowners association called him March 16 to say all events had been canceled in light of the coronavirus threat. ‘They’ve locked both clubhouses,’ Layton says. ‘The only good news in this is, I won’t have to work as hard getting ready for next year. I’m almost halfway there.’
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

Bob Layton has an intriguing theory about popular music.

“I’ve heard,” he says, “that the music you were hearing when you were 14 years old affects your musical taste for the rest of your life.”

For him, that was 1943, when The Mills Brothers’ Paper Doll was the year’s biggest hit.

Layton was born on July 14, 1929, the year of Tip Toe Thru The Tulips. He’s 90 now, with a long life of singers and songs between his ears and in his heart.

For the past 20 of those 90 years, he’s shared those singers and their songs with his neighbors at the Crown Colony Club in Ocean Ridge.

On Tuesday evenings during the season, men and women in their 70s, 80s or 90s gather to hear him play the old recordings that make them feel 14 again, and learn a few bits of biography and musical trivia along the way.

“Jive At Five,” he calls it, and it’s a hit, too.

By 4:45 p.m. on the last Tuesday in February, they’re wandering in to the community’s clubhouse, water bottles, beers, Cokes and Chex Mix in hand, greeting, gossiping and settling down along the bingo tables.

“Maximum capacity 44,” a sign on the wall says.

By 5 p.m., there are definitely 44 people waiting. Salvatore Renna is in the kitchen, boiling the hot dogs, getting the wine and beer set up for later. Layton is at his table up front, and his sound man, Dom Pillaria, is at the tape deck nearby.

Showtime!

“This is the best music of the 20th century,” Layton begins, “from the 1920s to the 1970s. I promise you won’t hear anything after 1980.”

Yes, he has strong musical opinions.

“Nineteen-eighty is my cutoff point,” he will tell you, lip threatening to curl. “That’s when the amateurs took over.”

Bruce Springsteen?

“I was born in New Jersey and went to Asbury Park High School, but I don’t get him at all,” Layton says. “I tried. What’s his problem?”

Stephen Sondheim?

“He’s a one-hit wonder, as far as I’m concerned.”

And that one hit, of course, is Send In The Clowns. But Layton favors the Sinatra version, not Judy Collins’ big hit.

“No, I’m not crazy about her, either.”

Layton and his neighbor, Thomasina Cole, have a friendly dispute regarding Barbra Streisand.

“She’s not on my list,” Layton says, making the thumbs-down sign. “She’s got a whiny voice that’s irritating to me.”

When Layton hears whine, Cole hears tone.

“She’s one of my favorites,” she says, “but not one of Bob’s. He has a blind spot, but I love her tone.”

Cole considers the Streisand tone. “Maybe it’s something to do with her nose. …”

A retired ad executive from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, Layton had about 2,000 LPs in the attic five years ago when he and Irene, his wife of 65 years, decided to live in Ocean Ridge full time.

“I sold a few, but most of them went to Goodwill,” he says, “and I can tell you, they’re really heavy.”

Anything worth keeping he put on tape. Now he has 15 shoe boxes full of cassettes from which to choose and mix his weekly listening sessions.

“This gives me something to do in the summertime,” he explains. “I get an idea while I’m shaving, so I get a pad and make a list of what I have.”

Crown Colony residents smile as they to listen to Bob Layton talk about music history.

During each Jive At Five, Layton will introduce and comment on about 15 songs. Every session has a theme, drawn from three categories — an artist, composer or subject.

“I’ve never repeated a program in 20 years,” he’s proud to say.

He’s done “Songs With Love In The Title,” “How World War II Changed American Popular Music,” and even “Music With Sexually Suggestive Lyrics.”

But that’s sexually suggestive lyrics from before 1980, you understand, so you get All Of Me (Why Not Take All Of Me?).

Tonight’s theme is “Fifteen Italian Singers Take Over American Pop,” and Layton has come up with a clever way of introducing them.

