Native plants and beautiful gazebos make for a perfect garden space at Pan’s Garden. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

On Nov. 23, Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach is celebrating its 25th anniversary amid a change in its director of horticulture, a cleaner and fresher look and a greater use of native plantings than ever before.

“The garden is 100 percent native,” says Susan Lerner, the director of horticulture appointed about a year ago by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, which owns the half-acre garden.

It is set on land that, once having held a derelict house and parking lot, was originally designed to be “a quiet oasis showcasing native Florida plants,” according to an early brochure.

But it’s that and more, says Lerner. “It’s also a botanical garden that is meant to be a learning garden so people can come to see what the native plants look like and determine which they want to put in their own gardens.”

In preparation for the anniversary, the statue of Pan, the mythical half-boy, half-goat for whom the garden is named, has had its original patina lovingly restored. Pan once again stands invitingly in a semi-circular pool at the garden’s entryway, charming water-spouting fish at his feet with his pipes.

Desiring to honor the garden’s original vision, Lerner is working to rejuvenate what she inherited. Over the years, non-natives had crept into the mix, some areas had become overgrown and the few really sunny parts of the garden had often been used for plants that survive equally well in partial shade.

Her sweat and labor are already evident as you wander through the marsh and upland habitats that make this garden special. With Lerner leading the way, we follow the brick path to the man-made pond that fills the northern section of the garden.

We enter an area that Lerner explains was partially covered with invasive ferns. After checking with the fern expert at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables to identify which were invasives, she removed them.

Buds are ready to bloom on a marlberry plant.

But she left the natives such as the lattice vein ferns with their rolling leaf edges and the giant leather ferns with under-leaves that get so covered in spores that they feel and look like they are lined with rust-colored suede.

Elsewhere the native Walter’s viburnum had been pruned into a perfect sphere. That type of pruning has been abandoned because it’s Lerner’s belief that trees and shrubs should be pruned only for size and to keep them looking trim. She often goes out with clippers to do the work herself.

Otherwise, “a tree should be allowed to grow as it would in nature,” she says.

As she details her efforts to refresh this charming yet educational garden, Lerner tells us that when she arrived for her job interview there was nothing flying — no birds, no bees, no butterflies, no dragonflies.

“We can fix that,” she thought to herself.

Today she points to a large area of coontie, a native cycad with a fossil history that dates back 3 million years. It is the sole host plant for the black-and-orange atala butterfly.

A soldier butterfly feeds on the blue blooms of a Keys ageratum.

She learned that the garden was being sprayed with pesticide that would prevent the atala and other butterflies from successfully using its plants to host their eggs and support their life cycles.

Lerner immediately canceled the spraying contract, and today the garden is filled with these butterflies and other beneficial insects.
As you stroll the paths, you can’t help but notice how just about every area of the garden has benefited from her touch. Consider the sunny southern border that, even at only a few inches of elevation, is considered part of the uplands habitat.

“This was a bramble filled with many non-natives. It wasn’t possible to walk through here,” she says.

Today it is an open and airy walkway that you enter between a pair of handsome Simpson stoppers. The path is lined with beautiful but lesser-known native wildflowers such as Havana skullcap, tea bush and coral bean. And this once uninviting area, like many places in this garden, is filled with butterflies and other flying attractions.

“I want this to be the go-to native garden in Florida so people learn that planting Florida natives is not only the right thing to do to support native wildlife but also to provide a beautiful experience,” Lerner says.

If You Go
Where: Pan’s Garden, 386 Hibiscus Ave., Palm Beach
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; closed during maintenance and private events.
Admission: Free
Anniversary celebration: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 23, Pan’s Garden will host activities and educational programs for children and adults, including origami making, a scavenger hunt, butterfly plant tours and birding with binoculars.
The celebration will include, at 10 a.m., the garden’s rededication; 10:15 a.m., yoga; 11 a.m., a presentation on the garden’s participation in the Pine Jog Native Orchid Program; and at 4 p.m., a talk about the creation and impact of Pan’s Garden.
More info: Call 832-0731 ext. 113 or visit https://palmbeachpreservation.org/visit/pans-garden
Volunteer: Volunteers are always welcome. For information, call the garden.

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.

From preschool, Evan Hearn, teacher Elizabeth McWey and Ava Goodis. Photo provided

Juliette Ferber tips the watering can. Photo provided

Unity students serve as earth stewards all year and include gardening as part of their curriculum. From preschool and up, students till the soil, plant the seeds and cultivate their herb and flower gardens with assistance from teachers and parents. This teaches interest in gardening among the children and incorporates Unity’s earth-friendly approach, keeping with the Montessori program.

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

The nature center building at Green Cay Nature Center and Wetlands (12800 Hagen Ranch Road, Boynton Beach) will be closed beginning this month for new roof construction.

But during the four to six months the work will require, the surrounding wetlands will remain open to the public and the wildlife will not be disturbed.

For updates visit www.pbcnature.com or call the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Services Division, 966-6686.

Other nature centers and wetlands to visit include:
• Wakodahatchee Wetlands, 13270 Jog Road, Delray Beach; 493-6000.
• Daggerwing Nature Center, 11435 Park Access Road, Boca Raton; 629-8760.
• Okeeheelee Nature Center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach; 233-1400.
• Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 10216 Lee Road, Boynton Beach; 734-8303.

Nick Saunders holds a blackfin tune he caught north of Boynton Inlet while fishing with Capt. Chris Lemieux of Boynton Beach. Photo provided by Lemieux Charters.

By Willie Howard

Pound for pound, blackfin tuna are amazingly strong.

When ocean anglers reel in one of the football-sized blackfins typically found in the waters off Palm Beach County in the fall, they’re often amazed that small tunas fight like much larger ocean fish.

The shorter, cloudier and cooler days of fall typically bring good fishing for blackfins, especially in low-light hours of the morning or late afternoon — or whenever clouds blot out the sun and encourage tunas to move toward the surface.

When you fish offshore, keep an eye out for flocks of birds coming down to the surface, ribbons of current and clumps of floating sargassum that are sheltering minnows.

Capt. Chris Lemieux of Lemiuex Charters in Boynton Beach recommends trolling small tuna feathers far behind the boat (meaning well beyond the white, bubbling water created by the propellers).

Lemieux, who runs his charters from Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo, trolls feathers in purple and black, blue and white or plain white when targeting fall blackfins.

If he can catch glass minnows in a cast net, Lemieux said he uses live minnows to chum up blackfins — or as small live baits fished on light spinning rods fitted with 10-pound-test line and small hooks.

When you search for blackfins in the waters off Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, Lemieux advises trolling in about 150 to 300 feet of water. Look for relatively clean water. Troll over areas where the depth changes quickly.

Small, flashy trolling lures can work well for blackfin tuna often found under clusters of birds in the fall. From left are the Boone Feather Jig, the Williamson Flash Feather, a Mylar skirt covered by a small squid skirt, a Red Eye bullet lure and a small Clark spoon.

Lemeiux said it’s important to watch the water because blackfins sometimes break the surface while feeding. Tuna fishing can be a good way to start a morning of fishing in the fall, he said, as the tuna are more likely to be near the surface in low light.

Anglers who plan to keep and eat a blackfin tuna should remove the gills or use a knife to make incisions behind the pectoral fins. Place the fish in a bucket of salt water and let it bleed for a few minutes before placing it on ice — preferably in an icy, saltwater slush.

Blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) have jet-black backs, bronze lateral stripes and large eyes.

