By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge residents soon could see tangible benefits from the Palm Beach County penny sales tax increase voters approved in November when the town begins repaving its streets.
    Town engineers identified a priority list of 11 streets covering about 3.5 miles that need repairs.
    Commissioners set aside $200,000 in the current fiscal year’s budget to help pay for the work, and the town is counting on roughly $100,000 in penny sales tax revenue through the fall to cover most of the balance or help pay the costs of traffic calming devices.
    A final report from engineers determined most of the repaving will be “typical mill and overlay work,” said the town’s engineering consultant, Lisa Tropepe of Engenuity Group. Tropepe’s findings showed the town’s streets won’t need major rebuilding.

    Town Manager Jamie Titcomb says commissioners will have the flexibility to add or subtract streets — and determine which streets should be done first — during the first phase of what figures to be a multiyear project to repave nearly the entire town.
    The town will be able to join a paving contractor’s contract with several other Palm Beach County communities to minimize red tape and get the project going relatively soon. Titcomb said contractors are in store for a busy summer of street work because other municipalities are using their penny tax revenue to make repairs, too.
    Newly elected Commissioner Don MaGruder said to avoid damaging new work, the town shouldn’t repave streets around construction areas until after the heavy trucks are gone.

    The streets scheduled for repair in the first phase of the project this summer are Engle Drive, West Anna Street, East Anna Street, Ridge Lane, Beachway Drive, Harbour Drive North, Harbour Drive South, Island Drive, Island Drive South, Bonita Drive and Marlin Drive.
    In other business:
    • Commissioners approved Geoff Pugh as mayor and James Bonfiglio as vice mayor for one-year terms. Pugh, 54, has served on the commission since 2003 and as mayor for five years.
Bonfiglio, 63, joined the commission in 2014 and was appointed vice mayor late last year after the resignation of Richard Lucibella.
    • Titcomb told commissioners that, during the upcoming budget workshops, the town should consider creating a full-time building clerk position to deal with the “exponential increase” in requests for building permits and inspections.
    The town currently hires an outside contractor to handle its permitting and inspection work.
Titcomb said having an in-house inspector could improve efficiency and generate fees to help cover the expense of creating a new employee position. Commissioners agreed to consider the idea during their budgeting process for the next fiscal year.

By Jane Smith

    Boat-loving residents came to Delray Beach’s outreach meeting to hear when work would begin on raising the seawall in Veterans Park and on replacing two docks there for marine access to the Intracoastal Waterway.
    The docks will be exactly where they are right now, said Brian LaMotte, project engineer with Wantman Group Inc., of West Palm Beach. Moving them would require more permits, delaying the project’s start, he said in late April.
    Delray Beach will pay about $80,000 to Wantman to survey, design and supervise the construction of the seawall cap and the two docks.
    The public seawall will be 20 inches higher and level for its entire 400-foot length to the Atlantic Avenue bridge, said Timothy DeLand, a Wantman engineer.
    Then in 25 years, the city can decide whether another 16 inches are needed because of rising sea levels.
The height can be raised with a triangular parapet on top of the seawall, LaMotte said.
    The docks, which have rotted wood, were closed last September because they were unsafe to use, LaMotte said. The replacement docks should be usable by January.
    The tentative schedule calls for the City Commission to approve the construction contract in June, said Isaac Kovner, city engineer. Callaway Marine Technologies Inc., of West Palm Beach, will do the work for $585,000, he said.
    Delray Beach is in the bidding process for the southern portion of the repair work along Marine Way and the city’s marina. That work is set to begin next year.
    One resident who lives on Marine Way questioned why the projects weren’t coordinated because rising water would find the low spot and flood the area.
    Kovner agreed and then he explained the government process for doing projects. First, the city has to budget the money, next hire a consultant who will survey the site to make recommendations of what should be done, then the construction project will go out for bid and the City Commission must approve the contract.  
    Capt. Joe Reardon, who operates Delray Yacht Cruises out of Veterans Park, said during low tide times, some smaller boats won’t be able to tie off. “More ladders will be needed,” he said.
    The current contract calls for two ladders, Kovner said. But four more ladders and lower cleats for tying off can be added after commission approval, under the contingency portion, he said.
    Reardon will install a hydraulic lift for his yachts to use during low tide times.
    Depending on the boat sizes, LaMotte said, about three boats can use the 90-foot dock at one time. Dock parking is limited to two hours, according to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.  
    Kovner asked the group of 20 people how often they would like to meet to get updates. Monthly was agreed to be appropriate.
    Delray Beach also is surveying the condition of public and private seawalls along the Intracoastal Waterway. The work is supposed to be finished in mid-summer, said Missie Barletto, assistant director of the Environmental Services Department.
    Two directors of the Beach Property Owners Association, Andy Katz and Bob Victorin, attended the meeting. They said they would spread the word when the survey is finished to their members who live on the east side of the waterway.

Pete Dye was a hands-on supervisor during re-construction of the Gulf Stream Golf Club in 2013-14.

Pete and Alice with one of their dogs through the years, all named Sixty. The last Sixty died in December.

Photos provided by  Ken May

The Dyes’ lifetime of course design

was in full swing in the 1950s.

Alice this month will receive

the Donald Ross Award for design.

Photo provided by Alice Dye

By Brian Biggane

    From Harbour Town in Hilton Head, S.C., to Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, to Crooked Stick in Indiana, golf course designers Pete and Alice Dye have built some of the most famous courses in the world. And as residents of Gulf Stream since 1969, they’ve left their mark across coastal Palm Beach County.
    Stewart Iglehart, one of the founders of St. Andrews Club, reached out to Pete and Alice to build the club’s par-3 course adjacent to the Intracoastal back in 1972.
    “Pete was busy so I took it on,” said Alice, who on May 20 will be presented with the prestigious Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects in Jupiter. “To call what was there a swamp would be an upgrade.
    “Some of the farms out in west Delray were being sold then, so they were taking dirt out and Stewart would buy it and bring it in. One night he called and said, ‘I just can’t bring any more dirt in. That’s all you’re going to have to work with.’
    “I said, ‘Stewart, if you don’t bring any more dirt you’re going to have a canoe club.’ So he brought more in, and St. Andrews now is a really nice par-3 golf course.”
    While Pete, 91, and Alice, 90, are among the longest-tenured residents of the area, Pete’s visits date to the early 1930s.
    “There was a flu epidemic where they lived in Ohio, and when Pete was 6, one of his younger cousins died of the flu,” Alice said. “So Pete’s father put everybody in the car and brought them down, and that’s how his family started coming to Delray Beach.”
    Pete and Alice met at Rollins College in Winter Park and were married in 1950. They settled in Indianapolis, where Pete sold insurance, but found themselves returning to Florida time and again so Alice, one of the nation’s top amateur female golfers, could play in tournaments.
    “It would be St. Augustine, then The Breakers, Coral Ridge [in Fort Lauderdale] and Miami Country Club,” Alice said. “Pete’s family had a house at Atlantic Avenue and the ocean; A1A would be paved for about a block south of Atlantic and then it would be sand. That was in the ’50s.”
    After Pete got into the golf design business, the pair decided Florida made a better home base than Indy.
    “Indianapolis had a tiny airport and terrible weather and he could never get home in the winter,” Alice said. “So we bought a house over on Seventh Avenue [in Delray] and would come down in the winter and put our boys [Perry and P.B.] in school, first at St. Vincent’s, the Catholic school, and then Atlantic High.”
    Pete and Alice made an instant impression on their neighbors after moving into their current house just north of Gulf Stream Golf Club in 1969.
    “The house needed painting and I had seen this house in the Seagate area that was a pale yellow, that I thought was so nice,” Alice said. “The painter did some work with a yellow on a board and I thought it was nice, and Pete and I left to play golf. When we came back, you could see this house … Midas Muffler never had a color this yellow. Needless to say we were not too popular.”
    Alice said the demographics of the area have changed markedly since the days when what is now The Little Club was a polo field and families would come down for a month or so in high season.
    “The kids needed a school, which led to Gulf Stream School being built, and over time what were a lot of small houses were eventually torn down and bigger ones were built. So the neighborhood has gotten younger, and Gulf Stream has become a wonderful school.”
    It was only a few years ago that members at Gulf Stream Golf Club decided their course needed some modernizing and offered the job to Pete Dye — with one significant stipulation.
    “They knew Pete’s reputation for building really difficult golf courses, which is what the owners typically have asked for,” Alice said. “This was the opposite: The members wanted Gulf Stream to be easier. So in the beginning they asked him to start with one hole. He said, ‘I can’t bring a crew in here for one hole.’”
    When Donald Ross built the course in 1920, he put bunkers 50 yards short of the green, which had become problematic for the average players who struggled to clear them so they could reach the green in two. Additionally, the greens had become severely sloped from back to front over time, so players who purposely went right or left of the bunkers faced approach shots made more difficult by the slopes.
    Membership ultimately relented and Dye took on the job, redoing the front nine in the summer of 2013 and the back nine a year later.
    The members’ reaction? “They’re all out there now,” Alice said. “You can hardly get on the course.”
    Alice’s status as both a top player and designer has helped her become a pioneer for the women’s game. She became the first woman president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the first woman to serve as an independent director of the PGA of America.
    While Pete has struggled with dementia in recent years, he has continued to work, all the while amazing Alice with his remarkable ability to look at a piece of undeveloped land and see a finished golf course.
    “We’ll be standing there looking at a site, and what I see and what he sees are not the same,” she said. “I’m practical, and Pete is really visionary. I can’t imagine moving this much dirt; there’s bushes and stuff in my way. I don’t think he’s ever seen it as not finished. He looks at the brambles and sees it finished. I look at the brambles and think, ‘What are we going to do with those?’”
    Those who know the Dyes know they have had a succession of dogs, all named Sixty and all of whom have typically accompanied Pete to every job site. The latest Sixty died at age 13, just before Christmas, and Alice said that “as of right now” there are no plans to find another.
    While the Dyes continue to work on a handful of projects, the time for scaling back has finally come.
    “We’re not going to take on any more,” Alice said. “We’re going to finish what we’ve got. [Pete’s] still good in the field and he’s very creative, but he’s 91 now, so we’ve come to the end of taking on new work. Our boys have been a really big help.”
    Both P.B. and Perry will carry on.
    P.B. is a part-time Gulf Stream resident with additional homes in Urbana, Ohio, and the Dominican Republic, while Perry is based in Denver.

