The roof of this home on Harbour Drive North has been in need of repair for years. Coastal Star photo

By Anne Geggis

A house in disrepair — for years now — is among the reasons that Ocean Ridge town leaders plan to consider dedicating a new position to keeping properties looking shipshape.

A Town Commission budget discussion June 3 pointed up the need for code enforcement to become a town employee’s designated job again. It turns out code enforcement hasn’t been assigned to a specific person since a police officer doing the job retired last year.

And it shows, Commissioner David Hutchins said.

“We want people to realize they have to take care of their property,” Hutchins said, noting that the house at 62 Harbour Drive North with missing roof tiles and a garage door that doesn’t close hasn’t been inhabited for years.

Even if commissioners are pointing at it, the house has not generated any code enforcement complaints since the current owner, Michael Hemlepp of Delray Beach, purchased the property in 2018. His attorney, John Nadjafi, said his client intends to tear down the building, but has run into delays designing the new home and finding the equipment and workers to do that.

“There are a lot of reasons construction projects get delayed,” Nadjafi said, citing the supply-chain woes during the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors.

Regarding the new staff position, Town Manager Lynne Ladner warned it is more dangerous to have someone who doesn’t wear a uniform doing code enforcement.

“Code enforcement is considered to be one of the higher risk professions,” Ladner said. “I have been to a code enforcement officer’s funeral. … He was shot, attempting to serve a friendly notice to someone about their yard.”

But police officers are not thrilled about doing it, either, and being in uniform unnecessarily escalates the situation, officers said during a discussion at the June 3 Town Commission meeting.

“Because we’re knocking on the door and saying, ‘Hey, you put out your debris in your yard’ … the homeowner might see that as something petty,” Ocean Ridge Officer Aaron Choban said.

Chief Scott McClure explained further: Sending police out to cite people for dirty roofs does not build community trust and rapport.

“Having someone with a gun and a badge tell you your house is dirty, it’s not the way to build good will,” McClure said, noting that his officers are stretched thin on road patrol, keeping dogs off the beach and checking for crime.

“We’ll handle complaints, but I think code enforcement should be strictly a civilian function. Our focus is keeping residents safe,” he said.

Among South County municipalities, the handling of code enforcement has taken on different forms. In Gulf Stream, for example, the police take note of homes that don’t comply with the code and notify town administration, which mails out official notices. 

South Palm Beach has a company doing its code enforcement, as does Briny Breezes. Highland Beach has the job attached to its Building Department, but police do the job when a code officer is not working. Boca Raton has a separate code enforcement division within City Hall, which works closely with police, according to city spokeswoman Anne Marie Connolly. Boynton Beach also has a civilian division within City Hall.

Delray Beach, however, is trying something new to beef up its civilian community services division that handles property not meeting code, said Police Chief Russ Mager.
If a police officer sees a quality-of-life issue, such as an unleashed dog, he or she will be empowered to write a ticket for the infraction that comes with a fine, Mager said.

Dr. Victor Martel, an Ocean Ridge resident since 1997, said the town should either enforce its codes or take them off the books. Since state law in 2021 made it so that complaints can’t be anonymous, he said he has seen the situation getting worse.

“This one house, the roof is close to black,” Martel said. “They are nice people. I’m not going to say anything, but it should be taken care of.”

Betty Bingham was honored by Mayor Geoff Pugh (background), who declared her 95th birthday on July 21 as Betty Bingham Day. After the speech, Town Manager Lynne Ladner and others presented her with flowers. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Activism keeps her young as she prepares to turn 95 — No matter that her official birthday wasn’t for nearly three weeks. Ocean Ridge leaders celebrated local activist and longtime town resident Betty Bingham’s 95th birthday at the July 1 Town Commission meeting with flowers, hugs and a special proclamation designating July 21 as Betty Bingham Day in town.

The nonagenarian accepted the honor with grace, smiles and humor.

“I want to thank you all,” Bingham told the commission. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m chugging along.”

Originally from Baltimore, Bingham moved to Florida in 1971, eventually settling in Ocean Ridge where she has lived for more than 40 years. She is widely considered an expert on town history, and currently serves as an appointed member of the town’s Board of Adjustment. Bingham also served on the Town Commission for 12 years and spent another five years on the Planning and Zoning Board. She spent much of her younger years in banking and as a travel agent.

Bingham acknowledged that her activism keeps her young.

“I do enjoy working and doing things around town,” she conceded.

Of the proclamation?

“I think it’s kind of cool,” she said.

Garbage contract extended through 2029 — Waste Pro will continue to be Ocean Ridge’s approved garbage hauler for the next five years, but the company’s maximum annual fee adjustment will be linked to the Consumer Price Index.

Town commissioners on July 1 unanimously agreed to renew the company’s contract through 2029 for solid waste and recycling services with a few tweaks.

Commissioners also adjusted the company’s maximum annual fee increase to 5% instead of 3% after Waste Pro officials said rising operation costs necessitated the increase to continue providing the same level of service.

Commissioners linked the maximum annual increase to the CPI after Vice Mayor Steve Coz wondered what might happen if annual inflation reached only 1%, instead of 5%. He suggested an adjustable rate to address such a scenario.

— Sallie James

Tasers coming for all police officers — Ocean Ridge police officers will all have tasers assigned to them, instead of their cruisers, after Ocean Ridge commissioners agreed to the proposal at their June 3 meeting. They unanimously approved a $176,851 contract with Axon, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, that will include 16 new tasers, more than double the current arsenal of seven.

Ocean Ridge was the only South County police department that had not assigned a taser to each officer, according to Gulf Stream Police Chief Richard Jones, who left his position as Ocean Ridge’s top cop in 2023. 

— Anne Geggis

By John Pacenti

Florida’s portion of the massive national settlement with opioid manufacturers netted Delray Beach more than $239,000 so far. But a leading advocate — and chair of a key advisory committee — says municipalities would be better served partnering up with the county than going it alone in providing services.

“It’s best if we put all of our money together to have the best outcomes and the most impactful changes in abating this epidemic,” said Maureen Kielian. She chairs the Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders Advisory Committee for Palm Beach County.

“Why would Palm Beach Gardens, for instance, want to open an ASU (Addiction Stabilization Unit)? They can’t afford to, whereas we could do it and service these folks.”

There was some confusion among officials and stakeholders about how much in settlement funds Palm Beach County and its municipalities will receive through 2039. On June 27, the county’s drug czar — John Hulick, head of the Office of Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders — clarified that the total is $122 million, of which $25 million has been distributed.

The wild card in all of this is the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision June 27 rejecting the settlement portion with Purdue Pharma because it would shield its owners, the Sackler family, from liability for civil claims related to the manufacturing of OxyContin. How that will affect the $50 billion settlement with the states is unknown, but Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “There may be a better deal on the horizon.”

The Sacklers’ ill-gotten gains are badly needed in a settlement that involves multiple opioid manufacturers and pharmacies. Of the 7,769 overdose deaths in Florida in 2022, 6,157 were attributed to opioids, according to the state Health Department reports.

Delray Beach spokeswoman Gina Carter said the city since 2022 has received $239,554. The City Commission was set to address how to use the money at its June 18 meeting, but the matter has been pushed to the July 16 agenda, she said.

