Bobby Julien, CEO of the Kolter Group, and Sala Brown, his executive assistant, enjoy a comedy skit that was part of the poker extravaganza. Julien came up with the idea when he served on the Achievement Centers board. At left is Tarun Bhalla, Kolter’s IT chief. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related Story: A place to thrive for kids — As it turns 50, Achievement Centers ‘at top of its game’

By Charles Elmore

The price to get in started at $6,000 a seat. Dress was chic Havana evening attire. Live music, dinner and a cocktail reception set the stage for a poker tournament of epic proportions at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
Lest anyone be shocked — shocked! — to find gambling going on here, the proceeds went to charities offering preschool and after-school education, meals, help learning to read and a host of other services.
The Havana Nights Poker Charity Tournament delivered its biggest jackpot yet, more than $1.6 million, for Achievement Centers for Children and Families in Delray Beach and other nonprofits in its latest incarnation Nov. 7.

Dan Economos and his brother Nicholas Jr. (far right) are part of the charity event that raised one of the largest single-night amounts in county history. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

More than 130 businesses sponsored the participants.
Fellow organizers said the concept goes back to a suggestion from Bobby Julien, chief executive officer of the Kolter Group, a real estate development firm based in Delray Beach. Julien, a former Achievement Centers board member, wondered if there might be a different route to raise money instead of, say, a golf tournament or formal dinner. He said he heard about a similar event in another market and thought it might offer an entertaining twist.
“I don’t like wearing a black tie,” Julien said, stepping outside the Cathedral Room at the Boca Raton Resort & Club as the din of festivities hummed inside. “I liked the idea of something more casual.”
Michael Neal, chief executive officer of Kast Construction in West Palm Beach and a former board member at Achievement Centers himself, remembered that Julien even had an idea for the venue.
“He said, ‘Let’s do it at the Boca Resort,’ ” Neal said. “Boom. Home run.”

A record night of giving
Charity watchers said the total amount raised ranks among the largest single-night events in a county with a history of big-ticket largess.
A February gala in Palm Beach raised a reported $1.5 million for Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Also early in 2019, the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society raised $1.75 million at its annual Tropical Safari Gala, according to published reports.
“Palm Beach County is recognized as one of Florida’s most philanthropic counties,” said Bradley Hurlburt, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. “We are very fortunate to live in a community where people understand the importance and are committed to giving back to those in need throughout the year.”
The focus of the poker event is on nonprofits based in the communities they serve, Julien said: “We want to serve grass-roots charities.”
The total this year surpassed anything else seen in the four times the event has been staged, with planning and preparation taking as long as two to three years between galas, according to organizers. The 2016 event raised more than $1 million, a spokesman said.
The leading beneficiary is Achievement Centers, which is celebrating its 50-year anniversary of providing preschool and after-school care and education, among other programs.
“This is incredible,” said Stephanie Seibel, chief executive officer at Achievement Centers, sporting a fedora for the occasion. “The people on our boards are so willing to jump in and help. People are there for the right reasons.”
The event provides the single largest source of private-sector donations for her organization, Seibel said.
Precise contributions were still being tallied, but more than a dozen charities will benefit in all, organizers said. One of them is Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, whose chief executive, Kristin Calder, was in attendance as well.
“It really is wonderful to be the recipient of the generosity flowing this evening,” Calder said.
Why do it? A place like Achievement Centers “steals your heart,” Neal said.
Julien said, “A lot of people need help. We love giving back.”

Helen Babione has lived in Boca for almost 60 years and says she enjoys working with people who need help, especially children and older adults. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Margie Plunkett

Helen Babione has spent nearly 60 years in Boca Raton, reaching out to help people through her church, community organizations and the Babione-Kraeer Funeral Home that her husband, now deceased, had founded.
Babione, 90, was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Women of Distinction Breakfast of Soroptimist International Boca Raton/Deerfield Beach. She has been a member of the Soroptimists for about 50 years — the same for both the Boca Raton Woman’s Club and Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.
“I’ve been very blessed by having good friends who help me out,” Babione said. “I don’t do much. I get all the credit — my friends do all the work. And that’s the truth.”
The list of organizations and programs where she has made an impact is long, including the Rotary, Kiwanis and the Caridad Center. She is a founding member of Horses and the Handicapped and Twin Palms Center for the Disabled, and has often co-chaired the Go Pink Luncheon at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. She’s also active in programs with her church, St. Joan of Arc.
“I like to work with children and people who need real help,” Babione said, as well as with older people.
She added that working within a club, “you can get so much more done and don’t have the attention on yourself.” But that doesn’t mean she’s escaped the spotlight: “People give me attention all the time. They spoil me,” Babione said.
She also thinks it’s important for everybody to do something to help, pointing out that she’s not wealthy, nor do you have to be wealthy to give. “Somebody told me years ago: The small money we need to keep the toilet running. The big money we need for the buildings,” Babione said.
Babione’s late husband, Robert, was born in Lake Worth. Helen, who lived in Ohio, would travel to Lake Worth for part of the year to live with her brother, who had moved here for health reasons, and to waitress at a local eatery. There, she met Robert, who made deliveries to the restaurant. Helen came down permanently from Ohio in the late 1940s. “I feel more like a Florida person than an Ohio person,” she says. The couple spent some time in Washington when Robert was in the service, and in Texas where he went to school to become a funeral director. They moved back to Lake Worth, Robert started the funeral home in Boca Raton, and in 1960, they settled in Boca.
They had seven children: Kathryn Babione Rogers, Phyllis Babione Haggerty and Ashley, Paul and Jean Babione. Two of their grown children, Robert Jr. and Mary Babione Veccia, have passed away. Helen has a total of 23 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her entire family, with the exception of one grandchild, lives in Palm Beach County.
Today, Helen is a consultant at the funeral home and stops by often, especially to greet and grieve with people she knows and introduce them to the funeral director. “I still enjoy helping the people. I feel like it helps them, and if it helps them, I want to be there to do it.”
Keeping busy at charitable work in addition to helping at the funeral home is a plus for Babione, as well as those she supports. “I’ve been very fortunate as far as I’m concerned. I really appreciate doing it, too. It keeps my mind going better. It keeps me happier to know different people,” she said.
With the length of time she has been in Boca Raton, Babione mentions that she is “blessed to know a lot of different types of people.”
What she has also learned from meeting so many: “Everybody has a gift. No matter who they are, they have their own personal gift that I enjoy getting to know.”