There are no size or bag limits on blackfins. But that will change Jan. 1, when the daily bag limit of two per person or 10 per boat, whichever is greater, takes effect.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the bag limit for blackfin tuna on Oct. 2. When the limit takes effect, it will apply in both state and federal waters (beyond 3 miles off Florida’s east coast).

When you clean a freshly caught blackfin tuna, don’t rinse the meat with fresh water, advises Capt. Chris Walter of Get Bent Charters in the Florida Keys.

Fresh water can be used to rinse the cleaning surface, but the tuna meat should be kept mostly dry.

Remove the skin, the blood line and the remaining dark meat. Cut the tuna into thin strips for sashimi or thicker steaks for grilling or searing.

Blackfin tuna does not freeze well and is best eaten fresh, so release tuna you don’t plan to eat or share with friends within a day or two.

Coming events
Nov. 2: 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 $35 ($5 for youths ages 12-19). Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600. Leave a message.
Nov. 5: Boynton Beach Boating and Fishing Club meets, 7 p.m. at the clubhouse building near the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Call 614-1550 or visit www.bbbfc.org.
Nov. 9: Dust ’Em Off Sailfish Warm-up Tournament with check-in stations in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Captains meeting Nov. 7. Three divisions. Entry fee $500. Details at www.dustemoffsailfish.com.
Nov. 9: West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s 85th annual awards barbecue and auction, 5:30 p.m., South Florida Fairgrounds (Gate 8, Building 10). Tickets at the door: $30 adults and $15 for youths under 15. Discount for advance purchase. Call 832-6780 or visit www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
Nov. 23: Basic 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 $20. Register at the door. Call 331-2429.

Tip of the month

Following a few basic conservation measures can help reduce the loss of corals to disease, says the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. The FWC asks snorkelers and divers to avoid touching corals, to use environmentally friendly sunscreens and to avoid anchoring near coral.

The FWC is asking anyone interested in coral conservation to join the Florida Coral Crew and receive email updates about efforts to prevent the loss of stony corals. Go to www.myfwc.com/conservation/coral.

The Reel Em In II team won the honor for biggest fish in the ChasenTailz KDW Fishing Tournament with the 41.3-pound kingfish held by Nick Frasca (kneeling). The Sept. 28 charity tournament attracted 172 boats. Photo provided by Leonard Bryant Photography

Reel Em In II wins in ChasenTailz event

Frank Frasca and his crew on the Reel Em In II won heaviest-fish honors in the Sept. 28 ChasenTailz KDW Fishing Tournament with a 41.3-pound kingfish caught off Juno Beach.

Frasca, of North Palm Beach, said he and his teammates were slow-trolling a live goggle-eye on the surface in 75 feet of water off Juno Beach when the big kingfish hit around 7 a.m.

His son, Nick Frasca, fought the winning kingfish. Team member Sean Horgan brought the fish into the boat with his new gaff, Frasca said.

The ChasenTailz tournament attracted 172 boats. Proceeds from the event benefit sick children and their families, organizer Summer Warren said.

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

County Commissioner Robert Weinroth volunteered alongside Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer at the dinner in 2018. It’s hosted by Congregation B’nai Israel and Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and will take place Nov. 26 this year at Ebenezer. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

On Nov. 26, nearly 3,000 people, many of them children, will dine on dishes made by the best chefs at some of the finest country clubs in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. Another 1,000 will receive dinners packaged to go. But at the end of the meal, there will be no check to pay and no server to tip.

The annual Feed the Community Thanksgiving Dinner is a joint venture by two Boca Raton congregations — Congregation B’nai Israel and Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church — to feed their friends and neighbors who don’t have the resources for a full Thanksgiving meal.

The dinner will take place starting at 3:30 p.m. in Ebenezer’s church building and the surrounding property at the southwest corner of Glades Road and U.S. 1 in Boca Raton. Tents will shield the food, dessert and beverage areas and provide shade for diners.
The Thanksgiving dinner tradition has been around longer than senior Rabbi Robert Silvers, who has served the synagogue for 26 years.

“I will brag about it,” he laughs. “It functions as a well-oiled machine. But to us, it’s not a special event. It’s what we do.”
The partnership between the two houses of worship began in 1984, when the synagogue’s leaders approached Ebenezer’s with an idea for a cooperative Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative event.

In 1985, the congregation at Boca Raton’s fledgling synagogue joined with the congregation of the city’s oldest African-American church for an interfaith service in memory of King, a year before Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially celebrated.

From there, the relationship grew.

For the Thanksgiving feast, the kitchens at St. Andrews Country Club, Addison Reserve Country Club, Mizner Country Club and Boca Grove Country Club will each make nearly 1,000 servings of mashed potatoes, stuffing, macaroni and cheese and green beans. VIP Caterers will roast about 80 turkeys.

This fete isn’t popular with just the diners. There are so many volunteers from CBI’s congregation that it limits each person’s shift to 45 minutes, so everyone gets a chance.

“Now we have two and three generations of volunteers,” Silvers said. “Teens who came with their parents are now here with kids of their own.”

Silvers says Ebenezer and CBI have more in common than one might think.

“We both share the same giving heart,” he says. “We know the value of helping others. It’s a blessing to us to be a blessing to others.”

For more information about the Feed the Community Thanksgiving Dinner and other projects, call coordinator Minda Shaiman at 241-8118, ext. 119 or email minda.shaiman@cbiboca.org, or call Ebenezer church at 391-7357.

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.

Acclaimed author and speaker Mitch Albom will be featured in Boca Raton on Nov. 14. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Congregation B’nai Israel will host a special literary event, “An Evening With Mitch Albom,” from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 14 at the synagogue, 2200 Yamato Road, Boca Raton.

Well-known since he released the best-seller Tuesdays With Morrie in 1997, Albom is a popular and positive speaker. Morrie topped the New York Times nonfiction best-sellers list of 2000. Albom followed with more heartfelt books: The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day, The First Phone Call From Heaven, and his latest work, Finding Chika. It’s about a little girl and an earthquake, but it’s really a story about family.

The lecture is part of the CBI speaker series. Tickets are $36 for general admission, $54 balcony, and $54 and $100 in the sanctuary. Call 241-8118 or visit www.cbiboca.org.

Entrepreneur to speak

The 2020 fundraising campaign for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County kicks off Nov. 6 with a reception and a talk by one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, one who personifies the campaign’s theme: “Live Your Passion.”
You may not know Jesse Itzler’s name, but he’s the brains behind many successful projects. He founded Marquis Jet, one of the world’s largest prepaid private jet companies (like a boat club, it grants you access to a plane depending on a price package). He sold Marquis to Berkshire Hathaway/NetJets.

Itzler, 51, is a rarity — a Jewish rapper who appeared on MTV (he had a Billboard hit in 1991 with Shake It Like a White Girl). Later he co-founded Alphabet City Sports Records and became the producer and singer behind the NBA’s “I Love This Game” music campaign and the New York Knicks anthem Go NY Go.

His record company found its niche mixing classic arena songs with game highlights for NBA teams including the Wizards, Mavericks and Lakers. He and his wife, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, own a portion of the Atlanta Hawks.

Itzler and his partner started Zico coconut water and sold it to the Coca-Cola Co. in 2013. Then Itzler turned to writing. In November 2015, he released the book Living With a SEAL: 31 Days Training With the Toughest Man on the Planet to wide acclaim. It was a

New York Times best-seller and topped the LA Times book list. In 2018, he released the introspective Living With the Monks: What Turning Off My Phone Taught Me About Happiness, Gratitude, and Focus.

In 2008, Itzler married Blakely, whose net worth rivaled his own. Blakely (a convert to Judaism) and Itzler are raising their four kids near Atlanta.