Ariana Ciancio, a mental health specialist with the Delray Beach Police Department and a member of the advisory committee, said nobody has talked to her about how the money could be spent.

Mayor Tom Carney did not return a phone or text message for his thoughts on the issue.

Commissioner Angela Burns, also on the county’s advisory committee, said she would call for a workshop, saying the whole subject area is new to her.

“Staff is working on something now,” she said. “I’m looking for something that would be educational.”

That’s exactly what Kielian fears, saying that good-intentioned educational efforts from the days of “Just Say No” have been ineffective.

“These are — again — once-in-a-lifetime funds. We don’t need any more nonsense poster contests, stress balls or tchotchkes — that’s costing lives.”

The 18-member committee, including many on the front lines of the crisis, has recommended that 90% of the money go to housing, recovery support, job training, youth assistance and prevention. The rest would be earmarked for acute crisis care, such as medical detox.

Burns did say the amount Delray Beach has to work with currently is “just not a lot of money.”

“You hate to start a program and then have to end it because the funds run out,” she said.

Delray and drug recovery
Still, Delray Beach remains one of the top centers for drug treatment and recovery in the nation, if not the world. The city is home to 35 certified providers, according to the Florida Association of Recovery Residences.

It also played a starring role in the fraud scandal that rocked the industry some eight years ago and saw operators, associates and doctors go to federal and state prison.

At the advisory committee’s June 13 meeting, Kielian criticized proposals to use the money for programs such as foster children aging out of the system.

“I want to be very clear, I’m very empathetic towards that population; however, that’s not what the settlement is for,” said Kielian, also the head of Southeast Recovery Advocates.

She also worried the county could see the money as a piggy bank to shore up unexpected budget demands — such as funding its portion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new law banning homeless people from public spaces.

There are no safeguards that prevent states or counties from using settlement funds on programs already funded — and then moving the money supplanted back to the general fund, she said.

Comedian and political commentator John Oliver dedicated a May episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight to the opioid settlement, saying some states are funneling it to law enforcement.

The advisory committee on June 13 adopted a motion calling on the county to use the opioid settlement for what it is intended to do.

County Commissioners Gregg Weiss, Michael Barnett and Sara Baxter have said they lost siblings to the opioid crisis. County Mayor Maria Sachs said at a May 21 workshop on the subject that she would follow the recommendations of the advisory committee.

“People need a house, job training, meds and treatment — right there in their community. Those who have been through it, lead us,” she said.

By Mary Thurwachter

Although the Lantana Town Council hasn’t officially voted to add a stormwater utility fee yet to cover the cost of drainage projects, officials are getting their ducks in a row to implement one. To that end, the town heard from the consulting firm it has hired, Chen Moore and Associates, during a June 10 workshop.

The fee is likely to cost property owners between $5 and $6 a month, according to Brent Whitfield, a project manager with Chen Moore and Associates.

Town Manager Brian Raducci said the utility fee has been a topic for the past eight to 10 months and was discussed at the council’s visioning session on April 19.

“Stormwater utility has a cost that has continued to grow,” Raducci said. “We anticipate it will be a larger part of our cost of operations in the future with probably the need for additional construction down the road. It’s time to take a good look at this.”

Lantana’s annual stormwater operations and maintenance costs are $320,030, according to a study done by the engineering firm.

That study also showed that the average monthly rate of utility fees for 130 Florida municipalities is about $8.

The fee is assessed based on the impact of stormwater generated from property within the town. The impact is calculated based on the amount of impervious area (land area covered or paved), and this is shown as an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU.

In Palm Beach County, monthly stormwater rates range from $4 in Palm Springs to $19 in Wellington, with an average among eight municipalities of $8.91 (Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington).

The council is expected to adopt a preliminary rate at its July 8 meeting. That rate would be sent to the county property appraiser by July 28 to be included in the TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice mailed to property owners in August. The final rate can be less, but not more, than the TRIM notice rate. The TRIM notice also includes all proposed property tax rates affecting a property.

The council is likely to have another workshop on a stormwater fee on July 22 when feedback from residents will be collected. First and second readings of the ordinance would be Aug. 12 and Sept. 9.

Although public comments were not accepted at the June workshop, one Hypoluxo Island man waited until the end of the Town Council meeting that followed the workshop to voice his objection during public comments.

“To go ahead and put an additional tax on the residents in my mind is not fair,” said Jordan Nichols. He also said hearings and meetings on important topics such as this should be postponed until February or March, since many island residents are away during the summer months.

By Mary Thurwachter

A first look at Lantana’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year gives residents a good idea of the Town Council’s priorities — and is an early indicator that the town’s current tax rate of $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value is likely to remain the same.

During the town’s first budget workshop on June 18, Town Manager Brian Raducci said the top three priorities are maintaining infrastructure, continuing with beautification projects, and responsible development. Other important goals include attracting and retaining valuable employees, continuing to attract businesses (especially along Ocean Avenue), continuing to support the library, resuming the dune restoration project, and installing an ADA-accessible ramp at the beach.

Stephen Kaplan, the town’s finance director for 17 years, shared pertinent numbers. For example, the town’s certified taxable value for 2023 was $1.792 billion and the estimated taxable value for 2024 is $1.952 billion (including $8.8 million in new construction). That’s an 8.9% increase, or $159.7 million.

Kaplan said property tax revenue — assuming a $3.75 millage rate and a 95% collection rate — will be approximately $6.9 million.

The finance director reports that all of the town’s $6.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds has been committed for operating and capital needs. ARPA money has to be obligated by the end of this year and spent by the end of 2026.

Lantana hopes to seize on grant opportunities, something at which it was very successful this year. It received $2.3 million with help from grants writer Ryan Ruskay of RMPK Funding.

Lobbyist Mat Forrest helped the town secure $1.3 million in state appropriations and Congresswoman Lois Frankel and her staff aided Lantana in collecting $2.2 million in federal appropriations.

In April, the town submitted a $1.9 million federal grant application to upgrade its water treatment plant.

Lantana’s budget is broken down into three categories, including 67% for personnel, 26% for operating expenses and 7% for capital projects. The town has no debt.

A second budget workshop is set for July 8 and the Town Council is expected to set the preliminary tax rate at its meeting that day. The preliminary rate will be included on notices sent out by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office to property owners in August, alerting them to what their proposed taxes are estimated to be.
Public hearings on the town’s budget and tax rate are set for Sept. 9 and 18.

Lantana Marine Safety Supervisor Marc Fichtner gave awards to (l-r) senior ocean lifeguard Sam Janssen and lifeguards Jasper Castaldo and Catherine Girard for their rescues of two swimmers. Photo provided

Related: Manalapan: Attempts fail to revive woman pulled out into the ocean

Lifeguards lauded — Three Lantana lifeguards were given lifesaving awards for their efforts to rescue two swimmers during a strong rip current on May 5. Awards were presented at the June 10 Town Council meeting by Marine Safety Supervisor Marc Fichtner to Sam Janssen, Jasper Castaldo and Catherine Girard.

The rescues began after Girard observed a swimmer caught in the current. She swam out to assist the distressed swimmer and Castaldo went out to help another struggling swimmer farther offshore. Janssen saw that Castaldo needed help with the second victim and went in to help him.

County firefighter/paramedics arrived and both victims were checked and determined to be OK.