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE
A COASTAL STAR
Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 337-1553.

A family trip to Spain took me out of the Florida heat and into the chill of a more northern November. Luckily there were paellas and tapas, plus plenty of churros and chocolate and vino tinto to keep us warm. As we soaked in the art and history of the major cities, we watched as holiday lights were being strung across streets and throughout urban parks.
We departed just a few days before they were to be lit and surely now fill the evenings with wonder.
The trip reminded me that December is a month filled with lights, and the cool weather and decorations abroad put me in a holiday mood. So, I’m braced for the whirlwind of friends and family and all the maddening preparations and exhausting cleanup.
Bring it on.
I’m also ready to simply enjoy the lights: the spiral-wound palm trees along A1A, the twinkling Christmas trees in parks and windows and the flickering candles on friends’ menorahs.
Even the stars shining before dawn and the moon rising to illuminate the night bring about a meditative tranquility.
My hope is that as you partake in all of the December festivities, you too are able to stop and consider the calming influence of lights.
It’s this calm we may all need to survive the coming month.
So, as holiday chaos ramps up, my wish for everyone is to have a sparkling holiday season filled with peace and hope — and, of course, nights brimming with the magic of light.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and, from Spain, Feliz Navidad.

Mary Kate Leming,
Editor

By Mary Hladky

After seven years of discussion, the City Council has dropped plans to create a Business Improvement District to pay for a shuttle system that would transport people around the downtown.
The B.I.D. would have been financed by downtown businesses, offices, hotels and apartment buildings that would be assessed a fee based on the taxable value of their properties and their proximity to shuttle stops.
But when surveyed in October, those who would pay the fee did not support it. They generally liked the idea, but not if they had to bear the cost.
“They think it is a good idea, but they are not willing to pay for it,” consultant Marie York of York Solutions in Jupiter said at the Nov. 25 Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. “Some saw the advantage of having a shuttle, but they thought as a whole the city should pay for it.”
The fee wasn’t the only concern. Objectors thought shuttles would not attract riders.
They questioned the need for shuttles. As more people use ride-hailing services, they can get to their downtown destinations without using a shuttle.
They also didn’t think shuttles would increase their revenues or lease values.
If shuttles were implemented, they wanted upscale vehicles, not typical trolleys.
There was so little interest in the idea that very few people attended meetings held to solicit input.
Council member Andrea O’Rourke called the attendance “abysmal.”
Since the B.I.D. concept attracted no support, Peg Anderson, who chaired the B.I.D. committee, announced the death of the idea at the CRA meeting.
“This is kind of a B.I.D. farewell,” she said.
The city likely will have to come up with Plan B.
Virgin Trains, which wants a Boca Raton station, has asked the city to provide a shuttle system to ferry train riders from the station to various locations in the city.
Although that is not part of current negotiations between the city and Virgin Trains, the subject seems certain to come up again.
City staff members already have explored the cost of contracting with a company to provide free rides in electric vehicles. They gave top ranking to Freebee, which is now operating in Delray Beach, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale and other cities.
But the service doesn’t come cheap. Service just in the downtown would be $333,590 a year. If the service area were expanded to include more neighborhoods and the beach, the cost would rise to $616,805 a year.
Council members balked at those numbers in September, and started talking about subsidizing the use of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.
Deputy City Manager Mike Woika told council members that transportation agencies and cities are setting up subsidized partnerships with ride-hailing companies.
Jupiter did this to reduce the number of impaired drivers on the road. The city offers a $15 dollar Uber voucher for use during specific times and dates during the holidays.
Wilton Manors in Broward County offers a $5 discount on Uber and Lyft rides ending in the city on Friday and Saturday nights and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Council members agreed that the city should try this as a pilot project.
“I think this is a way to get going for a lot less than other options,” said Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers.
They suggested various times to implement this, such as during New Year’s Eve, or at city events such as the holiday parade and tree-lighting.
Mayor Scott Singer wanted all ride-hailing companies to be able to participate.
Woika will report back on the cost.