By Dan Moffett
    
    A bidding war for water customers has broken out between Manalapan and Boynton Beach, with some 550 Hypoluxo residents likely to benefit with lower monthly bills and perhaps even better service.
    For decades, Manalapan has sold water and provided sewer service to residents on the east side of Hypoluxo. The contract between the two municipalities expires in 2020, and Manalapan, to ensure the long-term viability of its plant, wants to lock Hypoluxo into a 30-year deal with an immediate and sizable rate reduction.
    “What we’re offering is pretty straightforward — an immediate 35 percent rate cut,” said Manalapan’s consultant, Kevin O’Donnell of Nova Energy Consultants in Cary, N.C. “And that goes straight in the bank.”
    Meanwhile, Boynton Beach has a much larger, growing water operation that is hungry for new business. City Utilities Director Colin Groff says if Hypoluxo switches to Boynton’s system, Hypoluxo residents can expect an immediate 25 percent rate cut, besides the stability and service only a large operator can deliver.
    “The reason our rates are low is because we have great economies of scale,” Groff said. “We’re able to do things more inexpensively.”
    O’Donnell and Groff squared off for an amicable debate over their competing proposals during a workshop before the Hypoluxo Town Council on April 19. After longtime Hypoluxo Mayor Ken Schultz died in November, council members decided to postpone a decision on water until his successor was seated after the March election. New Mayor Michael Brown said he intends to continue soliciting input from residents and bring the issue to the council soon.
    “It is a very important decision,” Brown said. “However, I think we know that both water utilities are very good quality water utilities. It’s not like if we choose one or the other the water quality or service is going to change dramatically.”
    Groff told the council that size should matter in making the choice. Because it has more than 110,000 customers and dozens of employees, Boynton’s utility can react to emergencies quickly and offer services such as automated metering and online bill paying. He said his utility has an “extremely healthy” balance sheet and a great bond rating that will help deter rate increases.
    Groff said he expects customers’ bills to reflect only small upward adjustments for inflation and no large capital projects to force increases for the next 10 years. He said his utility could afford to offer Hypoluxo “inside city rates” that matched the lowest in Boynton.
    O’Donnell and Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf told the council that being a small utility was actually an asset. With fewer than 900 total customers and seven full-time employees, the town’s utility is able to deliver more personalized service. O’Donnell said Manalapan’s utility is financially secure and the town has no intention to sell it. In quality, Stumpf said the two systems “are very similar and both meet the same standards.”
    Several residents said Manalapan’s sudden ability to make deep cuts to rates now suggests that Hypoluxo customers probably have been overpaying for years. Stumpf said reductions are only possible now because Manalapan has recently improved efficiencies in its system and is willing to accept lower rates in exchange for the stability of a long-term deal.         Manalapan officials say they were caught off guard by the latest Boynton proposal, which offers a substantially lower rate structure than earlier ones.
 “These rates are something Manalapan can’t compete with,” Stumpf said.
 Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters says the town will continue to negotiate with Hypoluxo but also prepare alternative plans for the utility if a deal falls through.

William Thrasher and his wife, Phyllis, laugh at the oversized key Gulf Stream police presented him

at his retirement party. The Thrashers bought a Winnebago to tour parks across the country and lost the keys.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett
    
    The last week of April was longtime Town Manager William Thrasher’s last week to roam Town Hall.
    On April 27, Gulf Stream’s municipal employees and police officers gathered in Town Hall for lunch and a cake to honor Thrasher the day before his retirement took effect.
    At the Town Commission’s April 17 meeting, Mayor Scott Morgan proclaimed the day to be William H. Thrasher Day “in recognition of the 21 years of outstanding and dedicated service.”
    People who worked with Thrasher “benefited from his professionalism, wealth of knowledge and sense of humor,” Morgan’s resolution said.
    Thrasher was hired as Gulf Stream’s finance director on April 29, 1996. As town manager for 17 years, he also acted as its zoning administrator and planning director.
    Thrasher arrived in Gulf Stream after answering an ad placed by then-Mayor William F. Koch Jr., whom he considered a mentor. Thrasher also served through Commissioner Joan Orthwein’s two-year tenure as mayor.
    “Bill, the town of Gulf Stream obviously is indebted to you here,” Morgan said before leading everyone in the commission chamber in a round of applause.
    “Over the last three years, I have been supported by your advice, your steady, patient advice, your calm demeanor in the face of many things that this town has confronted, and I am personally grateful for your service,” Morgan said.

Robert Ganger holds his Judge James R. Knott Historical Contribution Award,

flanked by J. Grier Pressly III (left), chairman of the board of the Historical Society

of Palm Beach County, and Harvey Oyer III.

Photo provided by Capehart Photography

    Robert Ganger, a vice chairman of the board of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, won the group’s Judge James R. Knott Historical Contribution Award, its highest honor, for his help in securing the endorsement of government officials and raising $9 million to restore the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse.
    Ganger, of Gulf Stream, helped persuade the County Commission to not tear down the historic courthouse and worked to negotiate a lease for the society to use the building. “This was the most pivotal, challenging, exhilarating and scary time in this institution’s long history, and Bob was one of the steady hands on the tiller during the bumpy ride,” said Harvey Oyer III, who nominated Ganger and presented the award April 25.
     The Knott award, for contributing to the preservation, promotion or enrichment of county history, is named for a judge who was president of the historical society from 1957 to 1969 and wrote historical vignettes for The Palm Beach Post from 1977 to 1985.
    Oyer’s sister, Susan Oyer of Boynton Beach, was given the society’s Fannie James Pioneering Award for her efforts as president of the Lake Worth Pioneers’ Association Inc. to keep alive the memories and spirit of the county’s earliest pioneers.
     In May, the association will hold its 123rd annual meeting, where stories are passed on to younger generations. James, an African-American pioneer, was the first postmistress of the Jewell Post Office (now Lake Worth), from 1889 to 1903.

Gunther Volvo plans to build a 31,050-square-foot showroom-service area and three-level parking garage

on Federal Highway. Place Au Soleil homeowners fear the project will fill their neighborhood with noise and light.