The Nov. 6 reception begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres and an opportunity for connection with friends and colleagues. Itzler will speak at 7 p.m. More than 600 are expected to attend the event at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, 6261 SW 18th St.

Last year’s event raised $1 million.

A cover of $95 plus a minimum household contribution of $500 to the 2020 campaign is required to attend. Register at https://jewishboca.org/theopeningevent.

Call 852-3144 or email Erica Gordon at ericag@bocafed.org.

Big business and deep faith

What do you think you would find at the intersection of capitalism and spiritualism?

Each month, Pastor Bill Mitchell of Boca Raton Community Church tries to shed light on that crossroads with BocaLead, a business lunch (and sometimes dinner) that explores how biblical principles can apply in the workplace.

The next luncheon takes place at noon Nov. 7 at the church. A dinner meeting at 6:30 p.m. is also planned.

Mitchell, with a 25-year business career to draw from, started BocaLead about five years ago. He says the goal is “to raise the bar of ethics and character” in business. Topics of discussion include leadership, team development, inspiring your co-workers and improving communication.

The lunch meets from noon to 1 p.m. the first Thursday of every month from September to June at the church, 470 NW Fourth Ave., Boca Raton. Registration is $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Get a table and bring the whole office. For more info, visit www.bocalead.com.

Holocaust exhibit opens

A new exhibition, “Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust,” opens Nov. 3 at the Levis JCC Sandler Center, 21050 95th Ave. S., Boca Raton, with a reception and presentation from 2-4 p.m.

The exhibition, which explores themes of kindness, heroism and compassion, debuted at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1995. Portrait photographer Gay Block and children’s book writer Malka Drucker spent three years interviewing 105 Christian rescuers in 11 countries who hid, protected and saved Jews in Europe during World War II. The exhibition features 56 pictures of the people Drucker interviewed for the book.

The exhibition is on display through Dec. 22. A series of lectures, films and programs is planned to illuminate the exhibition, including a talk by Rabbi Leon Weissberg called “Profiles in Moral Courage” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14. For more information, visit https://levisjcc.org/events/ or call 852-3200.

Interfaith Café talks justice

The conversation at the Nov. 21 Interfaith Café will focus on the justice system. The presenter is Dr. Martha A. Brown, an advocate of the system known as “Restorative Justice.” Its goal is to hold the offender accountable for repairing the harm to make the victim whole again as much as possible. Does it work? Is it effective?

The conversation and nondenominational gathering meets at 7 p.m. at the South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach. Light refreshments are served.

The Interfaith Café meets the third Thursday of the month.

The meeting is free, but donations are appreciated. Volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of duties to keep this program going. For more information or to volunteer, email jane@aurorasvoice.org.

Boca Raton sixth-grader Emmi Merhi trains in Pompano Beach. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

In a rhinestone-studded skater’s dress, hair smoothed into a tight ballerina bun, Emmi Merhi uses long arms and legs to carry her with a luminous grace across the ice.

Emmi is performing her 2½-minute program of spins and jumps to the song Trampoline by indie pop trio Shaed at a dress rehearsal on her home ice before her first regional competition.  

As the Boca Raton girl leaves the ice, her coach, Hyaat Aldawhi, tells her to finish every movement. “Every movement has its ideal ending,” she says. Emmi nods.

Emmi Merhi is 11 years old but at 5-feet-8 seems much older. Part of that is her height, but part of it is her poise and sure-footedness.

In early October, Emmi and three other girls from the Florida Gold Coast Figure Skating Club competed at the U.S. Figure Skating South Atlantic Regional Singles Challenge in Aston, Pennsylvania, one of nine regional competitions where skaters can earn points toward national rankings.

It was Emmi’s first time competing on a regional stage in a new division. Although she didn’t place among the top tier of the contestants, she found comfort in her achievement.

“I did good for me,” Emmi said by phone afterward. “My goal was to earn 25 points and I earned 24.77.”

More than 450 skaters from New York to Florida competed, and Emmi admitted to nerves — that’s part of the deal. She skated last in her group of 16 in the juvenile girls division, and said the waiting was the hardest part. “I’d rather go first.”

Emmi’s program contained eight elements, including a double lutz, one of the most difficult jumps because the skater must take off from the back outside edge of one skate, rotate twice and land on the back outside edge of the opposite skate.

The toe-pick-assisted jump is counter-rotational: The skater begins by turning one way and uses the toe-pick to rotate in the opposite direction (twice) before landing on the other foot. First performed in 1913 by Austrian Alois Lutz, the lutz still takes tremendous skill to master. For Emmi, the double lutz is one of her proudest achievements. 

For the past four years, Emmi has been coached at the Rink on the Beach, a 40,000-square-foot facility on Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. Coach Aldahwi, 20, of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, forced to retire from skating because of an injury, says she found CrossFit and coaching and is optimistic about the club’s future.

About Emmi, she says, “She’s the funny one, the joker. And she’s the encourager.”

Emmi, a sixth-grader at Boca Raton Middle School, got her love of skating from her mother, who grew up in Alaska. Diana Merhi is a fitness model and the mother of three girls, ages 13, 11 and 4, and one boy, 2, with her husband, Elie Merhi, a sports trainer who owns and operates Elite Fitness in Boca Raton. 

Competing on the next level has forced Emmi to make some hard choices. “On the weekends, my friends want to hang out and I have to tell them no. You have to be dedicated.”

Instead she spends Saturday doing cardio to build her stamina, but on Sunday, she might go to the beach or the movies with friends.

Now Emmi’s got another decision to make. She wants to try out for volleyball and she’s pretty sure she’ll make the team. So … what about skating? 

“I’ll just have to skate in the mornings,” she says, sounding dedicated.

By Janis Fontaine

By now you’re well into this year’s Read Together Palm Beach County book, The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood, right? If not, don’t worry! There’s still time.

The 11th annual Read Together campaign kicked off Sept. 12 when the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County announced this year’s book, a cross-generational story about a friendship that blossoms between an 11-year-old Boy Scout and a 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant. 

To entice new readers to pick up a book, the story must be compelling. Check. To help readers understand the story, it helps to have book clubs and other forums of discussion. Check.

Local libraries from Boca Raton to Royal Palm Beach will offer book discussions. The Read Together Discussion Guide, a road map for discussions with an events list at the end, is free to readers starting their own groups. 

On Nov. 11, professional actors will perform a staged reading at Palm Beach Dramaworks at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. Registration and a donation are suggested. 

The Read Together finale takes place at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Harriet Himmel Theater in Rosemary Square, 700 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach, where you can meet the author, Monica Wood, and celebrate her work.

Copies of the book are available at the Literacy Coalition, 3651 Quantum Blvd., Boynton Beach, and at most libraries for a $10 donation.

Also of note: On Nov. 7, the Literacy Coalition will sponsor Read for the Record, which brings hundreds of volunteers to classrooms, libraries and community centers to read aloud 2019’s book, Thank You, Omu!

In 2018, the coalition recruited 415 volunteers who read to 15,696 children around the county, and leaders hope to exceed that number this year.

Reach the Literacy Coalition at 279-9103 or communications@literacypbc.org. Or visit www.literacypbc.org.

Mom helps organize inaugural fundraiser

Reilly Gardner, 4, reacts to sea turtles on display at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Photo by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joyce Reingold

Reilly Gardner, an inquisitive 4-year-old with a headful of springy blond curls, watches as “Black Panther” munches on greens at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. “I want to swim in there,” he says, pointing to the tank where the green sea turtle is convalescing.