Moon phases and weather patterns combined to create high tides and wild waves in November. ABOVE: A surfer catches a ride off the beach at the north end of Spanish River Park in Boca Raton on Nov. 18. A winter-like storm off the Carolinas brought rolling surf to South Florida. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
BELOW: A king tide driven by the high seas and a new moon floods the parking lot of the Banana Boat in Boynton Beach the same day. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioners have reluctantly given in to City Council pressure to allow the city to take over the Boca National golf course project and to request proposals from golf course architects with the aim of seeing if the city can get a better price or design.
While district commissioners were willing to let the city construct and fund Boca National, they told City Council members at a Nov. 12 joint district-council meeting that they wanted the city to stick with the golf course plan created by the Nick Price/Tom Fazio design team or to allow the district veto power over any alternate design the city selects.
They contended that the city’s objection to the cost of the Price/Fazio design is now moot because it has been reduced from $28 million to $13.4 million, with certain features of the plan to be phased in over time.
District commissioners chafed at the idea of essentially starting over on the golf course design.
“If you want (to request proposals), you are entitled to do that if you spend your own funds for that,” said Commissioner Robert Rollins, noting the district spent nearly $1 million on its own selection process.
“I think you will find that the time wasn’t as well spent … because Price/Fazio will come out on top with the design. You won’t see much difference in cost.”
“We know it is a good design,” said Vice Chair Erin Wright, drawing applause from the audience. “I don’t know why we would reinvent the wheel and spend more time and taxpayer money to do another go-through.”
The district is entitled to approve any new design, several commissioners said, because it paid $24 million for the land.
“If it is going to be our money, it is going to be our design,” countered City Council member Andy Thomson, who has taken the lead on negotiations with the district.
“Let’s take one more step to confirm this is the best plan,” he said, referring to the request for proposals.
The problem for district commissioners is that they don’t have enough money to do the project on their own because, under pressure from the City Council, they recently abandoned a proposed 19.4% property tax increase.
Faced with that reality, commissioners eventually gave up their effort to convince City Council members that they should have the authority to approve any new golf course design. Even so, that debate has not been permanently put to rest.
Mayor Scott Singer at one point suggested the city could give the district $10 million and the district could put in additional funds to complete the course on its own.
“We held the millage rate,” Rollins said. “Now we don’t have the money to contribute that we would have had if the millage rate increased.”
Executive Director Briann Harms confirmed the district is badly strapped for cash.
“We would not be able to commit millions of dollars to the golf course,” she said.
Commissioner Steven Engel expressed his frustration at a Nov. 18 district meeting.
“Since the city had backed us into a corner … we had no choice,” he said. “It is distasteful to me … to go to the city and say ‘it is all yours, guys.’ I don’t see any other way out.”
A short time later, Engel again showed his discontent.
“I would like our (legal) counsel to look into what procedures are necessary to follow for the dissolution of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District,” he said, stunning other commissioners into momentary silence.
“If the city feels they don’t need us, that we are just there to be their whipping boys, fine, we don’t need to be around.”
No commissioner seconded Engel’s motion, and the idea was dropped.
Even though the city is now in charge, the future of the golf course is far from settled.
Thomson said he expects the process for requesting proposals to take three to six months. District Chair Susan Vogelgesang thinks it will take six months or longer.
The Price/Fazio team will be able to participate.
But first, the city will draft an interlocal agreement that will specify the city’s and the district’s roles and responsibilities for the golf course project.
If the district doesn’t like the terms of the agreement and a compromise can’t be reached, the two sides could be at an impasse once again. The city might not be able to move forward with the request for proposals if the two sides are at loggerheads over the interlocal agreement, Thomson said.
Other key issues remain unresolved, such as whether the city and district will share profits and losses on the golf course once it is built.
Thomson said that if commissioners were satisfied with the final agreement and the design of the course, they may decide to take a role in operating the golf course.
For now, the district is waiting to see what the city comes up with. Commissioners will then meet to discuss it.
“If the (interlocal agreement) is not fair and balanced, let’s be quick to say ‘no, thanks,’ ” Commissioner Craig Ehrnst said at the Nov. 18 meeting.
City Manager Leif Ahnell asked council members for direction on what they want included in the interlocal agreement at a Nov. 13 City Council meeting.
Council members deflected to city staff. Thomson asked that staff report back to the council at its Dec. 9 meeting.
The next joint meeting of the council and district is set for Jan. 27.

By Mary Hladky

When Art Koski asked that an agreement to keep him working as a consultant for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District be pulled from the Nov. 18 commission agenda, it appeared he had severed ties with the district for good.
District chair Susan Vogelgesang and Commissoner Robert Rollins praised Koski for his 40 years of service when interviewed after the meeting.
Vogelgesang said she “cried my eyes out” over his departure. “I rely on him an awful lot on history and guidance. … It just makes me sad. I had a very good relationship with him.”
“I feel I have lost a part of my soul with Art leaving the district,” Rollins said. “His vision helped direct the district to the facilities we do have. He provided great counsel to us over the years.”
But when contacted, Koski said he is not necessarily gone yet. The agreement was pulled from the agenda at his request “because I had not made up my mind,” he said.
Koski said he is still in the process of deciding and “I will make the announcement in the proper forum.”
Told of Koski’s comments, Vogelgesang said that when he asked to take the matter off the agenda, she had thought he no longer wanted a role with the district.
If Koski wanted to work as a consultant and outlined the scope of his duties that district commissioners would accept, “I would welcome him to stay on,” she said.
The former district executive director’s consultant contract to be project manager and construction manager of the Boca National golf course ended on Nov. 1. He was paid $10,000 a month, the same amount he earned as executive director.
But the golf course is in limbo as the city and district disagree on how the project should proceed. Most recently, the city has taken over the project and intends to request proposals from golf course architects in the hopes of getting a better price or design.
The district was negotiating a new contract with Koski when he seemingly pulled the plug.
Rollins said Koski had proposed being compensated at an hourly rate of $275 with a $7,500 retainer.
Koski likely would return to the district if he had the full support of commissioners, he said.
But district Vice Chair Erin Wright has said she doesn’t feel comfortable working with Koski as a consultant and has questioned his invoices.
Commissioner Steven Engel said he had “some issues” with what Koski had proposed.
He wanted to make sure Koski did not have any direct dealings with the city because of friction between him and city officials. Engel wanted Koski to act only with the express authorization of the board through Executive Director Briann Harms. Engel also had concerns about Koski’s proposed hourly rate.
Koski started working for the district in 1978. He shed his role as legal counsel in June 2018 and as executive director in January.
He was paid $150,000 a year as the district’s lawyer. For a time, he was lawyer, executive director and construction administrator for the De Hoernle Park sports fields, making $330,000 a year.