Rendering courtesy City of Delray Beach

By Steve Plunkett

    Decision day is May 10 in Place Au Soleil’s fight to shield the neighborhood from a three-story garage Gunther Volvo wants to build right behind their single-family homes.
    Delray Beach’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board postponed considering Gunther’s proposal at its April 26 meeting because it lacked a quorum. The car dealership backs up to Gulf Stream but sits inside Delray Beach.
    Earlier in the month, the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency praised Gunther’s proposal, but encouraged its lawyer to work more to address Place Au Soleil’s concerns about noise and light.
    At the April 17 meeting of the Gulf Stream Town Commission, the president of the neighborhood’s homeowner association, Chet Snavely, said he and Mayor Scott Morgan met with Gunther representatives and Delray Beach officials to craft a solution, but without success.
    “The noise situation and the light situation were pretty much dismissed in Volvo’s response letter to our meeting,” Snavely said. “Volvo was not interested in spending any money for any redesign.”
    Morgan recruited the rest of the Town Commission to join the battle by having commissioners sign a letter opposing the plan that they had previously authorized Morgan to sign by himself. The letter was to go to Delray Beach planning officials and Mayor Cary Glickstein.
    “I just feel it should be signed by everyone,” Morgan said.
    Snavely said a barrier of aluminum louvers behind the 519-car garage would block the light and muffle the sound. So far, Gunther has agreed only to raise the concrete wall at the back of the parcel from 6 feet high to 8 feet.
    Fort Lauderdale-based Gunther bought the Volvo and neighboring Volkswagen dealerships in 2012 for $13.5 million from AutoNation. The land, which lies on a plat named Borton Motors after an earlier dealership, is designated for “auto sales” in Delray Beach’s land-use plan and zoned “automotive commercial.”
    In other business, commissioners met in closed sessions with their attorneys to decide what to do with one public records lawsuit brought by resident Martin O’Boyle and seven cases brought by resident Chris O’Hare. Outside counsel Robert Sweetapple said at the end of the month there had been no movement in any of the suits.
    O’Boyle urged the commissioners before the closed sessions to accept what he called his “sacrificial lamb” to end the litigation, without providing many details. “If you want to resolve all [the cases] as I do, we together have an opportunity to be fair with one another and accomplish just that goal,” O’Boyle said.

Christina Cleveland, a certified financial planner in Boca Raton, also is busy with several charities

and her church. She lives in coastal Delray Beach. The boy in the photo on her desk is her son, Max.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

    When Christina Cleveland was hired straight out of college as a stockbroker by the Merrill Lynch office in Tallahassee, the managing director told her that she was either going to be exceptionally great at her job, or hiring her was going to be a “big mistake” on his part.
    Thirty-three years later, Cleveland, now a certified financial planner, is still with the company and was named to the Forbes inaugural list of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisers for 2017. The honor was given to the top 200 from among 14,000 nominees.
    “It’s kind of breathtaking and humbling,” said Cleveland, a coastal Delray Beach resident who is a senior vice president in wealth management investments for the Merrill Lynch office in Boca Raton.
    As a wealth management adviser, Cleveland helps her clients develop customized financial strategies to achieve their personal goals, whether it be saving for retirement, living through retirement, transferring wealth to future generations or helping fund their philanthropic interests.
    What Cleveland finds most rewarding about her work are the long-term relationships she has with her clients.
    “When somebody comes in and we decide that we’re going to establish a working relationship, this relationship typically lasts their lifetime, and then possibly their children’s,” she said. “I enjoy knowing and caring about them deeply.”
    Cleveland finds time to be involved in community organizations that “speak to my heart.” She lends financial support to her pet charities: Spanish River Church, SOS Children’s Village and the Delray Beach Achievement Centers for Children and Families. One Sunday a month, at Spanish River Church, she performs a 30-minute drama program for the 3- to 5-year-olds that pertains to the day’s lesson.  
    She is the CEO of the South Florida Women’s Exchange for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which brings women of the company together, regardless of their positions, through networking, mentoring and community involvement.
    In her spare time, Cleveland enjoys paddleboarding on the ocean with her husband, Chris, and 6-year-old son, Max. She also has a keen interest in butterfly gardening, which she learned about from her husband, a nature enthusiast.
    She and her husband have filled their yard with host plants that attract specific butterflies, such as milkweed for monarchs, cassia for sulphur butterflies, and a lime prickly-ash plant for giant swallowtails.
    “No matter what butterfly you want to have in your backyard, if you just plant their host plant, they will come,” said Cleveland. “It’s fun, and it works.”
    While at Florida State University earning a bachelor of science degree in finance, Cleveland was a member of student government and was already honing her money-handling skills.
    “We were in charge of a big budget with hundreds of thousands of dollars that we allocated among different student programs,” she said.
    “Being hired by Merrill Lynch was truly a life-changing event. They took a chance on me when I was very young,” said Cleveland. “It’s the perfect job for me. It’s all about helping people accomplish each of their unique goals in life, whatever they might be, and I enjoy trying to make that happen.”
— Marie Puleo
    Q. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
    A. My father was an engineer on Long Island and had an opportunity to take a job associated with the space program in Florida when I was 9. It was a chance for us to hopefully have healthier winters and to move closer to his parents, who had retired to Delray Beach.
    We moved to Indialantic (near the Kennedy Space Center). As children, it was exciting to watch the rocket launches from our front yard.
    My father said I could attend any college I wanted as long as it was in the state of Florida and he’d match me dollar for dollar on cost.
    At Florida State University, I was involved in student government from the moment I stepped onto campus. I was elected to office in my first and second year, served as a student lobbyist at the Capitol in my third year, and in my senior year was the gubernatorial appointee to the board of regents. These activities at college would ultimately shape my life.    
    Q. What professions have you worked in and what accomplishments have you been most proud of?
    A. I have a short list of professions. They consist of waitress and Merrill Lynch wealth management adviser. That’s what happens when you get hired into the perfect job for you right out of college.

    Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
    A. If you don’t know which direction you want to go in life, I would suggest taking a few aptitude tests. The aptitude tests give you careers to think about that match your special gifts. When an opportunity comes along for a job that was on your aptitude list, give it a chance!
    
    Q. How did you choose to make your home in Delray Beach?
    A. My grandparents lived in Delray Beach. It was 1992, and housing was still in a slump from the savings and loan crisis, and I started looking for a house. There was this cute little cottage in the Seagate neighborhood that was sitting in an estate waiting to be sold, and it had my name on it. So much has changed since then, in the town and in the neighborhood, but I still love my cottage and Delray Beach.

    Q. What is your favorite part about living in Delray Beach?
    A. I love the ocean and the beach. So often the water is crystal clear and a magical, tropical blue color. The Gulf Stream comes so close to our shore, it brings amazing breezes all year long.
    
    Q. What book are you reading now?
    A. I just finished Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance.
    
    Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
    A. For relaxation and inspiration I like to listen to piano music. For a mood pickup, it’s songs like Happy, Better When I’m Dancing and Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk.
    
    Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
    A. Do unto others as you would have done to you.
    
    Q. Have you had mentors in your life?
    A. My mentors have been my clients. I’ve had the privilege of having a front-row seat in successful people’s lives. There are gems of wisdom and lessons to be learned in each person that you really get to know. When you see an admirable trait or action, you have the chance to decide if that is something you would like to emulate or develop in yourself.
    
    Q.  If your life story were made into a movie, whom would you want to play you?
    A. My knowledge on up-and-coming actresses is a little lacking right now since we have only watched animated shows and movies with our son for the past six years. I’m going with Disney’s Elena of Avalor. She is smart, persistent, kind and has a very good heart. She is not easily deterred even in the face of opposition.

    GULF STREAM — William Paul Luke, M.D. , 89, passed away peacefully on April 25 at home in Gulf Stream, succumbing to Lou Gehrig’s disease, which he had fought for 15 years. Not a record, but he tried.  
    He was eased on his way by his loving caregivers and friends of many years, Alicia Prado and Amanda Liptak, and son David.
    He is survived by his three children, David, Hunter and Laurie; daughter-in-law LuAnne Luke and son-in-law David McCaskey; along with Hunter’s sons, Griffin and Dawson, and Laurie’s daughters, Sarah and Morgan. They all will miss him, as will nieces Judy and Debbie and nephew Richard; and his four stepchildren, Sandy, Hans, Donna and Andrew, whom he considered as his own.
    He was a proud grandfather of seven step-grandkids and loved all mentioned equally and well. He was predeceased by wives Joey and Joan, father William, mother Lenora and his sister Yvonne.
    Dr. Luke led a great life with a gentle enthusiasm for all that he endeavored, and his huge heart was apparent to all so fortunate to be called friend or co-worker. He was sure to bring a smile to all whenever or wherever he encountered them. Though he achieved much and was honored by many, his greatest joy was the happiness and success of others. He led a life of love, thoughtfulness, generosity and compassion and the world is a shade less bright without him. He was so lucky to have had two phenomenal women as his wives and with them he shared his many milestones, both personal and professional.
    Upon graduation from the Boston University school of medicine, he set forth on his professional adventures. He joined the staff of Cape Cod Hospital, where he held positions of chief of surgery, chief of staff and a position on the board of directors. As a member of the board of regents at Boston University he was instrumental in the establishment of the residency program at Cape Cod Hospital.
    This  all occurred while he was busy as a partner in Cape Cod Surgical Associates, which he had formed with his great friend John McVey and soon included Sepo Rapo, Rich Lewis and John Scarpato.  They all later established the Cape Cod Vascular Laboratory.
    Toward the end of his career on the Cape and beyond, Dr. Luke spent time for many years with Sepo Rapo in the jungles of Nicaragua assisting in the treatment of the native population in a MASH-type hospital, which the staff could reach only by small plane.  
    To stay busy later he joined the staff at the Toronto General Hospital at the invitation of good friend Dr. Griff Pearson as a visiting professor of surgery. He would do this for many years even after retiring to Florida with Joan.
    Dr. Luke had many interests and hobbies in which he fully immersed himself. Among them was sailing. He and friends started the Cape Cod Cruising Club and he participated in many of the famous Figawi races on Cape Cod.
    Flying also ranked high (he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis while getting his instrument rating). Croquet was a passion he shared with Joan and they donated funds to build the croquet lawn at the St. Andrews Club. He was particularly proud to be elected to the Croquet Hall of Fame in 2010 as one of 103 members.
    Never one to sit idle, he spent his final years teaching himself to build museum-quality ship models, some of which took up to a half year to complete.
    He was very active in the ALS community and lobbied Congress for funding when he was still able to travel to Washington and personally conducted voluminous research on his own to understand the disease.
    A memorial service was held May 2 at Lorne and Sons Funeral Home, 745 NE Sixth Ave., Delray Beach. Dr. Luke will be interred on Cape Cod surrounded by his family at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, make donations in his name to the ALS Association Florida Chapter, 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, FL 33619.
— Obituary submitted by the family