Whitney Crowder, the center’s turtle rehabilitation coordinator, is giving Reilly and his good friend Lenox McDowell a behind-the-scenes tour. She explains that Black Panther was found in Fort Pierce, ensnared in fishing line, and brought to Gumbo Limbo to recuperate. The children listen as Crowder teaches them about sea turtles and the ocean that sustains them.

Reilly, too, draws strength from the sea, and from the salt-tinged air. He is one of 30,000 people in the United States living with cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic disease. For CF patients, inhaling saltwater mist helps break up the thick, sticky mucus that builds up in the lungs, digestive system and other organs, leading to chronic infections, progressive lung damage and other complications.

That’s why Reilly’s parents, Jessie and Chris Gardner, moved to Delray Beach from Charlotte, North Carolina. “The salt air and ocean are great for him, as he drains from his nose and helps get everything out,” Jessie says. “The salt air is so much better for patients with CF.”

Reilly was diagnosed with CF as a newborn. Jessie and Chris soon learned that they both carry a CF gene. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, more than 17,000 genetic mutations are known to cause CF. Reilly carries Double DeltaF508, the most common, Jessie says.

“This means the medications currently in the drug pipeline will benefit him,” she says.

For example, the family is excited about the possibilities of Trikafta, a drug the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in mid-October.

Jessie Gardner, always vigilant when it comes to her son’s health, helps Reilly wash his hands. Photo by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

In the meantime, Jessie fights hard to make a healthy life Reilly’s reality. And now she’s broadening the fight, launching a fundraiser for the CFF’s Florida-Palm Beach chapter to help others living with CF, too.

The inaugural 65 Roses Evening on the Ave will take place Nov. 15 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. The cocktails-and-dinner event will begin at 6 p.m. and have an auction that includes pieces created live that evening by artist Justin Vallee.

Jessie Gardner and Heather Marineau are the event’s co-chairs. Reilly is the youth ambassador.

“Clinical research shows great promise for an estimated 93% of people with cystic fibrosis. However, we have work to do to ensure everyone with this disease has a treatment and one day, a cure,” says Lora Hazelwood, executive director of the Palm Beach chapter, which funds research and runs support programs for local patients and their families.

“I think my main point with cystic fibrosis is to educate people about what it is, because when you look at my son, he looks normal,” Jessie says. “It is a disease that hides. It’s a disease that’s progressive. Just because he may look like any other child, he still faces difficulties behind the scenes. It’s just a little bit more hidden.”

At Gumbo Limbo, Reilly is sunny and energetic, looking every bit the surfer dude in a rash guard and board shorts dotted with surfboards and palm trees. He loves the beach — though there’s less time for that now that he’s in school every weekday — and playing with his friends.

But as a child living with CF, he must do a lot more. Jessie says Reilly takes nine medications, one of which retails for $300,000 a year. He drinks protein shakes. And with each meal he takes three enzyme pills to help counter CF’s effect on his pancreas and help him gain weight. Jessie Gardner says the family has good insurance but that dealing with insurance representatives can be a fight when, for example, they don’t want to pay for a medication anymore.

Reilly “does his treatment twice daily,” his mother says. “He is strapped to a vest machine that shakes to get the mucus up. And he does a nebulizer machine for a total of 40 minutes a day” or 80 minutes when he’s sick. “But, he’s still an incredibly strong-willed little boy who loves to have fun, and he can still do everything anyone else does,” Jessie says.

Megan Casabe, a licensed clinical social worker at Palm Beach Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, meets with Reilly and his parents, and about 90 other CF patients and family members, three to four times each year.

“The daily treatment regimen for someone who has CF is very labor intensive and time-consuming,” she says. “But it doesn’t mean that they’re not able to go out and live a life. We have people who work full-time jobs. We have people in college. We have people with professional degrees and professional jobs. We have people who have families. So, it is not something where they have to be secluded to the house and don’t have a life, or don’t have friends. Which is great.”

In the 1950s, the average life expectancy for a child with CF was five years. Today, it is the mid-40s, according to Casabe.

“However, different genetic mutations have different variations of the disease. And so, we even have some patients in our clinic who are in their late 50s and 60s. The research is incredible,” Casabe says.

The latest improvement may come in the form of the drug Trikafta, which Dr. Preston W. Campbell III, president and CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, called a “tremendous breakthrough.”

CF is caused when a mis-folded or missing protein, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein, “forms a malfunctioning channel that prevents salt and water from traveling in and out of cells on many surfaces in the body,” explains a spokesperson at CFF headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. “The three medicines within Trikafta are designed to help the CFTR protein fold better, move to the cell surface, and maintain an open channel so salt and water can move in and out of the cell.”
Casabe says someone Reilly’s age “has a much better chance at a full, long life than someone else did even just 10 years ago.”

If You Go
What: 65 Roses Evening on the Ave for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Palm Beach chapter
When: 6 p.m. Nov. 15
Where: Old School Square in Delray Beach
Tickets: $175 and up
Info: 683-9965 or https://events.cff.org/65rosesontheave

Joyce Reingold has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to joyce.reingold@yahoo.com.

By Christine Davis

Nelson Lazo, a chief executive at Baptist Health South Florida for 12 years, will soon be the new CEO of Bethesda Hospital East and Bethesda Hospital West in Palm Beach County. He will succeed Roger Kirk, who will retire in December.

Lazo will oversee the continued integration of the hospitals with Baptist Health following their 2017 merger. He also will oversee the expansion of Bethesda hospitals’ services.

Under Lazo’s leadership as CEO, Baptist Health’s Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables became home to Miami Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute, which recently opened the Miami Heat Sports Medicine Center in partnership with the basketball team.

The institute is the official sports medicine provider for the Heat, Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers, Florida International University, Miami Open tennis tournament, the Orange Bowl and the Miami Marathon.

Teens place a lot of emphasis on popularity and are aware of the difference between being liked and being popular, and when asked to choose, most opt for popularity. Prior research found two groups of popular adolescents: pro-social and aggressive popular teens.
But if you ask a teen about popularity, you might hear about a third group that is both feared and loved. 

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and collaborators in Montreal put the idea of naughty and nice, Machiavellian-like teens to the test. In a new study, they followed 568 girls and boys in the seventh and eighth grades for two years.

Classmates identified those who were aggressive, pro-social and popular. Results of the study, published in the journal Child Development with FAU psychology professor Brett Laursen as a coauthor, identified three distinct types of teen popularity: pro-social popular; aggressive popular; and bistrategic popular or Machiavellian. 

The Machiavellian teens were the most popular and were above average on physical and relational aggression as well as pro-social behavior. Just like in the teen comedy Mean Girls, they are aggressive when needed and then “make nice” to smooth any ruffled feathers.

They maintain their popularity by offsetting the coercive behavior required to maintain power with carefully calibrated acts of kindness. These teens balance getting their way with getting along.

As dementia progresses, the ability to participate in exercise programs declines. But an FAU study found that more than 97 percent of older adults with advanced dementia could do chair yoga or other chair-based exercises and be fully engaged. The subjects showed improvement over time, while a group that undertook music intervention declined.

The study, with the results published in the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias, intended to test the safety and effectiveness of these non-pharmacological interventions. JuYoung Park, associate professor in the School of Social Work, was lead author.

Both the chair yoga and chair-based exercise groups showed lower depression when compared to the music intervention group. The chair yoga group reported a higher quality of life score, including physical condition, mood, functional abilities, interpersonal relationships, and ability to participate in meaningful activities.