By Rich Pollack

For months Highland Beach commissioners have been trying to come up with rules for parking on the town’s side streets, only to discover roadblocks standing in the way of workable solutions.
The challenge is how to make it possible for guests of residents and for service providers such as plumbers and landscapers to park on the narrow streets without creating problems for residents.
There also is the question of what to do with cars parked by out-of-town residents heading to the beach through private-access points.
“You have to really think about parking here in Highland Beach because we don’t have a lot of room for extra parking on the side streets,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
During a meeting last month, commissioners agreed that overnight street parking should continue to be prohibited, but they stalled when it came to deciding what to do about on-street daytime parking.
Ideas they kicked around included prohibiting street parking completely, issuing parking permits, and perhaps implementing a plan in which vehicles would be allowed only on the north side of the streets during certain days of the week and on the south side other days.
In the end, commissioners asked Labadie and Police Chief Craig Hartmann to go back and look at the issue and return with ideas on how best to address it.
“One of the things we have to determine is if there are some reasonable accommodations for service providers during the daytime hours when there is not a legal parking place available,” Labadie said.
Hartmann said he and his department hope to resolve one problem — beach parking by nonresidents on side streets — by limiting nearby beach access.
The chief said he is working with one condominium association that has private open access to the beach to ensure that the walkway is limited only to residents and their guests.
There is no public access to the beach in Highland Beach.
In its effort to solve the parking problem, the town sent a letter to residents on the side streets this summer asking for feedback on solutions outlined in a proposed parking ordinance.
Under those proposals, a commercial vehicle would be allowed to park on the paved portion of a street when the operator is engaged in deliveries, lawn maintenance or other related activities as long as the street wasn’t blocked.
Other provisions of the proposed ordinance would limit parking on non-paved portions of private property — essentially the grass — and prohibit all commercial vehicle parking from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Responses ranged from leaving the parking rules the way they are to prohibiting all on-street parking except for commercial vehicles for a short term.
The town leaders discussed and considered comments from residents, but because they were so wide ranging decided to seek more input from staff.
Commissioners hope to hear back from Labadie and Hartmann this month.
“The idea is to get some codes in place and then ask everyone to use common sense,” Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman said.

Presented during a ceremony at City Hall on Nov. 20, Boca Raton’s annual Landscape Excellence Awards recognized seven properties. The award criteria included tree canopy, proper pruning, variety, color and texture, as well as how the property is fertilized, irrigated and maintained.
The winners were selected by the Boca Raton Beautification Committee, whose goal is to make Boca Raton the “most beautiful city in America.” Recipients were Por La Mar Park, 789 Palm Ave., in the city-park category; St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd., place-of-worship category; Boca City Walk, 33 SE Eighth St., residential high-density category; Library Commons Apartments, 24-74 NW Seventh St., residential medium-density property category; the Sanctuary, which won in residential low-density gated property; Build Masters, 2420 NW First Ave., industrial small-property category; and the building at 1700 NW Second Ave., small commercial-property category.
The all-volunteer Beautification Committee, founded in 1983, first funded landscaping at South Federal Highway and Royal Palm Way. From this small project grew an effort that today includes 5 million square feet of landscaped medians and right of way throughout the city.

— Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

By Mary Hladky

Veteran officer Michele Miuccio has been named interim police chief, taking over for Dan Alexander, who retired Nov. 30.
Miuccio, who joined the Boca Raton department in 1989, has served as deputy chief of police for the past four years.
Since her hiring as a patrol officer, Miuccio has risen through the ranks, becoming a captain in 2002 and assistant chief in 2005. She has served in the property, crimes against persons, vice, intelligence and narcotics units.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity to serve in this position and work alongside the dedicated men and women who keep Boca Raton safe and protect our residents,” Miuccio said in a Nov. 22 city statement announcing her elevation. “Together, we can make one of the finest police agencies even better.”
Alexander, who led the department for 13 years, was hired by the Palm Beach County school district in October to fill the newly created position of director of school police. He is now second in command at the department, reporting to School Police Chief Frank Kitzerow.
The school Police Department is growing rapidly, largely to meet the requirements of a state law that was enacted after the 2018 massacre of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The law requires armed school safety officers to be assigned to every school.
City Council members thanked Alexander at the Nov. 26 council meeting.
“Thank you to Chief Alexander,” said council member Monica Mayotte. “I want to thank him for his service to the city all these years.”
Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers praised Alexander for keeping residents safe.
“The good news is he is now working on the safety of our students,” he said. “A loss in one area and a gain in another area.”
The city’s Police Department has 216 officers and 107 civilian employees. Police officer starting salaries were recently increased to $70,198.