“Thanks to the lifeguard team remaining calm and professional throughout the ordeal, an almost certain loss of life event was avoided,” Fichtner said.

Speed bumps to stay — After studies that showed the speed cushions on West Pine Street and on West Ocean Avenue have proved effective, the Town Council voted to make the traffic calming measures permanent. The speed bumps were installed in October 2022 and residents said they have been helpful in slowing drivers.

— Mary Thurwachter

By Anne Geggis

The cost of staffing a private security guard at the entrance of Point Manalapan has the town considering dialing the detail back to one 12-hour shift instead of around-the-clock coverage.

The bill for 24-hour coverage for next year is going to $270,000, a bump of about 2% from the current year. The cost for the Point’s security detail increased 30% in 2022 when the commission selected a new company in order to improve guardhouse security visibility.

The publicly funded amenity is a unique one among South County municipalities.

Having a security guard at the entrance of the Point only overnight would cut the bill in about half: $134,000. But it might also mean an increase for residents’ insurance bills.

“We’re trying to figure out if it’s a benefit the community needs and wants and can the police supplement that benefit a little bit without having to spend an additional $134,000 a year?” said Eric Marmer, Manalapan’s assistant town manager. “So that’s the question.”

Town Manager Linda Stumpf said, “The chief and I have been talking about it for a while that we didn’t really know if we really need 24 hours” a day.

Police Chief Carmen Mattox noted that the guardhouse itself serves as a kind of deterrent to crime.

Commissioner David Knobel said he wants to be able to talk to residents in the area he represents before the decision gets made.

“It’s not a great time of the year to get public comment,” Knobel said, noting that many residents are out of the area during the summer months.

Mayor John Deese, who lives in that section of town, said that it’s been mentioned to him.

“I’ve heard a lot of positive comments from people about the fact that we have someone there,” Deese said.

A police cruiser parked near there might be just as effective as paying someone to stand there, it was suggested.

Stumpf said she would budget the full, 24-hour cost for now and perhaps roll back that line item if Point Manalapan is amenable.

A memorial with a cross, angel statue, shells and plastic flowers is located in the dune not far from the pumping station at the Boynton Inlet. Coastal Star photo

Related: Lantana news brief: Lifeguards rescue two swimmers from rip current May 5

By Anne Geggis

A 56-year-old Boynton Beach woman drowned along an unguarded area on the northeast side of the Boynton Inlet on May 5 as a current ripped her away from an attempted rescue, according to a Manalapan police report.

Bystanders and police tried to revive Anna Lazur after she was pulled out of the water at about 12:30 p.m. that day. She was taken to Baptist Health Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach in critical condition, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Her obituary has since appeared online and a makeshift memorial near where she drowned has sprung up.

Teresa Bowyer, 66, of Hobe Sound, was one of the two friends who went to the beach with Lazur that day. She can’t stop thinking about her friend, the mother of two sons, whom she called or saw almost every day.

“I didn’t want to go in because it was too rough,” Bowyer said. “Anna was a strong swimmer.”

Red flags, which indicate rip currents are present, were out across the inlet at Ocean Inlet Park at the time tragedy struck, one bystander said.

Bowyer said the other friend in her trio, Iwona Wroczynska, 64, of Hobe Sound, first went into the water after they noticed Lazur in distress. And then Bowyer said she saw Wroczynska struggling.

“A big wave came over and separated them,” Bowyer said.

Bowyer said she felt she had no choice but to try to reach Lazur. Going in the water, she found herself panicking.

“I was struggling,” she said.

Wroczynska made it back to shore on her own, but a bystander, Nathaniel Holt, 22, pulled back Bowyer, she said. And then he went to get Lazur.

On the beach, Lazur was unresponsive and a woman who told police she was a nurse, Veronica Jean-Louis, attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived on the scene and took the patient to the hospital, the report says.

The report doesn’t mention rip currents, but the phenomenon has been blamed for eight deaths in Florida over four days in late June, according to The Weather Channel. These currents have proven fatal all over the state, mostly in the Panhandle’s Bay County, but also in Martin County.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes rip currents as powerful, fast-moving channeled currents that swimmers mistakenly try to resist by swimming straight back to the shore. Swimming parallel to the shore is a better strategy, according to NOAA.

Those are different from rip tides. Rip tides are caused by the swift movement of tidal water through inlets, estuaries and harbors, according to NOAA.

Bowyer said her other friend has sworn never to return to that stretch of the inlet, but she said she’s going because that’s where there’s a memorial to Lazur.

“I just can’t believe she’s gone,” Bowyer said.

Rescue personnel from Palm Beach County and other local and federal agencies search for the 8-year-old boy along the north side of the Boynton Inlet. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Anne Geggis and Mary Kate Leming

Police are investigating how a fishing outing turned tragic at Ocean Inlet Park in Boynton Beach early June 13, claiming an 8-year-old boy’s life in Boynton Inlet — widely known in the boating community as one of the state’s most dangerous.

The cause of death for Saul Cerrato-Vasquez of West Palm Beach has not been made public because he is a minor, and the official report had not been released as of early July because it concerned an active investigation.

Initial reports were that the boy and his father were fishing on the park’s south jetty on the west side of the State Road A1A bridge over the Boynton Inlet, authorities said. The call for help came at 6:09 a.m.

Capt. Tom Reyes of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said that the victim fell into the water when his companion, presumably his father, turned to attend to some fishing equipment.

The boy is one of six children and was attending Hope-Centennial Elementary School, his mother, Roxanne Batista, said in a tearful, brief conversation with The Coastal Star. She acknowledged setting up a GoFundMe account so her son’s remains can be buried in such a way that they grow with a tree. By early July, the effort had raised more than $3,400.

Divers signal to the boat driver that they are clear after placing the body of the boy into a rescue boat. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The 6900 block of North Ocean Boulevard, or A1A, was briefly closed to traffic as the rescue effort involving dozens of first responders ramped up.

Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, responded to the inlet with divers, inflatable boats, Jet Skis and helicopters.

Reyes said the mission was declared a “recovery” operation at 7:55 a.m. The body was recovered nearly five hours after the initial call, about 100 yards from where the boy reportedly fell in. The recovery was on the northeast side of the bridge, however.

The jetty at Ocean Inlet Park is a popular place to fish — one of the few places open to fishing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That morning, there was a strong current in the inlet with the outgoing tide, but the ocean was relatively calm.

This year, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue has responded to four open water incidents in the Boynton Inlet, twice the number of last year at the same time, said Reyes.

One of those incidents involved another drowning, in May (see related story).

“The width and depth of the Boynton Inlet, along with the strong tidal flow that passes through, can make it very dangerous,” Reyes wrote in an email.

Boca Raton first responders don’t categorize water calls to the inlet in the same way that would allow comparisons, but Michael LaSalle, Boca Raton Fire Rescue’s public information officer, said the level of danger at the Boynton Inlet, from a boating perspective, is far greater than at the Boca Inlet. He would rate it the second- most dangerous in the state, next to Baker’s Haulover Inlet in Miami-Dade County.

Zack Thomas, who writes a blog for Boat Outfitters, which supplies boat builders with custom fabricated accessories, puts Boynton Inlet in the top tier of those that should be used only if you know what you’re doing because of what he calls “machine washing conditions.”

Photographer Tim Stepien contributed to this story.