A new study by researchers in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing showed that older African Americans, European Americans and Hispanic Americans are below the recommended levels of protein intake and are at risk for age-related changes in muscle, and that interventions may be needed to improve their diet and physical health.

The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics, examined differences in protein intake, nutritional status, and muscle strength and function in these groups. Sareen Gropper, registered dietitian and nursing professor, was the lead author.

Great Place to Work and Fortune named Baptist Health South Florida one of the country’s best workplaces for women — an organization that best provides resources and support to women. Baptist Health was No. 29 on the list.

“These winning companies are thriving because women have an equal seat at every table where critical decisions are made,” said Michael C. Bush, chief executive officer of Great Place to Work. “Organizations like Baptist Health South Florida know that creating a great workplace where everyone can succeed regardless of gender is not just the right thing to do, but a must-do if you want to be the very best of everything in the marketplace.”

Bethesda Hospital and Boca Raton Regional Hospital are part of the Baptist Health South Florida network.

Astro will be programmed for tasks including search and rescue missions and diabetes alerts. Photo provided

By Arden Moore

Looks like it’s back to the future with a big woof for a team of professors, researchers and students at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Back in the early 1960s, The Jetsons took off in popularity. This animated television show centered on a space-age family and featured husband George commuting to work irn a spaceship and taking the family dog, Astro, for walks on a high-in-the-sky treadmill.

FAU is hard at work on its version of Astro, a robodog with real-dog capabilities. This Astro packs sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence to enable it to see, hear and smell.

Thanks to a computerized brain inside its Doberman pinscher-looking head, Astro can also think. Astro quickly mastered basic canine commands like sit and stay. He can also comprehend commands spoken in several languages, detect colors and coordinate search-and-rescue missions with drones.

And best of all, he won’t piddle on your rugs, beg at the dinner table or chew your favorite slippers.

“Astro is the result of collaboration with Martin Woodall, founder of DroneData, and its AstroRobotics division and FAU’s MPCR,” or machine perception and cognitive robotics lab, said Elan Barenholtz, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and co-director of the lab. “He brought the hardware to us and we are the ones building the brain. In a sense, our job is to bring to life this benevolent Frankenstein.”

Astro is one of a handful of quadruped robots in the world and the only one with a dog head.

Weighing about 60 pounds, Astro is already drawing attention and fans on campus and beyond.

“When we are doing tests with Astro on our breezeway, students stop what they are doing to pull out phones and pose for selfies,” Barenholtz said. “He’s a social media darling.”

Astro is very much in the prototype stage and is not yet commercially available. But Barenholtz anticipates that the next version of Astro will be booted up and learning from experience by the end of this year.

Astro’s eventual mission is to be the ultimate canine protector and trusted companion. He will be able to detect guns, explosives and aid in search-and-rescue efforts as well as be programmed to perform as a service dog for people with physical disabilities and even provide medical diagnostic monitoring.

Other leaders at FAU on this robodog research include William Hahn, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematical sciences and co-director of the MPCR lab, and Pedram Nimreezi, director of intelligent software in the MPCR lab.

“My group and I are pushing hard to make FAU become known for artificial intelligence research, making us more like F-AI-U,” Barenholtz said.

Aiding in the development of Astro’s nose capabilities is Emily Stark of Boca Raton. She is pursuing a doctorate in experimental psychology and artificial intelligence.

She also has Nara, a 4-year-old German shepherd mix who has been trained as her diabetic alert dog. Nara can detect low blood sugar levels in their early stages through smell before they reach dangerous levels in Stark.

“Emily is part of the team working on robotic olfaction, trying to replicate what Nara is doing in our machine, Astro,” Barenholtz said. “Diabetic alert dogs are expensive, but if we can eventually make it affordable with machines like Astro, we will.”

He admits he is giddy about the potential robodogs with AI such as Astro can and will do.

“This is a frontier where humankind has not gone before,” he said. “Most of my career has been in human psychology and how the human brain works. But this project is an opportunity to build a brain. Yes, I am super giddy about this.”

Even though his pets are a pair of guinea pigs named Popcorn and Oreo, he is well aware and very supportive of the healing power pets can unleash on people.

“There are lots of studies confirming that pets are good for our mental and physical health,” he said. “You can be grumpy after a bad day at work, but your dog gives unconditional love to you when you walk into the front door. There is a deep soul connection people have with their pets.

“And the experience people have with Astro does feel like he is a sentient being. People will definitely develop emotional connections with these types of systems.”

Battery-operated robopets are already in homes with people allergic to pets as well as faux therapy pets in hospitals and senior living areas.

Two years ago in this column, I spotlighted a pair of robopets named Butterscotch and Rusty that are serving as therapy for residents at the Abbey Delray, a senior living center in Delray Beach.

The battery-operated cat and dog sport realistic soft fur that beckons to be touched and petted. The robopets, manufactured by Hasbro, are programmed to take naps and welcome belly rubs.

More proof that this world is truly going to the dogs (and cats), be they real, battery-operated or AI.

Arden Moore, founder of fourleggedlife.com, is an animal behavior expert and host of the Oh Behave! show on petliferadio.com. Learn more at www.ardenmoore.com.

The Lady Eagles freshman, junior varsity and varsity teams and rival Spanish River High dedicated their matches to Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Lynn Cancer Institute. Special guest was Jan Dymtrow, outreach coordinator for the hospital’s League of Ribbons. The Lady Eagles have an annual ‘Pink Out’ night to honor those who have fought breast cancer and those who have lost their battles. Before the varsity match, survivors walked across the court and received tokens of appreciation from the team. The event raised more than $2,000 from bake sales, dress-down coupons for students, concession sales and a raffle.
ABOVE: (l-r) Kara Silk, Alicia Metzger, Adriana Metzger, Tracy Murrison, Shea Salvato, Sherril Debonis, Bree Salvato, Melanie Ross, Sue Perez, Donna Pavek and Barbara Harbin. Photo provided