By Mary Hladky

Groundbreaking is expected next summer for Boca Beach House, a 32-unit luxury condominium on Lake Boca Raton across the water from the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
Units in the four-story condo will start at $3 million and have two to five bedrooms, ranging in size up to 7,500 square feet. The project includes a 14-slip marina.
Miami developers Key International and Integra Investments purchased the 3-acre site, formerly owned by the resort, for $17.3 million in 2017.
At the time the purchase was announced, Key and Integra said they had acquired one of the last developable waterfront parcels in east Boca Raton.
Buyers who pay dues will be able to use the resort’s facilities, including restaurants, golf courses, tennis courts, pools and spa.
Billionaire Michael S. Dell acquired the resort last summer for nearly $900 million in the largest property deal in Palm Beach County history. It continues to be managed by Hilton under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand.
The seller was an affiliate of Blackstone, a New York-based private equity firm that acquired the 337-acre resort in 2004.
Boca Raton has seen a spate of luxury development in recent years. Rising from the ground now are the 384-unit Alina Residences on Southeast Mizner Boulevard and the 92-unit Residences at Mandarin Oriental, adjacent to a Mandarin Oriental hotel, on Federal Highway north of Camino Real.

By Mary Thurwachter

Three Lantana police officers were given lifesaving awards — and a standing ovation — for having prevented two suicide attempts on I-95 overpasses in September.
Police Chief Sean Scheller, who made the presentations during the Nov. 25 Town Council meeting, shared the details, and in one case video from the police car, of the rescues.
On Sept. 24, Officer Ngin Tuang responded to I-95 and West Lantana Road regarding a suicidal woman atop the overpass, Scheller said. Tuang establish rapport with the woman to distract her. During the conversation, Tuang was able to inch close enough to grab her from the railing and pull her to safety.
“Officer Tuang’s swift and decisive action clearly saved this woman’s life and may have prevented additional injury or death on an unsuspecting motorist traveling on the interstate,” Scheller said.
On Sept. 29, police were called to the I-95 overpass at Hypoluxo Road, where a man was straddling the guardrail above the southbound lanes of the interstate.
Officer Jacquelyn Cucca talked to the man until she and her partner, Officer Luis Morales, were able to get close enough to pull him off the wall. Scheller, who showed a video captured by a squad car camera, praised Cucca for her patience and calming demeanor, and both officers for their work.
“Their decisive action and teamwork clearly saved this man’s life and may have prevented additional deaths or injuries to the unsuspecting motorists below,” Scheller said.
“This doesn’t happen often,” he said, referring to suicide attempts from overpasses, “and I’m so proud of these officers.”
Among other police honored at the meeting was Officer Elizabeth Waldkoetter, who received the Employee of the Third Quarter award for leading the department’s efforts to collect and deliver supplies to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian.
“Elizabeth worked diligently with town staff and local residents in coordinating relief efforts for those dramatically affected in the Bahamas,” Scheller said. Waldkoetter secured a local vessel, which made several trips to the Bahamas.
In other news, Town Manager Deborah Manzo introduced the town’s new development services director, Nicole Dritz, effective Nov. 18.
Dritz, 30, has worked for the town for five years and has been the town clerk. She replaces David Thatcher, who resigned in October after 19 years with the town.
Her responsibilities will include managing the building division, code enforcement, planning and economic development functions. She will oversee the town’s redevelopment efforts, which include drafting codes, creating land use categories, amending the comprehensive plan and developing strategies for commercial and residential revitalization.
Dritz has a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from FAU and served as the town’s community planner for three years. She also served as assistant public works director and interim library director.
Until a new clerk is hired, Dritz will do double duty as clerk and development services director.
In other action, the Town Council gave Manzo a glowing evaluation and a 6% pay increase — from $148,542 a year to $157,455. Her contract was extended until 2023.

Decorations at Highland Beach Town Hall are a little more modest this year. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

The holidays are bright at Town Hall again this year but not quite as eye-catching since two oversize decorations have been mothballed following concerns that last year’s display was a little over the top.
For the second year in a row, the Highland Beach decorations feature a 25-foot holiday tree surrounded by thousands of lights, a 12-foot menorah and other festive decorations.
Missing from last year are a giant dreidel and a life-size Nativity scene.
“Overall, the concept was that there was a little too much for a small site,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
During a meeting in late September, town commissioners wrestled with scaling back the decorations — which one unhappy resident said made Highland Beach look like Disney World — or abandoning the contract with the outside firm that provides the displays.
“There has to be a happy medium between doing nothing and going over the top,” said Commissioner Evalyn David.
Last year, the town agreed to a four-year lease-to-own agreement in which Highland Beach would pay $25,000 a year for Brandano Displays of Margate to install thousands of lights around the municipal complex, including at the entrances of the Police Department, Fire Department and Town Hall.
The agreement also called for Brandano to put up the artificial Southern pine Christmas tree as well as the menorah, the 7-foot-tall dreidel and a seven-piece Nativity with pieces 6 feet tall.
Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman said she agreed with some residents who felt the oversize decorations were too big for the location in front of Town Hall.
“Having OK’d them on an 8 ½-by-11 piece of paper, you really couldn’t determine how they would look on the site,” she said.
Labadie was able to negotiate an agreement with Brandano this year in which the company would not include the dreidel and Nativity scene and reduce the overall cost by $4,000 a year for this year and the next two years.
Some commissioners felt the reduction of $12,000 on the remaining $75,000 contract was minimal, but Gossett-Seidman said that “getting $12,000 back is enough to make it worthwhile.”
Labadie has pointed out that the contact includes Brandano’s putting up and taking down the remaining displays — including the tree — as well as storage.
The tree, the menorah and the lights will become town property after the 2021 holiday season, he said.
Residents had the opportunity to see the decorations for themselves during the scheduled Dec. 5 Light Up the Holidays celebration, which also honored the town’s 70th anniversary.
Trolley service was planned to once again bring visitors to the annual celebration, which was to include refreshments and a performance by the Dimensional Harmony chorus from Boynton Beach High School.