Ron Reame of Highland Beach says he got involved with governing his condominium ‘because I want to be happy in our 3.2 miles of paradise.’ He says his business background helps. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Ron Reame never planned on getting involved in condo politics when he and his wife moved from Michigan to Highland Beach 13 years ago.

He never planned on having a leading role in overseeing the multimillion-dollar restoration of his building, which became the first in Florida to comply with the state’s new recertification laws.

And he certainly never planned to be a leader in a David-versus-Goliath struggle as town residents, especially in the south end, took on Palm Beach County in an effort to stop development of a beachfront park.

But then he ran into his neighbor Doug Hillman and before long they were leading the board of their 122-unit building as well as leading the umbrella board at Boca Highland Beach Club & Marina.

Hillman, who died in early 2023, would become mayor and Reame would later step into Hillman’s roles at Boca Highland, becoming the president of both organizations.

“I wasn’t thinking anything about getting involved in a condo association when I got here,” Reame said. “I’d never been involved in a condo association before.”

Although he had been president of his 14-member homeowners association in Franklin, Michigan, he knew getting involved with a condo board would be much different.

Reame has degrees in management from Michigan State University and finance from Wayne State University. He worked for large corporations and ran successful businesses himself. Now he is putting his business background to use as he focuses on keeping the condo associations running smoothly.

Early in his career Reame worked for big names in the corporate world — IBM and General Motors — before running companies in the equipment leasing and computer industries and getting experience in how to run businesses.

Reame said that he started questioning the way things were being run at his building, Dalton Place, soon after moving in. He and Hillman, who moved in about the same time, were playing golf one day and discovered they both had questions.

“The more questions we asked, the more we got involved,” he said.

Reame, 78, says his wife, Nancy, understands why he takes on the challenges that come with leading a condo association.

“I do it because I want to be happy in our 3.2 miles of paradise,” he said. “I want to protect my investment and enjoy living here.”

Reame, who chairs Highland Beach’s financial advisory board, enjoys traveling, one reason he’s not more involved in town government.

— Rich Pollack

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Detroit and attended Michigan State University and Wayne State University with degrees in management and finance. I had solid Midwestern values and came from a working class, loving, Italian family.

Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. I have worked for the most part in the equipment leasing sector and in the computer industry, mostly in services, training, and hardware and software. I have a very varied background in business with both corporate America and starting and running and selling small businesses.

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today? 
A. Unless you’re lucky to invent something that no one else has and that everyone on the planet needs, you’re going to actually have to work really hard to be successful. I’ve found that few people actually know what that means. Hence the reason that not everyone does well in business.

Q. How did you choose to make your home in Highland Beach?
A. We looked from South Beach to up past Jupiter. We fell in love with the Highland Beach location and cohesive beach community and the fact that no one, including people who live in Delray or Boca, knows that we’re here.

Q. What is your favorite part about living in Highland Beach? 
A. Superb beachfront location with access to all of the best parts of South Florida and a well-run community.

Q. What book are you reading now?
A. Kill the Father, by an Italian author, Sandrone Dazieri. A murder mystery.

Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax? 
A. I like good old rock ’n’ roll. And for some reason it relaxes me.

Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions? 
A. Make every day count — most important at this age. When I make decisions, I do not take a survey of the people.

Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. I’ve been very lucky to have been surrounded by the best family and friends that one could have. Each is an inspiration in many ways to me.

Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. I suppose it would have to be Bruce Willis. People say daily that we look alike. Unfortunate medical issues for him now.

By Steve Plunkett

A half year after 10 coastal elected officials from southern Palm Beach County resigned their seats rather than be forced to fill out a more-detailed inventory of their wealth, a federal judge has stepped in and put the new state requirement on hold.

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian issued a preliminary injunction on June 10 barring the Florida Commission on Ethics from enforcing the new requirement.

Prior to the ruling, mayors and elected officials of Florida’s towns and cities were facing a July 1 deadline to file for the first time the state’s probing Form 6 financial disclosure.

Members of the Florida Commission on Ethics “failed to show that (the) requirement that Plaintiffs file Form 6, as opposed to the previously required and less comprehensive Form 1, is the least restrictive means of addressing the government interests at stake,” Damian said.

More than 170 elected officials filed suit seeking to have the Form 6 rule, also known as Senate Bill 774 or SB 774, declared unconstitutional. It alleges a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech for compelling them to make “non-commercial, content-based” speech by saying, among other things, that “My net worth as of Dec. 31, 2023, was $________.”

Damian agreed that the plaintiffs “satisfied their burden of establishing a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that SB 774, as applied to them, impermissibly compels content-based speech in violation of the First Amendment.”

“Therefore, Plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction enjoining enforcement of SB 774,” she wrote.

The judge’s ruling came too late for Briny Breezes Town Council President Liz Loper, who submitted her Form 6 on May 30. But she has no regrets about filing early.

“I don’t have a lot,” said Loper, who is listed first of the 170-plus plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “My husband and I don’t own a lot. We don’t have a lot of liabilities, so for me it was actually very, very easy. It was very simple to fill out.”

Other elected officials who joined Loper in filing Form 6 early included former South Palm Beach Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy, Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Steve Coz, Briny Breezes Alderman Keith Black, Gulf Stream Mayor Scott Morgan, former Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia, former Delray Beach City Commissioner and current candidate for public defender Adam Frankel, and former Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Monica Mayotte.

The state Ethics Commission advised them that because they had filed Form 6 they would not have to also file a Form 1, Loper said. The commission extended the deadline for city and town officials to file Form 1 until July 15.

Form 6 requires the disclosure of net worth, earnings and tangible assets and has been applied to the governor, state legislators, county commissioners and other officers at the state and county levels since Florida’s Sunshine Law was enacted in 1978. Form 1, on the other hand, lists much less detail of a person’s finances.

Jamie A. Cole, the lead attorney in the federal lawsuit and in a similar lawsuit in a state court in Tallahassee, lauded Damian’s decision.

“This is the most intrusive form of financial disclosure that I am aware of in the entire nation, requiring more disclosure of quintessentially personal financial information than is required of the President of the United States, members of Congress and elected officials in every other state,” Cole, the longtime city attorney of Weston in Broward County, said in a statement.

“Most municipal elected officials receive little to no compensation for their public service, yet they are being asked to disclose their precise net worth, income and assets. This legislative overreach has already resulted in the mass resignation of about 125 municipal elected officials and, if allowed, would discourage many others from serving their communities.”

Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, said a total of 34 elected officials across the county resigned because of Form 6 — affecting about a third of the local elected boards.

So, the lawsuit “worked out very, very well for everybody,” he said in a June 18 appearance before the Town Commission in Manalapan, which saw five resignations but is not taking part in the lawsuits.

Elsewhere in South County, Briny Breezes had three resignations and Ocean Ridge and South Palm Beach each had one.

Judge Damian took a dim view of the process by which Form 6 was made law, noting multiple times in her order that state senators and representatives cast votes without having researched the need for a change.

“A review of the Committees’ Analyses reveals that neither includes empirical data nor evidence suggesting that either Committee investigated, studied, or solicited reports on the need for municipal elected officials to comply with the more comprehensive requirement of Form 6,” she wrote.