By Emily J. Minor

    BOYNTON BEACH — Susan Eileen (McDonald) Norton, whose good manners and slight frame often belied her stubbornness, true grit and power on the tennis court, died last month after fighting a rare cancer that showed itself last May, subsided just long enough to offer hope, then returned in March with a vengeance. She was 55.
    “She never complained,” said her sister, Kathy Baffer, who lives in coastal Delray Beach. “She always wanted to fight this, right to the end. Now she’s our guardian angel.”
    A Florida girl through and through, Mrs. Norton grew up in Boca Raton and attended Saint Andrew’s School with her twin brother, John III, and, later, Kathy. She was always athletic and loved competition, her sister said, performing on most of Saint Andrew’s varsity teams and once setting a record for the 5K run.
    Besides tennis — the two sisters loved to play doubles — Mrs. Norton was an accomplished golfer. She also loved the quiet of gardening.
    After leaving Boca Raton in 1979 to attend Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., the former Susan McDonald came back to Palm Beach County, where she launched a successful career with Arvida selling real estate. In 1989, she married Dr. Stephen Norton, a dentist she met through mutual neighborhood friends.
    The couple had three children — Stephen, 25, and twins Emily and Gregory, 23 — all three of whom are now studying at the College of Dental Medicine, Nova Southeastern University.
    As the children grew, Mrs. Norton turned her attention to the kids, her husband’s dental practice and her physical fitness. Patients knew her as the smiling officer manager, always reassuring, her dog, Zeuss, tucked at her feet.
    Mrs. Norton ate well, exercised and had a strong faith. So when she got sick last May with angiosarcoma, a cancer that affected her heart, it was particularly jarring, her sister said.
    “She was always just so full of life,” Baffer said. “We all knew she was going to beat this.”
    Mrs. Norton’s family spent months researching the best treatments. Her brother once flew her from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to a specialty ward in Houston. There, she lay in ICU for far too long.
    But after chemo treatments in Houston, she returned to the family’s home in Pine Tree Country Club Estates and was able to enjoy many weekends with her husband, children and dogs at the family’s retreat on Lake June. Baffer said her sister was feeling relatively well until early March, when complications began to pile up.
    She died April 4, her last rites administered by a favorite priest. She was buried in a small cemetery near the family’s Lake June home.
    Besides her husband, children, sister and brother, Mrs. Norton is survived by many nieces and nephews. Her parents, Millie and John, preceded her in death.
    The family asks that memorial donations be made to the Sarcoma Foundation of America, which can be found online at www.curesarcoma.org. The family has long been members of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church.

The conceptual plan features a five-story glass City Hall attached to the existing city library.

Part of the library would become a City Hall addition. Across Ocean Avenue

from the proposed City Hall is the historic high school. This view is

looking to the southeast. Seacrest Boulevard is in the foreground.

Rendering provided by E2L Real Estate Solutions LLC

By Jane Smith

    City residents should soon have a walkable downtown with open spaces and tree-shaded streets as well as their beloved, historic Boynton Beach High School restored to its 1920s glamour days and in use again.
    In mid-April, the Boynton Beach City Commission unanimously agreed to work with E2L Real Estate Solutions of Winter Park.
    That allows the city manager to craft a public-private partnership with E2L, outlining the first phase of the $250 million deal. It will include deadlines and financing methods to pay for the public and private portions.
    The E2L team wants to build apartments, assisted-living units, a hotel and three parking garages.
    The first phase also will include “a guaranteed maximum price of the buildings … and possibly start of the rehab work on the old high school,” Colin Groff, an assistant city manager, told commissioners April 17.
    Groff gave commissioners an ambitious schedule for the first phase, saying it could return to them for approval in June.
    “I like that they are keeping the historic buildings,” said Susan Oyer, a longtime resident who sits on the city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board. “They are keeping the trees, the playground — all of the things the residents care about.”
    If all goes according to the plan, residents will be able to attend charettes in the summer to have their say on the designs of the public buildings, the interior layout of the old high school, the open spaces, the amphitheater, the playgrounds, the landscaping and signs, Groff said.
    He advised residents and commissioners not to think that the public buildings would look like what E2L’s architect proposed: in particular, the glass building to be City Hall.
    “It looks hideous. It’s more appropriate for a newer city,” said Oyer, a fifth-generation Floridian who is a public school teacher. “Boynton needs a more appropriate look that would adapt pieces of the Addison Mizner plans.”

In the 1920s, architect Addison Mizner sketched out his idea for Boynton Beach City Hall.

Resident Susan Oyer prefers Mizner’s plan.

Photo courtesy of the Boynton Beach City Library

    In the 1920s, Mizner presented a rough sketch of what a two-story Boynton Beach City Hall would look like using his Mediterranean Revival style of architecture. But the city soon went bankrupt and had to sell off a piece of its oceanfront land to repay debts.
    The Mizner sketch lay unused for decades until 1987, when the leader of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency wanted to resurrect it as the plan for a new City Hall. That did not happen.
    Oyer will send commissioners and Groff the Mizner sketch with her ideas on how it could be turned into a three-story building.

Team named at meeting
    In late March, E2L introduced its team to the city selection committee.
    The master developer is Mark Hefferin of E2L Holdings in Winter Park. Information supplied to the city says that the company has more than $1 billion in construction experience.
    At the selection committee presentation, Hefferin mentioned the possibility of the hotel carrying the Guy Harvey brand. A Guy Harvey spokesman said it was too soon for the company to say yes or no to the project.
    Hefferin’s team includes developer John Markey, whose JKM Developers of Boca Raton built the Cortina residential project and nearby dog park in western Boynton Beach.
    “We are the hometown guys backed by the largest financial company internationally,” Markey told the selection committee. “We are the financial solution.”
    Markey proposes turning the 16 acres of Town Square into a community development district with the private buildings financed by BlackRock bonds sold to investors. That structure calls for the city to make an agreement with its CRA to have the increase in taxable values of the private buildings used to make the annual bond payments to investors.
    Markey said he became involved with BlackRock in 2010 when a BlackRock entity approached his firm to invest in distressed properties in Florida.
    For his part of Town Square, Markey wants to build independent-living townhomes for older residents and a multistory building that offers assisted care.
    The E2L team also includes architect Rick Gonzalez of West Palm Beach, who told the selection team: “I’ve been waiting 16 years to work on the high school.”
    His historic restoration projects include Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach estate that was turned into a private club. Gonzalez recently helped design a helipad on the historic estate that can withstand the weight of a Marine One helicopter, needed after Trump was elected president.
    “I’m glad Markey and Gonzalez are involved,” said Barbara Ready, chairwoman of the Historic Resources Preservation Board. “They like to listen to the people.”
    A possible kink in the high school plans comes from Juan Contin, who is appealing his state court loss. He has until May 15 to file paperwork that explains the legal reason why his case should be reconsidered. Contin, an architect, sued in 2013 after the city wouldn’t let him turn the high school into an events center.
    Local lawyer Michael Weiner will take the Town Square plans through the city’s development approval process as part of the E2L team.
    “We need to get the people here first,” Weiner told the selection committee. “Then the sky’s the limit of what can go in here — possibly even a grocery store.”
    The project’s boundaries roughly are Boynton Beach Boulevard on the north, Seacrest Boulevard on the west, Southeast Second Avenue on the south and Southeast First Street on the east.
    Hefferin’s team also has former state Rep. Sharon Merchant, who owns a marketing company. “We understand that the most important thing for you is that your constituents are knowledgeable,” she told the selection committee.
Her firm will do that by having webcams on the project, putting out social media posts, producing newsletters and hosting hotlines.
    Nancy Franczak-Stewart, promoter of GarlicFest, also is involved. She told the selection committee: “My events put Delray Beach on the map. I look forward to bringing that experience to you.”
E2L Solutions paid $100,000 when it was selected, to be used to evaluate its proposal. At the May 2 commission meeting, Stantec Consulting Services of Tampa was hired to help the city define the Town Square deal and provide financial analysis. The contract has a cap of $90,000.
    Mayor Steven Grant said he is eager for Town Square to start.
    “It’s an extremely exciting time in Boynton Beach,” he said. “The challenge will be to keep the momentum going.”