Once construction of the four main buildings is complete in the Atlantic Crossing project, art that represents fishing nets will be erected to link them. Rendering provided

By Jane Smith

The Atlantic Crossing project in downtown Delray Beach will sport an aerial net sculpture when it’s finished in about four years.
There are four buildings that need to be finished to hold up the 209-foot-long aerial sculpture spanning Northeast Seventh Avenue, about one block north of East Atlantic Avenue, said Paul Campbell.
Campbell, the project’s main architect, said he didn’t know the estimated end date when he appeared Nov. 13 before a city advisory board.
The Atlantic Crossing developer, the Ohio-based Edwards Cos., also declined to give an estimated end date. In August, the company predicted the project would be fully developed by 2023.
The $300 million mixed-use project occupies 9.2 acres at the northeast corner of Northeast Fifth and East Atlantic avenues.
Don DeVere, Edwards vice president, wrote through his publicist Andrea Knibbs that the first building is on schedule to break ground by the end of the year. It will be a combination of retail, restaurant and office space with three signed tenants.
The first floor of that building will stand at 11 feet on the east side and 13.3 feet on the west side, Delray Beach spokeswoman Gina Carter wrote in a Nov. 18 email.
The garage underneath that building has a 3-foot-thick slab, making the garage ceiling height 9 feet 6 inches, according to Carter, who answered questions directed to the city’s Public Works Department.
The city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board approved the aerial sculpture and other project changes unanimously on Nov. 13 in its second meeting on the issues. When Campbell came before board members on Oct. 16, he was unable to answer all their questions about the aerial sculpture and other changes.
The sculpture, made by fiber artist Janet Echelman, will be supported on a frame that is attached to the four buildings, Campbell said. The frame stands out 8 to 10 feet from the buildings, minimizing contact with the structures.
“It can withstand 185-mph winds, just like the buildings,” he said. “But the sculpture can be damaged by flying debris.”
The Atlantic Crossing developer is discussing at what wind speed the sculpture will come down, what kind of process will be used — manual or powered — and what kind of fabric will be used to create the netting.
“There are two choices,” Campbell said. “Polyester nylon is cheaper but lasts about five years. The 20-year solution is a Teflon fabric, but it’s more costly.”
A similar Echelman sculpture is going up in the St. Petersburg Pier District, he said. There, the team had to satisfy the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission concerns about bird safety. The team was able to show that even a subtle breeze makes the sculpture move, keeping birds away, Campbell said.
Trellis added to road
Another noticeable Atlantic Crossing change is the addition of a trellis covering the two-way road that will be created to connect Northeast Federal Highway to Northeast Seventh Avenue. The road also will have a speed bump to slow traffic.
Nearby raised planters will be deeper, allowing for more soil and a variety of plants, Campbell said.
Other changes are minor touches to the architecture to create more interesting columns and other features.
A Palm Trail Homeowners Association representative asked about the temporary closure of Northeast Seventh Avenue and Northeast First Street. That group wants to close the intersection permanently to vehicles.
The city’s principal planner, Scott Pape, explained the review process.
One year after the last building is issued a certificate of occupancy, the city engineer and city staff will evaluate whether a permanent closure is needed, Pape said. The process was included in the developer’s conditions of approval.
Overall, the SPRAB members liked the changes that Campbell presented.
“I like it,” said vice chairman Todd L’Herrou. “A lot of little changes made a big difference.”