“Nor does either Analysis demonstrate that the Committees considered alternative, less burdensome means that would have addressed the interests at stake or the purpose or intent of SB 774.”

Despite the injunction, Radcliffe said he thinks the Form 6 requirement will reappear for local elected leaders.

“I’m sure it’s not going to go away. This is something that passed almost unanimously in both houses,” he said. “I think we got a reprieve.”

Anne Geggis contributed to this report

Town Attorney Keith Davis will have to phone in to the July 25 meeting of the Briny Breezes Town Council.

The Florida Municipal Attorneys Association, whose members represent 800 cities, towns and villages across the state, is holding its annual conference July 25-27 in Naples, he said.

“For some reason they are making me president of the organization for next year, so I have to be there,” he told the Town Council last month.

Davis, who specializes in representing municipalities, also has Manalapan as a client.

The association is an offshoot of the Florida League of Cities. Among the seminars scheduled for the conference are sessions on “Code Enforcement,” “Keeping Shade Meetings Compliant and Confidential” and “Sea-Level Rise, Resiliency and Land Use.”

“It’s where people like me get smart every year,” Davis said.

Also starting this year, Davis will be an adjunct law professor in Virginia at the College of William and Mary Law School, his alma mater. He’ll spend one week each semester teaching ethics and other subjects.

— Steve Plunkett

Boynton Beach and Delray Beach might be asking what Gov. Ron DeSantis has against them after five of their projects totaling almost $3.5 million were vetoed by the governor in June.

In Boynton Beach, state money for three projects was cut by the governor. They are:

-- $1,018,400 for Sky Lake neighborhood road resurfacing;
-- $600,000 for a new generator at the city’s 911 communications center;
-- $591,066 for a Lake Shore bridge canal project.

Delray Beach saw funding vanish for two Legislature-approved projects:

-- $750,000 for underground utility improvements on Swinton Avenue north of Atlantic Avenue;
-- $500,000 for roadway restoration work on Southwest Eighth Avenue.

Delray Beach did have one of its appropriations go through, according to information provided by state Sen. Lori Berman’s office.

The city will receive $306,000 for an emergency response mobile traffic barrier and first responder protection.

— Staff report

BOYNTON BEACH — Dana Cook died June 8, concluding a full and vibrant life that touched the lives of many people. He was 63.

Mr. Cook is survived by his loving parents, Barbara and Stan Cook; his sisters, Shauna Bowling and Tammie Smolchek; a nephew, Christopher Ratzlaff; and a niece, Olivia Smolchek.

Mr. Cook was much loved and adored by his friends who called him a Renaissance man. He had many friends and was a great friend in return.

He was an avid fisherman and well-known in the Boynton Beach fishing community. He always had a knack for finding the fish and catching the “big one.”

He was also a passionate painter. He loved the arts and his artwork touched many who knew him. Interestingly, he was color-blind. He overcame this challenge by being able to tell the difference among colors by their intensity.

The family will have an intimate ceremony celebrating Mr. Cook’s life.

If you would like to make a donation in his memory go to https://trustbridge.com/foundation/.

— Obituary submitted by the family

By Brian Biggane

After four months of fruitless negotiations, the South Palm Beach Town Council decided at its June meeting not to hire Moonlight Architecture to oversee the design and building of its new Town Hall and has moved on to its second choice, Broward County-based CPZ Architects.

After the decision was made, Town Manager Jamie Titcomb reported CPZ expressed interest in taking over the long-delayed project and contract talks were underway. Titcomb had a proposal in hand by late June and planned to present it to the council at its July meeting.

“The numbers are a bit higher than we had hoped, but it’s a starting point and we’ll go from here,” Titcomb said. South Palm Beach has so far budgeted $4 million for the project.

The council sent out a request for bids in late 2023 and ultimately invited four interested firms to make proposals in February, though by law no monetary terms could be addressed at that time.

Moonlight, which is based in Cincinnati but brought in another firm based in Fort Lauderdale to give its bid a local connection, impressed the council with its extensive background in building with structural insulated panels (SIPs), which the council had previously determined would be used in the construction.

CPZ, which had five representatives at the February meeting, including a manufacturer of SIPs, emerged tied with Moonlight in voting by the council but ultimately Moonlight was selected.

“It was a very hard decision because CPZ is very professional,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said at the time. “It was very close, but I scored Moonlight higher.”

Moonlight CEO Andy Roehl said at the same meeting that he was “excited to get going,” but Town Attorney Ben Saver, who has been charged with negotiating a contract for the work, has reported back in the ensuing council meetings that talks were hitting one snag after another.

One significant point of contention was the percentage of the total project costs that would go to Moonlight. Saver said his research indicated a typical architect in the construction of a municipal building would receive 7.4%, but Moonlight was demanding 15%.

The council urged Saver to work for a compromise, with Council member Monte Berendes even asking, “Can it be 14-and-a-half?” Saver replied, “You can always ask. (But) I’ve already said that to them several times, and this is still what they’ve come back with.” The town instructed Saver to offer no more than 10%.

There was also confusion over what the town would be getting for its investment. In the Moonlight proposal, the town was left with the impression that Moonlight would have its local representative, Eric Schuermann, on site throughout the construction, meaning the town wouldn’t need to hire an owner’s rep. But Moonlight has not since indicated if he would offer any oversight.

At the council’s May meeting, both Fischer and Council member Elvadianne Culbertson, who was not yet on the council when Moonlight was selected, suggested the town might have to pay more for Moonlight’s expertise.

“We’re working with people who really know what they’re talking about,” Fischer said. “At this stage I would hate to start over again.”

Saver said the main problem he perceived was that Moonlight has previously done little if any work with municipalities and was unfamiliar with the idiosyncrasies of negotiating in the public sector.

One example: When Saver sent Moonlight a 17-page proposal, the firm responded with one running 51 pages. Moonlight was also slow to respond to Saver’s initiatives, sending him one update two hours before the June council meeting, too late for him to pass on any information.

While moving past Moonlight, the council also instructed Titcomb to investigate whether Schuermann might be brought on as a consultant and/or owner’s rep. Saver thought that was a good idea, but the issue will not be dealt with at the present time.

“Other towns would have engineers on staff and they could review and send comments back,” Saver said. “We don’t have that personnel which is why an owner’s rep makes sense. They could help with construction management and help us where we don’t have the expertise.”

Fischer said she was “very disappointed” that talks with Moonlight had been so fruitless for so long and that starting over would mean “another four, five, six months” just to get the design phase done.

To that, Saver responded, “We don’t want to lose sight of what the end goal is, which is to get a new Town Hall. As long as we can get an end product that we can enjoy, that’s the goal.

New vice mayor appointed — South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer nominated Council member Monte Berendes at the council’s June meeting to serve as vice mayor, succeeding Bill LeRoy, who resigned in April, citing health concerns. Berendes was voted in unanimously, 4-0. The council has yet to fill LeRoy’s seat and there has been no indication it will do so anytime soon.

Quorum concerns — Council member Elvadianne Culbertson initiated what proved to be a lengthy discussion about attendance of members at council meetings, but ultimately no action was taken. Council member Raymond McMillan called into several meetings last year and is in upstate New York again this summer. As Culbertson pointed out, if even one of the other three members was not present at the same time there would not be a quorum to conduct business. Berendes, who makes occasional trips to Wyoming, promised to fly back to make sure three members would be on hand.