Blue glass beads could be used to create a wave pattern

along the sidewalks and intersections of Boynton Beach Boulevard.

Rendering provided by Kimley-Horn

By Jane Smith
    
    Boynton Beach Boulevard will be beautified to match the up-and-coming downtown the city’s redevelopment agency is trying to create.
    In mid-April, the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency selected one of three designs presented by Kimley-Horn’s West Palm Beach office. The boulevard will have a wave theme to create a cohesive look to the street. It will have wider sidewalks, narrower travel lanes, canopy trees, landscaped medians and dedicated bike lanes.
    The waves along the outer edges of the sidewalk can be made using concrete with blue glass beads added or pavers with blue glass beads embedded in the top layer, said Marwan Mufleh, senior vice president at Kimley-Horn.
    CRA board member Christina Romelus asked whether the special pavers would cost more. The consultants said yes, but they would present other options for the CRA board to select.
    At the Seacrest Boulevard and Boynton Beach Boulevard intersection, pavers can’t be used because a state road is involved, Mufleh said a few days after the CRA meeting. The state is worried that the pavers will crack when vehicles travel across them. The waves in the intersection can be made using a concrete treatment, he said.
    Mufleh told CRA board members that Kimley-Horn did pedestrian counts at two places near I-95 along Boynton Beach Boulevard, which is State Road 804. The intersection near Galaxy Elementary did not warrant a crosswalk.
    But farther east, the intersection with a Marathon gas station at Northwest/Southwest Second Street had a pedestrian count of 19 per hour, just one shy of the state standard for crosswalks.
    Mufleh said he would talk to state transportation officials about putting a crosswalk there.
    Kimley-Horn will be paid $557,000 for the design and survey work, which includes getting Florida Department of Transportation approval. It will receive another $3,000 for expenses.
    Kimley-Horn will work with Florida Power & Light to bury the power lines so that light poles along Boynton Beach Boulevard don’t have visible wires.
    Total cost of the Boynton Beach Boulevard beautification, from the interstate east to Federal Highway, was estimated at $12 million by Michael Simon, the CRA interim executive director.
    In three months, the firm will come back to the CRA to present 30 percent of the drawings.
“By this time next year, we’ll be finished,” Mufleh said.

A Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy examines a cooler that washed ashore after a boat

with three people aboard flipped just south of the Boynton Inlet. One of the boaters

was taken to a hospital and treated for a broken arm; the others were examined

at the scene and released. Rough waves, rip currents and strong winds were linked

to other rescues by lifeguards at the inlet during April.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A rendering of part of the apartment complex. The developers have asked for a variance

to lower the parking allotment to two spaces per unit.

Rendering provided

By Mary Thurwachter

    Developers for Water Tower Commons gave the Lantana Town Council a first look at what the residential portion of the project would look like, but were unable to drive home a request to reduce the required number of parking spaces.
    Ken Tuma, representing Lantana Development — a partnership between Southeast Legacy and Wexford Capital — said the first phase of the luxury residential development would include a pool, dog-walking area and 360 apartments in nine multifamily buildings.
    “A high percentage (46 percent) of the units would be one-bedroom apartments,” he said at the April 24 council meeting. “The three-story buildings would have entrances with breezeways to make it look special and inviting.
    “Four-story buildings would have elevators. The clubhouse, the heart of the community, will be one story with two-story character and will have a game lounge and coffee bar with Wi-Fi.
    “We’re going after millennials and we’re asking for some relief with parking,” Tuma said.
    Town code requires 2½ parking spaces per unit, and developers asked to have a variance so that two spaces per apartment would be acceptable.
    Rents for the apartments would range from $1,200 to $2,000 per month.
    Tuma said the apartments would be owned, maintained and managed by the Richman Group, the country’s seventh-largest rental apartment owner.
    Landscaping plans call for a variety of trees, such as live oaks, gumbo limbo and royal palms.
    “We’re going to have 1.4 acres of green space,” Tuma said, that is, if the requested parking variance were to be accepted.
    “These people are experts,” he said of the Richman Group. “They have done their research and from their experience this is what is needed. They have to make sure this is right.”
    Representatives from the Richman Group said two spaces per apartment would be ample and that they would never skimp on parking.
    But Lantana council members are sticklers for parking space requirements, as they proved a year ago when Aura Seaside, a development of waterfront property previously owned by the Cenacle Sisters, sought and was denied a reduction in the town’s parking space requirement.
    “I like our code on parking spots,” said council member Phil Aridas. “I’m sticking with it.”
    Mayor Dave Stewart offered a compromise, 2.15 places per unit, which the council, including Aridas, did approve.
    Another motion — made and seconded after representatives from the Richman Group argued that the 2.15 proposal would throw off the entire formula, send designers back to the drawing board and likely mean a reduction in green space — made another plea for the two spaces per unit.
    That motion failed by a 3-2 vote and developers were given a recess to discuss the matter. When they returned, Tuma asked for, and was granted, a postponement on further action on the project until the council’s May 22 meeting.
    Water Tower Commons is a 72-acre retail and residential project being built on the site of the state-owned A.G. Holley tuberculosis hospital, east of Interstate 95 on Lantana Road. The development is expected to create 700 new, permanent jobs and generate $13 million in new tax revenue for Lantana during the next 20 years.
    A.G. Holley hospital was built in the early 1950s on state-owned land and sold in 2014 for $15.6 million to Lantana Development.
    The town previously approved the commercial portion of Water Tower Commons, including a grocery store, a fitness center, pharmacy, restaurants and more than 120,000 square feet of retail. Last month, the town learned that the first announced store in the development is a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

By Dan Moffett

    South Palm Beach council members have approved paying another $15,000 to architects for a conceptual rendering of what a new Town Hall might look like and for estimates of how much it might cost.
    But they are a long way from signing off on a new building.
    “We’ll have something to look at,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to do it.”
    Said Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb, “It may be that nothing happens at all.”
    Architect Steven Knight of Alexis Knight Architects in West Palm Beach completed a three-month study of the town’s only public building and told the council that the cost of constructing a new Town Hall is roughly the same as trying to repair and improve the current one. That conclusion led council members to give Knight the go-ahead to develop possible design options for a new structure — something that might serve the town’s needs for decades to come.
    “I see the new building as being vastly different than the one you have now,” Knight said during the April 26 town meeting.
    The new design could be a two-story building, with a community room on the second floor and parking underneath. Knight told the council the existing structure — which was built in 1976 and remodeled twice — has problems and limitations that would be difficult to correct. Among them:
    • Inadequate parking. Town Hall should have about 80 parking spaces but the parcel isn’t large enough to easily accommodate them.
    • Hurricane and disability code compliance. The roof, doors and windows won’t stand up to high storm winds, and the entrances and restrooms don’t pass federal access standards.
    • An overall lack of storage and workspace. Knight said the new building should be about 10,000 square feet larger.
    The council voted 3-1 to approve the design work, with Elvadianne Culbertson opposing. The town paid Knight about $34,000 for the study, so the additional $15,000 brings his total under the $50,000 the council set aside for the exploratory project.
    In other business:
    • Developers of the 3550 project on the former site of the old Hawaiian hotel delivered a check for about $250,000 to the town’s building department last month, roughly half the permit fees required.
    “This is huge news — great news for the town financially,” said Town Manager Bob Vitas. “This is big money.”
    The check means that developers Gary Cohen of Paragon Acquisition Group and Manhattan-based DDG are forging ahead with plans to build a 30-unit luxury condo building. Vitas said construction should begin in July and take about 18 months, at a cost of between $30 million and $35 million. Once completed, the building could increase the town’s tax revenues by 30 percent.
    “This is really going to go forward, and we’re thrilled,” Vitas said. “It’s been a long road with that property, getting something to happen.”
    • The council unanimously approved Gottlieb to take over as vice mayor for Joe Flagello, who died suddenly in March. “I would rather that Joe were still here,” Gottlieb said. “We miss him greatly.”
    The town is looking for a replacement for Cmdr. Robert Rizzotto, the second-ranking officer in the Police Department. Rizzotto is moving to North Carolina. “It’s another hard loss for this town,” Fischer said. “He’ll be hard to replace.”