By Dan Moffett

South Palm Beach voters will have several important charter amendments to consider when they go to the polls for the March 17 municipal election, and the results of the voting could change the town’s governance for years to come.
Probably the most consequential amendment proposal is a referendum that would increase the term of Town Council members and the mayor from two years to four. It would also extend the terms of council members elected in March 2019 to March 2022.
The change to longer terms has the approval of at least four current council members who believe the town should reduce the expense of frequent elections, improve efficiency by allowing officials to gain experience and decrease the time spent on campaigning.
“It will save us some money,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer, “and it should help with stability.”
Fischer was elected to council in 2011. She is halfway through her fifth 2-year term.
The extended term referendum was one of a bundle of ballot measures the council approved at its Nov. 12 meeting.
Another proposed amendment calls for removing charter restrictions on the council’s power to increase or decrease council members’ pay. In 2017, the council narrowly passed an ordinance that raised the mayor’s monthly salary from $250 to $500 and boosted council members’ pay from $250 to $300. The proposed amendment would make it easier for the council to change compensation.
“We’re not extending our terms or giving ourselves raises,” said Councilman Bill LeRoy. “We’re asking you to allow us to do that.”
Also approved for the March election is a proposal that would make it easier for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot by reducing the number of petition signatures needed to qualify, from 15% of registered voters to 10%.
Council members also approved a proposed amendment that would give the mayor’s position the power to declare emergencies — a measure they hope would help expedite storm evacuations.
Two other charter issues on the ballot are essentially housekeeping measures that clean up outdated language.
Two seats on the council are scheduled to be contested in the March election, those held by Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb and Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan. The qualifying period for candidates began at noon Dec. 3 and runs until noon Dec. 17.
In other business:
• Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Maj. Chris Keane told the council his deputies “were completely over the moon” because of the warm reception they’ve received from residents.
Keane said he expects the seven former South Palm Beach police officers to complete their sheriff’s training regimen in November and be ready to return to duty in the town by December.
In June, the council voted to approve a 10-year contract with PBSO for its law enforcement services.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has scheduled a meet-and-greet barbecue luncheon for the town from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 12 at The Barclay condominiums, 3546 S. Ocean Blvd.
Deputies will be on hand to show off new equipment and answer questions.
• Town Manager Robert Kellogg said officials are making progress on getting the last of the 16 easements needed from condo and property owners to begin a three-week, $700,000 dune restoration project with the town of Palm Beach early next year — perhaps before the end of April.
Kellogg and Fischer said the management of the sand distribution, start date and timetable will be up to Palm Beach, which holds the permits and funding for the project.
“We’re going along for the ride,” said Kellogg.
“They’re basically doing us a favor,” said Fischer.

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach is tackling gridlock downtown by forcing delivery truck drivers and ride-share vehicles off bustling East Atlantic Avenue and onto the side streets.
The city now has seven designated side street stops that are marked with signs that read: Ride-share only.
Although the stops are designated for ride-share, delivery drivers must also use them during the day to unload their trucks. Ride-share drivers of vehicles, such as Uber and Freebee, must use the spots between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. to pick up or drop off passengers. The drivers can spend only 5 minutes in the spot. Delivery drivers have no time limit for unloading.
The new rule also includes any drop-off or pickup of passengers on East Atlantic between Swinton and Fifth avenues. This includes friends or family.
The city started the program Nov. 1. Drivers caught discharging or picking up passengers were warned the first time, said Nairoby Bravo, police spokeswoman. The second time, they received a nonmoving citation of $115. The number of citations issued in November was not available.
“We’re following what airports do by having designated drop-off and pickup zones,” said Mark Denkler, chairman of the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board. Its members approved the plan.
Denkler operates three shoe stores downtown. He has seen that stretch of East Atlantic become clogged when no parking spaces are open, and the vehicles simply stop in the middle of East Atlantic to let out passengers or pick them up.
For people with mobility problems, the side-street solution is the lesser of two evils, Denkler said.
“It’s less dangerous for them,” he said. “Having the ride-share companies and even relatives turn down a side street, it adds only a half block that they have to walk or be pushed in a wheelchair.”

By Jane Smith

Hamid Hashemi and three other men resigned from their executive positions with iPic Entertainment on Nov. 15.
It was the same day that its lender gained control of the iPic luxury theater chain through an affiliate, iPic Theaters.
The new company operates iPic theaters in 15 cities and remains based in Boca Raton. The lender, Retirement Systems of Alabama, canceled the lease Oct. 31 for headquarters office space in its new theater building in Delray Beach, now called 4th & 5th Delray.
In 2015, Hashemi had promised to move the company’s headquarters to Delray Beach. He persuaded city leaders to approve his project with a promise of higher-paying jobs in Delray Beach.
Also, on Oct. 31, RSA canceled the lease for the corporate apartment in Boca Raton.
The changes were allowed because RSA had made the winning bid for the iPic assets in bankruptcy court, offering $51.8 million. The luxury movie theater chain had filed for bankruptcy court protection on Aug. 5 in Delaware, when it was crumbling under a $220 million debt load to RSA.
When iPic began in 2010, Hashemi had a novel approach to movie theaters by providing reclining seats and food service. Soon, competitors began providing the same luxury movie-watching experience.
In addition, fewer people were going to the movies, preferring to stream movies in the comfort of their homes.
In Delray Beach, a complex of eight iPic theaters opened in March. Its pod seating allows two people to sit together, perfect for date nights but not for a group of friends. Even with the membership program, people must pay about $26 for a movie ticket on weekends.
RSA has no comment at this time, spokeswoman Michelle Soudry said via email. The publicist for the 4th and 5th Delray building owners did not respond to an email seeking comment.
In bankruptcy court, the new company paid $78,000 of the $135,947 owed, or 57%, for theater space in Delray Beach, according to a Nov. 18 filing.
In Boca Raton’s Mizner Park, landlord Brookfield National Properties received nearly $42,966 of the $79,107 owed, or 54%, for office and theater space, also filed on Nov. 18.
Separately, the 4th and 5th Delray building owners asked for parking and valet sign approval on Nov. 13 from the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board.
The owners need to remove two sandwich-board signs directing customers to the valet stand and 90 public parking spaces in its garage, which also serves iPic customers and office users.
Retailers and office building owners are not allowed to use those signs in Delray Beach, said Mark Denkler, chairman of the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board. Only restaurants can use them to show their menus, he said.
Delray Beach is working on a “wayfinding sign” program to show the location of public parking lots and garages, museums, shopping, etc. In December, some sign options will be shown to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board.
Consequently, the SPRAB members approved 4-foot-tall orange signs for the valet and public parking. The signs project out from the building by nearly 6 feet and will be attached at the bottom of the second floor.
The word “Valet” will be used and a capital P for the public parking. The white letters will be outlined in dark brown. The double-sided signs will be illuminated at night.