By Jane Smith

City commissioners selected Homestead City Manager George Gretsas to the same job in Delray Beach on Oct. 1 with the hope that he will bring much-needed stability to City Hall.
Gretsas, who will be Delray’s fourth new city manager in six years, will start Jan. 1 at a salary of $265,000, a 23% increase over his Homestead salary of $215,384.
He agreed to no salary increases for the first two years.
The vote was 3-2 with Commissioner Adam Frankel and Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson voting no.
Frankel called the contract “exorbitant,” and Johnson said Gretsas was demanding too much.
Gretsas, 51, has to give Homestead three months’ notice, Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia said. Homestead officials could not be reached for comment at press time.
Gretsas was passed over in September in favor of Tamarac City Manager Michael Cernech, but Cernech and Delray Beach could not agree on salary and benefits. He withdrew his application.
In Homestead, which was devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Gretsas in a 9-year tenure has overseen a $125 million downtown improvement plan that included a new City Hall, police headquarters and restoration of a 1921 performing arts theater.
When he was city manager of Fort Lauderdale for six years, Gretsas worked on rising seas issues, a priority in Delray Beach, and oversaw more than $110 million in projects, including five new fire stations.
He lost favor there, however, when his commission ordered him to play tough with the police union over pension issues. The chief quit his job to run for commission and won. Gretsas’ contract was not renewed for 2011.
While attending the Florida League of Cities annual meeting in Orlando in mid-August, Vice Mayor Johnson ran into Julio Guzman, a Homestead councilman, who asked which city she represented. When she said Delray Beach, Guzman said, “Oh, we’d hate to lose Gretsas. We love him.”
On Sept. 17, Commissioner Ryan Boylston made the motion to tap Gretsas and begin contract negotiations.
“It’s time for us to put the city first,” Boylston said.
That vote was 3-2, with Boylston, Petrolia and Johnson in favor and Frankel and Bill Bathurst voting no.
A week earlier, after Cernech walked away from the negotiating table with Petrolia and city attorney Lynn Gelin, Boylston said he wanted to interview two other, out-of-state candidates in the top five selected by the city’s recruiter.
But recruiter Robert Burg said they were no longer interested, and Boylston decided Gretsas was the one to bring “stability” to Delray Beach. “Gretsas has worked on big, complicated projects,” Boylston said. Delray Beach and Homestead have populations of about 70,000 residents, but Homestead’s population is younger with more than 40% below 18, while Delray Beach’s skews older with more than 24% at age 65 and above.
Like Delray Beach, Homestead has historic districts and properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Homestead’s crown jewel, the Seminole Theatre, was reopened in 2015 after remaining dark for four decades.
A citizen-approved bond issue, directed by Gretsas, paid for the restoration of the 1921 theater, which has become Homestead’s cultural hub.
After the vote to hire Gretsas, Boylston asked that only Gelin and recruiter Burg negotiate with him. Boylston did not want Petrolia in the negotiations this time around, after Cernech walked away when Petrolia said she could not support his demand for a $400,000 compensation package.
“I couldn’t support it. I have a fiscal responsibility to this town,” Petrolia said at a Sept. 10 special commission meeting.
Bathurst, Boylston and Frankel originally voted to hire Cernech. Petrolia’s first choice was Gretsas, but she changed her vote to Cernech when it became clear he had the support of a majority of commissioners.
Also at the Sept. 10 meeting, the contract for interim City Manager Neal de Jesus was formalized.
To avoid confusion, the mayor asked Gelin to read the new terms: De Jesus will receive a $244,000 annual salary that is retroactive to March 1, when he accepted the interim city manager position. When de Jesus returns to his fire chief role, he will receive 180 days’ written notice if the city manager wants to dismiss him and 20 weeks of severance. The severance terms will remain the same, but the length of notice was doubled. His salary as fire chief will be $174,345.
To quell social media critics, Gelin also determined that de Jesus will not have to complete his bachelor’s degree.
When he became the fire chief in March 2016 a college degree was required. Gelin said that de Jesus has the experience and background that can be substituted for the degree.
The vote was 3-2, with Bathurst, Boylston and Frankel voting yes and Johnson and Petrolia voting no.
Petrolia agreed with the salary boost, but did not want the commission to decide terms of the fire chief position — length of notice and education.
“Those terms should be decided by the new city manager,” she said.

The cultural season has returned with concerts, theatrical productions,
art exhibitions and other events that enrich each day. Be sure to see what’s on tap
in the ArtsPaper season preview:

Season Preview

Art | Books | Classical |  Dance | Film | Jazz | Opera | Pop | Theater

ABOVE: The Delray String Quartet opened the Music at St. Paul’s season Sept. 22 with its first of several shows at its new venue at the church. BELOW: Boca Raton painter Sue Gurland greets other artists during a Delray Beach Art League exhibit at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church the same day. Her painting, Black Panther Dreaming of Peace, is at left. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Plastic is everywhere.
I walk the beach most mornings and pick it up all along the way. I pull bottle caps and fast-food cups out of my front hedge with some regularity. The amount of discarded plastic I see is overwhelming.
This summer on a family vacation we visited Connecticut and Rhode Island and found ourselves impressed with how many places have banned single-use plastics. I figured many people would be upset with not getting a plastic bag each time they made a purchase, or would complain about straws and eating utensils made from alternative products, but surprisingly everyone basically shrugged and said “you get used to it.” And we did. Never once was it a problem.
So when I got home, I thought I should begin supporting some of the local groups pushing to ban single-use plastics, but then I saw that the town of Palm Beach was forced to rescind its single-use plastic ban after learning an appellate court had upheld the Florida Legislature’s pre-emption against local bans of plastic bags and polystyrene containers.
Oh, Florida.
Sadly, I wasn’t surprised.
So, I decided to look closely at my own consumption of single-use plastics and polystyrene containers. I found we do pretty well at home, but lousy at the office.
All the take-out food containers we throw in the trash each week (way too many) are bad enough, but each month The Coastal Star is inserted in a single-use plastic slip in hopes of keeping it dry when it’s delivered.
So what can we do about the plastic wrapping our newspaper?
We know digital-only publishing is not profitable. We’d go out of business in a heartbeat if we were digital-only. Same thing with becoming subscriber-based rather than being a total market publication. We must make a profit or we won’t be able to continue providing quality, locally produced journalism.
So, how else could we deliver our print newspaper? We’re open to ideas.
Using the U.S. Postal Service is one option The Coastal Star is weighing. But that’s not a cheap or easy route. We are working out the numbers, but so far it appears this delivery method cuts too deeply into our bottom line.
Every business has its challenges adapting to a changing world, and maybe no business is facing more challenges than newspapers. But that just makes the job more interesting.
Some of the nation’s best and brightest business people live in our area, and many of them are readers who tell us how much they value local news. Plus, we believe everyone along the coast would like to see less single-use plastic tossed in their driveways.
We’re all in this together, so we’re hopeful you’ll let us know your suggestions on how we keep our company viable, but eliminate the plastic.
To make suggestions, email me at Editor@thecoastalstar.com or Publisher Jerry Lower at Publisher@thecoastalstar.com.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Amy Kazma, honorary chairwoman of the Woman Volunteer of the Year luncheon, sits with her cockapoo Remy, 10, and mini Australian shepherd Spartacus, 6. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Margie Plunkett

Amy Kazma of Boca Raton recently became an empty nester, but she has plenty to keep her occupied.
For one, she has been named honorary chairwoman of this year’s Woman Volunteer of the Year luncheon, an annual event that celebrates women nominated by nonprofits throughout Palm Beach County.
The luncheon and fashion show, put on by the Junior League of Boca Raton, will be Nov. 8 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
Kazma, 55, has been a member of the Junior League for about 16 years, supporting the organization along with her husband, Mike. The luncheon “is such an incredible event for the community. … They recognize women who are doing volunteer work through various organizations. This year they have 38 women nominated, who are from 38 organizations in Palm Beach County.
“When they asked me, I was honored to say the least,” Kazma said.
Kazma’s responsibilities as honorary chairwoman include championing the event in the community, as well as hosting the nominee reception Oct. 10 at the resort’s Spa Garden. That event is attended by all the nominees plus past winners.
Kazma will know she has succeeded in her role “if everybody enjoys themselves and feels special,” she said.
Kazma and her husband are involved with a variety of other local organizations, including the Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, the Boca Raton Historical Society, Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the George Snow Scholarship Fund and Boca Helping Hands. The family also is part of the Kazma Family Foundation, a nonprofit that grants scholarships and supports education.
The Kazmas moved to Boca Raton 23 years ago. Mike is CEO of Amzak Capital Management. Amy credits him with being a big part of her ability to get involved in the community, by “supporting me and allowing me to make commitments to different organizations financially as I see fit. He doesn’t like the limelight — he likes to sit in the shadows. But he’s always supporting me,” she said.
Their two children, Jennifer, 20, and Nicholas, 18, now attend university, leaving the empty nesters home with their two dogs, Remy and Spartacus.
When Amy Kazma, who has a bachelor of science in communications and public relations from the University of Southern Indiana, first arrived here she didn’t know a soul, she recalls.
She felt fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom, but her husband traveled frequently. After having her second child, she decided she needed to find something for herself. That’s when she was introduced to the Junior League. She found it a good fit. While it has provided an outlet for her community spirit, it also has altered her personal life.
“Through all my volunteerism is where I’ve found my closest friends,” Kazma said. “When you volunteer, that’s where you find people who are like-minded, because they’re there for the same reasons you are.
“Volunteerism has been a huge part of my life, not just in the time I have spent there, but what it has brought to my life with the friendships and the satisfaction of being able to be involved with these organizations and help out in a small way,” she said.
When Kazma has spare time, she loves to go to the beach with her girlfriends. She and her husband enjoy boating, traveling and hiking when they spend time at their Colorado home. “And now that I’m an empty nester, I can do all those things,” she said.
What does Kazma most hope to achieve in her lifetime?
“I really would like to be looked upon as someone who was a nice individual who cared about my family and friends and the community — and was fortunate enough to be able to share my time, talent and treasure in that community with my friends and family.”