By Dan Moffett
    
    There will be no beach stabilization in South Palm Beach or Lantana for at least another year, Palm Beach County environmental officials say.
    “It’s going to be a whole year late now,” said Bob Vitas, South Palm’s town manager.
    After months of trying, the project’s managers still don’t have all the easement agreements and government permits they need to begin work by the target start in November.
    Kimberly Miranda, the county’s project director, says the new target for beginning installation of concrete groins to capture sand and slow erosion is November 2018. There are still plenty of buts and acronyms standing in the way of progress, however.
     “A November 2018 start date is dependent upon several factors,” Miranda says, “including receipt of the record of decision (ROD) for the environmental impact statement (EIS), DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] and USACE [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] permits and securing state funding.”
     You get the idea. Beyond this bureaucratic mishmash of letters and requirements, the county’s legal staff is still trying to persuade Concordia East condo owners in South Palm to sign an easement agreement that allows workers access to the building’s beachfront.
    Gayelord Palermo, the Concordia board president, says the 120 unit owners he represents aren’t satisfied with the liability protections the county is willing to give them. Until his lawyer and the county lawyers resolve their differences, Palermo says Concordia isn’t signing anything.
    “We’re not going to be guilted into this,” he said.
    South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she’s hopeful Concordia residents will join the 15 other beachfront property owners — condo groups and individuals — who have signed on.
    “At Concordia East, I believe they actually do want the project to move forward,” Fischer said. “But they want some of their issues resolved. Whether that will happen is up to the county and the Concordia people.”
    Miranda says the county is determined to get easements from every group on the beach: “The county intends to construct the project with full participation from all of the coastal properties located within the project area.”
    She said county commissioners are expected to approve the easements already signed in June.
    Because of turtle nesting season, the project managers have only a narrow four-month window each year, from Nov. 1 to March 1, for groin construction. And if that isn’t enough, before the groins can go in, the county still has to build the artificial reefs needed to protect the natural hard bottoms along the South Palm Beach shore.
    Fischer says she hopes that work will begin in June 2018.
    “There’s a lot that has to happen, but hopefully things will continue to move forward,” the mayor said.

Plans for the new seven-story building at 3550 South Ocean call for floor-to-ceiling windows

in every unit to take advantage of the views.

Rendering provided

By Dan Moffett
 
    Don’t ask Joseph A. McMillan Jr. how many units he’s sold at 3550 South Ocean.
    “We have not publicly released the number of signed contracts,” he says.
    What he will disclose is that the luxury condo project on the South Palm Beach oceanfront has attracted a parade of well-heeled potential buyers since sales began in January.
    “We’ve seen a very diverse and robust set of buyers,” McMillan says. “They seem to be a mix of some full-time residents in the area — some coming from Wellington that may have a large home or horse farm and want to move to a beach cottage — and buyers from the Northeast, some from Canada, Chicago and a smaller subset of international buyers.”
    McMillan, the chairman and CEO of the Manhattan-based DDG real estate investment group, intends to sell 30 units priced between $2.3 million and $6 million on the former site of the ramshackle Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn, colloquially remembered as “The Hawaiian.”
    Surrounding the narrow 1-acre lot are hundreds of condos valued around 10 percent as much.
The new building could increase the town’s tax base by 30 percent.
    To say that South Palm Beach has never seen anything like the 3550 is a grand understatement that McMillan plans to exploit.
    “I think our units are priced well,’’ he says. “I think the main selling point of the building is the product itself. It is oceanfront, it has a very robust amenity package with private plunge pools on all the penthouses. Every unit has a view of the ocean with floor-to-ceiling windows, direct elevator access, fitness center, two private parking spaces, gated security and 24-hour concierge. The amenities of the building are really what is selling the building.”
    As part of the deal, buyers will be entitled to enjoy some of the amenities at Manalapan’s Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
    The two- and three-bedroom units range from 2,500 to 3,400 square feet and are designed by architecture firms Kobi Karp of Miami and GarciaStromberg of West Palm Beach.
    McMillan believes a cyclical opportunity is working in his favor and justifies the 3550 pricing. Most of the construction along South Florida’s beaches is one or two generations old. Luxury buyers, he says, crave something new.
    “If you look at Palm Beach County and Palm Beach island in particular, there’s been very little new development of high-end luxury [condo] construction. There’s pent-up demand because there’s been a dearth of new construction on the ocean for a very long time, and we are the beneficiaries of that. We are the first new condo development on Palm Beach island in almost 12 years.”
    McMillan says he expects to begin construction of the seven-story building before the end of June, with a completion target sometime late in 2018.
    DDG came into the marketplace in May when the property’s owner, developer Gary Cohen of Paragon Acquisition Group in Delray Beach, partnered with McMillan’s firm to help with sales.
    McMillan, 45, founded DDG in 2009, and the company has developed dozens of residential and mixed-use projects in New York and San Francisco.
    An Army veteran, McMillan holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and finance from the University of Virginia. DDG has opened an office in Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar as part of its first venture into Florida.
    In reaching out to that diverse group of potential buyers, DDG is also benefiting from an unexpected political development — the election of President Donald Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago retreat is just 6 miles up the road.
    “I think that the fact that a sitting president chooses to call this place home is not lost on people, regardless of party affiliation, Republican or Democrat,” McMillan says. “I think there’s tremendous value in that.”

George and Mary Kientzy are ready for semi-retirement after decades in the jewelry business.

They plan to close the store at the end of June.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Christine Davis

    After 35 years, George and Mary Kientzy’s Kientzy & Co. Fine Jewelers is closing its doors. It’s time to semi-retire, says George Kientzy, 71. Before opening in Delray Beach, he had a shop in New London, Conn., and before that, George worked on Jewelers Row in Philadelphia. That all adds up to 50-plus years in the business.
    “We’ve just really enjoyed great years in Delray Beach,” he says. He’s been a member of the Rotary Club for several years, and he served on the Bethesda Hospital Foundation board. Mary worked as a music instructor, and their three children went to Trinity Lutheran School.
    “With all the twists and turns, it’s hard to give our history in a short interview,” George Kientzy says. After so many years in the community he appreciates the heartfelt connections he’s made with his customers, and he makes note of longtime employees: his brother, Joseph Kientzy, along with Ben Adams, Cliff Gross, Shannon Boyd and Eddie Rosenbaum.
    There have also been some difficult moments. “Mary and I had guns held to our heads in our Connecticut store,” George said. “We found out later that if the burglars hadn’t gotten away with jewelry, they would have kidnapped our son, who was just a baby then.”
    And during Hurricane Wilma, their Delray store was hit hard. “A tornado inside the hurricane blew out our back doors and wiped us out.”
    But while they rebuilt after that episode, their son, John Paul, who worked with them in their store, died two years ago, and George and his wife are mourning. Their son’s death is the biggest reason they are closing the store, says Kientzy, adding that the store has kept the couple busy and, as such, was a blessing.
“The community has come in to console us. There’s a relationship that exists beyond buying and selling, and that means a lot to my wife and me.”
    George and Mary will keep their store open until the end of June.
    “After doing something for all those years and knowing the business inside and out, it gets into your blood. We might have an online store,” he says.
    Their store, at 1053 E. Atlantic Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
                                
    The Fancy Flamingo boutique in Boynton Beach’s Ocean Plaza has closed. It was owned by a mother-daughter team. Sandy Hedges is retiring, while her daughter, Tammy Deery, has started her own clothing line, Beachgirl, which will be offered in stores and online at www.facebook.com/beachgirlus/.
                                
    Delray Beach was selected by the National Civic League as one of 27 finalists for the All-America City award for outstanding civic accomplishments. This year, the award’s focus is on communities that have helped low-income children on school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and grade-level reading. The 27 top community delegation contenders will make a presentation to a jury of national civic experts in June in Denver.
                                
    Discover the Palm Beaches, the official tourism marketing corporation for Palm Beach County, reported a year-over-year increase in visitor spending of almost 1 percent, to $4.6 billion for 2016, over $4.5 billion in 2015. Tourism numbers for the Palm Beaches were record-breaking again last year, reaching 7.35 million visitors.
    Visitors and residents are encouraged to share photos and videos of their favorite moments in the county through Discover the Palm Beaches’ new “Friends Trust Friends” social media campaign with the hashtag #ThePalmBeaches.
                                
    According to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, the median sale price for single-family homes in the county increased 8.9 percent to $325,000 in March as inventory of active listings dropped 0.4 percent to 7,655 homes. Closed sales increased 10.3 percent to 1,676 transactions with a 12.4 percent year-over-year increase in cash sales at 651 transactions.
    In April, in recognition of Fair Housing Month, the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, with the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity and the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, announced the winners of their annual Fair Housing contest. The elementary school poster contest first-place winner of a $100 gift card was Mateo Eaton, a student of Imagine Schools at the Chancellor Campus, Boynton Beach.
                                
    Lang Realty raised $3,750 for the American Red Cross’ Home Fire Program through sales generated at the company’s Open House Extravaganza. Also, prizes were awarded through a random drawing of all who toured the homes.  Among the winners was Dr. Marc Rosenberg of Delray Beach, who won a $500 Visa gift card.
                                