The Patriot Pickleball website shows players using the sound-dampening Sniper paddle. Photo provided

By Steve Plunkett

Pickleball may be coming to the Little Club but — shhh! — play will have to be very, very quiet.
Town commissioners asked that an independent acoustic engineer examine how loud two proposed pickleball courts would be, tabling a potential agreement hashed out over multiple meetings of the club, neighbors and the Architecture Review and Planning Board.
Conditions imposed by the ARPB would have players using only foam balls with “sound-dampening characteristics” and paddles no louder than the patent-pending Sniper “Quiet” paddle.
Play would be limited from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
The club would also put acoustic fencing around the courts along with landscaping to improve the looks.
“The Little Club has made tremendous effort, I believe from my research, made every effort that they can to reduce the noise impact from the proposed two pickleball courts,” Mayor Scott Morgan said.
But Morgan was not ready to approve the conditions of use.
“Noise is one of those features that is variable and ill-defined and not easily quantifiable,” he said.
Nine residents, mostly from the Hillside House and St. Andrews Club directly east and north of the proposed courts, urged commissioners to tell the Little Club to find another place for pickleball.
“If you haven’t played pickleball yourself or gone to it, go online and just Google pickleball, lawsuits, noise — and you’ll fall over at what it is that people have found out about the playing of this game,” St. Andrews Club resident and Little Club member Marilyn Benoit said.
The town’s code already restricts where comparatively quieter tennis courts can go, Commissioner Paul Lyons said. “No tennis court … shall be located, designed, operated or maintained to interfere unduly with the enjoyment of property rights by owners of the properties adjoining the tennis courts,” he said.
Sophie Bent, who owns two Hillside House units, said the Little Club’s original plan positioned the courts 25 feet from her window.
“Now the new plan is about 50 feet from our window so it’s kind of an improvement but not much of an improvement,” Bent said. “It’s not as bad of a plan but it’s still a bad plan, in my view.”
St. Andrews resident Carol Smith said a consultant in Arizona who specializes in controlling pickleball noise recommends that courts be at least 500 feet from residences.
Ros Curtis, president of the Little Club, welcomed the additional study the mayor wanted and said the club wants to be a good neighbor.
“Hopefully that will yield some more factual conclusions that people will be comfortable with, and we can go from there,” Curtis said.
A relatively new sport, pickleball is played on a court about one-fourth the size of a tennis court and combines elements of tennis, badminton and pingpong.
The game “is definitely noisier than tennis due to the hard paddle and plastic ball,” notes Pickleball Portal, an online blog. “Tennis is relatively quiet, the sound of the ball coming off the racket strings is very muted compared to the clack, clack, clack of pickleball paddles hitting the ball.”
The fast-growing sport has generated lawsuits from neighbors in Newport Beach, California, and Aiken, South Carolina, the blog says. Arizona’s Sun City Grand Pickleball Courts even has a list of “Approved (Green Zone)” and “Banned (Red Zone)” paddles.
The Sniper paddle that received the ARPB’s blessing coats a polypropylene honeycomb core with polyurethane foam to dampen noise. Patriot Pickleball, its manufacturer, promises that “for players who live in areas where the ‘pickleball pop’ is an issue for neighbors, this paddle promises to be the quietest yet.”
In other business, town commissioners hired Baxter and Woodman, their consultant on replacing the water main on north A1A, to update a 2002 study on building an underground sewer system for Gulf Stream and estimate construction costs. The firm will be paid $32,265 for the update and return with a final report in March.

The 1937 Wellbrock House, designed by Samuel Ogren Sr., was gingerly relocated Nov. 17 by the Community Redevelopment Agency to CRA property on North Swinton Avenue, where it will become CRA offices. It took house mover Pat Burdette nearly 11 hours to navigate the nine-block route. Delray Beach architect Roger Cope led the move to preserve the house, which was slated for demolition. It was the longtime winter home of John C. Wellbrock, a prominent produce broker. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

ABOVE: AT&T employees recorded the house move. BELOW: Utility lines and traffic lights were raised and lowered and some tree limbs removed to allow the house to pass.

By Steve Plunkett

Florida Press Club judges honored The Coastal Star with three first-place awards, five seconds and two thirds in the annual Excellence in Journalism Competition last month.
Top awards in their categories were to Editor Mary Kate Leming (commentary) for her columns on the murderous attack at a newspaper office in Maryland, guns and suicide, and local environmental awareness; to Ron Hayes (arts news) for a feature on murals being painted in a Boca Raton park; and to Scott Simmons and others (feature page design) for laying out stories and photos on Thanksgiving toasts, Publix scales and the new Norton Museum.
Runners-up went to Rich Pollack (in-depth reporting and education writing) for coverage of a Highland Beach homicide and a profile of the retiring head of Gulf Stream School; to Gretel Sarmiento (arts news) for reviews at the Norton and the Boca Museum of Art; to Dan Moffett (government news) for reports on South Palm Beach and Ocean Ridge; and to Steve Plunkett (public safety news) for coverage of a former Ocean Ridge vice mayor’s felony trial.
Third-place awards were given to Joyce Reingold (health writing) for columns on 3-D mammography at Bethesda Women’s Medical Center and other subjects, and to Brian Biggane (sports feature) for articles including Delray Beach’s renown as a mecca for tennis.