“Vito Rocco Farinola,” he announces, to puzzled frowns. The audience knows him as Vic Damone. Layton tells them of the time young Farinola cornered Perry Como in an elevator, asked to sing for him, and won a few words of encouragement.

Then he plays You’re Breaking My Heart, Damone’s 1949 hit.

Did you know the melody was based on an older Italian song called Mattinata?

Francesco Paolo LoVecchio. He became Frankie Laine, who sang That Lucky Old Sun.

Genaro Louis Vitaliano? Jerry Vale, and Layton plays Summertime in Venice.

Pierino Ronald Como was an easy guess, and they hear Perry Como’s Prisoner of Love.

Jasper Cini? They know him as Al Martino of Spanish Eyes fame.

“Next, a record where Dean Martin seems to be sober,” Layton jokes, and Memories Are Made Of This.

John Katsaros, 96, is tapping his cane, bobbing his World War II Purple Heart cap and grinning. Shot down over Frankfurt on March 20, 1944, he bears a shrapnel scar still visible on his right forearm.

“I love this,” he says. “I been coming here since they started it. You know, I saw Glenn Miller in Haverhill, Mass., before he became popular. Yeah.”

Walden Robert Cassotto? That’s Bobby Darin.

“But I’m not going to disappoint you on this,” Layton says. “I’m not going to play Splish Splash.

He knows his audience, and so of course they hear Mack The Knife.

The story goes that Darin chose his last name when he glanced out a hotel room window and saw a neon sign for a Chinese restaurant called Mandarin, with the first three letters dark.

“But that may be apocryphal,” Layton concedes.
By now, much of the audience has stopped resisting the urge to sing along.

Everyone knows Anthony Dominick Benedetto, of course. But did you know that in 1957 the great songwriter Johnny Mercer got a letter from a grandmother in Youngstown, Ohio, enclosing what she felt sure would be a great line for a song?

Mercer agreed and wrote I Wanna Be Around — “to pick up the pieces when somebody breaks your heart.”

Tony Bennett got a big hit out of it, and Sadie Vimmerstedt got a third of the royalties.

And now, the finale.

Do we really need to tell you his name?

Jacques Revaux wrote the melody, Paul Anka wrote the English lyrics, and he sang it his way.

Sally Valenti, 93, leans over to her neighbor.

“You know,” she confides, “my friend had a funeral home in New Jersey, and when Frank Sinatra’s father died, my friend called me up and said, ‘Sally, we got Frank Sinatra’s father!’”

Bennett, Como, Damone — they’re all fine. But this is a Sinatra crowd, so Layton announces that Frank has agreed to do an encore.
New York, New York.

And suddenly they’re all on their feet, swaying from side to side and singing along, clapping for Frank, for New York, for the songs that were young when they were young, and for Bob Layton.

Briny Breezes Town Manager Bill Thrasher runs the council meeting last month with appropriate social distancing and phone technology allowing aldermen to attend from home. Photos by Jerry Lower and Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

In South Palm Beach, council members held a special meeting in the Town Hall parking lot.

In Highland Beach, a television screen was placed in front of Town Hall so residents could see what was happening inside.

And in other cities and towns throughout coastal South County, chairs in commission chambers were cordoned off with yellow tape and elected officials took alternating seats on the dais to make sure they kept 6 feet away from each other.

For most local municipalities, finding ways to govern effectively during the unprecedented coronavirus crisis is requiring innovation, often aided by technology, as well as huge amounts of patience and flexibility.

“There are going to be as many ways to hold meetings as there are cities until things become clearer,” said attorney Glen Torcivia, whose firm represents Highland Beach, Ocean Ridge and South Palm Beach.

Conducting meetings while making sure the public has an opportunity to participate, as required by Florida’s Sunshine Law, is just one of the challenges that local governments face.

Another is the task of making difficult decisions at a time when situations change from hour to hour — and when no one knows for sure when everything will be back to normal.