    For the 2017 Delray Beach Home Tour in March, The Corcoran Group sponsored one of the homes, with its agents serving as volunteers to help raise funds and awareness for The Achievement Centers for Children & Families. Agents involved included Ann Bennett, Barbara Whittaker, Jennifer Kilpatrick, Laura Rodriguez, Wendy Overton, Tina Smith, Candace Friis, Michael and Holly Thom, Betsy Cooke, Betty Devitt and Gay Bridges.
                                
    The Metropolitan development in Delray Beach will feature interiors designed by tennis pro Venus Williams,  who operates V*Starr Interiors. Douglas Elliman’s director of luxury sales, Senada Adzem, and her team were selected to direct sales and marketing. Located at 33 SE Third Ave. in Delray Beach, the development is expected to be completed in late summer 2018. Its temporary sales office is at 55 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach. Call 917-657-2840.
                                
    More than 1,100 guests celebrated dinner together at a five-block-long, 1,320-foot table on East Atlantic Avenue for the ninth annual Savor the Avenue 2017 in March. This culinary tradition, a partnership with the Delray Beach magazine, Boca Raton magazine and the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority, showcased 16 restaurants downtown.
    For the fifth year, participating restaurants competed in the “Best in Show” table-décor contest. The first-place winner was Salt 7; second place went to 50 Ocean; and the third-place winner was Max’s Harvest. The People’s Choice Award went to Salt 7.
    Participating restaurants were 32 East, 50 Ocean, Cabana El Rey, Caffé Luna Rosa, Che!, City Oyster & Sushi Bar, Cut 432, Lemongrass, Max’s Harvest, Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, Rack’s Fish House & Oyster Bar, Rocco’s Tacos, ROK:BRGR, Salt 7, The Office, and Vic & Angelo’s.
                                
    Boynton Beach Food, Wine & Brew Festival will be 6 to 9 p.m. May 11 at Benvenuto Restaurant, 1730 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. This annual event features a sampling of cuisines from Boynton Beach restaurants and lounges, as well as wine and craft beer tastings. To make reservations, call 732-9501.

Delivery Dudes founder and CEO Jayson Koss cuts the ribbon at the company’s new headquarters,

located on Northeast First Avenue in Delray Beach.

Photo provided

                                
    Jayson Koss, 31, founder and CEO of Delivery Dudes, celebrated the grand opening March 30 of Delivery Dudes’ world headquarters in a restored 1905 historic home at 102 NE First Ave.
    Delivery Dudes began in Delray Beach in 2009 with Koss on his Moped delivering meals from area restaurants to locals. Today, Delivery Dudes is in 42 cities in four states.
    Here’s how Delivery Dudes works: To have food delivered from a restaurant, go to DeliveryDudes.com for a list of nearby restaurants. After you place an order, Delivery Dudes picks it up and delivers it for a $5 to $7 delivery charge. The average delivery time is 45 minutes.
    In Delray Beach, Delivery Dudes has more than 100 menus on its site. Delivery Dudes also services areas in Boca Raton and Boynton Beach.
                                
    Habit for Humanity of South Palm Beach County is having 100 female leaders join forces to raise $100,000 to build a safe and affordable home for a low-income family. The organization’s “Women Build” project invites teams of women to raise money and gives them the opportunity to help build a home alongside a resident family in the construction process from May 11 to 13.
Habitat for Humanity recognizes that women are uniquely positioned to nurture families and build communities, so it concludes the event on Mother’s Day.
To participate, each woman must commit to raising or giving $1,000 to the campaign by visiting www.habitatsouthpalmbeach.org and clicking on “Women Build” at the top of the home page. 
                                
    For Mother’s Day, the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority presents the Downtown Delray Orchid Giveaway, May 1-13. For every $200 spent in that period in a downtown store, buyers will receive one Phalaenopsis orchid plant. (Restaurant receipts not valid.)
    After presenting their receipts, buyers can pick up their orchid at one of two orchid stations, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 10-12 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 13. The stations will be in front of Hands Stationers, 325 E. Atlantic Ave., and Petite Connection, 1049 E. Atlantic Ave.
    Also, you can enter to win a Mother’s Day prize package online until May 17, at www.DelrayOrchidGiveaway.com. ; Valued at more than $500, the package includes downtown Delray Beach dining, spa, shopping and attraction certificates.
For Orchid Giveaway details, visit www.downtowndelraybeach.com and facebook.com/DelrayDDA, or call the DDA at 243-1077.
                                
    From 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on May 17, Adopt-A-Family will partner with C.W.S. Bar + Kitchen, 522 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth, for the Great Give, which is part of the agency’s single-day fundraising event to help homeless and vulnerable families with children throughout the county. With a minimum $20 donation, each guest will receive a cocktail and bar bites. For information or to make your donation, visit www.adoptafamilypbc.org or call 253-1361.
                                
    The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County has appointed global finance expert Nathan Slack as chairman of its board of directors. Slack, of Delray Beach, began his career at J.P. Morgan almost 18 years ago and has since served in a variety of roles around the world, most recently as managing director and market manager at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Palm Beach. He also serves on the board of directors of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County.
                                
    Nicole Fontaine has joined the Katz & Associates team in Boca Raton.
                                
    Karen C. Erren has been named executive director of the Palm Beach County Food Bank. Most recently, she was the director of new business development for the marketing and comm-unications agency Russ Reid in Pasadena, Calif.
                                
    Boca Raton resident Maxine Adler, a recently retired public relations professional and agency owner, has written her memoir with Judy Goldstein, a member of the Adler Network team. Among her clients, Adler represented developers and designers who were involved in creating South Florida, and her new book, An Inside Seat, gives readers an inside look at that process.
    “We didn’t design the book to be a how-to, but we do present insight into the PR profession along with ideas and strategies that will inform and educate others,” Adler said.
    The print paperback and e-book version of An Inside Seat can be ordered through Amazon or from the CreateSpace Store. The Kindle e-book may also be ordered.

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

Paddling the habitats of Lake Worth Lagoon

Mangrove islands and breakwaters of the Snook Islands Natural Area —

islands built by Palm Beach County to improve water quality and wildlife habitat.

Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course is at left.

Photo by Palm Beach County

A kayaker paddles around the Snook Islands ­Natural Area.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

    Paddling a kayak quietly around Worth Lagoon between Palm Beach and Lake Worth offers paddlers a refreshing dose of nature, despite occasional distractions from the surrounding urban jungle.
    Mullet jump. Osprey peep-peep-peep overhead. American oystercatchers strut around sandy beaches on the restoration islands, created by Palm Beach County to improve water quality, promote seagrass growth and create habitat for fish and wildlife in the Lake Worth Lagoon.

    “You hear people say all the time that they had no idea this was out here,” said Bryce Billings, owner of Kayak Lake Worth, which offers guided paddling tours departing from The Beach Club restaurant at the Lake Worth golf course.

Bryce Billings of Kayak Lake Worth paddles over one of the sandy spits near the south end

of the Snook Islands Natural Area. Billings rents kayaks and offers guided tours of the area.

BELOW: Least terns started nesting on the Grassy Flats restoration islands when the islands

were completed in 2015, marking the first time the terns were found nesting on the ground in Palm Beach County.

Photos by Willie Howard and David Carson

    Billings says his paddling groups sometimes encounter manatees and cownose rays. Great blue herons, ospreys, oystercatchers, pelicans and least terns are common sights around the islands.