If You Go
What: Woman Volunteer of the Year luncheon, hosted by Junior League of Boca Raton
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 8
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Tickets: $150 for general seating
More info: www.jlbr.org/woman-volunteer-of-the-year-2

Related Story: Gulf Stream: Town wants to know price of putting in sewers

Part Two: Old septic systems are entrenched in towns but face claims they pollute | Ocean Ridge panel explores options for town-wide conversion to sewer system | State requires small treatment plants to get regular oversight

Part One: Cities rush to fix aging sewer systems | How sewage flows | Boca Raton's multi-year project targets older underground pipes | Editor's Note: Sewage disposal issues leave no time to waste

By Rich Pollack

Sea level rise isn’t just coming, it’s already here.
Sea levels in South Florida rose an average of 3 to 5 inches between 1992 and 2015, according to estimates from the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, and are expected to rise another 3 to 5 inches by 2030.
The impact can be seen on coastal streets that flood during high or king tides and on beaches where storms like Hurricane Dorian eroded the sand and pushed the ocean closer and closer to the dune line.
“Seasonal high tides are already higher than they’ve been in the past,” says Rebecca Harvey, Boynton Beach’s sustainability coordinator and the steering committee coordinator for the Coastal Resilience Partnership, which includes eight coastal south Palm Beach County communities.
What most of us won’t see is the impact sea level rise is having underground. There, aging centralized sewage treatment systems and older septic systems — some dating back to the 1960s — are interacting with rising groundwater.
For centralized sewage treatment systems, rising groundwater brought on by sea level rise will mean the potential for groundwater and stormwater to enter into pipes, forcing the systems to treat more water than planned. That could overwhelm the capacity of treatment plants and is likely to increase the cost of treatment, which would be passed on to users of the system.
“It costs more money to treat, which means everyone pays more,” said Colin Groff, Boynton Beach’s assistant city manager for public services.
Already municipalities are preparing for rising groundwater by lining pipes and enhancing lift stations to make them less susceptible to rising water levels.
Sea level rise and the interaction between septic systems and rising groundwater is even more problematic.
Simply put, sea level rise reduces the area of unsaturated soil between the bottom of a septic system’s drain field and the groundwater. That means there is less soil for the sewage effluent to percolate through. With reduced percolation, more nutrients — and more fecal coliform bacteria — can make their way into groundwater.
“During times of elevated groundwater levels, septic systems cannot function as designed,” concluded a report produced by Miami-Dade County and released in November. “Improperly functioning septic systems can pose an immediate public health risk. There are also many financial and environmental risks, including contamination of the freshwater aquifer, which is the community’s sole source of potable water.”
People who study climate change say municipalities can take steps to mitigate the problems. Although those steps vary greatly for centralized systems versus on-site treatment systems — septic tanks and package plants — they have a common denominator.
All cost money, and that might not always be easy to come by — in part because what’s underground is not always top of mind.
“If people aren’t seeing the impact, they may be less willing to pay for the infrastructure that’s necessary,” said Katie Hagemann, Miami-Dade County’s resilience program manager for adaptation and one of the contributors to the report.
Miami-Dade, perhaps ground zero for sea level rise in Florida if not the country, is focusing on reducing the number of parcels with septic systems — estimated at more than 105,000.

In preparation for sea level rise, municipalities can take a lift station such as this one and raise it more above ground, protecting the electrical panel inside the dark box from water damage. Photo provided

Sea level rise and centralized systems
With groundwater levels increasing as a result of sea level rise, municipalities in south Palm Beach County are taking steps to keep their systems operating efficiently.
Among the challenges facing centralized systems is the possibility of water from the outside entering into the pipes through ways known as inflow and infiltration.
Although pipes in utility systems are often already immersed, increased groundwater can put additional pressure on gravity lines and that can result in more water entering the system through cracks or ruptures, Groff said.
That infiltration could result in hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that doesn’t need to be treated entering the system every day. That would mean pumps having to operate more frequently to push water through sewage systems and centralized plants having to do unnecessary treatment that would stress their capacity.
“If you don’t deal with it at the source, it can create a domino effect,” says Chris Helfrich, director of utility services for Boca Raton.
To prevent intrusion, some local municipalities are lining older pipes with a thin epoxy-infused fabric that expands and hardens into a rigid liner.
Another issue facing centralized systems is the inflow of stormwater from the surface through manholes. As streets flood during heavy storms or king tides, water can seep into gravity lines through holes in manhole covers. Those holes are necessary in most cases to allow gases from the lines to escape.
In an effort to minimize inflow, some municipalities such as Boca Raton add a bowl-like device into the manhole to catch stormwater.
Local utility systems are also taking steps to prevent water from entering lift stations by raising the concrete tops and electrical panels higher above ground.
The cost to do both is minimal, Helfrich said.
Although it’s possible for rising groundwater to push pump stations up, buoyance issues aren’t common, Helfrich said, in part because water in the wet wells of the stations adds weight.

Sea level rise and on-site treatment systems
Sea level rise, at some point, likely will have an impact on how well many of the 50,000-plus septic systems in Palm Beach County work, especially those closest to the ocean.
“On the barrier island there could be a big problem with on-site systems, whether septic systems or package plants, because it doesn’t take much for them to be under water,” Groff said.
In conventional septic systems, effluent from tanks enters into a drain field and then percolates through soil where many of the nutrients, such as nitrogen, as well as fecal coliform bacteria, are removed naturally before the effluent reaches the groundwater.
Florida requires that the layer of unsaturated soil — the area between the bottom of the drain field and the top of the water table — be 24 inches deep. As groundwater rises, however, according to the Miami-Dade County report, that layer of soil may no longer meet the depth requirement in many parts of Miami-Dade.
The report best explains how rising sea levels will affect that process and cause septic systems to malfunction.
“Because much of the treatment of wastewater relies upon the unsaturated soil below the drain field, treatment and disposal are less effective as more of the soil becomes permanently saturated with rising groundwater resulting from sea level rise,” the report says. “A higher groundwater table reduces the volume of soil available to treat and dispose of the wastewater, which increases the likelihood of failure and contamination.”
One of the challenges with septic systems is that failure is not always easy to detect. Toilets will still flush and homeowners will be unaware that groundwater levels are too high to ensure effluent is effectively treated. In some cases, if groundwater levels are extremely high, residents may notice squishy wet spots on their lawns.
“If you can’t see it, chances are you don’t know it’s happening,” said state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, whose district includes parts of coastal Palm Beach County.
Researchers who put together the Miami-Dade County report, which was sparked by a request from a county commissioner and is one of the few comprehensive reports examining sea level rise and septic systems, estimate that more than half of the septic systems in that county are periodically compromised during storms or wet years.
That number is expected to rise from 56% now to about 64% by 2040, according to the report.
While drinking water provided by public utilities is not threatened by failed or compromised septic systems because of the disinfectant process, well water can easily be contaminated.