Add to that the task of figuring out how to ensure municipal services aren’t interrupted and employees are safe while encountering new situations every day, and you can understand why city and town managers have a lot to be concerned with.

“Things are changing so fast,” said Boynton Beach City Manager Lori LaVerriere. “It’s like trying to stay abreast of a moving target.”

LaVerriere said that in some cases she would pull her leadership team together for a meeting in the morning but then have to call members back together in the afternoon to present new information and tell them to disregard what they heard a few hours earlier.
“You have to be adaptable,” she said. “You try to stay two steps ahead of what’s coming.”

Because circumstances change quickly, with information from health officials evolving and executive orders coming from the governor, many decisions that would have been made by a city council or commission are now being made by city or town managers.

In Boca Raton, for example, last month’s decision to order nonessential businesses to close was made by city staff members, led by City Manager Leif Ahnell.

That decision, which under normal circumstances might have been made by the City Council after discussion, was made by Ahnell with input from the mayor and council members.

“We’re in a situation where we are not the direct governing source,” said Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia. “There are a lot of policy decisions that the city manager has to make.”

She said waiting until a city commission could meet to make decisions in an emergency situation would be unwise.

“You would be well behind in every decision,” she said.

Petrolia said that Delray Beach’s new city manager, George Gretsas, has been in constant contact with her and other members of the commission, listening to their input and advising them of decisions he is making.

“He’s using us as a sounding board,” she said.

That same process holds true in a small town like Manalapan, where Town Manager Linda Stumpf is in daily contact with members of her commission.

“We have a fully engaged commission,” said Mayor Keith Waters, adding that Stumpf and commissioners are accustomed to working together even in non-emergency situations.

Last month, Manalapan canceled its commission meeting in a move similar to what Boca Raton did when it canceled its March 23 and 24 City Council meetings.

Waters, who credits the town staff and residents for making sure Manalapan runs smoothly during the crisis, said there weren’t enough pressing issues on the agenda to warrant holding a meeting in an emergency.

In Lantana, crime-scene tape in alternating chairs helps keep attendees apart.

For many communities, however, the meetings are a necessity in order to ensure residents receive services.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to not debilitate the services we provide to the community,” Boynton’s LaVerriere said.

Although they’re in an emergency situation, local governments still have to pay bills, make payroll, issue building permits, ensure public safety and provide other services.

Municipalities in the area are all still working, although most are not permitting residents to enter the town or city halls. In some cases employees are working from home.

In Manalapan, where employees work in close quarters, Stumpf devised a plan where staff members alternate days working from home so as not to be within 6 feet of each other at the office.

For managers like LaVerriere, it’s often necessary to get commission approval before a contract can be signed or a major purchase can be made. There are also policy decisions that commissioners need to make that are timely but not urgent.

Recognizing the need for local governments to meet, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last month that allows commissions and councils to meet electronically and to meet without a quorum.

“That was huge,” LaVerriere said.

While towns such as Lantana and Ocean Ridge initially continued to hold actual meetings in town halls, others switched to electronic meetings.

Briny Breezes, for example, held its council meeting last month via teleconference, the first electronic meeting in the town’s 57-year history. Council members approved policies and procedures for future emergency conferences.

The ground rules say that the public must have a physical place to attend (large enough to allow social distancing) and hear all electronic meetings while the council members participate by phone. The place typically would be Town Hall.

One of the challenges for municipalities is figuring out how to ensure they comply with Florida’s open government laws, which require an opportunity for public participation in meetings.

“The optimal situation is that the press and public have an opportunity to be in the room,” says Florence Snyder, a First Amendment lawyer and strong advocate of the state’s open government laws.

Still, Snyder says, there has to be flexibility in emergencies.

In Highland Beach, a television is set up outside to broadcast the live-streaming of the commission meeting.

“As long as we have government that’s accessible, that’s good,” she said.

Figuring out how to hold meetings electronically can be a challenge for some places, even in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach, which live-stream their meetings over the internet.

“We never offered virtual meetings before because of the Sunshine Law,” said Chrissy Gibson, Boca Raton’s communications manager.