    Anglers fishing around the islands of the central lagoon can catch snook, mangrove snapper, barracuda, sheepshead and small bait fish along with the occasional redfish and spotted sea trout.
    Restoration islands near the Lake Avenue Bridge include the Snook Islands project, completed in 2005 (and later expanded); the two Grassy Flats islands on the east side of the lagoon near the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course; Bryant Park Wetlands islands south of the bridge near Lake Worth’s Bryant Park; and the Jewel Cove project southeast of the bridge across from Lake Worth Beach.
    To date, the county has overseen 49 environmental restoration projects in the Lake Worth Lagoon, the 20-mile-long estuary that stretches from Ocean Ridge to North Palm Beach.
    The goals: improve water quality, promote the growth of seagrass by filling mucky holes with sand so sunlight can reach a stable bottom, and create habitat for fish and wildlife by planting vegetation such as mangroves and Spartina grass.
    Creating a place for paddling, fishing and nature observation is a side benefit of the restoration work. The Snook Islands Natural Area features a boardwalk and gazebo overlooking the mangrove islands, educational kiosks, day-use boat docks, a fishing pier and a kayak launch on the northwest side of the Lake Avenue Bridge.
    During a paddling trip in March, Billings and I shoved off from the shoreline near The Beach Club restaurant at the Lake Worth golf course, then paddled south along the south end of Snook Islands Natural Area and under the bridge to the Bryant Park islands.
    American oystercatchers, beautiful with their black heads and long bright-orange bills, let us drift up close in our kayaks before they moved or flew away.
    Paddling east across the Intracoastal channel, we found a sheltered spot east of the Grassy Flats islands, which are just south of Palm Beach’s Ibis Isle community.
    For a moment, all we could hear were birds and breeze as we drifted by a sandy beach planted with Spartina grass, also known as cordgrass. Our quiet moment was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter overhead.
    Least terns nest on the Grassy Flats islands.
    That’s significant because least terns had never been found nesting on the ground in Palm Beach County until the Grassy Flats islands were completed in 2015. Previously, the threatened terns nested on the flat roofs of department stores and warehouses, where the nests were not likely to be disturbed.
    Ten pairs of least terns nested on the beach at Grassy Flats in 2015; another 31 pairs nested there last year. Because of bird nesting, paddlers and other boaters are not allowed to stop and walk around on the restoration islands.
    Paddling back toward the launch spot at the Lake Worth golf course, we paused around mature mangroves at Snook Islands.
A tiny common yellowthroat foraged around the arching prop roots of the red mangroves as the raspy call of a great blue heron came from the shoreline.

    For information on renting a kayak to paddle the restoration islands or taking a guided paddling tour, contact Kayak Lake Worth at 225-8250 or www.kayaklakeworth.com.

Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge
    The second annual Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge, a free fishing tournament that helps researchers gather information on estuarine fish and offers the chance to win prizes, begins May 26 and continues through July 9.
    Prizes include Engel coolers and Penn rod-and-reel combinations. An awards ceremony is planned following the tournament at the West Palm Beach Fishing Club.
    Participating anglers can sign up by downloading the iAnglerTournament app on their cellphones, registering for the challenge through the app and following guidelines.
    The challenge is open to anglers ages 5 and older. It’s free.
    Prizes will be awarded in several age categories. A separate sport fish prize category covers snook, redfish, sea trout, tarpon and bonefish.
    Fishing will be in the Lake Worth Lagoon, which stretches from Ocean Ridge to North Palm Beach.
    Fish can be photographed and released — or kept if they are of legal size and in season.
    Participating anglers must have valid Florida saltwater fishing licenses, unless exempt, and must submit information about the fish they catch through the tournament app, including the location of the catch, the length of the fish, the species and the date.
    For more details, go to www.lwli.org/fishingchallenge.

STAR tournament
    CCA/Florida’s STAR fishing tournament begins May 27 and continues through Sept. 4.
    More than $500,000 worth of prizes are being offered in several divisions in the statewide tournament for members of CCA/Florida who have registered for the 2017 event.
    Caught fish can be photographed against a 2017 tournament measuring device and released. Catch photos are submitted through the STAR smartphone app.
    Eligible fish include snook, sea trout, redfish, cobia, kingfish, mahi mahi, sheepshead and lionfish. Participants must be members of CCA/Florida. The adult entry fee is $35.
    For details, call 844-387-7827 or visit www.ccaflstar.com to register online.

Coming events
    May 6: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Fee is $35 for adults ($20 ages 12 to 19). Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
    May 24: Capt. Don Dingman shares tips for catching large “smoker” kingfish, 7 p.m. at the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, 201 Fifth St., West Palm Beach. Free. Call 832-6780 or visit www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
    May 27: Boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom building next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee is $20. For ages 14-18, $10. Family rate for three or more people: $50. Younger that 14 free with a paid adult. Register at the door. Call 704-7440.

Tip of the month
    If you’re doing your part to remove invasive lionfish from Florida waters and happen to be hit by one of the lionfish’s venomous spines, don’t panic — but do notify your dive partner immediately.
    Those two tips for treating lionfish stings are from the Divers Alert Network, best known as DAN.
    DAN suggests that divers stung by lionfish leave the water as soon as possible. Remove any obvious foreign material (such as spines) from the wound and rinse it with clean water.
    Then soak the wound for 30 minutes in hot, non-scalding water (about 110 degrees).
    Monitor the person who is stung and take him/her to the nearest emergency room if needed.
When in doubt, contact the DAN emergency hotline at 919- 684-9111.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

A VITAS patient enjoys an up close and personal visit from a Paw Pal dog.

Photo provided by VITAS Healthcare

By Arden Moore

    Some dogs are born agility stars blessed with athletic prowess to weave in and out among poles, dash up ramps and wiggle quickly through tunnels. Others earn respect for chasing down criminal suspects and detecting hidden caches of drugs as K-9 police officers. Some dogs live to shine in the spotlight at best of breed shows or dog obedience competitions.
    Then there are special dogs like Einstein and Dixie, a pair of basset hounds who waddle into a room and illuminate smiles and inner joy in people whose time left is counted in months, weeks or days.
    Einstein and Dixie are poster dogs for the Paw Pal program for VITAS Healthcare, a national hospice company that has a center in Boynton Beach. Their well-mannered temperaments and easygoing natures make them ideal to spend time with hospice patients and their families.
    And Palm Beach County needs more of such dogs.
    “A large population of elderly living here in assisted living or nursing facilities have had to give up their dogs prior to coming to these facilities, or have fond memories of their childhood dogs,” says Gayle Stevens, volunteer services manager of the VITAS volunteer program for Palm Beach County and a registered nurse. “Many of them or their families request for us to bring a dog to visit them. Our Paw Pal dogs often serve as a distraction from their illnesses and help people feel a little less lonely.”
    Interested? Does your dog possess the right qualities? The Paw Pal program seeks dogs who are healthy and current on vaccinations, well groomed, free of fleas and ticks, understand and obey basic obedience commands, and warm up easily and quickly to people of all ages in a variety of locations.  
    Dog owners must undergo background checks, agree to be fingerprinted and must be willing to volunteer with their dogs for a couple of hours a week. To learn more, visit www.vitas.com/hospice-care-services/paw-pals-pet-therapy or email Stevens at gayle.stevens@vitas.com.

Doggie duo brings joy
    Einstein and Dixie can be found most Tuesdays at assisted living facilities, hospitals and private homes sporting their official Paw Pal identification badges and eye-catching purple bandanas. They make their rounds with their owners, Nancy and Marty Cohen, a retired Lake Worth couple.
    For 25 years, Nancy Cohen saved lives as a paramedic and then a nurse. Now, joined by her husband, Einstein and Dixie, she is there for those nearing the end of their lives.
    “Einstein is definitely a clown who does his best to get people to engage with him,” Cohen says. “Dixie is calm and quiet. She has a way of getting people to pet her, and if they stop, she gently noses their hands to continue receiving pets.”
Cohen adopted the pair from a basset hound rescue group.
    During a recent home visit to see a man in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Nancy entered the living room to see the man in a recliner with his eyes closed. Quietly, the man’s wife let Nancy know that her husband had not responded to anything recently.
    “I gently placed Einstein on a footstool next to the recliner and placed the man’s hand on Einstein’s head and ears. He started to smile and his wife told me she could not remember the last time he had smiled,” Cohen recalls.
    During another home visit — this time to see a retired teacher with Parkinson’s disease — Dixie confidently walked up to the teacher to be petted and then boldly walked into her kitchen to take in scents of food.
    “The teacher was clearly amused by Dixie and seemed to know that with basset hounds, the nose is everything,” Cohen says. “Dixie has very soulful eyes and she quickly endears herself to everyone she meets.”
Stevens also expressed her appreciation for dogs like Leahla, a 5-year-old Shih Tzu-poodle mix belonging to Bonnie McKay of West Palm Beach, and Sarah, a beagle belonging to William Merkle of Boynton Beach.
    “Bonnie brought Leahla to see a woman with multiple sclerosis. The disease had progressed to the point that she could not move anything but her hands,” Stevens says. “Bonnie placed Leahla on a blanket on the bed and helped the woman position her hand so it could move up and down Leahla. She made the woman smile.”
    She continues, “We got an urgent call from a social worker for a patient with end-stage lung disease who desperately wanted a dog to visit him. In walks William with Sarah, and the man proclaimed, ‘Oh my gosh! I had a dream about a beagle visiting me. This is wonderful.’”
    Most patients whom Einstein visits are unaware that glaucoma has robbed this 12-year-old of sight in his right eye and that he can see only shadows in his left. They just notice that Einstein hangs closely to the right side of Cohen.
    “Einstein regards me as his safety net when we enter a new place or room, but he still enjoys performing tricks for the clients and their families,” she says. “As he was going blind, we taught him the map of our house, how to move forward, back up, step up, step down and slow down. He is a very good learner and definitely lives up to his name.”
    It is clear that Einstein has the right qualities to be a perfect Paw Pal ambassador.
    
Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. She hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on www.PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.