Town to cover cost of plaque — Mayor Fischer proposed that the plaque dedicated to Hatixhe Laiqi, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver last November while crossing State Road A1A, be paid for by the town, and the motion passed unanimously. Laiqi’s son Beckham Laiqi had asked for the plaque and offered to pay for it. Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the approximate cost will be $350.

Budget sessions — The Town Council scheduled a budget workshop for 1 p.m. Aug. 12. The first public hearing on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 9 and the final hearing at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 16. The June financial report determined the town was 67% through the fiscal year as of June 11 and had spent 63% of its budget.

— Brian Biggane

Boynton Beach police escort Candace Rojas out of the City Commission chambers after Mayor Ty Penserga cut her off for talking about non-city related items during the public comments portion of the commission's July 2 meeting. Rojas was speaking about efforts to "restore the Republic" when Penserga stopped her, and an earlier speaker who was complaining about the "stolen" 2020 presidential election. The commission immediately voted to adjourn the meeting after the Rojas spat. City of Boynton Beach meeting video

By Larry Barszewski

Fireworks went off early in Boynton Beach as order broke down at the City Commission meeting held two days before the Fourth of July. Commissioners and the public argued over what could and could not be discussed during the public comment period — leading commissioners to abruptly end the meeting before conducting any city business.

Mayor Ty Penserga cut off a speaker who tried to talk about the “stolen” 2020 election. He referred to rules written in the agenda that say comments are only allowed for “any matter within the scope of the jurisdiction of the commission.”

But Commissioner Thomas Turkin was upset when the mayor let the next speaker — resident David Merker — talk about an item that was on the agenda after stopping the previous speaker. “You’re playing God. You’re dictating who can and cannot speak,” Turkin said. “The taxpayer has a right to speak.”

Commissioners took a five-minute recess, but it wasn’t long after they returned that the meeting devolved again. After Merker got to finish his comments, Candace Rojas was next and started talking about Jesus overturning the money-changer’s table, then about the need “to defend the Constitution and restore the Republic.” She also was cut off by the mayor — and ordered escorted out by the police when she refused to stop talking.

Rojas said “Don’t touch me” as the officer approached and Turkin told the mayor, “You’ve got to let them talk.”

Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley then moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

A pedestrian navigates signs and construction debris during the revamping of Boynton Beach Boulevard in June. The project is not due to end until late 2025. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Sallie James

A $7.2 million construction project to widen sidewalks, create shared bicycle lanes and repave eastern Boynton Beach Boulevard has residents and business owners fuming about the project’s scope and questionable necessity in an area with little pedestrian traffic.

Since construction started in May, traffic along Boynton Beach Boulevard east of Interstate 95 has been snarled with lane closures. Motorists must navigate a slalom course of heavy equipment, traffic cones and road barricades along the road’s stretch from Northwest Third Street to just east of Federal Highway. 

And the end is nowhere in sight. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, which is administering the multi-tiered project, completion isn’t expected until sometime near the end of 2025.

Businesses owners say they are frustrated already.

At the historic Ace Hardware near the southwest corner of Boynton Beach Boulevard and Federal Highway, business is down about 25%. Employees say it is because the parking lot is so difficult to access amid the chaos of construction.

“It causes a lot of pain,” acknowledged Ace Hardware owner Valerie Pleasanton, whose family-owned store has been at the same location since 1972. “It has killed the traffic here. Our customer base is saying what a pain it is to navigate.”

The improvements are part of the city’s Boynton Beach Boulevard Streetscape Improvement Project, envisioned by the city and the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency in 2018 as creating a gateway into downtown. The local contribution for the project is $3.1 million. The approximately $4.1 million remaining includes a $2.2 million grant from the Palm Beach County Transportation Planning Agency supplemented by other federal money.

The project includes:
• Milling and resurfacing Boynton Beach Boulevard;
• Expanding existing sidewalks along Boynton Beach Boulevard to nine feet on the north and 15 feet on the south;
• Modifying area drainage;
• Retrofitting pedestrian lighting at signalized intersections;
• Adding a new pedestrian crossing on the boulevard at Northwest Third Street;
• Installing shared lane bicycle markings on both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Boynton Beach Boulevard and West Ocean Avenue;
• Upgrading pedestrian signals, pavement markings and signs.

The overall cost has more than doubled since the project was conceived due to actual and anticipated increases in construction costs, according to a City Commission agenda item from December 2023.

The project’s aim is to make Boynton Beach Boulevard east of I-95 more pedestrian-friendly while adding value to downtown.

“The beautification of the Boynton Beach Boulevard corridor from US1 to NW 3rd Street is a necessity to physically transform the entrance to the city’s commercial core to a more livable downtown,” Assistant CRA Director Timothy Tack wrote in an email.

The improvements “support the community’s vision for a more complete street at the most significant commercial corridor and the city’s namesake,” he added.

The roadwork is coming as the city prepares for three major developments to the south of Boynton Beach Boulevard in the area:

• Ocean One, a 371-unit mixed-use development planned for the east side of Federal Highway;
• The Pierce, a $73 million Community Redevelopment Agency-backed complex of apartments, restaurants, retail stores and green space on the west side of Federal Highway, including the relocation of Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant from Ocean Avenue to an expanded space on Boynton Beach Boulevard;
• Town Square, expected to be the city’s largest development, which has been approved along the east side of Seacrest Boulevard. The project is to include 898 luxury apartments, 23,000 square feet of commercial space, a hotel and two parking garages. An earlier phase of the project included the now completed City Hall, library and amphitheater, along with the renovation of the 1927 Boynton Beach High School into the Boynton Beach Arts and Cultural Center. 

Angela Cruz, a Boynton Beach commissioner, a CRA board member and a member of the county TPA board, said the current construction mess will be worth it. 

“It’s going to get better. It’s going to be more walkable. It’s going to be a destination,” Cruz said. “It’s an important project because we are trying to create alternative modes of transportation where people can walk more and use their bikes.”

The streetscape project is a sore spot for city activist Susan Oyer, who nicknamed it “the Boynton Beach disaster.” 

“It was budgeted for $3 million and it’s now $7 million. You need to put a stop to this,” Oyer told city commissioners during a June 18 commission meeting. “Where are you getting the $4 million for a road renovation that we absolutely do not want, do not need, and is injuring our city?”

At the Meineke Car Care Center at 319 E. Boynton Beach Blvd., owner Enrique Concha estimated his business has plummeted by 40% since construction started in May. He hopes the improvements are worth it.

“Everyone wants to avoid it. I’m OK with them fixing things, but I believe they could do it faster,” he said.

“It’s been very inconvenient for our customers to make their way over,” said his son, Daniel Concha, a manager, as he gazed at a line of road barriers and cones. “I also don’t like the way some of the businesses have personalized entrances from Boynton Beach Boulevard. Customers are asking what the hell is going on.”

Pleasanton from Ace Hardware wonders about the logic behind the project and worries that construction was ill-timed with the start of hurricane season.

“We don’t have the entertainment or the draw to support 15-foot sidewalks, and they are narrowing the lanes to widen the sidewalks,” Pleasanton said, shaking her head. “And during hurricane season, if we have a really bad hurricane, this is the main evacuation route.”