Some options include teleconference and conference calls with options for residents to be on the call. Another option being explored is to have meetings available to residents electronically with an option for them to send in comments via email.

Towns and cities along the South County coast hoped to have details worked out before their meetings this month.

Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie said his town is making a sincere effort to ensure the public has an opportunity to participate in meetings and he believes most other public officials are taking similar actions.

“We all want the public to participate because it is in the best spirit of good governance,” he said.

Labadie said that whereas municipalities already have plans for a hurricane, the COVID-19 emergency comes with uncertainty about when — and perhaps if — the way towns and cities govern will return to how they were just a few weeks ago.

“There’s no playbook for this,” he said.

Barbara Flores, a designer and author, stands in front of two of her poster creations and holds copies of her four books, including a memoir about her marriage breakup. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

It was about the time Barbara Flores had her third book published that she decided she needed to learn how to write.

Flores, a 71-year-old South Palm Beach resident who in 2019 published her memoir Separated, Acting Badly to positive reviews, produced a book of quotes for Al-Anon families and two cookbooks before actually making the time and effort required to consider herself an accomplished writer.

“I started out as a graphic designer, and getting the design right was actually more important to me than what the book had to say,” she said.

When her third book, The Great Book of Pears, became a finalist for the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award in 2001, she decided to take a different tack.

“That was what I call my big-ass award,” she said. “That was when I decided to get interested in writing. I didn’t even call myself a writer then. I really wanted to design more than write.”

Living in the Bay Area, Flores started by taking writing classes from Adair Lara, a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I took so many of her classes she got sick of me, but we became writing partners, so everything she wrote for the Chronicle she sent me, and all the crap I wrote I sent her. We had to write a column every day, and I got very good very fast, and that’s when I had the thought of writing a memoir.”

Her plan was to catalogue the ups and downs of her marriage, which had lasted more than 30 years, but it was about that time her husband had an affair with a younger woman and left her.

“So, there goes the book idea, but then people said why not write about the experience of him leaving, so that’s what I did.”

That was in 2004, and in 2006 she decided to leave the Bay Area to join her parents in South Palm Beach. After years of grieving over the failed marriage and many stops and starts, she wrapped up the manuscript last year.

“We had a very long separation before we got the divorce, so that’s the ‘separated’ part, and the ‘acting badly’ part is me acting badly,” she said.

Flores, who has married again — to artist George Canberg — has spent many years as a teacher, first at an inner-city school in Oakland and more recently at G-Star School of the Arts in the village of Palm Springs. That background contributed to her latest manuscript, a work of fiction involving guns. The book is intended for ages 11-13.

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in a village, yes a real village, called Menomonee Falls outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I wanted to leave as fast as I could. I wanted to see the world, the ocean. I wanted notoriety as an artist. I already won awards in high school and college — my artwork sold — and I grew too big and too bigheaded for my small hometown. Now I really appreciate the people. They’re so kind, friendly, soft-spoken … just don’t schedule anything during a Packers game.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: My career as an artist/writer/teacher has been a see-saw of peaks and valleys. My writing mentor, Adair Lara, a former San Francisco Chronicle columnist, has called me a serial enthusiast. In college in Madison, Wisconsin, I began illustrating shoes like Andy Warhol did. By the time I was 22 my illustrations for Nunn Bush shoes were appearing in Playboy and GQ. That gig allowed me to buy a small starter cottage in the Bay Area. I raised three kids in the ’80s and when the youngest was 2 I decided to quit my job as a magazine art director to be home with them and do volunteer work for the war-torn refugees flooding into the Bay Area.
I founded a work program called Manos with grants. But I was broke and had to ask my husband for a food allowance to feed the kids. After five years, my graphic design work picked up and I opened a graphic design studio in Berkeley.