Preparing for sea level rise
Throughout South Florida local governments are preparing their centralized systems for sea level rise. Most municipalities are using the latest technology to examine sewer pipes to make sure they haven’t been damaged by tree roots, corrosion or age.
In south Palm Beach County, municipalities formed the Coastal Resilience Partnership and received grants to help cover the cost of a comprehensive climate change vulnerability assessment. The eight area governments that have signed an agreement to pay for the cost of the study are Boca Raton, Highland Beach, Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge, Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach and Palm Beach County.
While most communities are being proactive, they still face challenges — one of the biggest being the expense of preparing for an event with a timeline that is difficult to identify.
“There’s a need to work before we see the impacts and we’re not able to predict how soon those impacts will come,” Hagemann said.
In fact, the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact — a collaboration including representatives from Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties — is in the process of updating projections on how soon seas will reach certain levels.
One factor to consider in doing those calculations could be the increasing prevalence of strong tropical systems approaching the coast.
A recent study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concludes that sea level rise combined with tropical storms could create even greater problems for septic and sewer systems because the two together will push more water into coastal areas than either one would individually.
In Miami-Dade, conversion from septic to centralized sewer is perhaps the most viable option, and the county is looking at how to pay for it and where to begin.
In Ocean Ridge, where residents depend on septic systems and package plants, a Septic to Sewer Citizens Advisory Committee is looking at the feasibility of converting to a centralized system.
“It is obvious that action must be taken to protect our environment and quality of life in Ocean Ridge, but what action?” asked Vice Mayor Don MaGruder, who has been attending meetings of the coastal resiliency partnership.
In Gulf Stream, town leaders are asking their engineering consultant to look into the feasibility of septic-to-sewer conversion.
Caruso, who earlier this year sponsored an unsuccessful bill calling for periodic inspection of septic tanks, says the time for action is now.
“We need to rethink our infrastructure and make accommodations for sea level rise,” he said. “It’s expensive — but we can’t ignore it.”

More on sea level rise
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an interactive website that lets you find a specific location and then allows you to see models of potential sea level rise.
https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slr.html

By Steve Plunkett

Following the lead of Ocean Ridge, Gulf Stream will ask its engineering consultants to estimate what it would cost to build a municipal sewer system.
Mayor Scott Morgan told town commissioners Sept. 13 that he had spoken with Ocean Ridge officials after state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, in August warned Gulf Stream to expect a mandate from the state for septic-to-sewer transition in the future.
“This will be very expensive — I think the person in Ocean Ridge used the word ‘disastrously’ expensive,” Morgan said.
Gulf Stream evaluated its septic system “some 20 years ago,” the mayor said. “I think that it would be prudent for us … to engage our engineering firm, Baxter and Woodman, to bring that report from the ’90s up to speed, evaluate what it would take to transition the entire town over to sewer.”
Commissioner Joan Orthwein said the previous estimate was “astronomical.”
“I don’t know how the state can mandate to put that kind of financial burden on the individual. I just don’t see that,” Orthwein said.
Caruso “is willing to help us and other local towns within his district approach the state for funding to assist that transition,” Morgan said. “He stressed that there is a push in Tallahassee to advance this issue faster than most of us thought was what it would be.”
Ocean Ridge has paid its engineering firm to determine the scope of work and estimated price and a financial adviser to recommend ways to finance such a project, Morgan said. “That number could be very high,” he said.
About a third of the homes in Gulf Stream’s Core area connect to a private sewer system.
“The engineering firm should consider whether that sewer will continue as is or whether it would be brought into a new, modern, municipal-grade sewer that we would take responsibility for or whether it would be left in the condition it currently is and taken over by the town,” Morgan said.
New homes and those undergoing extensive renovations are required to connect to the private sewer system if they are close to it.
“And it’s really not designed as a municipal sewer. It wasn’t built that way,” Morgan said.
Town Manager Greg Dunham will attend an Oct. 7 septic-to-sewer workshop in Jacksonville hosted by the state Department of Environmental Regulation, as will Town Manager Tracey Stevens of Ocean Ridge.
“Because we know that it is going to be such a large, long-term, very expensive project, we’ve put together a citizens advisory board to help the staff do some of the heavy lifting,” said Ocean Ridge Commissioner Kristine de Haseth, who monitors Gulf Stream meetings as executive director of the Florida Coalition for Preservation.
Multifamily residences on State Road A1A north of Sea Road, which Gulf Stream annexed in 2011, have sewer service from Boynton Beach.
Orthwein said a conversion would hit hardest on the south end of town, which does not have either a private system or connections to Boynton Beach.
“So really you’re talking where the golf club goes down to George Bush [Boulevard],” she said.

By Jane Smith

City Commissioners gave downtown restaurant owners who offer valet parking a six-month reprieve on Oct. 1, allowing the valet stands to remain on Atlantic Avenue.
They want to see the traffic flow improve on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and Federal Highway.
Todd Herbst, whose Big Time Restaurant Group just opened Elisabetta’s Ristorante, said, “Without the valets, we would never make it.”
Sophia Theodore, who owns Taverna Opa with her husband, said her restaurant needs the valet in front as “a convenience factor. Moving it will hurt my business a lot.”
Staff had recommended moving valet stands off Atlantic Avenue, west of the Intracoastal Waterway, to allow public safety vehicles to get into the downtown, ease congestion, improve the pedestrian experience and allow cafe patrons to enjoy their meals.
Deputy Vice Mayor Bill Bathurst said, “We want to be a safe town, but we also are a hospitality town. We need to carefully consider anything that breaks the system.”
Commissioners asked staff to come up with a list to improve traffic flow. Those items would include finding a side-street location for drop-offs and pick-ups of shared-ride services and the free ride service the city recently started. Also, the commission wants to stop valets from allowing drivers of upscale cars to park all night in a valet space. Restaurants will pay the city $168 per month for each space, up from $165. Valets must make the operation open to all, although each restaurant can offer discounts or free parking. The maximum valets can charge is $10 for four hours west of the Intracoastal and two hours east of the waterway. Caffe Luna Rosa, east of the Intracoastal Waterway, will be able to keep its seven spaces on the barrier island.

The county bookmobile has a scrapbook that shows the first bookmobile in America, in 1905. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

If you ever visit a bookmobile, spare a moment to remember the woman who first inspired them. Her name was Mary Lemist Titcomb, and in 1905 she was the head librarian at the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland.
“Would not a library wagon, the outward and visible signs of the service for which the library stood, do much more in cementing friendship?” Titcomb once said. “No better method has ever been devised for reaching the dweller in the country. The book goes to the man, not waiting for the man to come to the book.”
At her urging, the library’s trustees got Andrew Carnegie to give them $2,500, and America’s first “library wagon” hit the road.
Its 2,560 books were drawn by a horse and driven by Joshua Thomas, the library’s janitor.
Alas, in 1910 a freight train struck the wagon. Both janitor and horse were unharmed, but the wagon was destroyed and the book service was out of commission for a year, until the board’s treasurer donated another $2,500 for a replacement.
The Hagerstown library’s new library wagon was an International Harvester truck, and the age of the motorized bookmobile had arrived.
Titcomb died in 1932 at the age of 80 and is buried at the famed Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, not far from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, whose books she no doubt made available to rural readers.