Some drivers may choose Woolbright Road as an alternate route to avoid the mess, but Woolbright will be experiencing its own traffic problems next year. Plans are in the works for a major construction project at Woolbright and Seacrest Boulevard. It will add a right-hand turn lane for eastbound Woolbright Road traffic turning onto southbound Seacrest.

The existing travel lanes will have to be moved northward to accommodate the extra lane.

By Christine Davis

In collaboration with IBM, the software company Innovative Solutions has opened an office in Boca Raton, where the company expects to employ more than 100 people by 2026.

Innovative Solutions, based in New York and using artificial intelligence technology, brings Generative AI (GenAI) solutions, AI-infused managed security services, and an AI-infused observability platform for cloud-based applications and businesses to customers from its new headquarters on Palmetto Park Road at Interstate 95.

Via AWS Marketplace, customers can more easily access offerings developed by Innovative Solutions that embed IBM technology to help modernize businesses.

“Our services combine best-in-class software from IBM with best-in-class cloud infrastructure from AWS, providing real-time value that can’t be found anywhere else,” Justin Copie, CEO of Innovative Solutions, said in a news release. “We’re already based on the East Coast, and are excited to bring more jobs to Boca Raton, which has a rich history in technology.”

Copie said IBM is known for creating a strong sales force and a business philosophy that emphasizes excellent customer service, superior performance and respect for the individual.

“Innovative Solutions could not be more aligned,” he added. “Our partnership with IBM now enables us to do exactly that.”

Innovative Solutions’ first corporate headquarters is in Henrietta, New York, and a third office space is in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.innovativesol.com.

***

***

Basis Industrial purchased the 2,272-square-foot property at 347 NE Fifth Ave., Delray Beach, on May 24 for $1.57 million. Basis is headquartered in Boca Raton, and the Delray Beach property will serve as its new headquarters.

The seller was 347 Core LLC, managed by John Henry Goldman. Basis Industrial President/COO Anthony Scavo represented the company in the transaction. Scott Pressman of the Keyes Co. represented the seller. Banesco is providing financing for the purchase.

Founded in 2012 by Jay Massirman, Stephen Garchik and Daniel Weinstein, Basis Industrial owns more than 4 million square feet of self-storage and industrial real estate in Florida, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and in the Boston and Los Angeles areas. In 2023, Basis Industrial was ranked No. 1 on South Florida Business Journal’s 2023 “Fast 50” list — the 50 fastest-growing private companies in South Florida.

***

John and Barbara Simoni recently sold their 9,486-total-square-foot residence at 174 W. Coconut Palm Road, Boca Raton, and the adjacent 0.34-acre lot in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for $19 million.

The buyers are the M Sean Revocable Trust and the M Beth Revocable Trust, both listing Jonathan Bloom as trustee.

The Simonis bought the 0.42-acre lot along Buccaneer Palm Waterway for $1.55 million in 1998 and built their home the following year. They purchased the vacant neighboring lot for $2.88 million in 2005. David W. Roberts with Royal Palm Properties brokered the latest deal.

***

RealTrends Verified, the real-estate performance platform previously known as America’s Best, has published its list of top agents compiled from 2023. RealTrends Verified is part of HousingWire and a sister company to Altos Research. 

The rankings were open to real estate professionals who chose to participate in the project, based on their reported sales volume and other criteria over 2023. To be considered for a ranking, an agent must have closed at least 40 transaction “sides” or recorded $16 million in closed sales volume for 2022, according to RealTrends. Teams must have closed 60 residential transactions or $24 million in closed sales volume. 

Under the rules of the survey, agents and brokers who handled both sides of a transaction — representing buyer and seller — were allowed to double the final dollar figure when they calculated their total sales volume for the sale. Following are agents and teams from south Palm Beach County who made the lists.

• Agents by sides: Ralph Harvey III, List With Freedom, Boynton Beach, with 2,692 sides, ranked No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in Florida; Paul Saperstein, eXp Realty, Delray Beach, 182 sides, ranked No. 37 nationally and No. 5 in Florida; Nicole Bouchard, Keller Williams, Boca Raton, 137 sides, ranked No. 76 nationally and No. 11 in Florida; Michael Ledwitz, Engel & Volkers, Boca Raton, 109 sides, ranked No. 151 nationally and No. 14 in Florida; and Stacy McNall, Coldwell Banker, Delray Beach, 83 sides, ranked 367 nationally and No. 25 in Florida.

• Agents by volume: Ralph Harvey III, List With Freedom, Boynton Beach, with $826 million, ranked No. 3 nationally and No. 1 in Florida; David Roberts, Royal Palm Properties, Boca Raton, $291 million, ranked No. 21 nationally and No. 5 in Florida; Michael Ledwitz, Engel & Volkers, Boca Raton, $142 million, ranked No. 102 nationally and No. 18 in Florida; Bonnie Heatzig, Douglas Elliman, Boca Raton, $129 million, ranked No. 120 nationally and No. 21 in Florida; and Marcy Javor, Signature One Luxury Estates, Boca Raton, $112 million, ranked No. 148 nationally and No. 29 in Florida.

• Medium teams by sides: The Julian Soffer Team, Keller Williams, Boca Raton, with 162 sides, ranked No. 165 nationally and No. 10 in Florida.

• Large teams by sides: The Platt Group, Compass, Boca Raton, with 185 sides, ranked No. 256 nationally and No. 22 in Florida; and The Rucco Group, RE/MAX Direct, Delray Beach, 164 sides, ranked No. 341 nationally and No. 35 in Florida.

• Mega-teams by sides: The Saperstein Group, eXp Realty, Delray Beach, with 428 sides, ranked No. 109 nationally and No. 8 in Florida.

• Small teams by volume: Candace Friis Team, Corcoran, Delray Beach, with $216 million, ranked No. 27 nationally and No. 5 in Florida; D’Angelo/ Liguori, Boca Raton, $204 million, ranked No. 30 nationally and No. 6 in Florida; The Randy & Nick Team, Douglas Elliman, Delray Beach, $119 million, ranked No. 121 nationally and No. 23 in Florida; Susan Demerer, Compass, Boca Raton, $89 million, ranked No. 234 nationally and No. 32 in Florida; and The Bloom Haym Group, Boca Raton, $81 million, ranked No. 291 nationally and No. 38 in Florida.

• Medium teams by volume: Pascal Liguori Group, Premier Estate Properties, Delray Beach, with $207 million, ranked No. 28 nationally and No. 4 in Florida; The Senada Adzem Team, Douglas Elliman, Boca Raton, $200 million, ranked No. 32 nationally and No. 5 in Florida; Jennifer Kilpatrick Team, Corcoran, Delray Beach, $135 million, ranked No. 110 nationally and No. 14 in Florida; and Alicia Gold, Compass, Boca Raton, $95 million, ranked No. 236 nationally and No. 28 in Florida.

• Large teams by volume: The Platt Group, Compass, Boca Raton, with $173 million, ranked No. 65 nationally and No. 8 in Florida; The Buchbinder Group, Compass, Boca Raton, $105 million, ranked No. 206 nationally and No. 28 in Florida; Jonathan Postma Group, Coldwell Banker, Boca Raton, $86 million, ranked No. 305 nationally No. 38 in Florida; The Rucco Group, RE/MAX Direct, Delray Beach, $79 million, ranked No. 360 nationally and No. 43 in Florida.