One of my good friends from church was the mother of Mark Miller, the Coyote Café chef. She had a wacko idea that I should fly to New Mexico the day after Christmas and talk to him about designing a chile poster. This was in 1990 when no one had even heard of a jalapeño or a chipotle. It launched a 12-year career of designing food posters and authoring cookbooks for TenSpeed Press.
After my husband, whom I had adored, left after 31 years of marriage, I needed something more in my life. I decided I wanted to write more than I wanted to design. I published essays and took a job teaching writing to inner-city kids in Oakland. I moved to Florida and taught at G-Star School of the Arts.

At age 60 I got a degree in writing and literature at Bennington College, Vermont. I’ve been honored to teach at U.C. Berkeley Extension, Moraga College and Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Now I teach adults, edit manuscripts, care for my great-granddaughter and I’m on the third draft of my next book, a tween fiction.
I am most proud of my work with women. Today I continue to volunteer to mentor disadvantaged, marginalized and abused women in recovery.

And I am proud of my memoir, Separated, Acting Badly.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Success is where your greatest passion meets the needs of the marketplace. You hear “follow your heart,” but with the cost of education today, your heart can lead to financial ruin. Yes, follow your heart but there’s also a stomach(s) to feed. In my twisty-turvy career path I’ve taken low-paying jobs serving ice cream, teaching high school, and after my husband left and my third book won a big cookbook award, I took a serving catering job just so I had a party to go to every Saturday night.

Also, if you want to work in a creative field — film, design, publishing — I suggest you work as an intern at the most prestigious company you can find. Find the win/win in every difficult situation.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in South Palm Beach?
A: When I first moved to South Palm Beach in 2006 a stranger said, “Everyone that moves to Florida is either moving away from something or moving to something. Which one are you?” I didn’t miss a beat answering that I was moving away from a marriage breakup. I ran away from California as far as I could until I hit an ocean. And the ocean healed me. Also my parents lived here, and I needed them, especially my dad.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in South Palm Beach?
A: The exquisite aqua sea. I never get tired of looking at it. Also my grandmother was one of the first residents in South Beach when there was only the Tropicana on the Intracoastal side. My aunt also lived in the Imperial. Some South Beach trivia: The Imperial is built around a two-story beach house that was once owned by Howard Hughes. My Aunt Alvina lived there. I came here at 13 and fell in love with South Palm Beach. I watched the (recently demolished) Hawaiian Motel being built from my grandma’s third-story condo. Then the view was all beach and dunes and palm trees.

And now my granddaughter and her daughter live a few steps away. My husband, George Canberg, an artist, has a trailer at Briny Breezes where he paints. I call Briny my happy place.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I’m writing a kids fiction book so I’m into YA. I’m reading With the Fire on High, by Elizabeth Acevedo. One of my students also recommended Little Fires Everywhere.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I’m a visual person and I’ll listen to whatever George puts on. He plays old rock ’n’ roll. I love it. I love to have music served to me. If I play music (salsa mostly) it’s to dance not relax. If I want to relax, I’ll meditate.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My father. I feel sorry for the men who married me because my father was a hard act to follow. He was always very proud of me. But then I’ve been a workaholic who carried a briefcase to first grade. He was a small-town dentist, honest, humble, admired and he never said a bad word about anyone. I must have been in my 40s or 50s when I realized that my father was one of the grandfathers of the National Basketball League, a forerunner to the NBA.

Every time I drive into my condo parking lot I think I see his green station wagon. He passed last April at age 99.

Another mentor is Adair Lara. She was a columnist, not an academic, but she taught me how to write and teach.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I’ve been told that I’m a weird mix of wit, sophistication, and immature naiveté. I’d like it to be Meryl Streep because she can capture nuance and paradox.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Honesty. Brutal honesty. A very successful writer told me once, “Barbara, when you write, you’re so funny. But when you talk, you’re not funny at all.” I find that hilarious.

Also my 7-year-old great-granddaughter, Giselle Solis. I can’t get enough of her. I wish I could see the world through those beautiful brown eyes.

Visit www.barbaraflores.net for more on her work.