• Mega-teams by volume: The Koolik Group, Compass, Boca Raton, with $234 million, ranked No. 93 nationally and No. 9 in Florida; and The Saperstein Group, Delray Beach, $167 million, ranked No. 160 nationally and No. 15 in Florida.

***

Customers who filled their prescriptions at Huber’s in Delray Beach learned the historic pharmacy had closed for good on June 22 after a brief note announcing the closure was abruptly posted on the door, citing financial reasons for the closure.

Store manager Art Ayala said the pharmacy had been at 321 E. Atlantic Ave. for 34 years. The downtown fixture was previously located at 400 E. Atlantic Ave. The store is owned by SBF Investments, which also owns a sister store, Green’s Pharmacy, at 151 N. County Road, Palm Beach.

“The profit just was not there anymore for that type of business. The owners decided it wasn’t worth (additional investment),” Ayala said.

Prescriptions are being transferred to Green’s Pharmacy and can subsequently be transferred elsewhere at the customer’s request, he said. However, prescriptions that were being delivered by Huber in Delray Beach will continue to be delivered, with no change necessary, Ayala said.

“The only difference is that they will say ‘Green’s Pharmacy,’” he said.

***

The latest in ongoing renovations at the Seagate in Delray Beach is happening at the Seagate Beach Club, where the two-story, 250-seat, 3,500-square-foot oceanfront clubhouse is undergoing a dramatic refresh. 

The clubhouse closed for renovations on May 20 and is scheduled to reopen in October.

Guests still have access to the beachside pool, Shoreline Grill, and the outdoor bar and beach service.

The renovation will include architectural and interior design updates by New York’s Dash Design. The interiors will embrace the Colonial style of the building with classic design elements.

The Seagate Beach Club was established in the 1950s. The original structure was damaged during Hurricane Wilma in 2005, resulting in a new two-story clubhouse.

“The Seagate Beach Club has a storied history in Delray Beach, creating memories for locals and visitors alike, and we are so excited to unveil the new clubhouse in the fall,” said Alex Schnoeller, managing director of the Seagate. 

The Seagate recently completed a major renovation to the Seagate Golf Club,   including its Joe Lee design 18-hole championship course and practice facilities and the property’s 41,064-square-foot clubhouse.

Renovation of guest rooms, the lobby, dining room and meeting rooms at the hotel will be undertaken in coming months.

***

Yearning for a staycation? The Seagate is offering summer discounts to make that a more affordable goal. The hotel’s Stay Golden package includes 30% off room accommodations and two complimentary cocktails to enjoy poolside when booking a minimum one-night stay now through Nov. 13. The Seagate Shotmaker package includes 50% off on a full round of golf along with up to 20% off accommodations and two gratis cocktails when booking through Sept. 30. The hotel is also offering a Fourth Night Free deal through Oct. 31.

The Seagate is at 1000 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. For more information, call 561-665-4800 or visit seagatedelray.com.

***

Mark J. Suchinski, former CFO of Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems, was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of The Geo Group Inc., a Boca Raton-based corporation that operates private prisons and immigration detention centers. 

***

Recently promoted by Lifespace Communities, Nicki Anno became assistant executive director at Harbour’s Edge in Delray Beach. Anno joined the organization in March 2023 as an administrator, overseeing operations of the senior living community’s health center.

“Nicki has been an integral part of our team,” said Harbour’s Edge Executive Director Jim Horsman. “In addition to her health care operations experience, Nicki is passionate about serving our residents and supporting our team members. She is committed to finding solutions to any challenges that arise and creating opportunities where everyone can thrive.”

***

Gina Carter, the city of Delray Beach’s director of communications, achieved the Florida Municipal Communicators Association’s Certificate of Excellence/Local Government Communicator for her work, training, and participation in the organization’s programming.

“Her innovative approach to engaging with our community through various digital platforms, including social media, the city’s digital magazine, and the city’s new app, has significantly increased transparency and public participation,” said Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore. “Gina’s dedication to clear and effective communication has ensured our residents stay well-informed and significantly strengthened the bond between our city government and the community.” 

***

Baer’s Furniture Co. Inc. was honored for its commitment to philanthropy at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County’s Business  & Professional Industry Icon event, held recently at the federation’s Zinman Hall.

“Celebrating our family’s legacy and philanthropic endeavors at the B&P Industry Icon event is a profound honor,” said Cathy Baer. “As we stand in our fourth generation of business leadership, we remain deeply committed to nurturing spaces where families can come together and forge memories that will endure for generations to come. This recognition only fuels our dedication to serving and uplifting our community.”

***

Members from chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. in Belle Glade and Wellington, and members of Omicron Delta Zeta in south Palm Beach County, joined with 90 activists from the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County to visit 16 high schools, where they helped 1,146 seniors register to vote prior to their graduation ceremonies.

“Of course, now that they are registered, our next job is to get them to turn out and vote,” said Pamela Maldonado of the league’s voter services committee. “By encouraging young voters to actually vote, we want to help establish a lifelong habit of voting in every election.”

***

American Humane, a national animal welfare organization with headquarters in Palm Beach, has kicked off its 14th annual Hero Dog Awards. It’s a nationwide competition that recognizes dogs that do extraordinary things — like saving lives on the battlefield, aiding humans with sight or hearing, and overall contributions to people’s well-being.

“Through the Hero Dog Awards, we honor and celebrate the immense hope, courage and quality of life that dogs bring to our lives,” said Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane. “We look forward to sharing inspiring stories of these canines with the voting public so we can give our hero dogs the recognition they truly deserve.”

 To nominate a dog, visit HeroDogAwards.org through Aug. 1. 

Sallie James and Mary Thurwachter contributed to this column.

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

By Anne Geggis and Mary Kate Leming

A fishing outing turned tragic at Ocean Inlet Park in Ocean Ridge early Thursday, with multiple agencies rushing to respond to reports of a missing child presumed to have fallen into the water, only to recover his body hours later.

Authorities said the 8-year-old boy was fishing with his father when he disappeared from his side at about 6:30 a.m. 

The pair were fishing at Ocean Inlet Park, on the south jetty on the west side of the State Road A1A bridge over the Boynton Inlet,  which is also called the South Lake Worth Inlet, authorities said.

Family members react after the child's body was found. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

One of the pair turned to attend to some fishing equipment and when he looked up, his fishing companion was gone, said Capt. Tom Reyes of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

The 6900 block of North Ocean Boulevard (A1A) was briefly closed to traffic as the rescue effort involving dozens of first responders ramped up.

Officials said that at 10:39 am, the Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Dive Team found the child's body on the north side of the inlet. The Medical Examiner's Office is now investigating.

Divers, firefighters and police look along the north wall of the inlet for the missing boy. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, responded to the inlet with divers, inflatable boats, Jet Skis and helicopters.

“We have numerous resources checking the waterways,” said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, as the effort got underway.

Reyes of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said the search mission was declared a “recovery” operation at 7:55 a.m..

The jetty at Ocean Inlet Park is a popular place to fish — one of the few places in the county open to fishing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Thursday morning, there was a strong current in the inlet with the outgoing tide, but the ocean was relatively calm.

Rescue efforts off the coast of Ocean Ridge included helicopters, Jet Skis, boats and divers. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star